Aerial Adventures, part 3
Aug. 16th, 2006 02:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Here's part three of the series that beings with Part One, and continues with Part Two.
Ah, the things that happen when I can't sleep.
Title: Aerial Adventures, part 3
Fandom: JLU-verse
Pairing: none yet
Characters: Black Canary, Batman
Rating: PG-13, language
Disclaimer: (I've been forgetting this) I'm not DC, they're not mine.
Batman finished setting up the X-ray machine and acquired the plates, then turned to look at Dinah and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. //She must be exhausted, to fall asleep so swiftly, here.// He knew how outsiders regarded his sanctum, so the fact that she felt safe enough to sleep... pleased him. She was Gotham's daughter, and that had been reason enough to allow her to stay when her power manifested. After observing her, her care and intelligence about her chosen targets, and the intensity of her training, her obvious desire to hone her body into as much a weapon as her devastating voice were more convincing reasons. She had none of the blindly arrogant reliance on her gift that so many of his meta-human teammates did--to her credit--and had proven her value as an ally and her trustworthiness during her time in the League. Her presence here was acceptable, given all of that.
There was some risk that she would learn his identity--Dinah Lance had traveled enough in Gotham's social circles to be familiar with Bruce Wayne. If he wasn't mistaken, he’d been the target of a crush of hers at one point. No matter, and the thought that she might learn his identity troubled him remarkably little. She was not given to revealing confidences. In the privacy of his own mind, he could admit his satisfaction that she had called on him when attacked, and not any of the others. It would be difficult, after all, to be less than pleased at such a beautiful woman's expressed faith in him.
She truly was extraordinarily beautiful, he admitted. The wavy, wheat-gold of her hair and deep blue eyes, the curves of her cheekbones and full, dark lips in her oval face were simply lovely, and laying there as she was (despite his knowledge of her strength and skills) she looked delicate--delicate, and disturbingly tempting, given her full, supple figure. The formfitting black corset left very little to the imagination, exposing pale neck and shoulders and the long curve of her spine between the new... appendages, clinging lovingly down over her lower back and the curves of her rear, and black fishnet stockings encased gorgeous legs that seemed to stretch a mile against the crisp whiteness of the sheets. He might one day ask her why she'd chosen to model her costume after a dominatrix--but from the effect she was having on him, distraction value surely ranked high on the list!
He then realized what he was doing and chided himself acidically about allowing himself to be distracted by her body when she needed his help and support. He moved the machine to her quietly, then carefully eased a leaded sheet under her wings and up over her lower body. She moved in her sleep, half-waking, and he spoke to her gently, easing her back into sleep. He took the necessary images of her wings and spine, photographic plates slipped below the gurney, removed the leaded sheet carefully, pulled the privacy screen shut silently, and went to set them to developing. If these failed to provide acceptable images, there were instruments of better quality elsewhere.
A soft chime caught his attention--Robin was inbound. He walked well away from her and activated his comm. "Robin. Come in quiet, and stay in persona. We have a guest resting."
"Sure, boss... what's up?"
"JLA business."
"Aww, man..." his young partner griped. "Alright. Anything else?"
"No."
"Robin out, then." The frequency went dead and he went to place a second call through the Manor's system. He'd informed Alfred on the drive to remain above, and could now explain things more fully. "Alfred."
"Yes, sir?"
"Meet me on the stairs, above the turn."
"Of course."
He walked up the stairs, stopping above the bend that would hide them from sight in the Cave proper, and waited the few moments for Alfred to cross the house and come below. "Yes, Master Bruce?" came the soft voice of his oldest friend.
"Black Canary was attacked by a spell-caster and now possesses wings roughly the size of Hawkgirl's. She's frightened and in pain--though she's currently sleeping. Until Blood can return, she will most likely be remaining here, given the strength of her desire to remain unseen until this can be rectified. I have no intention of revealing my identity to her--"
"And she is quite bright enough to make the connection between myself and Bruce Wayne instantly. Of course, sir. I shall either communicate via the dumbwaiter or disguise myself should my presence be required." He paused a moment. "The Cave is not truly equipped to house a valued guest for any length of time, sir."
That was as close as Alfred would come to chiding him. "I know, Alfred, but we can surely make a place for her, though."
The thought apparently amused Alfred, and he nodded. "I'll think on it. There is space enough." He paused again, considering something. "The Cave is too cold for her preferred attire. I shall see what can be altered for her, if you will provide her sizes and a sketch of her wings."
He had hardly thought of that, but Alfred was entirely right. "I will. Thank you, Alfred. Robin will probably wake her, and she should be hungry."
