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Who: Dick Grayson/Nightwing

forceforlight and YOU!
What: April catch all
When: During April
Where: Rooftops around the city; a park
Content Warnings: Updated as needed

He knows better than to complain, especially after the past few months in Blüdhaven. It's been a long time since he's had a quiet, even after coming to this world.

Which is why Nightwing sits on the edge of a high rooftop, a bag of bagels on the rooftop behind him and a cup of coffee warming his hands. After all, early spring isn't any warmer in Michigan than it is in New Jersey.

"I'm going to jinx myself if I say it," he says to whomever shows up, without looking their direction. He's just really used to listening for people coming up behind him. "But, damn, it's quiet."

The name "circusbrat" wasn't taken on TikTok. Not that Dick had any real plans of what to do with it. So far, he'd posted a few short videos of him at a local circus school, doing some tricks on the silks and the lines. There were also a few from the park, with him doing some simple, if impressive, gymnastics.

Which is what he's doing now: filming himself doing handstands.

However, every time he starts, he ends up in a heap of giggles as Haley runs in and hops up to lick his face. "Haley, no," he says, gathering the puppy up and ruffling her ears. "We really need to work on your stay, don't we?"

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Dick shakes his head at that. "You know we'd never put you in that situation if it can be avoided. So do what you need to." Though Dick really hates the idea that they would be dragged in and forced to sign up. That's not really the way these sorts of things should be done.

"That said. You know if things get bad, we'll find a way to help you out." Because that's what they did with friends.

"You wouldn't. The Alliance? I'm not entirely sure. They are scary good at sweeping certain things under the rug, or at least trying to keep it out of the public recollection," Bart said, shrugging. "But I'm not alone, either. A friend helped me put telemetry and biomentrics in the ring and suit so there's a subtle way for them to check in. Tim's got the details."

"So what about you? Got any plans, or just going to try and be an internet sensation?"

"And I'll let Tim handle that." Because Tim actually had claimed him as his brother, so that makes that relationship easier to deal with publicly. But, also, in this case? Bart is Tim's friend and will keep track of things far better than Dick would.

He scratches Haley's ears, keeping hold of her even though she's definitely interested in Kat-El. "Honestly, nothing too concrete yet. I'm picking up some shifts at Descendent as a bartender. The whole TikTok thing is just something I kinda like doing because...nobody's going to make a big deal about it here. I'm not Bruce Wayne's oldest here, just another guy doing kinda interesting things on the internet."

"Is this where I remind you that Tim found you because of public acrobatics?" Bart half-teases. He glances at the cat pressed against his legs, and then scoops the furry boy up to carefully hold him just in reach of Haley's nose, but not where she can easily do more.

"Has she met cats before? He's pretty shy about a lot of things, but we're working on it. Kat-El didn't exactly have the best start in life."

"Tim found me because I was doing a thing that only I could do, and he knew I was the only one who could do it." Which is also tied into trauma for them both, but Dick will leave that lie for the moment.

Dick lets Haley lean up to sniff, but not get too close. "Hard to tell. I've not let her around Selina at all, but I found her on the street. So up to the moment I drove off the guys tormenting her? I can't tell what she'd done. At least the missing leg is just something that she was born with." There's always a difference in the way an amputation heals than when it's just that way.

"Kon...a different Kon, not the one who's here, found him on the last Earth I was stuck on. He got himself wedged in a pipe as a kitten at a construction site and luckily there was a Super around. We were just going to foster him until he was old enough for shots and everyting, but he had other ideas," Bart explained.

"We had to put mirrors by the door to make sure there weren't furry hitchhikers because the guy did not like being alone for the longest time. And being on people was a thing, too."

The cat, still definitely undersized for a fully grown feline, sniffs back politely, then decides that he'd rather go up Bart's arm to his shoulder than stay there. So once the cat is secure, he gives Haley a good scritch or three.

"He's still pretty much velcro-kitty with certain people."

Dick makes an interested sound at the back of his throat. "Seems to be a few people like that here. People who have been pulled to different worlds before finding themselves here." Not in the usual way that people in their home seemed to manage from time to time, where they'd end up on a parallel Earth with similarities to their own. But more like this sort of place.

Haley doesn't try to chase the cat, though Dick does have good hold of her. Seems pretty happy to just let herself be scritched, after all. "Well, I'm lucky that Haley doesn't do things like that. I don't think I'd be able to get around the city very much with her latched to my shirt. Or jeans, even."

"Guess some of us are more popular than others. Multiverse shenanigans abound," Bart says with a shrug.

"And yeah, she's a bit bigger than a kitten. Even now, he's a bit of a runt. She looks to be doing well. She's still lucky to find you, though. Not everyone can have an awesome dad who does flips."

It's easier to focus on the animals than the real issues. Some things just aren't the same, and he doesn't know how close things are.

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