( closed )

[imaginate]

Characters: Kyle & various.
Date: Catch-all log for November.
Location: Around.
Situation: Various.
Warnings/Rating: None yet.
Notes: [Action] or prose are all good, if you'd like a specific setup, kindly ping!

Comments

BRUCE;

[imaginate]

[Kyle filled up the silences while training - Bruce had never been one for unnecessary words - yet there were moments even he was quiet, concentrating on the fights, learning the movements. He was aware he'd been a slow learner even when Bruce'd taught him to box all those years ago, but now, combined with Damian's training, and Miria's, and Shayera's, he felt a sense of definite improvement, faster. He was certain he could block at least a fourth of the blows.]

[He's quiet, today, after training, and rubbing his wrist, briefly studies Bruce as he looks for the protein shakes.]

I think you can stop going easy on me now.

[cowled]

[Bruce is unwinding tape from his hands when Kyle speaks, and he glances up. For a moment, he says nothing, merely flexes his hands and balls up the tape, which he then tosses over his shoulder and (of course) into a trash bin behind him. Silently, he pads over to where Kyle's working and leans against the countertop.

The kitchen in this warehouse is starkly utilitarian, nothing but the bare necessities in the closest approximation to stainless steel he could find. Function more than form. It's equally as much a place where you could dig bullets out of flesh, or stitch the shorn edges of a knife wound back together. Or, as the case may be, make protein shakes.

He reaches for one when they're finished, and despite the fact that Kyle knows his identity and isn't a member of his immediate clan, Bruce doesn't entertain even the barest thought that the drink may be poisoned. He really is going soft, and he snorts.]

What makes you think I have been?

[imaginate]

[It's barely noticeable, but Bruce has been less stoic around him. Naturally, he's still closed off, and Kyle knows he always will be (in the shadows), but something about him seems... looser. Less on edge.]

[A small grin lights his features at the thought, which quickly vanishes as Bruce regards him and speaks. Startled, he lets the fridge door shut, holding two shakes in his hands, jaw hanging slightly open. What did he just say?]

[Extremely eloquently:] ... What? But that means-- [wait for it] Holy crap.

[cowled]

[Bruce gives him an amused look, one eyebrow faintly raised as he takes a drink of his (strawberry) shake. Bruce would still win in a real fight, which he's certain Kyle's aware of. It's not a rebuke, it's the simple truth. There aren't many people in the world that can beat Bruce in a straight up combat situation. He and Shiva have both had their wins and losses. Cassandra can (and has). Connor-- perhaps. But Bruce still has the lion's share of the experience there.]

I'm not being any 'easier' on you than I've ever been on anyone I've trained. You know what you're doing, and you do it well. The areas where you're weakest, you've learned to compensate for. The areas where you're better, you've improved considerably. Good work.

[I'm proud of you. That part remains unspoken, though it's there regardless if Kyle knows what to look for.]

[imaginate]

[Even if instinct didn't catch it, experience does, and Kyle has to turn away from Bruce and sip his shake noisily as he collects himself. It's kind of sad, really, because this is a moment of weakness and he's so conditioned not to show the real ones, the ones that can - and will - be used against him.]

[He has, after all, operated in a strange limbo when it comes to Bruce. Kyle no longer wants approval - he thinks of his early years in the JLA with some embarrassment, but the weight of Hal Jordan's legacy had been on him more heavily then, and he hadn't adjusted. They hadn't seen him for him, even if they'd come around faster than the general public, and even now, sometimes, the thought pattern was so entrenched it came up, now and then, when he thought about Hal. How could he want somebody's approval after all that? But he just did. Bruce, in his bizarre way, had never withheld praise from him.]

[(He's in a restaurant, with Connor, and Circe is saying you are so desperate for your lost father you'll take anything you can get from an authority figure--). He bites his lip.]

[Turns around, and very quietly:] Thanks.

[cowled]

[He gives Kyle a moment, looking away from him without comment. To the 'thanks', he merely nods.]

[imaginate]

[He keeps sipping his shake, much more noisily than he does, normally, aware that every action is giving him away. When he got here he wasn't used to being with the League again, and after the Guardians betrayed him (yes, betrayed, because no one had come, when someone should have) he had found it difficult to implicitly trust people again. Even when the League - the people who taught him how to live, how to fight, how to fail, how to rise again - were concerned.]

