18118/A return to the past

A return to the past
Date of Scene:	28 May 2024
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	AJ meets Robin, and discusses... Video Games.
Cast of Characters:	Allen-James, Damian Wayne

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Allen-James has posed:
    The last few months have been a whirlwind for AJ. More time spent working out than he's had in years, good food, good companionship. And yet, it's all fairly stressful, isn't it, becoming something new. So, in a fit of nostalgia, he grabbed his violin, and has made his way down from the X manse, all the way into NYC, where he's returned to one of his favorite haunts. Central Park. Not so long ago, he did Central Park near the Met on a regular basis. So it's almost nostalgic to 'set up shop', kicking open his case with shoes that are artfully different colors, rather than different out of necessity. Duct tape on them is now there to make a statement, rather than to hold them together. The violin is different too. Still beat up and worn, but a new beat up and worn, in the manner of an instrument loaned out by a school, rather than a cheap instrument with more wear than varnish in many places. He plucked at the strings, and tuned it, and looked around at the random passerbies, uninterested in him in the way that only New Yorkers could be.

    With a happy sigh, he put the violin to his shoulder, and drew a long, slow, almost wailing note on his violin, before launching into a haunting dirge of a song performed with crisp care.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Who even knows why Robin is in New York City today. It's not really his haunt, and certainly not during hours when the sun is up. But he got on the Redbird hours ago and just started riding at speeds that can only be achieved by a mixture of virtual immunity from law enforcement and a casually reckless disregard for one's own life. His thoughts wandered faster than that motorcycle travelled. He finally brings the vehicle to a stop because, well, too many hours on a bike is no bueno on the hindquarters. He looks around and realizes he's in Central Park.

"Shit," he murmurs to himself as he climbs off the machine. "Security system on," Robin intones. A green light on the motorcycle's dash turns red, and you definitely don't want to be the guy who tries to mess with it now.

Following his nose, the costumed vigilante heads toward a hotdog vendor. He gets a lot of odd looks, but so it goes when you live the thug life, right?

"Two dogs," he says as he tugs a bill from a pouch in his utility belt. The emergency fund he keeps there only has hundreds. The vendor frowns. "I can't change that." He probably can, he just doesn't want to.

Robin shakes his head, dropping the bill on the cart. "Keep it."

He grabs the dogs and starts to walk. Someone ahead is playing music and doing a damned good job of it. Munching on the street food, he comes to a stop. He stands there eating. And listening. And watching.

Sunset is coming, and that means soon enough the undesirables will emerge. It don't matter which town you're in.

Allen-James has posed:
AJ is, for his part, fairly unaware that he's attracted a caped crusader, even if only tangentially. He's far more caught up in his performance. The dirge sweeps into a flowing, upbeat sort of song, a classical piece with a strong, rather difficult violin part, that AJ has been practicing to relax for the last month. While much of his performance repertoire is merely 'good for a street performer', this one's just... good. Concert level good. Competition winner good. It feels good to be back at that level, and AJ spends his time with his eyes closed, not worried about whether he's getting a good payout for his performance. It's funny how a few months can change perspectives and priorities.

    He sighs, as he comes to the end of the song, and gets some scattered applause from those near him, and a few bills and change makes it into his case, as he smiles and thanks folks.

    "Well, if it isn't old AJ. We thought you left town, AJ." The voice is.. unwelcome and AJ lets out a sigh as he looks over his shoulder, frowning at the sight of what looks like a guy not much older than AJ, with a couple of other street rats with him.

    "What do you want, Jimmy?" AJ asks with a sigh.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin downs the two dogs quickly. He hasn't eaten since early this morning and the dude is hungry. He wads up the wrappers and peers at a somewhat nearby trashcan. Slight easterly wind. Low humidity. Approximately 8 inch diameter opening in the can. Easysauce. He arches the wadded up wrappers...and they land on the grass next to the trashcan. He frowns.

Not a litter bug, Robin walks over slowly and leans down to pick up the wrapper. Someone who is observant might notice that he stays leaned over for a few beats longer than necessary. That's because he is taking visual inventory of the guys approaching the busker. Trouble smells like trouble in New York same as it does in Gotham. Maybe he didn't accidentally miss the trashcan after all.

Once he has a tactical bead on the street rats -- no real threat there, he could take them all out by himself if he had the flu -- he moves closer to the open violin case. A hundred dollar bill float down into the case. He doesn't say a word, just watches for the moment.

Allen-James has posed:
The three guys are about AJ's age, skinny in the way of street rats, with torn up clothes, and what are likely knives in pockets. They're not exactly super gangers, just figures from AJ's past who are here to hassle him.

