asterbatics | ic contact

...Yeah, of course I do. March 21st. First day of spring. [ Only back home it isn't, is it? Back home he'd only just had a birthday. Maybe that's all he means.

His tone shifts a little anyway, edging back towards tentative. ]

That's the day, isn't it?

Nah, dude. December 1st.

[ or, well. ]

Today is March 21st. But the day's December 1st. [ it takes a second or two for the wheels to keep turning. ] Is your's March 21st?

Yeah. Of course it is.

[ December, though. ] ...My mistake. I thought you were, um. [ A name he doesn't want to trust to the network.

All the days of worry and planning and thinking and anxiety he'd put into the idea that his hunch was right. Going with audio (and that dangerous unmasked picture beside it) because he'd been so sure. Batman would be ashamed. His cheeks are warming. ]

...Nevermind. [ And with a click he's hanging up.

Then calling back a moment later on video feed, only the image is covered over with something dark and yellow. ]

Sorry. Think we had a technical glitch.

[ of course it is. he holds back how his first response is defensive, what is that supposed to mean. he almost says something similar, but is cut off when he keeps going.

i thought you were- ] Wait.

[ how he knows where he's going, how he knows what he's about to say, tightens his gut. he wanted to check, wanted to know, and now rob's head is spinning. ]

Wait, I think- [ and then it's cut, and rob lets out a frustrated noise. did he just hang up on him? when the call comes back through video, he ends up talking over the other, not waiting for him to finish speaking.

technical glitch or no, he's not saying this over the network. ]

We should talk. In person. [ it's a hunch, but he has to know. ]

Yeah, okay. [ While that sinking feeling in his chest gets heavier.

But he has to know. He's someone even if he's not Dick Grayson. One more person wearing that suit. His suit.

He has to know why. ]

Name the spot, I'll be there.

[ at least he agrees. rob feels his face drop into something more serious, if only because he has to. he has to. ]

Rooftop, block 5.

[ for a moment, wally flashes in front of his eyes. finding his best friend here again, having everything fall back into place in every way rob knows how to let things fall in haven. he shakes his head, pushes it away, and looks back.

he has to know. ]

I'll meet you there.

[ that's when the feed cuts, and he's moving - heading there without any real confirmation the other boy will be there as well. he just has a feeling, in the same way he had a feeling during their fight. he just knew. ]

[ Dick doesn't bother with a reply, just makes the short run for the rooftops, jumps quick and low while his heart thuds away in his chest. Now is the time to settle this, while the chance is here. If it's an ambush he'll be ready. Maybe he'll even deserve it, if it is.

But first comes first. Rather than keep his approach visible he ducks down by block five, pressing his body into the nearest windowsill while he listens. For the rustle of a cape. The touch of Robinly boots. A breath, a sigh, anything. He can't breath around he frightened (of what?) he is, all at once. ]

Edited 2014-12-28 03:56 (UTC)

[ his head is spinning a little with the thought of it all, because he should have thought of all of this before but didn't. should have approached this differently but didn't. he's here now, sure, but he doesn't know exactly you're supposed to go about this.

rob decides that he can figure it out when he gets out there. for now, he'll just go, along the rooftops and stopping one block over, checking around and the space before he approaches, wary and ready, but also more comfortable up here.

he wonders, briefly, if he'll even show. ]

[ It's a hunch more than it's a sound that clues him in. Dick shifts his position, tilting his head just far enough to peer up and over the edge when he spots him, already lurking there in that awful looking (wrong) suit. ] Man, you are quiet.

[ And with an equally silent hop he's up on the roof in full view, tension (hopefully) hidden by the folds of his cape. ]

...Hey.

[ if it's any consolation, rob doesn't notice until he says something, shifting his eyes up at the sound of another voice and almost snorting at the comment itself. ]

Trained by the best. [ which, maybe isn't the best thing to say all things considering. but whatever, it's there, and rob's eyes follow the other as he hops down to the roof, feeling the tension in his own shoulders and neck.

the cape. he thinks of his own, tucked back in his room, but pushes the thought away. ] Hey. Nice cape.

