— when the world’s caving in and the world S T O P S to hear the VOICES beckoning me towards the rocks — lie awake [ watch the city ] sleep silent road watch the crowds leave their seats and the credits roll i B E L I E V E in you it’s not over i will stand [ in the eye ] of the STORM
“Yes. I came back to the ball and I saw pictures,pillows,my house was upside down. A totally mess. I made some bags and grab my cat and then I walked alone trying to found a hotel to stay” Donna sigh. This was too painful to say. “I think that the protesters take this too far this time” she said. “That’s ok. I’m not mad at you. Actually I never get mad at you” she replied. “I know how you feel. This ban is stupid” she rolled her eyes a bit. “Let me think about it” she said pretending that she was thinking to forgive him. “Whatever. I’ll always forgive you” she laughed. “You are staying at the hotel too?” she asked.
dick’s expression dropped as he listened to donna recount her experiences. “i’m so sorry, don. that’s the absolute epitome of shitty right there.” hearing everyone else’s stories, seeing their homes being ripped apart and decimated overnight - it was only making him angrier. “i wish i could offer you someplace to stay, but i was planning on holing up in here until i can get it fixed back up, show whoever did this that i wont be moved y’know. you found somewhere to stay right?” it sounded silly, but dick refused to allow the culprit the satisfaction of driving him out of his home. “i’m definitely going to hold you to that, y’know.” dick chuckled. “just in case i mess up really bad.”
Zach looked up in surprise when the man spoke, he hadn’t been paying attention to where he’d been going. His dove was still at the vet; he’d been told her injuries could kill her and the next few hours were critical, he couldn’t stay there and wait, so he’d walked, almost in a stupor, he wasn’t even sure where he was. “W-what?” he said quietly, looking at the piece of spandex, the meaning lost on him. Hardly his usual dynamic self he only repeated “What?” at the next question, turned and saw the rubbish bags, oh, that he could do, a distraction if only for a moment. “sgaB ot eht pmud.” he mumbled, the bags vanishing and reappearing at the nearest dump site. He licked his lips, sniffed and muttered, “Done.”
“it was my first...” dick began to explain the significance of the suit, but stopped himself upon noticing zach’s disconnected state. “hey...you alright, man?” he asked, concern weighing on his tone. “why don’t you take a seat, ok?” gingerly, he grabbed zach’s elbow and tried to lead him towards the mostly in-tact sofa. as soon as the spell left the other’s mouth, the garbage bags disappeared from sight. “thanks.” he chuckled half-heartedly. “lemme guess...you got hit too?”
Emma was just – walking past, really. She did not intend to stop and talk to the man. She was just going around town to see the damage. She had heard the rumors that the damage seemed to be mutant-caused and it was hard to deny that looking at some of these places. She had never seen humans manage damage like this outside of war.
“A hand? No. Absolutely not,” Emma shakes her head. She wasn’t touching someone else’s garbage. Though, she supposed, she did not have to touch it. Maybe if she was helpful he would have some information. She made a gesture though and some of the bags lifted themselves. “Where do they go?” She said with a mildly irritated sigh.
“fair enough.” dick replied, masking his displeasure with a thinly-veiled smile. figuring that was the end of the conversation, he went back to work wading through the aftermath. it’s fair to say he was a little surprised when the figure remained in the doorway. it’s also fair to say that he was even more surprised when his garbage bags began to fly. “oh, uh...” dick nodded towards the street. “just right by the curb’s fine. thanks.” his gratitude sounded more like a question than an appropriate expression of appreciation, eyebrows furrowed in mild confusion. “so - are you...” he trailed off, quickly abandoning the question. “were you targeted too?” correcting himself, dick adjusted his posture, gaze drifting to the dancing garbage bags every few seconds.
ted looked down at the kid on the floor before looking back around at the mess. “what happened ??” the man asked as he took a few steps towards dick, trying not to step on anything important. the man had been hesitant about his move to star city but now he knew that his friends were going to need him. “when was the last time you even wore that ?” he asked as he shook his head. “sure –– it’s not like i’ve got much else to do today.”
“wish i could tell ya.” dick responded, a tired irritation behind his voice. “someone’s trying to get a message out there, loud and clear.” as he spoke, his gaze drifted around the demolished room. fortunately, talk of his old, tragic suit pulled him out of his anger and put a smile on his face. “last time i wore it? my nightmares, dude.” he chuckled, picking up two garbage bags and shoving them towards the other. “awesome. shouldn’t take too long with double the hands. i’d offer you a beer as compensation, but the door to my fridge got ripped clean off.”
