maybe I don't wonder why

[controlledvariable]

Characters: Stephanie Brown AND YOU (also Bruce and Damian)
Date: 13th of February, after Steph's arrival
Location: All over!
Situation: Once more with feeling; by which I mean Steph is back and saying hi to a few people + fighting fog monsters bc why not
Warnings/Rating: Violence, Bruce, Damian, will update as necessary


It's disorientating, waking up again when she'd been in her suite only a few moments ago and for a second she panics before the presence of the kedan register, which - oddly, calms her down. Not that she trusts the kedan all that much, but she realizes what the whole thing means, including how groggy and weak she feels, so she knows better than to waste her energy freaking out. Waiting is easier, letting the kedan help her to the cart while she waits for the disorientation to fade.

Once it does, she asks the closest kedan which is her suite - laughs, because it's the same building as last time, although the room might be different - then thanks them for the trip before leaping out the back of the cart. She's still in her Batgirl suit, despite... not having been in it from what she remembers last of Keeliai, but that's something to worry about later. For now, it's much quicker to go by rooftop, and that's exactly what she does, familiarizing herself with the landscape as she goes. Things have changed, that much can't escape her, though she can't tell why, doesn't know what happened, which is more frustrating than anything, even if she knows there will be lots of explanations to come. Waking up somewhere other than the ocean means there's been big changes, though she isn't really going to complain, considering this option was a little more pleasant.

Anyway, what's most important is finding out who's still in the city. She checks for Steve and Peggy first, but their suites are empty or they've been replaced by someone else, and it feels a lot like her heart breaking.

She never even got a chance to say goodbye.

Sure, she left them letters, tried to tell them as often as possible how much they meant to her, and her last memory of Steve is tugging him into the water as she teased him. Her last memory of Peggy is telling her about it later, laughing even more as they combined forces to make fun of poor Steve, so they parted on good terms, she knew they were happy, but it still aches. For a few moments, she indulges the grief, breathing deep and blinking back tears, before wiping at her eyes and starting off towards Bruce's suit. Later, she can be sad about Peggy and Steve being gone, about them going back to their own separate lives where they can't be together anymore (and that hurts more than missing them does), but she should let Bruce know that she's back. She doesn't think he'll have been affected by her leaving like he was after Jason disappeared, the first time, but she... well, maybe he cared, just a little. Things had been better between them, after all.

→ Bruce

When she sneaks a look in Bruce's window and sees all the signs of him still being there, she lets out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Fine, okay, maybe she's relieved that he's still here. She can admit that.

Still, apparently he's not home, which is frustrating, but it isn't the end of the world, she just heads out to see if he's at any of the safe houses she knows about. The first two she checks are long abandoned, but on the third warehouse she manages to find the security system still intact, and is even more relieved when she can actually access it. At least he likes her enough to give her access to his warehouse.

Of course, then she's inside, looking at Bruce's little collection of uniform cases, and all she can do is sigh.

"Really, Bruce?"

→ Damian

As soon as she's finished talking to Bruce, having gotten an update on who is and isn't here, the next person she needs to check on is so obvious it hardly even needs considering. She can't help feeling guilty about her absence, even though it's not something she could control; Damian would have taken it harder than Bruce did, maybe. For all his anger and bluster, she knows he cared about her, that they were something almost like family, and she knows that kids tend to take it a little more personally than adults do.

She owes it to him to see him next, to let him know that she's back.

Bruce tells her where to find him, and it's easy enough to slip back across the rooftopts until she's at his suite. While she could use the front door, she's still in her uniform, so she sticks to the shadows and gives on the windows a light rap, before stepping back to wait.

It occurs to her that it's a little tricky to breath, her chest is a little tight, and she realizes that it's nerves, because she's worried that Damian might want nothing to do with her. After she left, he might think it's better not to get attached again, to cut her out to save getting hurt.

And she doesn't want that to happen.

