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Who: Stephanie Brown and YOU??
What: Sighing a lot and getting tar everywhere
When: Today!
Where: The castle grounds
Rating: PG

Tar, tar everywhere. It was black, sticky, and warm to the touch--which Steph discovered, as it clung to her arms and neck. It didn't take too long for her to realize that many in the castle were being afflicted by this, so she tried to tough through it. It would stop eventually, and she had things to do. There was still a lot to be done in the city, before she and Cass left on the expedition.

However, the more she touched, the more tar seemed to come from her hands.

She wasn't going to be useful to anyone today, let alone herself, she came to realize.

What was the logical response?

To lay down on the grass in front of the castle, of course. Maybe if she didn't touch anything for a while, the sticky goo would recede. In the meanwhile, staring at the sky seems like a good option.

Yeah, castle. She gets the irony. She messes up everything she touches. Ha ha.

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Brings a hand to his neck, pushing some of his hair away so the scar like designs are easier to see.

"I know what this is meant to remind me of. The time that Gotham was almost lost to a gang war, and Anarky tried taking Gotham hostage."

His eyes narrow as his mind wanders back to that time.

"His brother and sister..." No, he's not going to dive into that. He doesn't have to. Steph was there, she knows exactly what happened to them.

"And then of course, there's everything that followed between the two of us."

If her hands were clean, she'd touch those designs, but all she can do is frown further.

"I remember."

She rests her hands on her thighs, leaving black, smeared prints.

"I'm sure this will be over soon. I think we just have to keep occupied. Don't let it take over, okay?"

"I won't." Responds firmly.

"In the past couple of day, countless lives have been ruined. Homes were destroyed, families were separated, lively hoods were thrashed, and people died. I'm trying to do what I can to bring some normalcy back into their lives, so are others, and what does the castle do? Throw a huge distraction our way."

Tim voice is laced with anger.

"I'm done with the castle trying to control me. I know I screwed up, I don't need blood or ink smears to remind me that people died because of the decisions I made. But I can't constantly look back. If I do, I'm going to get stuck there, and I won't be able to help anyone."

The tone isn't something most would smile at, but the words are. Steph's glad to hear them, and is glad he's not turning that anger towards her. Hey, maybe they have a chance of surviving each other after all, castle be damned.

"Hell yeah."

"This place has already taken so much from us. You've seen countless people you care about come and go, my memories were twisted around, and Cass has lost Babs." Tim shoots a glare over at the castle, before returning his attention back to Steph.

"Paradisa doesn't get to win this time around. I'm not going to focus on the mistakes I made back then. I'm going to think about the people who helped me save Gotham, Bruce coming back to us more human than he had been in years, and how my amazing girlfriend let me use her as a pillow last night because I was too exhausted to walk more than ten feet."

There's the guy she loves. She can't use her hands, but she can lean forward to press her forehead to his.

"Exactly. Paradisa loves digging up the past. Not long before you got here, it let people walk into our nightmares. Both Lana and Lucrezia ended up meeting Black Mask," she said softly, thinking back and remembering how embarrassing that was. That was a personal memory. Talking about it was one thing, but having others actually know what she saw? It was intrusive.

"You're handling this precisely the way the castle doesn't you to. And that's great."

She was proud of him.

Tar be damned. At the mention of Black Mask, he reaches for one of her hands.

"I've been letting it get to me all day. When I first saw you, my mind flashed back to the conversation we had up on the roof top, and I was angry. My mind kept going back there, just like it did when we had our last argument. Then I got to thinking about what happened after."

Shakes his head.

"How can I lash out at the person who has been so caring and loving towards me?" Squeezes her hand, most likely getting tar all over his fingers.

"The castle's going to have to deal with not liking a lot of things."

"Yeah, please no fights when I don't have much time left with you before going on an expedition for who knows how long and you're getting your hand all gross," she says in one breath.

This was one bullet dodged.

"We've both screwed up a lot, and not just with each other. Anything is fair game."

"I have ink spreading across my head, and blood keeps trickling down my chest. Getting my hand messy isn't going to make much of a difference."

Smirks at her briefly. Then his expression grows serious again.

"I screwed up with Cass. Back when we were in Bludhaven, she told me she wanted to work with me--she asked me to be her Robin. I turned her down and went off to do my own thing. Not that long after, she ended up leaving town and dying. Then after everything that happened in Bludhaven..."

Shakes his head.

"I should have taken her up on her offer. I could have helped her out, tried to stop everything that happened. Then Cass would still be Cass." Although in the past couple of months back home, she had become much more Cass like.

In that case, she'll put her other hand over his as she listens to him. Whenever Tim opens up like this, especially nowadays, she makes sure to be attentive and show it.

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

Shakes his head.

"It doesn't matter. We're the only family she's ever had. She doesn't remember having Babs, and we both left her." They had their reasons, but that didn't change the fact that they abandoned her. Seeing Cass like she is now is a sharp reminder of how badly he messed up in that regard.

"While we can't change what happened back home, we can make up for it here. " Glances down at his not, not where the blood is, but over at the side where he use to wear his R emblem.

"We will, and we are. We're both here for her, and usually within arm's reach. Pretty sure you know that if I'm not sleeping next you, I'm sleeping next to her," she smiles. It's been nice, having them so close. "We're doing everything right."

She hopes so, at least.

"Think she'll still want her own Robin, even if it's a Red Robin?"

"Without a doubt."

"You don't think the other Batgirl who runs around here will be too jealous, do you?"

"No, I don't think so. She knows she has Red Robin when she needs him," she says, affectionately nuzzling her face against his. How gross they must look, him in blood and her in tar, but she doesn't really care right now.

"Any time she needs him, he'll be there." Chuckles slightly, the tar rubbing against his cheek is making him ticklish.

"Look at you, laughing at a time like this," she pulls back to take a good, long look at him.

"You don't have to worry about me being jealous, for the record." That was soooo last relationship. She'd like to think, anyway. What she says and what she might end up feeling could be two different things.

Feels a twinge of guilt, thinking back to his conversation with Cass the other day.

"Good, that's good."

Good thing she can't read minds.

"Part of the mature adult thing."

Cass and Steph are about to go on a long trip together, that's bound to have a good deal of free time. Which leads to lots of time to talk, which means he needs to fess up now before it turns into a mess later on

"I'm glad to hear you say that, because there's something I wanted to mention to you. You know how you find Ezio attractive, but you're fully committed to me?"

"Uhh..." Ezio conversations pop up at the strangest time. She thinks now is a good time to sit on her rump and cross her legs.

"Yes?"

"I guess you could say I feel the same way about Cass." Ahem. "Emphasis on the fully committed to you part." And don't forget about the not being jealous for the record.

"Huh," comes the intelligent response. "That's... natural. Cass is Cass, she's amazing, not to mention gorgeous."

Definitely not jealous, no. Steph just needs a moment to process! Right.

She has to wonder if it really is exactly the same way she feels about Ezio--the idea of Tim cuddling with Cass like she cuddles up with Ezio doesn't bother her too much, though she's not so sure it'd be the same for Tim if he knew how close they really were.

Maybe she shouldn't think about the parallels too much. She clears her throat.

"It's not a big surprise or anything."

Watches her carefully. She seems to be reacting a-okay. Maybe all is well and she meant what she said about not being jealous. Sighs in relief, feeling like he just took a significant weight off of his shoulders.

"I'm glad you're cool with it. Cass is amazing, and she deserves to be with someone amazing. "Gives her hand another squeeze. "I'm lucky enough that I've already found my amazing person."

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