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'You've talked to her.' What did she tell you?

"I attempted to talk to her. Others have had more success." Damian looks away.

"Mostly that she doesn't owe us anything, and that the threat was not on Tu Vishan. Which she is apparently no longer right about."

He squeezes Damian's shoulder briefly. I wouldn't have had much success either.

'The powerful never do owe anything to those below them,' he agrees.

Rylan did well. Kyle can't know he won't until he tries.

... and then the boy just hisses at these words. "Don't say that." He pokes at Kyle's hand. At the ring.

He lets a silence lapse. 'I'm aware,' he says, quietly. 'Why do you think I told you how to stop me? "Less likely" to be corrupted doesn't mean "immune", and never will.'

"Start by not saying things like that. As though the 'powerful' have no other option."

He's seething. And he can't even think of why. He knows what Kyle meant; he knows very well what he answer means; he's not rejecting any part of that.

But just hearing it said, and said by Kyle, makes him want to lash out.

'Okay, I'll be more specific. Some people with power act that way, like bullies.'

He pauses. 'I'm not the bully. I'm the kid with the stick who makes them run from me in terror.'

"Better." Damian's trying to calm himself down, taking deep, rhythmic breaths. Anger is permissible. The lack of control - and knowledge - is not. He's almost on the verge of closing himself in, when the last comments make him roll his eyes and focus back on the Lantern.

"You do not need to explain this to me as you did to Frost, Rayner. Though that didn't work very well. And aren't you supposed to be wary of using fear as a weapon? In general terms?"

He's not sure what caused the anger - maybe it's a family thing what with ruling the world and all. He tries not to speculate but he's always had an overactive imagination.

'Generally speaking? There will be people who fear me, but they're a very specific group. Beware my power, remember? No one else should.'

And then- 'So you're why he apologised.' He sighs.

"There is a difference between beware and be terrified. There is also a difference between the kind of fear that makes people abstain from action, and the kind of fear that spurs people into hostile action. Only in hiding, until the damage is too great to contain."

He is too angry to realize he is saying things that Kyle already knows. Or should know.

Then he shrugs.

"I am the reason he decided he should. It's not what I told him to do."

'You just listed the difference between Lanterns and Bat-people, little dark star.' He sounds amused, but he is not about to judge somebody for doing what they have to. He did the same, when he was out there, alone. 'It's a fine line, though, and--' he frowns. 'People expect me to explain it, but.. I act. I don't explain.' Not to those who won't understand, or to those who don't deserve to.

'Well it was-- interesting.'

"You talked about making bullies running away in terror." A flash of the anger is back, but. "Gotham rarely bothers to notice anything that does not make her fear. Plus, we don't have to be worried about the metaphysical aspects of it. We reap what we sow." Which is also a warning. Bats are always aware that the fear they cause is an enemy. They take it into account, so it never surprises them. Use it as a tool, with the inherent dangers of the tool becoming too powerful.

It's different for Lanterns, or at least that's what Damian sees.

But he does tilt his head to one side. "What did he say?"

'Best place to live huh.' Cheery, but of course, he knows he'd never live there. Unlike Batman, people would run to help a Lantern. If a Bat ever got injured... there'd be no shortage of people lining up to help them along to death's door. It was a slippery slope and one Kyle didn't like, but they all knew the risks of what they did (briefly, he thinks of Tim saying he'll never make it to thirty). Fear, for Kyle, was a way of a putting a limit to his power. He'd been afraid of Ion the first time, of not being able to eat, or sleep, or be like a normal human. The second had been better, but even that was only temporary.

Kyle looks at Robin, and then sighs. 'He said he didn't have a right to say what I did to protect people, but I don't think he'll ever get it.' He knows nothing of hell.

Edited (i can words) 2013-07-13 10:39 (UTC)

"Hhn." Not everybody fears the Bats, either. Some people, even in Gotham, know what the Bat means. It is simply... more complicated. (... not going there.)

