Therapist!leslie - Tumblr Posts

Part of the deal. It was part of the deal, Bruce had told him. Jason didn't have to like, but he'd just have to go through it, pass, or whatever people did, and he could go out there. Finally, be someone. Be Robin... Jason knocked on the door, grateful, that the hallway was empty. - @jp-todd-rp

Technically, this was off-book.

Not that running a session with Bruce Wayne's ward was a particularly unusual thing to happen. Frankly, Leslie was happy to do it; Keen, really. But there would be no record of what they would discuss, not where any of her peers could access at least. Discretion was of the utmost importance when dealing with vigilantes with secret identities after all. With young Jason Todd living with Batman himself, Leslie was sure it would come up at some point.

Opening the door to her warm, comfortably decorated office, Leslie smiled at the boy, stepping back to allow him entrance as she spoke.

"Jason is it? Hello. I'm Leslie Thompkins, it's nice to meet you."

Tim took a deep breath. He had met Leslie before, but not like this. It was all Bruce's idea; if Tim wanted to continue as Robin, he had to talk to Leslie. Sure, he had been through a thing or two, but he didn't really think he needed therapy. He always had Dick to talk to, his brother always picked up the phone when Tim needed him. Taking another deep breath, Tim applied his Timothy mask and knocked on the door. @nerdybirdboy

Bruce was concerned, that much was clear.

Leslie was in agreement that perhaps having someone outside of the immediate family to talk to would be helpful, however on the few occasions she had met young Tim Drake in the past, he hadn't exactly been keen on the idea of therapy in general. Still, she was optimistic enough to keep an open mind. And really, the pool of qualified professionals in the know about the Wayne's was very limited. There weren't many other options.

"Hello Tim." Leslie greeted him warmly, pushing down the sense of Deja vu and stepping aside to let him past into her office. "It's good to see you again."

jp-todd-rp​:

Act normal.

Act polite.

Jason managed a smile as the therapist - doctor, Bruce said she was an actual doctor - let him in her office. She looked friendly enough, not as old as Jason thought she was going to be. Dark hair, an easy smile, despite the sterner set of her brow. She fit her office, Jason noted.

Warm colors, modern, but not skimped on comfort.

Functional. To the point.

No other exit.

No way out.

Jason shook her hand, fairly certain that his quick glance around could be taken for mere interest. “Good morning, doc,” he replied, hiding the fact that his stomach was in knots. “Nice to meet you too, hope all is well.”

“I’m very well, thank you.” Polite. Well spoken. All in all, a good first impression.

Spotting the curious look around the room, Leslie gestured to the soft, comfortable looking armchair towards the back of the room, facing the door. “Would you like to take a seat?”

Most people were nervous for a first session. Outwardly, the boy didn’t seem all that fussed but Leslie busied herself anyway, opening a drawer on the side so he could make the decision whether to sit or not without her directly watching. “I’ve always got a mixture of drinks and snacks in here, is there anything you’d like?”

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason’s resisted the initial urge of wanting to refuse. She was a doctor, and one Bruce trusted. She wouldn’t do anything to him. Right?

Jason kept his smile in place as he sat down on the seat she had pointed out to him. “Just some water for me, thank you.” He shifted a little on the armchair, trying to make himself a little more comfortable. “Uhm… so how does this work?” he inquired tentatively, keeping his eyes on her as she got them something to drink.

“Water? Sure thing.” Pulling out an unopened bottle of water, and a soda for herself, Leslie turned back to see Jason getting comfortable in the armchair. She pondered his question for a moment as she passed the drink over to him and took a seat in the armchair opposite.

“This works however we want it to, really. One of the good things about sessions like these... I’m curious though - how did Bruce explain it to you before he dropped you off?” Popping the soda can open and taking a drink would give him time to think, so Leslie did just that, getting comfortable herself. She knew Bruce well enough to know he sometimes struggled with more difficult topics of conversation. It would be a good idea for them both to be on the same page from the beginning. As much as possible at least. 

For Leslie, this first session was about making Jason as comfortable as possible, and getting some idea who Jason Todd actually was. Most fourteen year old boys didn’t find themselves on the brink of being adopted by vigilante billionaires and considering how Bruce found him, Leslie was keen to find out.

