fingerstripes | IC Inbox + Friendr

[ The overly defensive response kind of seals it, something's definitely up.

And yet, unprompted, Jason's coming to him. Reading into that at all is a recipe for disappointment. He knows.

And yet. ]

Guess I can wait out the face stuffing.

I'll be here:

[ and the coordinates sent are to a rooftop near the lair. ]

Cool, I'll be there around midnight.

[ He didn't mean to make it sound bad, it was the hunger more than anything. ]

[Wanda hesitates a moment, but the subject of Billy isn't one that keeps her up at night. Not the way the actions of his mother have in the past. Rather than dislodge him, she snuggles in closer to Dick as she replies.]

I don't. Not really. But the other Wanda, the one from the world where the other versions of my teammates come from, they know a version of me there. Older, I assume. She had twins. [A fact Dick will understand to be notable to Wanda, in light of Pietro.] Two boys. Teens at their point in time. Billy and Tommy. By all accounts, Tommy favors his uncle. A speedster. Billy's powers are more like my own...

I haven't asked where they got them, however. So many people from their world have powers, all of the mutants...It's all quite different from my version of Earth. But Billy, he's sweet and he's kind. I don't know him well yet, and he's not looking for me to replace his mother here but...I feel like perhaps in if we're here long enough we could begin to feel that sense of family with one another.

( If that was a joke, Damian didn't find it funny. )

How are small undergarments considered an advantage?

( It seemed like more of a disadvantage, truthfully. It left you exposed to a number of different things that would hinder you more than help you. )

Pants or a body suit are much more effective battle attire.

Well not everyone gets to start the race with the benefit of hindsight.

[ It's also not what Damian's really asking him.

He's only a boy. A kid Dick's let down twice over now, whether he'd had any control over the situation or not. It's one of the many reasons why he'd wanted to let the whole affair quietly die, unacknowledged. Fold it up with that impossibly small, pantsless Robin suit, already tucked away in a forgotten corner of the lair.

But that clearly isn't what Damian wants. And Dick owes him that. He owes him the truth, whatever he decides to do with it. ]

I don't know what the other me told you about the Flying Graysons. But my mom and dad wore something like it. [ Just different enough (they'd hoped then, foolishly) not to raise any suspicions. He'd promised Bruce. ]

I didn't want to change the design because I didn't want the last thing they put into the world to disappear. I didn't want to see it die.

Do you understand that, Damian?

[ Loki's mentioned Billy before. They're friends. Teammates. Dick spoke to him only once, and only over the network. But he can see it now when he recalls that young face. The bits of Wanda there. He holds her a little closer when she snuggles in. ]

Must've been crazy to find that out.

[ He'd missed it with his own daughter. He wonders still why she'd chosen to wipe his memory. Leave him with nothing but a few bits of security footage locked away in Titans Tower. ]

[She shrugs ever so slightly, not willing to jostle him away.]

It was an adjustment, to say the least. It's easier now, and comforting in some ways.

[She has family here, some alternate universe, some more like family of her heart. It's something to know she's not alone.]

What about you? Any alternate universe oddness for you besides the brother?

Get -your- brother to give my helmet back. If he doesn't and I have to go after him no one will be happy.

I mean Damian btw, I wont be home until tonight, so it can be brought back before 6pm.

[ For a moment he's silent, posture a little stiff against her. No, he should say. Nothing to see in this family. ]

There's, uh- well, there's kind of more than one now.

Damian is... [ A little boy who needs him to be someone he isn't yet. Someone he isn't sure he even wants to be.

The child of a man he loves more than anything.

He lets out a little sigh at last, and finally he has to relinquish his hold on her, bracing his hands between his knees. ]

...It's complicated. We haven't exactly met yet, where I'm from.

You want something from Robin that bad, you can drop by the apartment. I'm not your delivery boy.

[ and a minute later: ]

You threaten him ever again and we'll be having a different conversation.

He stole it from me, I shouldn't have to come to get it back.
Fine, whatever. I'll come pick it up.

You want to try me, Dick? I'm not in the mood.

[ He didn't plan on doing anything to Damian. But, he felt like rising to a challenge. ]

He's a 13 year old kid who's had a hell of a lot to deal with in a short amount of time. If you can't find it in your heart to understand that then I don't know what to tell you.

[ Privately he kind of agrees that it's problematic behavior, that Damian needs to hand it back in person and apologize, whatever reason he might have had.

And on a level deeper than that, talking to Jason at all right now rubs salt in an open wound. He chafs at the gall he has to make demands. ]

[ Jay typed about six messages, constantly deleting before he could send to try and word it right. Things like 'bullshit, he's Talia's kid' wouldn't fly and he knew it. ]

Dick, This isn't the first time he's done this shit. Last time he did this he left a fucking crowbar in my bed. I suppose I should be grateful this time, but I don't have any spares here to just let it go. I need that shit back.

