cohero | (Reply)

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[This time it's Dick that watches Bruce. It's one of the more difficult times to reconcile the two men he knows. The wealth of wisdom and experience really isn't there. The feeling of having just more on so many accounts haunts the bird behind the bat whose shadow looms so big over Gotham. In Dick's life, his mentor and the only father-figure he's ever had took out his every shred of anger on The Joker and broke every rule he ever made when he finally killed that laughing figure. The one that took so much from him, and then in a fit of despair, that same mentor tried to take his own life.

What would Bruce say if he could see into Dick's head, his life, his wild experiences. They were enough. Somehow through it all, Dick grew. He grew to be the man that his mentor had always pushed him to be. There was far less vengeance floating around after the person who killed Dick's parents finally did die, but it was his mentor that taught him not to harbor that kind of vitriol in his heart, that it would eat Dick alive.

How can Dick of all people communicate that simple fact to Bruce now. He can see that same fire, that same brutal force in the subtle dip and set of his shoulders, and he knows where it comes from-- Dick's been there, been through it all. He finds himself lost in thought when Bruce returns from his own reverie.

In fact, It all but startles him to see Bruce move toward him to sit.

Pushing back against the cushion, Dick dumps back the rest of the drink with a little less care than the first one and pours himself another.]

Yes, well, messing things up is something I'm well versed in and have been wildly successful at. I'm attempting this new thing now. I'm trying to start new, I'm trying to be open ... I'm not great at it yet, but I'm working toward a goal. I want to really talk to people and not shut them out, not only talk, but listen as well. Then maybe the next person I find myself in love with won't run screaming. Then again, who knows.

[There's a soft lift to his shoulders, where fabric touches fabric and they brush up against Bruce's. Dick notices the motion merely because it's rare that they actually touch. Being this close is different for him-- not with people, but with Bruce. It's been a moment, and in recognizing that, he allows himself the opportunity to really look, to taken in the other male's countenance, finding things Dick had never noticed before and wondering silently if he should speak of them.]