“Oh, shit.” Zatanna carefully picked her way among the debris until she was nearer to her friend. “This happened to Art and Wall too…” As she stood there taking in the chaos, she felt even worse that for some reason people close to her had been targeted like this. Of course, risk came with the life they had all once lead, but their identities weren’t public like hers. So distracted she was that when Dick held up his old costume, she couldn’t help a startled laugh. “Oh my god, I forgot that one– I think you need to put it on so I can properly remember.” Her teasing was accompanied by a sweet smile and raised eyebrows. At his request, she nodded, opening her mouth to release a spell on instinct before stopping and tilting her head. “Would using magic freak out any neighbors? I could carry it all by hand, buuut…”
“yeah. oh shit’s right.” dick chuckled, scanning the fallout one more time. “i heard. apparently some people got hit way worse than i did - honestly, i’m just grateful i’ve still got three and a half walls standing.” taking a deep breath, he kicked absentmindedly at a cracked hunk of drywall. “the mess monster missed you, though?” there was a certain degree of relief that washed over dick knowing that at least one of his friends came out unscathed. and he was even more relieved that the friend was zatanna. “i wish i could forget this one.” dick rolled his eyes melodramatically, holding the suit against his body, showcasing it in all its glory. “honestly, i don’t think this thing would even fit anymore. this booty’s grown a little since the good ol’ days.” turning around, he stuck his butt out and gave it a little shake, peering over his shoulder with an amused grin. he read the tabloids. he all about the hype around nightwing’s glutes. moving on from the subject of his ass, dick flung the suit haphazardly onto the semi-intact couch and grabbed a couple of the garbage bags instead. “god forbid! we wouldn’t want to risk you chipping a nail, would we?” a shit-eating grin spread across his face as he teased his friend. “kidding. honestly though, i don’t think anything could freak the neighbors out any more than they already are. have at it.”
Donna laughed softly at him. “This is horrible” she laughed again. “Sure,clumsy boy” she giggle again. “Just you to make me laugh like this. I’m on an awful day” she groan and bite her lips nervous. “I didn’t know that you were here on Star City” she said trying not thinking too much about about happened with her house and helped him. “Why didn’t you call or text me? You know that I’m a worried person” she said looking at him pretending that she was mad at him.
“yeah, tell me about it.” he sighed. “you get hit too?” reaching an arm up, dick scratched the back of his neck, trying his best to maintain an optimistic front. “eh, well, y’know...” he shrugged in response to her question, a guilty chuckle slipping past his lips. “can’t blame me for wanting to lay low lately, with everything going on. it’s nothing personal, believe me. if it makes you feel any better, i didn’t tell anybody that didn’t need to know.” in short, the list included bruce, damian, tim, jason, babs, and alfred. flashing a sweet grin, he batted his eyelashes at his good friend. “think you can find it in your big, beautiful, amazonian heart to forgive me?”
“-oh. hey.” dick was distracted, sitting cross-legged on the floor among heaps of debris. it had taken hours, but he was just about done sifting through the cracked tile and broken glass, salvaging anything worth saving. “sorry, i was just sorting through all this stuff. open door policy still stands.” he gestured towards the gaping hole in the wall where the door used to be. with a half-hearted chuckle, he picked himself up off the ground and dusted his pants off. “hey, i mean...at least i’ve still got this.“ he bent over and picked up a limp piece of blue and gold shimmering spandex- a relic of the the bad fashion decisions he’d so love to forget. “anyways,” he sighed. “since you’re here...any way you could give me a hand real quick?” glancing over his shoulder, dick gestured to a pile of overflowing garbage bags by what used to be the front door.
The day following the party and a successful job found Yondu and his crew with more money but no closer to getting the Eclector fixed up enough to leave. The type to always prefer being in space to being planet-side, Yondu felt the familiar thrum of impatience as he worked on what he could of the ship. One of the only sort of blessings was that the Eclector had crashed pretty outside of the city limits – although that didn’t stop the Centurian from being a bit suspicious that some Terran might accidentally stumble on the ship.
So while most of the other Ravagers had decided to stay more in the city, Yondu had elected to spend most of his time onboard. He’d sealed everything up and then made his way back toward Star City, freezing once he was quite a bit away from the ship, red eyes narrowing before he whistled sharply. The Yaka arrow soared up, circling almost lazily around the Centurian’s head. “There a reason for ya bein’ all the way out here?” Yondu asked loudly, as though whoever it was wouldn’t be wondering the same about him.
a gruff voice pulled dick out of his headspace, head jerking in the direction of the sound. eyes following the arrow, he took a deep breath. “there is.” he quipped back sharply. “coincidentally, it’s also none of your business.” dick’s tone was unnecessarily shrewd, lacking its characteristic playful spark. to be fair, his home had been invaded and essentially destroyed just a few hours beforehand.
truthfully, dick kinda hoped that it was the centurian’s business. he’d wandered out to the sticks following a lead (a flimsy one, but a lead nonetheless). unsurprisingly, it was a dead end. so, in an effort to clear his tireless mind, dick took the opportunity to squeeze in a jog around the outskirts of star city. nothing seemed to ground him more than a heart-pounding, sweat-inducing ol’ run around gotham. unfortunately, gotham was currently out of the picture and he could always get to know star city better, anyways. “same could be said for you, buddy. seems like you’re a long way from kansas.” there was apprehension in his voice - eyes narrowing in to a suspicious gaze.