→ Open: the night of the 13th

Maybe she should take a break, grab something to eat and get settled back in her apartment, but she's feeling restless, too out of touch after how much Keelia and Tu Vishan has changed while she's been gone. Relaxing seems impossible, so she heads out again. Without the need to be anywhere in particular, she can take more time to relearn the lay of the land and adjust to the changes.

The fog makes all that a little difficult, and it's a little unsettling but she knows why it's there, between Bruce and Damian's explanations, so it's just... something to deal with. As much as she just wants to take the night to stretch her legs - despite having no memory from between her disappearance and arrival, she feelings almost as though she's been asleep for too long - there are problems to be addressed. Apparently the mold can be washed away, which is easy enough, so she spends a little time focusing on that. Batgirl can reach places some people might not be able to, even if Keeliai always did seem to have a large vigilantes and/or superhero population.

It saves her from having to think about everyone else she needs to tell that she's back. She'll do it... later, when she's had some time to settle in. The reunions with Bruce and Damian were enough for one day, when she's dealing with the loss of Steve and Peggy as well; she just needs a night or so to take care of herself before she has to deal with any more intense emotions.

So when she runs into the creatures that seem to have sprung from the mold, she's almost a little grateful for the opportunity to move and fight, despite knowing she shouldn't be thankful for this corruption clinging to Tu Vishan.

But it's something to think about that isn't Steve or Peggy or Bruce or Damian or how damn long she's been gone, so she throws herself into those fights with a little reckless abandon. She's sure they're not human, not really alive, so she doesn't hesitate to kill them. And for all that she's grateful for the excuse to fight as hard as she can, she certainly won't turn down any help offered.

It's going to be a long night.

→ Dick

The suite she's in feels empty, too blank and new even though she's started filling it back up with little personal items, even with Andy making herself at home. Somehow, it's worse that it's the same building, the constant reminder that she was here and then wasn't, that she's lost so many months. It feels almost like she's haunting herself, but with the fog outside, she can't exactly spend all her time outside, so she finds a compromise.

Today, that means she's found herself at Damian's suite, having waited until Bean and Midii left before letting herself in with the key she borrowed from Damian while he's in the bottle city. She knows Dick is still home, but that's fine, she's gotta run into him sooner or later, so for the moment she concerns herself with a mug of coffee, a book, and Damian's couch.

When she hears someone else moving about the house, she speaks up in favour of letting Dick stumble upon her, since she doesn't want to startle him, "There's more coffee in the pot, if you want some."

Comments

[demon_brat]

It's a good thing she's asked, probably, because Bruce likely has told her that Damian's three-floor suite is no longer occupied by him alone. The top floor is now given to Dick - the one from their world (the other one is gone, now), but months and months behind them. The second floor, to eight-year-old Bean. Not that they always live there, but chances are that - other than bug sweeps and other such options - Damian's away from those areas most of the time.

And the first floor...

What she sees from the window probably differs greatly from the last times she's been to this suite. While the place is still clean, there's a disarray about it - items knocked over, chairs and even heavier furniture misaligned, as if a giant toddler has bumped around them.

Which, pretty much, is the case.

Damian looks up to the window pretty much instantly. And so does the giant baby turtle he has been petting. She's the culprit for the disorder, and Damian probably looks like such a little thing, beside her - she's started at about six-feet-long shell for Christmas. And she's been growing.

With him touching the turtle, Steph can probably feel the telepathically enhanced and broadcasted surprise even before the boy's eyes widen.

And then a trickle of pleasure. And welcome. He's concluded that it must be the Stephanie who was here before, and longer than the other one, or else she wouldn't have sought him out.

He gives the hatchling a nod, then bounces over the window to unlatch it, letting her in.

"Brown." The greeting is immediate and calm, despite the positive feedback given telepathically. "You have missed the opportunities for proper snowmen we have had, in the last months. Though, I suppose, if you wish to experience a turtle slide, Taraja can find place with still enough snow for that.

"Come in."

And he steps aside from the window.

