17230/What do you want to be when you grow up

What do you want to be when you grow up
Date of Scene:	19 February 2024
Location:	Lake - Wayne Estate
Synopsis:	Essix visits Damian while he's training Potato to fetch and they have a heart to goopling talk about her future.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Essix

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Damian Wayne has posed:
It's been a couple of days since Phoebe suddenly cancelled all of her engagements and just... dropped off the face of the Earth. Literally. But Damian has to keep up appearances. And in that, comes the care and feeding of Potato.

So out on the field near the lake, Damian has a small bucket of tennis balls, and he's throwing them out. As he does so, a large white derpy dog is chasing it down, picking it up - and sometimes bringing it back.

When he does, he gets a treat. When he doesn't? Well, they're trying again. As Potato trots up with the ball, Damian takes it, trading it for a treat. "Good dog." he offers, reaching down to ruffle the dog between the ears, before tossing the ball anew.

Essix has posed:
Essix often spends time around the lake as... something. A duck, a squirrel, sometimes a bush or a tree, the practice of shifting from one form to another part of her training, as well as learning what it is to /be/ those things.

As a bush that hasn't flowered yet, spring was just approaching, she had been watching the water in the lake when she heard Damian and Potato, whom she knew to be Phoebe's dog, approaching. She wasn't surprised to find Potato not always bringing the balls back, she was however surprised to see Damian with Phoebe's dog.

Going from bush to snake, she slithers through the grass toward Damian and when she got closer (not on top of him) she flows up into her human form, out of the way he was throwing the balls. "Hello," she offers cheerfully, watching Potato go after the ball then looking back to Damian. "Why do you have Phoebe's dog Potato?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Winding up, Damian flings the ball. Not too high, not too far. When it lands in the grass, Potato takes off after it, the ball into the brush. That may buy Damian a minute or so.

Hearing the soft rustle of the grass, for once, he doesn't immediately turn, just waiting for Essix to announce her presence. "Hello, Essix." he offers to her quietly when she comes to stand next to him.

Then comes the question about Potato and he draws in a breath. "Phoebe... Phoebe had to go out of town on a business trip. She and Idu both went." he offers to her. "It was a sudden thing, so she couldn't set up a sitter for Potato, so I offered to take care of him myself."

A short pause and his attention turning to the young goopling girl. "How are you?" he asks her. "It is starting to warm up. I hope it's at least a little more comfortable for you?"

Essix has posed:
Essix was not an expert in human deception. She was getting better at perceiving lies and reading body language, but over all she still took people at their word, especially those she called friends. The thing that she was good at was reading body language. Hours upon hours of observing humans had given her an excellent skill set in reading the way someone holds their body, the tones of their voice, and in looking at Damian... there was something wrong.

Canting her head slightly, blue eyes studying the young intently, she blinks once before stating softly, "I believe you are lying, but I cannot ascertain where the lie is. You are upset, sad. The language of your body screams that, so..."

No other words said, she steps in and hugs him. Yes, she knows she's supposed to ask before hugging people, Dick and Phoebe have both made that very clear, but it was her experience that when someone was sad... you hugged them to make them feel better.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" She then asks softly while hugging.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian has put up a good game so far. He's been dealing with it all pretty well. In fact, he's pretty sure he can bluff his way through Essix as well. The less people that know the truth, the better. Especially since he knows what Jason's planning on doing. And he's complicent in that.

What he wasn't expecting is what happens next. "I'm not..." he starts to protest as she claims that he's lying, but before the protest even forms, he feels her around him.

She'll feel him stiffen beneath her, his whole body going rigid, before he draws in a breath and shakes his head. "No. There's not. Just hope that it all turns out for the best." he admits to her quietly, his arms finally moving to return the hug. A tightening of his grip on the alien girl, before finally letting go.

Essix has posed:
Even after Damian has let go, Essix does not. The stiffening doesn't stop her, the attempt to further claims of nothing wrong doesn't stop her, and she's pretty certain the young man /needed/ a long hug.

Finally, just when Damian might think she'll never let go, she does in fact remove her arms from around him. She stays close, closer that she had been before, watching his face closely with her aqua eyes. Sadness was an emotion she didn't fully understand, not had she ever felt it for herself, but she could see it written all over Damian and that concerned her.

