Re: Wayne Manor: destiny/steph.
I know. [And then, because she asked - and there's a hang of a half second where he runs through the possible outcomes of him actually telling her - and then she does it all herself. His mouth goes straight and he tosses the entire hand of popcorn at her - all of it, every last kernel.] Different ways, like assuming your job and what it's up to you to do. [It's the lose-lose situation that when it fails, and it will, because assumption of responsibility for the entire family's well being does not rest on one person's shoulders - not hers, and not Bruce's - she'll take it as a personal failure.]
I'm not worried about your comeuppance. [That was Karma - outside of his purview and outside of his responsibility. And he shouldn't be upset with her now, not when her past is riding hard on those worn nerves of hers.
There has to be another option. Somewhere between this all and none, when she's never been anywhere but all or none. His features go sharp, as if he's jumped up pixels by three hundred percent - like going from analog into digital. The book flies open then, writing appearing on the pages in that same, tiny concise type and there's a rapid flicker of his eyes as he measures out choices and possibilities like paths in his garden. For a few seconds there's nothing but the rapid dart of milk-clouded irises and the writing on the page that takes up the back and front of one sheet. Then it stops and he looks at her, not as if he's seeing her, but as if he's sensing something deeper.] Who [he stops there, his voice not loud but with all the rolling depth of thunder. He tries again, pitching it back into human tones.] Who is responsible for what you do?