awashlogs | (no subject)

[ Kisa is nowhere near confident enough yet to come running up to anyone with any semblance of joy and excitement, especially when she's not entirely sure they'll welcome her doing so. And Damian's been kind to her, she knows, but as soon as she catches a glimpse of him on yet another round (to familiarize herself with this town), Kisa pauses.

There's something wrong. And as she stands there, trying to puzzle out what's wrong and very politely not looking at what he's working on, he speaks up and she barely suppresses a flinch.

But since he's not looking up, even if she answered, he wouldn't know. So she doesn't open her mouth just yet. ]

[After a bit, he finally lifts his head and glances over at whoever has decided to come stand near his personal space without saying anything. His face isn't angry, but his brows are drawn together, and he looks so serious... up until he realizes it's Kisa.

He doesn't soften completely. At first, he looks surprised, and then perhaps a bit awkward, as if he had not expected her.]

What is it?

[ Well. He's not glaring at her, and he's not acting terribly snappy, which is enough reassurance for Kisa to not just quickly excuse herself and leave Damian to his business.

Even though she definitely feels the urge to fidget under the weight of that stare.

"You looked alone."

Which is probably a very obvious statement, since. He was definitely by himself.

But that's not what she means. ]

[His mouth opens, and then his mouth quickly closes. He looks away, then down at the notebook for a long moment. Thoughtful, deciding.] I am alone. [The sarcasm of it dies before the words leave his mouth, and it ends up sounding sadder than he intended.

He meant, Obviously, but it came out more like, There's no one here for me, even if this isn't true. He glances up at her again.]

Are you just going to stand there the whole time?

[ Oh.

Kisa shuffles uncertainly, because-- how does she take that? Is he asking her to leave? Is he legitimately asking if she's planning on standing there? Does he want her to sit down? He'd seemed gruff, but his initial response had been... pensive. Sad. It makes her heart hurt.

Damian's more direct than she is, but she can't keep making him supply her with easy options to fall back on. Then...

"Do you want me to leave?" ]

Does it matter? [The usual acidity he's capable of dishing out is hard to cap before it spills out all over people who don't deserve it. Being this way with his father, with Grayson and the others, with Jon even, is different. They know him. They get it. They are aware how to navigate the minefield of his mood.

But Kisa and the rest aren't.] Why don't you make a choice for yourself for once? If you're being nice for the sake of being nice, then it isn't necessary, and you can leave.

If you actually care, then it doesn't matter what I say, you'll stay anyway. [A sudden, very faint sigh comes out of him. What's worse than being an ass is being a self-aware ass.

His voice is a bit softer?] Don't look at me like that.

[ That... admittedly hurts, and Kisa is in no way good at hiding that much on her face. Being nice for the sake of being nice... she can't do that. She's never been able to do that. She runs from things that hurt her or make her sad. She shuts down. She endures it. But when it's too much, she bites back.

But no matter how hard she tries in this moment, she can't force the words out. The best she can do is a small, thin sound as though she's attempting to speak-- but ultimately it doesn't leave her mouth.

Why don't you make a choice for yourself for once?

Why didn't you tell me you were being teased?

Why did you run away?

Come on, Kisa. Can't you even say what you want for dinner?

I'm tired... of this...

It hurts. It definitely hurts. And it's her fault, she knows, and Damian shouldn't have to try to be nice to her (being nice for the sake of being nice, perhaps), but if he's telling her to choose--

Well. Of course she's tearing up rather pitifully, because she still doesn't know what choice will lead to someone hating her or not, but she carefully shakes her head.

And moves to join him, mouth set in a stubborn line. Despite the tears.

He's not crying, but he's sad too. She can tell that much. ]

[Geez. A sure-fire way to make Damian Wayne feel like shit is definitely girl tears. He lowers the sliver of wrapped charcoal and watches her suck it up and come over to the well.

Okay, he'll give her that much.]

What are you doing out here?

[He's not telling her to get away. He folds the notebook together over the charcoal and turns around to hang both legs off the edge, giving up more room on the side if she isn't afraid to burst into flames sitting beside him.]

[ Maybe she's got a little trepidation about infringing on his personal space, but. She's here now, so after a short pause, she perches herself on the edge of the well beside him.

"Walking."

She's going to get so used to this place, dammit. ]

Walking.

[After a few moments, he leans to the side just a bit and digs into the pocket of his tunic. The piece of folded square cloth he pulls out is given over to her. Don't make him loOK AT TEARS.]

There's map on the board over there if you need it. If you can find your way to the middle, you can find most places in town from here.

Edited (a word) 2018-10-03 18:08 (UTC)

[ There's a pause as Kisa accepts the cloth and diligently works at mopping herself up. Okay. She'll clean this.

But that's good to know.

Another pause.

"What were you drawing?" ]

[His eyes move from watching her to dropping down to the notebook in his lap. His fingers brush the cover, switched cloth that has been stuffed by a flat piece of wood to give it structure.

He can't remember if the decision to draw it had been his own or simply something his soul made him do. Curling his fingers along the edge, he opens it back up to the place he left off, bookmarked by the charcoal. He doesn't hold it out to her face to see, but he doesn't try to conceal the pages.

The left side has Pennyworth, a loaf with feet tucked; a small insert of a floor plan for something; some of the flora of the town; a diagram study of one of the fire-breathing geese.

The right side is the shading of an oval resting on the slope of two hills to each side. It's only just been started by how sparse it is so far.]

