ward of wayne, bird enthusiast, code-genius, ex-trapeze artist. which means exactly what you think it does. free dinner to the first name joke I haven't heard.
[ Like his kids, during those blue moon moments. ]
Let me know if you need anything.
[ Otherwise: he knows this is the last place anyone wants a (n alternate universe version of a) parental figure, especially when your parental figure is Bruce Wayne, so he's happy to be hands off. But he was a real asshole to the last doppelganger of his oldest son that was in Eudio, so he's ... you know, trying. ]
[ dick knows bruce better than the others, has been around him longest, seen what he can do and what he can be. this might not be his batman, judging by the interaction, but he can't rule it out yet.
also, there may just be a part of him that can't let him just get away like that. like he always does. so dick's feeling a little jumpy, it's been a long day. ]
[ HMMMMM this seems like a trap for people who hate emotions, but the last time he slammed the proverbial door in a Dick Grayson's face, he just showed up at his house anyway. ]
[ it 100% probably is but hey - dick knows what he can get away with. knows what buttons he can push. bruce isn't going to get away from him that easily. ]
Give me half an hour?
[ because he's aware of what he'll probably run into, knowing anything about bruce wayne. but that doesn't deter him from needing to ask in the first place. ]
[ Bruce lives in a townhouse in a completely unremarkable area, does not own a car (!), and has a dog. (He also has a Kryptonian, but Clark's out for the afternoon.) ]
[ dick doesn't bother responding to that, knowing bruce's preference for efficiency. he can't really shake that weird weight that hovers over him as he finishes up what he'd been doing - messages a couple of people he'd been talking to that he'd be back in a bit - before heading out into the city.
there's a lot he feels like he should prepare - what to ask, what is going on, how this is happening, but for now dick just puts one foot in front of the other and heads off towards the address, not sure what to expect and not sure if what he finds is exactly what he should be expecting, or the opposite.
still, he heads up to the door and knocks, stepping back a step or two before sliding his hands in his pockets. he's not nervous, necessarily. just. prepared. ]
[ There's no tediously long the-butler-has-to-hike-from-across-the-mansion wait, and soon enough, the door opens to reveal SURPRISE, IT'S
just Bruce Wayne, in civilian clothes. (Still all black. It's an illness.) He's certainly older than Dick would expect of his own adopted father, but not yet so far out of his prime that he doesn't have the same imposing stature and particular set of his shoulders. Still Batman. ]
Hi.
[ Bruce steps back to allow him in - the townhouse is tidy, nondescript, the few personal affects laid here and there obviously not Bruce's. ]
[ 'just bruce wayne' doesn't really capture it, does it? not when dick feels like he's building and building and building up to something that was already not going to be as momentous and important as he thought. still, the door opens, and he feels himself freeze for a second, unsure of what he expects to find and what will be there, standing before him.
he sees bruce. bruce. with the same chin and the same clothes and the same set to his shoulders. adoptive father, billionaire savior, batman.
older. dick can't help the way he nearly winces at that.
but he pushes passed it, gives a smile at the hello. his hands don't leave the pockets of his jacket, and as bruce steps aside, dick moves on into the entryway and a bit further into the house, his eyes immediately taking stock of everything around him. picking out this, and that, and the things that are obviously not bruce's. interesting. ]
Little whelmed, but not bumped or bruised. [ his eyes continue to wander, before he ends up turning back to face where bruce is standing, giving him another easy smile. though, of course, it's dick - bruce trained him - so the tension in his shoulders would be easy enough to pick out. ] This place takes a little getting used to, I'm finding, but not for the ways I thought.
[ dick pauses here, looking at bruce a bit expectantly. well? anything to add? ]
Is this your first experience with multiple universes? [ The tension is noted, but not processed as out of the ordinary; it's unfortunate but the reality of things that, over the past ten years, Dick is more likely to be at odds with him than anything. The young man standing before him now looks to be about the right age to have had that one truly awful fight that led to him leaving for Bludhaven. Bruce's refusal to push him to return, born of a fear that pushing would only cause Dick to shut him out permanently, casts a shadow to this day.
But-- he exhales, the look on his face very briefly apologetic. ] There's an older Dick Grayson here who is from my world. I'm unlikely to be the man you know, exactly. But that doesn't mean you don't know me at all.
Beyond textbooks and lectures. [ well, yes. there's a tension. dick doesn't know if there ever won't be. he's moved out of the mansion and onto bludhaven, has continued to the young justice team without the overhanging bat symbol over their heads. they've...well. it's complicated, to say the least, but he doesn't harbor anything overbearingly bitter towards bruce.
he doesn't think he ever could.
however, there's a level that the bruce would go to apologize. he kind of has, in his own way. this? this is...more. like he's making up for something. like he's trying. it's almost...overwhelming, in a way. a briefly apologetic look is still apologetic and still there, and dick kind of ends up watching him for a second after it.
but there it is again. older dick grayson. of course he'd be from his world. of course he would know him. the bitterness comes in a quick wave, and then is gone again, controlled. dick gives a sort of half-smile. ]
No, I can't imagine universes would change Bruce Wayne all that much. [ which is comforting, as much as dick doesn't want to admit it. this may not be his bruce, but he's still a bruce, and there will always be comfort in that for him, no matter if he's living in the mansion or not. ]
But I've met him. Or- texted. He seems pretty popular around here. [ dick's eyes continue to scan around the room they're in, trying to settle on what exactly brought him here and what he wanted to get out of this talk in the first place.
it's been a day, heavy on the aster, so trying to weight out the important information is taking dick a little longer than normal. ]
You'd be surprised, [ is deadpan. The short brunette one was eyeroll-inducing at best, and the alcoholic is too slow. They're not the first alternates of himself Bruce has ever met, though, so they just go on the list of oddities he's experienced along with everything else.
