Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 11, 2013 3:26:40 GMT -5
((January 9th, just after noon, same day as Bat-brats. Closed to Stephanie and Damian.))
If Damian was tired, he sure as hell did a good job hiding it. However, with his bad mood, he did less of a good job trying to hide it. He had initially gone for a walk in the park, trying to cool off after what had happened in the morning. He hadn't had much time to run around and investigate as Robin, the night ended faster than he'd wanted.
So now Damian sat at the top of a slide in Gotham City's park, shoulders hitched up as he glared at the gravel beneath him.
His brood steered other children away, and eventually the parents with kids had left, leaving Damian entirely alone. He preferred it that way. It's how he was a large majority of the time anyways. John hated him; reminding Damian of it frequently. He was sure Alfred tolerated him, and Stephanie. Well... Stephanie was a girl. Who cared what she thought?
But he was pissed. That much was clear, you didn't need to be a detective to figure it out. But there was a deeper part of him that was truly upset. That ten year old side was much more fragile than he would have liked, but he fought it off well enough with an unimpressed sneer.
He grunted out a yawn, and grumbled, pushing himself so he slid down to the bottom of the slide, where he stayed sitting. Elbows rested on his knee's, and palms supporting his head as he created his very own storm cloud of misery and anger over the playground.
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Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"
Junior Member
"Relax, Boy Virgin. You're not the guilty party. A couple of make-out sessions do not a baby make."
Posts: 95
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Post by Stephanie Brown "Batgirl" on Feb 11, 2013 3:51:34 GMT -5
Try as she might, Stephanie had been too pissy to actually sit in the dark reading up on Bane. She'd sat until dark gave way to day above, the only indication of time passing being Alfred coming with fresh cups of tea, and eventually bringing a berry sprinkled oatmeal.
"Find anyfing educational?" He asked upon bringing the oatmeal.
"Not really." Stephanie, grimaced and sat back from the screens. "Alfred... why do you think he's back?"
The elderly man tilted his head, looking over the screens filled with pictures from Bane's reign - eyes lingering on the image of three bodies strung up from a bridge. "To finish what he started. To destroy Gotham, as the Al Ghuls before him have failed to do."
Stephanie looked grimly to the picture of Damian's mother, lingering on a screen to her right. "Damian hasn't come back yet has he?"
"No, Miss."
She stood, grabbing her coat from where she'd abandoned it on the floor. "I better go find him."
"What you need to do is eat, then sleep," Alfred pointed out, watching her shrug into the jacket. "When Master Damian is ready he'll return. Until then, you need your strength."
"He's a ten year old kid." She felt like she needed to scream it, but she held too much aw and appreciation for Alfred to do so. "What he needs is to be taken care of."
So began the scouring of Gotham, starting at the less savory parts following trails of badly bludgeoned thugs. She ducked into a few of the candy shops, some knife stores, even a couple gun ranges. Eventually, she found her way to the park, bag full of silver coke jawbreakers in hand. There was a kind of punny justice, that having the jawbreakers she found him lurking on the playground which should have been filled with laughing shrieking little ones.
She jumped up, swinging onto the top and walking over to the slide. She tossed the tied up bag, letting it thunk and slide it's way down to smack against Damian's back.
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Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 11, 2013 3:58:50 GMT -5
He twisted his torso, looking at the back of little jaw-breaker like candies with both interest, and annoyance, before following up the length of the slide to meet eyes with Stephanie. For a long moment he was silent, as he picked up to bag in his hand, and stared down at it intensely. He seemed to be deciding if it was a peace offering, or if they were poisoned. After, of course, he had determined they weren't weapons, for a small gun, or explosives to shower on enemies.
He turned around, muttering something darkly, before sliding back into his slumped sitting position.
"You should be asleep." he commented grumpily. Apparently she wasn't the only one.
Damian was perplexed by the effort Stephanie was making. He should've been touched by her compassion, but he was mostly caught up in how she kept treated him like a child. He was far more advanced and experienced than her, and most of the Bat-Family. She had no right.
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Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"
Junior Member
"Relax, Boy Virgin. You're not the guilty party. A couple of make-out sessions do not a baby make."
Posts: 95
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Post by Stephanie Brown "Batgirl" on Feb 11, 2013 4:06:36 GMT -5
"Wow, that wasn't a threat or a insult. Look at you, growing up." Stephanie sat down, figuring it was better not to attempt joining him at the bottom.
Right. Not antagonizing. Focus.
"Alfred said about the same. But hey, sleep is for the weak right?" She watched his back, trying to get a sense of where his head was at. "Come on, don't pretend you don't like those. You may be a highly lethal assassin child, but everyone likes Coke balls."
