18184/Damian Shows Off His Animals

Damian Shows Off His Animals
Date of Scene:	05 June 2024
Location:	Wayne Estate - Bristol Township
Synopsis:	AJ and Damian learn some more about each other. Bat-cow is there. Ace is there!
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Allen-James

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Damian Wayne has posed:
Already on the mend, Damian is walking today without a cane. He is leading AJ through the expansive rear grounds toward the horse yard. Walking with them is Ace, Damian's half German shepherd / half great Dane. Ace is keeping a close eye on AJ, but the dog seems very in tune with his master's vibe so he is showing no aggression or dominance toward AJ.

"Okay so out here we have three American quarter horses," Damian explains amiably. When he is talking about his animals, he is very absorbed and focused. "But the real queen of the pasture is Bat-cow. I rescued her from a slaughterhouse. She's my bud!"

Arriving at the horse yard, Damian opens a gate in the wooden fence and a cow comes trotting up to meet him just like a dog might. "Hey, Bat-cow," Damian says to her as he squats down to nuzzle her face. "This is AJ. He's a very special friend and I hope someone who will be around for a long time."

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ is pretty good with animals. He greeted Ace with the same gentle affability that wins many people over to him, and didn't press to pet or handle him. The horses get an appreciative murmur, "Oh, aren't you lovely." he muttered, and then he chuckles as he's introduced to the cow.

    "A pleasure to meet you, Bat-Cow." he says with a chuckle. "When did you rescue her?" he wants to know, curious about Damian's past.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian stands back up, patting Bat-cow's flank. "Like..." He peers upward in recollection, resting one fingertip on his chin. "Maybe four or five years ago now? She used to produce milk but hasn't in a long time. It's okay, she still gets free room and board."

"I'm gonna wait to introduce you Goliath. He....tends to freak people out. We'll take that one slow." He nods in AJ's direction. "You got any pets?"

Allen-James has posed:
    "Goliath, huh?" AJ looks curious, but doesn't push it. "I had a pair of horses when I was young. I imagine my parents still have them. Mom and I used to ride together quite often." he admits with a wistful smile. "I haven't been home for a few years though. So..." He shrugs, and chuckles, as he looks out over the manor grounds.

    "We never had much in the way of dogs or cats. I think the stable hands kept cats, but they were almost feral, mostly for catching mice and pests around the barn." He muses, recalling more. "I kinda envy you Ace. He's really well trained. I think I'd like to have a dog some day, when I have my own place."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Closing the gate to the horse yard, Damian leans back against the wooden fence. He folds his arms over his chest and watches AJ. Ace flops down on the grass and lolls his tongue and starts panting. "Okay, two questions: what kind of dog would you have? What would their name be? And what would your place of your own be like?"

Damian screws up his face in concentration. "Wait, was that three questions?" He laughs a little bit. "Okay so three questions." His green eyes glitter as he awaits a response. Around AJ, Damian is just so...un-Damian. And that is a good thing.

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ laughs at Damian being so inquisitive. He considers it, and mmmmms, "I don't know. Something smart, not too aggressive. Easy to train." he opines. "Maybe some kind of collie or spaniel." he says vaguely. "And names.. I mean, that depends on what the dog is like. Maybe Angel, if it's a girl." he says with a chuckle.

    "As for a place of my own.. I dunno. A condo somewhere, where I can go to school, but be close enough to places to do training. I appreciate Xaviers, but it feels weird to be.. you know.. taking charity." he says with a chuckle. "My turn for a question though. You mentioned that you made up with your dad. What happened between you and Bruce Wayne?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian sobers immediately on that question. He peers long at his new friend. "AJ, wow..." He reaches out and gives AJ's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "That's a super loaded question. And honestly, a lot of it involves stuff that isn't mine to tell." His expression is a bit sheepish. "There are levels of being behind the curtain, and I can't make the call by myself to bring you into some of them. That has to be decided by others."

