( 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]

( don't be alone anymore. somehow, those words, while simple, seem so much more difficult to comprehend, let alone to take action with and he keeps looking to her, even as he thinks that.

there on his lips, a smile then. though bittersweet almost. )

Might be too late for that now.

( if tomorrow doesn't end in a victory for them. )

[avatarfortruth]

I won't believe that.

[ Despite the gentleness of her voice, there's steel behind her words. ]

Dick is here. Spend some time with him tonight, in the morning. And tomorrow...

[ She reaches for his near hand, her fingers warm as she squeezes his. ]

I release you from your promise to die together, if it comes to that. Live, and go back. Be with them.

[batsymbol]

( those words spark something within him — a sort of fierceness that makes him more batman than bruce wayne and despite the out she offers him, he furrows his brow, conviction there within his eyes. )

With all due respect princess, I came here so they could live.

( because that's what fathers do, don't they? sacrifice for their children. )

[avatarfortruth]

I know.

[ Bruce can hide the truth from himself like no one else she's ever known, but it is still the truth, and the truth is her domain. There's the faintest curve of a smile touching her lips as she watches him. ]

But that does not require you to die. Or anyone, ideally.

[batsymbol]

Then we better not.

( we. even if it's a very real possibility and they both know it. )

[avatarfortruth]

I promise to do my very best to survive.

[ She squeezes his hand once more, before letting go. ]

You have me, too.

[batsymbol]

( she lets go but his gloved hand reaches up, fingers brushing along the inside of her wrist and he leans in. no seconds thoughts. eyes shut and forehead pressing to hers. )

Thank you.

[avatarfortruth]

[ He doesn't move especially quickly, and she doesn't pull away. Leans her forehead against his, curls her fingers around his wrist as her own eyes close, as she breathes out, a slow sigh, through her nose. ]

Whatever comes, I'll face it with you. Together.

[batsymbol]

( his own breathing soft and slow — steady — the smile that touches his lips is faint and soft, much like the night breeze around them here on the rooftop. )

Whatever you say, princess.

[avatarfortruth]

[ She smiles again at that, the familiarity of it. Her title in his sand-papered voice, making it sound like something else entirely. ]

Tomorrow.

[ Reminding him, reminding them both. ]

We have the whole night before then.

[batsymbol]

( he doesn't know what's going to happen. how bad it could all go. because of course his thoughts immediately zero in on that. in a way, maybe, it's why she's needed. to be the positive to his negative. even if negative isn't always a bad thing to see. to consider. bruce just... tends to get caught up in it a lot. lost within it.

her words have his eyes lazily flutter open some, but he doesn't bother to pull away. )

Guess we do.

[avatarfortruth]

[ It takes her a moment longer to open her eyes, but when she does, she meets his soft blue gaze. He's so close, and all she would need to do is to tip her head and leans a little closer still. ]

And it's a beautiful night.

[ She shifts, rolling her head so his forehead presses against her temple, tries to ignore the warmth of his breath as she looks up at the night sky, points to a cluster of stars. ]

There... Leo. The lion. Perhaps he can offer us courage.

[batsymbol]

( she shifts and he stares — lets his gaze drop down to the waves of hair tickling at her collarbone. time ticks away here and soon, all of this — everything that's been said and done here in this timeline... it'll be over. a memory, maybe. for better. for worse. moments left here in the past, regardless if the outcome for them is favorable or not.

lifting his head, he turns to look at the constellation she points out and he stares to it. quiet. )

It was Pisces season when we arrived here. Now it's Aries.

[avatarfortruth]

He knows the stars.

[ Observed idly as if to herself, her voice low and a little teasing. But she's pleased, too, at this small commonality. ]

And what constellation marked your birth?

[batsymbol]

( he read a lot of books throughout the years growing up. her words, however, get the faintest of smiles from him as he looks out to the skyline again. )

If I told you that, I'd lose some of that mysterious charm I have going.

[avatarfortruth]

Oh, we certainly can't have that.

[ Teasing for real now, as she shifts and nudges their shoulders together, a laugh beneath her words. ]

You don't have so much charm that you can afford to lose any.

[batsymbol]

Oh.

( said soft, a little gruff, but still with that faint smile. )

So that's how it is.

[avatarfortruth]

Mhm.

[ Then again, the versions of Bruce she's always liked best were when he was like this: quiet, thoughtful. Lacking the veneer of the Gotham playboy.

When it's just him. ]

I always tell the truth.

[batsymbol]

Well I guess that's one way to look at having an opinion.

( said still rather softly, though with a glance over to her this time, brow slightly raised. )

[avatarfortruth]

[ She meets his glance easily, apparently heartless and amused in her teasing, before relenting, very slightly. ]

But I would never say you have no charm.

[batsymbol]

I'll be sure to keep that in mind, princess.

( you know. if they manage to make it out of all of this alive. )

[avatarfortruth]

[ Perhaps he will, if he hasn't yet made up his mind, as she'd asked him to do.

She wonders if that will ever happen. Perhaps her second chance is, after all, nothing but a repeat of the first: a moment of control given up, of emotions running high, never to be spoken of again.

The thought is a sore, painful one; it aches. She looks away from him so he won't see it on her face, turns her eyes back up to the sky. ]

Do.

[batsymbol]

( that night still lingers there within the depths of his thoughts. a mutual desperation, heated touches, chased kisses, and trembling limbs. a wonder if it was something they should have done — if it will simply be left here in the past after all this... if it should be left here with everything else.

they haven't spoken about it — focused on the reason for being here and with dick so close by... not to mention bruce simply being... bruce. they maybe could now. just the two of them here and yet... does he want to? should they, with an inevitable ending to some degree set for tomorrow?

he sits there, gaze lingering on her for a moment before he looks back out to the skyline and he falls quiet. as always. yet gently leans over some, pressing his shoulder to hers. )

No matter what happens tomorrow, I don't regret coming here.

[avatarfortruth]

[ His armored shoulder is rough against her bare one, but she can feel his warmth beneath the suit he wears, and she's grateful for it. For this, to have him here with her. For the chance to know him all over again, for him to know her. ]

I'm glad.

[ Words soft, almost too soft to hear beneath the cool night breeze. It tugs at her hair, sends strands of silky blue-black brushing against his cheek, so close to hers.

They haven't spoken about it. But now, she finds herself looking to him, allowing the memories of that night to play through her mind. How he touched her. How he kissed her. How he shivered in her arms. The way he said her name. ]

Do you regret anything else? Having come here?

[batsymbol]

( he knows what she's asking because it's on his mind, too, and yet... he doesn't know if he wants to. if he should.

even still, the way he looks to her is soft — like that night — and quiet, as if it's simply just the two of them here in this world they've found themselves within. unable to be anything above a quiet murmur when he speaks. )

No. I don't.

( a heartbeat, still soft. )

Do you?