She was hoping humor might ease her way in, but she was a little short on material. She'd been up for over twenty four hours now, and was running on like six pots of camomile probably laced with drugs to knock her out. She'd never even got her oatmeal. "How progresses the investigation? Anything new on Bane?"
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Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 11, 2013 4:14:45 GMT -5
He hadn't replied to her for a while, only released a sharp "Tch" when she'd accused him of pretending he didn't like her gift. Again, he didn't reply further, sitting in silence, and brooding intensely as she asked about his investigations.
"Maybe you should ask John if you're allowed out." he bit his tongue, "Didn't care that I am, so I have free reign." he added in a grumpier tone. But he was talking like a brat, this was the smaller part of Damian that was talking. The other side was a professional assassin child, raised by the League of Shadows to be a killer.
It was a cold part.
"If I found anything new, I wouldn't tell you." he added in a more serious tone, were it possible.
Humor was possible one of the harder ways to reach Damian, especially when in a mood such as this. But when faced with the other options of reaching him, perhaps it was in fact the best approach available. He eventually broke a bit, untwisting the tie around the bag and popping a couple of the small jaw-breakers into his mouth.
He dared her to comment on it, as small of a win as it was. Even as a ten year old, he could be formidable.
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Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"
Junior Member
"Relax, Boy Virgin. You're not the guilty party. A couple of make-out sessions do not a baby make."
Posts: 95
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Post by Stephanie Brown "Batgirl" on Feb 11, 2013 4:31:27 GMT -5
"John doesn't get to order me around, whether he wants to or not." Now who was sounding childish. She didn't try to correct herself though. "Pretty sure Babs is the only one who comes close to listening to him."
She raised a brow at his declaration of being unwilling to share Intel. Not surprising, really. She'd failed to share this huge calamity with him for days. But if he knew something...
"He'll try to stop you." Stephanie pulled her legs up to fold them, frowning at her hands as she began chipping at her torn up nail-polish. "John doesn't want Bane to win, but he's not going to let you stop Bane when the time comes. John may let us fight - he's not stupid, he knows he needs us... But then Bane goes away to prison, assuming we win. He won't let you kill him. You know that, right? I'm guessing that's where this solo crap is coming from."
She slipped her legs over the side of the slide and jumped down onto the gravel. She moved in front of him, giving him a bit of distance but crouching down. "Damian, I've tried it, and it all goes to shit. You get tortured, and then you end up dead or seemingly so. You called me an idiot for fighting Bane on my own, and you were right. So I assume since your smarter your not going to try and pull that dipshit stunt. I don't need you to tell me things if you don't want. Just promise me if you need help, you'll ask me for it."
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Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 11, 2013 4:42:34 GMT -5
Damian's nose wrinkled when she'd crouched down in front of him, and he'd held her gaze for a moment, but looked down when she mentioned killing Bane. The idea was just so sweet, so far away, but sweet. Or maybe that was just the candies. He did like them...
His eyes flicked back up, flashing dangerously. Stephanie didn't understand him. He didn't doubt she'd been through her own series of problems, and learned plenty from it, though he'd never admit it to her. But their lives were drastically different, and Damian was trained to work in a group, lead a group, or fly solo. Whichever was necessary.
"John can try." he echoed cryptically, "Prison won't contain Bane." he growled, "I'm going to deliver the same atrocious fate to him, that he committed to my father." Damian vowed angrily. There was a steadiness there, that suggested little swaying.
She offered help though, if he needed it. Something in Damian couldn't outright refuse her offer, though he was convinced he didn't require any assistance. Instead, he glared back into her eyes, mouth pressed tightly, as he chewed on his lips.
This was perhaps the closest thing to an agreement that Stephanie would be able to weasel out of the ten year old.
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Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"
Junior Member
"Relax, Boy Virgin. You're not the guilty party. A couple of make-out sessions do not a baby make."
Posts: 95
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Post by Stephanie Brown "Batgirl" on Feb 11, 2013 4:58:37 GMT -5
Jesus this kid was cold sometimes. For a minute, Stephanie couldn't help wondering what he would have been like if that woman from the picture had never been able to do this to him. To take away the childish joy, the innocence... never mind killing Bane, Talia was the one who deserved a grizzly demise.
"Well, for starters, lets avoid stooping to nuking Bane." She tried a smile but she doubted it would sell. She wanted to try and explain to him that she couldn't let him kill Bane either, but she knew where that led. He hadn't refused - but if he knew she'd do her utmost to stop him from being the one to murder someone... they'd be back to square one.
