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You cannot replicate the Batman.

( not in the same way one could just remake damian. batman is an accumulation of all of his experiences, of every trauma he's gone through, of every triumph he's managed. batman is the boy in the alley, watching his mother's pearls scatter across gotham's grime. damian is a child created by a woman who had drugged the man she loved to ensure she would be able to create a genetically superior child to continue her father's legacy, who hadn't experienced much outside of the league of assassins up until he'd been unceremoniously dropped onto the lap of a man who hadn't known he had a child, let alone one who was raised to kill. )

It isn't comparable. I am one of many. The fifth Robin, if we are counting Brown. And the other Bruce Wayne here can hardly tolerate me as it is.

Damian Wayne has been my only Robin here.

( Again, there's a sort of firmness to his tone there though his body language is hardly that. A duck of his head, licking over his lips, he looks back up to the boy there in front of him. )

I needed him then and I need him now, too.

And if the other one returns?

( he's less concerned with that than he with todd's presence, but it's worth asking regardless. how easily will he be thrown away here, too? bruce wayne isn't like talia al ghul in the least, it's why he had chosen to stay with his father in the end, even if he'd at first wanted them to just stay together.

damian takes a step forward, within arm's reach of bruce even if he isn't reaching for the man himself. it's almost an invitation, in the same way he allows grayson into his personal space where he wouldn't usually allow others. )

Then there will be two Damians like there are two Bruces.

( And it's so incredibly strange for him to say that and not something he can even say he likes, in all honesty, but. It is what it is. Reaching into his pocket then, he pulls out a small key and holds it there in the palm of his hand in front of Damian. )

This is to the room he had here. If you ever want to go and look in there, you can. If you don't, you don't have to. But it belongs to you, as does the title of Robin.

( there's a key, but damian has never needed a key to gain access to a location he's wanted to get into. he looks to it, but ultimately doesn't reach for it. instead, he takes a couple steps closer to bruce, and leans in. presses his forehead against the man's own, albeit gently. more gentle physical touch than anything else. )

Swear it.

( He knows Damian has ways of getting into places whenever he wants, but. It’s the symbolic gesture of trusting the key to him. Of not shutting him out. So when he goes and comes in closer instead of taking the key for himself, he tilts his head some and genuinely stares to this boy. His heart still aches having lost the son he had come to love and care for. His first son. Not Dick Grayson as the story always goes. No, here, in Etraya, Bruce’s first son and Robin had been Damian and nothing here will ever change that for him. )

You will always be my Robin. Even if I’m not your Batman.

( Even if I’m not your father. )

( bright green eyes stare into bruce's as he listens to the sound of his father's voice. hears the familiar tone, recognizes familiar features even if they are still different enough to be noted as such. he hadn't met his father until his tenth birthday, had known the legends, not the man behind him. and it still very much feels as such: his short time with his father back home had been cut short, and here they are all - different.

yet damian still recognizes his features in this one. recognizes the look behind his eyes, knows what it means when he allows his body language to read so lax. it's - trust, of a sort. the same kind of trust damian gives to those when he lowers his guard around them. this close, it would be easy to land a killing blow. yet neither of them are reaching for it. instead, damian's reaching a hand up to place it against bruce's shoulder. )

And Todd?

( He knows he needs to give Damian an answer to that — knows he won’t be satisfied until he gets one. Up until recently, he hadn’t known what he could be considered in Jason’s life despite the numerous efforts made to have a place there in it. They’re still figuring it out — both of them with each other and on their own, but. He knows he’s come to care for the other, just as he had come to care for Damian. It’s difficult and there’s times he thinks he shouldn’t for a myriad of reasons, but. Despite his isolation and penchant for wanting to go it alone, he still cares. He’s always cared. )

You’re both my sons.

( At that, he cradles a hand there against Damian’s cheek. )

I’m helping him discover who he wants to be, because it isn’t Robin. You are Robin and I’ll help you as I’m trying to help him. Like some version of you helped me with being Batman here.

( a less than ideal answer, but he supposes it's to be expected from bruce wayne. damian cannot pull the i'm the blood son card whilst refusing to return to talia partially due to her own feelings toward blood relatives versus everything else. the look he throws at bruce is annoyed, but when he pulls away, it's not with force. it's just damian reaching the extent of his tolerance for physical affection. )

Fine. But if he breaks my face again, I'm breaking his ribs.