[controlledvariable]

Bruce had the forethought to make mention of the turtles, as well, so that doesn't come as too much of a surprise, although the whole... telepathy thing isn't something she was expecting. Especially the pleasure and welcome, when she'd been worried about anger.

The comment about the snow is, possibly, the most surprising thing she's ever heard come from Damian's mouth, and she can't help but laugh. It eases that last remaining bit of tension in her chest.

"I might take you up on that once I'm settled," She climbs through the window as soon as he lets her in, casting a curious glance at the turtle before turning her attention back to Damian, "Is it okay if I'm here?"

With a gesture at her uniform, since - maybe Batgirl shouldn't be around Damian, even if she was careful that no one saw her come in.

[demon_brat]

It's been a mixture of factors, really. He's had about a year more of finding ways to communicate with people, and, among Jack, Kyle, Bean, and Midii, as well as the usual suspect (mostly Dick, both of him), he's toned down the intensity of opening topics, unless he has something important to say.

And the anger... Kyle's began teaching him about mental walls. As soon as the egg hatched, Damian's been practicing with those. Because, while adults could get resentment, anger, or worse from him, he has tried to be different with the young ones. And a newborn whose kind were weakened by chaos and negative emotions, and who is likely to be under attack, if not immediately, at least eventually?

Damian has to do his best not to weaken her. So he keeps most of the darker reaction under careful lock and key, inside his mind.

Paired up with the turtle's own enthusiasm and love poured over him at most times, it's really not easy for him. Then again, nobody ever promised him easy. So he doesn't expect it.

"It is only Taraja and me, at the time." And the fog is too thick to make it easy to identify a furtive visitor. "If you do not have civilian clothes, I can probably find you a shirt and a pair of drawstring pants."

From Grayson's clothing, but he'll explain it to his brother later. It's not that he has a habit of pawing through his things. This is a special case.

Damian tilts his head up at her. A small section of his mind knows that there is a question that is appropriate to ask, about her well-being. But, while he's grown, he's not grown quite that much. So, what comes out instead is, "have you eaten?" The head-butting into his back from the turtle, who has found her way over to the window, doesn't seem to disturb him, though it does send him a couple of steps forward. Relative weights and all that.

[controlledvariable]

She closes the window behind herself, in part because of secrets and partly because she isn't sure if that creeping fog is going to try to make it's way inside. It's unsettling, to say the least, but while the kedan warned her to be careful, apparently it isn't toxic or anything.

"I don't have anything at the moment, but I'm fine in this as long as you are," She does push her cowl back, though, and unclasps her cape from her shoulders, draping it over her arm.

Now that the turtle's closer, she can't help staring a little, but it's curiosity and a little delight, rather than anything else, "And nah, I haven't had a chance to eat yet."

Bruce offered, but she wasn't in the mood for eating then.

[demon_brat]

That, and Damian likely is the better cook.

He waves a trifle vaguely to the couch, whether to lay out her cape there or to sit is her call, and turns a little to give the turtle a small smile. Yes, it's clearly okay by him. If, by any chance, Bean comes home... they'll deal with that.

"Taraja, this is Stephanie Brown. She is..." Ah, words. Still difficult, after a year and a half here. "A friend. She was here before, but she disappeared months ago." Mentally, he taps slightly into the memory of her disappearance, and the emptiness (and some of the rest, he can't keep it well locked out when he actually reaches for it) very briefly. The answer, which both humans can feel, is a wave of sadness and comfort, and then joy. And welcome at Steph. And a slight question, in images, of a brown-haired woman, because the third carer for Taraja disappeared not very long ago. And another question, this time vague-er.

Damian's mouth twists. "I do not know. She might come back, too, yes. Some people do. Others stay gone."

And then, again, at the blonde. "This is Taraja. She hatched on Christmas, along with her brothers and sisters. Each of them usually has three people caring for them, but one of them recently disappeared, Una Persson. She is... missing her."

By now, Stephanie can probably tell that the hatchling isn't exactly likely to skimp on the emotions.

"She understands a lot of what is said, and the things that she doesn't, she'll ask about." Helpless look up at Steph. "In your mind."