[And when he met Gabriel Vasquez he thought, how odd, this reminds me of someone.]

[It's a dark thought. Quietly, he shuts it away, and resumes his usual conversational tone. They had a Moment, and it's over.]

Damian's getting taller.

[cowled]

[His mouth twitches into something like a fond little smile. Bruce may not be the best parent to Damian, but he does care about him.]

He's twelve. They do that.

[imaginate]

[Slurp slurp slurp. He wants to fiddle with something, the restless energy starts taking hold of him.]

Really? He never mentioned a birthday. [A pause, as he considers that Damian, like him, usually has bad associations with a lot of things.] Is a party a good idea?

[cowled]

No.

[Bruce lifts his shake for another drink, and then lowers it, fingers flexed around the glass.]

Talia-- chose to use them as reminders of his intended purpose.

[Although, he gives Kyle a look, one of those intensely scrutinizing ones that have a tendency to make criminals weak in the knees. Finally,]

He might take the sentiment differently from you. But I wouldn't recommend it, Kyle.

[imaginate]

[Frustratedly:] Is there anything she didn't do to him?

[He sighs, explosively, and looks at the ground, his mouth curving downwards in a mixture of sadness, fury, and resignation, before he meets Bruce's gaze and stares back, fearless. In his younger days he might've quailed under that look. Not today.]

Christmas, then.

[cowled]

[It's a rhetorical question, but part of him almost wants to snap out, give him a real childhood. It hits too close to home for him, a time of innocence stolen and shattered by the actions of someone else's insanity. Bruce, at least, had eight happy years, though he barely remembers them now.

His mouth twitches downward.]

Christmas.

[imaginate]

[He sips his shake, thoughtfully. He's not going to live to see Damian grow up - that much in their lives always seems certain and dead things... Dead things should stay that way.]

It's November, isn't it? A couple more weeks.

[cowled]

[His mouth thins.]

The thirteenth.

[imaginate]

[There's something about that date that makes Kyle frown, trying to remember. It feels important, and he should know, but he can't think of anyone he knows who might've died-- oh.]

[Bruce's parents. Right.]

[He just hmms softly.]

[cowled]

[It's too much like pity, and Bruce eyes him a moment, and then takes another drink of his shake before he sets it down on the counter.]

I've drawn preliminary plans for a structure that can house Parallax. I asked Zatanna to contribute to it.

[He'd prefer the adult version, for this sort of work. It takes a great deal more finesse than she can easily manage at this age. Honestly, he'd rather not include a magician at all, but if it gets the job done-- hn. Jason Blood would know more, and Bruce is briefly annoyed at the fact that his information network has largely remained in Gotham.]

Regardless. I have a few ideas.

[imaginate]

[Bruce always does, even though Kyle never intends it that way. It's fine. The man likes to live and walk with his demons. It's not healthy, and honestly he doesn't think Damian should look up to the man's lifestyle for an example, but he can't simply discount it. Bruce's principles are too valuable.]

[He stands up straighter, eyes keen. He'd rather not involve Zatanna either, but if it was necessary, then it would be.]

Okay.

[I trust your discretion.]

I was wondering if the same was possible for the enemy we've been brought to fight - these things aren't easy to destroy on the first try.

[cowled]

If you consider our captor, this isn't the 'first try'.

[He scowls briefly.]

That said, it might be possible to trap the creature in Death.

[Though you can bet it's only one of Bruce's many plans for how to deal with Malicant.]

[imaginate]

[Kyle scowls, the thought of how little information they even have on the thing since getting here (and Bruce has been here so much longer than him) annoys him no end.]

All right. Don't suppose we could just throw Fate at all of this.

[He figures it's only one of many. He and Wally had always joked that Bruce was The Man.]

[He's also considering Fate as a very very very very Last Resort.]

[cowled]

[His tone is wry,]

I've considered it. You realize the helmet is also another potential prison for Parallax. Fate could handle it, easily.