( Well, it’s something at least and he did figure Damian could handle him being honest with him, so. Honestly, it could have gone worse.

Letting his hand drop the moment Damian pulls away, he remains crouched there and watches the boy. Being here with him like this… it’s still surreal to a point and his heart still aches quietly around the edges, but. That’s a sort of ache he never really loses; he hasn’t with his parents after all. But he’s not dead, as Dick has reminded, and he’s right here albeit different and smaller, but. At the end of the day, he’s still Damian Wayne and Bruce can’t help his wanting to be around him. Even if he shouldn’t. )

Do you need anything? I’m guessing you came with all your tools in your suit.

I am not dependent on gadgets. I am a weapon in my own right.

( which is true enough, isn't it. damian has never needed the batarangs, the trackers, any of it. it's just additional measures to assist him when he's out patrolling. however, )

If you have enough tools laying around to forge a katana, that would be useful.

( So he doesn’t have his katana. Interesting. Hand rubbing over his chin in thought, he looks up to Damian there from his crouched position. )

I’ll see what I can do. Although, I’m not sure what might be in that locked room for you.

( Because whatever is in there, belongs to Damian. )

It isn't mine.

( he's going back to bruce's workspace, but working around the belt. navigating through tools, mentally noting everything he has and doesn't so damian will know what to bring back if he manages to find it. one never knows, and it's best to be as prepared as possible. but he does seem to - reconsider his statement some. follows it up with, )

It isn't mine yet.

( He remains crouched there for a little longer — watches the way Damian looks around his workspace before he's slowly getting himself up and sighs as he stands. )

If you want a different room, there's a few.

( Jason has one here as well, but. He's hoping the two, should they come across each other at some point, can behave and not cause too much of a problem with one another. )

I have lived within the Tower before.

( moreso than the manor; grayson had moved them shortly into his tenure as batman, so damian is significantly more comfortable here than he is there.

fingers wrap around a wrench, and he seems to inspect it for a moment before he looks back to bruce. )

Goliath is here. Are you familiar with him?

Yeah.

( Damian's friend, not necessarily pet. )

There's a cat here, too. Belonged to the other you. His name's Alfred.

Titus the dog, the bovine in the cave, and the larger white, toothy puff of - I believe the man I met called it a poro.

( his nose scrunches, placing the wrench back into it's proper place before he starts digging through papers. don't mind, him, he's just nosy. )

Mother wouldn't be pleased.

There's nothing wrong with liking animals.

( Hands slip into his pockets as he slowly makes his way over and eyes Damian a bit there with what he's getting himself into. )

One of my tutors had left a bat with me, during one of our sessions. I had called it cute. Cute is not a word for a demon.

( there's a notebook, which he picks up to start sifting through. there's nothing in particular he's looking for, he just - likes to know. )

She slaughtered it, and informed me it was my fault for being too slow to stop her, given I had been too preoccupied caught up in my feelings. Feelings make one weak. Attachments to unnecessary creatures does.

( another page turns, and he - pauses for a moment. mulls over his own words. )

I am. . . learning. Adjusting to no longer being a demon. An al Ghul.

( He's heard similar stories from Damian before and, like before, he doesn't agree with them. So he's quiet for a long moment — lets Damian look over his journal there and licks over his lips then as he gives himself a moment to think. )

There's more to you than you might think. There always will be.

I'm aware.

( he says, and drops the notebook down to look for - a computer. there's one around here somewhere, damian knows. )

I am a demon whose skin never fit right, given it had always been disguising something different under the surface. I am not merely an al Ghul nor a Wayne.

( His laptop is there but it's locked because, of course it would be. )

You'll figure it out.

( rude. but understandable.

damian looks at the locked screen. looks to the passkey and just - idly starts putting in numbers to see if he can get it to open himself. he knows bruce is right there, watching, but there are a few numbers he can try. bruce's birthday. his parents' birthday. the date they died. he's got time on his hands. )

( Kiddo, please. )

Are you looking for something?

No.

( perhaps the time they died, then. their anniversary. his knowledge of potential passwords bruce would use at this age is extremely minimal, but he can run through them regardless. )

cw: noncon references

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