And he heads towards the kitchen, to get snacks ready for both Steph and Taraja. Obviously, different snacks. In quantities, at least.

[cowled]

He has every intention of going into Kithika, but no desire to go in with the bulk of the main crowd. It's too much like drawing attention to himself, since he knows he'll need to go as Batman rather than Bruce, and the fewer people see him in uniform the better. He's managed to slip by under the radar now for (years, it's almost long enough to classify as years) but he doesn't expect that luck to hold. Bruce has never been particularly possessing of optimism one way or another.

Instead, he watches as the newest arrivals are brought into the city. Seeing Stephanie... surprises him. She shows signs of having recognized the city, but there have been two versions of her here. It could be either. This one, however, seeks out the suite that used to be occupied by Captain Rogers and Agent Carter. It's the only clue that he, Master Detective though he may be, requires. Both were departed by the arrival of the second Stephanie Brown.

He's not certain how to quantify his reaction at seeing her again. He's... pleased. Disappointed to know that she's not back in Gotham (where she does belong). He's concerned for her, knowing what he does about the coming war. He watches her, following when necessary as she visits his suite (sloppy, though not so much to warrant chastisement) and then his old warehouses, the ones that had to be abandoned due to the coming and going of his various family members, and then she stops at the one he's kept secret to all but those most important to him.

He never did change the electronic locks. A Stephanie that had never been here wouldn't recognize the building, and this one... has a right to this place. Perhaps it was sentimentality, or complacency, the result of being on an extended sabbatical with little in the way of constant villainy. Or perhaps he trusts her.

He doesn't dwell. Instead, he drops down behind her, swathed in darkness, and waits for her to notice him. He expects it won't take long.

[controlledvariable]

If anyone ever asks her to explain how she knows when someone's sneaking up on her, she wouldn't be able to put it into words. It's not magic, of course, but there's so many little things that it's hard to put her finger on, and sometimes it really just comes to down to instinct, albeit one that's been trained into her by a variety of people. In the end, it just means that she knows there's someone behind her, and she knows it's Bruce because who else would it be, really?

Anyone else on their side would announce their presence, and there's no way anyone not on their side could get in here without Bruce knowing.

In any other circumstances, she might have started chatting at him without acknowledge him, just to make a point about how annoying the whole sneak up on people from the shadows thing is. But it's not any other circumstance; she's been gone for months and he has her uniform in a case - which is kind of creepy but she'll deal with it later - so she does turn around.

And smiles, because it's her, "A hello would've been fine, you know."

[cowled]

Almost, almost he smiles back. But it's not his style, so instead he does very nearly his equivalent, which involves reaching up and tugging the cowl back from his face. In the wake of Jason's recent disappearance, he still aches with loss, but Stephanie... even before he realized it, she always made things brighter. The way Robins always have.

There are a million things he could say. Bruce is not often at a loss for words, though he chooses to be silent when perhaps he shouldn't. He opens his mouth to speak, but the words don't translate. He wants to tell her that she was sloppy, the way she moved across the city. That she should have varied her course more from his suite to this warehouse. That she would have been better served by stripping off her costume and ducking off the cart they brought her in.

He wants to say, welcome back.

He does none of those things. Instead, "Hello, Stephanie." Because once in a while, Bruce Wayne is a smartass.

[controlledvariable]

And she just rolls her eyes.

"Don't get smart with me," She aims a punch at his arm, gentle even for them and while she's half expecting him to dodge or bat her aside, it's-- Well, she figures it's the most affection he might accept from her. He'd hugged her before, but that was more for her sake than is, and she doesn't expect anything like that now.

Anyway, it's not like she's sure what to do with how she's feeling; relieved that he's still here and glad that he doesn't seem to be upset with her for disappearing. Humor is, as always, easier, "I see you've really let the place go since I was gone."

Creepy black fog, a change in Emperor, giant baby turtles.

Actually that last one doesn't seem so bad.

