( 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]

( 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.

[avatarfortruth]

[ Her smile flashes again at his awkwardness. ]

I suppose they might not be together in every universe that has a Lois and a Superman, but it's difficult to imagine a world in which they aren't.

[batsymbol]

( he doesn't have much in the way of thoughts concerning that, what with his not knowing superman or kal as she calls him. maybe one day he will. maybe he won't. maybe he'll just be stuck here in the 80s of this world that isn't his own and has no gotham for him to disappear within. rather than think much about that, he stretches some there on the bed — stretches a leg out, the other bent at the knee, and lets go of a breath, allowing himself to visibly relax a little more. almost as if that answer had allowed him to. )

I suppose in this world, anything's possible.

[avatarfortruth]

It seems that way.

[ She isn't with Kal. But she also hasn't thought about Tom much at all since she'd arrived here, which worries a little nugget of guilt down into her gut. Nothing has happened between them, and she's not certain it ever will, but he's there, lying in a hospital bed. No doubt expecting her to come.

And she's here. Her fingers laced with Bruce's.

Anything's possible. ]

Is there anything else you want to know?

[batsymbol]

( the lull of the murmuring voices from the television is enough to have eyes fall shut, yet he leans in some, nose brushing against hers and the sound he makes is low in the back of his throat — a hum, for all intents and purposes. )

Yeah. ( word soft. ) But it can wait.

[avatarfortruth]

[ Her eyes close, just for a moment, before she untangles their fingers, sets her hand lightly on his chest, feeling the slow beat of his heart against her palm. Her voice is a low murmur, just above the sound of the television. The scent of olive oil and white grapes lifting from the waves of her hair as some falls over her shoulder. ]

You should sleep, Bruce.

[batsymbol]

( to say he's not tired would be a bold-faced lie. his body is exhausted, his mind close behind, and to be here in bed like this, within the darkness of the room and to have her here with him... how can he not want to fall asleep?

that fragrance— that scent pulls him from the shadows of sleep which slowly envelop him, and the hand that's now free lifts, fingers carding through her waves of hair, holding to her as that hum leaves him softly again. )

Eleven o'clock.

( words he mumbles before he lets his hand slip away from her and his head presses back against the pillow. for rest. for sleep. at least for a few hours. )

[avatarfortruth]

[ The low sound he makes rumbles through his chest, vibrates against her palm, and she smiles, pressing her forehead lightly against his temple as he lies back, as his fingers run lazily through her hair. ]

Eleven o'clock.

[ A quietly-made promise she intends to keep.

As his hand falls away from her and he relaxes into the pillow, she shifts close enough to keep her hand where it is, steady and warm on his chest. A reminder that he isn't alone. Her voice the murmur of midnight waves on sand. ]

Sleep.