16754/Magical Batburgers

Magical Batburgers
Date of Scene:	03 January 2024
Location:	Batburger
Synopsis:	Damian asks Charlie out for burgers, they discuss mutual likes and make plans to share in those later down the line.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe

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Damian Wayne has posed:
> Hey, Charlie? It's Damian. Would you like to go out for a burger?

The message is sent out of the blue. Not explanation, no nothing. Damian doesn't really even ever use the personal contact information of the various people that work under his father lightly. Yet. Here is it. A message sent to Charlie.

He just suggested the Batburger and a time. Not much else than that, which probably did nothing to help with what the meaning behind the text was.

Standing outside the Batburger, Damian is dressed in a warm black sweater with a leather coat over it. Blue jeans, and warm boots. A pair of earmuffs cover his ears as he waits for the young woman, even if he could have just ducked inside and secured a booth. But he was told this was polite.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie is not one ot turn down time with her batfam sibs, cousins, honestly she has no real clue what being Bab's adoptee ward sort means to Bruce's but she definitely treats them all like family. The fact Damian wants to do something as mundane as a burger, well that gets the chaosmuppet even more psyched.

    <<Sure thing!>>

    Also dang if she doesn't love batburger. The tongue and cheek of outings here always tickles her. She comes around the corner bundled up for Gotham winter, not having walked means she doesn't need to be quite as bundled as some though. She has her civvies on of course, leggings under her jeans, stompy boots, her favorite hoodie under a leather jacket, hood pulled up to protect her head and ears from the cold.

    g"Hey Damian!" she waves as she approaches.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Hey!" Damian greets as he notice the young woman approaching and he offers up a grin. "Cold as tundra out here." With that, he's opening the door for her, allowing her to enter the Batburger first, before he follows her in. "Thanks for coming!" States to the redhead, he is being completely polite.

Once they are inside and in line, he makes his intentions known. "I know we have worked together in the past." he explains as he folds his hands together in front of him. "But I have never made an effort to get to know you better as a person. I have realized I have not done this with a number of my allies..." a pause. "....and I would like to work on making friends."

There, he gets that out. So a date? Not a date? Just friends getting burgers. He's fine with any of those.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Well this is all unusual but she will take it and a batburger.

    "Don't jinx us, it could be pouring freezing rain." she says with a laugh and a grin. She ducks ahead and inside when the door is held open for her. Once in line she spins around and faces him while they wait, head tilting a little bit as he explains why he invited her out to burgers today. She blinks and manages to untilt her head though she is a smidge surprised at first.

    "I mean, that makes a lot of sense. You are often all business Damian." she teases, very lightly. "I'd be happy to have you get to know me as a person. To be honest I don't really have a lot of friends with everything we do." she glances away towards the menu. Despite how depressing that is, she doesn't seem down by it. It's questionable what it would take to depress Charlie.

    "What do you like to do for fun?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Glancing up at the menu board, Damian takes in the offerings before he chuckles at Charlie. "Or worse, Mister Freeze could decide he has a want for a burger tonight." he points out dryly with a touch of amusement. Hands in his pockets, he is far more stoic than the spinning young woman next to him.

"I have been made aware on multiple occasions that I'm considered unapproachable and prickly. It is something I have made a..." He draws in a breath and then releases it with a chuff. Laughter? Perhaps.

"I have made it a resolution to improve on that." he offers to Charlie. And she happens to be the first person he's trying it on. Lucky her, right? When he's asked what he likes to do for fun, his smile is there, faint, but present. "I enjoy animals." he explains. "Besides the animals at the farm on the manor grounds, I am a patron of several zoos and wildllife perserves. I enjoy riding horse and tending to those animals that are endangered." And then he adds. "As well as tending to Goliath." A named animal?

"I think I am going to get two Veggie batmite meals, Tim is collecting the toys. If they still have the holiday ones. How about you? What do you do when you are not out and about?"

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    She eyes the menu board thoughtfully. "I imagine he would order the Mr. Freezy Shake not a burger. Probably vanilla, because he is so stoic and emotionless." she nods as if it is decided.

    His confession makes her grin. "I have been told that and picked up on some unapproachableness." she admits and shrugs. "I never let it worry me though. I've been told I am too weird or hyper too many times to label others Damian." another shrug, loose relaxed and then she gets a little wider around the eyes. "Wait a gosh dang minute. There is a farm on the estate.... how... how has no one ever told me there is a farm at thje manor.... and stables are you saying there is a stable.. with horses?" stunned.

