theknightshift | inbox (etraya)

( bruce shifts his weight, and the lack of him stumbling is as good of a sign as any that damian isn't knocking him off balance. it's alright. there are multiple ways to hinder someone regardless of if his first tactic failed, so damian moves on to the second.

one arm wraps around bruce's shoulder, fingertips gripping onto the batsuit to support his weight while legs wrap around the man's waist, holding himself upright while he reaches for a small blade with his spare hand - not to use it against bruce, but simply so he can attempt to press it to the curve of the man's jawline where the cowl doesn't quite protect skin. )

Yet I am still significantly faster than you.

( mostly because he isn't carrying around a heavy suit of armor nor is he two hundred pounds of pure muscle, so he does have that going for him. )

Edited 2025-07-20 19:39 (UTC)

[ It's true. It's so damn true and Bruce wonders would Sam Kristof still be alive if it had been Damian chasing him in that tunnel instead of Bruce. He would have reached him. He would have stopped whoever it was that had gotten to Sam first.

It's not a thought he lets linger too long. Not when he has a gremlin climbing on his shoulders.

He lets Damian press the knife against his jaw. Lets him think he's gained the upper hand, until Bruce reaches for Damian's wrist, and yanks him forward, aiming to drag him clean over his shoulder. ]

( it's play fighting, not anything serious. bruce drags damian over his shoulder, and damian gives an oof as he lets himself go slack. it's less trust, and more - he knows how to land without causing too much injury to himself when it comes down to it. if bruce opts to throw him to the ground, damian isn't going to end up with anything too hurt. if he's opting to throw him forward and catch him in the same breath - he has a slack damian to wrangle however he pleases. )

[ he doesn't wrangle Damian so much as he gets him into position to be dropped safely to the ground. ]

Did you get that out of your system?

( a truly wise decision, given how without bruce trying to wrangle him, damian is at a loss for excuses to further attack his father. he drops down onto his feet easily enough, and - contemplates twisting around to try throwing bruce to the floor once more, but he isn't dick grayson, and damian has get to discern where his limitations lie when it comes to playfighting with him. )

No. But I will allow you continue on your way, for now.

( while damian instead drops his hands to the ground behind him and does a backwards cartwheel in the direction bruce had been going. he's feeling slightly less out of place, now. and batman benefits by gaining a shadow. )

[ The thing is, drop Robins only work when the victim is unsuspecting. And Bruce? Paranoid enough to think someone's always about to fall out of the sky and land on his back. That the culprit this time is Damian doesn't change that. He knows his kid well enough to expect a second strike. Or third. Or an ambush.

It doesn't matter. It wouldn't work. Bruce never drops his guard. ]

Allow me? How very generous.

Edited 2025-07-25 04:37 (UTC)

( he considers, briefly, if he should make an attempt at stopping his father from continuing on his way. less out of a desire to do so and more out of a need to prove the snarky how very generous comment to be correct: damian is well-trained, he should at minimum be able to delay the man in front of him, if not prove himself to be a worthy adversary. he has spent his entire life proving himself, fighting at every turn, to continue to be a son talia al ghul could be proud of.

but as quickly as the thought occurs to him, he dismisses it. fighting at every turn just to show he is worth another's attention has not proved to be effective within the wayne household, and he's learning to work around years of league training. even if he feels as if some of his efforts have proven to be futile.

instead, damian rights himself. stays facing bruce as one corner of his mouth twitches up into a little half-grin. it's not quite as confident as damian would prefer it to be, but - he's trying. )

I am significantly more agile. Give it a few years, and I am certain I could overtake you.

[ He can't help but give the kid a look. The Sangraal had done more than fix the knee. Fixed more than that. Faster reflexes. Sharper focus. He moved faster. Thought faster. Like he'd de-aged 5 years in 11 hours. He's agile, could move like a younger man again. But all of this required more treatments and he doubted Etraya would be generous enough to slip him a few vials of the stuff to keep the edge.

