14283/Passing Time in the Library

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Passing Time in the Library
Date of Scene: 28 February 2023
Location: Library - Wayne Manor
Synopsis: Talia updates Bruce on the status of her talking with Phoebe and there's some gentle teasing over Damian.
Cast of Characters: Talia al Ghul, Bruce Wayne




Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul was sitting over in the library. A large fire was going on. A fencing epee was over to the side of her, over in a sheathe. She was skimming over a few manuals over on it, scanning through the pages while on occasion taking out a small pen to jot the occasional note on. Switching through it, occasionally back-tracking and referencing and writing down more things. Thoughts, observations.. Analyses of how she had seen Phoebe fight and spar.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
It's the lure of the fire already going that draws Bruce to the library tonight. It was chilly out to the point that even he was finding his fingers numb from the cold. He'd had plenty of time to change out of his suit, shower, and now he wanders toward the tempting warmth with a showel draped over his shoulders. His attire was casual and a bit damp around the shoulders from his hair drying.

Seeing Talia already here he gives a single nod of greeting. "Talia. How are things going?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would smile up at Bruce, "Slowly. I.. Am still working on engaging with her. She seems comfortable with my presence to some degree, and I've been forward with her that I'm doing so at your behest. She has a great number of quite well founded fears of betrayals. And.. Something that broke her faith in others to a high degree." Talia would frown. A rare enough thing.

"Which she hasn't shared yet. Or if it was a culmination of things>"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"You told her?" There's a slight edge to his voice, the sort he took on when about to scold for doing something that he didn't approve of. He may have done just that if Talia's next words hadn't spoken a truth he hadn't quite considered. He was always accustomed to making the decisions and just doing them without always cluing the others in. "That-- Yes. That was a good decision." Even he has to admit that.

Silently he moves toward one of the other armchairs to claim for himself while they speak. The towel is left to drape around his shoulders while he crosses one leg over the opposite knee. Not the best posture. "I should take that into consideration when dealing with her." It was difficult at times. That goes unspoken. Instead he draws a hand over his face with a long sigh.

"It's her story to tell, ultimately. The gist of things is that she's had three adoptive parents abandon her. The first when they learned what she can do. The second was a demon posing as a mentor and father figure. The third took her in after that, and then informed her he would kill her if he ever thought she was putting his biological daughter in danger."

"And now she's here."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would nod, "I'm aware that it's her story to tell. If she feels it's appropriate, she'll share it with me. But she's a very intelligent and observational woman. It's best to be up front with her on it. I have to earn her trust. With the number of times she's been hurt the last thing she needs is someone lying to her at the behest of another." Bruce asked her to help the girl.

"She's had a very hurtful life. Here she has a place to stay that she's protected.. But she doesn't feel like she deserves it and she's rather terrified of loss.. Of it surrounding her and swallowing up things about her and taking them down with her. She has a low sense of self worth. I also feel like she's spread in too many directions and has too many obligatoins."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I'm not precisely good with girls to begin with." Says Bruce, playboy billionare and Batman. There's only a small thought before he corrects himself. "Young women." To be fair he wasn't good with boys either though he had more experience raising them at least. He was improving with each attempt.

"Thank you for helping, Talia. I know this is an odd situation we've found ourselves in." At least it seemed she was trying to help so far.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would smile, "Thank you for givign me.. Another chance." On top of how many other ones. "I'll do what I can but it will be slow. I can't push her. Ultimately it will be at her own comfort level. H opefully at least I can make it so she's more at ease talking about it with others if that helps her more." She would take a breath.

"And I owe you."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne raises an eyebrow at that. The corner of his lips quirk into a bemused smile that came easier to him these days than it had in the past. "You owe me?" It was worth wondering for what she meant, precisely. He does shake his head a bit. "I gave you another chance for Damian's sake." That's precisely what he's going to stick with.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would laugh softly, "I see. So in that case I owe our son. I'll have to come up wtih an appropriate gift for him then. But the difficulties of when he has everything he already needs and is so obscenely rich he needs for nothing.."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Ah. That is a difficult one." It causes Bruce to actually smile in response. Gifts for Damian were difficult to begin with but he had at least known him long enough to have some ideas. "He likes to paint, and draw. He's rather proud of the hobby. Though to be quite honest, something small and meaningful would likely make him very happy."

There's a long drawn out pause before he adds, "Or another puppy."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would mm, "I'll defer on the puppy to you. You'll have a better idea. I suppose that simply hiring the services of Ms. Kyle to acquire something from the Louvre is off the table?" That was always the simplest solution.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"You-" That caught Bruce off guard. He tips his head forward giving one of his trademark stern scowls though he thought she was likely joking. It doesn't last long. "I'd prefer you not cause problems for Selina. The Louvre is a bit much as well. I can't hide everything in the manor." Plus stealing is wrong. Except he often let Selina get away with it in their usual games of Bat and Cat. Cat and sky mouse?

"He's working on his new identity recently. Talk to him about it. I'm sure he'd enjoy getting to share the news with someone else."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would laugh softly, "All right. I do think that her service charges are likely quite reasonable.." She would lean back over and then rest her hands on her lap. "I"ll look to something else, then." She would fold her fingers together. "I have quite a ways to his birthday after all so it gives me some time to properly plan something.." That will surely not involve anything illegal in any way, shape, or form.