"And the young Master is perpetually so, and with a guest, will not wish to leave the Cave. If there is nothing else, I'll see about preparing a supper for three."
"Thank you, Alfred," he nodded, and turned back to go check on the developing exposures. As he reached the lowest step the black and red of Robin's bike came into view, the teen walking beside it. He'd taken the 'quiet' command to heart, apparently. Tim swept the Cave with his eyes, nodding to him when he located him, then spent long moments studying the closed screens in the infirmary before walking the bike to its usual parking spot. He walked back towards the infirmary and Tim trotted across the Cave to join him, barrage of questions obvious in the set of his jaw, the tilt of his head and every step he took.
"So, who's here? Who'd you bring here?" he was, thankfully, keeping his voice low.
"Black Canary." He watched the smirk start to spread across the teenager's lips and nearly sighed. //This comment should be interesting...//
"The babe in the fishnets?" he whistled, soft and low, "Da--ang, boss. She's hot, sure, but... how come you brought her here?"
"She's... injured, and needs somewhere safe, and help."
"...Alright. That makes sense," he nodded, "for her. Not for you. You don't let anybody but us down here..." Leading tone there that he had no intention of indulging.
"I have been known to make exceptions," he replied.
Tim gave him a very frustrated look at the lack of an answer, but before he could say anything more, the screen started to part, pushed back by one manicured hand, and her blond head peered out of the small gap. "Batman?" her voice was soft, curious, and still tinged with sleep.
"Right here, Dinah. I assume Robin woke you." He ignored Tim's wide-eyed double-take calmly and walked over to her as she pushed the screen slightly further open, allowing her body to be seen without revealing the wings.
"It must have been... I can't see you whistling," she said with a small smile up at him, then looked past his shoulder. "Hi, Robin..."
Batman turned just enough to watch both of them. "Hey," Tim shrugged a shoulder in greeting. "I don't normally get to meet the League-types, so... Is it Dinah or Canary? And wow, you're even prettier in person," he added with a flirtatious smile that reminded Batman uncomfortably of Bruce Wayne's. "I mean, not that the stills aren't gorgeous, but..."
"It's Dinah, and thanks... You're taller in person," she replied, amusement dancing in her blue eyes, and he had to struggle not to smile at the flustered, unhappy look on Tim's face.
"Growth spurt, actually," Tim finally replied, managing to keep his voice under control, and Dinah smiled a little wider at him. "Oh," and nodded, still standing in the opened screens. "That explains it too."
She looked back up at him, focusing blue eyes on the lenses of his mask, "Weren't you going to do something about taking some X-rays?"
"I did, you slept through it, and they're developing." He kept his face calm at the way her expression changed to wide-eyed confusion at the response. She banished it from her face quickly, but it lurked in her eyes.
"I… can't believe I didn't wake up, but... okay. How much longer?"
"I was about to check on them," he replied and walked over to slip into the walled area and study the exposures. They were ready to start drying, almost over-exposed, but still clear. He hung them, and slipped back out, catching the end of a comment from Tim. The intonation said he was flirting again, possibly trying to coax Dinah out from behind the curtains. If so, he was having no success. "Robin, stop bothering Dinah and go see if supper is finished."
"Can't you just--aw. Fine. I'll go." The teenager flashed another grin at Dinah and started across the Cave at a lope, taking the stairs up two at a time.
"Does that kid ever shut it off?" Dinah asked, turning her head towards him.
"Not often," he replied honestly. Tim was a born flirt, despite his best efforts to convince him a more professional demeanor would be useful. The answer must have amused her, as she started to laugh--he heard a faint note of hysteria in it, however.
"I... cannot believe I'm hiding from a teenager behind a curtain because of these stupid things!" she glared backwards over a shoulder. "Feels like I'm back in high school," she muttered very softly, obviously not intending for him to hear it, so he made no reply.
"Would you prefer to eat within, then, or come out and join us?" He watched conflicting desires war in her eyes and waited for her to decide. Either would be understandable.
She was still thinking when Robin came bounding back down the stairs and trotted over to the small dumbwaiter carefully hidden in the rock to lift out the domed tray resting there. It was apparently quite well-laden, given the line of his shoulders as he carried it towards the table nearest them and set it down. "Dunno who all he thinks he's feeding," the teen said, "but there's plenty here," as he pulled the cover off and set it aside with a noisy clank, smile widening at the meal. "Hungry, Canary? There's a plate here for you, too..."
She looked up at him, a flicker of nerves in her eyes and a question written plainly in the tilt of her head. He could almost hear it. //Is he going to laugh at me?//
//Not if I can help it,// he answered her with a trace of a smile and an encouraging turn of his hand towards the waiting food, and he watched her expression harden into stubbornness. "If you laugh at me, Boy Wonder, I will never forgive you, and I have a perfectly good left hook."
