etrayalogs | ( closed ) bred, born, and raised to kick your ass

I don't invite people into my head.

( works hard to keep them out of it, actually. has spent years training his mind to prevent exactly this from happening. works hard to ensure it stays that way, and yet, here they are - smelling breakfast as cooked by alfred, hearing the taptaptap of a keyboard followed by grayson's laughter and soft murmurs coming from drake in return. )

We must be here for a reason.

( a beat. )

Unless this is because of that cream you put on me. You also touched it in applying it to me.

( not that he's saying that's what this is, but. he's not exactly ruling it out either. )

Yes, of course. This is my fault.

( unfortunately, damian isn't wearing his mask and he can't quite hold back the urge to roll his eyes.

which means he does it right in front of bruce. )

Entirely on me.

That's not what I meant.

( it's said softly yet dryly at the same time and he takes a few steps around the kitchen. looking it over. )

I'm just trying to figure out why we're here. How.

What happened when you were fighting your feline friend?

( backtracking a little further, given he's fairly certain it's related to bruce's injuries. or the antibiotics. or aurora's clear need to get people here to bond regardless of whether or not they want to. )

There wasn't a fight. A cat was startled and it scratched me accidentally.

( he'd said as much before and it's the truth in what happened.

he's taking it upon himself to look around the kitchen — lets the tips of fingers gently touch at the surface of a counter and just... stands there. looking to it. it's not home but it's... still so relatively close to it. )

This is what you're here to protect. ( he looks to damian then. ) Your family.

I--. . . yes.

( it's their home. the place grayson had moved them to after bruce's 'death'. to create their own space, redefining what it meant to be batman and robin, because they were different. a new duo, doing their best to find their rhythm. )

My father disappeared shortly after I decided to leave Mother and stay with him permanently. ( he said he wasn't discussing her, but this isn't quite the same. ) He had his own Robin, and didn't intend to take me on with him. The Batman in the other room--he made me his Robin. Showed me I could be more than my bloodline.

( all this talk of batmen and robins is... a lot to process. the bulk of it making little sense to him. there are no partners, no children, no family outside of alfred for him back in his own gotham. to see how much it's expanded... how much the idea of batman has grown, if even in some other world which, as a thought itself, is not one he can claim to have ever believed he would have, let alone entertain...

he's still trying to wrap his head around a number of things here and just when he thinks he has it even relatively figured out or processed to the point of somewhat making sense, something else comes along to be added to everything else. never ending.

he pockets his hands. takes another moment to look around. to see what he can within damian's subconscious. within memories. within moments he seems to keep fondly. )

Family legacy.

( words soft. contemplative. )

I know about it.

I know.

( it goes without saying, but he points it out regardless. damian had been the one who was angered by seeing this child wearing his cowl. or something close to it. he was the one who had snapped at bruce about his legacy, his birthright. one he is still keeping claim to, even if it's one he has shared with grayson. one he would share again if it became necessary, but he knows well how little he had wanted it. how much better he is at being nightwing than batman.

the edges around the windows begin to blur, but it doesn't seem to bother damian any. instead, he's - walking past the kitchen area, toward the hallway further down. )

Don't touch anything.

( his own legacy is so much different than that which damian has. to walk in the footsteps of his father — thomas wayne — alfred is so desperately trying to get him to do better. to be better and be more than the batman, but. as far as bruce is concerned, doing whatever it takes to try and save gotham from itself is keeping with his father's legacy. even if it kills him, too, in the end.

watching damian make his way toward the hall, he follows after a moment. hands still there in his pockets. quiet. )

( the penthouse gives way into something - a lot closer to what batman would have. a large room, walls painted dark, a short staircase leading down to an area where there's a motorcycle and a batmobile parked. batman sits at the large computer, his cowl removed. it's clear it's not bruce, even if damian had already explained it: he's holding himself loosely, and while his face, too, is blurred, the smile in his voice is evident as he speaks to the same teen who had walked through earlier, who leans in against the back of the chair. the words aren't clear, but they're not what matters. )

We're in Wayne Tower. I'm fairly sure this is shortly after Red Robin lost his spleen.

( for everything that comes across as familiar, there are differences to go alongside it. similar enough for bruce to be able to recognize a place or thing, but not enough to really claim it as his own. from his gotham. so when they step into wayne tower, he simply lets his eyes scan over it. take in what looks and feels familiar and makes mental notes of what doesn’t.

another “batman”, for one.

the blurred faces he chalks up to being a sort of defence mechanism, what with their being inside damian‘s thoughts. dreams. memories. he notes the body language more than anything else and looks to damian after a moment. )

How many of you Robins are there?

I'm the fifth and current.

( counting just robins, which is all bruce is asking for. he could tell him about the batgirls, about stephanie's career as both a robin, and batgirl. or about thomas, the signal. but bruce asks specifically about robins, and thus, what he gets is information on robins. )

The first became Robin long before I was born.

