[ location :: various ] you take all the shapes that i make

[obscuronoctis]

Religion is a word that inspires apathy at best in Bruce Wayne; he didn't grow up with it outside a handful of awkward, politically-required visits on holidays. It brings up memories of cold, uncomfortable buildings and droning music and the expression on his mother's face as she barely suppressed rolling her eyes - certainly not shrines and

Comments

[dieneidio]

The sometimes nebulous concept of faith is one that Enfys has long had difficulty with. At first her father's insistence on raising her Catholic as he had been was a weird habit that she tolerated with bemused fondness; religion was English Leather cologne and cableknit jerseys and 'begging your pardon, Father' every time he swore in front of their priest. Rosemary died and took with her everything in their lives that made any sense, including the steadfast rock that had been Da has faith. God took his wife away and John wanted no more to do with that contrary fuckshite, so Enfys had taken it up half in an effort to drag him back into normalcy and half in the hopes that it would hurt him if she did

[mercurialnature]

It's not so much that Hermes approaches his shrine, rather that he literally appears there between conscious thoughts. Smart lil' thing that he is, Hermes has learned to 'pop' into existence a goodly distance from his target to give them time to adjust. Of course, that's only the case if you accept the premise that Hermes-is-Hermes and the shrine itself isn't a physical extension of his being and he's been there all along.

"Hello, hello! And thank you," he calls out while ambling over and waving in a loose-limbed manner that serves only to suggest that he's been napping in some sunny field surrounded by tiny, puffy lambykins, but sorely lacking in impressionable young shepherds and shepherdesses.

[obscuronoctis]

...Bruce is still not used to that, but he doesn't startle (sometimes it seems like he isn't capable), and instead regards Hermes with a look that is automatically skeptical. He shakes it off, because it's habit, not personal, and he's here doing something that isn't his usual endless quest to stalk and monitor everything ever.

"Hi." What an illuminating greeting. Bruce isn't sure what to say - he certainly isn't praying to Hermes, but he doesn't disbelieve in his divinity; he prefers science, but somehow, acknowledging a god like this is easier for him than dealing with the lumbering political monster that is western religion. It helps, he's sure, that they're stuck in his mad place.

"We weren't sure if we had to burn anything."

[dieneidio]

"I didn't think it'd work for the DVDs," Enfys contributes from a step or so behind Bruce, hanging back, "but are we meant to pour the wine out?"

[ location :: flat 221B ]

[obscuronoctis]

Bruce isn't trying to be mentally absent during the visit to Hermes' shrine, but the appearance of the camera - and its subsequent refusal to go away - has left him distracted. His messenger bag now half-full of the (horrible) candy, he excuses him and heads off to bother the first person that comes to mind when he thinks of turn of the century miscellanea; the wrappers seem to be from a good while after that, anyway, but with someone so eccentric, who knows how ... exactly contemporary he is.

He knocks on the flat door, still fiddling with the damn camera.

[ location :: flat 221B ]

[orderfromchaos]

It'll be a while before Bruce gets an answer, namely because Holmes isn't entirely used to answering doors for himself. When it does finally swing open, it's a sight that would probably bring eccentric to a new level for people who weren't used to grown men parading around in spandex: a wan looking Holmes with his hair up at angles that probably shouldn't have existed, clad in what would be passable clothes were they actually clean and not hidden beneath a threadbare dressing gown that may as well have been trash the moment it was procured.

"Oh."

It seems to surprise him that there is, in actuality, somebody there, but at the same time looks as if it might not have registered just yet. There's a faint smell of burnt something emanating from open doorway, but thankfully no smoke to speak of - yet.

[ location :: flat 221B ]

[obscuronoctis]

He assumes someone is home because he's not sure where either man would be if not here, and Bruce tends to have a good idea about such things. (Because he's a creep.) As the minutes tick by, the chances of lucking out and getting the doctor diminish - no, it's going to be the deeply questionable one, isn't it.

Yes. It is.

For a moment Bruce just looks at him, observing what there is to observe and doing whatever it is Batman does with those sorts of observations, and contemplates a greeting, or, hell, an explanation. Instead, he holds up a handful of his magically appearing candy.

"Do you recognize this?"

[ location :: flat 221B ]

[orderfromchaos]

Holmes is used to being the crazy one, but when Bruce holds out a handful of what anyone should be able to assume is candy, the detective can't help but loft a brow.

"Are you asking if I know what it is, or if I'm intimately acquainted with these particular sweets?"

[ location: wayne manor ]

[mightyfallen]

Jack is beginning to suspect he shouldn't be surprised by Bruce calling him up out of the blue for help with something, while somehow failing to elaborate on what that something is. He might actually mind the request (a little, at least for show) if he weren't already dying to get out of the castle. The place reminds him more and more of home every day, which unfortunately means ungodly stressful more than familiar.

By the time he walks up to Wayne Manor, though, he's had a chance to settle into a more relaxed persona than Remarkably Headache-Prone Prison Warden. With Jack, there isn't middle ground between tense and mellow so much as a thin line, which he's casually flip-flopped to the other side of by now with his usual less-than-healthy ease. This isn't stress relief, it's repression, but it's easier and anyway, he's curious what Bruce thinks is so important.

He rings the bell with one capricious finger and leans against the door frame to wait.

[ location: wayne manor ]

[obscuronoctis]

Having been out and about, Bruce would have stopped by if not for a variety of factors, the two most pressing of which are his desire to stay the hell away from the Doctor and the fact that he doesn't like leaving Penelope alone in the house. Hell, he doesn't really like leaving Enfys or Tim alone in the house, but he's made those concessions to far; it's something he's getting used to by necessity.

Presently he's in a low setting of 'work mode', meaning the gravity of what, exactly, he's going to end up doing to Jack hasn't settled in and probably won't for a bit. He has something to prove and a method to confirm it, and it's ringing the side entrance's doorbell. Bruce opens up one side of the doors and nods a greeting at Jack before stepping aside to let him in, verbose as always.

[ location: wayne manor ]

[mightyfallen]

"Bruce, long time no scintillatingly terse conversation," he greets, more for sake of talking than any particular care over what he's saying. Per usual, Bruce's silence just gives Jack more auditory space to occupy--and so he will. He follows Bruce's lead inside, sparing only a quick glance around. Manors are really more his style than castles, but now isn't the time.

"So, you needed me desperately?" Maybe he thinks demonstrating how terrible an idea it is to let him control the conversation will inspire Bruce toward verbosity. (Maybe he's just like this.)

[ location: wayne manor ]

[obscuronoctis]

If Jack wants to talk, he can talk; Bruce has been chatty with him before, but he's sure the other man knows by now that it wasn't genuine. He's become far less skeptical of Jack over the past few weeks, enough to invite him over without preamble - but not without purpose. In a drawing room near the entrance, Bruce doesn't waste any time:

"I need to take your picture." Yes, he's holding a camera.