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason shrugged half-heartedly, absentmindedly fiddling with his water bottle. “He said I could talk to you about anything. If something was bothering me.” He eyed her briefly, before uncapping his drink.

“He said something about wanting to make sure I can ‘go out with a clear head’. You know. As Robin. I’ve been working really hard for it.”

So don’t fuck this up like you do everything else, Todd.

“That sums it up fairly well.” Leslie nodded, a warm smile crossing over her face. “It’s a chance to talk about anything really. And since I already know about Bruce - and what he gets up to of an evening, you can talk without having to worry about giving any big secrets away. Sometimes it’s good to have someone outside of our - immediate circle of people to talk to. And therapy give us a chance to explore ourselves and get to know ourselves a little better.”

“There are no wrong answers here. We just talk, and I might give you some things to think about or try from one session to the next, depending on where our conversations go.”

Crossing her legs, Leslie prompted him gently, picking up on the eagerness of his words rather than Bruce’s concern of something bothering Jason. “It sounds like you’re excited to be Robin.”

jp-todd-rp​:

No wrong answers.

Right.

Jason fought down the urge to scoff, and he briefly hid his face by taking a sip from his water bottle. But the subject of becoming Robin? Yeah, that was something Jason could latch on to. If she reported this back to Bruce, he’d see that he was willing. And ready.

“Of course, I’m excited. Robin’s awesome!” he replied, eyes gleaming. “Batman and Robin save lives. They defeat the bad guys, and actually do something to make the city better. Why wouldn’t I be excited?”

Leslie let out a huff of a laugh at the enthusiastic tone as Jason spoke. The way his eyes lit up, he was talking about joining his heroes, as if there couldn’t be a better thing in the world than that. The kind of excitement a boy his age should have, but about this?

It was a very romanticised view of what would be a dangerous job if he were to actually be Robin. 

“Oh, I don’t know.” She shrugged casually, choosing to take his rhetorical question literally. “You’ve seen Bruce after defeating some of those bad guys, right? He gets hurt sometimes. Some people might find that a little frightening. I certainly would if it were me, though I can understand the idea behind it; One of the reasons I became a doctor was to do my part for the city - in a different way, of course.”

She wondered if Jason had considered the danger he might be putting himself in as she continued, letting her hesitancy show a little. “I know you’ve been training hard, but these are adults, with weapons and - well, plenty of them won’t go down without a fight.”

nerdybirdboy​:

“Likewise, Dr Thompkins,” Tim replied, a pleasant smile on his lips. Ok, Timmy, you can do this. Give her enough to be happy, but not enough to let her know any of your true thoughts and feelings, then it risks going straight back to Bruce and then he’ll definitely not let you be Robin anymore.

Sitting down, he was very conscious about keeping a fairly open body language, hiding the fact that he didn’t want to be there at all. “How does this work?” Tim’s voice was calm and steady, all of it through iron will. Which was also the only reason he wasn’t fidgeting. “If you want me to talk about the accident, I’ll do that, but it really was an accident. I wanted to sleep and in my sleep deprived state I took a couple of pills too much. That’s it, there’s nothing more to tell.”

What had happened was that Tim having not been able to sleep more than a couple of hours for quite some time and when Bruce and Alfred were going to be gone for the weekend, Tim had seen it as his chance to get some good sleep. He hadn’t really thought about what he was doing and had just taken some of the pills, which had been more than a person his size should take. Not dangerously much, but not good either. Okay, maybe a little dangerous, but the risk of him dying had been very low. Thankfully, Alfred had felt something was wrong and Bruce knew to never doubt Alfred’s senses and they had turned back. Instead of going away, they had spent the weekend monitoring Tim. Once he was awake and conscious enough to speak and drink, Bruce had been very very angry. Just as angry as when he’d run off to handle those thugs that first time before he became Robin. Alfred believed Tim when he said it had been an accident, Bruce hadn’t been sure.

It was true though. It had really been an accident, however, accident or not, Tim shouldn’t have had sleeping pills or benzo, but he had (not anymore though). Black market medicine, so he hadn’t stolen them from Alfred or anything. Tim didn’t think he’d done anything wrong besides worrying Bruce and Alfred.

Oh he was going straight into it? Okay, she could meet him there. But Leslie really ought to slow him down first. Get him comfortable. Or more comfortable at least. 