...Thanks. Your suit is, uh- [ He hesitating, and it’s strikes him again how things have changed so quickly. How on Damian he can see it for what it is, a nice riff on an old classic. On this Robin – this older, deep-voiced boy he already knows he can’t match in a fair fight – on him it still needles at him, just looking at it. ]

The black's a neat touch. [ The tight breath out is an attempt to cover the feeling. They need to settle this now. ]

-Anyway. About what happened...

[ his eyebrows end up lifting when the other boy starts to mention his suit. it never really occurred to him before to think about the differences, the shifting of goals and reasons. this one's suit looks so...fragile. thin. unprotected.

he knows what he sees can't be all of it, but it's different enough that it unsettles him. is his suit kevlar infused spandex? if he was shot would he survive? is that not a priority for him to think about? ]

It's for recon. [ his eyes follow the green, the open legs. he has so many weak-points in the suit alone, which makes rob wonder just how good he has to be at dodging, at moving. ] Helps match-

[ nOPE. ]

Right. [ and then there's a pause, because this is kind of awkward all things considering, and rob rubs at the back of his neck for a moment as his eyes divert off for a moment before coming back.

right. important. ]

Your birthday's March 21st, right? [ a beat, and then- ] What's your name?

[ The tension in his shoulders shifts with a guilty little jerk. Letting the day – the day and what it means slip is a dangerous mistake that he can't take back now, and all running on a hunch he'd known Zatanna couldn't confirm to begin with.

But he'd been so sure. So sure, and now that he can see him again he's surer still. He knows that chin, that forehead. Even masked, he knows it. ]

I had a, um- a hunch about that. [ His hand is in his hair, visibly taut. ]

That you already knew what it was.

[ a dangerous mistake, maybe, but the intent behind it doesn't escape rob at this moment. he'd wanted to wish him a happy birthday, him, and after their last interaction?

the other one is watching him, eyeing him, and rob tries to keep that feeling like he's looking in a mirror out of his mind.

you already knew.

he lets out a breath. ]

It's weird, though. That we have different birthdays.

[ right? it's why he needed to make sure. why he, even after knowing like he knows everything else. his gut had told him yes, but he needed to double, to triple check. ]

[ There’s that. Of course there’s that. Before he was face to face with him again he’d jumped to the idea that he was lying on the phone, because that’s what he would do when faced with someone making an observation they shouldn’t be.

But now...

He can’t ask him. He can’t ask for the answer he needs when it's a question he knows he isn’t willing to answer himself. They need to work their way there. ]

So let’s start with an easier one. [ While his heart pounds away in his ears. A brother? He could be a brother. That would explain the discrepancy away, another Grayson on another world that just isn’t Dick.

A brother. He can't imagine a world where he has a brother. ]

What’s your favorite color?

[ though, all in all, it's not too much of a stretch to assume he was lying. thinking back on it, he probably should have. but a year of hanging around haven and realizing that in some universes, he's nothing more than a comic book character?

secret identities and facts related to them were a bit further down on his priority list.

but he's rolling through worlds. things people have told him. another robin could just be another person, who took his place in another timeline. it could be someone who is similar but not him, or- ]

Blue. Favorite food? [ will they even match? is it worth asking? he doesn't know, but he keeps going. ]

[ His mouth twitches once at blue. ] Okay, that's a match.

[ But still just coincidence, just conjecture. He hesitates on the next question, tapping his chin with one gloved finger. ]

...Man, that one's hard. I have to pick one? [ Is there just one answer for this Robin or is it a deliberate misdirect? ]

[ rob's caught for half a second on the mouth-twitch. does he usually give things away like that? wouldn't have batman caught onto it?

okay, no. issues for another time. he waits, and then the other robin shoots back his own question and his mouth twitches in a very similar fashion. so he caught on. ]

Okay, favorite Alfred meal. [ and oh, wow, he regrets bringing that up the moment it leaves his mouth. he flinches a little, but covers it up enough with a blink, waiting, and suddenly more homesick than he has been in months.

nevermind possibly breaking the secret identity rules. it's hanging in the air between them now. ]

[ The name catches Dick in the chest, surprise and no surprise and a sudden ache of homesickness all at once. He covers it with a quick breath out instead, because once this line is crossed on both sides they can’t ever take it back.