    Betrayed.

    "...."

    Oh right food. "Batburger and fries, Mr. Freezey Strawberry. No joker sauce. Too many nightmares about that concept. Also figures Tim is."

    She puffs her cheeks at the question. "Videogames. Sleeping. I'm discounting my studies and school work,which take up a lot of my time when not out and about." how are studies different than school work especially if out and about is patrols and training to her. Hm.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Ordering their meals, Damian takes the little number tent and grabs a cup for his drink. It'll probably be water. He seems to be that type. As Charlie comes across the realization that there is a stable on the manor, Damian laughs lightly, and it's not a mocking one. It seems genuinely nice.

"Come visit sometime, I'll take you out to meet the horses. Do you ride?" he asks her curiously as he heads towards the table and claims a seat, settling in after she does.

"I've not ever been able to get into video games. I do like manga and anime though?" he offers, hoping that's an acceptable substitute as he nods thoughtfully. "Studying and such do eat up much of our time when not on patrol." he admits now that he realizes it. But as he does so, he takes out his phone and unlocks it. Sliding it over to her, he lets her scroll through the pictures of the various animals that live on the manor. There's horses. Dogs. Batcow... and then.. a dragon? A batlooking dragon. Damian may have forgotten to lock that one.

Or perhaps he wanted Charlie to see it.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie follows shaking her head as they head to the water and drinks station. "I... no. I would like to learn how to ride a horse though. I did once try to ride a fey elk... also once surfed a demon worm I was taking care of. Never had a chance to ride a pony though." she keeps her voice pitrched very low for parts of that. She has that skill down pat. Just two young people chatting and getting fastfood.

    "Oh, I love manga and anime. Videogames was one of the more affordable things when I was younger. My school didn't have money for sports or other extracurriculars back in Metro so no real opportunities until I went to live with Babs here in Gotham."

    She accepts the phone. "I've got to study my magic and my college load. It is ... a lot." she admits softly. She looks thoughj the animal photos and then blinks "Crickets... is that.." she squints looking closer then offers it back flipped to the cow. "Whaaat?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Try? Did it buck you?" Damian asks curiously as he listens to Charlie's adevntures and chuckles. "Then visit sometime, I will take you for a ride!" he offers to her as he matches her pitch, though he does seem animated by the idea as he leans down as well. They can play this part together very well.

"What type do you like? So many people like shohen, but I feel like I am already living that." he admits with some amusement. His hands move and pulls out a dog-eared light novel from his pocket and sets it on the table. It's in Japanese, but the English title is: The Romance of the Art School Prodigy and the Skillful Sketch Artist.

"I... perfer slice of life ones." He admits to her quietly. Don't laugh too hard!

Then she's talking about crickets and he looks down at the phone as she turns it back to her. There's a smirk as he looks at the picture. It's a white cow with a brown batsignal over it's face. "Have you never seen a Batcow before?" he asks, the smirk melting away into a small smile.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    She is genuinely thrilled at the idea of horse riding. "Cool. Also yeah it bucked me off and then tried to crush me under it's hooves. Turns out it was intelligent and verrrrrry insulted. I had to appologize a lot."

    "Also yeah we are a bit in that realm. I like Isekais ... the idea of waking up on another world is kind of exciting. I'd rather skip the bus ride there though." dark. Funny but dark. "Outside my abused Isekai library Kaguya-sama is funny. Spy X Family is good."

    "I watched a slice of life Isekai the other day, Parallel world Pharmacy. It was pretty good." she picks up the copy and looks it over. "Don't let the cow know I had a batburger."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I can imagine!" Damian offers with a grin. "At least you know to ask the elk next time." he points out with amusement as the meals arrive at the table. "Thank you!" is offered to the busboy, before he turns his attention to his tray.

"Isekais were fun at first, but they're so strange now. I mean, Reincarnated as a Sword? Or a Vending Machine? Just weird!" He takes up a fry to snak of it. "Spy x Family is good. Started watching Freiren when I can." he shrugs. "Maybe we can watch something together as well sometime."

"I won't tell her. Her rescue is actually what pushed me to be a vegeterian." he admits.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "Well. I'd still like to meet her." the Batcow. "All of them really." especially the bat dragon probably.

    "I haven't started Freiren yet but it looks really good. I'd love to watch anime sometime." she snagsh er shake up and takes a sip.

