( 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

[overlyprecocious]

[While he’s waiting in line, he fires off a quick text to Dick to inform him of the situation. If he’d been thinking about it, he wouldn’t have invited Bruce without checking first, but he did and here they are. It’s fine, probably. Bruce would’ve figured out where they live on his own soon enough anyway.

He heads over when he’s done, a couple bags with some heft to them in his hands. He’s carrying them easily.] It’s not that far. [Bruce would’ve figured that out on his own - it’s not like Tim drove.]

[batsymbol]

( he figured it wasn't. especially with the bags tim has for himself there.

a nod, he follows tim's lead, a glance given around the store again as they exit. this... wasn't exactly on his agenda for the day, but. here he is. heading off to the place tim stays with dick... and he has to wonder why.

either way, he'll dissect it later maybe. for now, he simply keeps close to him as they go. watching their surroundings, occasionally glancing to tim. always on as he has been for the past two years and, from the looks of it, not about to stop any time soon. )

[overlyprecocious]

[He falls into step a little in front of Bruce, leading the way. It's clear that this Bruce isn't prone to relaxing, ever, which is - not too much of a surprise, he guesses. The Bruce of Tim's time is better at achieving a balance between hypervigilance and being uncannily observant.

Their apartment building is modest, as is the apartment itself. It's pretty easy to guess it was acquired before Tim came into the picture, because it's a one-bedroom and someone is clearly using the couch as a second bed. It's not the tidiest ever, but they do ok for two people and a dog.

Speaking of. The second thing Tim does after putting his bags down on the kitchen table is head over to Haley's crate and let her out, with plenty of ear-scritches and praise for being a good girl who stayed in her crate and didn't get upset. Yes, she is!]

Dick said he'll be back later.

[batsymbol]

( bruce lingers there near the door when they arrive. a slow, casual glance given around the place, taking it all in — memorizing it as he's unable to help himself from doing so. it's only after a moment that he steps away from the door and slowly starts to make his way in further, leaving tim to set his bags down and go over to greet haley. bruce, glancing over to the crate for a moment, gently looks around, touching things here and there occasionally, almost as if needing to.

when tim speaks up, he looks over. he looks tired. )

If it's better I not be here, I can leave.

( after all, this isn't just strange to him. he knows it has to be for all of them as well. )

[overlyprecocious]

Nah, Dick said it was okay. Plus, Haley wants to say hi.

[On cue, he lets her out of his arms and she heads on over to sniff at Bruce, tail already wagging. She recognizes that scent!]

[batsymbol]

( standing where he is, there's a slow drop of his gaze as he looks to haley there around, happily sniffing away at his feet and legs. it's a sort of deja-vu for him, just with a dog instead of cats. hm. he doesn't really want to think about that right now. )

Hi.

( said softly to haley, obviously, he reaches down and gently lets the tips of his fingers stroke the crown of her head a couple times before he looks back up to tim. )

Does she need to be walked?

[overlyprecocious]

[Haley is definitely used to a more enthusiastic greeting and might be wiggling under his fingers in an attempt to encourage him. He doesn't have to be so careful!! She loves the scritches!!!]

Not really, though I don't think she'd object if you wanted to.

[She does love her walks.]

[batsymbol]

( a few more scritches to the head, he straightens up some, another glance given to the pup before he's looking around the place again. )

Maybe later.

( stepping further inside the place, he pockets his hands after setting his bag down, taking a look at everything as bruce typically would do regardless of where he was. his steps are slow, not calculated, just... slow. not relaxed but not on edge either. a glance to the couch clearly being used as a bed, he looks back to tim. )

Cozy.

[overlyprecocious]

Yeah. Dick lived here before I moved in. He made me take the bedroom.

[Not that Tim objects to having a bedroom to himself, but he still feels a little bad about taking it from Dick.] I still like it better here than the hotel they put new arrivals at when I got here. It feels less like they're keeping tabs on you, even though they know where I live.

[batsymbol]

Why not go off the grid?

( whether or not that's entirely possible to do, well. he's sure it's been considered by some, if not all of them. he's still trying to figure out where to land himself. where to set up shop. something he's been filling his days with, among other things. )

[overlyprecocious]

I thought about it. It's even harder to do for me cause I'm a minor and they track us more closely, even if we're unaligned. They would've tried to force me into foster care if I hadn't picked Dick or someone else to be my guardian.

[So, yeah. He might've given his best shot at it, but a fourteen-year-old going off on his own? Not as many options.]

[batsymbol]

I meant with Dick.

( since he needs to clarify that, it seems.

although, to hear this place tracks minors a lot more closely. hm. more things to keep in mind. more things to add to what he already knows and what else he wants to know.

slow moving, he goes back to looking around, seeming unsure of what to do with himself here. )

Dick's not with either of the Guilds?

