7795/Abendempfindung

Abendempfindung
Date of Scene:	12 September 2021
Location:	Palace - Themyscira City
Synopsis:	A hatchet is buried. But what does it mean for the future of the T-Car?
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Damian Wayne

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
Sunset at the palace, and Terry O'Neil is watching it by himself. This is unusual, because he has been nigh inseparable from Gar and Kian through the duration of their stay in Themyscira, but nevertheless there he is, sitting on a bench on the palace grounds, surrounded by plants and watching as the sun begins to set and tints the island in gold and umber.

He is clad in the clothes that Donna had procured for them, though he initially resisted wearing them. Constant wear, though, meant that the redhead's clothes needed to be washed and he was left with the sleeveless kithon: a wide, rectangular tube of material secured along the shoulders, fastened at the waist by a belt, and stopping mid-thigh. His initial reticence had nothing to do with being ashamed of his body, as he was in excellent shape, but in the fact that he was so pale in his human form that having that much skin exposed made him feel like Casper, the friendly Greco-Roman ghost. The Amazons didn't need sunscreen, after all, so they probably didn't understand. Nevertheless he did get the to provide him with a peplos- a piece of larger cloth he could drape over himself when the sun was at its highest. It wouldn't do to get severe sun-burn and give the Amazons the impression that the Children of Men withered under the sun.

It was only the gingers.

Watching the sun set, he lets out a quiet sigh of contentment. The bucolic surroundings, and the mythic quality of the location combine to put his mind in a receptive, peaceful place, open and unbothered.

This was, indeed, paradise.

Damian Wayne has posed:
    The young men of the Titans had earned their stay in Themysciera, and to say Damian had taken advantage of his stay here would have been an understatement.

Dressed now in a matching kithon, the young man had approached Terry slowly and near silently. His wraithlike approach was simply a product of his upbringing and his family's style.

"Vorpal." He says plainly, without emotion attached, far enough away that he shouldn't startle his fellow Titan that much.

He'd made amends with Mike for how he acted. But this was something different. The history between the two is thick and not happy.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The human doesn't answer for a second or two, absorbed as he is by the sunset. Not until the sun has dipped completely in the horizon does he turn in the direction of the voice. How many sunsets would he have a chance to observe in Themyscira, after all? Never taking anything for granted, Terry didn't now if they would ever be allowed to return, so every moment had to be savored.

And then, there were moments that were a challenge for that mentality. such as being confronted with a team-mate you are not on great terms with. Green eyes dart this way and that, taking the current state of the grounds in before answering.

"Robin," he says, neutrally. He couldn't know if Nadia might be around in tinyshape examining the local flora to accidentally overhear his name. By now Terry has realized Donna and Caitlin might know Damian's secret identity, since they know Nightwing's, but he hasn't brought up the subject to anyone...

Except Gar, but Gar had confirmed to him that he knew already. It also occurred to Terry that it wouldn't matter if Kian knew, but as he had said to Bruce, it wasn't his secret to divulge.

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian's masked eyes look at Terry, his own scarred torso shown for what it is. In this land of warriors, his show as much of a story as theirs do.

The younger of the two let's the awkwardness linger, only by virtue of his social disability. "I did not realize you were...under duress, in that hotel room. Nor did I give either of you any benefit of a doubt."

His light olive skin was taking to the Themyscieran sun well, gaining a shade of darkness due to his training along the royal guard that Donna had graciously shown him. "I am not like my brothers. By in large they know much more about accepting teammates and friends than I do."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry listens and remains quiet for a few seconds following Damian's admission. He checks his internal reaction, remembering what Gar said to him in the car. This was not something easy for Damian to admit. So, what was he going to do in reply?

He could be honest. Honest, but measured. A deep breath, taking in the scent of the herbs and flowers around him. The scent of the ocean surrounding the island.

"I hear what you're saying. I want you to know that it hurt a lot, the assumption that I would betray a secret for the sake of a story. I have learned a lot of secrets as a Titan.

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian's face grows cold, he wanted to say it. He holds his tongue, and it starts making his face red.

But he cannot stop himself any longer. "You also got my best friend hurt." It was the thing he's not been able to mention for the better part of a half a year now. "That is something I remember every time I see you. Is Goliath bleeding because he took bullets for us. Bullets that did not have to have been fired."

Damian's eyes behind that mask start welling up. "When I was at my lowest, Goliath was there, he was a whelp, and I had been forced to slaughter his entire family. He didn't fight me back. He showed no ire, he was the only friend I had for most of my life. So when he had been harmed...I could not forgive that."

Tears start rolling down at the lowest parts of that green Robin mask, it was irritating to the point that he reached up and removed it from his face. Something he's only done a handful of times before in front of another Titan.

"I wanted to harm you back for it. Some part of me wanted to take my sword and lob your head off right then and there. Because I was afraid I would lose the one last being that brought me happiness." This was a confession, his voice was not angered, it was a boy finally letting it off his shoulders in a way that wasn't at the end of a blade. He slowly approaches the bench, and sits down. On his chest and back: some scars long and slender, some small and round. Blades, bullets, burns, all on his sixteen year old frame.

"My own biases had stacked up on you to the point where I had considered..." perhaps that bit is better left unsaid. "It does not matter."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's eyes fall on the ground. There's nothing particularly important there, but it's something to look at. "I am sorry," he says quietly. "I never intended for Goliath to be harmed. Until he appeared, I didn't even /know/ I had a doppelganger., much less knew he had tracked me. It should have been impossible for him to be born at all..."

