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[Sitting at the well was a subconscious thing. Damian looks more gloomy than he has been lately, almost like he had looked when he initially arrived. Sour, coarse; now he also looks tired. But maybe he's just concentrating on what he's doing.

One leg is folded as he sits on the edge of the well; the other dangles along the side toward the ground, but doesn't swing. On the bent leg, he has the stitched, handmade journal open. The left page is filled with odds and ends, sketches of animals, people, buildings, and plants around Chroma.

The right is blank except for what he's only just started. The brief, simple lines and shading of something not yet revealed. He doesn't take his eyes off the page, doesn't look up at all. Whatever he's crafting, it can only be something from memory.]

What do you want?

[His voice sounds a little more gruff than usual, too.]

[Sometime after the first few days, Damian can be see thieving something from the garden. The accomplice and equally dead-beat dad is sitting nearby as watchout: Pennyworth the Cat, lazy and unbothered by the legality of the theft. He's probably grooming his tuxedo body when he isn't busy watching Damian be a menace to gourd society.

Damian's not exactly subtle about the stealing. For quite a bit of time, he's wandering around looking at the plots, a knife in hand, and then he finally decides on the right one. The best one. The perfect one.

PUMPKIN.

It's not the largest, but big enough it can be massacred for the sake of spooky. He tucks it under one arm and absconds with it. If someone is there catching him in the act, he really only pauses for half a second--

--before continuing right on like he's not doing anything at all.]

Wildcard me here! Damian can be found around town through the month, especially over near Flavo. People might be able to see him moving things from the boathouse to Bruce's cottage there. If not there, he's cleaning up the church here and there, or you can post to his inbox here to get in touch with him!

You can also ping me at

moetan if you need me!

Edited 2018-10-03 00:48 (UTC)

[ 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. ]

[ She hasn't really been here long enough to recognize that act as thieving, really. She's more curious about why he has a pumpkin to begin with. Kohaku starts to follow him, jogging a little to catch up and match his pace. ]

What are you going to do with that?

[ Rest assured, Damian, she's not here to bust your chops for stealing. She's just curious. ]

[ she doesn't come by the well to see damian, so much as she's just checking the location ahead of a very unfortunate adventure. content to leave him be as she peers down, but still his mood does not escape her notice. of course the opposite is true too and he catches her looking to him, to which she sheepishly smiles. ]

Forgive me, I don't mean to pry - [ but ] - is everything alright?

[ he's always been a rather mellow or distant boy, but it feels more off today. ]

[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?" ]

[Technically, at best, it's borrowing since it's a community garden he helps tend to occasionally; however, he definitely could have let Dave know? smh]

Carve it. It's a tradition.

[He pauses long enough to peer at her. Pennyworth at least gives her a sweet meow of greeting. He's much better company than Damian could ever be really.]

There's no calendar yet, but looking at the position of the moon and the stars, the weather changes, and counting the hours of the day and night, it should be just passed the fall equinox.

[Wow, it's so hard to be mopey when two of the purest girls are the ones who come check on you. Thanks, he hates it.

Luckily, he may be a little snot, but he's a little snot with some manners, and he glances up after a moment at the sound of Zelda's voice. He doesn't answer right away, almost like he's trying to find the words he wants.]

I guess.

[He doesn't want to worry them. Being upset, he acknowledges, but moving on is his goal. Compartmentalize. Keep going.]

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.

[Well, thanks to Clark's message to the town at large, Minato's pretty aware that Bruce is gone now (it's sad, but...).

There must be one person taking this even harder, right?

(Someone who deserves happiness, and yet constantly...)

Minato settles next to Damian after he finds him, hands tucked into his pockets as he sits there.]

... Do you mind the company?

[ 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. ]

[The scratching of the charcoal continues. It's not too fast. Slow, precise strokes. An outline. He doesn't lift his head still even now, but he can tell from the corner of his eye it's Minato before the boy talks.]

No. [He's a Wayne. If he had really been looking for solitude, he would definitely not have put himself in the middle of town.] What are you doing out here? [It sounds like he's trying to make conversation, even if his voice is a tad bitter.]

Hm... Looking for you.

[Well!

At least he's honest, though he keeps his gaze mostly focused on the town around them, and not Damian and what he's drawing.]

[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.]

[Surprisingly, Damian appreciates Minato's honesty. Amazing. His priorities are all fucked up.]

You read Kent's post. [It isn't a question.] I don't want your pity. He went back home. [There is the strangest lack of doubt in these words.] Gotham is where he belongs.

[ 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.

[ As Pennyworth greets her, she kneels down and holds a hand out toward him. Hello, kitty! Damian continues walking pretty quickly, so she gets up to follow him so that she can keep talking.

She is pretty interested in this tradition he speaks of. ]

That sounds interesting. What do you carve into the pumpkin?

[ 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?" ]

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i. hawthorne_heights_silver_bullet.mp3

ii. relient_k_more_than_useless.mp3

iii. wildcard

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cal: i cant get through my tags bc you keep replying too fast, anna

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