12323/Wanna Get Some Burgers With Me

Wanna Get Some Burgers With Me
Date of Scene:	06 August 2022
Location:	Big Belly Burgers
Synopsis:	Damian and Freddy meet for lunch and hash out a few things!
Cast of Characters:	Freddy Freeman, Damian Wayne

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Freddy Freeman has posed:
This morning Freddy woke up in The Best Mood! He got to do one of his very favorite things in the world last night: heroing! He is a bit distraught that he nearly killed Robin, but all's well that ends well. Right? Hopefully. He'll have to check in at Titans Tower later to see if Robin is around and to smooth things over with him.

But Robin is not foremost of his mind today. There's another young man that Freddy can't get out of his head. So he texted Damian Wayne with a message: << Hey, Dams! u wanna get some lunch? u know where Big Belly Burgers is in Queens? Meet me there. i mean if u wanna >>

Sitting there at the table, he is peering down at his phone hoping that he didn't make such an idiot of himself the other evening that Damian would just straight up ignore him. "You're so dumb, Freddy. Why can't you unsend a text on these stupid phones!" His face gets a bit red. "Why the hell would a dude like that want to come all the way to Queens just to eat a shitty burger with an idiot like you!"

A waitress goes by and hears Freddy flipping out. "Hey, you okay, kid?" she asks him, putting a hand on the kid's shoulder. This startles Freddy. His leg jerks, hits his crutch, which falls on the floor, and trips a passerby who was on his way out the door. The dude gets up off the floor. He's wearing gym pants and a tight tank top and his muscles have muscles. "What the HELL, kid!" he blares, turning to face the scrawny, crippled kid sitting at the table.

"Ace, it was an accident," the waitress says. Apparently this guy is a regular. "Just forget it. I'll get you a free meal next time you're in."

Ace bends down and picks up the crutch. "I'm gonna put this thing up this kid's ass."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Normally its about an hour from Gotham to NYC, but when your car is fast and flashy like the Wayne family likes to have, you may be able to get there faster.

  Conveniently, in the Big Belly Burger, as Ace started to berate Freddy, Damian had walked in, that confidence and self assuredness wafting off him like a miasma. "Hey!" He shouted, hands in his pockets, designer jeans and a green polo shirt. "You really wanna be known for being the guy who whooped a kid that uses a crutch? Or are you going to connect the two braincells you have up there, take this, and go drown yourself in whatever rotgut you prefer because you have no taste?" He holds up two folded $100 bills.

  "Or you hit him, I hit you, and your ass hits the pavement AND you get to begin a nice long stay at Ryker's while the DA keeps the case in limbo for ten years. athe choice is yours."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Of course, by this point everyone in the restaurant has stopped to turn and see what's going on. More than a few cellphones are out recording what's happening. Even a dumbass like Ace can connect his two braincells enough to do that math. /BUT/ there is a moment, that one infinitely small moment, when Ace looks the smaller, thinner Damian up and down and thinks that he probably shouldn't let someone like that boss him around in public. Perhaps Damian, who has as much martial training as probably anyone in the world, even senses this miniscule moment come and then go.

Ace turns back to the table where Freddy sits -- Freddy, who has no chance of defending himself against a muscled-bound asshole like Ace, and who can't exactly transform here in this middle of this restaurant -- and sets the crutch on the table with a small growl. "Watch where you put this thing, kid," he says. Then he turns and stalks out of the restaurant, grabbing the cash from Damian's hand as he does.

There is a small, muted round of applause in the restaurant. A few people mutter how Damian Wayne just saved some kid from getting a beatdown. The waitress turns to look at Damian, obviously recognizing him. "Thank you very much, that was nice of you." Then she looks down at Freddy in that I-want-to-adopt-you sort of way that he gets a lot, especially from older females. "And you, I'm sorry about Ace. Your meal is on the house."

Freddy's eyes light up at that news! He only has about ten bucks in his pocket and he was already doing the difficult math of how to fill your belly on ten dollars. Looks like it's a double patty on his burger AND some ice cream after! "Alright, thank you!" he exclaims happily.

Then to Damian. "Hey, Damian! You showed! I was figuring that..." He shrugs a bit. "...I dunno what I was figuring." His face tells the story that he was figuring Damian would not show up.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's eyes watch Ace without moving his head as the guy sets the crutch down and approaches to take the cash. His expression turns from serious to more relaxed as soon as Ace takes his leave.

  "Freddy. Yeah, of course I did..." He reaches for his phone, and sees the text that didnt send. "Oh...shit. Sorry." He mentions as he sits.

  "I almost wished he had tried. But yeah, it turned out for the better." He chimed in to the waitress. "So, Freeman. What's good here?" He asks, relaxing in his seat.

Freddy Freeman has posed:
Freddy leans in and murmurs, "Dude, no offense, but that guy was jacked as shit! He would have broken you in two. I'm glad he just left." He shrugs once, perhaps thinking about the choice he would have been left with if this guy started pounding on Damian: transform in front a room full of people, or watch someone he is starting to really like get beaten. Like last night, on the street, he would be left with two bad options. For a moment, Freddy's gaze is distant and he goes somewhere far away. The young man coming into adulthood is beginning to realize how burdensome powers can be. But he shakes it off. Time to just be a teenager!