    "Also yeah they have gotten really weird. Like the accountant guy one.. uh.. Realist hero rebiult the kingdom.. "

    She dips a batfry into her Mr. Freezey shake then pops it into her mouth.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I... think I saw that one. Maybe we'll see it together or something. How do you feel about mecha? I liked 86 and Gundam." Of course Damian would like Gundam. And somewhere in there, he is realizing that he's getting sidetracked.

He had asked Charlie out to poke her a little on magic and all, but, he's kinda forgotten that, focused on getting to know her better.

When she dips the fry into the shake and eats it, his head tilts into a curious mien. "Is that actually good?" he asks. "I have tried foods from all over the world, but I do not think I have seen someone dip a fry into a shake before."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "Mecha good. I don't think I'd queue up the accountant one. I'd definitely watch Frerein if you don't mind playing catchup with me first." she grins.

    She is a good one to poke on magic. Honestly she would probably go off on it as it is a special interest for the girl.

    "Oh yeah, its sweet and salty." she dips another free and then holds it out offering it out to Damian to try.

Damian Wayne has posed:
They'll come back to magic eventually. Taking the fry from Charlie's fingers tenatively, he studies it and then pops it in his mouth. Yes, it's not vegan, but he's willing to let that slip by in order to try something new.

A few chews and his face churns in thought. "That is different. But tasty. I will have to try it sometime with just the sauce." he admits, since shakes are on the no no list. He concentrates on tucking in on the burger, before he considers.

"I assume by now you've seen all the Mimic memes?"

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    There is a snort of a laugh. "Yeah... I don't have the context but I've seen the memes." if nothing else she is definitely deeply versed in meme culture on the internet. Figures.

    She didn't even think that milkshakes aren't vegan. She is thinking vegetarian probably. She goes back to dip eating her fries. Ironically before they go cold.

    "Though I wouldn't have known what a mimic was without all the dimension 20 clips on tiktok."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Not much of a tabletopper?" Damian asks. He's still getting used to vegan, vegetertain. He'll find his happy balance in there someplace. "I won't spoil it for you then." he offers, but does chuckle in amusement. "There is one of Batgirl... the blonde one, being stuck in a crate, though." He swips on his phone to show it to Charlie.

And he will disavow all knowledge that he made that meme just to pick on Stephanie. Because he most likely did.

"How's things with Barbara going? I didn't see you at her New Year's soiree she hosted." he points out between bites. "Was hoping to see more friends about. Ended up getting in a dance with Cassie Sandsmark. Stepped out before all the New Years kisses started."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "No friends to game with. I mean other than video game friends but those are just people in discord not really people I'd tabletop with. Well maybe if they asked." probably if they asked. But they are video game geek friends.

    She looks the meme over and snickers. "Oh man... she is going to hate that..."

    Then she looks back up. "We are good." about her and Barbara. "I mean.. she is pretty much my mom, I wasn't boycotting it because there are issues. I still live at the clocktower and see her all the time if people were worried." she moves on to her burger and pitches her voice lower. "I got tagged in to deal with a cult that was going to summon a demon to enrich themselves for the year at the expense of their towns welfre... ugn cultists."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Yeah. Same problem. Maybe Tim would be interested." Damian isn't sure about his other siblings. As he finishes off his burger, he grins lightly at Charlie's reaction to the meme, before he nods at her assessment about her and Barbara's situation.

"I didn't imagine there was an issue. Was just curious." he admits. "I don't know, though..." he muses quietly. A sip from his drink and he sets it aside. "I think I'd rathed been dealing with a demon summoning cult than trying to figure out how to be sociable at a new years party when you're clearly out of your league in the adult situation."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "I imagine Tim would be the only one interested. Not sure Steph would be..." she muses.

    "I didn't really complain when the call got in. If they made me miss Christmas or Thanksgiving at the manor... then I would be really pissed at them. Thankfully Krampus related bullpucky is the night before usually and not during Christmas..." is she kidding.

    She keeps working on the burger. "New Years is an odd one, when you can't drink. It does seem like a grownup party."

Damian Wayne has posed:
His attention is on the fries. "Krampus?" Damian asks Charlie curiously between potato sticks. "I had read a report of Santa and MODOK and other related shenanigans, but nothing on Krampus." he admits to her with a small smirk as he nods in agreement.

