10262/Get that girl a Library --

Get that girl a Library --
Date of Scene:	24 February 2022
Location:	Library - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Phoebe and Bruce in the Library with ... books and a heartfelt conversation...?
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Bruce Wayne

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There was nothing that Phoebe liked than the smell of a book. The smell of an old book was even better.

    Being surrounded by a variety of old books, older books, and even antique first edition books?

    *Well*.

    Phoebe was in the library, sitting in one of the wingback chairs. She wore a light scarf over her shoulders, her hair pulled back in a poofed ponytail as she stretches her fingers and wrists, absorbed in a book she was reading, laid heavily across her lap. It was older than most of the books in Wayne's collection -- it was from her own. She is moving her hands slowly, her lips moving as she sounds out words, trying to work out the sounds without activating the spells themselves.

    It's tricky, but she figured neither Bruce nor Alfred would appreciate the effects of her continued studies all over the floor.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
One thing that's noteworthy about living in Wayne Manor is that Bruce is difficult to find. Alfred is almost everywhere, and those members of the Bat-Family that stay in their 'ancestral home' run into him several times a day at least. Likewise they tend to find each other in the long halls and cavernous rooms of this archaeological wonder. But Bruce keeps to himself. He sleeps much of the day, and when he's not he's often down in the Batcave or away tending to some company business. One could count on a single hand the amount of times he appears at the breakfast table in a month, and by the time dinner rolls around he's often already suited up and in Gotham.

So it may come as a surprise when he steps into the library. He carries an old-looking, leatherbound book of his own in his hands. He doesn't say anything as he climbs one of the brass-fitted ladders up two levels, casually rolling sideways on it until he finds a gap and places it in there neatly. From here, he can look down and see Phoebe in the high-backed chair.

"Study?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's true. Without Tim, Phoebe had been mostly wandering by herself through the mansion. She had wandered with no one to ask questions, hiding around corners in the manor that doesn't quite feel like 'home'.

    She looks up, her hands held as if making shadow puppets, and she gives a bit of a nod.

    "Trying to go over the 42 gods of Ma'at in case I need it for the weekend." she states, as easily as you might comment about needing to remember the rules for polo.

    "It's super stressful being the only leader for the JLD that takes this somewhat seriously. I have no idea how you manage everyone on the proper League." she murmurs, half conversational and half thinking out loud.

    "You were doing a bit of light reading yourself?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"It was inappropriate of them to make you their leader," Bruce answers her bluntly, though absent of cruelty, "That's not the sort of responsibility they should be laying on you."

His tone suggests he wants to have words with the group, though given that a number of them are dead or otherwise unreachable it makes it difficult to play the concerned parent. Not that he's all that sure she wants him to play that part at all.

"But yes, light reading," he answers, tucking the book back into place, "Blackstone. There's a ... joke, of sorts, that I remember everything I see, read, hear, what have you. Unfortunately that form of memory is either non-existent or vanishingly rare. A reasonable facsimile is achievable through memory games and frequent revision."

The book tucked away, he slides back down the ladder to land gracefully on the ground level.

"You'll be instructed in that. Eventually. If you choose that road."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "There was no one else who knew as much as I did and who was able to take it up. Detective Pezzini was still in recovery, Lydia's planning a wedding and I don't think Johnny Blaze was interested. Zatanna and Constantine already decided other pursuits were worth their time, and... it... didn't feel right having Diana or M'gann's uncle in charge of the group." she frowns a moment, and she folds her hands.

    "... if it wasn't for the emotion-blocking spell I'd probably be an utter mess." she recounts quietly.

    "We also joke and operate under the assumption that you know everything that goes on." she adds, raising her eyebrows up to Bruce as she slips a silk ribbon in the book for a book mark and closes it.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I do," Bruce says flatly in response to the joke, leaning back against one of the reading tables with his palms and regarding Phoebe in silence.

After a moment of uncomfortable (or comfortable, depending on who you are) silence, he raises an eyebrow at her and speaks again.

"I still think you can do a lot of good here. I understand if your other commitments feel more important, or more in line with your capabilities. But I remember Gotham Hope."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Knew it." Phoebe gives a wry smile, and she leans her head back a moment, and she looks at her hands.

    "Gotham is my home. I grew up here. My family stayed during No Man's Land. Even as much as I love New York City, and everything it's brought me?" she looks back to Bruce.

