( open-ish ) dedicate and sacrifice my everything

[batsymbol]

Who: Bruce Wayne/Batman batsymbol
What: catch-all for the month, largely time travel and event focused
When: Throughout September
Where: Primarily the past
Content Warnings: TBD but let's just say Bruce being Bruce and Batman being 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

[batsymbol]

( like always with her touches, they're soft and gentle in ways bruce isn't with himself. he's ruthless to himself in ways that are meant to make him better, make him stronger, make him into the legacy he wants to become. alfred worries he'll drive himself to the point of death at times.

but her touch is like a balm he didn't know he needed and it soothes him in ways he hasn't let himself be. glance out of the corner of his eye, he licks over his lips, a shake of his head. )

He's one of mine, so I'll deal with it.

( a burden he doesn't yet know the extent of when it comes to being batman. )

[avatarfortruth]

[ This, she understands. It's Bruce, and how he deals with things, with his family, but it's how she'd prefer to deal with it, too. If it were Cassie. Donna. She nods, lets go of his arm. ]

No matter what happens, I'll be here. With you.

[ Just as he'd promised her, earlier. ]

[batsymbol]

( he finds himself unable to know what to say in regards to that. like selina, there's something there that he feels... but diana isn't selina. selina knows him only as vengeance — as the batman of gotham who's tangled up in this riddler mess, not realizing just how deep it all goes into the very corrupt core of the city. diana... diana knows him like this — as bruce wayne, a man he's still trying to find himself and as the batman. even if he's not the one she knows, there's enough of him there for her to come around. to stay like she does.

because there's something there... there just is.

he stares to what's left of his bar there in his hands, then drops one away, blindly. reaches out to gently take hold of her hand as if it grounds him — as if it keeps a lifeline to bruce wayne there. )

[avatarfortruth]

[ Instead of saying anything, he reaches for her hand, and her fingers curl around his, warm and firm and real, without hesitation. ]

You aren't alone in the dark.

[ Even if their relationship is strained, he has the others. Dick, Jason, Tim, Duke, all their doubles. He has her. And she's grateful, very grateful, to have the chance to become his friend all over again. ]

Not anymore.

[batsymbol]

( knee still pressed there into the mattress, television bleeding away into white noise almost, he stares down past the bar there in his one hand, trying to find what to say to that. )

I'm not afraid of the dark.

( softly. it's not what she said, but. )

[avatarfortruth]

Of course not.

[ Smiling, even as the flickering light and shadow from the television through his features into sharp relief, there and gone again. ]

You're Batman. You make everyone else afraid of the dark.

[ Working on that elemental fear every human has, that a shadow might reach out and swallow them. That something is stalking them. A hunter in the night. ]

But you don't have to be in it all the time. And you don't have to be alone.

[batsymbol]

( fear is a tool. one which he's more or less mastered back in his gotham. to have those who have malicious thoughts in their heads — are looking to start something somewhere with someone in violent ways, constantly looking over their shoulders in the shadows and especially the moment that light hits the sky... it's not a fix for gotham, but it's something. it's enough, for now.

a breath leaves him through his nose and he just barely turns his head towards her, looking at her there in the dimly-lit room where the television is the only thing that currently provides light for them. casting shadows across the walls around them. across his face there, knee still pressed into the bed. )

Where else should I be?

[avatarfortruth]

Well. Right now, you could be here. Resting.

[ She gives a little tug on his hand, by way of reminder. ]

I think that's probably good enough for the moment.

[ The rest will come with time, with experience. Gotham's hold on him will never loosen, but one day he might be able to look up and see something other than his city, the thugs and mobsters and lowlifes skulking around its streets. It might not be the League that changes things for him, but she'd be willing to guess it'll be something similar. ]

[batsymbol]

( the tug is enough to draw him over — to have both knees end up on the bed right before he drops down to it, fingers sliding their way through diana's and pulling her down with him. almost into him. he's quiet as his back hits the bed — as whatever's left of that fruit and granola bar is lost somewhere there on the bed and, instead, looks to her with that softness there in those blue eyes of his. just staring. watching. barely hearing the soft mumbles from the television going on behind them. )

If we end up stuck here... if this ends up being a one-way trip. I'll help you find Themyscira. If it's here.

[avatarfortruth]

[ The mattress and frame complain as his weight hits them, as he pulls her down, too, leaving her drawn more to the middle of the bed than the side where she'd started. Close enough to feel his warmth, to see his eyes clearly, even in the dim light. ]

I welcome your company.

[ Her lips curve, crooked. ]

Should we find it, I will ensure the megalodons do not attack you.