Folding his arms on his chest again, he contemplates. "I didn't meet my dad until I was 14. I was...raised to believe he was an extremely bad man. I was lied to and manipulated by a group who doesn't like him. So pissed-off 14-year-old me meets a guy I was raised since birth to believe was an evil piece of shit. You can imagine we didn't exactly have any 'Kum Ba Yah' moments.

Allen-James has posed:
    "Oh. Wow, that's.." he shakes his head, "That's rough. I guess my parents trying to 'fix' me being a mutant isn't so bad, really." he chuckles a bit nervously, wondering if he just put his foot in it.

    "So, subject change, I guess, how long have you had Ace?" he says blatantly, smiling to Damian.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Ace's tail thump-thump-thumps on the grass when he hears his name mentioned. As far as he concerned, everyone should be talking about him all the time! Because he's the goodest boy!

"About five years," Damian replies, peering down at the dog. "I was..." He purses his lips, considering his next words. "...a bit of a wild child when I got here. Ace was an attempt to humanize me." He shrugs. "Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't."

Damian moves forward into AJ's space, resting his arms on the other young man's shoulders. "You sure don't like to talk about yourself, do you?" he asks, giving AJ a gentle head butt with his forehead. "Why is that?"

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ slips his arms around Damian's waist, and leans into the head butt, flushing slightly. "I think you feel pretty human to me." he says with a smile.

    "As for me.. I spent the last five years.. hiding. Running. In some ways, it's like I was asleep for a long time, and just recently woke up. I'm not... proud of some of the things I've done. I'm trying to be a better person. I figure any time someone shoots me, explodes my shield, and I fall into a roof top pool it's evidence that I need to re-examine my priorities."

    He considers things for a while. "I'm used to not talking about who I used to be.. The Ramses-Denholme thing has been a gag I pulled out for my busking. Until like, six months ago, I hadn't said my full name in years. So I'm not who I was as a kid. And I'm not who I was on the street. I guess I'm afraid that if I dig too hard into who I am, I'll find out that I'm not... you know.. a good person."

    Then he smiles a little, and shifts his nose to bump Damian's. "And, I want to get to know you better. I want to understand you. That first time I saw you, you were all anger and challenge, trying to get those guys to make a move. And all I could think was that you didn't really want to be there, doing that. It was like... I don't know. You felt so alone that you just wanted to hurt someone to feel alive. I wanted to know you better then. And you were... sweet. Defending me." he chuckles.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian lowers himself to lie down on the fluffy, sweet-smelling grass. As he does so, Ace's tail goes nuts for a moment. He tugs gently at AJ's hand, inviting him to lie down and relax if he wishes to.

"I mean, it's /really/ hard for me to talk about my shit, AJ," Damian replies with a sardonic note in his voice. "First, my god, you would literally go running. Or air skating. Or whatever that is you do." He grins slightly.

"Second, it would eclipse your shit on a scale that you just can't even /imagine/. And I don't want to say or do anything to minimize or trivialize your story. Your trajectory and your backstory are important and meaningful."

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ allows himself to be pulled down, leaning against Damian as he lies there, beside him. "So, basically, both of us don't want to talk about our shit." he teases with a smirk on his face.

    "First of all, I'm not running anywhere, Damian. Just from what little you told me, that sounds pretty fucked up. And I know you put yourself out there between street criminals, and crazies, some of whom have real powers, better than mine. So I know you had to train like a crazy man for that, and I know you keep training for it, because if you didn't, you'd end up dead."

    He pauses, grasping for words. "No one trains like I have been, like you have to have been, just because they think it's fun. They train because they want something. I want to show people that Mutants can help people. That we're not a threat. That we're able and willing to be the shield between regular people, and those who would do them harm. I want to make up for some of the bad things I've done, sure, but I want to be what you already are. And, sure, I know that some bad shit has happened to you, but I'm not going to run from you because of your past, any more than you're running from me because I boosted a car..."