[ A moment later, a second text follows in. He wasn't being as salty, just petty. ]

Also, in case you didn't get the memo, I don't have a heart. I guess it didn't come back with the rest of me.

[ The crowbar thing is more than little beyond the pale, even given the fact that he knows exactly what Jason's doing there. Tossing a curveball to deaden the air. Poison the united front posed by Dick and Damian.

The silence stretches a little. He's letting all of them down. With every piece he's missing, in every way that he isn't the Dick Grayson who'd know what to do. ]

I can't deal with a situation if I don't know what's going on. You need to fill me in when "this shit" comes up.

[ And a second later. ]

Come by tonight. He'll apologize.

[ Like hell is he leaving then to it unsupervised. ]

[ Dick knew exactly what he was doing. And yet when Jason gets the returned message he feels a little disappointed. He didn't really know what he was expecting. Whatever it had been it wasn't what he got. ]

No, I'm not filling you in on this one. Talk to Tim about it, I don't care. I'm -trying- my best here. So, no, I don't want his apology, I don't want to see him. Despite my earlier threat I want him to be happy, so don't make him apologize. I just want my helmet back and we can pretend it didn't happen. Just tell me when I can stop by when he's not home.

[ Dick counts to ten, then twenty, giving serious considering to the question of whether beating his head against the wall would help at all. ]

You know, I'm thinking I could promise a little more on our end if I knew exactly what prompted him to take it off your hands in the first place.

And before you ask, yeah, I do plan on getting his side of the story, so maybe consider that before you tell me off.

I'm not telling you off right now. I just don't have that answer. Him and me have always been oil and vinegar. We don't mix. That's why I said talk to Tim.

Keep me updated.

[Wanda has always understood the need to keep some things private. Even now she still wishes that Pietro hadn't told Ultron so much about them, hadn't given the robot the means with which to manipulate them. Dick matters to her and for that reason she doesn't press the issue or how little he actually reveals.]

It must be harder to meet someone for the first time when it's not their first time meeting you. At least with Billy...at least it was the first time for both of us in a way.

[Reaching a hand up she strokes it down his back, trying to be soothing as best she's able in light of the conversation.]

We don't have to talk about it, Dick. We don't have to talk about anything at all tonight if you prefer.

Up to you. [ Which- okay fine, he can ackowledge that he can't actually force them to coexist in the same room. For all that he's still intending to put his foot down on who's doing the fetch and carry. ]

But I'm thinking your helmet's prospects for a long and happy life will be a lot better in the long term if Damian learns that actions have consequences.

[ Just in case there's any doubt: ]

Not your kind of consequences.

I'm doing what I think is best.

While that sounds all well and good, I am not about to turn the kid over my knee. I'm not his dad, and I'm not even the former Robin he likes.

This place is fucking confusing, Dick.

Just let me know when to head over there and I will. You mean the communal housing, right?

( Damian knew enough about Richard's life before he joined his father. He'd never asked for details but had done his own research instead. But being give the information now filled in pieces Damian had never had in his puzzle about Richard. Feelings and sentiments he never knew how to ask about.

But what it all came down to, it felt like, was the outfit was a trophy of sorts. A dedication to what once was. The same as all the things he collected as proof of his past victories. )

I understand.

( Richard's explanation brought certain memories to the front of his mind the longer he stared at the words.

Almost a handful of years ago, he'd collect 365 trophies as proof of his legacy. A show of his strength and an act to instill fear in his name. His vault was a reminder of everything he had been, everything he could have been.

Returning all those pieces to their proper place was meant to be the only way he could erase those memories, get rid of that part of himself.

It was the exact opposite of what Richard wanted to do with his old Robin uniform. )

Did you pick the name "Robin"?

No. It's- it's fine, I'm- I didn't come here to bring you down. It's just... [ It's the last thing he'd wanted, and yet here he is, complicating things anyway. Oversharing. He's silent for a moment. ]

I think it set everybody back to see me that way. And I'm just really glad you weren't one of them.

I don't think it would have been as terrible as you think, but if you're glad that I didn't then I'll have to trust you on that.

[She doesn't sound doubtful as she speaks, but reassuring. Or at least as best she can manage. Her hand still strokes over his back beneath the blanket, giving him the space he's taken but otherwise maintaining contact.]

And you didn't bring me down. I understand what it's like. Pietro and I...we shared everything with each other. We had only each other for most of our lives. There is nothing I would keep from him and yet...there were times I wished I were close to someone outside our relationship that I could confide in about him. If only to give my thoughts voice and let it out. There's nothing wrong with that.

[And the implication that she's someone he'd trust to open up to is something that honors her.]

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June 22nd @givesyouhell

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