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[batsymbol]

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[brat]

( damian's nose scrunches up, a face bruce may recognize as the one he makes when something is gross, but he doesn't offer any commentary regarding the password because. gross. he doesn't want to talk about the woman his father is known to trail after, but. ah, well.

the laptop gets picked up, and damian twists around so he can sit himself down atop the work table so he can more efficiently sift through documents. for a boy who had been close to running off, he seems rather settled.

it helps, that bruce both isn't trying to tell him to leave and also isn't preventing him from snooping. it's a show of trust that he doesn't often feel he's given. )

[batsymbol]

( Damian makes himself settled there and Bruce just… watches him. It’s a familiar sight - one he’s missed having around the tower and yet, he doesn’t want to become attached to the familiarity of it. Things are different this time around and he can’t let himself get too attached. So he stands there, looking around the terminal before he goes and fiddles with the utility belt there a bit, adding a few things to it since Damian has himself busy there with the laptop. )

Are you handling things here ok?

[brat]

No. I hate everything.

( despite the words he says it rather - tonelessly. no, he isn't handling things well at all, but it's not as if it's any different than anything else he's gone through back home, so this is fine. )

[batsymbol]

( At that, there's a quiet smile he wears as he stares down to the things he gently stocks inside the utility belt. )

Everything, huh?

[brat]

The dog keeps slobbering over everything. Grayson is even more old. There are two Todds, and I despise Todd. So, yes, I hate everything.

( at least he's comfortable up here. and doesn't seem to mind bruce's presence despite his commentary. )

[batsymbol]

Jason has a room here he uses, just as you do.

( He glances over to Damian as he says that. )

I don't expect you to be best friends or anything, but I don't want either of you getting into it with each other here. ( A beat, he straightens up some as he stares to Damian. ) I'm not saying you're going to start anything. I'm just saying that's what I'd like and that I don't want either of you to feel unwelcome here.

[brat]

( i don't want either of you to get into it, bruce says, and damian's mouth opens immediately to protest the accusation that he can read between the lines except bruce - keeps going and damian twists his mouth shut, nose scrunched as his expression shifts to be more petulant than anything else. )

I told Grayson I would let it go for now. However, if he comes at me first, I will retaliate.

[batsymbol]

Fine.

( While he may not exactly condone that, it's also understandable. At that, he looks ahead — mulls over something for a moment. )

Are you planning to stay at the manor?

( He has family there, so. He wouldn't blame him. )

[brat]

I have not decided yet.

( he's focused down on the screen rather than looking to bruce himself, which is wholly intentional. a lack of eye contact means he doesn't have to be concerned about what bruce can read behind his eyes. )

Grayson and I had been living in the tower. The manor hardly feels like home.

[batsymbol]

The manor burned down for me when I was a child.

( He's not looking over to Damian either when he says that — focuses instead on the utility belt there. )

My father moved us into the penthouse in the tower after. It's been home ever since.

[brat]

( ah. that's unfortunate. but certainly a difference that clearly marks a place where their paths diverge: the manor has been damaged countless times, but they have always repaired it. )

I'll stay here.

[batsymbol]

( At that, he glances over to Damian. Quiet. Contemplative. )

Is that what you want?

( Or what he thinks he wants? )

[brat]

I would stay on my own, but I assume there would be protests.

( he wouldn't anyway. damian is fine on his own, but he prefers to be around others. as for the tower versus the manor: this bruce knows him significantly less than grayson, and there's something comforting in that unfamiliarity given their circumstances. )

[batsymbol]

( Well. )

Whatever's better for you.

( In the end, that's what matters. Isn't it? )

[brat]

Do you want me to leave?

( they've covered this already, but damian asks again regardless. he could, it wouldn't be all that difficult. he's been able to survive on his own just fine regardless of the circumstances since he was but a boy. but he doesn't like being alone. )

[batsymbol]

( At that, he looks over to him. Slowly. Carefully. Blue eyes staring to the boy's face. )

No.

( The word is soft but genuine and he gives himself a second. )

Whatever happens, you'll always have a place here.

[brat]

Then I am not leaving.

( he looks up to bruce for a brief moment, green eyes staring into blue, before they drop back down to the computer screen and continue sifting through various files. he's skimming, mostly, taking in information just in case it becomes relevant. but at this point, damian is mostly using it as something to keep his hands busy. give him an excuse to continue being here, because it feels - safe. )

[batsymbol]

( Well. As long as he knows that.

Setting the utility belt down, he places his hands flat on the work table and stares off across the terminal for a moment. He needs to start over here — needs to build up a level of trust and a sort of relationship between him and Damian all over again and yet, part of him isn't so sure he should. Not when there's another version of himself around here who isn't the old man that's disappeared now. He should leave it be, part of him thinks. But then his own heart aches with missing the boy who had become his son and Damian here himself has explained how difficult and lost he feels with everything and everyone. If he can be a sort of different that he feels comfortable around... maybe that's what he can be to him.

Things he's likely to torture himself with later as always.

For now, he looks over to the boy there with his laptop, leaning some on his hands as he does. )

Are you hungry or anything?

[brat]

( are you hungry, he asks, and damian - well. he's a growing boy, he's generally some level of hankering for snacks. he would never turn down snacks if offered. but he's raising a brow over toward bruce, contemplating how to word this gently for a moment before he decides he may as well just do it and )

Can you cook? Pennyworth isn't here.

[batsymbol]

( No, no he can't. That doesn't mean he isn't willing to... improvise. )

I have some prepared things you can choose from. Snacks and meals.

( Maybe not the canned fruit salad like the first time he'd tried to feed Damian. )

[brat]

( it can't be worse than alfred's cucumber sandwiches, can it. )

Alright. I suppose I could eat.

[batsymbol]

Upstairs then.

( Because he sure as Hell doesn't keep snacks and meals down here. )

[brat]

Alright.

( he says, but even as he climbs off of the table, he's taking the laptop along with him. his toy for now, bruce. he'll return it once he's completed his mission of snooping through everything that looks mildly relevant. )

[batsymbol]

( He calls the elevator and waits for Damian to follow. If Damian goes and opens up a particular file there, he’ll come across video footage taken from Bruce’s contact lenses he wears with the suit on various nights. One video there, despite the differences in Gotham, it’s hard to miss the wild green hair and the scars that run across his face there on the other side of the shatterproof glass there in Arkham. Joker. Who else?

Pulling the gate open, he waits for Damian to step in, then follows behind, pushing the button to take them back up. )

[brat]

( damian steps in without any hesitation, and once the elevator starts going up, shuts the laptop for a moment. he's gotten what was really necessary already, there's no need to go sifting through it when he has bruce right in front of him. asking is always more difficult than simply snooping, but, )

Tell me about your Gotham.