"I do not know what has made you sad, or what the truth is of this situation, but you should not be alone while you are this... upset," she chooses her words carefully, not something she's really known for, but it felt right to do so.

"I will hope with you that it all turns out for the best, since there is nothing else I am able to do," she finally says, resting her hand lightly on his shoulder. "May I also help you take care of Potato, or is that asking too much?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
There's no resistance when Essix lingers in her embrace. Damian doesn't fight her off or try to push her away. It's not resignation she'll feel, but it's something that is akin to it. So he lets Essix remain, the girl holding onto him until she finally disengages, but remains so very close to him.

His emerald eyes are matched to her aqua ones. studying her face. "You've been practicing." he comments to her quietly, seeing how much better she has gotten at holding a human expression. It's still not perfect, but it's a lot better than when he first met her.

"Phoebe is dealing with something she can only do herself, and we're going to try to help her as best we can." he finally offers in way of explanation. It's a partial truth, but at least it's something. He reaches up, giving her hair a light brush, pushing the strands over her ear, before she makes her offer.

"Yes, you can help with Potato." he offers finally. And just as he was about to say something else, Potato bumps into the back of his knees, pushing Damian into Essix for a moment, the two of them pressed back together before he starts to pull back with a little laugh. "I think he wants his treat."

Essix has posed:
Essix blinks a few times at the gesture of moving her hair. She'd seen humans do it a million times, sometimes the female moving the male's hair, sometimes the other way like Damian did. It was a gesture she was still uncertain as to the meaning, but it certainly felt nice. Couple that with him noticing the improvements to her face and a small smile appears on her lips.

"I need to be able to be human, in every aspect," she says brightly. "So I practice, because practice makes perfect. Thank you for noticing."

"Are we certain we cannot help Phoebe with this task?" she then asks, really wanting to be able to help her friend in some way but knowing, deep down, that if there was something she could do, she would have been asked.

She looked as if she was about to say something else when Potato bumps into them, and a small giggle escapes the little alien as Damian is knocked into her. Instinctively she moves the hand from his shoulder to wrap around his back, to help steady him if needed, though likely he doesn't need it.

"He did bring the ball back," she reports, pointing to the slobber covered ball on the ground. "I believe that does mean he gets a treat."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Essix holds onto him for a moment longer, and Damian nods at her comment. "Yes. Practice does make perfect." he agrees with her, as he settles his hands on her shoulders. He knows what she is, but in this form, she feels so real. It's a nice feeling to have.

"Just keep your hopes up that she's home soon." he offers in response to Essix asking again if there was anything they could do. It was all that any of them could do really.

But his attention is turned to Potato, when Essix points out that he is wanting a treat. "Yes, yes it does." he admits, finallly detangling from the goopling as he moves to get a treat out of his pocket, and gets a fresh ball from the bucket to offer to Essix. "Want to throw this one? If Potato brings it back to you, you can give him a treat?" he suggests, trying to change the subject. "I'm sure in no time at all, you're going to have boys ... or girls ... paying more attention to you."

Essix has posed:
The smile remains on Essix's face now, the outline of her lips now perfect due to the nose being more accurate. There is a natural sparkle in her eyes, a joy that never seems to go away, as if nothing could extinguish it.

Accepting the ball, she studies it a moment. "Standard tennis ball," she comments for no reason that's obvious, then she looks back up at Damian.

"The attractiveness of this form will cause these boys and girls to pay more attention to me?" she asks with another slight head tilt, then suddenly turns just a bit and tosses the ball for Potato to go after. It's not a good throw really, just enough to send the ball a short distance off before bouncing a few times.

"It is an aspect to humans that confuses me, that the shell they wear matters so much. I prefer to think that personality, attitude, the inner soul of a person is more or less attractive, but I recently read an expression that I believe applies here: When in Rome..."

Damian Wayne has posed:
As the ball only goes a short distance away, Damian laughs lightly. "We really need to work on teaching you how to throw in this form." he offers to her, a little bump of his shoulder to hers, a gently little rub of them together.