Closing the door, Leslie went about rummaging through the mini-fridge she had built into the cabinet against the wall. “Sure, we can talk about what happened if you want to Tim - do you want a drink? Snacks? I’ve got a stash of them here, you’re welcome to them anytime.”

Tim had clearly rationalised what had happened down to its finest points. Frankly, Leslie was fairly certain he was telling the truth, but even so, it was a symptom of what she feared was a much larger problem.

“So, you wanted to sleep? Okay, can I ask why you were sleep deprived in the first place? It sounds like you had a hard time getting sleep despite that - I presume that’s why you took the pills, but feel free to correct me.”

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason’s jaw tensed a little, and he bit down his initial reaction by taking another sip of his water. Because telling this doctor that he knew all about the hurt adults could do, would definitely be a strike against him being cleared.

So he shrugged, lowering the bottle. “Doubt they’ll let me go off to university or something to become a doctor like you, ma'am. No offense. But I’m not afraid. And neither will I back out of a fight too,” Jason declared. “I’m tough. I know how to fight and how to look after myself.”

I’m not scared to get hurt. Not now, not when I can fight back this time.

Watching Jason take another drink, Leslie resisted the urge to take up her notebook. 

“It’ll take a lot more than that to offend me Jason, don’t worry. You do seem very brave.”

She had decided to leave it alone for this first session, in her effort to make a calmer and more trusting atmosphere, but there was plenty she wanted to make note of, things to circle back to at a later date. She would have to write them down after he left. 

Why couldn’t he go to university?

Face carefully neutral, Leslie dug a little deeper into Jason’s answer, choosing her course carefully. “Is that something you’ve had to do a lot of? Looking after yourself, I mean.”

nerdybirdboy​:

“Isn’t that why I’m here?” Why else would he be here? Bruce had never made him go to therapy for anything else and he’d seen and been through plenty of stuff. “No, thanks. I’m good.” He wasn’t here to have a snack, this was business. Or at least that was how he saw it. Just like cops had to see a psychologist after firing their gun, he had to see one after the accident to continue to be Robin.

“You know what we do, me and Bruce, so I have that and school, both take their time and once I’m trying to sleep… How should I describe it? I notice a lot of things, details, patterns and so on. It takes time to process it all and I can’t just shut it off and go to sleep. Sometimes I realizes things when falling asleep and need to deal with it before I can sleep. Sometimes I don’t get any sleep for days and that’s when I need help to shut off. That’s all.” Tim knew he was smart and a little different, what he didn’t know was that most people usually didn’t need to process pretty much every detail they had seen that day. “So, yes, that was why I took the pills. I had waited a little too long and lost my ability to properly judge how much I took.” He really hadn’t tried to kill himself.

Tim didn’t like this at all, but he somehow still manged to keep his body language in control and kept himself from fidgeting. This all felt like an invasion of privacy. Even though he knew he decided what to say, which was why he also didn’t mention that nightmares were part of it too.

“Details and patterns.” Leslie repeated thoughtfully, taking a seat in the plush armchair and pulling her notebook into her lap. She was going to need to keep notes for this. Things to circle back to later. Everything he was saying was important, as well as the things he wasn’t saying.

Days without sleep - that was concerning. Realising he had waited too long to take the pills. Misjudging the dosage... He had taken them before. Self-medicating. His sense of responsibility seemed to be beyond that of most fourteen year olds she had met. Not necessarily all of them, given her history of working with Batman, but it was disconcerting all the same.

Tim was sitting so still, looking a little uncomfortable but not so much that Leslie had any inclination he was going to run out on her. So she pressed onwards.

“Details and patterns of what exactly?”

jp-todd-rp​:

And –

Oh.

Jason licked his lips, looking away. It wasn’t a secret. Hell, Bruce had found him on the streets, for fuck’s sake. He knew his dad died in jail, and knew his mom died because she’d been sick, well before Batman, and he, had crossed paths.

He wouldn’t take Robin away from him over this.

Right?

Jason shrugged, his tone quieting, and he kept his eyes averted. “Mom was sick, you know? Willis was in and out of jail, so someone had to take care of us. I managed just fine.”

Until I didn’t.

Until she died.

Ah. 

It matched with what little Bruce had told her. An orphan, living on the streets when Bruce had found him. But there had been a whole life before the moment Jason had decided to steal the wheels of the Batmobile.

