IC INBOX

[batricide]

@hafid.alghul| ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

Comments

[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.