10872/What Time Is It

What Time Is It
Date of Scene:	23 April 2022
Location:	Historic Clocktower - Penthouse
Synopsis:	Damian Wayne pays Barbara Gordon a visit. Cookies were eaten and ninjas battled robots.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Barbara Gordon

---

Damian Wayne has posed:
The elevator dings and opens. In strides Robin in full uniform. As he walks into the loft he tugs his mask off. "Hello, Barbara," he says in his typical curt manner of speaking. He sounds irritated, which means he sounds like typical, everyday Damian.

Tucking his mask into his utility belt, he stands casually with his hands clasped behind his back. "How are you this evening?" say his words, but his expression and body language say "Ask me why I'm so irritated!"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara's loft is her personal apartment, and command center, all in one. She's currently coming down the steps with a plate, and a glass of nearly empty water as she sees the lift doors slide open.

She knew he was on the way up, her AI told her, and showed her the cameras inside the lift. So when he arrives, its to a big bright smile. "D-dog." She says to him happily as she pads on barefeet toward the kitchen area.

Bab's kitchen is designed like a retro 50s kitchen, or a kitchen from Fallout video games.

"Had a rough night?" She asks the somber looking kid as she takes her plate and glass to the counter. She's not in uniform. She's wearing a red and black baseball tshirt, and some black track pants with red stripes up the outside of her legs, her red hair tied up in a bun on the back of her head.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian follows Barbara into the kitchen. "May I please have some water?" As a territorial creature, he is very polite when in someone else's territory. It just goes with his nature.

"I take you have heard about Dick and Stephanie," he says, with a tone of voice that could be describing two people who were just diagnosed with cancer instead of two people celebrating one of life's joyous milestones.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara sets her stuff down in the mint green sink basin before she glances back to him at his request. "Sure thing." She says as she takes two side steps to the left, then reaches up to pull open the cabinet to get a new glass of water for the kid. She flips on the filter faucet and pours some in to the glass before stepping toward her fridge.

"Who?" She asks, sounding legit. A second later and she's pulling the freezer lid open on the mint green fridge. "I'm kidding. Yes, I've heard." She says then, dropping a few cubes of ice in to the cup for him. Freezer shut, Babs walks over to him at the center island and offers him the glass. "You look glum. Were you holding out to propose to Steph?" She asks, now planting her hands on the counter's edge.

Damian Wayne has posed:
The maskless Robin accepts the water. "Thank you," he says before draining it completely in one deep, long pull. He sets the glass on the kitchen island.

"No, of course not. I just don't see what the point of marriage is. It's just going to weaken them both. This never-ending mission of ours is a lonely endeavor. Accepting that fact is the path to strength."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The center counter has bar stools for Damian to perch himself upon while Babs is on the other side, so she remains standing up. She does lean down on to her forearms though as she listens to him share his grumps about Dick and Steph. It makes her give a half-cocked grin.

"I mean... this life style isn't cut out for everyone for forever... If they wanna get away from it, and do what makes them happy... we should all embrace that? Right?" She questions him.

She reaches over to grab a bowl of M&M cookies that she and Charlie made, pushing the bowl toward him if he wants any.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian remains standing, hands once again clasped behind his back. Now his expression sours even worse than it was when he arrived here at Barbara's apartment.

"I hadn't considered that," he says sourly. "Do you think they intend on retiring? That would weaken the Bat Family. The rest of us would have to pick up the slack on their behalf."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Well." Barbara says as SHE reaches for one of the cookies. She looks down at it as she breaks off a piece, then raises it up to her mouth to pop it in and chew it. Her eyes go back up to the young man across from her. "I mean, it's possible." She says with partially full mouth.

She shakes her head side to side then. "Marriage leads to kids, kids lead to no free time. I think that's what Yoda said." She states while showing a quick short smirk.

"I don't think they have any plans to do that any time soon though. But it could lead to that some day. But fear not, by then you'll be in your twenties, and whooping all the butts out there that need whoopins."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"There are very few criminals in Gotham who can oppose me now," the teenager says in a simple, matter-of-fact tone of voice. There are only a handful of people who could make a statement like that and BOTH be correct AND not sound in the slightest bit like they are bragging. Damian is one of them.

He exhales a long, sharp breath and sits on one of the stools. He absently grabs a cookie and holds it one gloved hand. "I barely get to spend time with him as it is." Oh, perhaps we have come to the heart of the matter.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara just shows another quick smile at the dig at the criminals around here, and the boasting of his own skills. She just nods her head while enjoying another broken-off piece of cookie.

Her green eyes dart back up over to him as he voices the other part of his concern. She chews quietly for a moment before she clears her palette. "With Dick?" She asks. "Why don't you invite him over for a video game night, or a retro movie night, or something? We do those kinds of things around here, the Birds and I. People enjoy it. Especially the younger ones like Charlie, Cass, and such."