[cowled]

And he doesn't dodge away from it, or catch her hand mid-strike. It's almost like accepting the affection of the gesture, though he does tense a little. He learned perhaps too well from that slap of years ago.

"A lot's changed. Here." He gestures her towards a corner of the room. It's dominated by the large supercomputer he's cobbled together over the last year and a half. It's nothing like what he has in Gotham, but it's also a project he abandoned some months ago. If his suspicions are correct, Malicant could use it. All of his pertinent or classified information is now kept in a handwritten cypher very few people alive know how to read. But he does have simpler documents, with a general overlay of events, and he hands her one of those dossiers. "Familiarize yourself with this at your convenience." There may be a war here, but it's not the type he's accustomed to, urgency in every breath. It's something that he's... adapted to, slowly. He still has his preferences, for how things are done, and appreciates a certain promptness, but there's a time and a place for it now, where there never was room before.

He's a week away from thirty-seven, and he can hardly remember the last time he was shot. If not for the excellence of his memory, anyway. "When was the last time you ate?"

[modernized]

So, this fog? He was so over this fog. It's only been a few days and he really hopes the people who already ventured into the bottle (he's sure more people will go in later - all a matter of preparation) are making progress. The corruption in the bottle being eliminated will end the fog, but if it's taking this long already to get that done then Terry is glad he made the choice not to go in at all. It's just as important to protect Keeliai and the Kedan, not to forget the turtles freaking out about the fog (one of which he's linked to and is getting massive headaches from) - there need to be people here to protect the city as much as there need to be people to go in the bottle.

He really hopes they work faster in there.

The dense and thickness of the fog makes it difficult to navigate within it, so Terry does his best to stay above it as much as humanly possible. Difficult because it's fog but it's definitely darker on the streets than it is above them. But even he can't avoid the sounds of a fight, going down on street level, catching his ear. Duty calls. It takes him a moment to get a good location on where the fight is happening from hearing alone, the visual scanners of his screen unable to get past the thickness of the fog, and once he does he drops from the roof and to the street.

He lands down with a small thud, not really caring to silence his fall in the middle of a fight, and -- is that a cowl with bat ears he sees -- dispenses an electric charged tosser at one of the mold monsters crawling about. It connects and the monster is immediately thrown back with an ungodly shriek, sparks of electricity vaporizing it back to goo.

"Having a good night?" He calls to the other person, only barely able to see them. Yeah he is really over this fog.

[controlledvariable]

The thud of boots on the ground isn't missed by Steph, but she has to trust it's an ally, since she's a little preoccupied with the second goo monster or whatever the hell those things are. They at least don't thud, which is why she feels fairly safe in her assumption, doubly so when she sees the crackle of electricity as the creature disappears. She doesn't recognize the voice, sbut really, that doesn'mean anything considering how long she's been gone.

"Oh, the best. I thought the fun I had with the zombies was gonna be hard to top, but Keeliai never fails to disappoint," Her tone is undoubtly sarcastic, but it's more playful than bitter, and she takes a breath before driving her staff into the chest of the second creature.

She figured out a little while ago that it was a pretty effective way of getting rid of them.

[modernized]

"It's a living!"

He equally doesn't recognize her voice, but that's an old song by now. Whoever she may be, he can at least see an outline of a cowl past the fog and that's good enough for him right now. Chit-chat can be saved for a later time - like when mold abominations aren't trying to give them the world's grossest bear hug.

Another creature makes a dive for him before he can think twice and latches on, but before it has a chance to bite Terry quickly slams the middle of his belt and sends it flying with an electric discharge from the suit. The suit noticeably crackles from electricity for a brief moment before dying down. "Okay, so were the zombies this disgusting?!"

Seriously, it's like if Inque had pet monsters or something.

[controlledvariable]

"They were so much worse, you have no idea," She doesn't think she'll ever forget the feeling of rotting flesh breaking against her fists or the smell of the jiangshi or the sight of disembodied limbs still trying to grab at people. And they were alive, once; at least she can tell herself that the goo craetures are just monsters, mindless things that she doesn't have to feel guilty about killing.