“I’m sure you did.” Leslie agreed honestly. “It sounds like it was a difficult situation to have to deal with.”

Everything about his posture screamed at how uncomfortable he was talking about it. But sometimes feeling uncomfortable brought about good things, and Leslie wasn’t one to shy away from it. 

“What was she like?”

jp-todd-rp​:

And that made Jason look back to her. Because he had pushed away all that had reminded him of her at first; it was too painful, too raw. Too much of a liability.

He was barely getting used to being able to feel safe again. Let alone remember.

“She was… Before she got sick, she always read to me,” Jason started, a little hesitantly. “Encouraged me to read as much as I could too, and do well in school. Said I might actually make something of myself instead of getting stuck in the Alley. She tried to care, and be nice, but she…” She ended up caring more about the drugs than me.

Jason’s jaw tensed, before continuing. “When Willis died in prison, and she got sicker, that just – it was just us, you know? I had to look after her. Be the man. But she… guess she was too sick.”

That amount of grief. His father - Willis, rather, and then his mother. In the face of it, it was surprising that the boy before her seemed so well put together. 

She fought against a pang of  her own sorrow for what he had been through. But this wasn’t the time or place for her own emotions. When she had first began working with the Wayne family, one of the few reservations she had, had been around how it might be more difficult to maintain the professional boundaries that were needed for the job. Being in the know, almost a family friend... It had the potential to compromise her role as their therapist. She was careful not to allow it to happen.

And again, education seemed to be a common theme for Jason. It was clearly on his mind. Something that was important to him perhaps. Leslie made a mental note to come back to it, but while they were on the subject, she wanted to try and get a clearer picture of exactly what Jason had had to deal with.

A soft, slightly sad smile crossing her face, Leslie tried to match Jason’s careful tone as she inquired further. “Can I ask, what illness did she have?”

nerdybirdboy​:

“Everything? Like things I see mostly, but also things I hear or smell. I then connect all the details to patterns. What else would it be?” Some of Tim’s confusion bled through in his expression, clearly not fully understanding why she asked him that questions. “It’s just the usual stuff.” He shrugged. If she was going to ask such basic question, this was definitely going to be a waste of time.

“Can’t you just ask what you need to deem me sane and be done with it? I’m not suicidal, except for when in class and dying of boredom.” Yes, he was joking and he was certain Leslie understood that. “Honestly, I don’t understand why Bruce got so upset about it or why he doesn’t trust me. I’m doing much more dangerous stuff several nights a week.” There it was, a hint of irritation, just barely noticeable for the skilled observer.

“You are sane Tim. That was never in doubt.”  He was annoyed. He wanted to gloss over whatever problems were there and continue on as planned. To not worry about himself and get back to being Robin. Leslie wondered how long he had been doing just that for exactly. It was too ingrained into his character to not be habbitual.

Making a note to go back to the details and patterns, she cut to the chase. “There is a difference in danger though, between fighting the villains and goons of Gotham, and self medicating and being exhausted to the point of an overdose, however accidental it may have been.” Leslie had her own opinion on the said fighting of villains and goons as well, but that wasn’t an argument she planned on having with the boy in front of her.

“You’re an intelligent young man Tim. I wouldn't dare pretend otherwise. If we apply some empathy, and consider Bruce’s point of view, is it that Bruce doesn’t trust you? Or is it that he is worried about his son and is trying to do his part as a responsible parent?”

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason wanted to leave.

He didn’t want to talk about his mother.

Didn’t want to share how he had witnessed the slow descent from over the counter painkillers into heroin and morphine.

He resisted the urge to get up and leave. And he pushed down his desire to look for another feasible way out. She’d report back to Bruce, and he couldn’t risk Bruce taking away what he had worked so hard for.

So, instead, he found himself shrugging again.

“Dunno,” Jason muttered, still fiddling with the water bottle. “She was in pain a lot. And – normal painkillers didn’t cut it eventually, y'know. She needed stronger stuff to keep going. And that…” Jason trailed off, knowing that she’d pick up on it. Everyone knew what that meant, especially down in the Alley. The streets were riddled with addicts and sob stories like his. And no one cared.

She had hoped it had been something else. Not that there were any pleasant alternatives considering that the woman had died long before she ought to have. 