For a moment, Damian considers that. "He doesn't have a history with knowing what the Lanterns would or wouldn't do. Lanterns have paid for the power you have, for the choices you make. He thinks people accept what you do as right and what he's done as wrong, and he has technically caused less harm than you. He doesn't think it - fair. He may never get it, no, but it may never stop riling him up," never stop hurting, "anyway. But he is trying to be..." magnanimous? "Trying to keep a friend."

Jack coming to him for advice made him think hard on the subject, okay?

'Three and a half billion years.' He closes his eyes, thinks about that weight. It's been on his shoulders so long he forgets it's there, sometimes. 'Questioning my decisions is fine. I expect all my people to do it. I'm not perfect, and I can't ever be allowed to think I'm beyond reproach.' You are amongst those who know the truth. Anything you say will not only be heard, it will be listened to.

'And lucky us, life's not fair.' It's bitter, and resigned. He's suffered more than his share, walked through seven hundred hells and come out; he's given enough. Yet, he'll keep giving more. It's who he is.

"That part, he will understand, with time, I am guessing. He - understands things sometimes better than many others. Most others." Which is why Damian can't let him go, even when he was so angry he wanted to shake him for betraying his trust. (Worse than shake him.)

Damian's mouth twists to one side at the 'life is not fair' comment, but he doesn't reply to it. Not with words. Instead, he lets the silence stretch around them, then raises his hand to touch Rayner's wrist.

"You should be resting."

Which is not exactly the same as I'll leave you to rest, now is it.

'Maybe.' Sometimes, he lets himself be a cynic. Hope is difficult to hold on to.

Then, he looks at Robin's hand near his wrist, looks at this boy who had such an immense capacity to care, and change, and understand, and he almost feels his eyes misting slightly from the joy of seeing something that pure, and fierce. It was a privilege few had, and he'd had it yet again, with Damian. The only person who couldn't see how special he was... was the kid himself. One day, maybe, Kyle would convince him of the truth. One day.

For now, he had only the words: little dark star. And the willingness to let Damian care for him, and protect him.

'Yes, I should. I haven't slept very well recently.'

He stretches, and takes a last questioning glance at Damian: anything else?

And that is why Damian doesn't bother with hope. He talks from fact, whether that is helpful, or, well.

Not.

He crosses his arms in front of him, but, all things considered (especially their earlier talk), he can't ask why.

Actually, asking why would be pretty stupid.

"I will stay with you to make sure you don't get any bright ideas for reasons to something addle-brained like getting up too soon."

'Oh I definitely have a lot going in the addle-brained department,' he says cheerfully. 'C'mon, help me get down.'

...

"I've noticed."

Dammit, is this banter? He's not supposed to banter. Except with Grayson when they--

Damian swallows, then moves to help the Lantern rise without stressing the ribs unduly.

And then he won't make Kyle take his support for walking, but he will be close in case there is need. Close and paying attention.

'Maybe you should get me treats, and train me.' He doesn't lean on Damian, but he stays close, occasionally putting his hand on Robin's shoulder to steady himself. His fingers still hurt: the pain of his fingers breaking will never leave him. Neither will the fear.

They reach the door, and he sneaks in, letting Damian close it softly behind them. Then, he pads to the kitchen, turns on the light, and looks for something they can eat.

"What?"

Don't joke about him treating people like pets, Kyle. That snaps him right out of the lighter mood, since, well.

Talia.

He marches into the kitchen right at Kyle's heels, sees him looking around, guessing doesn't take much work, and he commands.

"Sit."

'Yessir,' he says, cheerfully, carefully stepping, realising he's said something wrong along the way. 'What's on the menu? I could really use some cookies.'

Damian lets it go. His stomach turns slowly, and he doesn't want it to keep doing that.

Instead, he starts opening and closing cupboards and everything else in the kitchen, familiarizing himself with what is available.

"When was the last time you ate and what was it?"

'Thirty-six hours ago, and it was a loaf of bread, with that strange fruit jam.' He smiles, slightly sheepish. 'I kind of gave the rest to some kids.'

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