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

( he does get down, but not to go to his bed.

instead, damian presses a palm against the top of the cowl, uses it to climb off of bruce's shoulders and drops down to the floor in front of him. walks over to the single night stand in front of his cot and pulls out a sketchbook that had been hidden under it. takes out a pencil after, and sits on top of the cot with the sketchbook opened to an empty page. )

Clark Kent is not the kind of man who would choose one world over another, even if it involved his own. If he was willing to make the decision, that would be enough of a sign he is not one to be trusted.

( it's still a risk for bruce. one he's not so sure he's willing to take, given everything— everyone at stake.

he lets damian crawl down. watches him as he goes over to the night stand then to the cot. quiet. mulling over everything that he's been told about clark kent and the interaction they've just had together out in front of the manor. )

Would you?

( he asks then, softly. )

Choose yours over another?

( he's sketching. it's the rough shape of a face, an oval with a line going through the center, two intersecting. but damian doesn't get very far, before he - stops. presses his lips together has he mulls it over. it's something he has thought of a lot since arriving here, but hasn't been able to--hasn't been able to make that choice, even internally to himself. he would choose his own, to save his family, but that's not the right choice to make. he knows that. )

I would lose regardless of the choice I make.

( is the answer he settles on instead. )

If I let other worlds perish to save my own, I may save those I've left behind, but I'll lose Damian Wayne. If I choose not to, I lose those who have made holding onto Damian Wayne important.

( his gaze lifts, settles on damian, and he's silent as he watches him. watches the way he stops his sketching and takes a moment to consider that. consider the one thing so many of them here may be forced into at some point. he hopes that isn't how it'll go, but. it's not as if he's ever been in this position— this situation before. he really doesn't know what to expect. )

I'm sorry you've been put in this position.

( it's not fair. especially for a kid. )

I would say it's better me than others, but unfortunately, we've had an influx of new arrivals I am familiar with.

( some he knows have already run into bruce, and now there's kent, too. damian returns back to his sketching now that he's. . . given an answer, even if it's an unsatisfactory one.

it's a young man, somewhere in his mid to late twenties. damian roughly shapes the eyes out before covering them with a domino mask. carefully traces out the shape of dick's nose, the curve of his jawline, before moving onto the mess of hair on top of his head. )

Yeah. Seems like it.

( he's run into a couple of them himself and, like with damian, doesn't know them.

quiet again, he turns some. doesn't leave, just. turns. looks around the room slowly. the one damian has here for himself in this rendition of the manor. it's only after a moment that he slowly looks in the other's direction, even if his gaze is dropped. he takes a second. bites the inside of his cheek. )

At least you have them now.

I already have you.

( his hand raises. moves to grab hold of the cape bruce is wearing to tug on it, towards him. the hand holding the pencil pauses above the page; without his other hand holding the paper still, it'll slide, and he doesn't want to make a mess. )

We're going to go over the new arrivals, including Clark Kent. It will be a lot of information at once, but I am certain you would prefer that over learning unexpectedly.

( damian tugs on his cape and bruce lets him. takes one step towards him there on the cot, blue eyes just barely looking to him through the grease paint that still wears fresh under his cowl. )

Is that what you're doing now?

( with his scribbling and all. )

Yes.

( his hand drops from the cape to finish the rough sketch of nightwing. moves onto a second sketch: one of a woman about the same age as nightwing, with long flowing hair and glasses. one damian knows bruce ran into in the cave, because damian had been there too. even if he'd spent most of their meeting time sleeping. )

With sketches?

( given that's... what it looks like he's doing. )

They're a start.

( the portrait of barbara gets ripped out of the sketchbook, and dropped onto the cot beside him as damian starts on another sketch on a new page. )

Burn it after you've looked. Nightwing is the first. He is my eldest brother, the one who became Batman after my father had. . . disappeared temporarily. Not my brother by blood. As I said, I am Batman's only blood son. Barbara Gordon, you're already familiar with.

( he glances down. doesn't bother to pick either of them up. the lenses will retain the images even after he's burned them. )

Somewhat.

I trust Nightwing with my life, and yours. If you need someone to go to, he is obnoxious and annoying, but also kind-hearted and patient. I was not--I have never been a normal child. When Mother brought me to Father, I wore his patience down quickly. Nightwing spent a significant amount of time working with me despite how difficult I made it for him.

