[open] In comics, 35 is the new 55.

[hackingyoursensors]

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and YOU
Date: Today!
Location: Metal Sector
Situation: It's Bruce's birthday! And he'll celebrate it whether he wants to or not.
Warnings/Rating: C for cute

It was mid-afternoon by the time Dick managed to make a video post to the network.

"I doubt he told anyone, but today is Bruce's birthday. I say this calls for a party, don't you? So I'm throwing one in Metal sector this afternoon. Be there or be a quadrilateral with four right angles and sides of equal length."

He grins.

"And don't worry. I'll make sure the birthday boy shows up."

The feed ends. He won't reply to any of the responses, but he'll be clearly visible whenever your character decides to wander over to the party site.


It's nothing too stellar, compared to the birthday bashes back home. Then again, those parties never really suited Bruce. That plus the limited resources he had in Keeliai meant the party was pretty low-key.

The party itself takes place outside in a spacious area in Metal that nobody ever really used. A few tables are covered in snacks and drinks from all over. No booze, so it's BYOB. He's pretty sure he'd be grounded for life otherwise. The decorations leave a little to be desired. There's a banner with "Happy Birthday, Bruce" in English in what is clearly Dick's handwriting. That's more or less it.

But he did clear an area as an impromptu dance floor and managed to set up a soundsystem. It's playing the closest approximation of the music Bruce actually likes. Some of it sounds suspiciously like The Clash.

He did manage to acquire a cake and some candles, though. (Dick tried to make one. It wasn't pretty.)

All in all, he was satisfied. Now to find Bruce and make good on his promise.

Comments

[wholenewstory]

[Cass leans into his hand, just a little. She treasures them, still, touches like this.]

Still...stolen. Just - later.

[She saw those pictures. It was like a light had been struck out.]

You can be - a hero. And - a person, too. The others...they do it. Even - Oracle. [And Oracle can change the world with a sweep of her fingertips.]

Not - easy. But...if I can learn, then - you can.

[She stares up at him, chin out.] They wouldn't want - you to be...alone. Broken. Just because you think that's...better. They'd want...happiness, for you. They way - you do, for us.

[cowled]

[And more than anything, her words make him angry. It's a sharp, intense emotion, but his hand stays steady on her shoulder. He's already argued with Dick. He doesn't want to fight with Cassandra, too. He's getting too damned old for these constant battles in which he has to justify or explain who he is the way he is and more importantly, why he has to remain that way.

The fact is, he always expected that his... soldiers (his children, his family) would lose their cohesion if they lost him. But they hadn't. And Dick, as much as he hadn't wanted him in the role, had walked in his footsteps with more acumen than even Bruce had anticipated.

Dick drew people in. And Bruce is too damned self-aware to realize he does the same only to push them away again when they get too close to the danger.

He's never quite accepted that being around him isn't a death sentence, because for too many people it has been. So when he cares for people, he-- he tries to make sure that they're the best they can be, the strongest he can make them. And he knows too well that's not always enough. So he keeps them at arm's length or farther, for their own sake. For his.

So it hurts less.]

It's not their decision to make.

[The anger is still there. But his words are... quiet.]

[wholenewstory]

[He's angry with her. It makes her want to shy away, at first, to let it go. But no - no, this is too important, and she can see beyond the hard, glinting edges to something they share, something warm and wounded.

Why does everyone I care about die?

She blinks, hard.]

You - make decisions for us. Push us away, so you don't...lose anyone else.

[She takes a breath, deep and steady.] I - understand. But it's not - that's...

[Her eyes fall.] When Stephanie died, I knew...she would want me to live. For her. [She didn't die, not really, but it still feels like she did and Cass knows she'll carry that for a long time.]

So I - made friends. In Bludhaven. And then - I lost them. Couldn't... [She closes her eyes tight, for a moment. They're bright, when she opens them.]

But they helped teach me - how to be Cassandra. And if I stopped - doing that, it would...be wrong. To their memory.

[cowled]

[This isn't a conversation they should be having here. Here, of all places. In public, in a venue where people can stare at them, dissect the distant context of their exchange.]

Memories only get you so far.

[It feels like a betrayal, to put it that way. Because he's spent more time living in the past, more time grieving people he barely knew than he's ever spent living in the now. Appreciating the bonds he's forged.

He thinks sometimes, about whether or not his parents would approve of what he does. Who he is. How far he's come to being everything he hates. After all, he shot Darkseid. After he swore--

(no guns. ever.)

-- hard to imagine that Thomas Wayne would condone that. That Martha would--

His fingers tighten, just a little against Cassandra's shoulder. It's an unselfconscious gesture, and the moment he realizes what he's done he releases her entirely.]

[wholenewstory]

That's why - we make new ones.

[The loss feels greater than it is, but she understands why it happens. She can see the guilt, the uncertainty, the shame. She can only wonder at what caused it.

She reaches out, this time, lightly squeezing his arm.]

Whatever - you did. You did it because...you thought it was right. Because you knew - it would save people. Even if it hurt you. That's...what heroes do.

[cowled]

I'm not a hero, Cassandra.

[Not the way he expects others to be. For all the reasons she mentioned. He does what's necessary, when it's necessary. So other people don't have to make those calls. That isn't heroism.]

[wholenewstory]

Wrong. [Cass reaches up with her other hand, and lightly touches her chest.]

Helped show me...what a hero is. What I - could be.

[cowled]

[Breathing is a sudden effort. He glances away from her, down at his hand. Remembering Ra's elixir. The imagined landscape of Gotham overlaid with the presence of his parents.

If Dick's comments threw him off balance, Cassandra's have delivered a killing blow to the even keel of his emotions. He systematically shuts down the feelings he can't control. Compartmentalizing. He'll deal with them later.]

You were already on that path, Cassandra. I only lit the way for you. But who and what you are, you were on your own. Before we even met.