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OPEN POST ( !!! )
MUSELIST | SHIPPING OPEN POST | ANYTHING GOES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ | TEXTING | PIC PROMPTS | ETC | |
MUSELIST | SHIPPING OPEN POST | ANYTHING GOES ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ | TEXTING | PIC PROMPTS | ETC | |
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been hanging around a few questionable establishments.
as any enterprising gal does.
and i got an invite to a club!
the type of club that we do not talk about, in fact.
[ fight club. she means fight club. ]
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And then these things happen, and he's reminded why he'd been such a downer about the whole thing in the first place]
because you fit in so nicely?
[What with the newly shaved head and penchant for hitting people with bricks...But seriously, how did you swing it?]
i think i'm going to need a little more context.
[And something for that impending aneurysm]
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[ tread carefully, bat-guy. ]
but we might need to do a little investigating to get that context.
[ yes, she's inviting dickie to be her fight club plus one. team batgirl has unofficial rules. chief among them is always bring back-up 'cause you're not in this fight alone. and maybe one of the sketchy people at sketchy fight club can lead them back to their sketchier kidnappers. ]
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He might even give her charming. But therein lies the problem. Deflecting with humour and being willing to look on a side other than bleak does not fight club material make.
And her last 'under cover' run had her running around in a slim and getting head grazed by bullets, so you know-]
i'm in.
[There probably really wasn't any doubt of that, but he clarifies it before the next question- if going with her is the only way to achieve any of the answers he wants to know- about Batgirl as much as Steph and Morningstar- he's about to be a plus one to your entire event calendar]
what are we working with so far?
[Is he supposed to be play acting some sort of role? Being your betting arm candy? What about layout?]
pretend this is a secure line ok
Relief comes unbidden. Being trusted, if only enough to follow her lead, is still a new experience for Stephanie. It gives her a shred of the warmth that Babs shared with her when they swore to uphold Team Batgirl. She sends the gps pin of the bar that she's been staking out, a halfway to seedy place by the artificial river, but she doesn't risk leaking the fight club location. ]
the gal who invited me goes by Alex.
she's with a street gang called the Hi-Jacks.
they've got the usual markers of renaissance criminals.
brawling with the other crews, frequenting illegal card dens, participating in the fights, and gambling on street races.
i think she know the hosts of the fights, but she's coy about it.
figure we can case the site mid-morning. get a better idea of the scale.
all i know is that they happen every week and all types of people compete, especially if they're showing off body mods.
as if i have any imagination - but i make up for it w/ novel writing
that's not a bad start.
[Alright, so it's a little bit more than 'not a bad start'. But while he's willing to give credit where it's due, it's not really within him to hand out effusive praise when a part of him is still waiting to see if the other shoe will drop.
Part of the exploratory nature of working together, of learning Stephanie, and Batgirl- is learning how she works. How she moves properly in a fight, when he's actually within a capacity to do more than look for cover with a few shattered ribs- to see how she thinks. Wants to see how much of the casework is Barbara, and how much is Stephanie- if she's only the proverbial brawn to the brain.
One of his better assets when being in a league full of people with more power than him- was to be able to lead them, to draw out their full potential and direct it to where it's most useful- with Steph, he wants to be able to do more of the latter, than the former. Help her now, in Barbara's place. Despite everything between them, despite the avoidance they've taken to each other- he figures he owes her that]
and all this, when i was just starting to think i might get homesick.
[Renaissance card-themed loving criminals, and criminals with a penchant for body mods, ah- the things one loves most about Gotham, all in one]
but mid-morning huh?
let's meet at a different location, and work our way there.
[....He meant that as a suggestion, honestly]
beautiful perfect legendary
Batgirl does not follow Batman or Nightwing's orders, but she'll negotiate today. That's what Barbara would want, even if she might snark in Steph's ear about how "the boys think they own the place" along the way. ]
what'd you have in mind, d?
[ "I, an adult, am open to your suggestion but we're the same level here so enjoy a wee nickname." The brat wonder would scold her for getting familiar, and big bats would pull a face.
Honestly, Steph doesn't know how Dick will handle her micro-assertions. ]
i know you are
The only difference is, this time, he's not holding back a stinging comment about how this proves she wasn't ready- but instead, trying to give this delicate situation a little more consideration.
If she had thrown one of her childish comebacks at him- he knows he'd have easily deserved them. Between his insistence that she quit before he took the choice away from her entirely- he hadn't exactly set up a scenario where taking point could have possibly been seen as a harmless occurrence where experience just happened to win out.
Like with Damian, until he's earned her respect on his own merit, rather than his significant credentials- he's going to have to figure out a way to make his advice more palatable.
Easier said than done.]
nothing much. it was just a suggestion.
unless you want to make this a bit more of an equal share?
[Dialing it back some!! Baby steps. And if she'd expected a far more telling reaction to the complete disregard for his name, she'd have had better luck trying it on someone who isn't the elder sibling, and sometimes wrangler of a very obnoxious orphan army.
As it stands, he's only faintly amused]
;)
[ and that’s true: this is an olive branch. ]
How would you approach this?
[ they can meet in the middle. ]
♥
[He means that sincerely. When they're all they really have, figuring just how far he can push before he temporarily alienates her is only really to his benefit]
broaden the scope, to start with.
[Partially because he's not as familiar with this place as she is- he's been here for a lot less, and because he's spent more time putting out proverbial fires than investigating leads that don't immediately jump out at him as the reason they've all acquired new hardware. He needs to know every nook and cranny of the surrounding area- and he needs to be seen it. Needs to have an interest in what goes on in the darker parts- before he just shows up out of nowhere looking to get in on the action]
tail your contact, if you haven't already.