[overlyprecocious]

[Bruce might not know what to do, but Tim sits down on the couch that is currently not a bed and, after deciding that Bruce isn't likely to give her much more attention, Haley hops on it with a toy and settles against his leg.]

No. Most of us are unaligned. They keep tabs on Dick because of me, though.

[Which he also feels guilty about.]

[batsymbol]

Keeping you with someone you can trust is worth that.

( because he doesn't need to be told that tim probably feels guilty about that.

when tim takes a seat for himself, bruce continues to linger around. hands in his pockets, gaze trailing around the room. tim there on the couch... he's so young. bruce really sees it in that moment.

a duck of his head then. )

Keeping you with the people who care about you.

[overlyprecocious]

I guess.

[Someone told him recently that the right move, sometimes, is to just accept it when people insist you belong somewhere and they like you. He's still iffy on that, but he's keeping it in mind now.]

Still sucks.

[batsymbol]

( he was able to stay with alfred. the... kids have a relationship with each other. it makes sense for them to stick together, however that may be. )

They only want to make sure you're safe.

[forceforlight]

He's right, you know.

[They might both have heard a sound from the bedroom, just the softest sound of tread on apartment floorboards. The bedroom is the easiest way to get into the apartment, after all. At least, if you don't want to go directly into the living room.]

[His hair is a bit windswept from the trip home and, of course, he's still in uniform. So Bruce gets his first proper introduction to Nightwing. In black and turquoise, eyes hidden behind those lenses they all keep going on about.]

We know you're able to take care of yourself. We'd all just rather you didn't HAVE to go it alone.

[overlyprecocious]

[He just. Shrugs awkwardly. Even with all the practice at it that he had at home, it's still pretty weird to have people paying as much attention to him as they do. He still doesn't know how you're supposed to respond when people say stuff like that.]

I guess.

[Haley perks up at the entrance of The Other Main Human and hops off the couch to go greet him in person.]

[batsymbol]

( there's something there with tim he'll need to address later. something regarding his self-worth that has bruce picking up on.

when dick makes his entrance, bruce takes a second to just stare at the getup he has on. he's already clocked it in as his nightwing suit, taking guesses at what it's made of, it's capabilities and all that. typical bruce things. typical bat things.

watching as haley totters off to greet dick, bruce stands there with his hands in his pockets, just barely giving a tilt of his head while wearing the faintest look of amusement there on his face. )

Nice suit.

[forceforlight]

[Dick knows very well that Tim's self-worth is pretty low. He's doing his best to help there. But there's a LOT that needs work.]

[He crouches down, picking up Haley and giving her a scratch behind the ears as he straightens and heads toward the couch.]

Thanks. It's the work of... [A pause.] Honestly, probably somebody you don't know yet. Mr. Terrific. And yes, he lives up to the name. Made to protect from gunshots, though there's some limited protection from blades as well. But if they're close enough for knives, they're close enough for me to smack them around, too.

[overlyprecocious]

Harold helps us with ours. A lot of the integrated tech, anyway.

[He's not really sure who Mr. Terrific is? Unless it's Harold's name in another world. He's never seemed interested in coming up with a secret identity of his own.]

[batsymbol]

( mr. terrific. harold. no. the names are ones which don't exactly ring a bell for him, but that's not to say he won't make a mental note of them. as he does with everything else.

a glance to tim, he recalls the suit he'd been in, before he looks back over to dick, hands in those pockets of his. )

Nitinol?

( he's asking what the suit's made of or has in it, naturally. )

[forceforlight]

[Dick brightens at Tim's mention of Herold.]

You have him in your world, too? That's great! He does really good work.

[He's distracted by Bruce's question, giving Haley another scratch before handing her back to Tim.]

Need to get the mask off, at least. [Which means spirit gum remover. Something puppies should stay away from.] Anyway, that sounds right. It's thin enough to wear under my regular clothing, though it means I'm wearing a lot more light jackets and such back home.

[Blockbuster'd had a hit out on him, after all.]

[overlyprecocious]

[He accepts Haley easily and sets her in his lap where she can't distract Dick while he's de-masking. No one needs a wiggly puppy trying to hop back into their arms while they're using chemicals around their eyes.]

That's the tradition of vigilantism, though.

[batsymbol]

( while dick goes about doing what he needs to do to unmask, bruce gently looks over to tim with the pup, watching the way he handles her and how comfortable she seems to be with him.

and that's when he falls silent, as if unsure what else to say in the moment. tim had invited him over and he'd gone along with it, sure. but now he doesn't know if he's overstayed his welcome or if tim and dick have things they need to tend to around the place — schedules and whatever else.

so he stands there. quiet. and it's maybe in that moment where he truly does come off as a much younger bruce wayne. one who doesn't yet have the persona down when around others. )