But she's getting lost in her thoughts, and that's never a good thing in the middle of a fight, so she focuses back on the situation at hand. Bruce mentioned the other Batman, so she's not shocked when she notices the pointed ears on the cowl, although it's definitely perked up her interest, since another Bat is always something worth poking at.

She's reluctant to use her fancier batarangs when they're a limited resources - Bruce can make new ones, but they're never going to be quite the same - so she relies on her staff and her body, beating down another goo creature before managing to get in a fatal blow to the chest.

[modernized]

He really does have no idea and he doesn't want to get one, especially not when they things are blitzing around, looking for a good angle to chomp him at. Another one jumps at him, but this time he hears it coming from the gurgled shrieks it makes and ducks down to dodge it. The only indication that it's taken down is a loud splat sound coming from the wall it collided with at top speed. These things aren't smart, if nothing else is an upside to the situation. Be different if they were intelligent.

One of them must have heard his thoughts though, as it leaps out for him. He narrowly avoids it and quickly ejects a grapple claw from his forearm, slinging it around the monsters neck to pull it down. There's only a small moment of hesitance before he runs up to it and slams a foot down onto where its heart is, using the full weight of his leg and the suit's augmentation to fatally strike it past the goo. Yeah, this sucks.

The number of monsters has thinned between the two of them fighting, though he suspects she watered down the numbers before he even arrived on the scene. She's definitely good, if that's the case, but that's to be expected from a cowl wearer at this point. However there could be more coming out of the thickness of the fog at any time and he isn't shy about retreat.

"We should get to higher ground and out of the fog! They only stay around on ground level," he calls out, taking a moment to shake off the black tar from his legs with a scowl.

[asoothingvoice]

Bianca has been at it nonstop since Milyn's announcement about the source of the fog, and she's done her best to help with the cleaning of the mold to prevent it from taking hold too long, on top of getting the hospital set up a good month ahead of schedule, to serve as a shelter. All of it's hard work, but she needs to eat. Definitely needs to eat.

She follows one of the mostly clean and secure paths from the hospital and gets to one of the few carryout places open in one piece (why they're still open during a time like this, she doesn't know, but she's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth when the hospital doesn't have its own food supply yet) but it's the trip back that has to go wrong. Of course.

Was it foolhardy for her to go out on her own when it's like this? Extremely. But she wasn't going to let the corrupt fog or monsters scare her from doing things like live. The fact that she was also carrying around a wooden practice sword helped, too. At least from the perspective of 'give her enough time to get away'.

Naturally it's one of the few nights where most of the in-residence superheroes are gone that two large kedan come out of the alleyway and demand everything she has on her.

A reasonable woman would hand everything over.

Bianca, unfortunately, is the sort of woman who fights back even when she's outnumbered, and is going to be overpowered and badly harmed for fighting back, which is why she's shouting at the top of her lungs.

"I'm not giving you thugs anything!"

Needless to say she's in trouble.

[controlledvariable]

Most superheroes, but not all of them, and the good thing about someone yelling at the top of their lungs is that Batgirl can hear them even through the thick fog. She moves as soon as she hears the shout, grateful that she's close, and a few seconds later she's dropping down into the same alley.

It's a little hard to see through the fog, so it was nice of the kedan to make themselves such big targets.

She sticks her fingers in her mouth and gives a loud whistle to get their attention, "Didn't your moms teach you to pick on people your own size?"

Which - yep, sure has got their attention. Excuse her while she beats the crap out of them, keeping an eye on Bianca to make sure she's safe.

[asoothingvoice]

She can't actually make out who it is in the fog very well- only the vaguest outline- but she can make out the cape and the fact that this woman jumped in to save her and put it together. A superhero.

She's much more skilled than Jaime is, that's for sure.

"I don't think their mothers taught them anything."

There's an element of surprise in her voice, because she's still processing that this is happening, not to mention the fact that she wasn't expecting anyone to swoop in to save her.

