bittybat | (no subject)

[When his head turns back, all he does it kind of stare at her for a moment or two before focusing again on leading the way.

Her disappearance was... a tad lonely, in a way, but he isn't the kind of person to be attached to someone at the hip. He has a lot of autonomy, and he assumes everyone else should, too. If Kisa hadn't come around, it was fine. If she had, there would've been too many weird feelings they hadn't sorted out.]

There's a country above Croatia called Slovenia. At the top border is Lake Bled, and there's a legend about ringing a church bell three times to make a wish come true.

[He doesn't know if it's based on the same thing, and he's skeptical about wishes, but... here he is, winding them through the chilly, dim, whispering forest.]

What are you wishing for?

[ ... Oh. She hadn't thought there was actually a legend behind ringing a bell that isn't exactly related to the town, but maybe she shouldn't be surprised. The mirrors had come from a fairy tale, too. Maybe there's some value in going to the library one day to read up on more of them, just in case.

Kisa's quiet for a long moment, though, her eyes resting on the ground as they proceed. It... might confuse him, given how fervently she's searched for her family, and how homesick she gets. Her family has a bond, one she can't break, and to be this far apart from it has troubled her for months. But... ]

... For the Sohma family to never come here.

[Ah... Right in the feels. This is fine. He won't look at her for some time, instead continuing to press forward without briskly treading ground and losing her. In theory, it sounds great. It's a thought he's had plenty of times, one he has now again that he's by himself.

If they're at home, they're safer, is what he thought.] I doubt you'll have any control over that. [Sorry for being a Debbie Downer.] However.

Being here with you might not be such a bad outcome. If they're your family, and if you have a strong bond, you are already a step ahead of some of the others who arrive alone. You would be closer to finding the hen.

I don't think the love the town wants us to acknowledge is only romantic love.

I know... I thought about that, too.

[ Because she did have bonds here. People she cared about, without it being romantic in the slightest. And she thinks if Hatsuharu or Kagura were here...

But then she thinks about Akito, and she thinks about her mother freezing over, put into danger, and slowly her hands ball into tight, troubled fists. ]

I'm... selfish, though. I don't want them... to be in danger here. Or to be separated... from the rest of our family.

And I don't want Akito-san to come here and...

[ Hurt her friends. Make her feel worthless. That thought scares her more than anything. ]

[This is what Damian can understand; not wanting family to be in danger, or separated, or tortured.] Mn. [It's an acknowledgment. Even if this Akito is something like family, Damian gets not wanting them here, too.

What if the town brought some of the criminals? Two-Face, Joker--it had already yanked Catwoman, though that woman and relationship is trickier.

He's quiet, and then, he offers:] I don't want my family to be here either. It's better for them to be in Gotham where they're safe. [Oh.] Look.

[He's come to a stop. They came quicker than he expected, and came with less trouble than he had imagined. Maybe their stint through the forest before was enough. (Maybe it'll get them on the way back.)] The bell. [Silver and about as big as their heads, small enough the ring will probably be high and soft. It looks like someone tied it to a tree.]

[ He gets it, at least. Even though she can remember what he'd been like when his father had disappeared.

Kisa pauses, gazing at the bell... and then glances at Damian, a little uncertainly. She'd never asked if he had a wish, but there's no better way to test it than both of them making one, right? ]

Can... can you go first?

[ She has to decide. On whether to wish for her family or if that's even something that will work, since Damian doesn't seem all that convinced that it will. Maybe that's beyond the town's capability. ]

[Dammit. Damian gives her a kind of momentary, disgruntled glance then peers up at the bell again. He doesn't want to go first because he hasn't thought a lot about it.

It feels... useless. Fickle? Like a birthday wish. Something required, but something that holds zero merit. Should he wish for something intangible? Proof of Jon's safety? No, that only means he didn't believe Jon had returned home alright. A clue to help them find the hen? Break the curse? Would the town even hold up that end of the bargain or would it be a waste?