    "Gotham is the city that I told Tim I would give my life to protect." she folds her hands over the book.

    "Over the summer I was adopted by two British gents. One ended up being a demon, the other is Chas Chandler. So my main focus right now, that's... that's finishing this. Geraldine, my adopted sister -- she deserves to grow up with her dad. Agnes, Jon's adopted daughter, deserves to be a teenager without inherited magical powers. After this... after Chas is back and Deeny's seen him..." she looks at her hands, and then she crosses her arms over her chest, leaning her head against one of the wings of the chair.

    "Gotham is my home, but Hash-Tag GothamHope, the Gotham Beacon? That's... that's a fourteen year old girl who missed her dad and wore a winter coat with cheap ballistics ceramics in it. That's why I'm burning myself at both ends to get Chas back. No one should have to jump from one thing to the next to feel that they're worth it."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"That's a noble thing," Bruce tells her, arms cross low over his stomach, "I felt the same when I lost my parents. I was ... angry at first. I was angry for longer than I'd care to admit. You weren't alive for it, but in those earliest years? I was full of rage. I took it out on the people I associated with those who had taken from me. Then I met Dick. The same thing had happened to him - heartless men took his parents from him. I was determined he wouldn't grow up like me. And he didn't."

He takes a breath.

"What I'm saying is that you've hit that conclusion a lot sooner than I did. And that hope is still in you. Robin is hope."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... but we're different." Phoebe reasons, and she draws one leg up, watching Bruce.

    "You were there. When my bio-mom was murdered, I was only just born. We only found out that my dad was murdered four years after the fact when the arsonist tried to kill my mom, my dog and me, and by then I was already brought on to the Outsiders by Tim, and had been involved with patrols for longer than that."

    She looks to the side. "I know there's a lot of anger behind everything I'm doing right now. Anger that I didn't see the signs. Anger that I wasn't there or wasn't strong enough. Sandalphon's gift is keeping it all at bay right now, so I can think clearly and logically."

    She taps her fingers over the book.

    "I didn't want to be angry at anyone. But I don't want to keep losing people."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I understand."

Bruce lapses back into silence for a moment, listening to what she has to say. He remembers the events clearly, remembers the little girl waving at him from her window during No Man's Land. The toddler shouting 'Bapman!' excitedly. His mouth twists into a rueful sort of smile.

"I can't choose your path for you, and I won't admonish whatever one you pick. You're part of this family now, and there's no conditions attached to our support."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "No, I would imagine if you had the chance to choose my path for me, things would be very different." Phoebe admits, and she curls her fingers.

    "... I got into the premed program at Gotham U." she states. "I don't know if I'll have enough time for college, training *and* the Dark." she crosses her arms a moment. "And once this emotional thing is over, I won't... be in a good place for little while."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"We'll be here for you," Bruce assures her.

He's never been one for dealing with his own emotions, let alone those of others. But he knows there are people in the family much better equipped for it than him, and those people care about her as much as he does.

"I have a chair on the Gotham University Board of Trustees. Don't worry, they'll hold onto your position for you even if you need to take time off to recuperate."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I was actually a bit scared you were the reason why I got accepted." PHoebe points out with dry note in her voice. "Not every day that thrice-orphaned teenagers get into an extremely competitive program, but... ah..." she purses her lips. "... apparently I scored the highest out of a bunch of the applicants because, you know. Medical training in the Outsiders." she gives a slight huff. She's trying to be casual and comfortable with Bruce.

    It's... working. A little bit.

    "I should be fine by the fall when the semester starts."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I don't do that," Bruce tells her firmly, "If you didn't get into that school on your merits, you wouldn't have been able to stick with it anyway. I'm only underlining what's already there, not manufacturing it from whole cloth."

He nods his head slightly.

"I'm proud of you."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "No.. and... thank you for it. I don't want to seem like I'm not appreciative for everything, shelter, clothing..." Phoebe hurriedly states, and then he nods, and he says just four words.

    ... her shoulders slump. She bows her head, and she runs her tongue over her teeth with her lips pressed in a thin line before she looks up at Bruce. Bruce Wayne. The Batman.

    "Thank you." she states quietly. And it's clear that not all those emotions are detatched.

    "I... want to say thank you, also, for the amount of trust you put in me."