( that's... a lot more than he anticipated? granted, he has no idea what he thought that number would be, but. the look on his face and the lack of words says it all, really. as with so much here, it's a lot to process. even for him. )

Why are we here?

( he pieces together the words quick enough. refers to their being in the tower. in this batcave. these are damian's thoughts, dreams, memories. he's the one leading them places. )

The one who had been Red Robin is on Etraya.

( the initial answer comes quickly enough, even if the follow-up is a little. . . slower to be voiced. )

We'd recently discussed his lost spleen. ( because it showed up, in a bag. ) This was right around the time I saw him after he returned from losing it. I'm assuming that's why we're here.

( and there's also the bit of, )

This is a lot safer than the alternative.

( the logical thing to ask would be what sort of lives are you living? but. considering the sorts of things that happen in his own life currently... if they're anything like him with that sort of lifestyle, well. he doesn't really need to ask that question. he already has an idea.

and he's not even seasoned with it yet. )

Not because it showed up here?

( only asking because of random things being found as of late. the R, for one. )

Yes. Because his spleen had showed up here.

( this is drake's fault. all of it is drake's fault. if drake would speak to bruce, if they would share what each other has shared with him, they would be on the same page regarding how far they should. . . identify each other.

and if they go too far into this conversation, damian's focus is going to shift, too. to the spine that had shown up with damage that damian could recognize as what he suffered. )

( deciding to shift the topic away from that, he looks around. takes a moment. looks back over to damian then with hands still there in his coat pockets. )

Can you control what we're seeing? Where we're going?

( again. it's not as if he has any sort of experience with any of this. )

If I controlled this, I wouldn't be ten. I'm thirteen, not -

( fingers grab hold of his shirt - it's a robin tunic, even if it's not the same one damian wears on etraya. it's his original, the one he'd first donned. but his point is less about the clothing, and more about the fact he's fitting in it. his mouth presses together after, an irritated little scrunch on the bridge of his nose as he looks around. )

I've trained for similar scenarios, ( telepaths, a secretive vigilante's worst nightmare. ) so I might be able to shift it.

( and, a little quieter, )

I don't usually have good dreams.

( it's a hypothesis of his. considering where they are and while he can't exactly say this is a case of lucid dreaming, where one might still be able to shift and control the things they see within their dreams, it could be close enough.

a gentle look to damian at that last part, he licks over his lips. casts his glance away. words soft. understanding. )

Neither do I.

( it's why sometimes it's best to simply force himself to the point of exhaustion in the hopes he might be too tired to even dream. )

I can try.

( since he has a feeling that's what bruce wants to do: try to shift, test the limits of whatever this is. damian understands; if it were anyone's head but his own, he would recommend something similar. )

But I can't guarantee it won't put us somewhere less pleasant.

( just think happy thoughts, damian. although he knows how difficult that is himself. so, instead of that, what he attempts to offer is some form of encouragement. )

You don't need to try. This is your mind. You can do it.

( except he does need to try. the green outside the windows is a dark reminder of everything he's been keeping from bruce, intentionally blinding him to because he knows how negatively bruce will respond once he finds out. not necessarily to damian himself, but how much it will - hurt him.

he looks to bruce, then forwards to the pair idly chatting on. takes several steps toward them, stopping when he's on batman's other side. batman turns his attention to damian, smile clear on his face even if the rest of his features are blurred. he offers a soft, "what's up, champ?", that damian responds to only by leaning in closer, pressing his forehead against batman's arm while batman's other arm raises to wrap around him.

to some, it might be called a hug.

damian's eyes close, and the world around them shifts between one moment and the next. no longer are they in the penthouse, but in the batcave - the one damian had been in not too long before he'd awoken on a strange hospital bed. there's the massive t-rex, the coin, the robin costume that had once belonged to todd in it's proper display case. a lot of the finer details are spot on - except there's also, in the middle of the cave, a massive lazarus pit that does not belong.

batman is gone, as is the teenager. the batcomputer's running through data, a series of numbers that bruce would recognize as morse code if he decided to try deciphering it. and damian's standing by the edge of the pool, thirteen once more, staring down into green. )

( he watches everything that plays out before them — makes mental notes of things he sees and doesn't see while he stands there. letting everything unfold as it does. this is damian's mind. his dreams. there's not much he can do but let him guide them to wherever or whatever he does. not... exactly trusting him, but. letting him guide them.

when everything shifts and they're in the cave again, he takes a moment to look around. notices the green glowing pit and looks for damian's reaction to it — to being here now. steps slow, he comes up beside him, hands there in his pockets as he does. )

Why are we here?

( something he keeps asking him. to try and gauge damian's current state of mind. )

It's neutral territory.

( the batcave is his and bruce. it belongs to the rest of their family, it's a shared space. even if the pit here in the middle isn't supposed to be here at all. damian's shoulders are tense as he eyes the pool, and he's - taking a step forward and towards bruce, to stand in front of him.

best to avoid any pit incidents, he'll use his own body to block bruce's from going into it. )

You didn't specify where when you said elsewhere, I assumed this would be reasonable.

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