More Human Than Human [ open & closed ]

[oversight]

Who: John Blake (oversight ) and/or The Batman (wingedavenger) & Friends
What: General reunion threads, event prompts, and whatever else comes up.
When: September - October Catch-All
Where: Out and about, but particularly Crenshaw and Darcmouth.

Content Warnings for Character: murder, parental loss, gambling, violence, mental illness, sociopathy, religious insensitivity, drug use, sexual situations, child abuse, abandonment, guns, psychological trauma, torture, immolation, depression, organized crime, forgery, child neglect, false identities, mentions of prison, vigilantism, bats

Content Warnings for Threads: see subject headers

Open Prompts

Closed Prompts
 

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OOC— Info/Permissions | CRAU Info/Opt Out | Plotting/Starter Requests

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[ OPEN ]

[oversight]

TBD

[ CLOSED ]

[oversight]

Bruce_

[oversight]

It just so happens that it's right about when Blake is really starting to worry that he gets barreled over by an inordinately large dog and completely loses the thread of thinking that has put him so deeply into his own head. Sputtering, he nearly succeeds in acknowledging his tightening throat when a wave of relief rushes out of him on the heels of a laugh. All things considered, finding out you've got nothing and everything to worry about while being slorped in the face by a giant dog's stinky snout takes some of the edge off of the reality of Blake's situation.

"Okay, okay, Rube, I've got it," he defends, but he's ruffling the dog's collar of thick fur anyway. "You show me the way," Blake says, and before he can even finish, Rubidium, Bruce Banner's faithful canine companion, barks right in his face and off she goes with all the confidence he wishes he could have himself.

He's jogging to catch up, brushing detritus from his clothes as he makes little headway, but keeping the dog in view all the while (or, more accurately, the dog keeping him in view, let's be real here). Blake feels hopeful. Stupid for it, but the bubbling of certainty is like effervescence against the sinking feeling in his gut that tells him this isn't home (but isn't not home either).

As he rounds a corner and marches up a driveway after Rubidium, he's trying the door before he even allows himself to question it. There's no doubt. He can't and won't and hasn't — not that he'll allow himself to admit.

"Bruce—!" he says with all the force of a baseball bat, a staccato crack that's ended with held breath. He doesn't move an inch more until he sees what he needs to see.

[therapissed]

Bruce has been in a daze since being led back to his house. His, the same from Deerington. As though it had been dropped here by some tornado like the Wizard of Oz (and yes, he'd been tempted to check if there were some stripe-socked feet poking out from under the house on any side). Everything is present and accounted for... except for one very important individual. He'd taken to double-checking and triple-checking all the rooms, absently fingering the simple ring on his hand, dread and despair taking twisted roots deep in his gut at the thought.

Right as he's headed to the door to go out (maybe he'll find Blake elsewhere? Surely he can't just be gone...), the door in question is opened and a familiar voice is barking out before the figure just beyond is stepping in. All the air rushes out of him and he stands there, frozen and wide-eyed, getting lightly buffeted by Rubi as she trots in as pleased as can be.

"... John?"

[oversight]

"Yeah—," he huffs, closing the distance and wrapping his arms firmly around the other man. His head tucks in tight, holds him close, and doesn't let go. Blake squeezes and quietly sighs out a breath of relief. "Thank God you're here." Of course, he doesn't believe in God, but the sentiment should strike the same altogether anyway. He really didn't want to have to do this all (again) without Bruce.

"Are you okay?" Blake pulls back, both hands cupping his cheeks so he can get a good look at his face. "You made it— we made it, it's okay." At this point he's not even sure who he's trying to remind, but the relief feels so deep it's like his body has finally stopped trying to make itself into a fist. This is good. This is much better than expected.

[therapissed]

Bruce had hugged back almost reflexively (a fairly recent reflex at that, all thanks to the man in his arms) and otherwise stood there gobsmacked and flooded with shock and relief all at once. He doesn't release Blake enough to let him pull back all the way, his hands gripping at the younger man's shoulders to keep him close as he stares back into his face.

"Yeah... Yeah, we did," he mumbles, letting out a rattling breath and blinking rapidly because his eyes are feeling suspiciously hot. He manages a shaky smile and squeezes Blake's shoulders before cautiously looking him over as best he can from this angle. "You're not... hurt anywhere, right? It seems like people had different levels of 'bad' on coming to, here..."

[oversight]

"No, I'm okay," he admits, although it's miraculous to say as much considering he was some kind of... squid creature not all that long ago. It makes him tired just thinking about it. Has he ever really been wholly himself since he left home? Each day makes him feel less-and-less a part of the universe he supposedly lives in.

"Rube found me." Maybe that's obvious but Blake doesn't mind giving the massive dog the credit she deserves. "She brought me right to you." He pulls Bruce right into another hug, relieved in a way that he's not quite used to. "And you're here. You're really here. I don't know if the others made it, but we did." It needs repeated, apparently.

[therapissed]

There's an aborted, breathy noise that might've been a huff of laughter, abruptly silenced like it was dangerous to be let out at all. Then another. And then Bruce's arms are wrapping tight around Blake's middle and he hides his face against the other's neck, the scared and relieved laughter both giddy and nervous, potentially accompanied by a few tears that threaten to spill from his eyes but neither of them are going to address that, are they?

"I know this place probably isn't gonna be better than Deerington, but... I'm so glad you're here," he admits weakly.