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

I won't do it again.

( a declaration made between them. he used it once, he's not using it again. bruce's statement of it being weird would generally be enough to warrant damian saying it repeatedly except - he agrees, definitely weird.

(the batman who laughs does not deserve to be called father. nor does he or his associates deserve to be called by name. this is different.)

bruce meets his eyes, and damian looks right back at him for several moments. maintains eye contact, before green drifts down to eye the cowl instead. the lack of proper lenses is going to irritate him until damian is able to fix it. it's not just the lack of eye protection, it's the exposure. there's plenty of reason to cover one's eyes, even if bruce has shown he's perfectly capable of maintaining an almost cold expression when he's wearing the cowl--what you would expect from batman. )

You haven't met her yet. My mother.

( in case he was curious. damian is assuming bruce has already figured that out: he would have recognized her in his features. in the green eyes that reflect the same stubborn streak bruce has, in the curve of his nose. )

Which explains why I was able to cut you. And why your taser is so weak.

( he doesn't disagree with him. there's a high probability he hasn't met the woman who becomes damian's mother. he's... not really sure how to feel about that, in all honesty. relationships, family of any sort outside of alfred... they're not things on his mind currently. not things on any sort of priority list, real or make-believe. everything is about the gotham project right now. his drive. his desire. his fixation. his obsession. so much to the point that bruce wayne barely exists as it is. so to come here and discover there's a chance he might, at some point, end up with a child— with a son who falls into the same sort of life he's choosing to have for himself now... he doesn't know how to feel.

still. this isn't all about him and he knows that. knows it must be strange and difficult for damian at times to be around someone who is and isn't the man he considers his father. he doesn't even know how he'd feel if he were to have some man here who was and wasn't alfred at the same time. it's... jarring and complicated. at least that's how he thinks he'd feel.

so it's why he's gentle in the way he looks to him. takes a moment to consider before he asks, softly. )

Do you want to talk about her?

( he doesn't have to, just. he's brought her up a couple times and so he wonders if he's been wanting to but hasn't been sure he should. )

No.

( damian misses her. his relationship with talia may be complex, but she is his mother. she's the woman who raised, trained, loved, and protected him when needed. who got him killed by his clone, who had almost sacrificed his life to ensure her father would continue on. he has a feeling, now, that his introduction to his father may have been an intentional deterrent on her part to avoid his demise at ra's hands. ra's, who damian also holds a lot of complex feelings toward. both of whom aren't here, are still on a planet that may or may not be destroyed depending on damian's actions.

there's jon, too. jon, who would have been a better person to select for this than damian. his father, and grayson. countless others he misses, who he would do anything to save.

but he realizes too why bruce is asking. this isn't the first time damian has said mother, after stating they wouldn't discuss her. less - her, as an idea. more her as a person. from damian's readings, it doesn't look like bruce has confronted the league of assassins. he has an idea of damian's upbringing from his actions, the way he moves, speaks, but he doesn't know. )

It was an observation. You have not met her, she hasn't had the chance to get her hands on your DNA. ( that's one way of putting it. ) Nor have you had the chance to learn how to counteract her. I can assist with that.

( there's a pause that happens — a thought that touches bruce with with the way damian says that. hasn't had the chance to get her hands on your dna. a thought that makes him feel almost uncomfortable and one he'll come back to later — possibly numerous times — when he's alone and not here in the bedroom of his deceased parents.

not here with some version of a son who shares his blood.

rather than focus on that, he looks down to his cowl, having noticed the way damian had glanced to it and looks back over to him then. )

When were you born?

( he's, essentially, asking when his birthday is. )

( damian was trained to recognize minute changes in the atmosphere around him, in the moods of others, in body language. he recognizes it, but keeps quiet. replays the words he'd said to himself and realizes how that could be taken (which. it isn't wrong necessarily, but) and opts to try and backtrack. )

I was removed from the artificial womb Mother had gestated me in on August ninth, two thousand and five. My birth certificate reflects this.

( it's close enough to backtracking, isn't it. )

She and my father had. . . relations, ( his expression goes sour the moment he says it, nose scrunching up. damian resists the urge to gag, because, gross. ) But my birth was atypical.

( he... didn't need to know that, but. damian goes and says it and bruce just... stares off across the room. lets the moment pass before he's looking back over to him. )

You must miss them.

( his words are soft as he says that. as he refers to damian's parents. then, a moment. a thought. hm. )

If I can get you back to them, I will.

Edited 2024-04-19 21:34 (UTC)

I miss Nightwing.

( it's not a lie. it's avoiding discussing his parents, or bruce's statement of getting him back. damian wants to save his world, but he also doesn't want to risk others. if he could save everything, he would. )

He's an irritant, but one who is more capable of managing situations like this.

( a gesture, between bruce and himself. you know. that mess. )

( there's a hum there on his lips, just barely heard. gaze drifting away from the boy beside him and across the room he still knows so well from when he, himself, was a boy. younger than damian. when both his parents were still alive. )

I don't know a Nightwing. ( to no one's surprise. ) But I feel the same about Alfred. ( a beat. ) Not with being an irritant, but. Missing him. More than I ever realized.

( and with being away from him given the condition he's currently in... it's hard for him to not feel all sorts of ways about it. about possibly never seeing his adoptive father figure again. )

I know you don't. ( he hasn't met grayson yet. he won't know who nightwing is. there is always the chance that he could have known the moniker through kryptonian legends, but given bruce's. . . everything, damian knew how unlikely it was before he ever mentioned the name. )

Pennyworth has always been the glue that holds everything together. Like I said, he'll be alright.

( once they're able to save everything and can return home, at least. after their respective universes have been saved. because they'll save them both. save them all. damian just hasn't figured out how yet. )

( gaze dropping down to his cowl, he lets whatever remnants of bruce wayne slipping through here gently fade. he needs to focus. needs to remember the reason for why he's here. )

I need to figure out what we're up against. Figure out Aurora and the one she answers to. I don't trust them. Don't trust all of this.

( the room they're sitting in. the tower. the manor. everything. overlooking the fact that bruce has absolutely no experience in dealing with supernatural events, superpowered beings, or other worlds entirely just yet, he's also not one to blindly trust or think his best interest is in mind with another. especially one who seemingly just snatches him from his gotham and drops him here. )

I don't either.

( bruce folds back into batman, and damian's raising his domino mask to paste it back onto his face. presses thumbs in against the area above his eyes, then below - to make sure it's sticking well. it hasn't fallen off yet but now would be a terrible time for it to start. )

The robots and Aurora are the only two outsiders we have the ability to speak with. Aurora's public responses indicate her programming may be blocking her ability to respond to certain questions. If we can get around her limitations, we may be able to get more answers. Either directly out of her or out of her source code.

( he slips his cowl on. does it relatively slowly. fastens it in the way it often is and, in doing so, fully becomes the batman. a slow tilt of his head, he looks to damian. considers his words. then rises from the edge of the bed to stand there, slight turn as he does. )

No one should have the final word in which worlds are saved and which are not deemed worthy to be.

( it goes along with his no killing mentality he has. )

Playing judge, jury, and executioner. I don't like it.

Edited 2024-04-21 17:35 (UTC)

( there are numerous ways he could respond to that. damian - doesn't disagree with bruce, but doesn't quite agree either. no, no one should have that power. but if there are choices to be made, if there is no other option, choices do have to be made, and it should be up to someone capable of sifting through what they have and choosing correctly. cut off the rotting branches to allow better ones to grow in their place.

but damian won't say that. instead, he pulls himself up to his feet. nods his head. )

Do you have a plan?

Not yet.

( but that's not to say he won't at some point. )

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

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