"Why would I--" Tim's voice cut off as she pushed the screening curtains further open, revealing the red-tinged black of her wings. They were drawn up around her slightly (tension, he realized), and he made a note to offer her more painkillers after she ate. He looked back towards Tim and let his expression harden, warning the boy to behave without saying a word. Robin swallowed, and just stared wide-eyed behind the mask for a moment. Thankfully, Dinah would not be able to read that so plainly. "Ah... I'm not gonna laugh. I do kinda wanna know what happened, though... I mean, last I knew you just had the Cry..."
"I made a mage mad, apparently," she answered him, and the droop in her wings as she relaxed was obvious. "So he did this."
Robin whistled, "Man, some magic! I... that has to suck. Do they--never mind." He shook his head, apparently having learned a little tact somewhere, and filled a plate for her as she walked across the Cave carefully, her usual confident grace fettered by the literal weights on her shoulders. More properly 'on her spine', but that did not fit the saying as well.
"Thank you," she told him as she took the plate, and he could hear the winsome smile on her lips, and see it in the way Robin started to flush. "No problem," he answered her. "Boss would make me work out 'til I dropped if I was rude enough not to feed you first."
True. He moved to join them, taking the last plate and a substantial helping of the meal before Tim could devour everything in sight. He was at one of those stages again. He cast his eyes between one of the backless stools in the lab area and Robin, and Tim ran down to fetch one quickly, bringing it back up to set it near the table they were using as an impromptu buffet with a small flourish. "Not much of a chair, but better than nothing, right?"
"Much, thank you," Dinah agreed, and settled onto it, careful of her balance as she ate. The hunger was obvious, but her manners were perfect as she ate, in stark contrast to Tim who leaned hipshot against the table to wolf down his meal as swiftly as possible. He finished his own meal swiftly, intent on returning to the X-ray prints. Leaving Dinah and Tim still eating, he walked into the developing area and retrieved the prints, carrying them out by the edges, moving towards the light-board he used for drafting, laying one out. He'd been studying it for only a moment when the first sound caught his attention and he turned swiftly, feeling his eyes widen behind the lenses.
//Don't fall!// was his first, fleeting thought as he watched her body curl forward and the dark wings flare open and beat as she leapt free of the toppling stool, her entire body broadcasting her fury. From what he could see, she'd intended to join him and pushed away from the table, failing to compensate correctly for the addition of the wings when she leaned back, which had led to the near fall. He controlled his relieved reaction when she regained her feet safely and turned back before she could notice that he had seen--and the savagely metallic clatter of the stool along the Cave floor spoke eloquently of her anger and embarrassment. She'd obviously planted quite the kick in it.
"Are you okay, Canary? I can't believe you stayed on your feet, that was am--a great recovery!" His young partner didn't always know when to keep quiet.
"I'm fine, thank you, Robin." There was an acid edge in her voice as he heard her steps (sharp, staccato hits of her heels) on the solid rock, coming to his side to look at the film. "Oh... my god... those are extra..." The hard swallow cut off the end of the nauseated sentence, but he knew what she was going to say.
"Bones, yes." They were interesting, academically, curling up over her ribs, a hollow making a ball joint for the wings to flex and roll within. He had never had reason to examine Hawkgirl's bone structure, he was now curious if the structures were the same.
"I... knew, but I didn't want to believe it.... you took more than just this one. Let's see them." Her voice was brisk, harsh as February winds, and brittle underneath, though she was finally beginning to sound like herself again. He nodded, and changed the image for the next, which detailed a portion of the bones of her wings.
"They appear to have the typical avian wing structure," he said softly, shifting just enough to watch her face.
"Problem being that I'm a mammal, not a bird, despite the name... I suppose it's good that they're built normally, though..." the admission sounded hard-won, and he simply nodded, and put up the third film, another detail of a wing.
"I... think I've seen enough, for right now... I'm... going to go lie back down, if you don't mind..."
"First," and with Robin still below, he pulled a sheet of paper and a pen over. "If you'll list your sizes, I can see about having clothing altered for you. I assume you'll want more than your costume, especially given the temperature here."
"It is a little cold," she agreed softly, nodding, and picked up the pen, hand moving quickly across the page.
"If there's anything else you need, just add it to the list," he thought to say after a moment.
She chuckled, "Unless you've got a complete line of women's products down here, Batman, there's quite a bit I'm going to need before long..." She sounded almost like she expected him to recant on the offer.