[imaginate]

[He starts. The two things, in his mind, are separate, but when Bruce connects the dots like that it actually seems viable (and very, very winnable).]

They both need hosts.

[He bites his lip, not looking at Bruce. He has no intention of offering himself - he's shit at magic and not getting better any time soon, and there's a very limited set of other viable candidates.]

[cowled]

[Bruce ticks down fingers with each name,]

Clark would be a good candidate because if needs be we can immediately subdue him. Fate wouldn't be able to overcome his body's natural weakness to Kryptonite, and Clark is strong-willed enough to fight Fate to a standstill after Parallax has been overcome.

Outside of Zatanna, whom I believe we can both agree not to include as a candidate, Arthur has the greatest predilection for magic of any League member in Keeliai. As with Clark, he has the willpower necessary to overcome both Fate and Parallax. His weaknesses aren't as... obvious as Clark's, but we could simulate an environment that would force his body to shut down.

You aren't presently in consideration as a possibility. Being the only Green Lantern here that I trust, it will fall to you to contain the host should anything go wrong.

I would be a sufficient host for both. I don't think I need to explain why. Unfortunately, giving Fate access to my mind could backfire. Not recommended.

Shayera. Smart, durable. Nth Metal is one substance I know can affect Fate. She'd work as a last resort, but I believe she'd be more useful to us working alongside you to contain the host.

Jaime Reyes has the Scarab, the equivalent of another mind dedicated to protect him. He'd stand a good chance.

[There are others, of course. Aya might be sufficient. Raven. Even Kaldur. Kon. Bruce is briefly curious as to whether or not Luthor's control word could override Fate's grip on him, and shakes his head. Too much to risk.]

Either way, it's not a good idea to use someone outside of one of our universal variants.

[imaginate]

[It's like being back with the League, asking Bruce questions and listening to him deliver a perfectly well-thought argument, his master strokes, and shivering internally in gratitude that he's on the side of the angels.]

[Zatanna, Kyle himself, and Bruce, he ticks off immediately. She's too young, Kyle knows he's better put to use subduing the eventual effect, and no way should Bruce let those two forces battle inside him. They were all still reeling from when Ra's Al Ghul had stolen Bruce's plans to subdue to the League, and Kyle wasn't about to ask for round two at the hands of Doctor Fate.]

Ixnay on Blue Beetle. The Reach scarab is the way it is because magic messed with it somehow - I've no idea what kind of effect Fate might have. A fully armed and functional Infiltrator-class is a bloodbath waiting to happen. We shouldn't take that risk.

[Shayera - she'd be better off fighting the host instead of being it; Kyle'd seen what fear did to her in the Death realm. Not that she couldn't overcome, but for a plan like this to work they needed the right person, in the right place, with the right abilities.]

[It doesn't come as a surprise to him that Bruce would prefer Kyle be the one to take down a Parallax host, instead of Hal. While both of them had been attacked in the past... Hal had been trapped for longer. And Kyle - he listened to Bruce. The man had taught him, after all.]

Big Blue wouldn't do well with magic but you have a point. [A pause.] Raven could, but the one here is too inexperienced. I vote Arthur as our first choice.

[He asked Tony to build a prison too, but that wasn't from a Leaguer to an Avenger, and he hoped none of them knew about Fate. They'd have their Bruce equivalent, Kyle hoped to high heaven he never met that person.]

[No, it was best that Fate stayed with the League. Kyle'd heard Loki around on the network and really didn't want to pry further.]

Parallax will go for someone with power. Someone... stuck.

['Emotionally.']

[cowled]

[Bruce makes a gesture with one hand at the comment about Blue Beetle. He won't fight Kyle on it, though he has failsafes enough to ensure it would work. He knows how Kyle feels about the Reach.]

So we'll have to ensure that Parallax has no choice but to choose our candidate.

[His mouth twitches.]

We have to be careful it doesn't find Invincible.

[imaginate]

[Kyle nods sharply at the first point, and then, his brow furrows.]

Yellow and blue costume? I see him around sometimes, he's pretty fast.

[The implication here is, naturally, that nobody's more powerful than Superman. Logically, Kyle knows it's possible (and hell, he's met beings who have more raw power), but it never quite registers.]