10966/Bat Cave or Batcave

Bat Cave or Batcave
Date of Scene:	30 April 2022
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	Julia walks in on an embarrassed Damian. Hilarity ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Julia Pennyworth

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Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian just came in from patrol. His Robin tunic and mask are lying on a table. He's dressed in the bottom half of his Robin costume and a black tank top. He has a black eye and a fat lip, and just generally looks like he just got back from having the time of his life. His hair is sweaty and mussed, his eyes are glittering enthusiastically, he even has half a smile on his face despite the fat lip. It has been a good night for our boi.

    It's...a little awkward because he seems to be holding a sheathed fist dagger and he is...well, there's no easy way to say this...he is hunched over a bit and is holding the dagger up against the upper part of the inside of one thigh for some reason.

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
"What the ever loving bloody hell are you doing?"

The surprised, demanding question comes in a crisp British accent not from the infamous butler of this place, but from his daughter. It was sheer luck that Julia had come down at this time. While she was doing her evermost best to offer aid here and there, including being on monitor duty, she wasn't expecting to walk in on whatever Damian was doing.

A small frown plays over her lips quite contrary to his grin, though she doesn't seem to concerned about the state he's in. It's the posture. It's the KNIFE. That has her gaze lingering a bit longer than intended on the teen. A small puff of breath is exhaled as she turns, shaking her head, to step toward one of the cabinets where some med supplies are kept. An instant icepack is puleld out which she promptly claps between both hands to crush the ampule inside thus activating the chemical reaction.

"I'm guessing you won, but what's with the knife?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
    There is a very small, highly exclusive club of people in the world who have managed to sneak up on Damian Wayne. Julia just joined it!

    "What the hell?" Damian exclaims with the same tone of voice one might use if somebody walked in on them in the bathroom. He loses his grip on the fist dagger, and it clatters noisily against the Bat Cave floor. He quickly leans over to pick it up, his cheeks burning red, and he smacks his forehead on the table. Like...*literally* ANY of Damian's brothers would pay cold, hard cash for a video of this.

    Sighing, Damian tries again. He leans down and picks up the weapon. "What are you even doing in here, Pennyworth?" Damian exclaims. "And if you *must* know, a friend recommended that I find a small weapon to hide in my..." The teen's earlobes turn bright red. "...personal area. And I thought a small fist dagger would be a suitable choice."

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
Julia Pennyworth huhs quietly at the response from Damian. The surprise from him earns a small smile in response, and she lifts her foot breifly to show off the fact that she was wearing slipper-socks. Fantastic for keeping warm and for sneaky-sneaking, even if they were about as fashionable as tabi shoes. That's all the explanation she gives in response to his 'what the hell' which has her smirking a bit.

The cold pack is offered over to Damian while she says nothing of his literal face-plant onto the table. "Here." At least she doesn't put it somewhere on him. He's old enough to place it where he needs. Instead she crosses her arms over her chest and leans back against the edge of the table with her hips in a casual posture. "I don't recommend anything that could slice or blow your nuts off. Try brass knuckles, maybe." That was actually an excellent thought though: What WAS the best weapon to store there? She considers it a moment, contemplating, before she adds, "Or maybe a garrote wire? Multiple uses there."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian accepts the cold pack from Julia with the same audacity that one might accept something from a servant, and without so much as a word of thanks. He presses it up against his black eye.

    "The blade is in a steel sheath. It wouldn't be possible for it to cut my..." He pauses. Then an actual smile blooms reflexively and unavoidably over his lips, and one can tell that Damian hates every moment of it. "...my *nuts* as you so astutely phrased it."

    He then looks away because it's embarrassing enough to smile, much less to do it while making eye contact with another person.

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
Now that the sheath to the knife had been mentioned she actually glances at it considering. She's forced to incline her head toward him in apparent defference to the fact that she was corrected in that aspect at least. It's his repeat of her own phrasing which earns a wry grin from her in response.

"You might be surprised to learn how many guys have had accidents from stuffing a gun down their pants. I'm sure there's a website devoted to it, somewhere." A slight shrug is given in regards to that thought. It wasn't something she was going to look up though she'd heard enough stories from her time in the military. Usually from the weaponry teachers. The topic for now is dropped in favor of lifting her chin to indicate in the direction of the work benches.

"I was just about to continue working on something after a bit of a break." A quick once-over is given to Damian. "Does everyone here have to do the bat-symbol thing?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian sits down, still holding the cold pack against his swollen eye. "As far as I know only father, Jason, and Duke wear the bat symbol on their costume, if that's what you're asking."

    The kid looks Julia over with his one exposed eye. "Why do ask? What are you working on, Pennyworth? Can I see what it is?" Apparently this uncharacteristic enthusiasm and interest in others is a carryover from the wonderful fistfight he had...against eight guys that gave him not only the black eye and fat lip, but his current good mood. A really nice fistfight is an experience to be treasured.

