𝕊𝕆𝕃𝕀𝕍𝔸𝔾𝔸ℕ𝕋║[ᴅ. ᴡᴀʏɴᴇ]

ᴅɪᴀᴘʜᴀɴᴏᴜꜱ

He was hanging from the ceiling.

Vin sighed, "Do you ever have one of those days where you know the universe will go out of its way to fuck your shit up at every turn?" He asked the ninja guy stationed by his dramatically fashioned trap. Naturally, the man didn't answer and stared ahead, hand on the cord wrap of his literal sword. What era has he been hijacked into?

He was donning his uniform as Spade but discovered his mask absent as he awoke on the film setup of Wipeout: X-Treme (We Gons Kill Ya). He was attached to a pulley system, constrained by rope, tied from shoulders to ankles, and suspended over the most pretentious and royal-looking room ever.

Since his guard didn't seem eager to chat, the criminal with a heart of gold started jerking his bound legs back and forth until his entire body was flying back and forth like he was spending his carefree younger years on the world's most macabre swing set.

Vin noted the small side eye the ninja cast him. Deciding that he was bored and didn't really care, he added a few colorful twirls and let out a few little noises of excitement as he pivoted around. He wasn't too concerned that the rope would snap, considering it was made from a flexible breed of metal.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." A serene voice curled into his ears. Footsteps clacked into the room, purposefully audible and heavy.

Vin shrugged the best he could in his restraints. "Considering the only activities here comprise of hitting, stabbing, and staring at nothing, I've found that you have to create your own fun."

"Training, sparring, and meditation, child." The woman countered. Her steady gait came to a halt as she stood directly below him. Her stare was deliberate, sharp, shrewd. Familiar.

Vin gave her a brief lookover with a dull, indecipherable bearing. "I know meeting the parents is meant to be awkward and uncomfortable, but this is ridiculous." He declared dryly. The woman was silent for a few seconds, then waved her hand to the guard, who bowed and pressed a large button on a nearby panel. With a jerk, he was being lowered to firma terra.

His teeth gritted as his boots brushed along the surface of the ground. He observed the woman's rigid but confident form as she climbed the stone steps onto the metal platform he was hanging over. She leaned down, getting way too close for comfort, and stared into his eyes. Three minutes, one hundred and eighty seconds, floated by before she finally stood to full height.

"How did you surmise our relation?" She asked.

Ah. "The eyes." He replied without much trouble.

Her olive eyes narrowed into slits, "Explain."

Vin laughed. It was short, as he was out of breath and energy from the weariness overtaking him and the unnecessarily tight cords wrapped around his body. "I would recognize those greens anywhere. I see them every night."

"He dons a mask at night, child."

"Not in my dreams." Vin allowed his mouth to curve into a small, nostalgic gleam. There's a good chance he won't be getting out of this unscathed (or even alive), so he figures now would be the perfect time to be honest with himself, even if it is with Damian's batshit psycho mother.

Wouldn't he know it would take the threat of imminent death to get him to discuss his feelings? His seven therapists would be so proud!

Or horrified. Yes. Definitely horrified.

"The setting is always different. Sometimes we're stargazing during a patrol or sitting on Pioneer's Bridge and eating burgers from the diner on Grand Avenue..." He bowed his face down, flexing his fingers with the small lease the ropes afforded. "Whether in his school uniform, the Robin outfit, pajamas, a prison jumpsuit, or his favorite green hoodie, it's always him. It doesn't matter what my subconscious bakes up, how far I run, or how much I try to deny it to myself, to everyone, to the entire world. I'm weak when he looks at me like I matter. Like I'm more than some object of murder and pain and death."  He barely managed to prevent his voice from cracking. "I can't escape them. Those emeralds will follow me to the ends of the universe. They haunt me." His face fell as he looked at the woman's face, his stare boring into her green eyes.