10482/When Robins Cry

When Robins Cry
Date of Scene:	19 December 2019
Location:	Grounds - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Damian and Diana discuss what family and happiness means. And Batcow chews the cud.
Cast of Characters:	Robin (Wayne), Wonder Woman

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Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The December cold has well arrived in Gotham City. The evening air bites gently at any exposed flesh who dares not cover up. The scion of the Wayne family was busy making sure the animals on the grounds were adequately prepared for the cold.

  Past the stables, was a small barn, small for a barn, that is. It looked like a small house on the grounds of Stately Wayne Manor.

  Damian was dragging a small hay bale on his shoulder, approaching the barn, and inside was a cow, larger than a calf, but not fully grown yet. The bovine was white and brown, with an almost bat-like pattern over her eyes. When one looks inside the barn, it can be seen that she had a very comfortable space for a cow.

  Condensed water vapor bellowed from his mouth as he trudged along, a black military-esque sweater hugged to his body, providing a buffer against the New Jersey weather. As much as the boy put on airs of harshness, those who watched him, knew that he cared very much for animals, and a select number of people. It was most apparent when it came to animals though.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana had been spending more time at the Wayne Manor, though she and Bruce had never really specified precisely why to anyone, though most have gathered why. Officially she was here to help him rehabilitate and who better in this world could one ask to have them do that then the warrior Princess of Themyscira? Nobody! thats who!

In this moment, Diana is arriving back to the barn area on the grounds, she's riding on a black and white horse with a saddle she'd brought with her. Diana is in full armor and she'd been riding in the cold weather just to enjoy the day as the cold did not bother her in a negative way like it bothers the average person of Earth.

She'd setup an obstacle course / training ground out in one of the deeper fields, and had been running it for her own practices, using javelin and bow for ranged practice and sword and shield for close quarters.

But now, she was returning and bringing the horse back to its place of rest.

When she arrives, she spies Damian. As she dismounts and leads the horse into where it is kept she offers him a happy wave while leading the black and white horse into its stall.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian drops the hay bale inside the barn, making sure Bat Cow (Yup, that's her name) had water too. As Diana approaches, mounted on the horse, he can't help but stand in awe for a second.

  He raises a hand, giving a small wave back to her as she looked, well, she looked like he saw her in photos. He'd seen her fight before, with how few people on earth had more combat prowess than he, it was something that he respected about her.

  He approached the stables slowly, thumbing out a picture he'd kept with him, merely for sentimental value. It was of him and Talia, since her departure, he had been out of sorts, taking out his anger on the criminals he fought every day.

  By now, and since he was not in uniform, he felt he could address her by her name instead of Wonder Woman. "Miss Diana." He said, in an unusually shy tone, for him at least.

  He helped her settle the horse in. "You can tell she liked running with you." He offered, palming a small apple and offering it to the horse. Of which was chomped down quite eagerly after a good running.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana only took and needed a moment to get the horse settled in and ready to relax after the exercise. Whilst doing so she could hear and sense Damian's approach, so by the time he's offering the horse an apple and speaking her name she is stepping out of the stall and offering a smile over to him. "Hello, Damian." She says in a chipper tone of her husky accented English.

"How are you on this fine afternoon?" She asks in that same way, while she reaches over to a took beside the stall to take a black cloak from it. Said cloak is voluminous and looks to be made of extremely soft fabric. She slips it on over her bare shoulders and armored form, then closes it with the leather straps that reside within it.

Her eyes dart back over to the horse in question and she gives a big grin to it, then to Damian. "Yes?" She asks. "Well I am glad. I enjoyed it myself." An exhale escapes the Princess as she steps them to a nice wooden bench and turns to sit herself upon it, a bag with some of her stuff rests beside her and she reaches into it to pull out a black bottle. "How is your Christmas present?" She asks then, glancing out of the stables. "'Bat Cow' yes?" She grins at him then. "I love that name, by the way."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Would he lie to her? No. "I have been better." He just does not divulge many details at the moment.

  "She is fine, making herself at home. Though, any life than being just for meat is better." The compliment has the young man blush, not many people in his life paid him compliments so freely. "Thank you."

  He takes out that picture again, joining her on the bench, resting his elbows on his knees, looking at the photo, thumbing over the facsimile of his mother's face. "Have you ever had a moral quandary, concerning yourself family?" Yes, it was a roundabout way to ask a personal question, but the more that he could distance himself from his situation, the safer he felt.

Wonder Woman has posed:
When Damian joins her, Diana leans back on the bench and cross her legs at the knees, which is no small feat consider the armored boots she has on, but she keeps the robe on over them and adjusts it a little for comfort's sake, the toes of one of her boots sticking out in front of her though.

Her eyes go to the photo that Damian is holding and then up to his profile beside her. His question gets a pause before she answers with a slight smile. "Of course." She softly tells him in a calming voice.

"Would you like to talk about something?" She asks him then. "Whatever is on your mind, throw it out there. I am happy to offer my thoughts on it as well." She takes another sip from that black bottle she's holding in her leather wrapped hand.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Of course, the boy who had Batman for a father would hold another hero in higher esteem. Diana was that hero, in Damian's eyes.

  "I am torn between two families. The Al Ghul's and the Waynes, one who raised me, the other who opened their doors to me. I had thought that I mattered not to my mother...after I left the League, they hunted me. Then the hunting stopped once I killed enough of their assassins." He exhales in a sigh. "Then she shows up here...making me blood soup like I never left." His words came at a slower pace now. "And when it was over, she left, with a kind word, but she left. Forsaking the opportunity for us to be a family, for the first time in my life."

