just remember 'til you're home again

[obscuronoctis]

"I see he's called in backup," Bruce had said, staring with bleary eyes up at Lucius Fox and the box of donuts he'd woken him up with - the only man in Gotham who could break into this penthouse without triggering the alarms. (Because he'd made them

Comments

[knightflown]

Stealth isn't the object when he climbs up from a lower rooftop to join Bruce, but he's quiet nonetheless-- just not the total silence he was taught, the whisper of casual clothing giving him away as surely as anything else. He examines Bruce briefly and intently, pausing on the ledge with precise balance.

"Hi." Dick offers, as reluctant to intrude as he is to just leave Bruce to his thoughts, and watching for signs that his presence is welcome or not.

[obscuronoctis]

Well that's ... less than subtle. For a moment he's surprised - not because he didn't notice someone approaching, but because from Richard, he half-expects a line like 'Fancy meeting you here', or some other feign at mere coincidence. Maybe he's decided that there's no way to top the bathroom in terms of awkwardness and is just going for it. Super.

Bruce didn't come here for company, but it seems like too much effort to leave - a mix of agitation and curiosity needles at him, and his expression shifts briefly, a wry frown. It's not dismissive.

"...Hi."

[knightflown]

Okay. Step one accomplished. Dick hauls himself up gracefully and sits on the ledge, one leg dangling into the air as comfortably as if he were seated on a sofa. The way he's turned toward Bruce is unconsciously deferential, a student who's used to being taught or lectured; in his mind, he's just being polite.

"Things going okay?" Well, he can tell they're not. That Batman broods often is a steady source of amusement for the greater part of the caped population, his family included, but it's always with purpose, Dick knows.

[obscuronoctis]

Bruce feels a little bit like he's being treated as if he were some kind of wild creature, approached with nimble caution and narration to a camera crew lurking in the distance. It's almost funny, and he the stirrings of a bemused expression are beginning to show when Richard asks, and he ends up shooting him an incredulous look instead.

"Things are awesome," he deadpans. His lip his split but treated, and he has a bit of white tape over the ugly, yellow-tinged purple bruise that's spread from his cheekbone to eyesocket on the left side of his face - but that's all run of the mill, expected, from an employee.

Or whatever he is.

It's the fact that he's here, the fact that he mentioned death. Bruce knows it, and he's still torn - anger that he let it slip and a desire to pick this man apart and see exactly how he comes together, why he seems to understand, why he has the capacity for that understanding. Instead he nods away, where somewhere far-off, the Nexus question sign hangs inexplicably in the air over the sea of people and