My father.

[ Oh. She recognizes Pennyworth. She thinks she's even seen some of that plant life. But when he continues, Kisa looks first at the page, then up at Damian.

His father. He seemed upset, terse, lonely-- not quite the way she'd reacted when she'd realized that she was completely without anyone she knew, but it slowly begins to click so that she can tentatively phrase her next question.

"Did something happen?" ]

[There's a surprising lack of hesitation with his answer.] He returned home. [But... his face pinches gently. It isn't sadness, not exactly. It's... uncertainty, it's confusion, it's frustration.

Without him. Without him. Bruce went back home and left him here. Why? What reason did the town have for tossing Bruce back across the universe while he remained? He doesn't understand.

He refuses to believe Bruce went anywhere else but Gotham. Was it because the city needed Batman?]

[ ... Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. She can understand frustration. Confusion. Uncertainty. Especially when it relates to being without your family.

So she could say sorry, because she is, but she doesn't think Damian would want to hear ("hear") that from her.

Her sigh is silent, as her shoulders slump.

"Maybe you'll be next." ]

Maybe. [He won't pretend as if the idea is a terrible one. Before, going back home hadn't been such a big issue. Being here with his father... that was home to him. Where he belonged, in a sense.

But now... he's torn. Going home is beginning to become more of a priority than it had been initially. He won't deny it. But his eyes shift to the side toward Kisa.] The town decides, as annoying as that is.

But I can't go home just yet. I can't go home until Kyle goes and until the Kents go, too. They have to go first, and then I'll go.

[He knows he has no choice, and yet... this is how he is going to demand it be.]

[ Is... that how it works? She's not really sure, but he seems so convinced that Kisa really has no reason not to believe him.

She does sit there for a few minutes longer, gazing down at her hands, as though she's entirely lost in her own thoughts. Then--

"Then I won't go home until you go home." ]

[...???

It's almost hilarious to see the confused expression visibly on Damian's face. It's not pronounced, but it's there. He doesn't understand.] Why...?

Don't be stupid. You need to go home as soon as possible. We don't know what time is like between here and there. Maybe no time has passed at all. Maybe a lot has.

People would worry.

[ "If everyone goes home before you do, you'll be lonely."

Simply that. She's not going to argue that time probably isn't passing. Maybe it is. And it's not as though Kisa doesn't want to go home, to her family, to Tohru. Every day she misses them.

But there are people here who have been here even longer than she has, who have families too. So again, there's that silently stubborn slant to her expression.

(Although they're both dumb kids who don't get an actual say in this anyway.) ]

[She... isn't wrong? If everyone went home, he would be lonely, much more lonely than with just his father missing. He'd push through it and be fine, in the end. He's a resilient boy.

But he would be lonely.

Swallowing the knot in his throat, he looks away. It's so frustrating for him to have people he barely knows care about him, to be this kind for no reason. No ulterior motives. How do people...?

How are others not so jaded they can see the best in everyone?] What matters if they get to go home. You included. I'll go later. Don't argue with me. [But the last few words don't sound angry or even very commanding. They sound how a parent would tell a child for the sake of it.]

You're going home first.

[ Yeah, no.

He can frown at her all he wants, but Kisa is merely going to shake her head. Damian has more to miss, staying here. She was lonely from the start. ]

[Wow. Damian and Kisa are about to fucking throw down because they are both stubborn as fuck!!]

Don't shake your head. [It's good, though? The resistance is good. Damian doesn't get much resistance because he's so headstrong and confident, and Kisa's refusal nudges him off course.

Now he's unsure? He doesn't know what the hell to do or say, so he just stares at her for a few minutes again.] Listen, girl, if you don't go home before Kyle or the Kents, you're going home after, and I'm going to make sure of it. [DON'T CHALLENGE HIM.]

I don't care how many good people are left here, people are waiting on you back home, so you're going if I have to throw you back into the well myself.

[Huh. At least he's not sad anymore for right now!!]

[ Congratulations, Damian. Kisa is normally the one who's willing to go along with pretty much anything. But she is also someone who deeply cherishes the people who have been kind to her, and even if Said Person is an angry little string bean, she cares enough to have already decided that he deserves to go home and be reunited with his dad first.

Though when he threatens to pitch her into the well, she's instantly reaching out and getting a firm grip on his arm because that is not a thought she enjoys. But also she's staring at him firmly.

People will be waiting for him back home too!! ]

[Fortunately, he would never throw anyone like Kisa down the well, so all he can do is quietly sigh at himself for even making the threat when she grabs his arm. He doesn't try to nudge it off.]

I never said I wasn't going home, or I wouldn't be trying. Gotham is my destination. Father went back because Gotham needs him, and I'm going back because-- [He has to bite down on the words; thinking about them stirs something in his chest, and he hates the burn it tries to cause behind his eyes, in his throat.] --because it's my home.

But I'll be damned if I go back before my-- [Another pause. Geez, talking about sappy stuff sure is hard.] --my friends go back first.

[ ... Ah.

She doesn't think that's a word she's heard from him yet. He said she could come to him if something was bothering her. He'd told her she deserved to be her own person and that no one should be able to take that away from her. He'd told her a lot of things that friends would probably say, and she certainly viewed him as one, and she's sure these "Kents" he mentioned are friends that he'd want to send home first but...

She's still a little wide-eyed when she points to herself. She's a friend? ]