[Old Gotham] Just Disappointed (Open)

Suddenly, inexplicably, the boy is no longer alone. Another mysterious figure is on the rooftop, standing behind, and then next to him. For Robin, the figure was not that mysterious. She was clad in her full suit, covering her from head to toe in black spandex and the unmistakably yellow belt. She helped herself to a similar position as Robin, dangling her feet over the rooftop. She took in the scene... particularly the building that was most plainly in sight. She drummed her fingers soundlessly against the ledge, moving to an invisible rhythm. She did not look at him directly yet.

She did not need to look at her brother's face to know when he was upset.

Batgirl paused for some time, past the typical gap between being spoken to and responding to that engagement. Beneath her mask, she watched him, studying. Knowing. Smiling. On the exterior, she was simply staring, waiting. Her fingers stopped dancing on the ledge and moved into her lap, at rest. She raised one of her hands, pointing to one of her ears under the cowl with a thumb and infex finger, then pinced with those fingers and moved them away. She moved her other hand in a beckoning gesture between the two of them.

The boy could sit with his music, or he could speak with her. It was not possible to do both.

So. That was his decision. So be it. Batgirl waited, also testing the boy to see how he would proceed, if he did so at all. When that too became clear, she waited a beat longer. Then, there is a blur. Her forefinger and middle finger, crooked like a mantis, dig into the boy's side. A stunning strike to dull the nerves, if temporarily. This was not her true intent. That was in a grasping motion, which was faster still, upon the earbud that was on the boy's ear facing her. It would become hers. Painfully. This included the player as well. Her hands moved like lightning. In the span of two blinks, Batgirl was looking at a Robin with no earbuds nor music player. She stared at him, now with slightly more intensity. Her smile beneath the cowl was more defined.

"You can hear me now."

Her hand holding onto Damian's escape retreated within her cloak. When it re-emerged, it was empty. "What happened?"

Batgirl knew these lyrics. She suspected that Robin did not think that she knew them. She will need to pass this along to a certain blonde crime-fighter. She smiled at that thought. Robin's words, as far as it appeared, were well taken by Batgirl. She was not one to mince words, and certainly not the weight behind them. Though the two of them had not known each other much in his time with the Family, he understood that much about her.

"Just got here. Haven't talked to anyone else." Batgirl took a more relaxed stance, shrugging her arms and resting one on her knee. She looked out, again at the main building looming over this area. "They..." She sighs, subtly though not so subtle that it goes without notice. There is a familiar frustration there. The cowl only hides so much.

"Not, like us."

For a moment, Batgirl thought to add something to tonight's topic. Though, she waited long enough for Robin to change the topic. She turned her head to look at him. She wasn't... surprised, but for some reason she had not expected the question, either. It was not the first time he had asked about her... other life. Dodging the question had been easy before. Now, it was something for her to reflect on. Damian needed people.

"I'm... on another team. No Family." Batgirl frowned beneath the mask. Why did she say it like that? And why did it hurt? She straightened her posture and crossed her arms over her chest. "Had a mission. Back now."

This was exactly what she had been afraid of. Aside from Him, the only one that knew was Oracle. It was not that Robin could not be trusted. Out of everyone in the Family, he was perhaps the one she trusted the most. Was this truly the best for him? Being in Gotham, or joining the Champions. Her circumstances for the latter had been specific, under His...

Batgirl realized that she hadn't answered Robin. She tried not to speak on most things. She was only an authority in the language of combat, and perhaps the latest TikTok dancing trends. She did not know how to be a mentor. Or think quickly in a conversation. Eventually, she finds some words.

"... when was the last time you were outside?"

They did not feel satisfactory. For a member of the Family to be outside of Gotham was an experience she was still struggling to understand. To Batgirl's understanding, Robin's life experiences apart from these streets had been in dojos and caves. This team... was not that.

Batgirl stares at Damian. It is more than her typical stare, watchful and curious. Here, it is the closest she can get to projecting disbelief while wearing the cowl. Her heart skips a beat as she resists the urge to laugh. She leans forward instead, just short of invading the boy's personal space.

"You?... Rules?"