exsiliumlogs | (no subject) (part 2)

[ Oh. Oh, wow. If she thought seeing Jason Todd was amazing, then she's about to have a heart attack.

And look at him! Oh, man, those colors, somehow they seem even brighter on the original. The first Robin. Oh, man. He's perfect, like he was born to it. She bites her lip around the smile, huddled in a tight knot on the edge of the roof above. She'd heard the struggle, and showed up just in time to see the latter half of it. Just in time to about fall off the roof in shock.

There's a quiet whisper from her rooftop perch, spoken almost unconsciously, and around fingers tented against her lips: ] We're gonna need codenames for our codenames.

[ He's a little oblivious when he shoots his line out and then swings up towards the roof Carrie's perched on, arching his back and turning an almost quadruple somersault before he finds a quick landing nearby, hands first. He's a few inches off, but who'll ever know without Batman to point it out?

Three in a couple of hours isn't too bad. Not bad at all, considering how slow this town is compared to Gotham. ]

[ Look at that somersault! Oh, man, no wonder Batman's always going heavy on the acrobatics, if this was who set the bar. Any of course she's seen footage, but as it turns out it's a whole lot different in person.

She leans forward, just out of the little puddle of shadow she'd been crouched in, and hisses a low attention-getter, quickly followed by: ] Robin!

[ Maybe a poor way to go about this? But she's too excited to think up anything else. ]

[ It's startling enough that he slips on the next landing, then catches himself one-handed on the window ledge just in time to recover. Wow, embarrassing.

Cheeks burning, he tucks the line away and pulls himself back to the roof, eyes already scanning for the source of that voice. Somebody who knows Robin. Knows Robin and apparently knew enough to find him here. His heart's thudding away when his eyes land on... oh. It's... is that a girl? Wearing- ]

Oh. [ His expression changes a little, falling into something just short of a frown. ]

So you're the one they told me about.

[ Oh, wow, that look, right through the heart. But come on, what else is he going to do? This has to be completely bizarre — it was for Jason, after all. And Jason at least knew that he'd replaced someone already.

So she doesn't let herself falter, and the smile stays firmly in place. ]

Figure probably there's a pretty good chance, depending on who "they" is. [ She shifts awkwardly in her perch. Should she come nearer? It's a little weird to have a conversation half-shouted across a rooftop, maybe... ] So, uh... hi.

...Hey. [ He... hesitates for a few more seconds, then decides to drop the standoff and take a few cautious steps closer. There are limits to how much unsatisfied curiosity he can stand to weather in one night. ]

A girl said she knew a girl Robin.

Figure that probably is me, then.

[ A little embarrassed there, like it's a confession. (The Girl Robin, is that really what her subtitle is going to be?) She watches with her cautious excitement, and wishes there were something in the handbook about meeting up with time-altered previous incarnations. ]

Just, uh... so you know? I figure like meeting you is pretty much — [ don't make it hyperslang, Carrie, he's from the 90s or something, he won't get that ] ...S'an honor, I mean.

It... um. It is? [ An honor. Meeting Robin. It freezes him up for a second, along with all those carefully prepped words he'd had all ready. ]

I- um. Well, I figured we'd meet up sometime. It's why I didn't say anything before.

[ It's easier to admit to than the truth, at least. ]

Yeah. S'okay.

[ She rubs a cheek under the edge of her shades awkwardly. This is weirder than when she met Jason. Because both of them are in the uniform this time, maybe? Well, either way... ]

It's, uh... [ Insert a nervous little laugh. She's a little older than him, she's pretty sure, but she still feels like the little kid looking up. ] ...You know. Timeline stuff. I'm way down the line from you-- from the first Robin.

That's what they said. [ It's a little uncertain, the way it comes out. Timeline stuff, yet again. Already it's a fact of life in this place he's not sure he wants to settle with. Not sure he can settle with, now that the evidence is right here in front of him, real and breathing. ] I just had trouble believing it at first. 'Cause of- [ Well, because of Batman. But that's another promise he can't bring himself to break. Not yet, anyway. Not without- ]

...I gotta ask you something. But you can't tell anybody I asked you whether you know the answer or not.

[ Because when you're Robin, it feels like you're going to be Robin forever? She's pretty familiar with that feeling. No sign of that though, she only nods with wide eyes. ]

Sure, shoot.

[ He huffs a short breath out, scrubbing a gloved hand up through his bangs. He can't back down. Not now. ]

His name. [ He tries to hold his gaze to those green shades. ]

I have to know. If-

If you know what it is.

[ Her own gaze is steady through the shades, even if they're made even darker in the shadow of evening. She gets it, and it's strange to think how much she gets it. To realize how much she's got in common with the other kids in the bright yellow capes.

She can't just say yes, or even say his name, that's not enough. ]

He told me it right after he got done thinking I was you. [ A tiny smile, apologetic. ] Head wounds, y'know.

Just like that, huh?

[ Which... is really all he can say about that. Just like that, without the weeks of waiting and wondering and watching that shadow without a name disappear again and again.

He ducks his head down and tries to get his thoughts straight. ]

What about the oath?

[ Was that the wrong answer? Her face falls, but — no, that's silly, don't let him see that. Even if he is younger and she can't tell if... she's supposed to set an example, or the other way around, or what.

...Until the second part. That just gets a blink, and she scours her memory. Oath? What oath? Was there anything about that in the old files? Not that she can remember... ]

Uh... what about it?

Nothing. I just- [ How to say it in words that make sense. ]

I wanted to hear you say it. [ Batman would think he was wasting time. Giving the words more power than the meaning they symbolize. But it’s out and hanging there like one of the untouchable trophies in the batcave before he can think to stop it. ]

To fight against crime and corruption and never swerve from the path of justice.

[ What in the world is that? Nothing she's ever heard before. She shakes her head slowly, feeling absurdly guilty for not knowing it. Maybe... maybe it's a slogan he dropped? Or, maybe you have to be Robin for a minimum number of years before you learn it. Huh. ]

That's, uh... nothing I ever heard before. [ god she hopes it doesn't sound like she's accusing him of making it up. ]

...You- you haven't? [ It blindsides him - takes the wind right out of that tight knot of emotion still lodged in his throat. Robin without the oath. The oath without Robin. ]

You didn't have to promise him anything?

[ She shakes ehr head solemnly, eyes a little wide. ]

He's not really... a talker. 'N doesn't ask for much talking back.

[ She's pretty sure the gist of the oath had been understood between them, though. ]

Well, no, but... [ But what. ]

But you have to know how to be Robin somehow.

Well... you do what he says. 'Cept for when he says something stupid.

[ wait omg did she just say that in front of the First Robin, Batman is probably never stupid to him — not that he's stupid to her, not ever! — just — bad phrasing —

She looks a little pale. ]

—I mean — you know. Sometimes I got a better idea. You know what I mean, right?

[ It shouldn't have made him smile, not hearing that, not now. But the quirk to his expression is there before he can duck his head fast enough to hide it. ]

No. I-

-Yeah. Okay. I kinda know what you mean.

[ And there's another space there that needs filling in. He drops his eyes again and forces out a small breath. ]

...The costume isn't too bad.

(no subject) (part 2)

B!

flies to!!

<333

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