say that you're grateful for the time alone, two years away and i don't miss home;

[xuffasch]

WHO: xuffasch & YOU;
WHERE: Various places throughout the city;
WHEN: All day Friday;
WARNINGS: n/a
SUMMARY: A day in the life of Damian Wayne, with interruptions from YOU.
FORMAT: Reply as you like and I will follow; specify time, too!



↬ MID-MORNING;

If you were to ask Damian about things he never did, one of the first he’d list would be sulking. However, Damian is a terrible liar, because sulking is exactly what he’d been doing for the past few days, though he would never admit it. Watching events unfolding and having no control over them is enough to chafe his already irritable nature, but the fact that Grayson isn’t around is what makes it all the worse. Robin is a formidable force, but without Batman he can be a purposeless one.

Which is why he found himself where he was now, lying on his back on the rooftop of the apartment building he and Grayson had been living in for the past few months. The kitten he’d adopted is there, as well, laying across his stomach as he stares up at the sky. Damian’s legs are hanging out over the edge of the building, and though his body is relaxed his expression is fierce and he is hardly off-guard.

Occasionally he’ll shift his position or mutter something under his breath, but for the most part he just lays there, impassive. Unless, of course, someone sees fit to interrupt.

↬ AFTERNOON;

For someone who prides himself on his ability to adapt, Damian tends to be very habitual. Even after arriving in the City, it had taken him no more than a few weeks to set up a few haunts, and one of those was the corner bakery. Famous for their frivolously-decorated cupcakes, the bakers now know Damian by face, and his order of tall black coffee which he paired with different sweets—they swear he was steadily eating his way through the entire menu.

Today, he sits at his usual corner table. There is a single cupcake wrapper left empty one on side, surrounded by five empty cups that once held coffee. Sprawled across the table are various papers—maps, handwritten notes, print-outs and blueprints. Curious about Damian’s scrawl is its mirrored quality, nearly impossible to read without first reflecting it. Also curious is the different scripts and languages he uses. Every so often, he lifts his pen to his mouth and knocks it thoughtfully against his chin. His expression is one of utmost concentration, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t watching everyone else in the place, coming and going.

↬ MIDNIGHT;

Robin sits on the edge of a building—or perhaps “crouches” is more the right term for it. In any case, he surveys the city with a mixed expression of distaste and resignation, until he catches something out of the corner of his eye. It’s at this point that he swoops down into an alleyway, breaking up a robbery before it can occur. He knocks one man over as he touches down, shoving his elbow up under another’s chin. If he’s even more violent than normal, the people he’s attacking certainly aren’t in a position to complain. But someone else might be.

Comments

[xuffasch]

"Which is who I should be," he argued automatically, not caring that he was talking in circles. It was one thing for him to reveal information to her; it was quite another for her to make judgments about him. Almost unacceptable. "Tt. I don't need to go through with any of that nonsense of 'finding myself' or 'having fun' or any of it. I know who I am, what I was born to do. That's enough."

[blondevigilante]

Rolling her eyes she mentally told herself she wasn't going to argue with a ten year old except she really couldn't help it, and besides they weren't arguing just talking.

"What's wrong with having fun?"

[xuffasch]

"It wastes time, it achieves nothing, and it weakens an otherwise resolved spirit."

[blondevigilante]

"Keep telling yourself that, kid."

Steph moved to stand closer to the edge of the roof. At least Damian had picked a spot with a decent view. "So tell me oh wise one, why do you do it?"

[xuffasch]

"Not a kid," he mutters thickly. And then, as though to simply be contrary, Damian leans back as she moves forward. He's no longer looking at her. "Do what?"

[blondevigilante]

"Fight. Yeah, I get your whole sense of duty, but is there anything more?" She had a list. Literally. Some nights where hard and threatened to make her hard, but then she'd lay in her bed and read that list. It made things good again when she remembered why she had to stay strong, but also why she had to care.

[xuffasch]

Damian wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to answer that question. He didn't know what he'd even be doing if he wasn't Robin; maybe he'd still be with Talia, biding his time among the assassins. Or perhaps he'd have gone off on his own, to do...what, exactly? There were two roads presented to him: his mother's, and his father's. He'd chosen the latter, and knew of nothing else he could do. He'd chosen it, yes, but how deeply had he thought about it before doing so?

"I have my reasons," he says after a moment. And then, more quietly, "What else would I do?"

[blondevigilante]

Yeah, that whole being made to fight thing really made life unnecessarily difficult. Cass seemed to be doing alright though, so there was hope for Damian is Steph opinion.

"That's where the fun comes in...and some of the unfun. School, friends, all that little stuff helps you learn about this world. The fight is worth it, believe me, but only if you know why you pull on the cape every night. It's all a bit after-school special, but worth it."

[xuffasch]

"I don't need those things," he protests, too used to arguing with her to do otherwise, and too stubborn to admit he might be right. "What would a school possibly teach me? And I don't want friends. They're liabilities."

[blondevigilante]

He is right about liabilities. It's something she's thought about a lot especially when it comes to her mother, but in the end it's all worth it and she wants him to see that.

"School teaches you about social interaction and gives you chance to find some of those liabilities. You and Big B might think emotional connections to people are liabilities, but if you cut yourself off from people then you become a machine, and maybe you might become like those people we hunt. They've lost touch with humanity and look at them." Steph spins and sits back down, probably closer to Damian than he would like. "Keeping that connection raises you above them. It keeps you human."

[xuffasch]

Humanity is a relative term, Damian thinks bitterly. This is a boy who had no concept of the value of human life until a short time ago, a boy who is still deciding whether it wouldn't be easier to take out those people who threaten or annoy him. After a moment, however, he just huffs dismissively.

"I don't think I want to be human."

[blondevigilante]

She has to resist the urge to wrap an arm around him like she would Cass. There's something that draws her to him pushing her to remind him that it's okay to just be a kid now and again. Maybe it's because even with all the crap she went through as a kid she still found time to just be a kid.

"It's not that bad. Given half a chance it can even be fulfilling. Seven billion people can't be that wrong, can they?"

[xuffasch]

"Statistically? Probably not. Truthfully? It's entirely likely." Growing up with Talia, he had always been taught that the vast majority of people were below him, in every way. Coming out into the world, this view was slowly starting to change, but old habits died hard.

[blondevigilante]

"Okay, toss the stats and truth and think about what you feel." Steph looked over at him and frowned. "Maybe not how you feel, but try and think about those close to you. There's a reason you reached out to them and it's not all about tactics and whatnot. People need connections little man and like it or not you're starting to connect to people and them to you." She grinned and reached over to scratch the kitten. "Even this little guy gets it."