17887/Daughter of the Dragon and Son of the Bat

Daughter of the Dragon and Son of the Bat
Date of Scene:	09 May 2024
Location:	Library - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Talia and Damian talk about Ras. Talia sees hopelessness. Damian tells her she has surrendered.
Cast of Characters:	Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne

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Talia al Ghul has posed:
It is quiet in the library, sometime early in the evening. Talia Al Ghul is sitting with her legs over in a lotus position. An old book rests carefully on her lap which she is reading. A thick leather volume with faded pages that has the look of being a copy of a copy of a copy, however many times removed and re-transcribed from the original. To the side of her she has a tablet which she's using to slowly keep up with the translation of it. She's thoughtful, engrossed over in her work while occasionally pausing to take down notes.

Damian Wayne has posed:
From somewhere in another room Damian's voice can be heard: "Ace! No!" Then a bark, bark, bark. Then: "You are in huge trouble, drop that right now!" Then the noises of Damian's big half-german shepherd, half-great dane running are heard, and an observant listener can hear Damian's footfalls as well.

Into the room bursts Ace at high speed. He runs quickly past Talia, perhaps knocking something or other over as he does. In the dog's mouth is a shoe. Damian is running into the room immediately afterwards, his feet sock-thump-sock-thump-sock-thumping on the ground as one foot has a shoe on and the other just a sock.

The 19-year-old skids to a stop, surprised to see someone in the library right now. "Oh. Mother. I apologize for disturbing your study."

Perhaps sensing the shift in tone, Ace trots over to Damian and drops the shoe on the floor in front of him. Damian frowns at the dog.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The book is carefully folded up, and then put over into a heavy case, along wtih the tablet and transcriptions she had been carefully making of it. "You're not disturbing me, I was at a point where I would have to consider consulting someone fluent in the language for a better transcription of it. You seem to be enjoying yourself." That's given over to Ace.

Presuming she's allowed, she would get up and take her hand over to stroke Ace behind the ears, so long as Damian did not gesture for her to stop and that Ace permitted her to do so.

"I hope that you have been well and your pursuits have been.. Fruitful." She is very careful with her phrasing.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Ace doesn't know that Talia orchestrated Damian's secret cloning into the League of Assassins where he was brutalized practically from birth in order to mold him into a perfect killing machine so that he could come to Gotham, murder his biological father, and assume the mantle of the Batman. So being the kind-hearted guardian that he is, Ace accepts the physical affection. If Damian has any reaction to Talia petting his dog he certainly shows no outward sign of it.

"<<My pursuits are more mundane now than ever,>> he replies to his mother in Arabic as he walks over to a window to peer out. <<I mean, other than dressing up in a costume at night and punishing those who do wrong.>> There is a slight inflection on the words 'do wrong' that one could certainly interpret as contextually meaningful.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would continue to stroke along Ace, pressing behind the ears and then underneath the chin before pulling away and listening to Damian, taking a few steps back to give him space. She takes a moment to consider her reply, reflecting. To be somewhat jocular, more nuanced, or simply passive. In the end.. Her son is making conversation with her, and she'll take the opportunity to reply on these rare occasions she has it.

Also speaking in Arabic, "I would say that's a rather productive use of your time." She's actually sincere in that.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian is most effective against an opponent that is actively fighting him. This sort of conversational judo that his mother just employed is something he is not well-suited to respond to. So he does the only thing he knows how to -- what the League taught him to do -- and redoubles his attack.

Switching to Mandarin: "This isn't a sanctuary. He'll hunt you and find you even here. And when he comes, he'll kill everyone in his path." Damian is peering out the window, hands clasped behind his back. From this angle he looks so much like his father.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And that gets a total nod of agreement from Talia. No deflection. No denial. Complete and sad acceptance. "Yes, and when he decides he has need for me again, I will go with him." It may or may not have been something that had come up before, but the sense of total surrender in her voice might or might not be a bit jarring.

Damian Wayne has posed:
The Heir of the Bat wheels around, eyes practically aflame, cheeks flushed with anger. He is back to English again. "Are you serious, mother?" Damian blurts out. "You'll go /with/ him? Have you no fight left in you? Has your time with Bruce taught you nothing?"

Damian may be very smart for his age but he is not worldly and wise. He speaks with the unquenchable vigor of youth. To him, every problem has a solution and every solution can be accomplished. Despite all he has suffered in his life, he has never truly tasted defeat at its most bitter levels. The League forced many cruel lessons on him, but one thing Damian has yet to learn is despair. "You must stand and fight until you don't have one ounce of fight left in you, and then you must fight some more!"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would look at Damian, "Because there is /nowhere/ I can go that he cannot find me and take me back. All I will do if I resist is draw the rest of you into the confrontation. All it would do is cause great loss and pain to all of you and damage to the city you are sworn to protect. Your grandfather would go to war. I have caused enough suffering. I do not wish to drag the rest of you down with me. Your grandfather sees potential. If it turns to outright defiance, then he will not restrain himself from retaliation."

Whatever her life had gone through with Ras, it had left her shattered. Unable to truly fathom that she could escape, could resist. Whether or not she could..

Damian Wayne has posed:
Sensing his master's anger, Ace rushes over to Damian and leans his enormous body against the teenager's. Without even realizing he's doing it, Damian reaches down and rests his hand on Ace's head. Damian's voice reduces to barely above a whisper. "Then you have already lost. You should pack and go to him and hasten your humiliation. /This/ is a house of warriors. These halls are walked by those who leave /everything/ out on the field every single day. You shame them all with your presence unless you are willing to fight and pay any cost for what's right."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
There's no anger in her voice. Just passivity and tiredness that can't be faked. "I would not draw the rest of you into war for my sake. It would accomplish nothing in the end." She had already accepted it and justified it in her mind, almost like a martyr complex. The way her face would twitch..
    If she knew where he was, she would.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Does Bruce know this?" Damian asks incredulously. "That you are ready to give up?" It's a straight question, and the teenager's expression seems to indicate he is expecting a straight answer.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would shake her head, "I have not brought it up with him. If he asks about it, then I will elaborate on it." Her tone was firm on that. But she was not telling Damian that he could not tell Bruce.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian takes a few steps closer to Talia, anger flaring again on his features. "Know this, mother: when he comes I will fight even if you will not. My brothers and sisters -- the warriors of this household -- will fight even if you will not. And when we beat him..." Damian's jaw clenches and his tone of voice gets menacing and low. "...and make /no/ mistake, we /will/ beat him, you will not share in our revels." An accomplished student of, among many other subjects, literature, Damian slips into Shakespeare now. "For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

Then the impassioned young man stalks out of the room. But just before he crosses the threshold of the door he pauses. "And don't pet my dog anymore." And then he storms off with Ace in tow.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And Talia would give a low nod. "I shall not." Then she goes to get the things up she had been using, returning the book to the shelf, and the other things with her to the appropriate places. Then she would be walking, heading out of the library and down and away from the Manor, towards some of the back grounds.