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

[thebadturtle]

Moving from the shadows up top, Raph drops down into the alley on silent feet. It's -- pretty novel to be looking down at someone for a change, even if he's not that much taller then the angry little Robin.

He just waits, giving the kid a look over; waiting.

[xuffasch]

He blinks once, maybe twice, glad that the mask hides that expression of surprise. However, nothing really phases him for longer than a few moments, so in the end he just huffs a bit and shakes his head.

"Do you always give running unnecessary commentary on other people's affairs?"

[thebadturtle]

"Hey, it's a public alley," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "There are enough capes and masks in the city that any one of us could be anywhere on a given patrol."

[xuffasch]

"Yes, and rather than noticing that this area was taken care of and moving on, you chose to remain here uselessly. Well done."

[thebadturtle]

"Not uselessly," he glances past him to the still unmoving forms behind the angry little bird. "What with the fact that some of them aren't gonna be moving under their own power. You went a little overboard, kid. Ain't like you found a rapist, just some schmucks looking for easy money. Somebody's gonna have to clean up your mess, make sure the ambulance gets called. Then the cops can take 'em from there."

[xuffasch]

Damian isn't used to being reprimanded by strangers, and it irritates him more than it probably should. He glances back at the pile of slumped bodies, then turns back and shrugs. "They'll live."

[thebadturtle]

Raph is blunt like a hammer. He shrugs and says, "Ain't the point. There iare limits. Men of honor know them. Kids who don't give a shit either way lack 'em."

Thats his wisdom for the night-- he hops back up, clearing the space between ground and the bottom of the second floor fire escape, before he's comfortably perched again, using his communicator to get information to an ambulence, "Shouldn't you have adult supervision during this crap, anyway? I mean, you look younger than I am."

[xuffasch]

"It's so nice that you think you simplistic view of honor applies in all situations. It must be nice to live in such a two-dimensional and deluded world." Damian's arms are crossed over his chest, his expression stony. He's about ten seconds away from terminating this conversation.

"And yet you're the one who sounds juvenile."

[thebadturtle]

"Blah blah blah, all I hear is that I'm up too late on a school night," Raph says. "Don't worry, kid. I got your mess covered. Just try not to make anymore oopses, okay? You're old enough that you should know better, seriously."

Raph just watches the street for the ambulance. Gotta make sure it reaches the place, after all. Not the best neighborhood.

[xuffasch]

He's so insulted for a moment that he can do nothing else but gape at Raph, but in the next second he's recovered enough to be angry.

"Oopses? Are you quite serious? That's not even a word, let alone an accurate description for what occurred here. Or would you rather I let them go, so that they could continue harming the innocent and weak populace?"

[thebadturtle]

"Dude, as a pro at going overboard? I know overboard when I see it," Raph replies. "Cause that guy's probably never gonna play pro baseball anytime soon."

Not with his arm at that angle, anyway.

"Don't let 'em go. Put the fear of capes in 'em. But don't sink to their level."

He missed Casey and his moderate amounts of crazy so badly right now.

[xuffasch]

"I'm sorry, I don't recall asking you for advice on how to do my job. Better they're out of commission than off stealing or murdering more, no matter how they got that way. As for my level, you know nothing of it. So carry on, and learn to keep your mouth shut before you hurt yourself."

After this, Damian just stares him down, fully expecting to have scared him off.

[thebadturtle]

Damian expects a lot, doesn't he?

Raph is still perched like a green gargoyle, on the edge of the fire escape. He's listening for the ambulance... Crappy neighborhood, gonna take a while, so he may be there for longer then Damian expects him to be.

He glances down and then blinks once, mock surprise on his green face. "Oh, were you talking? Sorry, kiddo, didn't notice."

[xuffasch]

He expects everything.

"Your attempt at being facetious is not as effective as you may think."

[thebadturtle]

Raph will enjoy being an underachiever, if just to torque this kid off.

"Which is why you're still standing here trying to get a rise outta me," Raph points out helpfully. "I've got three brothers, kid. You ain't got nothing on the magic power to annoy that my baby brother does."

[xuffasch]

At the word "brothers," Damian's fists visibly clench. No, no issues with that type of family here, at all. He purses his lips for a moment, deciding he very much dislikes this person. Then, "Why would I bother trying to annoy you? I'm telling you to get out of my way. If you don't, I will force you to."

[thebadturtle]

"I ain't goin' anywhere, kid." Raph said with flat finality and not an ounce of fear. "When the ambulance here is loading up those dumbasses into the meatwagon, I'll go my way. You want to go yours? There's the street, or that building, or further down the alley... Pretty sure you can go find an old lady jaywalking to jack up, if you try hard enough."

[xuffasch]

Damian doesn't dignify this with a response. In Gotham, he's used to people treating him like a child, but the R on his chest and his partner's long shadow usually do away with that quickly, not to mention his own prowess. In the City it's a bit different, but Robin's reputation still means something. To be lectured by someone he attributes to respect or intelligence to is insulting, to say the least.

So Damian throws out a jump line and takes to the sky, dropping down instants later to descend upon Raph, expression fierce and fist extended.