Anti-Hero Lola [Comprehensive Anglo-American]

Jason's room is empty, the surface of the desk, the corner of the bookshelf, the pen holder, the computer and keyboard, and the big bed with thick four-legged support - all the furniture is old in the details Elegant, like wood that grows patina after long handling.

Dick didn't go in with Lola.

He stayed outside, probably not quite wanting to come in, to face the relics of the man who had left him in the agony of his failure.

Laura still couldn't understand what she thought was a dull and contrived reaction, although she knew Dick's state of mind was normal.

Maybe she was a little harsh when it came to Jason.

Probably nothing else, she just didn't like Dick very much.

She really didn't like Dick very much, especially after finding out that he was as bright and lively as the legend said.She is always not interested in this kind of person who is very pleasing in itself, but otherwise excellent, and she never investigates the reasons for this.

But she also kind of doesn't understand why she likes Jason.

This mood is foreign.When she is with her boy, she wants neither to hurt nor to control him, and she is very strongly aware that her boy is also not going to hurt or control her.

He belonged to her, from head to toe, through and through.

Laura walked around the room, silently flipping through Jason's notebook, the books he put on the table, and the ticket stubs in his drawer.

His transcripts are placed in a separate cabinet. From a chronological point of view, every transcript he has received since he was adopted is here - the grades given on each transcript are excellent, It's not hard to see that he's a smart guy, or if not a smart guy, at least a hard worker.

The little prickly prickly pear on the windowsill was so well cared for it must have been watered by Alfred.

Or the old housekeeper didn't actually water it. Maybe the old housekeeper wanted to water it, loosen the soil and fertilize it, but he was so full of love and affection that he couldn't do anything.

Because the cactus is a small creature that originally grew in the desert and is so vigorous that it can endure extremely harsh conditions.

It was born to be freed, born to grow wild.

Laura didn't stay in the room for too long. Besides the bedroom, as Robin, Jason must have had a place in the Batcave, but it was obviously impossible for her to visit the Batcave, and she didn't want to visit it either. .

When she gently locked the door of Jason's room and turned around, Dick showed a smiling face at Laura reflexively:

"Ready?"

"Yeah." Laura glanced at Dick, "almost."

"Very few people are interested in Jason," Dick said, telling the truth for granted.

"I know." Laura replied.

Her expression was lukewarm, but Dick suddenly became interested in talking: "I had already gone to Bluhaven when Bruce brought him home, and he didn't inform me about Jason, nor did he tell Jason that he inherited My previous position, and then I found Jason myself, and I was going crazy."

Dick laughed self-deprecatingly, "Because Bruce made him use mine..." He paused, ambiguous about Jason's use of his "Robin" title, "I remember him, When Bruce brought him back from Crime Alley, he was very unpleasant, fierce and stubborn, and I held him by the collar, and he stared at me viciously."

He's not much likeable now, Laura thought.

Don't like him, she thought again, although you didn't really dislike him before, but everyone's liking for him should be ranked very low. He is used to it anyway, and he can convince himself to accept it You don't like him at all.

It was difficult for Laura to understand this emotional disorder.

She can understand that when people hate someone, they hide their hate for various reasons, but why hide their likes?Is liking someone a shameful thing?

"Did you fight?" Laura asked curiously.

"He hit me first," said Dick at once. "I'm not trying to shirk responsibility, but—no doubt he did. I was only going to warn him at first, but he did."

Laura understood what happened next from Dick's expression.

Jason, who was still young and hadn't started training yet, who relied on talent and brute force to fight, must have been beaten up by Dick.

It seems that in the Bruce family, it is a family tradition for the adopted brother to give the adopted brother a good spanking.

"...then we all got a really bad kick from Bruce," Dick's narration continued, "but a little bit more on me. It's not fair, it was Jason who did it first, I just gave A small lesson for this ignorant kid."

Based on what Laura knew about Jason, he didn't actually think he could beat Dick when he started the attack. He just hated being at a complete disadvantage.

Life in Crime Lane gave him a great sense of uneasiness. In his heart, being suppressed might be equated with death.