"Humans weigh a lot on appearances, Essix. I'm surprised you have not already realized that." he admits to her, his attention turning to her thoughtfully. "There will be people that will notice you once you have perfected how you look that did not want to pay attention to you before. It is why people have surgery to alter their looks." he explains.

There's a small smirk. "I just hope you remember the people that weren't concerned with how you looked and thought you were attractive for how you act and your personality." That said teasingly as Potato comes trotting back with the ball, but drops it at Damian's feet. Not quite right. But Damian takes a treat out of his pocket to put in Essix's hand anyway.

Essix has posed:
Essix giggles at the failure of her throw, it was a new experience and she only had a short time to observe Damian throwing it to base her motions off. "I have never thrown a ball," she admits with a grin. "It is an odd thing, the muscles used are quite different then anything else."

At the bump she bumps back, the grin going even broader. "I have known that humans are vain creatures, that looks are what matter for the purposes of attraction and mating," she shrugs a little. "I just never thought to place myself into that equation. "There are those I find attractive, based entirely on who they are and not what they look like. Appearances matter nothing to me, so those who were not concerned with my face before I started to master it, they are the /true/ friends, the ones that truly matter and will never, ever be forgotten."

Accepting the treat, she looks down at Potato and the ball, "Technically, it was too easy for him, but he brought it back so..." she leans down to offer the treat to the fur ball, then stands back up and looks back at Damian. "There is another factor to consider, most humans will never accept me, no matter how I look, because I am an alien."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I assume you are not going to hide away forever, Essix. And someday, you will want to have your own home and place, and want to live your life as you want." Damian points out to her as she hands over the treat. Giving the dog a ruffle, it seems that for the moment, the fetch lessons are over.

"That's just how we are, Essix." he admits to her with a shrug of his shoulders. "Beauty is placed above all by many. Look at how many people make money from their looks. It just is... what it is."

Then she points out that she's an alien and Damian cants his head to the side. "Have you seen the aliens around here?" he asks her. "Kryptonians, Tamaranians, I could go on. They're all attractive. And you're probably going to be much the same. People want the exotic things that they can only imagine having." A shrug of his shoulders. "You're going to do better than a mutant, which... we won't get into that."

Essix has posed:
Listening intently to Damian's expectations of the future, or rather what he thinks are her possible expectations, Essix blinks a few times. It was human nature to pair bond, make a home, live life until the end, and then apparently, go into the ground for the rest of eternity. For her however, none of those things had ever crossed her mind, she had a mission on this planet and no matter how long it took, she would complete that mission. Was there room in there for more? Probably, but she'd never considered it.

"I do not require a home," she says first after a moment of quiet thought. "But the truth is, I had never thought of such things for myself. I am on this planet for a purpose, to learn everything there is to learn about literally /everything/ on this planet. Humans are proving the most complex and difficult beings to learn and understand, and I think that is perhaps because I have not yet learned how to emulate one perfectly. Perhaps, in the continued process of learning, I will learn what it is to want a home, but right now..."

There is a pause here as she blinks a few times, and he can almost see the wheels in her head turning. "I have not thought of me," she finally admits. "Of what I want, I have only thought of the mission. I must change this. Thank you Damian, for making me realize this error in my ways."

Once again she steps in and hugs him, this time it is a brief 'thank you' hug and then she steps back. "I have not seen the other aliens, though I have heard they are here. They at least maintain a humanoid form at all times, and thus are easier to accept. This form," she gestures to herself, then looks back at his face. "This is not me. This is like the masks the Bats wear, a visage that is acceptable to blend in. For someone to show interest in me, it has to be more than an interest for this. They have to accept that I am more, and always will be."

Damian Wayne has posed:
While Damian is unaware of Essix's thoughts on the human condition and what it represents, he does know about what her mission is - she's talked to him about that before. And it is from that space that he approaches his thoughts when speaking with her.

"Someday, me, Dick, Stephanie, Phoebe. We won't be around anymore. And you'll still be here." he explains to her. "I don't know if any of us will have children of our own. But, you said it yourself. You have not taken the time to even touch on your mission. And you're never going to carry out that mission if you spend all your time here. That's not me saying I don't want you here."

