[location: outside Wayne Manor] tim and later bruce

[knightflown]

The grounds outside the Manor were, of a necessity, different, and the boys set to exploring them the same way they had explored the house. At various times jogging, sometimes running, and then sometimes walking, they covered the area in a timely fashion, deep in conversation the entire time. Dick was still uneasy here, though he tried his best to

Comments

[knightflying]

As if anyone involved was going to get to sleep. The colsest Tim had managed was deep meditation, even after Bruce had talked to him.

"There's a few, but so far I haven't managed to get a dry witticism from a single one of them." There were some things it would be impossible to replicate, and Alfred's brand of commentary was just one of them. Not to mention that Tim has a sneaking suspicion that, should the hatches decide to be vocal any time soon, the voice coming out of there was more likely to be HAL-style synthesis, to fit with the very sci-fi set up in general.

"I think Enfys is fitting into the housekeeper role - she's making dinner and everything, and at least she's English. Did you know she sleeps with an axe?"

[knightflown]

"Sooo, just like Mary Poppins, then." Dick snapped his fingers. "Wait, did you hear this from someone else or Enfys?"

This is assuming Tim hasn't seen for himself, but they're not set to have the 'oh, did you creeper on this woman we barely know while she was sleeping? Hah, you rascal' conversation.

[knightflying]

"Mary Poppins had an umbrella. What movie were you watching?"

Tim is saved from any accusations of creeperhood, although apparently someone else isn't. "Bruce told me. He also said he might have overreacted, and that you should suck up the company instead of ditching me to live with him and Enfys by myself." For a start.

[knightflown]

"Well, and what was inside that umbrella? A sword." He sounds so reasonable that the lunging poke to Tim's side (just under the ribs, where perhaps, he may be ticklish) may come as a surprise.

"Oh, he said that, huh. Interesting."

[obscuronoctis]

The cave beneath the house has been reinforced and cored out beyond what he'd ever anticipated - Bruce wondered when he first came down to sift through if Lucius had a hand in it - seeming more like a high tech government facility than something ancient and chewed from the earth itself. Still, beyond the softly gleaming steel surfaces and laboratories, it dropped off into darkness, only distance muffling the sounds of the armies of tiny creatures and rushing water, eerie and foreboding. He'd made it out that way, and it was no small task even after he'd turned the security measures off (back on, now), and the only other way in and out was the rustic steel frame elevator - strong enough to survive the destruction, and thus noble enough to survive being upgraded to something else.

On one abandoned table lies the ruins of something; sharp-edged tools and sticky half-dried blood, pieces of what looks like a replicated tablet, and notes in coded shorthand. Someone's used the shower recently, though there's no sign, body or clothes, of

[knightflown]

Time and time again he has to justify to himself why he's acting alone, which has just as much to do with his personal resolve as it does a desire to protect Tim. Coming in the back way is dangerous; while he knows the Cave at home fairly well, and both ninjas and Damien have cleared the security measures mostly unharmed, this Cave could be — is probably — vastly different. The entrance isn't where he thinks it should be either, but it's not far away, either. Getting geared up, he prepares to venture forth into the dark, still feeling guilty for not taking Tim with him. This way, however, he'll have tested whatever security measures exist

[obscuronoctis]

Of course, it hardly matters if Dick announces himself or not; Bruce knows someone is coming through the 'garage entrance' almost as soon as he thinks about making the trip. (Whether or not he turned anything off in the way of security is a mystery for the age.) The soft echo of music stops but nothing else makes itself known, and for a while, it seems like Dick might be left to his own devices.

But no.

When Bruce does deign to pry himself out of hiding, he does it quietly and without comment, and just waits to be noticed. He's in the car (that thing that's almost a tank, yes) and is now resting with his arms crossed and head against them, iPod in hand, watching the younger man with an unreadable (but tired - he was napping in there, yes) expression on his face.

[knightflown]

He uses the time to take out the spray solvent from his gauntlet storage and apply it to the edges of his mask, so by the time Bruce reveals himself, the mask is off. Looking at Bruce, he's never felt so self-conscious about his uniform before. It isn't the godforsaken earlier versions, nor is it the bright red of Robin's outfit, but the blue stripe is entirely decorative, and it feels frivolous today.

"Hi," Dick says quietly, fiddling with the mask between his fingers, certainly aware that it's a tell but not particularly caring, "I didn't mean to bother you, but not knowing where the Cave was really bugged me. I can come back — upstairs — another time."