synthneon | Bat-Family | ❝ i'm gonna make a change, for once my life. ❞

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Bat-Family | ❝ i'm gonna make a change, for once my life. ❞

[ Bruce honestly isn't sure why he's even joining in all this. It isn't that he doesn't want to spend time with them. It isn't the fact that he dislikes them. It's... so normal. And normal is something that always seems to elude Bruce Wayne. He pushed Dick away, he failed to save Jason, and Alfred is constantly disappointed in him. That was even before the situation with Superman and Lex Luthor...

What the hell are you doing, Bruce?

He sighs and gets out of the car. A click and covering the car later, he is walking up to his own front door. Maybe he should start rebuilding Wayne Manor if they're always going to be over?

Bruce also figures he'll be the one that ends up cooking for everyone. Which is why he's brought things that he needs to cook. Sides, since everyone has already decided on the steak. He hangs up the coat and walks straight to the kitchen.

Hopefully he's beat them all there. ]

{ Bat-Family Dinner Time! Tag one another }

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[ People might say that Bruce lets Alfred do too much. Well, now not is he only cooking sides but he is setting up the table. So, come bother him! ]

[ dick arrives with only two bags, driving the family heirloom he took from bruce when he left gotham for detroit three years ago. in the time since, the car has been through a lot, from being used as a getaway vehicle to being traded for a mini-van, until dick tracked it down and stole it back.

it’s the car that’s taken dick through the last three years, through leaving robin behind, starting titans up again, meeting jason, becoming nightwing, losing donna, losing jason. losing—himself, maybe.

it’s late morning when he pulls up to the driveway of the lakehouse. texting bruce hasn’t been easy, but after losing so much, he simply can’t bear to lose bruce. it’s probably saying something that he’s been closer in touch with wanda and jon than the bat himself. it never cases to amaze him how easy it is to shove aside deep years of history as he turned to the news and his adopted siblings for updates on bruce.

only two bags—one a duffle of clothing, the other his nightwing suit. besides those, he carries a wealth of baggage that’s impossible to sort through. perhaps bruce hadn’t wanted him there when things went down with superman, but dick could tell that underneath it all, underneath the exhaustion, the cold, the hard shell, bruce is trying. and so, he’ll try too.

he rings the intercom. ]

It’s me.

[ bruce looks up from the laptop of work he has at the small table. he glances at the clock in the corner of the screen. early. probably dick then. he always likes to be ahead of time and there before others to get things done. he sighs and stands up, moving to the front door to open it.

the security is more around the batcave underneath them than it is the lake house.

bruce exhales deeply before opening the door. he meets dick's gaze head on. shit... he's grown. ]

...Dick.

Yeah. [ if his voice is thicker with emotion, he hopes bruce will write it off to not having heard it for so long. bruce's face had long since been branded into his memory, from the look of approval to disprovl to pride and sadness. now, years later, bruce has creases where there didn't use to be any, settled with time and the weight of events. he has to look away and break the steadiness bruce meets his gaze with. ]

Hey.

[ bruce doesn't say anything. instead, he turns to walk in and let dick enter when he's ready. he rubs the back of his neck. was this really a good idea? alfred would say it is, but, he doesn't see dick is ecstatic to happen. ]

So, how goes everything at the Tower?

[ admittedly, it takes just a moment too long for him to actually step into the lake house. he's never been here before, didn't even know that bruce lived here until he'd received its coordinates on his phone. his gaze sweeps the interior, taking in how open, how modern, how glassy it is. his eyes dart to bruce before he enters and drops his bags in the foyer. a slow breath bleeds away the tension in his shoulders from such a long drive before he shrugs.

are they talking business already? ]

Fine. You know how it is. [ he assumes bruce knows, assumes bruce keeps tabs on him. he shoves his hands into his pockets, standing there awkwardly. it's been five years. ] Sorry about the--car. [ a tilt of his head out to where he's parked the minivan. ] I'll find something similar.

[ bruce takes a glance over out the glass pane where the cars are parked. a... mini-van. well, good to know what car he got in return of that purchase.

he sets the laptop to sleep mode and closes it shut. ]

You could of gotten a better mini-van with the car. [ he raises his eyebrows, trying to interject some humor into the situation. a bit more like he used to be when dick was younger. ] Cars like that have a serial number, Dick. You can find out where they've gone, who they were sold to.

[ a pause. ] And pin the man who was trying to sell it at a car show as a personal design for him...and buy it back for about the same price it was sold.