Leslie didn’t want to delve any deeper, not for a first session, it wouldn’t be fair.

Tightening her face into a grim kind of understanding, she nodded, not wanting to segue without acknowledging  what he had said. “It sounds like you did your best to look after the both of you during a really difficult time.”

Letting the weight of the moment settle slightly, Leslie made another mental note to circle back to this - his parents. It would take some time before he was ready for that, she was sure.  

“Is reading still something you enjoy?”

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason struggled to keep his expression as passive as he could. He’d given away too much already, and there was no way in hell he had missed the look in her eyes. She wouldn’t let this go. And Jason decided, right then and there, that he hated therapy.

Still. He wasn’t rude. And he didn’t want to risk losing Robin, so he stayed in place, and looked back once the therapist asked him the next question.

“I do,” Jason replied, frowning a little as he tried to guess the angle of the topic change. “Bruce has a library he gave me access to.”

Taking a drink of the soda in front of her, Leslie was glad he seemed receptive to the subject change.

“It’s a good thing someone is reading those books now. I’ve seen them myself, it’s quite the collection.” It had been a while since she was last inside of Wayne Manor, but she doubted it had changed all that much. 

“Do you have any particular favourites? What is your school having you read this year?”

"Austen. How lovely. I imagine your teachers must be thrilled to have someone take such an interest in literature."

She didn't miss the way his eyes glanced to the clock on the wall. With a knowing curve of her lips, Leslie took another drink sitting back a little, glad to have successfully moved towards a more comfortable topic. She wondered how comfortable it actually was given his earlier comment. Leslie pressed forward, testing the waters.

"It's a little early maybe to be thinking about it, but I'm curious if you've given much thought to college yet. The last I spoke to Dick he seemed to be enjoying himself there."

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason struggled to keep his expression as passive as he could. He’d given away too much already, and there was no way in hell he had missed the look in her eyes. She wouldn’t let this go. And Jason decided, right then and there, that he hated therapy.

Still. He wasn’t rude. And he didn’t want to risk losing Robin, so he stayed in place, and looked back once the therapist asked him the next question.

“I do,” Jason replied, frowning a little as he tried to guess the angle of the topic change. “Bruce has a library he gave me access to.”

Taking a drink of the soda in front of her, Leslie was glad he seemed receptive to the subject change.

“It’s a good thing someone is reading those books now. I’ve seen them myself, it’s quite the collection.” It had been a while since she was last inside of Wayne Manor, but she doubted it had changed all that much. 

“Do you have any particular favourites? What is your school having you read this year?”

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason shrugged. Not all of his teachers liked him - some downright disliked him, always convinced he was up to no good. But there were teachers who seemed elated with his work and assignments. So it was alright, Jason could work with that.

But her college comment threw him off. “You’re talking to Dick?” Jason blurted it out before he could stop himself. Why was she still talking to Dick? He’d been Robin, he was Nightwing now, surely he didn’t need a green light from a therapist to do his job?! Did Bruce expect him to keep talking to her too!?

Leslie was careful not to react to Jason’s sudden outburst. At least at first. He sounded surprised. Betrayed? There was certainly something there. An edge to his words that gave something more than pleasantries away. 

After a pause, she nodded. Light and casual, with the slightest hint of fond scorn. “Of course. Not as often as I’d like, but he calls when he can.”

She observed him frowning to himself, trying to work something out for a moment longer before interjecting. “I’m curious. What it is about Dick and I talking, that surprises you?”

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason’s cheeks flashed bright red as he shrugged again, trying to play off his initial burst of panic. “Dunno,” he murmured, nervously looking away. “Thought that after this meet-up, it’d be done, y'know? Green light for the old man. But –”

She said Dick called her.

So, it was… casual?

“He just calls you, that’s it?”

“He calls, texts. The occasional lunch when we're both in the same city. I travel through to Bludhaven sometimes for work.” Leslie smiled softly, answering the easier question first, shoving the sense of alarm down for the moment. “I’ve known him since he was your age. A little younger perhaps?”

He thought he was there as some test? To be greenlit for the role as Robin? It was a severe oversight on her part, and Bruce's, that had to be corrected. Heaven forbid she think Bruce able to actually explain why he had asked Jason to see her.