( he doesn't know how else to talk up grayson without being annoying about it. )

Barbara Gordon is too clever for her own good. But she is trustworthy. ( the next sketch features someone in their late teens whose uniform is close to damian's, but not exact. the "R" on his chest closely matches his at least. )

( bruce hasn't been a child since his parents were murdered, so. maybe they're somewhat similar there. in having childhoods stolen from them. it's unfortunate, he thinks, that damian— that [some version of] his own son ends up having to go through that as well. to be denied such a thing due to circumstances outside their control.

he continues to stand there. continues to wait for damian to do his sketches. sketches, which, he admits are quite talented. all while simultaneously thinking back to how quickly clark kent had arrived when he'd called for him... and how worrisome that can potentially be. )

( the current rough sketch gets finished with a number 3 drawn near the boy's face. he wears a stupidly smug smirk on his lips, like he's proud of himself.

damian leaves it as is and moves his hand to the other side of the paper. begins drawing the shape of a face, but draws a hood over it. )

Robin the third. He answered to Red Robin briefly, but returned to just Robin. Like Gordon, he's. . . clever. One of the most intelligent among us. ( with a brief pause, as he presses down hard on the paper to draw a line through the hood. ) Don't tell him I said that. He won't believe you. He's been here roughly as long as you and I have, same as Red Hood here. Robin the second. He's volatile, and a great fighter. I would say, without a doubt, he could take you as you are currently. It's more likely he'll avoid you as long as possible. He and Father have a complex relationship.

( that page gets ripped out of the sketchbook, and he moves onto the next. pauses to get more lead out of the mechanical pencil. the shape of the next face is softer, and instead of starting with the facial features, he starts with her hair: long, flowing, messy bangs falling over her forehead. )

( damian keeps sketching. keeps tearing out pages, only to start on a new one and it becomes increasingly obvious that there's more than just a couple around [now] that damian knows. that are from the gotham robin here calls home.

brow furrowed beneath the cowl, he stares to the new sketch for only a moment before his gaze is lifting up to damian's face. )

...how many of these are you drawing?

Stephanie Brown. Robin the fourth.

( his current sketch. she gets a softer, more playful smile. he met her without her spoiler gear here, so he'll run with that for now. bruce will find out the rest eventually regardless. the image of her gets labeled with a 4, before he moves onto another sketch beside it. another girl, with shorter hair that he fills in with the pencil, indicating it's darker. her expression is more - neutral. not smiling, not scowling either. )

Cassandra Cain. Another child Father adopted. She can read body language extremely well.

( notice how he still hasn't answered bruce's question yet. though he does tear out that page, sets it aside with the rest, and stops for a moment. furrows his brows. )

Those are the ones from Gotham proper. There is a second Nightwing.

That's seven, including you. Eight if you add the second Nightwing.

( and bruce just... stares off at that. seven— potentially eight who all know each other. know some version of him while he... doesn't have a single person here from his own gotham. suddenly, there's so many more with the potential to be concerned about. to be a problem for him and he's left standing there. staring off. feeling... he doesn't know. here he'd just been getting used to having damian around. but to suddenly go from one to the possibility of eight... and then there's superman.

he looks down to the various sketches again. looks up to damian. stares to him. quiet. processing all of this as swiftly as he can even if it'll weigh on him later in ways he won't allow himself to deal with right now. )

Seems like you have your family here now.

( he hears the context behind those words that bruce doesn't allow himself to say. looks up from where he's tearing the page out of the sketchbook and - just looks to bruce. watches him carefully. there are a few ways he could respond, and damian immediately trashes several. knows they'll cause more harm than good at this point. )

You are my family, too. Robin and Red Hood have always been here, yet I have stayed by your side. This won't change regardless of who appears.

( bruce needs someone. he's alone, new to the cowl, without alfred. someone needs to watch out for batman, and that's robin's job. drake, todd, grayson, brown, cain, gordon - they all know to watch each other's backs. they'll call on one another when necessary. bruce needs damian more than they do. )

( are we? he wants to ask but... refrains. later, when he has time to sit with all this, he'll do his best to work through it. or not. distract himself with the batmobile or something else in wayne terminus.

gaze dropping, he falls silent. like always. says more with what he doesn't say. like always. )

I'm not asking you to.

( stay by his side, he means. )

You wouldn't regardless.

( bruce won't ask them to stay. would never, because he's batman. damian understands that. which is why he's not waiting for bruce to ask him, but has already decided himself that he is staying. )

But I am Batman's partner, and I have no intention of neglecting my responsibilities. Even if you disagree they are my responsibilities. I've already claimed them, you're not going to change my mind.

( hm. well. he's not wrong in assuming that.

for a long moment, he's silent. still trying to process the seven— eight from some version of gotham that are suddenly here. he'll dwell more on it later by himself, as expected but, for now, he chooses to just let it remain as something to deal with later. if he does at all. )

Is that all you need to tell me?

Are you intending on leaving, or going back to sleep?

( because his answer depends on bruce's answer. there's more he could divulge. most likely shouldn't, because he knows this is already overwhelming as-is, but his father prefers to be prepared, and damian has the means of which to prepare him. )

What else?

( because clearly there's more. )

( bruce has decades to catch up on, as far as damian is concerned. decades, of which damian doesn't really want to spend time going over, because it's too much. he's dropped enough on his shoulders as-is. )

Is there anything else you would want to know, or have I given you enough information for now?

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

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