"Or maybe a guy thing, you know... go to a sports-ball game?" She suggests too.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian sets the cookie back down on the plate and starts to pace. "Between his police duties and his Nightwing duties, he never has time. Now add in a marriage and it feels like we're losing a part of the family." He glances up to make eye contact with Barbara for just a moment, then he resumes his pacing.

Then suddenly Damian stops pacing and his eyes go a little wide. He just put two and two together in his head about something. "You won't...you won't tell Dick I told you all of this stuff, right?" He picks the cookie back up again.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs just continues to lean on the counter as Damian moves and starts his nervous pacing. She keeps her right arm crossed over the edge of the counter while her left hand holds the M&M cookie up to chew on the last little bit.

At his revelation, and question there-in, she looks over at him, then shakes her head. "Nah. I never see him either. Well. I mean. They invited me over for dinner and drinks a couple weeks ago to tell me. But, I already knew he bought the ring. Came up on my surveilance systems." She shows a proud smile then that comes, and goes from her lips.

"But don't worry. I get it. Your secret is safe with me, Amigo."

Damian Wayne has posed:
After breathing a sigh of relief, Damian returns the cookie to the plate. Again. "Have you met Phoebe and Austin? They are the latest strays that father took in." He sits down on one of the kitchen stools. "Phoebe can apparently do magic. That seems like a useful tool in the right circumstances."

Damian stands again and resumes pacing. "Wait, you were surveilling Dick to see what sort of purchases he is making?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
At that last question, Barbara shakes her head as she stands up straight again, leaning forward against the counter now. "I was surveiling a jewelry shop which was on our top five most likely list of places to get hit by some diamond thieves. My AI alerted me to Dick going inside. So you see... I have a cover story, I swear it." She dryly says with a smirk before she turns then to walk back to the sink, her back to Damian again now as she starts to clean up her dinner mess.

"And I know Phoebe, and Austin was in the Bat-cave when I did some digging around on the computer systems there recently. But I wouldn't say I know either of them overly well, why?" She asks as she opens her sky blue dish washer and starts to put the pots and plates inside it.

Damian Wayne has posed:
The teen peels off his gloves and tucks them into his belt near his mask. "I have no motive for asking," Damian says simply. "I was attempting to make chit-chat." He cants his head slightly to one side. "How am I doing?"

He picks up the water glass and refills it. "Father says I should get out more and socialize. It seems like a ridiculous notion, but here I am nonetheless." For the third time he picks up the same cookie off the plate.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
With the dish washer loaded, Babs releases a short little huff of a laugh at the kid's words. She turns around then to lean back against the counter. "You're doing marvelous." She tells him as she eyes him eyeing that cookie. "You afraid it's going to bite you back?" She asks him then with a grin as she pushes her sleeves on her baseball tshirt up to her elbow, then folds her arms over her stomach.

"I'm glad to see you making an effort to do something more... a-typical for a person your age. Have you considered joining a tabletop game night, or something?" She then asks him.

Damian Wayne has posed:
With a small shrug Damian says, "There are only two board games worthy of my time: chess and go. It's exceedingly difficult to beat me at either one. Kids my age would just get frustrated." There he goes again, saying something that coming from anyone else would sound boastful, but from Damian it just sounds like a simple statement of fact.

He takes a bite from the cookie and chews it up. "Hey, this is really good." Then he resumes his pacing for several long moments during which he eats the rest of the cookie. "Sometimes I confess that I get lonely. But spending time with other people usually fixes that. People are...difficult."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara shows a grin at him as he speaks about the cookie being good. "Yeah they are. I'm trying to build up my resistance from eating all of them in one night." She comments with a grim undertone. The redhead then moves to open the fridge and get a bottle of water out for herself as she walks past Damian then toward the living room area in the middle of the clocktower penthouse level.

"I was going to watch some television for a bit, you're welcome to join me." She offers him then as she sits down on the leather sofa chair, then spins around to put her feet up as she reaches for the remote.

"What about Monopoly. That one seems kinda hard too. Though really, just, boring, I guess." She corrects herself there at the end, frowning a little even as she turns on the big tv.

"How is Bruce and Selina? I haven't seen him in awhile. I ran in to her out on the prowl again, with Harley Quinn, of all people."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I don't like television," Damian says, but still he follows Barbara to the living room. Just before he sits, he unfastens his Robin tunic and tugs it off, leaving himself in a snug-fitting black tank top and the rest of his Robin costume from the utility belt down. He flops in a chair.

"Monopoly is a game of luck and statistical manipulation. Hardly worthy of my time. "Wait, father's criminal girlfriend was out with Harley Quinn?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara grins at the response she gets from the kid as she cycles through the streaming options. She ends up on something called 'Ninja World 2045' and selects that. A short trailer plays of a army of Ninjas fighting an army of robots.

"Yep. She was. Though they probably weren't together. But I guess it was odd for all three of us to end up in the same place at the same time." She considers out loud before looking over at him and opening her bottle of water.

"Harley is reformed, and so is Selina... I think." She notes as she looks forward again as the movie starts. It's old. Looks like its grainy like the 70s, or 80s.