  "This is the same woman, who trained me to be the League's youngest master assassin, the heir to the throne of Ra's Al Ghul, and all the injuries and torture that implies, growing up." Damian's voice wavered now, remembering every broken bone, every field stitch he was forced to perform on himself, every single wound he received. Up until the battle of Metropolis, his body was a roadmap of scars and old wounds, healed by the force of the chaos crystal he coerced Carrie to stab him with.

Wonder Woman has posed:
It doesn't take a psychology expert to see the turmoil going on inside of this young man beside her. She's known it was there inside of him since the first time she'd met him, as he wears it on his sleeve... even if he has no idea that he's doing it.

Diana's slim and pointed chin lowers down, her dark hair settles in loose curls around her shoulders a little more as she just stares at him, watches the way the muscles in his face move as he speaks on these matters.

When he finishes she takes a moment before she replies. "Damian, do you ever hear the question asked 'What is the meaning of life?'" There's a short pause, but she's soon to speak again, not really needing an answer to that.

"I will tell you what it is. It is Happiness. To seek it out, to wrap yourself in it and to feel its warmth soak into your soul." Her right hand reaches over from her bottle on her lap to rest on his shoulder, the palm wrapped in leather but the fingers still bare. She squeezes his shoulder then.

"What brings you the most happiness, is the path that you must take in life. Where is that path for you?" She asks of him. "Is it here with the Waynes? Or does that path lie elsewhere? You need not answer that question to me, only to yourself."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian listens and hangs on Diana's every word. It was a message he had heard before. But as it came from Diana, it had a much deeper impact than before. He had almost answered her original question, but stopped as she continued on.

  What exactly did happiness mean for him? That was the hardest question of all. It was the reason why he left the League, he had cracked.

  The hand that reached toward him at first met with a very short jump, he still had habits that told him such things meant he was about to be attacked. In the split second it took to allow Diana to touch him, the boy had blushed in response, slightly embarrassed for the unconscious attempt to not allow him to be comforted. For so long he had convinced himself that he was not allowed to feel such things. Battle and combat were the only acceptable forms of attaining happiness. It had been drilled into him since he was a small child.

  "I enjoy being here. People let me be, and...my brothers" It was the first time he truly called the past Robins his brothers, without sarcasm or contempt. "Are annoying, at times, but I think they love me." It wasn't a question of his brothers, it was a question on if he could recognize love.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana doesn't let her hand linger for long as she knows how the reaction he just gave comes from a place of discomfort and that easing into touching for him has to be done slowly and over time. She believes everyone should be comfortable with such a simple hand on shoulder gesture, at least from someone who cares about them as she does for him.

When he speaks of his thoughts on her own, she smiles at him. Her hand comes back to her mug and she lifts it up for another sip from the drink within it. Then lowers it down to her lap once more. "I know for a fact that they all love having you here, Damian." She quietly responds in that accent that punctuates all the syllables in such a unique way compared to most voices around here.

"They tease you, because they love you. Teasing like that can be healthy social interaction too, it is a verbal way of showing care. Yes, it can go too far and cause tension or irritation, but the sign of a true family is when one recognizes such limits, and does their best to avoid crossing them, or offers apologies if they do push it too far."

Diana glances over to the horse in the stall, munching on horse food on its provided shelf. "I foresee you, should you choose to stay here, finding a great deal of happiness. But, I understand the draw that you must feel toward your other family. You do not have to... forget of their existence, deny them, or ignore them... if you do not wish to. Your mother likely loves you, just in a way that is... unique to her. I have not met her though, so I do not truly understand her motivations. I have only heard bits and pieces, as they way..."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The boy huffs with a slight chuckle as Diana comments on the others. "I...am sorry for Thanksgiving. The dinner knife." He recalls. Love was such a foreign concept to him that teasing as a sign of such was that much more foreign of a concept. Raised to be cutthroat, and violent, Damian almost only showed his love in the written word, as if he couldn't force himself to express it verbally.

  "I suspect I have more to learn." He comments, scooting closer to Diana, and giving her a side hug with his arm, it was quick, but there was a distinct squeeze.

  "For the record. I am glad he and you..." He lets that trail off, letting the question of are they together still linger. "Considering the others he has had...he chose wisely this time." Yes, including his own mother. He loved Talia, but the years of being away from the League made him understand that she came with issues. "Efcharisto, Diana." He thanked, in Greek.

Wonder Woman has posed:
The side-hug is accepted and a smile is given over to him, a second later and she one-ups him by tilting her head over to playfully lay it against the top of his own, her hair draping down around the side of his face as she does this. "Parakalo." She replies to his thanks in Greek, then straightens her head up again with a bright and happy smile upon her red hued lips.

"You have nothing to apologize for you either. Thanksgiving was a delight, you were a kind young gentleman during it too. As for the knife, weeeell, it stayed where it belonged. We just have to remember to use the folded napkin one, until we can decide not to use any at all." Now her smile turns into a grin for the young man. She raises her left hand up, her armored bracer glinting in the light from outside as she pinches her fingers almost together.

"Tiny steps." She says in a playful voice before dropping her hand back to her lap where her water bottle is.

"As for Bruce, well..." Her brown-eyed gaze goes in the general direction of the Manor. "Yes, clearly he has chosen wisely 'this time'." She grins in a bright way. "I like it here. Though I feel it needs a little more sunshine. But, as I said."

She looks back to him once more. "Tiny steps." She adds once more.