So Damian isn't wrong. He just didn't need a few years. He needed a bit more confidence. That little smile of his almost pulls one out of Bruce. Almost. ]

Try right now.

[ He points in the distance, across Nova City's skyline toward Big Belly Burger. ]

I've set up another safe house over there. Beat me to it.

[ It'd give them a chance to get to know one another again. And for Bruce to test the limits of this Sangraal now that he's been cut off from it. ]

( the smile fades into confusion when bruce tells him to try it now because he knows his own capabilities well, just as he's well-aware he's nowhere near capable of hindering grayson, let alone his father. but a challenge has been issued, and damian knows better than to turn it down. there's a jerk of his head that's meant to be a nod of sorts, and damian turns to look in the direction bruce pointed. )

Alright.

( confirmation more than anything else, because the challenge has been issued and damian's taking off at a quick pace in the direction of big belly burger. he's not quite certain which safehouse his father is referring to, but he has time to figure it out - and if it comes down it, it's not as if he can't wait for bruce to direct him toward it before shoving the man over to beat him to it. )

[ Damian not knowing where the safehouse is exactly is the only advantage Bruce will allow himself. It's a lesson in deduction. And in learning how his father thinks. He's a smart kid. Bruce has no doubt Damian will piece it together without much trouble.

There's no signal, no warning that the race is starting. Bruce just moves - a sprint and running leap off the building. He fires his grappling line with a snap toward the next rooftop, momentum carrying him forward without stopping. He lands hard, tucking into a roll, and comes up already running toward the edge. Another leap. Another line. Another rooftop.

Keep up, Damian. ]

( keeping up isn't an issue.

damian is small and fast, capable of flight in a way only a robin has ever been. bruce's footsteps fall hard when he lands, but damian is near-silent as he flits across the skyline. he's grown accustomed to following batman, and it shows in the way he takes advantage of bruce blazing his own trail forward: bruce swings to one rooftop to another, and damian leaps mere moments after him, fingers gripping onto the edge of bruce's cape just long enough to use his momentum to swing damian forward. he doesn't land on the roof, choosing to instead drop just before the edge so he can fire his own grapple to hit the edge of the building and - reels in the line whilst still holding onto it. the momentum wouldn't be enough for anyone larger, but he's light, agile, and it's enough to fling him toward the edge of the building. damian rolls with it, grinning wide because he's never felt more free than when he's flying.

it's obvious from the way he moves that damian may be new to being robin, but he's been picking up a significant amount from richard. the league taught efficiency, taught him not to waste energy, to make every movement count and damian - he's showing off even if it's nowhere near the extent one may have expected from the first robin. and even then, this isn't - the blend of robin and al ghul that damian learns to utilize, it's leaning significantly more heavily into richard's teachings than damian would have without his father watching.

he's trying a little too hard to impress, maybe. but he's still fast about it - it's not long at all before he's several yards ahead of bruce, eyes searching across empty buildings and facilities for what looks like an ideal place for a safe house. )

[ Using Bruce's momentum to his own advantage. Smart. Exactly the kind of ingenuity he's come to expect out of Damian. Find the advantage, take it, use it to put yourself in the better position. Bruce, however still had the upper hand, even as Damian sails past him with ease. The bright colors make him easy to track, and he shadows his son's path across the city. Falling and grappling and swinging between buildings with practiced precision.

His body still moves like he's aged ten years in reverse and when he lands on that injured knee it doesn't twinge at all. He could take that running leap without hesitation. But as he's falling, the thought returns - a flicker of unease about the treatment that's made it possible. A suspicion that digs a little deeper each night. He has no way of examining this closer. No Clark to confide in. No Alfred to ask those probing questions where Bruce might refuse to. He's alone in this, well and truly.

Damian is searching and Bruce already knows where to go. Bruce makes sure he's seen before melting into the shadows between the buildings.

The safehouse is tucked away on the topmost floor of a squat building between Big Belly Burger and the Daily Planet. If Damian's paying attention, he might catch the dark blur slip through a window - the wrong window of the wrong building. Bruce isn't giving the game up. Not yet. ]

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