He steps forward and stands beneath the bell with his hand on the rope and his head tipped back, eyes looking up. After an exceedingly long, considering moment, he jerks the rope lightly and rings the bell, letting the echo of it spill out through the woods.]

I wish for... a bottle of strawberry Ramune soda.

[what]

...

[ Kisa, if asked, would have honestly stated that she didn't expect that. Here she is, worrying about an intangible wish, concerned that her family would get caught up in this, and Damian just. Wishes for a bottle of soda. In a matter-of-fact voice, like it's only natural that this is what he would have asked.

It's such a strange thing to hear from him, and before she can help it, a startled laugh escapes. Very quietly, and she quickly presses a hand to her mouth to curb anything else, but.

Oops. ]

[Her laugh startles him because he hasn't really heard her do much of it, and his head swivels around almost like he forgot she had been there? He was Too Focused.

This makes him... somewhat embarrassed, but more exasperatedly again than anything else.] What's so funny? [Don't laugh at his good boy deed...] Maybe I enjoy soda. [Damian doesn't look like the type of person to enjoy anything much less enjoy and drink soda.]

It isn't for me.

[ That's honestly fair, because this is actually the first time Kisa's laughed since she came here. And she at least has the courtesy to look apologetic, while... smiling. OOPS. ]

I'm sorry... I was just surprised. But that was kind of you.

[ ... Maybe that's it. Maybe she needs to think about making a wish for someone else's sake and save the second wish for when she can think more about it. ]

[Damian and kindness don't belong in the same sentence, shh.

Stepping back, he offers her the rope without moving it enough to ring the bell.] Dextera was trying to make soda for Ichinose. [This isn't for Guren!!! IT'S FOR DEXTERA, FOR REAL.] Your turn.

Have you decided? You can wish for something from home that you don't have here, if you want.

[ He literally just wished for something for someone else, that's the epitome of being kind?? Damian????

Kisa studies the bell for a long moment, turning that idea over in her head. Something from home... there isn't really anything. Except maybe her mom's or Tohru's cooking, but that seems kind of like a silly wish to make. Besides, if Damian's making a wish for his friend...

That decides her, and she gives the rope a firm tug, looking up at the bell as it rings. ]

I wish... for Damian to get something important from home. So he isn't as lonely.

[ Ah, well. Yolo. ]

[What THE.] N-- [One hand lifts, barely. It's too late. The bell rings first, and as soon as she says the words, there isn't anything he can do. The contract is sealed.]

Nn. [He doesn't seem mad... maybe frustrated.] Why did you do that? You were supposed to wish for something for yourself.

[Shit. He's gonna have to find someone else to drag to make a wish so he can give Kisa something. Or, like, think of something he can do himself.]

[ Kisa (calmly, quietly, sincerely) does what she wants. That's why. As she lets go of the rope, she turns to look at him with a slightly curious cant of her head. ]

You didn't wish for yourself.

[His sigh is the hissing, pained sigh of one who has just had their friend playfully rebuke them.] Not the point. Do as I say, not as I do, girl. [It's... touching, and he doesn't want to admit it.] At least there's two wishes. You have another one you can try.

For yourself. [laugh_track.mp3] You could have wished for something for someone else. [More deserving, he thinks? Does Kisa know anyone else besides Sierra, he wonders.]

[ She does, but in terms of close friends, well. That's a little tougher.

For now, though, Kisa simply frowns. She can get why he'd want her to wish for herself, because Damian's like that. But telling her she ought to have wished for something for anyone else except him... ]

... Damian.

[ ... ]

You don't... really like yourself, do you?

[Straight for the heart. The pause might be all the answer she needs if she's perceptive enough. His frown may be one of the hardest he's had in front of her yet. Not angry. A tad defensive in the attempt to probably begin to slide into denial.] I like myself fine. [There it is.]

