open!

[cowled]

Characters: Bruce Wayne and open
Date: During the mis-spell event!
Location: Lots of places in Keeliai.
Situation: Bruce Wayne is an octogenarian. This ends about as well as you can expect.
Warnings/Rating: Warning for talk of heart issues, so if this bothers or triggers you lmk and I'll avoid it in any threads we do.

Comments

[una_persson]

[It's the voice she recognises, changed though it is.]

Bruce?

[It's a shock, though she recovers quickly enough. No point in asking what happened. It's obvious.]

My goodness. I—yes, well, I seem to be untouched. Blind luck, so far as I can tell.

[cowled]

[That is not a flattering sort of shock. One thing Bruce never expected to be was vain. But at thirty-five and in physical condition even Olympic athletes can't think to attain-- yes, he supposes he is vain. But it's the loss of function more than anything that bothers him.]

I hope you remain that way. I'm the exact opposite of fond of being in my eighties. I don't suppose time travel has ever unlocked the mysteries of turning back one's personal clock.

[It's said lightly, in jest. But he is curious, and this is as good a time as any to bring it up. What reason? No reason. Ra's.]

[una_persson]

[Sorry, Bruce. Part of the shock, admittedly, comes from the fact that she's suddenly, intensely reminded of her old friend Major Nye, and she wasn't expecting that. And Nye is a good old man, but she rather doubts Bruce wants to hear about that.]

Sadly, I'm afraid not. Stopping it—in a manner of speaking. More of a side-effect than an end of itself. But reversals are still beyond us.

But this particular, ah, inconvenience is at least strictly temporary?

[cowled]

[He laughs.]

I certainly hope so, otherwise I'd be asking the Emperor for a refund.

[una_persson]

[A sympathetic smile.]

I hope it gets straightened out soon.

[A beat, then:]

You know, there's something I've been meaning to ask you about—a thing in the Metal sector. Well, a couple of things.

[cowled]

You aren't the only one, trust me. This place is lacking in prune juice.

[#oldpeoplejokes. His tone remains dry and a little scathing.]

Oh? Well, by all means. I'm happy to listen.

[una_persson]

[The joke makes laugh, just a little.]

Right. Well, I may have told you a bit at some point about the information hunt that Evandau sent me and a few others on, back when things really took a turn south during the rationing. We started tracking down ... a substance. [She lowers her voice slightly, for discretion's sake.] Long story short, some of the clues pointed toward Metal, but when I went to follow them up, I ran into something different altogether.

[cowled]

[He takes a drink of his tea, indicating for her to continue. His expression is interested, although he has to wonder why she's coming to him with this information, unless she already suspects him. He has no doubt of the fact he's better and more practiced at this game than she is, but he is... curious.]

[una_persson]

[In fact, she hasn't made the connection between Batman and Bruce yet—but she guesses that Bruce, as something of an investor in the local infrastructure, has got to know about a taciturn lunatic arse man in a bat costume running around the sector.]

How much do you know about any foreigner-run operations in that sector that are ... let us say, done under cover of night for preference?

[cowled]

[He feigns a sort of surprise, brows drawing down in thought.]

I know Inara Serra was running her Companion house out of Fire, but I don't believe that's the answer you're looking for, is it?

[He rubs at his chin, contemplatively.]

Can you give me anything more specific to go on, by chance?

[una_persson]

[She stifles a small snicker at the mention of the Companion house and shakes her head. Definitely not what she'd had in mind. Elliptical was perhaps the wrong way to go. She lowers her voice a bit.]

Vigilantes.

[Just one word. See what he makes of it.]

[cowled]

[He toys with the napkin on the table briefly.]

You mean criminals.

[una_persson]

[The tinest of shrugs.]

It's all a matter of perspective. [Mostly a joke.]

I seem to have crossed paths with one, in any case.