[Being assumed to be white like most superheroes has been a very welcome change. People talk to Nothing, listen, take warnings seriously, and even when other superheroes who it has beef with have slandered it, no one has ever assumed violent intent from Nothing without provocation. These are not rights. These are privileges that can go away in an instant. So the helmet has stayed on through thick and thin, every inch of skin is covered, layers stay on in summer, and the public is none the wiser. No one questions something as ingrained as white-as-the-default. And Nothing gets more civil treatment while lurking in the dark and calling itself Nothing than it got in the light under a full legal name.
Batman saw Nothing unmasked, but between being drugged and having its' hair mussed by a trafficker who thought Nothing looked younger that way, it isn't sure if Batman knows its' actual identity. If he does, he's never said anything. He's also never said anything about Nothing's race to anyone else, including Jason, which is appreciated. He did insist on buying Nothing a burner phone, which was too practical to turn down, even if Nothing half-suspects the thing was bugged.]
I know. Cops don't touch kids in my neighborhood and I don't touch them in return. We reached an understanding around the second police cruiser I totaled. They may not care about kids, but they care about cash, and cruisers are expensive. It's not much - I'm not saving everyone, I know that - but it's better than nothing. I try. And somehow, somewhere along the way, after years of doing this and not showing my face to a single person, this, [it gestures to the mask with its' free (visible) hand,] started feeling normal. It feels comfortable. I kind of forget I have it on, sometimes.
I know you wouldn't treat me differently. You give off the vibe of someone who'd punch the cops from my old neighborhood directly in the face. But I feel better this way. I see my own face so rarely I don't... I don't really identify with it, if that makes sense? It's my face but it doesn't feel like mine. And my superpowers have changed it. My eyes aren't the same as they used to be, and that's... [awful. disgusting. impossible to look at for great lengths of time] hard to take.
It's not you, it's me. You haven't done anything wrong.
no subject
Batman saw Nothing unmasked, but between being drugged and having its' hair mussed by a trafficker who thought Nothing looked younger that way, it isn't sure if Batman knows its' actual identity. If he does, he's never said anything. He's also never said anything about Nothing's race to anyone else, including Jason, which is appreciated. He did insist on buying Nothing a burner phone, which was too practical to turn down, even if Nothing half-suspects the thing was bugged.]
I know. Cops don't touch kids in my neighborhood and I don't touch them in return. We reached an understanding around the second police cruiser I totaled. They may not care about kids, but they care about cash, and cruisers are expensive. It's not much - I'm not saving everyone, I know that - but it's better than nothing. I try. And somehow, somewhere along the way, after years of doing this and not showing my face to a single person, this, [it gestures to the mask with its' free (visible) hand,] started feeling normal. It feels comfortable. I kind of forget I have it on, sometimes.
I know you wouldn't treat me differently. You give off the vibe of someone who'd punch the cops from my old neighborhood directly in the face. But I feel better this way. I see my own face so rarely I don't... I don't really identify with it, if that makes sense? It's my face but it doesn't feel like mine. And my superpowers have changed it. My eyes aren't the same as they used to be, and that's... [awful. disgusting. impossible to look at for great lengths of time] hard to take.
It's not you, it's me. You haven't done anything wrong.