( open ) and what's the worst you take

[batsymbol]

Who: Bruce Wayne/Batman batsymbol
What: July Catch-all, Bruce assimilating to things, Batman being Batman
When: Throughout July, some August things too
Where: Primarily Central City, will mention otherwise
Content Warnings: TBD but let's just say Bruce being Bruce and Batman being Batman.



BRUCE or BATMAN

open to both [brackets] and prose, i'll follow your lead if you have a preference. if you want something else with bruce or bats, shoot me a PM or PP at telekinetics to discuss. otherwise things we've planned/discussed can be dropped in here as well. starters in comments.

Comments

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim reaches for the bag. He’s stripping everything for trackers in a park on the way home. ]

Just because you caught it doesn’t mean it was clumsy.

[ The phone would’ve only been visible two, maybe three seconds. The box obscured the button press. The snap sound is disabled on his phone. It was brazen only by Batman’s standards. ]

Bruce.

[batsymbol]

( there it is. he'd been waiting for that— figured it was one of them since they all seem to be tailing him here and there.

letting him take the bag, he pockets that free hand of his, the other holding his bag of purchases there at his side. )

I've already found one tracker. Do you want to keep playing this game?

[mostdangerousbird]

I haven’t put a tracker on you yet.

[ He doesn’t even have to lie. He risked the photo, but he didn’t have the opportunity to touch him in a natural manner. ]

You can’t blame me for being curious about an alternate version of someone I know. You don’t know me yet, and you’re curious. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you weren’t.

[batsymbol]

( he knows whose tracker that was. the point was that he knows they're following him... for the reason that tim gives him. he knows him— they know him, or. some version of him at least.

sigh on his lips, he glances off to the side. quiet. considering. )

It's hard not to be when you all keep following me.

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Laughing, Tim shakes his head at this. ]

I was shopping. I can’t help it if we have the same “hobby”. That ship sailed a long time ago.

[ There’s a pause. He wants to find a safe balance of information exchange. Tim doesn’t want to foster paranoia. ]

I don’t expect anything, but I’ve seen enough of the multiverse to want to find out what you’re like for the ones that won’t be able to stop themselves.

[batsymbol]

( bruce has spent the last two years being careful with his identity since donning the cape and cowl, alfred being the only one to know the truth — to see the toll it takes on him. physically and emotionally. so to suddenly have a number of people— of kids here know who he is and who batman is... it's jarring, to say the least and a bit of a nightmare in a way. no, they don't mean him harm [for the most part] as so many back in gotham might. but it's nothing he's had to deal with... hopes he doesn't have to deal with and he wonders if tim can grasp that.

maybe if he used his words he might, but. when does bruce ever really do that?

a glance down, he stares to a spot on the ground. again, considering. )

What do you expect?

[mostdangerousbird]

Nothing that you have to do. Once I realized you had no idea who I am, it changed the equation.

[ He missed Bruce, but this isn’t Bruce. Unlike with the alternate Jason and his own multiverse twin, Tim’s having a hard time moving past that. He wants to define this Bruce, but he’s not so immediately certain that they’re family. ]

I want to know what you’re like in extremely broad strokes. I can figure that out without your active participation.

[ He wants to know Bruce won’t reject the younger Tim and trigger a disaster when Tim can’t overcome what will read like expectations impossible expectations he’ll never meet. He wants to know Bruce isn’t so puritanical to interfere with Jason’s work and upset the balance. ]

But I’m not asking for anything. I can pay you for the gear.

[ Tim reaches for his wallet. ]

[batsymbol]

I don't need your money.

( he wonders if that comes off the wrong way at first — if it makes tim here think he believes he can't take care of himself. that's not it. he's seen him in that suit— he's been here for some time now. he clearly has the means and resources to take care of himself and likely has help from the others as well. he just... wanted to.

jaw tight for just a moment, he looks back to tim then. slowly. )

I'm still trying to figure things out here.

( figure all of you out. )

[mostdangerousbird]

Because we all know you, and you don’t know us.

[ And you hate it, but that doesn’t need to be said.

Tim’s itching to give a report. It’s almost ingrained, and he can see the rationale for doing it.

(Neither Jason will. They’ll cherry pick the most damaging factoids and fire them at Bruce whenever he gets in their way with no context.)

(The younger Dick and Tim don’t have the full story.)

(If Damian’s avoiding Robins, he’ll certainly avoid a Batman.)

So any information would have to come from Dick or Tim, and they all put far too much on Dick. ]

What’s to figure out? Without shared experiences, you’re not going to be able to give any of them what they want. Your ID is safe enough. It’s not like you can stop any of us from ending up where we are in your world.

[batsymbol]

( what's to figure out is what you all want from him. tim here was the one who tossed a hi dad message at him which nearly tripped him up when he'd been out. he doesn't have dick [yet] back in gotham and while he feels empathy for those who go through similar experiences in losing their parents, like the mayor's son who he looks to and sees himself in unfortunately, he hasn't yet taken that step to take anyone in with him... to help in ways that batman can't.

because that's who he is currently. he's batman. not just physically, but emotionally as well, much to alfred's dismay.

staring to the ground, he's quiet, like always. considering tim's words. adding it to everything else he needs to analyze more thoroughly later. he's not running on much sleep currently. )

How many of you are there? ( a beat. ) Here.