[If it's anything he's learned over the years- if they're into one thing, they tend to have at least contacts for every other criminal element to fill in the gaps. He wants to know everything there is to know about her]
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i've seen enough csi reruns to know that.
[ JOKES. she was trained by the world's greatest detective, y'know. ]
she's a gambler, big on the fights and races. little interest in the bots.
either she prefers to watch or she's an assassin in the ring, as she rarely seems to have injuries.
cheats at cards, but no one seems to notice, or if they do, they know better than to comment.
she likes dancing, too. we went to a club downtown the other day. you might like it, actually, if you ever find the ol' sense of fun :)
[ did he leave it in the nightwing suit? she always carries hers with her, but — ]
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must be something you miss.
[That at least, hadn't been in question- he'd simply been agreeing that if she'd done it before approaching him, he wouldn't be backtracking all over her own work. At least, not to start with. Not unless they couldn't connect the dots and a second pair of eyes could mean the difference between catching or everything going cold.
There's a slight pause as he runs over the information, and then-]
why steph, are you asking me to dance?
[His sense of fun is entirely intact, especially when the full weight of the cowl isn't able to follow him here. However, he can't help feeling a little out of his depth. When was the last time someone with the bat moniker played ball with him? Wanted to tease and squeeze in fun where it was possible? When was the last time he stopped trying to act like Bruce, and did the same thing?]
you should pick me up at 7.
[Fun + getting him integrated into the seen before the start of your mid-morning stakeouts- he's a fan]
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go go get 'em, but it's your funeral, stephanie brown. her second funeral, actually, so bite me. ]
guess we'll see if you still know how to shake your tailfeathers.
[ keeping it light! and fresh! ]
you wanna decide how we know each other?
[ what's she telling alex? ]
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[Have you met him? He at least often strives for a modicum of modesty with most things- but exuding grace and being able to hold a rhythm aren't one of them.
He's never even seen her so much as try to do the awkward shimmy that passes for slow dancing at school functions. And it's far easier to focus on that, than on the fact that he's going dancing with Stephanie of all people, mission or no]
that'd be best.
let's start with what you told her about you so far, and what you'd like to avoid.
the last thing we can afford is for me to contradict you.
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[ and she's an old school bad girl, tyvm, the kind that mr and mrs drake didn't want around their sweet boy even before the vigilante factor came into play. course she can dance. ]
my dad's a shithead, so i take care of myself.
i'm trying to get money for online schooling on my own.
don't have a lot of friends, so if i bring someone in, they're good people.
[ i.e. you're trustworthy and special in this scenario, dickie. babs taught her the truth makes for the best lies. ]
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[One that's slowly starting to creep into every area of his life, in a way that Dick is actually fond of now that he feels slightly less out of his depth.
But never has he felt so much like the lame dad that's trying to convince other people he was 'with it' once, thanks Steph]
the best lies are the truth.
[He's echoing it, unintentionally, but it's meant as clear approval. There's a multitude of reasons that Dick doesn't have an alternate persona in his personal life- he might not pretend to be as perceptive and intelligent as he is, but he definitely doesn't go the lengths Bruce did- and that's one of them]
Did you specify an area of interest?
we could keep it simple.
have me already in the program and met helping you meet the other academic requirements.
[Nobody has to strain too hard, gives her more help than her actual family- that would go a long way with that crowd]
i'm sorry
everyone has new moves here in 2511.
[ and despite all her protests, his echoed approval warms her. ]
medicine, since i know about it already.
[ she spent the year of her dying abroad with leslie, after all. he'll remember that. ]
i like that.
"this is richard, my tutor, he's very smart and trustworthy. we didn't meet when i dropped my books in the hallway because campuses and books don't exist anymore, but he did help me out when i couldn't find the right text at the holo-library. his passions include the two-hundred and first edition of the digital dewey decimal system and also karate. he says he's a good dancer, but we'll be the judge of that. ;)"
[ what an elevator pitch. ]
slanderous lies
and did you hear what they did to ABBA?
[He's dead serious. He checked out some of these tunes- same lyrics, different vocals and a hell of a different synth beat. Futuristic remixes of some of the worlds best pop songs.
He can still dance to it, but what the hell you guys :(]
that's
[A length pause]
great.
[Not only does he have to be Richard, she's now ensuring he has to pretend to be well- Tim, when Dick himself lasted in college for the total of an entire semester, before dropping out and never looking back.
It was his idea, but not quite what he had in mind. Still, for now, it is her show]
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[ you poor disco dinosaur. ]
and thanks, i was feeling it.
[ she hesitates, then. ]
if you're still free, i think the guy at my fast food heart attack of choice accidentally-on-purpose doubled my pizza order.
could drop some off at your place.
[ a
pizzapeace offering. ]no subject
[Like, check yes for hover boards, mutilation of his favourite gymnastic work out playlist- not so much.
Discowing was majestic, leave him alone, Spoiler]
i'll bet.
[In person that would have been dry, mouth still slightly quirked in a smile. Is it really a Batgirl teamup if he's not slightly bullied and having small regrets?]
dinner and dancing?
i can't remember the last time i was so charmed.
come over, pull up a cushion.
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i'm the whole package.
but a cushion? that's five-star treatment.
[ the best thing about creepy brain implants is the ease with which one can text, walk, and carry two pizza boxes. ]
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You could upgrade to an entire chair, if the pizza has pepperoni.
[that's a lie, he doesn't have anything resembling a dining table or appropriate chairs. Just the worst couch you've ever seen. He doesn't cook]
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[ is private-pie a "retro" (by future standards) PI themed pizza restaurant? yes, yes it is. ]
but i did double down on veg to compensate slash lull myself into a false sense of healthiness