"I mean, Kate finally kissed Barbara. Who knows how long that's been waiting to happen." comes his commentary on the party. "But I think most of the rest of us weren't exactly... finding someone to carry out that tradition with?" he shrugs. "Supposedly, it is supposed to bring you fortune into the new year. I thought that was what the black-eyed peas were for."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "I heard that finally happened. The tension. So thick."

    She polishes off the burger and leans back craddling her shake.

    "Makes it harder having to find someone in the know. I mean I guess we could find someone to be happy with outside the know... but can you imagine explaining the job to someone at all. The worry they can't defend themselves?"

    She sips her shake. "what about you. No one to kiss on new years then?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Nope." Last fry popped into his mouth, Damian works on policing up his paper that all of his food came in. It's the only good policiing in Gotham, HEYO.

"I mean, yeah. Outside the know is hard for some, especially you know. Someone were to fall for someone with a mask, find out their totally different without it?" he asks thoughtfully.

He rolls his shoulders in a shrug, a considering look at his tray before glancing up at Charlie again. "No, no new years kiss here." he admits with a small snort of laughter. "You already know me by reputation alone, who would want to kiss that?" comes the amused question. "How about you?"

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "I guess I am too weird for people." she admits letting Damian do the bussing of everything. She just sighs and shakes her head. "No one has ever seemed interested and I don't understand them well enough to figure out how to handle it."

    She shrugs "It isn't like TV or anime unfortunately... not that they aren't dumb about it in shows too I guess."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian laughs and looks up at Charlie for a moment. "I mean." he says, considering Charlie thoughtfully. Taking in her face, the freckles, all of it. "You are attractive." he points out to her. His attention turns away before he gets caught staring for too long.

"Most people remember me from when I was younger and do not seem to have interest in what I am now. I suppose that I helped to culture that. But, it is something that I am working on." He shakes his own head as well. "And we have kinda set the idea to go riding together and watch anime sometime?" he points out.

"I just..." a small laugh. "I did not believe that you would have interest." he points out to her.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie blushes lightly at being called attractive. I mean, she is, but still to be called that is still enough to get a blush out of her now. "Thank you." she manages.

    Okay everything else there is a lot to process. She thinks, but isn't sure, that he may be suggesting. She blinks and then still blushing lightly quirks a smile. "Well. Then we will have a riding and anime watching date." she finally declares, watching to see how he reacts.

Damian Wayne has posed:
There is a lot to unpack here. Not exactly the plan that Damian had going into this. But, the idea? It's not a bad one. He looks back up to the redhead again, and her blush manages to catch one of his own for a moment. And now it's his turn to mull over it all.

There is a common ground there, however, as he reaches out and covers her hand with his for a moment. He looks to where their fingers touch. What would Ren and Hana do in this situation?

Right! "I'd like that." he agrees with her. "When you're ready, we can go to the Manor, and I'll show you the farm, we can visit the animals and when we're done, if you want. We can watch anime together." Hopefully it won't be too cold for riding.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Charlie looks down at the touch, and well she maintains the blush for sure at that point.

    "That sounds good. I've got class in the morning though back from winter break. I'd propose we plan it for maybe Saturday, should be warmer and not a big chance for snow or sleet that day?" it is pretty dreery and cold after all.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Releasing her hand, Damian nods firmly in agreement. "Saturday should be free!" he agrees with her. "I should probably take care of a few things as well, and if you need help with your studies, we can do that too!" he offers to her.

There's a glance outside and a sigh. "Tonight would be bad anyway. I'm pulling the overnight patrol and should go get ready soon. But... I'm glad we did this, Charlie. And I look forward to seeing you again soon." he promises her. "If you're not going out tonight, stay warm and have a good sleep."

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    "Stay safe on patrol. Call me if you need emergency backup." because well she is the fastest response team the family has. Doesn't matter who when or where, shde can be there in a heartbeat to help.

    She slips up to her feet with her shake. "I'm glad you asked me out for burgers. Surprised it was like this and not to plot some sort of mission, but happy."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Give me time, I'll come up with the mission." Damian comments with a wink, just to keep Charlie on her toes. Getting to his own feet, he gathers the trays with their trash and looks over at her. "I'll call if I need you." he promises. "Or if I get bored and want to make conversation."

With that curveball thrown he moves past her, a gentle bump of his hip to hers as he moves to throw out the trash.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe has posed:
    Okay that gets another blink out of her, then she chuckles "Okay talk to you later." she notes watching him bus the trash.

    She heads for the front door, pulling her hood up as she steps out to breath the wintery weather and find an alley for bounce home from.