[controlledvariable]

"Unless being violent criminals runs in the family!" That's probably not a joke that Steph should make, but tact has never exactly been her strong point, and it's not like random strangers know who her dad is.

She takes down the kedan easily enough, although she doesn't escape without them landing a couple of blows on her, but it's nothing too serious. And she's still a little out of breath by the time she's tying up two unconscious forms.

"Are you okay, ma'am?"

[asoothingvoice]

"I think I am. Just a little shocked." Being saved by... Batgirl? Probably Batgirl- wasn't something she ever expected would happen. After all, it wasn't like they lived in Gotham. Some career 'opportunities' just weren't worth it- everywhere had a shortage of nurses, if they really wanted to pick up and move to a different city, Gotham was somewhere near the bottom of the list. Way too dangerous. Not to mention anywhere that far north wouldn't have good Mexican food.

Getting mugged wasn't something she wanted to have happen, but it wasn't one of those things that was out of the realm of possibility.

"Are you okay?" She noticed those hits.

[bludhavenknight]

He's up a little later then usual, but then, he's had a busy night, which was preceded by a busy day, in which he had to attempt work and walk around the city with Marcelon. It felt so good to be a daddy, though. Maybe a dad to a turtle, but it didn't matter, because Marcelon was his baby boy, and that was enough for him.

Still meant he was way too busy, and that's why he's coming downstairs in sleep clothes. "Thank god." Dick yawns, going to the coffee pot and getting out a cup before stopping. He slowly turns, because that voice was definitely not someone he knew.

Not someone he knew from here. Dick cleared his throat, and then poured himself a cup. He needed that.

"Stephanie Brown? The Stephanie Brown? Sitting in the living room?"

[controlledvariable]

That's kind of cute, and she wishes she was more sure on where she stood with Dick so that she wouldn't be feeling so nervous about this encounter. The younger version of Dick being around helped ease some of the negativity she has towards Graysons in general, but she still... can't forget the way he treated her.

"I'd say the one and only, but apparently that's not true," She raises her mug in a lazy salute, moving to sit up a bit so she can talk more easily (and to make room for him on the couch, if he decides to join her), "But I was the first, at least in Keeliai."

[bludhavenknight]

"Originality is overrated." Dick joked as he came over to sit on the couch next to her. Because where else was he going to sit when there was someone else here? That's when he's able to get a good look at her. Damian had told him about her becoming Batgirl, so while he hadn't lived it himself, he knew that it happened.

"So you've been here before, and you remember being here before?" Something that he and Aya had discussed, this weird thing that happened. Some people remembered, and others didn't. Dick had been here before, and had no memory of it.

"That... has to suck."

[controlledvariable]

Steph curls her knees up to her chest when Dick sits down; it's something a little protective, not really conscious, but she's just not sure where she stands with him. She still smiles, and she looks relaxed, she just tends to curl in on herself when she's unsure.

"The time difference is a little weird, but I'd rather remember than not," Like the other Steph, who would've had to deal with all the people expecting her. She doesn't want to live in someone else's shadow, least of all her own.

[bludhavenknight]

Looking down at the ground, Dick took a sip from his cup. Caffeine was always a help, and he was really feeling the need for it right now.

"I think I can understand that." It would be better to remember, Dick knew that. Easier, too, to be the guy who was here before. To do the things that he was told he could do. To see the same things. When Dick arrived, and the younger was here, it felt like... not living in someone's shadow. But knowing that Dick, the him that was him right now, except from the future, was here before him?

"It's been a little weird since I got here." He waved a hand. "Beyond being on a turtle weird. There was a younger Dick here, I don't know if you knew him? But coming here and seeing that was... really shocking, you know?"

He actually missed him. "But everyone told me I'd been here before, and I sure as hell don't remember being here before. And from the future. I think-- no, I know that Damian was really disappointed." He gave her a crooked smile. "Sometimes I wish I could remember being here before. Like a crash course in my own past. Eyes open with metal hooks and a guy using eye drops on me kind of crash course."