Re: Near the stables: Barbara G/Damian W
Parties had never appealed to Damian. Frivolity, a waste of resources, often without purpose—or, if they had one, it was ulterior, and had to do with making the correct connections. No. He had no time for such foolishness. He was never intended to. He got no enjoyment out of sharing space with strangers or inebriation. So, for him, nothing had changed. But, he was not a girl in a wheelchair either, for whom most everything had changed.—Damian did not pity Barbara. In his eyes, there was nothing wrong with her, nothing to pity. Her limits had perhaps changed, but she had not. She was Batgirl, and no amount of interference, pain, or cruelty on the part of the Joker would change that, at least not in the younger Wayne's eyes.—Then again, like parties and fun, he had not been bred for pity. He had never understood societal expectations or views, and, as such, when the girl came near, he looked her right in the eye without any measure of secondhand (or firsthand) shame.
He felt the strange stirring of his heart as well, some uptick in tempo against ribcage, an out-of-place thickness in his throat, as if words were stuck there. He failed, however, to do as good a job ignoring it, and he frowned at Barbara, confused by the sensations he was experiencing without, he thought, proper context.—But that glinting determination in her eyes as she rolled close derailed his puzzlement, and Damian actually smiled. It was hardly kind, but it was genuine.
"Of course I am," he replied haughtily, his chin lifting, but it dropped quickly and he closed the space between Barbara and himself. His smirk was challenging. "Are you?" He was somewhat hushed, but he kept himself close, so as to be heard. That was the only reason why. Really. "The doors are all locked, but it should be simple enough to enter. I spoke with Father. He said Alfred has taught him some, but that he cannot fight. If this is true, I doubt any proper precautions have been taken to fortify the manor." He moved, out of grasping shadows, hands at his side, expecting the girl to join him.