She couldn't let him kill Bane, though. No matter what - even if she had to be the one to do it instead. She couldn't put a knife in the hand of a ten year old and send him to butcher a human being. That would make her no better than his mother, and Damian deserved so much more. She wasn't volunteering to make him food and stitch the days of the week into his undies, but she was going to make damn sure Damian followed Bruce's one rule. That was a legacy worth passing on.
"We should probably get back, you know. Alfred was prepping the minivan - no one wants to be seen riding in that thing. Plus he made some damn tasty breakfast as I was leaving, and he's going to get all dejected and indignant if you're not there to eat it."
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Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 11, 2013 5:05:38 GMT -5
Damian didn't even seem to consider the same things Stephanie was, about his missing childhood and how Talia had in fact, ruined the entirely different person he could have been today. He knew no other world, and therefor, he didn't know how to miss it. It wasn't a problem that he had. Instead, he was an incredibly dark ten year old in this world, a misfit among freaks.
She mentioned nuking Bane, and his expression soured further.
"I wouldn't be so mediocre." he assured her with a frown.
Killing wasn't something Damian was foreign to. There was very little left to taint in him, holding a knife had come to him before holding a bottle was. He had been expected to run, before he could crawl. In a sense, he was extraordinary, but terribly so. The death toll that could be tallied with Damian being responsible was nearly impossible to track. Assassin was a true enough word when referring to him.
His face dropped when she mentioned Alfred and the mini-van, and then the 'tasty breakfast.'
"Oatmeal?" he groaned in disbelief. "I hate oatmeal..."
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Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"
Junior Member
"Relax, Boy Virgin. You're not the guilty party. A couple of make-out sessions do not a baby make."
Posts: 95
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Post by Stephanie Brown "Batgirl" on Feb 11, 2013 5:15:13 GMT -5
"I'm sure if you threaten to cut out the last chapter of his favorite books in the library you can get him to rustle up some bacon and eggs." She stood, brushing off her pants. "Seriously though, kid wonder. No interest in the Van-oh-Shame."
After a hesitation, she offered him a hand. Realistically, Damian would likely swat it away. But somehow leaving him to pick himself off seemed irresponsible. "Now hurry up, I took the lamborghini, and we've got like, a half hour before one of them notices it's gone."
She'd already left a message at home saying she was going to spend the night at a 'friends', though what friend her mom might imagine she couldn't picture. She would have to crash at the mansion today. She'd slipped Cassandra's costume from her house already, in case hers wasn't done.
"And no, you can't drive."
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Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 19, 2013 2:43:21 GMT -5
"Could drive faster, and better than you." he challenged, jumping up from his seat on the end of the slide. It didn't take much convincing past the threat of the mini-van. Alfred refused to put weaponry, speed boosts or.. well, anything enhanced into the thing.
Convinced they needed a normal vehicle. Damian was convinced he needed a royal kick in the--- Well. Last time he used that word against Alfred he'd been severely reprimanded.
Damian's defiant frown lulled into something of a grumpy pout.
"I like the 'lam-boor-gieeni'.." he mumbled, perfectly mimicking Alfreds voice on the final word. It was a well honed skill of his.
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Stephanie Brown "Batgirl"
Junior Member
"Relax, Boy Virgin. You're not the guilty party. A couple of make-out sessions do not a baby make."
Posts: 95
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Post by Stephanie Brown "Batgirl" on Feb 19, 2013 2:59:10 GMT -5
"Better, faster, more illegal." She listed them all off fondly, dropping her hand and turning, heading back toward the street. She took the keys from hr pocket, just to be sure he hadn't somehow snatched them. She was beginning to understand underestimating Damian Wayne was a very bad idea. "That is one conversation I do not want to have with a police officer."
She unlocked the car, pulling the door up and sliding in. Sure, it had been a pretty rough morning, but the deluxe sporty car that cost more than her entire block somehow made it more bearable. She turned on the engine, waiting for Damian. "If you don't get in quickly, I'm blasting Spice Girls and doing donuts around the park."
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Damian Wayne
Junior Member
Don't patronize me. I'll break your face.
Posts: 50
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Post by Damian Wayne on Feb 19, 2013 3:07:30 GMT -5
Damian stuck his tongue out at her, before climbing into the car himself. He had to reach behind the seat and jerk at a lever, to pull the seat up to a more suitable place for his height and length. There would be no speaking of it.
"I would disassemble the speakers before you could press the play button." he threatened darkly. It was, in truth, a slightly nicer attempt than the first threat that came to mind.
Which had something to do with blowing out the tires and involving a few more knives... but regardless.
"Drive, shrew!" he ordered directly.
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