"That's fine, Dinah," he said instead, and watched the list grow. She dropped the pen after a few moments, and looked at him. From the carefully opaque look, she was considering something. "What is it?"
"That," tilting her head angrily in the direction of the table and the fallen stool, "made these hurt again. I think I tried to use them, when I started to fall..." It was a flat statement on the surface, but a careful ear could hear the request under it.
"Ah. I'll get you something, then you can rest." He rose from the workstation and walked towards the infirmary, making certain to keep his steps to a pace she could easily manage. He had no desire to ignite her temper, or push her towards releasing her Cry within his orderly cave out of anger or frustrated shame. He selected a moderately powerful NSAID-based painkiller, and handed the bottle to her to let her look it over. After a few moments she nodded and opened it to swallow two. "I keep this one at home, thank you..."
He shrugged one shoulder slightly. It was nothing. She sighed at him, and carefully went about laying back down, first pushing off her boots and letting them drop to the floor. Some of the positions required for a winged woman to go from sitting on a bed to laying on it (especially a woman clad as she was) were... provocative, to put it mildly, though he did his best to ignore those reactions. It would do no one any good for him to be distracted. He watched her lie down, folding her wings in close along her spine, and wondered if she felt as vulnerable in that position as he had on the occasions he'd been forced by injuries to sleep on his chest. Deliberately, he made small noises as he acquired a blanket from the shelves to lay it over her, letting her know where he was so that she would not be startled. He let it spread out over her, falling high across her shoulders, determined to acquire a second one shortly, and blinked at the soft, startled noise she made. "Oh... thank you...." she almost purred at him, one hand sliding up to pull the blanket a little higher, tucking it under her chin, and his smile at the motion came through in his voice as he answered her. "You said you were cold."
"True..." she agreed, twisting her head to look at him a moment, smiling that lovely smile, then she resettled, blonde hair the only thing visible once again.
"Sleep well, Dinah," he told her and left, pulling the screen shut again. There were many things to arrange before she woke again.
Feedback? Concrit, even?
Thanks,
athena_phoenix for catching a highly persistent typo daemon.
Ah, the things that happen when I can't sleep.
Title: Aerial Adventures, part 3
Fandom: JLU-verse
Pairing: none yet
Characters: Black Canary, Batman
Rating: PG-13, language
Disclaimer: (I've been forgetting this) I'm not DC, they're not mine.
Batman finished setting up the X-ray machine and acquired the plates, then turned to look at Dinah and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. //She must be exhausted, to fall asleep so swiftly, here.// He knew how outsiders regarded his sanctum, so the fact that she felt safe enough to sleep... pleased him. She was Gotham's daughter, and that had been reason enough to allow her to stay when her power manifested. After observing her, her care and intelligence about her chosen targets, and the intensity of her training, her obvious desire to hone her body into as much a weapon as her devastating voice were more convincing reasons. She had none of the blindly arrogant reliance on her gift that so many of his meta-human teammates did--to her credit--and had proven her value as an ally and her trustworthiness during her time in the League. Her presence here was acceptable, given all of that.
There was some risk that she would learn his identity--Dinah Lance had traveled enough in Gotham's social circles to be familiar with Bruce Wayne. If he wasn't mistaken, he’d been the target of a crush of hers at one point. No matter, and the thought that she might learn his identity troubled him remarkably little. She was not given to revealing confidences. In the privacy of his own mind, he could admit his satisfaction that she had called on him when attacked, and not any of the others. It would be difficult, after all, to be less than pleased at such a beautiful woman's expressed faith in him.
She truly was extraordinarily beautiful, he admitted. The wavy, wheat-gold of her hair and deep blue eyes, the curves of her cheekbones and full, dark lips in her oval face were simply lovely, and laying there as she was (despite his knowledge of her strength and skills) she looked delicate--delicate, and disturbingly tempting, given her full, supple figure. The formfitting black corset left very little to the imagination, exposing pale neck and shoulders and the long curve of her spine between the new... appendages, clinging lovingly down over her lower back and the curves of her rear, and black fishnet stockings encased gorgeous legs that seemed to stretch a mile against the crisp whiteness of the sheets. He might one day ask her why she'd chosen to model her costume after a dominatrix--but from the effect she was having on him, distraction value surely ranked high on the list!
He then realized what he was doing and chided himself acidically about allowing himself to be distracted by her body when she needed his help and support. He moved the machine to her quietly, then carefully eased a leaded sheet under her wings and up over her lower body. She moved in her sleep, half-waking, and he spoke to her gently, easing her back into sleep. He took the necessary images of her wings and spine, photographic plates slipped below the gurney, removed the leaded sheet carefully, pulled the privacy screen shut silently, and went to set them to developing. If these failed to provide acceptable images, there were instruments of better quality elsewhere.