Also deadpan: ] I've heard that.
[ He's not in a hurry to discuss his son's sex life, which is absolutely what 'popular' in Eudio means. ]
I'm not yet. [ but he's smiling, just a little competitively, poking away at bruce like he can't help but do. he's trying to gather any kind of information, which is something he should probably know from the start is a bit futile.
it's bruce wayne. he'll never really know all of it. ]
It's pretty whelming, for someone just showing up. [ no, he probably wouldn't want to discuss as much. dick is having a hard enough time thinking that it's somehow??? his own sex life??? in another universe.
it's making his head hurt. ]
Wh- oh. [ he'd feel worse if it wasn't the world's greatest detective reading him like a book. he shrugs. ] Yeah, sure, if you have any.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ Like his kids, during those blue moon moments. ]
Let me know if you need anything.
[ Otherwise: he knows this is the last place anyone wants a (n alternate universe version of a) parental figure, especially when your parental figure is Bruce Wayne, so he's happy to be hands off. But he was a real asshole to the last doppelganger of his oldest son that was in Eudio, so he's ... you know, trying. ]
no subject
[ dick knows bruce better than the others, has been around him longest, seen what he can do and what he can be. this might not be his batman, judging by the interaction, but he can't rule it out yet.
also, there may just be a part of him that can't let him just get away like that. like he always does. so dick's feeling a little jumpy, it's been a long day. ]
Actually, I do.
You busy?
no subject
Always, but I can make time.
[ Insert address here. ]
no subject
Give me half an hour?
[ because he's aware of what he'll probably run into, knowing anything about bruce wayne. but that doesn't deter him from needing to ask in the first place. ]
no subject
[ Bruce lives in a townhouse in a completely unremarkable area, does not own a car (!), and has a dog. (He also has a Kryptonian, but Clark's out for the afternoon.) ]
action.
there's a lot he feels like he should prepare - what to ask, what is going on, how this is happening, but for now dick just puts one foot in front of the other and heads off towards the address, not sure what to expect and not sure if what he finds is exactly what he should be expecting, or the opposite.
still, he heads up to the door and knocks, stepping back a step or two before sliding his hands in his pockets. he's not nervous, necessarily. just. prepared. ]
no subject
just Bruce Wayne, in civilian clothes. (Still all black. It's an illness.) He's certainly older than Dick would expect of his own adopted father, but not yet so far out of his prime that he doesn't have the same imposing stature and particular set of his shoulders. Still Batman. ]
Hi.
[ Bruce steps back to allow him in - the townhouse is tidy, nondescript, the few personal affects laid here and there obviously not Bruce's. ]
You okay?
no subject
he sees bruce. bruce. with the same chin and the same clothes and the same set to his shoulders. adoptive father, billionaire savior, batman.
older. dick can't help the way he nearly winces at that.
but he pushes passed it, gives a smile at the hello. his hands don't leave the pockets of his jacket, and as bruce steps aside, dick moves on into the entryway and a bit further into the house, his eyes immediately taking stock of everything around him. picking out this, and that, and the things that are obviously not bruce's. interesting. ]
Little whelmed, but not bumped or bruised. [ his eyes continue to wander, before he ends up turning back to face where bruce is standing, giving him another easy smile. though, of course, it's dick - bruce trained him - so the tension in his shoulders would be easy enough to pick out. ] This place takes a little getting used to, I'm finding, but not for the ways I thought.
[ dick pauses here, looking at bruce a bit expectantly. well? anything to add? ]
no subject
But-- he exhales, the look on his face very briefly apologetic. ] There's an older Dick Grayson here who is from my world. I'm unlikely to be the man you know, exactly. But that doesn't mean you don't know me at all.
no subject
he doesn't think he ever could.
however, there's a level that the bruce would go to apologize. he kind of has, in his own way. this? this is...more. like he's making up for something. like he's trying. it's almost...overwhelming, in a way. a briefly apologetic look is still apologetic and still there, and dick kind of ends up watching him for a second after it.
but there it is again. older dick grayson. of course he'd be from his world. of course he would know him. the bitterness comes in a quick wave, and then is gone again, controlled. dick gives a sort of half-smile. ]
No, I can't imagine universes would change Bruce Wayne all that much. [ which is comforting, as much as dick doesn't want to admit it. this may not be his bruce, but he's still a bruce, and there will always be comfort in that for him, no matter if he's living in the mansion or not. ]
But I've met him. Or- texted. He seems pretty popular around here. [ dick's eyes continue to scan around the room they're in, trying to settle on what exactly brought him here and what he wanted to get out of this talk in the first place.
it's been a day, heavy on the aster, so trying to weight out the important information is taking dick a little longer than normal. ]
no subject
Also deadpan: ] I've heard that.
[ He's not in a hurry to discuss his son's sex life, which is absolutely what 'popular' in Eudio means. ]
Do you want coffee?
[ He can tell you're nervous, kiddo. ]
no subject
it's bruce wayne. he'll never really know all of it. ]
It's pretty whelming, for someone just showing up. [ no, he probably wouldn't want to discuss as much. dick is having a hard enough time thinking that it's somehow??? his own sex life??? in another universe.
it's making his head hurt. ]
Wh- oh. [ he'd feel worse if it wasn't the world's greatest detective reading him like a book. he shrugs. ] Yeah, sure, if you have any.