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
Just them? Julia considers that a moment with her gaze sliding back to the table she'd indicated in thought. "I haven't seen everyone's kit yet so that's good to know." The corners of her lips curl up in a bit of a mischievious smile at his apparent interest in whatever project currently had her busy down here. "Sure, come on and take a peek."

A gentle shift of her weight has her moving away from where he sits toward the benches. There was already a pile of bodyarmor there which she was apparently working on. "I've got no problem being support to you lot," she explains as she turns over the grey body armor. Simple. Nothing fancy or flashy here. It was utilitarian, sleek, and with purpose. "But my training far surpases just 'support.' I'm already feeling bored not getting to stretch my legs a bit."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    The teen picks up various pieces of the armor and flips them around, examining them. He raps on the chest piece with his knuckles and nods approvingly.

    "Who said you had to be support? This town is lousy with vigilantes. Join the party. Just don't come crying to me when you get killed." A joke? Damian should get into big fistfights more often.

    "Pennyworth, why do you want to go out on the streets?" Damian asks. "What's your origin story?" The kid spryly slips up onto one of the workbench stools. Sitting there in a tank top, with his sleight build, a face that has never had to be shaved, and an ice pack over his eyes he looks so much younger than he really is.

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
"Origin story?" Julia's eyebrows raise a bit at that with a bemused grin at the very concept of it. "What is this, a comic book?" It's a bit of a jest clearly. She reaches down to readjust the armor on the bench keeping it in order from top to bottom. It was neat and tidy, and she intends to keep it that way.

"No one said I had to remain support. It's just an option. As for 'my story'." It's here she pauses still staring down at the suit she'd been working on. Her fingers lightly brush over it a moment before her eyes swing back to Damian taking in the slight young teen quietly.

"You do things in Gotham," she finally says quietly. "Not just you personally, but this whole family you've got going. You don't sit back and watch."

"Sometimes, that's what we were ordered to do. Don't interfere. Let it play out. Look for an opportune moment. No matter who it was that may have been caught in the cross-fire, we were expected to follow orders. Use the locals to our advantage and then leave them high and dry as soon as the mission was over, when our superiors got the results they wanted. I hated that part of being a soldier. I'd rather fight for people, not for politics."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Surprisingly, Damian sits there on the stool holding the cold pack on his eye, and listens intently to Julia's story. I mean, *really* listens in a way that belies his young age. He never said thank you for the cold pack. Maybe he is doing this instead.

    "Julia," Damian says softly. Called her by her first name. What a weird night. "I was raised by the League of Assassins. I had already racked up a body count before my eighth birthday. Jason was practically a psychopathic murderer. We all have things in our past that torment us. We fight for Gotham's future to atone for our pasts. We can't all be Superman and this isn't Metropolis. We're all Gotham has."

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
Julia Pennyworth purses her lips together with a slight clenching of her jaw as she takes in those words quietly in turn. A slow, deep breath is drawn before she allows herself to relax once more. Leaning her hands on the table she just stares forward a moment in thought. Not long. Even such a vague mention of her past was enough to bring up some memories, however, and it takes a moment for her to fight them back down.

When Damian calls her by her actual name she looks back toward him meeting his gaze without flinching. Again she allows herself a little quirk of a smile in response, along with a small dip of her head in acknowledgement. "Yeah. I can see that. And," she crinkles her nose just a bit. "I am beginning to see why my father chose to remain here helping your dad." Straightening up from her half-slouch against the work bench she rolls her shoulders back working out some stiffness. "So you lot will be getting a bit more help from me then, Wayne." A more genuine smile is offered and she adds, "You're not such a bad guy, you know that, Damian?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian frowns as he slips off the stool. "There's no need to be nasty," he says when Julia tells him he's not such a bad guy. He shoulder bumps her as he walks past her heading back to the table where his Robin tunic is laid out.

    "You can patrol with me sometimes if you want," the teen says as he sit back down at the table. "But I always get first punch. It's just the law." He likes that! It's just the law. It makes him grin a little bit. But then the smile fades as he looks back to Julia. "No guns," he says. "Not if you're patrolling with me. And father, of course, wouldn't hear of it either."

Julia Pennyworth has posed:
A slight snort is given in response to the bump of her shoulder. "Fine then, brat," she offers back in a clearly joking manner. If there's one thing she was accustomed to in the field, it was the banter among soldiers. Taunting one another, name calling, posturing. In the end they always had one anothers back of course. It was just how so many guys were.

Turning back around she plucks up the mask she was still working on regarding it. It was a full face mask because that seemed most advantageous but it was bare bones to say the least. For now. "Too easy to get caught in friendly fire or crossfire that way. Not to mention a packed city like this makes it rather easy to for a stray bullet to go where you don't want. I'm fine with knives." Or something.

The mask is dropped back to the table as she moves away heading for the stairs up once more. "I'll let you know when I'm free for that. For now, there's a pizza ready to come out of the oven. Hurry up or you lose out," she calls over her shoulder while taking the stairs two at a time.

Damian Wayne has posed:
    You don't have to tell Damian twice to hurry for pizza. He follows after Pennyworth.