A soft chime caught his attention--Robin was inbound. He walked well away from her and activated his comm. "Robin. Come in quiet, and stay in persona. We have a guest resting."
"Sure, boss... what's up?"
"JLA business."
"Aww, man..." his young partner griped. "Alright. Anything else?"
"No."
"Robin out, then." The frequency went dead and he went to place a second call through the Manor's system. He'd informed Alfred on the drive to remain above, and could now explain things more fully. "Alfred."
"Yes, sir?"
"Meet me on the stairs, above the turn."
"Of course."
He walked up the stairs, stopping above the bend that would hide them from sight in the Cave proper, and waited the few moments for Alfred to cross the house and come below. "Yes, Master Bruce?" came the soft voice of his oldest friend.
"Black Canary was attacked by a spell-caster and now possesses wings roughly the size of Hawkgirl's. She's frightened and in pain--though she's currently sleeping. Until Blood can return, she will most likely be remaining here, given the strength of her desire to remain unseen until this can be rectified. I have no intention of revealing my identity to her--"
"And she is quite bright enough to make the connection between myself and Bruce Wayne instantly. Of course, sir. I shall either communicate via the dumbwaiter or disguise myself should my presence be required." He paused a moment. "The Cave is not truly equipped to house a valued guest for any length of time, sir."
That was as close as Alfred would come to chiding him. "I know, Alfred, but we can surely make a place for her, though."
The thought apparently amused Alfred, and he nodded. "I'll think on it. There is space enough." He paused again, considering something. "The Cave is too cold for her preferred attire. I shall see what can be altered for her, if you will provide her sizes and a sketch of her wings."
He had hardly thought of that, but Alfred was entirely right. "I will. Thank you, Alfred. Robin will probably wake her, and she should be hungry."
"And the young Master is perpetually so, and with a guest, will not wish to leave the Cave. If there is nothing else, I'll see about preparing a supper for three."
"Thank you, Alfred," he nodded, and turned back to go check on the developing exposures. As he reached the lowest step the black and red of Robin's bike came into view, the teen walking beside it. He'd taken the 'quiet' command to heart, apparently. Tim swept the Cave with his eyes, nodding to him when he located him, then spent long moments studying the closed screens in the infirmary before walking the bike to its usual parking spot. He walked back towards the infirmary and Tim trotted across the Cave to join him, barrage of questions obvious in the set of his jaw, the tilt of his head and every step he took.
"So, who's here? Who'd you bring here?" he was, thankfully, keeping his voice low.
"Black Canary." He watched the smirk start to spread across the teenager's lips and nearly sighed. //This comment should be interesting...//
"The babe in the fishnets?" he whistled, soft and low, "Da--ang, boss. She's hot, sure, but... how come you brought her here?"
"She's... injured, and needs somewhere safe, and help."
"...Alright. That makes sense," he nodded, "for her. Not for you. You don't let anybody but us down here..." Leading tone there that he had no intention of indulging.
"I have been known to make exceptions," he replied.
Tim gave him a very frustrated look at the lack of an answer, but before he could say anything more, the screen started to part, pushed back by one manicured hand, and her blond head peered out of the small gap. "Batman?" her voice was soft, curious, and still tinged with sleep.
"Right here, Dinah. I assume Robin woke you." He ignored Tim's wide-eyed double-take calmly and walked over to her as she pushed the screen slightly further open, allowing her body to be seen without revealing the wings.
"It must have been... I can't see you whistling," she said with a small smile up at him, then looked past his shoulder. "Hi, Robin..."
Batman turned just enough to watch both of them. "Hey," Tim shrugged a shoulder in greeting. "I don't normally get to meet the League-types, so... Is it Dinah or Canary? And wow, you're even prettier in person," he added with a flirtatious smile that reminded Batman uncomfortably of Bruce Wayne's. "I mean, not that the stills aren't gorgeous, but..."
"It's Dinah, and thanks... You're taller in person," she replied, amusement dancing in her blue eyes, and he had to struggle not to smile at the flustered, unhappy look on Tim's face.
"Growth spurt, actually," Tim finally replied, managing to keep his voice under control, and Dinah smiled a little wider at him. "Oh," and nodded, still standing in the opened screens. "That explains it too."
She looked back up at him, focusing blue eyes on the lenses of his mask, "Weren't you going to do something about taking some X-rays?"
"I did, you slept through it, and they're developing." He kept his face calm at the way her expression changed to wide-eyed confusion at the response. She banished it from her face quickly, but it lurked in her eyes.