[mostdangerousbird]

Eight.

[ The response is quick, too. Any answer that can be found in a few day’s snooping can be answered without feeling like he’s making decisions that impact the others.

Despite not counting Duke in the knowledge calculations, he counts him here. Given Duke’s true meta status and Bruce’s age, Tim simply ruled Duke out entirely from being the one to read Bruce into the family. ]

Three sets of multiverse duplicates.

[batsymbol]

( that leaves two he hasn't come across yet. noted. )

Should I be worried?

( the other six had all sought him out after all. )

[mostdangerousbird]

No, one’s so new I haven’t met him yet either.

[ Tim’s going to find Duke, but he doesn’t want it to be where the guilds can see. ]

The other one is the most like you, so he’ll find you when he wants to.

[batsymbol]

( there's something along the lines of a huff there on his lips, though it's laced faintly with amusement. or is that exasperation? either way, again, it's noted. )

Thanks for the warning.

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Really, Bruce? Tim’s eyebrow goes up. ]

It’s not a warning. We’re not threats or liabilities.

[ Mm. Debatable. It’s a matter of perspective, and Tim is trying to steer him to a good one. ]

[batsymbol]

It was a joke.

( a dry one, but. a little more sincerely then, if even soft. )

Thanks, Tim.

[mostdangerousbird]

[ His eyes widen slightly with faint surprise. ]

Someone has a big mouth.

[ Jason. It’s Jason. Although there’s an alternative, Tim supposed. ]

Or you’ve already met my parents. I never thought the family resemblance was that strong.

[batsymbol]

( alfred deals more with wayne affairs and personal meetings currently. bruce only shows up when he's forced to... or he needs to go undercover as batman. )

Can you do a favor for me?

[mostdangerousbird]

I’m not agreeing to a favor that I haven’t heard yet.

[ He’s not that stupid, jeez. People only ask for the favor to be done before naming the favor when they think they’ll be turned down. Bruce would make it an order if he could. ]

[batsymbol]

( why do all his kids have such sass?

well, if he wants to talk to batman, then. that's fine. being bruce is still weird for him.

pulling his backpack down from his shoulder, he yanks down the zipper and reaches inside, producing a phone which he holds out for tim to take. it's not the one he'd been given upon arrival here. probably a burner. )

I need you to download everything you know about this place into this. Give it to me when we see each other next.

( because he knows that's going to happen. )

[mostdangerousbird]

[ There had been a hope, however foolish, that the favor might be anything besides an information exchange.

But no, when Bruce is in one of his downswings, curiosity takes a backseat to method and drive. Why should it be anything other than Robin, report.

Tim pockets the phone. He’ll debate what to share on it later, but he can at least get him access to WOM.bat. He’s definitely not getting Loki’s multiversal map.

(Tim won’t be responsible for kickstarting new obsessions.)

From another pocket, Tim pulls out what looks like a small Bluetooth earpiece and offers it to Bruce. ]

It’s the definition of bugged, but if you need information while you wait. Or backup.

[ Tim’s going to swing by the nest and limit the shit out of this comm, including preventing direct communication to Jason and Jay until they say otherwise, but it’s the thought that counts? ]

[batsymbol]

( bruce is very much all work and no play.

when the earpiece is offered, he eyes it. then eyes tim. well, at least he's honest about the bugging part, so. reaching out, he takes it in hand. pockets it. )

I appreciate it.

( the earpiece? the setting him up with whatever information he's willing to give? both? who knows with bruce. )

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim is trying so hard to ignore the suspicion. Like he doesn’t have heaps of his own, when confronted with an unknown alternate Bruce Wayne.

Like with Jason, Tim went first. He took the bag. He put the phone in his pocket. He’s not just offering trust; he’s giving it. It’s not total, but it’s enough that he keeps his side eyes to himself.

He’s been keeping Bruce’s secrets since he was nine. That’s still Bruce’s face sizing him up. ]

You can just ask whatever you’re trying to deduce. I know you talked to them.

[batsymbol]

( he's not so sure it's something they should be openly discussing, but. they seem to have a way of talking around things — using names in place of real ones. still, he glances around them. not really checking their surroundings — but also doing that — just more taking a moment for himself. )

Why do you think I'm here?

[mostdangerousbird]

The Confluences seem random, but they seem to pull in exceptional people, with a fair number of metahumans or metahuman-adjacent individuals. There’s very little published on the nature of the anomalies. Likely deliberate with the society’s technological level.

It’s likely something to do with vibration frequencies of your universe. A Confluence uses up a massive amount of energy. The energy has to come from somewhere. It could siphoning it from elseworlds. In which case, Gotham City is obvious. It’s been steeping in metaphysical energies for centuries. Not to bring in quantum theory, but it’s obvious you’re a nexus point.

[ A beat. ]

Or did you mean here, at the store?