"Oh man, well obviously the burgers," Freddy goofs, crossing his eyes playfully, shifting moods back to his good-natured self in a matter of heartbeats. Then he smacks the side of his head and his eyes uncross. With a grin on his face he quips, "How cute am I?" Some people at a nearby booth laugh at Freddy's antics.

"I like the bacon and onion cheeseburger. I get a double when I have the money for it. And the fries are SO SICK, a small order feeds like three people, no jokes," he just rolls into the subject of food so easily. "OH and if you like orange soda, their orange floats are a-maz-ing!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian leans in as Freddy talks about how Ace could have handed Damian his own ass. Though he had something else to say. "Cash is a very powerful thing. 99 percent of the time they'll just take it." He leans back and looks at the menu, though he wasn't exactly sure what he would want.

  He looks to the options. But gets floored by the question Freddy posed. Luckily he wasn't drinking at the time or else Freddy would be doused. He just sits there, stunned a moment. "Uhhh."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
"Get whatever you want, Wayne!" Freddy says in mock haughtiness. "It's on me! I'll let some 'roid-raging freak yell at me every day if it means free food!" He crosses his good leg under him on the chair, but leaves his bum leg dangling off the seat. Freddy watches Damian for a moment or two until the two make eye contact, at which time he quickly averts his eyes to study the menu.

"So," he says matter-of-factly. "Summer's almost over. Our last summer of high school." He shrugs a bit with one shoulder as he trails a fingertip over the surface of the menu, making inane, idle patterns. "Any plans?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "I don't know, really." He comments, looking to the menu again. "What about you?" The deflection from answering because he knew he didn't have fun plans. Fighting crime at night, pretending to be a normal teenager, making appearances for the Wayne Foundation.

  "Thanks by the way, I don't think I could cover the tab." He says coyly. Still, he looked at the single burger. "Hahaha, wanna know something weird? Bruce eats burgers with a knife and fork."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
A burst of laughter erupts from Freddy's lips as Damian reveals his father's odd eating habits. "Oh man, that's like somethin' you'd see a rich dude do in a movie or something." His eyes glitter merrily with the laughter and his cheeks redden pleasingly. Finally, the rolling laughs subside and he says quietly, softly, "You refer to your dad by his first name. It's kinda...kinda cute."

Despite his somewhat broken body, in his heart Freddy is a warrior, a lion. The blessings of the immortal elders fits his soul like a glove. He doesn't carry the kind of weight that Damian does, he's far more carefree. So maybe it's natural that he makes the first move. "Do you..." Freddy looks up, meeting Damian's gaze. "...do you maybe wanna spend some of it with me?" He shrugs one shoulder again, his favorite gesture apparently. "I mean, y-you know, hang out together for what little is left of the summer?" He watches Damian intently, this time not averting his eyes.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "I grew up not knowing who he was for the first fifteen years of my life. So it's...weird." Damian comments, looking back to Freddy, who's looking at him right back. His eyes don't stray much from that point, but Damian does remember the time he spent with Sam, and the sudden way he just left. "You...want to spend time with me?"

  Somewhere in his thoughts, he feels...like he could try again, at least. His face blushes a good amount, showing the softer emotions he found so hard to express himself. "Yeah."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
"You're weird," Freddy says gently. He reaches up and pushes his hair away from his eyes. "I mean that as the best compliment I can think of. You give off this hard vibe, but you sit and draw squirrels on in your art book. You call your dad by your first name. You stand up to dudes who have biceps as big as your waste. And you come all the from Wayne Manor to Queens to have a burger with me."

Now he looks away, his gaze showing some shyness. "So yeah I want to spend some time with you." He looks back to Damian. "I think you're awesome."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian reaches his hand out to hold Freddy's for a moment. Not saying anything really, just letting that hold there for a moment.

  "You aren't so bad either, Freeman."

Freddy Freeman has posed:
For a couple of years now at school, Freddy has watched Damian at school from afar. But he never dared approach the kid. I mean, first of all, he's crippled. Who wants to date the crippled kid? Plus he's dirt poor and lives in a foster home. Damian is handsome, rich, confident, capable. In other words, way out of Freddy's league. And yet here he is, holding Freddy's hand.

He glances down, squeezing Damian's hand. He literally doesn't know what to say in a moment like this. So he murmurs, "I shoulda made you a mixed tape." One corner of his mouth curls up. He reluctantly retracts his hand and shifts his menu. "Okay, so I'm gonna get a doub....a TRIPLE bacon and onion cheeseburger, some fries, and a Sprite." He's just all flush-faced and beaming and looking about as happy as can be as he 'studies' the menu.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "Single burger for me." He admits, though he does hold the menu back up. "And onion strings, that sounds good."

  Though it does cause him to wonder. "What's a mixtape?" No, he isn't kidding. Either way, his heart was racing with happiness, something that hadn't happened in a long while.