"I… can't believe I didn't wake up, but... okay. How much longer?"
"I was about to check on them," he replied and walked over to slip into the walled area and study the exposures. They were ready to start drying, almost over-exposed, but still clear. He hung them, and slipped back out, catching the end of a comment from Tim. The intonation said he was flirting again, possibly trying to coax Dinah out from behind the curtains. If so, he was having no success. "Robin, stop bothering Dinah and go see if supper is finished."
"Can't you just--aw. Fine. I'll go." The teenager flashed another grin at Dinah and started across the Cave at a lope, taking the stairs up two at a time.
"Does that kid ever shut it off?" Dinah asked, turning her head towards him.
"Not often," he replied honestly. Tim was a born flirt, despite his best efforts to convince him a more professional demeanor would be useful. The answer must have amused her, as she started to laugh--he heard a faint note of hysteria in it, however.
"I... cannot believe I'm hiding from a teenager behind a curtain because of these stupid things!" she glared backwards over a shoulder. "Feels like I'm back in high school," she muttered very softly, obviously not intending for him to hear it, so he made no reply.
"Would you prefer to eat within, then, or come out and join us?" He watched conflicting desires war in her eyes and waited for her to decide. Either would be understandable.
She was still thinking when Robin came bounding back down the stairs and trotted over to the small dumbwaiter carefully hidden in the rock to lift out the domed tray resting there. It was apparently quite well-laden, given the line of his shoulders as he carried it towards the table nearest them and set it down. "Dunno who all he thinks he's feeding," the teen said, "but there's plenty here," as he pulled the cover off and set it aside with a noisy clank, smile widening at the meal. "Hungry, Canary? There's a plate here for you, too..."
She looked up at him, a flicker of nerves in her eyes and a question written plainly in the tilt of her head. He could almost hear it. //Is he going to laugh at me?//
//Not if I can help it,// he answered her with a trace of a smile and an encouraging turn of his hand towards the waiting food, and he watched her expression harden into stubbornness. "If you laugh at me, Boy Wonder, I will never forgive you, and I have a perfectly good left hook."
"Why would I--" Tim's voice cut off as she pushed the screening curtains further open, revealing the red-tinged black of her wings. They were drawn up around her slightly (tension, he realized), and he made a note to offer her more painkillers after she ate. He looked back towards Tim and let his expression harden, warning the boy to behave without saying a word. Robin swallowed, and just stared wide-eyed behind the mask for a moment. Thankfully, Dinah would not be able to read that so plainly. "Ah... I'm not gonna laugh. I do kinda wanna know what happened, though... I mean, last I knew you just had the Cry..."
"I made a mage mad, apparently," she answered him, and the droop in her wings as she relaxed was obvious. "So he did this."
Robin whistled, "Man, some magic! I... that has to suck. Do they--never mind." He shook his head, apparently having learned a little tact somewhere, and filled a plate for her as she walked across the Cave carefully, her usual confident grace fettered by the literal weights on her shoulders. More properly 'on her spine', but that did not fit the saying as well.
"Thank you," she told him as she took the plate, and he could hear the winsome smile on her lips, and see it in the way Robin started to flush. "No problem," he answered her. "Boss would make me work out 'til I dropped if I was rude enough not to feed you first."
True. He moved to join them, taking the last plate and a substantial helping of the meal before Tim could devour everything in sight. He was at one of those stages again. He cast his eyes between one of the backless stools in the lab area and Robin, and Tim ran down to fetch one quickly, bringing it back up to set it near the table they were using as an impromptu buffet with a small flourish. "Not much of a chair, but better than nothing, right?"
"Much, thank you," Dinah agreed, and settled onto it, careful of her balance as she ate. The hunger was obvious, but her manners were perfect as she ate, in stark contrast to Tim who leaned hipshot against the table to wolf down his meal as swiftly as possible. He finished his own meal swiftly, intent on returning to the X-ray prints. Leaving Dinah and Tim still eating, he walked into the developing area and retrieved the prints, carrying them out by the edges, moving towards the light-board he used for drafting, laying one out. He'd been studying it for only a moment when the first sound caught his attention and he turned swiftly, feeling his eyes widen behind the lenses.
//Don't fall!// was his first, fleeting thought as he watched her body curl forward and the dark wings flare open and beat as she leapt free of the toppling stool, her entire body broadcasting her fury. From what he could see, she'd intended to join him and pushed away from the table, failing to compensate correctly for the addition of the wings when she leaned back, which had led to the near fall. He controlled his relieved reaction when she regained her feet safely and turned back before she could notice that he had seen--and the savagely metallic clatter of the stool along the Cave floor spoke eloquently of her anger and embarrassment. She'd obviously planted quite the kick in it.