Before Jason could interject, Leslie continued. "I'd like to clarify something with you Jason before we go any further. About being here and talking to me. I won't be talking to Bruce about the details of what goes on during our conversations. I suppose if I suspected you were a danger to yourself or... well I suppose hurting others is somewhat in the job description... My point is, it isn't my place to 'greenlight' anything. I wouldn't want to even if I were asked to."

"I'm here to hold a space for you to talk openly about your feelings, and hopefully reflect back in a way that makes things easier for you to deal with. Things already haven't been easy for you, and being Robin has unique challenges of its own. I want you to know that there's always someone willing to listen."

jp-todd-rp​:

Jason was quiet as Leslie spoke. But there was no mistaking the tension in his jaw. There was no mistaken the shine in his eyes. This wasn’t a meeting to approve him as Robin?! Then why was he even talking to her?! He shouldn’t have to, he didn’t want to. Jason glanced towards the clock again. The hour wasn’t quite done yet, but Jason couldn’t fight back the remark; “So if I don’t want to talk, I don’t have to?” and his tone was almost a challenge.

Ah shit.

There was no doubt about it. Leslie could practically see the walls reinforcing themselves up all around him, closing himself off from any connection she might have been able to form with him. It had been a misunderstanding, but the hurt permeating off of Jason’s small frame was palatable. Perhaps she could stave him off from running long enough to do some damage control. Give him something to think on.

She leaned forward, meeting his eyes sincerely. “Sometimes, when we’ve been through an ordeal - something traumatic, we think it’s easier to just push it down. Forget it ever happened. To try and carry on. It’s uncomfortable to give a voice and a space to the things that happened to us, terrifying really. And sometimes, when we’re not safe, it’s necessary to our survival to continue to push and push it away. The problem is, keep doing that for long enough and all that hurt? It festers. Coming out in ways we don’t expect and that are difficult to control.”

“Sometimes, to take the power away the things that have happened and take back control over our lives, we need to talk about it. Give a voice to it. Process. Grieve. It’s difficult. But it can help.”

“You have a safe space here, Jason. Free from judgement. I’d like it very much if you could remember that for me please.”

jp-todd-rp​:

Talk about it.

As if that was going to fix anything.

It wouldn’t fade the bruises Willis had left behind on him and his mom. Talking wouldn’t bring Catherine back. It wouldn’t make the memory of an empty stomach and freezing feet fade away. And it wouldn’t take away the greedy hands off of his skin.

Jason scoffed, shaking his head a little. “I don’t need to talk about it, ma'am. And I don’t want to keep dragging up the mess I left behind when Bruce found me. Whatever needs fixing, I can fix. Whatever ‘demons’ there are, I can fight. As myself I couldn’t do shit. As Robin I can.”

As Robin, I’m worth something more.

Leslie was quiet for a moment, allowing Jason's words to hang in the air. It was a valid point, if what happened hadn't effected him, didn't have any power over him, then why would he want to talk about it? But then, Leslie thought rather instead that he was deferring the issues. Hoping they would disappear entirely if only he could turn into someone else. Someone he percieved as better.

She shifted slightly in her seat. "Robin isn't a person. It's a construct. A persona. A mantle. You can be Robin, but you'll still always also be Jason. Someone who has a lot of merit all on his own."

She caught the look on the young boys fsce and pressed forward again before he had chance to interrupt her.

"I think you would do yourself a disservice if you forgot about Jason. After all, he is just as important, if not more so than Robin."

jp-todd-rp​:

And Jason couldn’t help it.

He scoffed.

“Jason Todd is worth nothing compared to Robin,” he bit back, fury and shame burning bright in his gut. “He had to resort to crime to make it through the winter. He scrounged his meals from dumpsters. As Robin, as Bruce’s partner, I can make a difference, both for myself and for the city. Why would want to ‘just’ be Jason Todd, when I can be so much more?”

Leslie was calm, unflinching, allowing Jason to snarl, the self loathing in his voice ringing out clearly.

"Well that's just the thing. Isn't it? Jason Todd had to do those things. If he had been given a choice? An alternative. If things had been different? Would he have done the same thing if given another chance?

Discreetly, Leslie caught the time on her wristwatch and fought against the urge to sigh. They were just starting to get into it...

"I have a challenge for you. If you think you're up to it." She allowed just a hint of doubt into her voice in an attempt to goad him slightly.