Your wish shouldn't be wasted on me, however. I don't need anything. [His brows don't soften so much as loosen in resignation.] I'm not the kind of person wishes should be given to by someone else.

[ In response, Kisa's gaze softens, shifts into something sad. Because that pause really had been all she'd needed, more than what he actually says. There may be things that fly over her head more often than not, but she's perceptive when it counts-- when someone hides what they're feeling behind short pauses or briefly widening eyes and quickly cover for it.

And to her, it's extremely sad that someone like Damian Wayne doesn't actually like himself enough, isn't confident in the one area that she thinks is probably the most important. ]

You're my friend. [ quietly, her eyebrows knitting together. ]

And I don't think I wasted it... no matter what you think. You're still an important person to me.

[Man, how many times has he heard this sort of things from others? Jon, Dextera. Having friends is painful. She's only doing the same thing he's doing, the same thing he does regularly.

But it just feels different to him.] I doubt you would think that if you knew half of the things I've done. There's better people to give a wish to than me.

I thought you were going to wish for your family to never come here.

I have one more wish.

[ Even though you told her it probably wouldn't work, punk. But Kisa continues to stare at him quietly, before she steps back and tilts her head back the way they came. Come on, Damian, let's meander back. ]

... But you won't know what I think if you don't tell me. And right now... I still think you deserve it.

[Without hesitation, he turns with her to head back toward town. He can't stop her from wasting one wish on him, but he might be able to keep himself from having to admit how terribly bloody his hands are. Jokes on him. It's like he forgets who he's talking to honestly.]

If you think I deserve it, you can use your second wish to see all of the things I've done. [He thinks she probably has something better to wish for; therefore, he has nothing to worry in regards to his his threat.] Then you'll change your mind.

Otherwise, they aren't something a girl should be hearing. All you need to know is they're bad.

...

[ Her eyebrows snap together, and while she's silent for a long minute, for once... there's absolutely no indication on how she feels just by looking at her. Her expression is entirely unreadable.

And then, finally: ]

If I... if you don't tell me yourself, then I don't want to know. I'm not going to use a wish just so... you can try to prove me wrong.

Asking me to wish for that instead of hearing it from you... just means you're not ready to believe in me yet. And that's fine.

... But don't say things like that-- that me being a girl means I need to be protected from hearing bad things.

[Good. Not good he made her upset. Good she won’t waste the wish on such awful things. Ugly of him to threaten her with it in the first place, but he thought maybe it would show her: he’s a rude, socially stunted brat. Hanging around him as a friend is the last thing she needs.

Jon had told him everyone at school was scared of him. His response? “Good.”] Make no mistake, it isn’t because you’re a girl. I’ve known plenty of girls who have experienced bad things for themselves. It’s because... [He shakes his head dismissively. He appreciates her feistiness about it. That she’ll tell him like it is, wants to hear it from him.]

It’s because you still believe in people.

[ Kisa is going to stick close to him out of stubbornness at this rate-- well, no. There's still fondness there. Just... something like frustration too.

He paints such a kind picture of her, but she's still that young tiger struggling to keep from running away from every single thing. She'd fled because she couldn't even believe in herself anymore. She couldn't believe in her classmates. Her mother. She'd been too afraid of disappointing everyone. ]

... Do you... really believe I'd hate you? If I knew?

I’m starting to believe you wouldn’t, and maybe that’s the most annoying part.

[He cuts a look over at her; it’s not angry and it’s not jeering. Confused maybe. He isn’t sure how to tackle this kind of stubbornness even after putting up with Jon for so incredibly long.]

It would take too long to tell. That’s how much I’ve done. I’m not of the mindset it couldn’t be fixed. Barely. Some things are unforgivable. But I don’t deserve unnecessary kindness. Especially not someone else’s wish they could have used for themselves.

Anyway, what’s done is done. If I even receive anything... I’ll show you. If I can.