Next, Dick babbled on a lot of things. He said that his relationship with Jason had been bad since then, because Jason had always held strong hostility towards him, but he didn't take the initiative to resolve it. This hostility, because he always thought that Jason was not worthy of what was originally his but was given to Jason by Bruce.

"Then you should be angry with Bruce," Laura said, "but you like Bruce, so you should be angry with Jason."

Dick was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes, I did."

"Actually, Jason also knows that this is Bruce's problem, but he is not angry with Bruce, but with you." Laura said, "It's really interesting. The relationship between you is completely dependent on Bruce, Bruce All the mistakes you made will be reflected around you—everyone knows something is wrong with Bruce, but everyone chooses to excuse Bruce and find a substitute for the owner of this responsibility."

"Whether you intend to or not," Laura said, "I don't know who the substitute for this responsibility is outside the family." It's Jason."

"...don't call him a substitute. He hates it," Dick whispered. "He's always thought he was my substitute."

When Laura looked at him, he tilted his head slightly, avoiding Laura's sight.

For the first time since they'd met, Dick showed a faint weakness.

Lola realizes that Dick is also in his twenties, and his eyelashes are drooping, darkened by loss and sadness, but the sadness he's showing now isn't the same sadness he's been showing before.

The sadness he'd shown not so long ago had been that of a man, but now, his sadness belonged to a boy...a boy about Jason's age.

What is death?

Death is a mistake that can no longer be repaired, an apology that has no chance to say it again, and the abrupt end of all hopes and possibilities, a blow, and a farewell.

"It's a fact." Laura said, "I think he hates being your substitute more than being regarded as a substitute, but he is always inferior to you in every way."

——Although in Laura's view, this comparison itself is meaningless.

-Jason and Dick are completely different people.

Dick looked at Laura with strange eyes: "Not long ago, I thought Jason was your favorite person in our family, but now your speech makes me think you don't like him at all."

"Don't define other people's behavior by your own standards of conduct," Laura said. "It's not going to work."

She turned and went into her room, giving Dick a polite nod as she passed him.

"Thank you, Laura," said Dick suddenly.

"Ok?"

"Thank you for letting me say this." Dick looked up. "Since Jason left, his name has become a ban that cannot be mentioned in public. I've spoken to people who favor me about him."

"You're welcome," Laura said. "I want to hear about him too. I even asked Papa Bruce—"

"I've wanted to know about that from the beginning." Dick raised his eyebrows curiously. "Why did you call him 'Papa Bruce'?"

"I like it, and he doesn't like it," Lola replied, pausing. "Don't you want to know what Papa Bruce answered me?"

"I can guess."

Laura shrugged: "That's right, it's about the same as you guessed—he said some very exaggerated things, but his original intention was not so stupid."

She pushed open the door to her room, and as she was about to close it, Dick said, "You haven't told me why you hate me so much."

"I know you asked Tim, didn't he tell you?"

"No. That's the one thing I can't figure out. He obviously likes you," Dick sighed. "He told me you didn't like me for a reason, and he knew why, but he didn't tell me the reason. What is it?"

"Why are you so obsessed? Is there any use in knowing why? You just can't stand that you're not the most popular person in the crowd, can you?"

Laura turned her back to Dick, she listened to Dick's breathing and heartbeat quietly, and suddenly said: "Actually, there is not much reason, you want to know why I hate you, because you want me to like you; you want me to like you I like you because Barbara likes me."

As for why Barbara likes her... Laura still can't quite figure it out.

Maybe it's because Bruce is so nice to her that Barbara loves her, and Dick loves her because of Barbara.

Dick readily admitted: "You could say so."

"Then you're screwed," Laura said. "I'm not going to like you because I don't like everyone who is liked by a lot of people."

"You don't like being one of the 'many'?"

"No. You made the mistake of using your own logic to understand me again."

The moment she closed the door, Dick raised his voice: "Although you acted like you hated me, you were willing to talk to me about your favorite Jason, so you actually didn't hate me as much as you showed. This time I Are you right?"

Lola finally laughed.

"Go away you," she said.

Dick stared thoughtfully at Lola's closed door for a moment, then turned to face Tim, who was looking down at him expressionlessly and condescendingly.

"Come with me," Tim said, "I have important information to share with you."