That's not important, Terry. Focus. Breath. "It never was my intention."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian's face reddens, before long his fist balls up, not striking out towards Terry, just flexing for anger. "But he exists." And of course, he wanted to kill that one too. "And all this could have been avoided. It would have been over in one stroke, I was going to give him the death he denied Garfield...at the time." Yeah, funny story...

"I told Nightwing that we will most likely never be friendly. Back when he was trying to get me to come back to the Titans. Two people who's personalities just do not mesh well with."

"I even asked Batman how he handles it...that went nowhere." He chuckles at that, seeing that similarity between them at the very least.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I guess Nightwing hasn't briefed you on what happened yet," the young man says, glancing out onto the ocean and seeing the last glints of gold. All around them, the mysterious lights of Themyscira start to ignite on their own.

"Not long before we came here, we got an updated from the Other Colette. We stopped that doppelganger mutant who was trying to open a dimension gate to the doppelganger dimension. We foiled his plans last time, so he decided to do something different this time." He glances at Damian.

"He wanted to bring /this/ universe's ZZGU to /our/ Earth."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian's eyes look back to Terry. "Past tense. Good. I have had enough of these doubles to last me a lifetime."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"It almost got here. For just a moment, we all felt what that thing did to our minds. I can't imagine what it must have been like, living with that as your background radiation, every waking hour." He shrugs, "Then we got rid of the portal. But for a few moments, all we knew was blinding, shapeless anger and hatred."

He is quiet for a few seconds before he says, "That kind of constant anger and hatred can twist someone pretty hard. You saw what it did to the other me, and the other Gar."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "My empathy ends when..." A moment of pause. Damian almost cannot believe that he is about to say this. "When someone I care about is harmed, or killed." Not that he had much empathy to begin with.

Here on this paradise, with his compatriots, he finally admitted to himself that he can care for someone, in front of Terry no less. "And you, do you not pass the same judgement on me? Is that why you make sojourns into Gotham to cut me down to my family?" He stops there, before coming too pointed.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I drove to Gotham following a lead for the Planet, Robin, not because I wanted to cut you down. Red Robin just happened to intersect my investigation and we talked. " Timothy Drake. He briefly shakes his head. Dick Grayson, Timothy Drake and Damian Wayne. Once you knew one, it wasn't hard to draw conclusions, especially after their father took you out for a ride.

"So what if we both joked? Maybe you could look at it from a different angle and realize that maybe there is some legitimate reason we both felt some tension or frustration, and we got some momentary relief in commiserating."

"... Before you bataranged us, that is," he adds. "Incidentally advil is good for batarang aches."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    "He dodged it, saw me at the last minute before he pulled a Batman." Yes, even the Robins get suddenly left behind by Batman making absolutely no noise. They can do it too, but of course. "It's one of the things you learn when you work with him."

"Then, we are even." He concludes.

"I cannot guarantee I will not do something that will anger you. Much like you cannot guarantee me the same. But I will...keep on attempting to move forward."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"All I ask is that you stop assuming I will do the worst." His pale skin flushes a little, now, as the topic is an emotional one for him. "I had an entire high school worth of nuns telling me how I was inadequate. How I was the worst and I would always be a disappointment, the son of sin because my mother was a single mother."

His cheeks are red. Terry has never, ever told his mother this. He knew his mother made sacrifices to afford that school, and he didn't want to be ungrateful. "I have helped save the world. Several times. I have made mistakes, and I have paid for them and tried to make them right afterwards." He spreads his hands, "But it's never enough."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian's face grows a little more red during the revelation from Terry about how he grew up. "I will try, more than I ever have before. I...my past, hasn't made it easy for either of us to see eye to eye, especially when it comes to missions."

It was then that Damian looked to Terry again. "You probably asked around about it. I never told you outright. My mother grew me, not as a mother would. Artificially, I was designed to be the perfect assassin for the family business. Someone to succeed a man who has stood defiantly against nature to remain alive for seven hundred years. I...do not easily grasp the concept of a family loving someone, for who they are. Only that everything can be and should be better. I know I am not a well-adjusted person."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry shakes his head, "I never asked. People's secrets aren't mine to uncover unless they happen to be a crook." He frowns, though, absorbing everything that Damian is saying. Suddenly, Bruce saying that Damian had had a very difficult life makes sense now. "... thank you for sharing that with me. I will remember that. I will try myself, harder than I have, too. The Titans are family, and sometimes we do bicker a lot like one. There are things I don't know myself... like what it feels to have siblings. Or a father. I think that what makes us," he gestures in a way that indicates he means the team at large, "is that we all have something someone else lacks. When we remember that, we can do wonders."

A lot has been shared, so he lets it lie there for a moment. And then, he makes a peace offering. A slight joke, indicated by the curling of one side of his mouth into a smirl. "... by the way. Your father is the most terrifying driver I've ever seen in my life. I think I lost four of my lives between Metropolis and Gotham."

Damian Wayne has posed:
    Damian's face went from slightly softened to a uneasy blinks in a matter of seconds.

For a moment, he doesn't say anything, letting the joke linger without an acknowledgment. But then there are words. "You should have seen how he drives the other car. There's a reason I have a motorcycle."

He laughs, two small ha-ha's. Before adding in. "I also have the car service drive me instead of him...for a reason."

Then there is another moment before the young Titan realizes. "Oh, I guess I can drive legally now. My birthday was a month ago."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry takes this into consideration, and then a look of pure mischief comes over him.

"You know, when we get back. We do have that T-mobile Vic's been working on." He crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. "I won't tell him if you won't."