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[batricide]

@hafid.alghul| ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[batricide]

[ he shoots her an annoyed look. One that's all Bruce and more. He sits down, thumbing through the menu. ]

What do you want.

[quipper]

[ she doesn't care about the network debacle beyond its potential negative ramifications for the boys and kara and jason's position in the bat hierarchy, so this isn't about that.

stephanie brown wants to know where she stands with these multiversal brothers. ]

[ unruffled. ] J mentioned that he shared intel on an old alias of mine. And I guessed that you have a few nicknames yourself.

[ Damian, Robin, Nightwing. ]

Figured we should talk that through 'cause I don't really do coy.

[batricide]

Kara already informed me you know my identity.

[ He waves the waitress down to order a coffee. Black. ]

[quipper]

[ not a surprise. supers aren't known for secret-keeping. ]

Yeah. [ a helpless fondness sneaks into the curve of her mouth, and she tries to hide it behind her drink. ] We teamed up a few times back in my universe. You grew on me, so — hard to miss those quirks.

[ hard not to think about the boy in the bounce house, smiling like she never saw before, or the kid who didn't know how to play with nell, even for a mission. tt and all. ]

What do you want me to call you?

[batricide]

It doesn't matter. They're both my name. If you must, Damian is fine in person. Hafid on all publicly viable channels.

[ He takes the coffee in hand, taking a sip. Because it helps him mull over how to actually say this. ]

I don't know who you are. [ he sets the cup down. ] Not beyond what Jason has told me about you.

[quipper]

[ a nod of ackowledgment. he hadn't recognised her, so she assumed as much. ]

That's the way the universes shake out, I guess.

[ she sighs, unsettled by a universe without her (though she knows that's irrational, when there are infinite parallel worlds out here; crystal must have avoided arthur "piece of shit" brown in one of them). ]

I'm still Steph. No longer spoiling crimes, though. Used to date Tim, which I'm sure came up. [ ugh, boys. she cradles her glass, considering how much to share. ] I don't think Jason knows this, and I'd rather tell him myself, so, just, give me time for that — I tried my hand at your original gig for a while. Didn't make it out the other side.

[ it's oblique 'cause it's still painful, in some ways. nearly killing and dying and hurting gotham in some horrible, long-term way. ]

I play for team BG now. Babs and I work together.

[batricide]

My father does tend to go through robins rather quickly.

[ He's not disparaging her, surprisingly. This also isn't coffee. It's caffeinated but it's sure as hell not coffee. How could he forget. ]

[quipper]

[ oh, the woes of the coffee-less future.

the lack of snide comments surprises her. is this maturity? ]

Yeah. Think I broke the record for shortest term. [ a thoughtful hum. ] You guys aren't on good terms, right?

[batricide]

No. We're not.

[ Just a different kind of pettiness, don't worry. ]

[quipper]

Got it.

[ same as Jason. how much overidentifying must be occurring in that pair, huh. ]

We're doing okay, B and I, but I'm not a nark. [ measured. ] There'll be no interfering from me, if he shows up.

[ she waves the waitress over to order up waffles. no syrup, with sugar hard to come by, so she opts for fruit. keeps a growing vigilante strong and all. ]

[batricide]

[ god the future sucks for food so hard. damian opts to wait. ]

I imagine there will only be a problem if my universe's shows up. Yours sounds like a kitten.

[quipper]

Comparatively.

[ kara and jason gave her an idea of the gap between waynes. she presses a finger to her mouth, pensive. ] But if there are infinite, parallel universes, there are infinite B's, too. Who knows what we'll get, if we get anything. [ a shrug of her shoulders. ]

Better we all know where we stand first.

[batricide]

[ his lips tug down into a sharp frown. If there's one thing he knows all too well, it's that Batman is unkillable concept who has no qualms with fucking around with the order in other worlds. ]

Jason said you're trustworthy. Your terrible taste in romantic partners aside.

[quipper]

[ oh. she tries not to let that move her (and fails). stop being nice, jason todd!! ]

Tim has his moments. [ good and bad. a gentle defense of her wonder boy. ] But I am that. Trustworthy, I mean. Seems like you are, too. [ on that note — ] I need my name kept out of everything. My mom's out there in the multiverse somewhere, y'know.

[ and she can't become a target. ]

[batricide]

That's doable.

[ Mmm. Let's try some of the terrible sugarless pancakes. ]

I don't maintain a secret identity in my world so I have no such need. [ Except, you know, if the fucking Green Lanterns or reformed Justice League come looking - but he has his doubts that they're going to find him here. And even if they did, well.

The playing field is a little more even now. ] Is there an alias you'd prefer?

[quipper]

Steph between us. [ a gesture between them, for emphasis. team gotham. ] On the job? BG until I find a way to go incognito and get back to bat.

[ her features soften. ]

Thanks, Damian.

[ for respecting her request. ]

[batricide]

[ There's clear distaste in his expression at the mention of the code name, but he won't kick up a fuss. Instead he just orders pancakes. ]

We'll have to plan a training regiment and patrols.

[quipper]

[ RECORD SCRATCH her mouth forms a small o. ]

Is this a team thing?

[ um ]

[batricide]

[ Why are you all so allergic to cooperation. ]

No. This is me ensuring you don't get killed and we're able to maximize our impact on the city. I don't care if you want to team up, I don't want to deal with you stumbling on to any of my routes and making a mess.