"Are you okay, Canary? I can't believe you stayed on your feet, that was am--a great recovery!" His young partner didn't always know when to keep quiet.
"I'm fine, thank you, Robin." There was an acid edge in her voice as he heard her steps (sharp, staccato hits of her heels) on the solid rock, coming to his side to look at the film. "Oh... my god... those are extra..." The hard swallow cut off the end of the nauseated sentence, but he knew what she was going to say.
"Bones, yes." They were interesting, academically, curling up over her ribs, a hollow making a ball joint for the wings to flex and roll within. He had never had reason to examine Hawkgirl's bone structure, he was now curious if the structures were the same.
"I... knew, but I didn't want to believe it.... you took more than just this one. Let's see them." Her voice was brisk, harsh as February winds, and brittle underneath, though she was finally beginning to sound like herself again. He nodded, and changed the image for the next, which detailed a portion of the bones of her wings.
"They appear to have the typical avian wing structure," he said softly, shifting just enough to watch her face.
"Problem being that I'm a mammal, not a bird, despite the name... I suppose it's good that they're built normally, though..." the admission sounded hard-won, and he simply nodded, and put up the third film, another detail of a wing.
"I... think I've seen enough, for right now... I'm... going to go lie back down, if you don't mind..."
"First," and with Robin still below, he pulled a sheet of paper and a pen over. "If you'll list your sizes, I can see about having clothing altered for you. I assume you'll want more than your costume, especially given the temperature here."
"It is a little cold," she agreed softly, nodding, and picked up the pen, hand moving quickly across the page.
"If there's anything else you need, just add it to the list," he thought to say after a moment.
She chuckled, "Unless you've got a complete line of women's products down here, Batman, there's quite a bit I'm going to need before long..." She sounded almost like she expected him to recant on the offer.
"That's fine, Dinah," he said instead, and watched the list grow. She dropped the pen after a few moments, and looked at him. From the carefully opaque look, she was considering something. "What is it?"
"That," tilting her head angrily in the direction of the table and the fallen stool, "made these hurt again. I think I tried to use them, when I started to fall..." It was a flat statement on the surface, but a careful ear could hear the request under it.
"Ah. I'll get you something, then you can rest." He rose from the workstation and walked towards the infirmary, making certain to keep his steps to a pace she could easily manage. He had no desire to ignite her temper, or push her towards releasing her Cry within his orderly cave out of anger or frustrated shame. He selected a moderately powerful NSAID-based painkiller, and handed the bottle to her to let her look it over. After a few moments she nodded and opened it to swallow two. "I keep this one at home, thank you..."
He shrugged one shoulder slightly. It was nothing. She sighed at him, and carefully went about laying back down, first pushing off her boots and letting them drop to the floor. Some of the positions required for a winged woman to go from sitting on a bed to laying on it (especially a woman clad as she was) were... provocative, to put it mildly, though he did his best to ignore those reactions. It would do no one any good for him to be distracted. He watched her lie down, folding her wings in close along her spine, and wondered if she felt as vulnerable in that position as he had on the occasions he'd been forced by injuries to sleep on his chest. Deliberately, he made small noises as he acquired a blanket from the shelves to lay it over her, letting her know where he was so that she would not be startled. He let it spread out over her, falling high across her shoulders, determined to acquire a second one shortly, and blinked at the soft, startled noise she made. "Oh... thank you...." she almost purred at him, one hand sliding up to pull the blanket a little higher, tucking it under her chin, and his smile at the motion came through in his voice as he answered her. "You said you were cold."
"True..." she agreed, twisting her head to look at him a moment, smiling that lovely smile, then she resettled, blonde hair the only thing visible once again.
"Sleep well, Dinah," he told her and left, pulling the screen shut again. There were many things to arrange before she woke again.
Feedback? Concrit, even?
Thanks,
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Date: 2006-08-16 08:26 am (UTC);-)
This is possibly the best part yet. The whole near fall, Bruce's raction, her anger...well handled.
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Date: 2006-08-16 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 04:20 pm (UTC)oh, you do? YAY! I like my human!Bruce, he's so much more fun than the... other one. (Psycho!Bat)
Thank you!
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Date: 2006-08-16 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 01:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:43 pm (UTC)There was so much I would have liked to say about how she looked that I couldn't because he was telling the story and wasn't looking... *headshaking* I'm glad it came through anyway. He really is, most of the time.
toonTim is just this flirty-adorable small-cat force that muscled his way in and is trying to demand that he be the voice of the next part. Frustrating critter. Glad you liked him!
PS, your icon is fab.