    "You think you can hide among us for years, then run off and pretend you never lied to us? You mutie.." Jimmy is apparently getting into a fine anti-mutant rant, until one of the other two tugs his arm, and the three thugs stare at the masked young man in front of them.

    AJ seems nearly as surprised as the thugs, staring gape jawed at the cape wearing bonafide hero.

    "Don't you usually do Gotham?" AJ asked, his voice confused and dumbfounded, not even paying attention to the thugs who are trying to back away and get out of sight before Robin decides to beat them black and blue.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin peers at the three dudes. His gaze is practically begging for them to try something. He. Is. In. A. Fucking. Mood. And when Damian Wayne, former Heir to the Demon, Son of Batman, master assassin of the League of Assassins is in a mood...yeah, good luck with that. But even in his current frame of mind he won't start anything himself. His father would be disappointed. And of all the people, Damian least wants to disappoint /him/.

"Yeah," he says to AJ, his voice surprisingly soft, crisp, clear. "Usually. But I heard the hotdogs here were really good." He gestures in AJ's direction with a head nod and just one small corner of his mouth tics upward. Damian doesn't really do smiling. That's about as close as it gets.

But back to business...

"Hey, gentlemen," Robin says taking a few steps in their direction. "Are you here to appreciate the music? This kid's good, don't you agree?" He gestures casually at the open violin case, which now is $100 richer. "Maybe you guys should put something in there to show how much you support the arts." Robin's eyes /dare/ them to disagree.

Allen-James has posed:
"Hot dogs, huh?" AJ lets out a little laugh, and then chuckles as Damian starts to shake down the thugs. He glances towards Jimmy, and the other two, who have all three frozen, as they pull a few dollars out between them, and toss them in the case.

    "Look, man, we don't want no trouble with you." Jimmy says as he tosses in a couple bucks.

    "And, they don't have any more cash anyway." AJ comes to their defense with a smirk, "Just let em go. They're not worth the time. What do you do for fun?" he asks, trying to pull the costumed hero's attention back to him.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin wants one of these guys to try something so bad that he can feel it in his gums. But there is something so charming and likable about AJ actually coming to the defense of the guys who were probably about to give him a beatdown (well, /try/ to give him a beat down, cuz obviously AJ has some impressive skillz of his own), and at the very least are anti-mutant bigots. So Robin backs down. He offers each of the three in turn a fist bump, which in and of itself might be terrifying in its own subtle, understated way.

"What do I do for fun?" he repeats, taken aback by the suddenness of the question. Literally nobody on Earth ever has asked him that. "I..." Damian is stripped bare by the starkness of the query. He just shrugs. "I don't think I am a very fun person," he confesses in total honesty and candor.

Allen-James has posed:
    Each of the three looks... startled and terrified, like the fist bump might turn into more of a fist than a bump. But after bumping, and while Damian is distracted, tehy all turn and rush away, in that 'not running cause running draws attention' way.

    "What, like... nothing? Video games, music, art, you don't do anything to just.. decompress?" AJ asks, as he gawks at the masked marauder in his midst.

    "Tell me you at least get laid." The teenager asks, "You're not like, some monk ascetic, right, just training and fighting constantly?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I..."

People don't really catch Damian off guard. He has trained since his very earliest memories to /not/ be caught off guard. So who the hell is this kid delivering the verbal punches? "I don't just train and fight," he blurts out almost defensively. "I spend time with my animals. I re...I read. I like to hike and run." He releases a frustrated sigh. "Look, I can't...I can't really share specifics. I have, like, a, you know, a whole /thing/ to protect and stuff." Heir to the Demon? Pshya right. He's stammering like a fool right now.

He turns toward his Redbird cycle, which is parked a short ways down the path, and starts walking. "I should pro...I should probably get back to..." Then he wheels around and peers directly at AJ and walks back to the busker, gesturing with this peculiar mixture of frustration and incapacity. "And what exactly do /you/ do for fun?"

Allen-James has posed:
"Sure, I can get that you can't talk about it, it's cool." AJ holds his hands up and gives a smile to Robin. Not even a smirk or a knowing smile. A genuine, open, I'm happy to be here kind of smile when the man turns to stalk off.