"But what I am saying is that I expect you to perfect yourself here. To find out what type of appearance you want to be. And when you do, I want you to explore. And learn. And experience. And in all of this, discover what you want to be." He places his hands in hers, holding onto them. "You get to have something I won't. Lifetimes. You can be a doctor in this life, and then when you are ready, change yourself and be some other career and life. You can feel what it's like to fall in love. To experience life. To know what it is for humans to experience. Love, loss, excitement, the feeling of learning and seeing new things. It is not an error. It is just... growing up." A small, sad smile touches on his features.

She steps in to him again for another hug, and when he returns this one, his grip is tighter, more firm against the young alien. Who will outlive all of them.

"I have seen you in both of your forms. In all the ways you change and shape yourself, Essix. And you're wonderful in all of them. From this, all the way to small blue form that feels so different in my hands when I hold you." he explains to her. "You are more. You are so much more. And whoever you decide to give yourelf over to for understanding that, they will be a fortunate one that should consider themselves truly blessed to have you as part of his or herself." He leans in, and presses a small kiss to her forehead.

"Grow. Explore. Learn. Experience. Love. It's what I want for you." It's what Phoebe would want for her.

Essix has posed:
Once again Damian touches on things Essix had not thought about. It was true that she was created over four hundred years ago and launched in a tiny ship toward earth from a region of space a long ways off, but she didn't have consciousness until she emerged from that ship. She had purpose, but no thoughts. Now she had thoughts of her own, far too many any one human to handle, or so she had discovered. She had millions of unanswered questions, and was thrilled by the mere thought of finding even one of them. But to live on past those she knew right now? That thought never crossed her mind.

"You will all be gone," she repeats quietly "Children," she then adds, as if all of this was completely new to her. "That is how humans continue through the centuries, they pair bond, have children and teach them how to live, who then grow up and repeat the cycle."

Looking down at his hands as he takes her own, she slowly looks back up to his face and a soft smile touches her lips. "I know what I want to be in this life time, I know what I want to do in this time. I want to learn to be human, to be the perfect human, and I want to be a hero to help those who cannot help themselves... but I do not want to do it alone."

The hug surprises her, normally she's the one who does the hugging, but she accepts it and hugs right back, perhaps holding onto him a little longer than he intended but she does let him go.

"You are the only person I have known that actually knows all of me, and has said you accept it," she finally says, a bit more timid in her tone than usual. "That is precious to me..."

She might have been about to say something more but then he kissed her forehead and for the first time ever, the goopling is speechless. Her eyes widen slightly, she blinks a few times and the surprise is clear in her eyes. Kisses of this nature were familial, friendly, important between humans to express true emotions. It is possible that she would have heard all his words and not really accepted them if not for that little kiss.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Then be all of those things, Essix. Be a hero. Fall in love. Get married if you want." Damian offers to the little goopling. "But just... experience it all, alright?" The smile is faltering. There's something that he's hiding. And he knows best when to disengage. And the kiss gives him the perfect chance to do that.

"I want to hear all about your plans, Essix." he tells her as he collects up the balls to drop in the bucket. "When you have the chance, we'll set a time, go out and sit and talk and you can tell me everything you want to do." Kinda like a date.

"I'll see you later." And with that, he takes up the bucket, and whistles. "Come on, Potato!" It's time to head back to the house.

Essix has posed:
Essix nods enthusiastically in response to his words this time. "I promise I will experience everything there is, at least once," she states firmly. Can she tell that there is something lurking, that he is hiding something? It is nothing more than a nagging at the back of her 'mind' that he is perhaps uncomfortable, that there may be something lingering, but it's not enough for her to draw attention to.

"I am more than willing to tell you all about my plans," she then says, shifting away from him as he prepares to go. "When you have time, call me and we can go out, sit and talk. I would like that very much, and you can tell me your plans!"

Before Potato moves to trot after Damian, she leans down to pet him on the head and says softly, "Be a good boy." Straightening up, she offers a wave in the direction Damian is going... the forbidden house. "Take care, Damian! See you later!" She calls after him, and then her mind dives into the process of actually thinking about plans for the future.