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Date: 2006-08-17 03:28 am (UTC)I was going to compliment you and tell you that your Tim was perfect Toonverse Tim, and so different from the comics Tim...and then had a sudden crisis of confidence that maybe you were writing comic Tim, in which case telling you that your Tim was totally different from the comics Tim would not especially be a compliment...
But I should have had faith in you! The voice is so perfectly toonverse that it couldn't have been anything else. :)
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Date: 2006-08-17 03:50 am (UTC)This is very, very much the toonverse boy, and I'm glad he came through correctly :) *beams*
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Date: 2006-08-16 02:41 pm (UTC)You're making me want to write this one thing I've been musing about for literally a year now.
You're doing it so well and I love it, and all of them, how everyone is so them in this very happy Bat way. I really want to know what happens next, how things evolve, wicked bad. XD
And I want her to love the wings even more.
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Date: 2006-08-16 04:19 pm (UTC)It's fun to throw new things at them! They're soo funny!
What would that be? *curious*
*happy-happy-happy* THank you! *beams*
Well, I've gotta write something for Filly first, but Dinah's not leaving me alone.
And I want her to love the wings even more.
...Me, too. *G*
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Date: 2006-08-16 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:44 pm (UTC)Please please pretty please?
(also, your conclusion is entirely correct, afaic.)
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Date: 2006-08-16 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 07:07 pm (UTC)I can't wait!
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Date: 2006-08-16 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-16 06:47 pm (UTC)"Dinah's reaction to almost falling" --you should have heard what she was saying in my head! Maaan, that girl can cuss!
"Bats' reaction to Dinah in general" --*G* the poor man. It's only going to get worse.
"Tim!" --he strong-armed his way in (damn it I got beat by the "small cat" bird-boy!) and demanded screen time.
Thank you so very much, I try.
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Date: 2006-08-16 04:43 pm (UTC)One little nitpick: shouldn't it be "aerial"?
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Date: 2006-08-16 06:48 pm (UTC)Hmmm... you know, you may be right. *checks Random House* ...and you are. Wow, I feel dumb. THANK YOU!
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Date: 2006-08-17 12:14 am (UTC)Dinah's reaction to being asleep through the xrays was so befudled and adorable! weee! And Tim is great, he's real fun. I loved this :)
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Date: 2006-08-17 12:23 am (UTC)*chuckle* Wasn't she just, though? And Tim is such a fun little critter (my brain breaks at the thought of comics!Tim acting like this, but it's toonverse so we're completely fine. *G*)
Thanks again!
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Date: 2006-08-17 10:21 pm (UTC)This was fab. It's important in any story that has Bruce with a meta to show us why, eventually, he could over come his issues of distrust of them and you laid it out for us here. And most importantly, in a way that really makes sense to the man that Bruce is.
The conversation with Alfred was also spot-on brillance. You really captured the Unfailing Loyalty the man has towards Bruce, with that side kick of "But there are better ways to handle things," attitude that Alfred also has.
And Toon!Tim was . . . great. Just fab. So many people, even when they're writing Toon!Tim, write Comics!Tim, and they really aren't the same person. Toon!Tim is here in full force - the mixture of all three Robins, with large doses of Jason that he was in the Timmverse. ;)
No problem," he answered her. "Boss would make me work out 'til I dropped if I was rude enough not to feed you first."
True.
*dies from the giggles.*
Excellence, I echo all the comments about Sane!Bruce and Kind!Bruce and I look forward to part 4!
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Date: 2006-08-17 10:32 pm (UTC)*G* That's a great description of Alfred. "Unfailing Loyalty + 'but there are better ways to handle things". I <3 that.
*Beams* Oh, my comics!Tim would KILL me if I even for a moment tried to put him into the toonverse. They are VERY not the same person, agreed. Acquiring a toon!Tim muse has been rather like acquiring a young cougar, but we're getting to where we can get along with each other. You've heard my "unholy lovechild" comment about toon!Tim, right? I know you have.
*dies from the giggles* Oh, no! *does true ressurection spell* There, all better.
*grins* Yeah, he's being such a sweetheart at the moment.
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Date: 2006-08-18 01:32 am (UTC)Oh, my comics!Tim would KILL me if I even for a moment tried to put him into the toonverse. I'm very sure Tim is correct in not wanting to end up in the Toon Verse. *shivers* at the idea of Comics!Tim and Return of the Joker.
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Date: 2006-08-18 02:32 am (UTC)Tim's very correct. I mean... *joins shuddering*
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Date: 2006-08-19 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-19 02:02 am (UTC)*chuckles and nods* That would be very appropriate at the moment, yes.