    "What do I do for fun... Well. I know of this office building roof that has a great view of the city. Sometimes, I like to go up there and play Dvorak, while the sun sets, and the lights come on below me. That's pretty relaxing. I tried to get back into gaming, but five years away, and the whole world is shooters and shit now. I mean, whatever happened to a good old RTS? I could play SC2 some again, but I'm just not digging it like I used to, you know?" The rant is delivered easily. "I read some, but lately, I've been working out too much to take that much time. It's kinda why I'm here. When I don't have to do it for a living, it's actually pretty nice to come back out and busk." He says earnestly. "It gives me something away from the workouts and training."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin seems utterly disarmed by AJ's response. His body language relaxes. What parts of his facial expression that are visible calm. "Oh," he says as if there are not many responses to that. "That's a pretty good answer. Playing violin on a rooftop as the sun sets is not...is not something I can top." Then with a rare actual half-grin he mutters, "Show off."

"I don't honestly play many video games. In my, uh, line of work I don't like to play violent games. I actually play...um, I...you know, just sometimes, not really a lot, but I will sometimes play..." He runs a gloved hand back through his black hair. "...Stardew Valley." He lowers the volume of his voice when he says that last. You know, in case the Joker is listening or whatever.

Allen-James has posed:
    "Oh, man, I used to play that back in the day. I hear they added multiplayer to it. Maybe I should give it a go again. Do you do the romance stuff? I got married to Hailey once, but it was such a drag to focus on the whole interaction that much. I used to just fish in the game a lot." AJ talks about Stardew Valley like a guy who played it as a kid.

    "Thanks for running those guys off." He changes the subject again. "It would have been awkward to fight them here. Guess I should have thought of that before I came back. What is it, you can never go home, or something old man and boring?" he jokes and laughs. "I came out here today to blow off steam. You look like you were trying to blow off steam too."

Damian Wayne has posed:
With a noncommittal shrug, Robin looks away when AJ asks if he does the romance parts of Stardew Valley. There is some pathology there, that's for sure. "I mostly like to farm and collect the animals. Ducks and chickens and rabbits and cows and sheep and pigs and stuff." Another distracted shrug. Yes, Robin, the Boy Wonder, the sidekick of Batman, the terror of the Gotham nights who has put more people in the hospital than heart disease is standing here coyly admitting that he likes to collect animals in Stardew Valley.

He makes an absent gesture when AJ brings up the three guys. "You're welcome. It's dog politics, really. You just have to make them submit and you win without a fight. Some of it is attitude and some of it is reputation. If the /idea/ of Robin is more frightening than Robin, then I win before I show up. But yeah, going home is..." He breathes in deep and lets it out. Oh boy, if AJ only knew. "...is never a thing. Heraclitus wrote that we never step into the same river twice. So going home isn't really going home, it's going to a place that reminds us of the home that is basically gone."

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ is struck dumb for a moment, not that someone got the reference, but that a guy his age, maybe a bit younger, actually quoted the proper reference back to him. Who is this? ... Then again, does it matter? He gives one of his smiles to Robin, and chuckles. "Some day, I'm going to have to call my parents, and find out just how far I've drifted from where I used to call home. But I'm afraid I'm a bit too much of a coward for that right now. Maybe when.." he gives a wry grin, and lowers his voice, "maybe when I'm a Hero, I can face my father." he says, his voice barely a murmur, just for Damian to hear.

    "But for now... For now I'm just a busker, and a street rat.." he chuckles, and shakes his head, "Hey, if you ever want to hang out or anything... Hmmmmmm. Well. I could give you my number, if you wanted. Or, you can check the 1500 92nd Avenue, and see if I'm on the roof at sundown. I would say I do Central Park regularly, but I have been out in the countryside, training, so I really don't any more." he says with a chuckle, amused at how he's telling Robin that he's in training. The man probably spends more hours training than AJ spends awake. A bends down, and tucks the cash in his case into a pocket in the case, then tucks the violin in carefully, before he shuts the case, and slings it over his shoulder. "I should get going. It's a long ride back to where I'm crashing these days." he chuckles.

Damian Wayne has posed:
There is a moment of utter conflict in Robin. He stands there staring at this remarkable man, struck by how impossible the gulf between them is. It would be so easy to just get on the Redbird and ride away right now, to throttle open the bike and outrace all of the social challenges of being who he is. But the shadows we run from always find us again.

"I would like to take your number," he says. "If that's...if that's okay." He accepts the offered number and tucks it away in a pouch in his utility belt. "For obvious reasons, I can't give you mine. But who knows, maybe a future can exist where that could be possible." That shrug again, a gesture that is both avoidance and shield. He then starts to head back to his parked bike. Just before he gets to it he stops. He doesn't turn around but he says, "Consider calling your father. /Believe/ me if I was able to reconcile with mine then truly anything is possible." Yet another shrug. Still with his back to AJ. "I'll talk to you soon, man." He gets on the Redbird. "Security system off." The bike roars to life at the press of a button and off rides Robin, cape fluttering in the air like some frantic creature trying to escape a trap.