Of course it would be Alfred. ]

...Turkey sandwiches. [ Softly, almost guiltily. His eyes drop to the roof, cheeks flushing red. If it's a trap, he's walking in blindfolded. ]

Gotta be on rye bread.

[ and that's all the answer they really need, don't they? because he's look almost guilty and rob opens his mouth to add the bit about the rye when he says it himself and...

he deflates, watching the look pass over the other boys face. the silence that hands between them is heavy but somehow better than whatever there was before. ]

Did you want to ask another? [ he says, already convinced. ]

[ He's never once seen it when he looks in the mirror, that those are his mother's eyes. His father's cheekbones. Even hidden by the mask, he can see it now. He nods as if the answer comes easily. ]

...Just one. [ The hardest one. ] So where were you when-

[ -he stops again, stuck on the words. He can't think of a way to put it, a way that doesn't hurt, a way he'd want it put to him, if their positions were reversed. ]

...How did you meet him? [ He's already rushing ahead to quantify: ] I don't need details, just- [ enough. ]

[ rob's eyes go wide at first, feeling like he's punched in the gut the moment the question comes out. which, really, is an overreaction and he shouldn't be that upset about it. it happened, and it's a very good question.

he stands there in silence for a few moments following, just looking at him.

because it's not fair that it still hurts. it's not fair that he still, at times, feels like he's that kid standing at the bottom of the circus ring. it's not fair.

the other boy would know.

so rob takes a breath, blinks, tries to pull himself back into a semblance of someone who was not grappling with the memory. ]

That night. [ does he need to go into details? ] At Haley's circus. He was in the audience when- [ that's when he cuts himself off, watching to see if he has the same reaction. if it actually happened to him too. ]

[ Asking was a mistake. Dick flinches as if he'd been struck, hating himself for the pain on that face, for the way seeing it reflected in someone else can start the invisible feed of the memory in his head before he's even ready for it. The fall that lasted a lifetime. Their blood soaking through his leotard. His eyes sting behind his mask, and he drops his eyes again. ]

Yeah... [ His throat is tight. ] That's, um. [ The answer. The reason. With clumsy fingers he reaches up and tugs the mask off. The last piece he can offer. ]

[ it's almost worse, seeing it play out on the other's face, rather than feeling it himself. worse, because it is someone else feeling it. he doesn't want to focus on what it was like in the moment, but he also doesn't want to see the other boy struggle with it himself.

it's almost like he can't watch it, like he's seeing something private, but then he's reaching for his mask and rob's eyes go wide again.

oh. oh. it's...weird. whelming, in more ways than he thought possible. like looking into a mirror without realizing there's a mirror there - awkward, tense. his eyes stay wide for a moment, breath caught in his chest, but it's-

it's true.

another moment or two pass before rob feels his chest start to work again, his brain screaming don't be freaked out this happens here but his body unable to move. another moment, then another two, before he swallows. nods. okay

he hasn't taken his mask off since he got here. almost a year, and he's always managed to keep it on - even around his friends, even around wally - who knew his identity - and all the other's who knew through haven's weird info dumping. it had been his one real link back home, but in watching him pull off his mask, rob feels his stomach turn.

he reaches up, peeling the mask off from his eyes. dick had been the first one to offer it up, and now rob is matching him. ]

[ He sucks in a rough breath, quick and heavy before he means to. He'd been expecting, he'd be ready.

And yet...

He takes a step closer at last, closing in on the chasm of open space in between them. His eyes flick back to the roof for a moment; an instinctive desire to spare the other boy's dignity. Then his eyes are on him again. His fingers reach out for a moment and then stop before they touch the unfamiliar fabric of the sleeve. He blushes again and steps back. ]

...So this is weird.

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