    He pauses a little longer this time, before deciding to just finish up his rambling thoughts. "Second... you matter too." He finishes the monologue almost simply, leaning his head against Damian's shoulder. "But, if you want to talk about me, we can talk about me. What do you want to know?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Boosted a car," Damian says in a soft murmur, shaking his head. He draws in a deep, deep breath and holds it before finally exhaling. "AJ, I..." Damian shakes his head. "I might as well just get this over with now because if you're going to run I would rather you run now and just be done with it." Is Damian Wayne /scared/ right now? Despite the spring warmth, he is literally shivering.

"AJ, I have killed so fucking many people. Hundreds. I can't even keep any of the faces or names straight in my head. The most prolific serial killer you have ever heard of is a rank amateur compared to me when I was twelve and a group whose name I will not utter here sent me on a year-long mission meant to break the last of me. I didn't originally learn my skills from Batman. I was raised from infancy to be a killer. I am as damned as any soul in the history of souls. All I can hope to do is ease some suffering and burdens between now and then."

Damian rolls on his back and looks up at the beautiful spring sky with moist eyes. Ace gets up and walks over to him and sniffs his face and licks him. Damian rubs under his dog's chin. "Lie down, Ace," he murmurs gently.

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ sits there for a while, considering things. It'd be too easy to say 'you're not that person any more'. AJ knows how little that matters when you're sitting alone at night, playing it over again, watching someone crying, begging you to stop, as you kick them one last time and take their wallet in your memory. He can only imagine it's worse when you killed people.

    "Point of order. I do not believe in heaven, or hell, as in, places where souls go when we die. I know there are actual, factual demons and stuff, but.." he shakes his head, "I cannot believe that our souls go somewhere to be judged after our time on earth. It just doesn't make sense."

    He pauses again, considering. "I could spout some shit about how that was in the past, and that you've changed. Which, clearly, you have. But we both know it doesn't matter that you've changed, it doesn't matter that you're trying to do good now. You'll always think about the bad things first, whenever you think about who you are. I know. I never... I haven't killed anyone, but I've fucked some people up, you know. I ran with a street rat gang for a while. I know my shit isn't as bad as yours, but that doesn't mean either of our shit has to rule us." he says. "We get to decide who we are today, and tomorrow."

Damian Wayne has posed:
The young vigilante lies there on the grass staring up at the sky as palpable relief washes over him. He's not leaving. He's not running. Hot rivulets stream down either side of his face from his eyes. Embarrassed that he's crying, Damian blinks over and over again. In tune to his master's energy, Ace scooches closer in the grass making a momentary high-pitched whine.

"Anyway, maybe don't beat yourself up so much, kay?" Damian wipes away the last of his tears with the back of one hand. He just doesn't know what else to say. He's not really well-equipped for this kind of thing.

"You should meet my brother, Tim. I think you guys would get along. He has a good heart, like you." Damian smirks a little. "Just don't tell him I said that."

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ slides an arm around Damian's shoulders, giving him a tentative hug, testing to make sure it's ok, that Damian still wants touched and to touch him. "I'll try not to beat myself up. You try too."

    He nods with a small smile "I'd like that. Meeting your family would be nice. Maybe some day, I'll have the guts to introduce you to mine. I mean.. They'd be thrilled that I'm hanging out with a Wayne." he chuckles.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian tugs AJ close. He isn't even wincing very much. His body is healing quite well already. He peers at the other young man for a few moments before leaning in to kiss him with a slow, patient energy. "Will you stay?" he asks gently. "We can take you home in the morning." He watches AJ to see what his reaction will be to such a bold question.

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ leans into Damian's body when he's tugged close, and returns the kiss gently, fingers moving to stroke through Damian's hair.

    "Why, Mister Wayne.. I'm not that kind of girl." he puts on a falsetto voice to tease Damian with. "But yes, I'll stay. I don't think I'm ready for... sex yet? But I'm sure I can spend the night without any trouble." he says with a chuckle. "Thank you, for trusting me, and believing in me." he murmurs, and moves to give Damian another kiss.