Damian Wayne has posed:
The kid who just said he doesn't like television sure has his attention locked on the ninjas fighting the robots! "This is ludicrous. Ninjas wouldn't wear hoods like that. It would block peripheral vision." He should know. He literally is one. "And why not use an EMP to disable to robots."

Damian turns his attention back to Barbara. His tones softens from his normal I-Know-Everything tone. "Do you think criminals can be reformed, Barbara? Is it possible that Selina is manipulating father? He probably gets lonely and desires female attention. That would make him vulnerable."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs just grins lightly after taking a sip from the bottle of water. "The robots have Faraday cages inside their torsos." she explains to him. "And the Ninjas probably don't know how to build an EMP anyway. They're Earth's last army. The Robots took out the militaries." She tries to counter explain to him as on screen some silvery robots are clanking around in a forest trying to find a band of hiding Ninjas.

"your father is a smart man, Damian. I'm sure that Selina isn't able to get past him simply by being, you know... what she is." Babs tries to explain that too.

On the screen the Ninjas leap out from the trees and starts to slice at the robots with their swords! The Robots fight back with laser guns shooting blue pew-pew beams!

"Selina is very pretty, but your father is way smarter."

Damian Wayne has posed:
That answer seems to really hit home with Damian. He relaxes back in his seat, focusing on the television. "Father is extremely intelligent, and a brilliant tactician," he agrees. The only outward sign that he is more at ease is a very, very slight hint of a smile on his lips. He sits quietly and watches the movie.

After a while he turns and looks at Barbara again. "Thank you," he says simply. "For the cookie." Then he resumes watching the TV, but this time with a more obvious smile. It seems young Damian has made a joke.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara just rests there sideways on the black leather sofa chair with her feet up and her arms across her stomach. She watches the movie also now. One Ninja left running through the forest away from the robots, only to come across a steep cliff, and a rushing waterfall. He's cornered! There are robots bearing down on him from the forest! His Ninja clothes are all torn up, one sleeve missing showing a super buff arm.

"There's more cookies where that one came from. Have at them, rescue me from their allure." She says to him on her right side.

"I think our hero is gonna jump." She says. "What do you bet?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian snerks. "I bet you've seen this movie before. Still, your hypothesis is sound. There are too many robots to fight. Jumping is the only viable option. There is no shame in fleeing from superior numbers. In battle there are only two kinds of people: the practical and the dead."

He turns his attention to Barbara. "What would you do? In that situation?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara just shows a quick grin at his assuming that she's seen the movie before. She doesn't answer him. She just glances over at him then looks back to the screen as the Last Ninja goes diving off the cliff to avoid laser beam blasts! He vanishes in to the white water rapids as the Robots clunk their way to the cliff and try to look over it, but the suit limitations make it clear the men inside them can't lean over that far for fear of falling on their faces.

"Yep. Totally called it." Babs adds before she looks back over at him. "I never would've let my friends all die like that. That many Ninjas? Surely they could've devised a plan better than just swinging their swords at metal robots. I mean, come on, guys."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian nods his agreement. "Yes, movie ninjas are very impractical. It takes many years for a ninja to develop his or her skills, and the failure rate in the training is quite high. Losing even one is deep loss." He frowns at the television.

"Where did you get your training? I don't think we've ever talked about it. Did father train you?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara laughs softly as she looks back to the big television. She wiggles her feet a bit, her toes also wiggling around as the movie shows the hero washing up down stream and crawling on his stomach on to the pebbles of a shoreline. He pulls his mask off, revealing.... a white guy. It's an old movie after all.

"Well." She starts to answer his question. "Back when I was younger than you, I was obsessed with the Batman. I begged my father to enroll me in fighting classes. All kinds. From grappling, to the flashier stuff. Since he had a lot of connections in such things, it wasn't too hard to get private lessons. But yeah, once I finally wiggled my way in with your father, he reluctantly put me to the test. He filled in the gaps in my training, I guess you could say. I mean, I don't think I'm the best on our team, but I like to think I can go toe to toe well enough. Even outside of my strength enhanced armor."

Of course she had that bad spinal injury, but she seems to have recovered well and adapted to the neural link she has to overcome the damage to her spine too.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian's eyes begin to slowly sink shut as he stares blankly at the television. "Yes, father knows how to find someone's weakness," he murmurs sleepily. "If you're an enemy...*yawn*...he exploits it. If you're an ally, then he...will train..." And that's the last of it. Damian Wayne, Master Assassin of the League of Assassins, ninja, defiant warrior, and scourge of Gotham's criminal element falls fast asleep in the chair.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
It takes Babs a minute or so, and Damian not replying to her, to get her to look over at him and see he's asleep. She smirks then and looks back to the movie. She lets him sleep like that for a little while longer before she gets up and grabs a knitted soft blanket and pillow from the chest beside the sofa. She gets the young Wayne all settled in with the pillow and blanket before she takes his glass of water and starts back to the kitchen.

"Maybe I should be the parent..." She mutters as she scurries along back toward her fancy mint and sky blue hued kitchen!