Post by Countess on Nov 10, 2024 6:17:47 GMT
Barbara cannot help it- she gives a snort of laughter at Dame's melodrama. He may not like it, but he really is a teenager sometimes. She remembers what that was like, where everything was so much bigger than it actually was. It honestly just makes her happy he has something she can empathize with as deeply as teen drama. Her childhood was so different than hers. If she can give him even a semblance... that's a win for her.
"I'll stop, I'll stop," Babs says, bumping her shoulder with his at the sink. She sets her sights on Johnny instead. "I heard, if you go the the bathroom, turn of the lights, and say her name in the mirror three times she comes and gets you!" she teases him, giggling.
"Come on, Dames, Die Hard is so goooood," she says, half begging. She has done this a lot, and said that about a lot of movies. They have been good, certainly, but perhaps more for her than for him. She helps him finish up the cleaning, putting things in tupperware for the fridge. Once done, she goes over to the couch, sitting in a corner with her legs up and body leaning on the arm. The remote is next to her, and she pulls up Hulu to start looking for it. "Pleeaaaaassseeeee Dames?" she asks, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
Babs sobers a bit with his question. "Good question," she says, immediately making sure he knows. She's always loved seeing this side of him, and she wanted to now what he is thinking. Asking questions, and Johnny joining her, opened up the dialogue for him to do so, too. A little social engineering, but... he needs the help. While Johnny answers fist, she takes small sips of the wine.
"That must have been really hard to lose where you had been, the identity you had, and not know what it meant for the future," Barbara says, summarizing his words in another way that might be easier for Damian to empathize with. They aren't the same- but that doesn't mean understanding cannot occur. "I am really glad to have you on the team, Johnny. I know it isn't the same as it was, so I hope you're glad too," she says, nodding.
When the question is turned over to her, she already knows the answer. "When I became paralyzed, I lost my sense of purpose and self," she says, starting there. This might be news for Johnny. "I had been Batgirl for a few years by then. It wasn't my entire life, but it was so much of my identity. Who was I, if I wasn't fighting crime? I had chosen the life, it wasn't thrust on me like... like a lot of the others in our team," she says carefully. "Everyone seemed to move on without me. Life continued like normal, and I was left in the wings. I understand it, don't get me wrong, life has to continue... but it came to a screeching halt for me. A lot... happened to me, and I was very alone in dealing with it all. I don't know if you know this, but Batman is not good at sharing feelings. Especially ones of... pain, loss, grief, rage, shame, and indignity," she says, voice getting lower and lower as she speaks. She is looking at her glass of wine, eyebrows knitting together in thought.
"I had to figure out who I was again," Barbara says. "That is how I became Oracle, it is how I founded the Birds of Prey, and it is how I built the Watchtower. I was lost, and I had to find a way out of that hole, because if I didn't..." she says, trailing off. She doesn't say it- she can't say it.
"What about you, Dames?" Barbara says, adopting Johnny's inflection from before.
"I'll stop, I'll stop," Babs says, bumping her shoulder with his at the sink. She sets her sights on Johnny instead. "I heard, if you go the the bathroom, turn of the lights, and say her name in the mirror three times she comes and gets you!" she teases him, giggling.
"Come on, Dames, Die Hard is so goooood," she says, half begging. She has done this a lot, and said that about a lot of movies. They have been good, certainly, but perhaps more for her than for him. She helps him finish up the cleaning, putting things in tupperware for the fridge. Once done, she goes over to the couch, sitting in a corner with her legs up and body leaning on the arm. The remote is next to her, and she pulls up Hulu to start looking for it. "Pleeaaaaassseeeee Dames?" she asks, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
Babs sobers a bit with his question. "Good question," she says, immediately making sure he knows. She's always loved seeing this side of him, and she wanted to now what he is thinking. Asking questions, and Johnny joining her, opened up the dialogue for him to do so, too. A little social engineering, but... he needs the help. While Johnny answers fist, she takes small sips of the wine.
"That must have been really hard to lose where you had been, the identity you had, and not know what it meant for the future," Barbara says, summarizing his words in another way that might be easier for Damian to empathize with. They aren't the same- but that doesn't mean understanding cannot occur. "I am really glad to have you on the team, Johnny. I know it isn't the same as it was, so I hope you're glad too," she says, nodding.
When the question is turned over to her, she already knows the answer. "When I became paralyzed, I lost my sense of purpose and self," she says, starting there. This might be news for Johnny. "I had been Batgirl for a few years by then. It wasn't my entire life, but it was so much of my identity. Who was I, if I wasn't fighting crime? I had chosen the life, it wasn't thrust on me like... like a lot of the others in our team," she says carefully. "Everyone seemed to move on without me. Life continued like normal, and I was left in the wings. I understand it, don't get me wrong, life has to continue... but it came to a screeching halt for me. A lot... happened to me, and I was very alone in dealing with it all. I don't know if you know this, but Batman is not good at sharing feelings. Especially ones of... pain, loss, grief, rage, shame, and indignity," she says, voice getting lower and lower as she speaks. She is looking at her glass of wine, eyebrows knitting together in thought.
"I had to figure out who I was again," Barbara says. "That is how I became Oracle, it is how I founded the Birds of Prey, and it is how I built the Watchtower. I was lost, and I had to find a way out of that hole, because if I didn't..." she says, trailing off. She doesn't say it- she can't say it.
"What about you, Dames?" Barbara says, adopting Johnny's inflection from before.
