[His silence is a calculating one, but it's tinged with a different flavour than his usual grim suspicion. It's the silence of a man who is examining the various facets of his life in an entirely new light, and perhaps even finding them wanting. He inhales enough to feel his breath catch on a rib, lately cracked, and then he glances away.
Batman has always been characterized by being someone who does what's necessary, no matter the personal cost. But time, experience and family has taught him that it's not the only way to live. In fact, it's not living at all. He's spent more of his career than anyone should simply waiting to die - not looking for it, per se - but expecting it at every turn, around every corner, at the bottom of every dark pit and in the culmination of every tough fight. But for the past two years, he's gone over the public speech in his head, the one he'll give to the public when he announces Batman to the world. Perhaps it's time, also, for this.
He goes from being perfectly still to motion with no transition or outward indication he'd planned to move, and he reaches over, knocks his bottle against Arthur's.]
no subject
Batman has always been characterized by being someone who does what's necessary, no matter the personal cost. But time, experience and family has taught him that it's not the only way to live. In fact, it's not living at all. He's spent more of his career than anyone should simply waiting to die - not looking for it, per se - but expecting it at every turn, around every corner, at the bottom of every dark pit and in the culmination of every tough fight. But for the past two years, he's gone over the public speech in his head, the one he'll give to the public when he announces Batman to the world. Perhaps it's time, also, for this.
He goes from being perfectly still to motion with no transition or outward indication he'd planned to move, and he reaches over, knocks his bottle against Arthur's.]
And a Happy New Year.