[batsymbol]

You don't think I could win against one?

( it's said softly — playfully almost. smile so very faint there on his lips while fingers remain laced there with hers. with no means to slip them out, it seems. )

[avatarfortruth]

That depends entirely on whether or not you have yet modified your suit for underwater combat. And how many batarangs you have.

[ Playful is a color vanishingly rare on Bruce, but it's always one she enjoys. A moment or two when he relaxes his hold on the Batman and puts aside the polished charm of Gotham's brightest star to be just this: Bruce Wayne. Her smile widens into a grin, amused, and she leaves her hand where it is, tangled with his.

They've both lost so much. Is it any surprise she wants to stay near him? ]

But seeing as they guard Themyscira's shores, and have done so loyally for thousands of years, I would prefer you leave them in peace.

[batsymbol]

( modifications. things he's still relatively new at doing with his suit and his equipment. he's only been doing this — been doing batman for two years now. of course he doesn't have all the fancy gadgets and gizmos that come with whatever version of himself has in the way of things. but, like him, he also had to start somewhere once upon a time. and so he's not ever too bothered with the quips about that. if anything, it only gives him ideas.

a slight shift there on the bed — pressing his head some into the pillow, there's a faint smile there in those blue eyes of his rather than on his lips. )

Have a little faith in me.

[avatarfortruth]

[ Her fingers tighten in his – gently. The last thing she wants to do is squeeze too hard and hurt him. ]

I do.

[ Bruce. Kal. Etta. Dinah. The people she can count on, no matter what. And this Bruce, trying so hard, keeping to his mission. She could sooner lose faith in the gods themselves.

And she still hears it, like an echo. That memory. I don't need faith, Princess, when I have you. ]

Always.

[batsymbol]

( gently still, his thumb brushes over hers, blue eyes almost lazy in a way as they watch her face, as if memorizing her... memorizing this moment here. )

What time do you plan to head out?

( to find eros, he means. )

[avatarfortruth]

Well, I'm an early riser.

[ If she sleeps at all, something neither of them seem particularly inclined toward. ]

But I wouldn't want to appear at his door too early. So perhaps around eight.

[batsymbol]

( gently and with a bit of a shift, he tugs her in a little closer, eyes still lazy though a little focused around the edges like always when it comes to work. )

That gives you until eleven.

( three hours, like they agreed on. )

[avatarfortruth]

Yes.

[ Peaceably, as she allows him to pull her a little closer. She lifts her head and props it on her hand, looking down at him. ]

It's plenty of time. I'm a very fast flyer.

[batsymbol]

( laying back some, he looks up to her. still a little lazy. )

Faster than Superman?

[avatarfortruth]

[ Her smile purses, amused. Teasing, seeking out information about Kal, or both? ]

I can hit supersonic speeds. Fast enough.

[ The crinkle at the corner of her eyes suggests she knows perfectly well that she didn't answer his question. ]

[batsymbol]

( hm. tongue running over his bottom lip, fingers still laced with hers, he shifts a little again. not away from her. just... to get a little more comfortable. thinking. )

You and Kyle are holding out on me about him.

[avatarfortruth]

Perhaps a little.

[ Gently said, and there's warmth behind it. ]

I truly hope you meet him one day. Kal is the best man I know, and one of the most humble. He's well aware of how dangerous his powers could be, if used for ill.

[ After a moment, she relents... slightly. ]

And yes. He is faster than me.

[batsymbol]

( the gentle way his thumb brushes along hers almost becomes methodical in a strange way, and while he falls quiet again — while the low mumbles of voices on the television playing behind them fills that gap of silence, it's only for a short moment, his mind having already latched onto something that's been there. )

Are you and he...?

( he... doesn't know why he's asking this. now, at least. )

[avatarfortruth]

Are Kal and I – ?

[ As his meaning becomes clear, she can't help it: she laughs, bright and unfettered. Not unkindly; it's out of sheer surprise, only. ]

No. No. He's one of my best friends.

[ There had been something, there at the beginning, but his choice was always, always going to be someone else. ]

He's married to a lovely – and brilliant – woman. You've heard her name, actually: Lois Lane.

[batsymbol]

( it's lois. lois lane. she's the key. kyle had said she was someone close to superman, but... married. his wife. that's certainly a lot closer than originally thought. something to chew on later when he's not in bed like this. with diana so close to him. still holding to her hand.

there's an ever-so-faint look that could be considered sheepish there on bruce's face as he looks away for a moment, clearing his throat before he swallows. )

Well— that's... closer than I originally thought.