16071/Mother and Son

Mother and Son
Date of Scene:	20 February 2024
Location:	Grounds - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Talia learns of Damian's situation and his current interest
Cast of Characters:	Talia al Ghul, Robin (Wayne)

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Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul has not taken residence in wayne Manor, unsure of her welcome and not wishing to create tension in the household between son and father. She hasn't been able to quite cross paths with Bruce yet - he is always so busy, after all, so many clowns and fools cluttering up the streets of Gotham. Perhaps he should have allowed her father to wipe it off the face of the Earth.

Ah, well. For now, she merely avoids the more unpleasant parts of the city.

She's wearing a Versace dress with knee-high heeled boots, a choker of black pearls around her throat. Her midnight hair is up in a careful chignon, her manicured hands clasped as she settles into a seat on the veranda, overlooking the grounds.

"So, how goes your training? Do you feel you have learned things here you would not have learned from the League?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
Walking alongside his mother, Damian Wayne is dressed to the nines, as though he had an important event t oget to. He really didn't, he just preferred to be dressed to the height of formality. Thankfully, perhaps mercifully, Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul haven't crossed paths, no doubt due t othe efforts of Alfred and the rest of the Bat Family. Or perhaps, Bruce's duties as Gotham's defender keep him from home? Regardless, Damian is happy to keep his mother company.

"My training goes well. Father's tactics serve me effectively. Of course, the other wards he has adopted over the years serve as allies, teachers, and friends. I have found more than I expected in Gotham City. I expected that it was...going t obe different."

He looks at Talia directly then. "But enough of me, mother. Tell me of you. How have you gotten settled in the Manor? Has your business in the city gone well?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul nods, "Yes, he has managed to gather his own little tribe, hasn't he? Poor orphaned Bruce, in such desperate need of love. And yet, sometimes, when it is freely offered, he spits it out like a spoiled brat," she says with a hint of ice in her voice.

"I'm still trying to find suitable space for myself. For now, I remain in a fine hotel, properly attended and with a very good chef in the kitchen. They respect my privacy, but I do despise having to mingle with the other guests. Proper isolation is much preferable."

"Have you found a young lady to keep you company? Or are you a 'player', as they say?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
"Please mind your words, mother." To anybody else, Damian would be a LOT harsher, were he talking to anybody else. But Talia? Talia is his beloved mother. How can he do anything to disrespect her? "He tries and tries hard. He sees the people he finds as his own, very similar to him, and he uses his abilities as Batman to improve them and set them on their own path. It's only by choice they follow the Crusade." Damian suggests to her softly. "And...your morals, despite being aligned, have two very different ways of accomplishing the same task."

Damian seems to almost brace for reprimand. "I find myself much preferring the same or to be in your company. To be alone or with truly like minds can be...clearing for the senses. Far preferable." Damian suggests.

Though Talia asks Damian if he's found a lady to keep him company. "Less someone to keep me company and more one I have elected to pursue...her name is Barbara. She's..beautiful, but older than me. I worry that the age gap will make me an unsuitable man for her."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul narrows her dark eyes at her son's response, her posture still and measured. Her long lashes give her an exotic beauty, matching her angular cheekbones and the sultry curve of her full mouth. "I appreciate your loyalty to your father, even if I find it somewhat misplaced. I have been accused of the same, after all. And do not mistake, your grandfather and I do not always see eye to eye either. I will always speak as I please, however, to you or anyone else. I've had quite enough of holding my tongue for one lifetime."

Then she softens, "But yes, I would like for us to have more time together as well, Damian. The bond between us is unbreakable and far more powerful than any other connection in my life. You, at least, I know I can rely upon."

"Barbara, eh?" she says with a soft smile. "She is known to me, yes. I approve of her capabilities. She has great skills, even if some of her breeding is suspect."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
Damian seems to look upon Talia, her dark eyes narrowed at him as he accepts her response. She will speak as she pleases and nobody will dissuade her or persuade her to do otherwise. "Yes, mother." Damian backs down from Talia, perhaps the only person other than Batman to make Damian surrender in /anything/. He wasn't going to change her mind about this, he just wasn't. But...at the very least, he has the dignity of holding positive relationships with both parents, even if they do not have a good relationship with each other.

"I will always be able to be relied upon, mother. You know that." Damian suggests to her with a kind look in his eyes towards her. She was always the one who could earn a smile from him without doing much of anything. "I love you, mother. The bond we share will always be unbreakable. It...made me happy to see you again, after all this time. I am still happy to see you now, when I am so used to seeing you on the other side of the world."

"Yes....Barbara. I, among others, call her Babs for short." Though Damian tilts his head as Talia admits that Barbara is well known to her. "I'm...glad you approve." That's Damian's understanding, anyway, of his mother's approval. "But I believe her breeding to be flawless."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul didn't consider it surrendering, merely respect and wisdom. Talia -did- know more than Damian, about most everything, how could she not, being who she was? No shame in respecting her authority, for it was authority well earned. At least as far as she was concerned.

The corner of her mouth twitches as he defends Barbara's breeding, "I suppose I could look more deeply into the matter. The benefit of the doubt, so to speak," she says. She pats the chaise in which she sits, "Come, sit, let me get a good look at you. What have you done with your hair?" she says.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
Damian seems to smile as Talia seems willing to at least give Barbara a chance. Though Damian seems to question his mother on a great many things thanks to being at his father's side for so long, Damian does /not/, in fact, choose to rest on the moment. Though Talia pats the chaise where she sits, gesturing for him to sit next to her. Damian does so with little hesitation.

"My hair?" Damian lifts his hand to his dark locks, so reminiscient of his father. In fact, Damian looks the striking image of his father's visage. "Do you consider my hair poor, mother?"