[ he shrugs and he'll let dick think that for a moment. ]

I know who the people in the Titans are, not necessarily how they are day-to-day. I'm not that much of a mother hen. [ he slides his hands into his pockets and looks around the lake house. this is... awkward. and, he has things he needs to talk to dick about. things that need to be told before they enjoy the family time, because, it involves dick's new family.

new family. ]

The kitchen is open for whatever you guys need it for tonight. Alfred has the night off.

[ there wasn’t much choice out in the middle of nowhere. the mini-van he got was the only thing they had available, but when bruce continues, his eyebrows raise and he lifts his gaze to look at him. he thinks about it for a moment.

and then thinks about whether there’s a possibility he might be able to have the car again. just like the first time? but it’s too early to ask. he’s not gonna ask for something within the first ten minutes of seeing bruce again.

instead, he lets bruce redirect the conversation. he just nods. ]

Okay, well. You’re invited. You know that, right? [ he trails a few steps behind bruce as they make their way further into the house. the bags get left at the door for now. ] You busy tonight? [ it takes him right back to those nights when he was younger and asking for bruce’s time, like the way bruce tries to lighten up the mood with a bit of his particular brand of humour. ]

( continuation for archive purposes )

[ come get down in the kitchen with chef wanda ]

So? What's the verdict? [ dick leans against the counter, arms folded in front of him, mouth tugged into a half-grin as he watches wanda pull the potatoes out from the paper bag they're in. ] I picked every single one of them.

( opening the bag, wanda scrutinizes the potatoes before giving them a nod of approval before taking them over to the sink to be washed. )

I was expecting them to be green. ( she teases. ) Roasted potatoes or mashed?

[ dick shrugs because really, wanda, do you think he'll actually have an opinion? a teasing smile tugs at his lips. ]

They didn't have any green ones. Need help?

( boys will eat just about anything, but she figured he might like over the other. so she goes with her favorite, roasted. she divides them in half and offers him some on a cutting board. )

Think you can cut them in half and in half again?

[ he can appreciate the thought. she's always been considerate towards what he wants, although they only see each other once in a while, ever since he left bruce five years ago. ]

Yeah. [ cutting things. in half then half again. ] You know my knife skills.

[ continued ]

[ Bruce stops in to see exactly what Wanda is up to -- rather to see if she needs help. He has a cup of coffee with him as he looks over the spread she has. Huh. ]

( so far she has the steak cooking on the grill to everyone's specifications. the potatoes are also cooking in the oven (yum roasted potatoes) and she is now working on the salad. she eyes the coffee in his hand. )

Have enough to share?

Alfred stocks this place up with plenty of things. I'm sure I have more than enough.

[ he nods over to the coffee pot. be his guest, wanda. ]

( c'mon bruce be a good batdad and make your daughter a cup of coffee.

sauntering over to the pot, she fishes out a mug to make herself some coffee. she doesn't mind it black as she sips on it. )

The Food Network mentions having a glass whenever you cook, so I'm giving it a try. ( she motions over towards an unopened bottle of wine and a glass next to it. ) But I like coffee better.

[ he doesn't want to get in the way of their dinner shenanigans!

he leans against the counter and crosses his arms. ]

Hm. The Food Network. [ so, people really do watch that. ]

[ ooc; continued here ]

//steak//

[ maybe giving alfie the night off had been a mistake. simply buying the groceries has been a journey of too many texts sent out to justify the variety of food he brings back. he only has steak, lettuce, potatoes, and three six-packs. it’s a lot to carry by volume but he’s pretty sure he’s spent an hour and a half doing much better things before.

he knocks on the front door of bruce’s lakehouse with his foot, hands full, looking in through the large planes of glass to get someone’s attention. ghost? if only you could open the door... ]

//steal//

Which way to the wine cellar? [ don’t tell him the only thing underneath this place is the bat-cave. although he knows absolutely nothing about what a normal family dinner looks like, (despite bruce telling him earlier that family barbeques consist of jello), he thinks wine is par for the course. right? ]

//stay//

[ tipsy is a kind of cozy dick can get on board with. it takes away the nerves of this family, foreign and heavy but the only one he's got. it's dark now. they didn't set bruce's house on fire (he wasn't worried--it's on a lake), but they did make a bonfire out on the shores of the beach. dick sits on a driftwood log dragged close and watches the warm flicker. ]

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Bat-Family | ❝ i'm gonna make a change, for once my life. ❞

Bruce catch-all

//earlier//

time for oh so much heart break

</3 BRING IT

WEEPS BITTERLY

/wipes your tears & retcons the porsche to minivan ;;

WEEPS MORE :< that was a GIFT, DICK.

soRRY BRUCE

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wanda ( catch-all )

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Dick Grayson