is that FINN WITTROCK? no, that’s DICK GRAYSON also known by some as NIGHTWING but the world thinks he is just a SECURITY OPERATIVE AT WAYNE ENTERPRISES. if I’m not mistaken HE is TWENTY-EIGHT and he was AGAINST the hero ban. (ooc meg, she/her, 18, est)
ayyyyyy idk if y’all remember me but i played dick for a little while and had to leave about a month ago bc i started college and things were getting hectic af!! but i’m all settled in and things have quieted down so i’m back (holla)!!! anyways u guys know the drill message me for plots blah blah blah… i’m just gonna copy and paste my original intro post bc im lazy and nothing’s rlly changed. ( SIDE NOTE: i’m going to drop all the threads and little plots that I had going before i left, but if you wanna keep one of ‘em going lmk!!! )
( disclaimer: if any of this clashes with the canon of your own character, PLEASE shoot me a message and i will change the SHIT outta it! )
dick’s childhood was equally unconventional and tragic - as the youngest member of the flying graysons, his first couple years were a montage of circus tents and touring cities. at twelve years old, dick witnessed the horrific death of his parents after a trapeze snapped in the middle of a show.
long story short, this event catalyzed bruce wayne’s interest in him and it wasn’t long before dick had taken on the mantle of robin, tights and all.
after several years of prancing around on the rooftops, the idea of being batman’s ‘sidekick’ grew less and less appealing. at this point, dick felt like his capabilities were exceeding his current namesake, and so he abandoned the tunic and tights (tragic, i know) for black and blue spandex. thus, nightwing was born.
it was around this time that whispers of a new band of young heroes forming in the shadow of the justice league were circulating around the city. dick, eager to separate himself from being ‘batman’s sidekick’ for the rest of eternity, jumped at the opportunity to join what was now the teen titans.
during his stint as pseudo-leader of the teen titans, rumors of the SRP were beginning to circulate. it goes without saying that dick was at the forefront of the resistance against this new legislation, but the efforts were ultimately futile.
forced by the hand of the SRP, the tt disbanded and left dick stuck between a rock and a hard place. not seeing any other way to fulfil his yearning for justice, he enrolled in the police academy. he emerged at the top of his class and was thrust into the tumult of star city as a rookie officer.
after a short year and a half with the force, all hell broke loose when it started to rain aliens. unsurprisingly, he took the opportunity to dust of the nightwing mantle and fight alongside the rest of his family. when the invasion was over, dick couldn’t bear to return to the police force, instead returning to wayne industries as a “security operative.” this wasn’t so much a real job as a title to appease the public, but dick knew in his heart of hearts that he needed to be with the batfam in order to combat the hero ban.
If we’re right, people lose homes. People lose jobs. People lose retirement savings, people lose pensions. You know what I hate about fucking banking? It reduces people to numbers.
Stephanie faced the older boy, quite unsure of how to feel or what to think “Yeah, ‘cause nightwing actually makes a lot of sense…” she commented, now making a perfect circle out of her steps “Don’t you dare compare me to condiment king!” she exclaime fiercely. Few seconds later she expressed an evil grin “Just kidding.”
“ touche. “ dick nodded, the corners of his lips curling into a grin. “ i mean, not to be that guy, but there’s actually an equally touching and endearing story behind the name. it’s beside the point, though. “ watching stephanie’s expression take a turn for the scary, dick blinked a few times, eyebrows raised in surprise. “ woah - “ he began, ready to put out the flames, but he was cut off before he could finish. “ man, that was cold. “ he laughed, visibly relaxing. “ maybe i underestimated you, spoiler. “
jason figured he was going to have to see dick sooner or later, though he really had been banking on later, rather than sooner. he was still trying to figure out what he was doing with himself now that ra’s was out of his body, now that he had the new job and was really trying to set things right with himself. maybe if he did that, bridges that had been burned could be rebuilt, though he definitely wasn’t holding out hope. things were so broken between him and so many people, it was hard to believe that they could ever be fixed. maybe there could be a quick patch, but it would always come off and the wound would still be there.
“oh, yeah,” he replied sarcastically. “i’m just over here living my all-american, blueberry pie eating life.” jason gestured vaguely at some sheets of paper spread out in front of him, manila files open as he filled out paperwork. “i’m working,” he replied simply, glancing down at what he was writing and finishing his sentence before closing the file. this was all sensitive information, anyway. he leaned back, rubbing his face with both hands, groaning softly. “did you want something, or are you here to just make my life more hellish than it already has been lately?”
the tension in that booth was so tangible it could slap you in the face. dick couldn’t help but laugh at the coincidental nature of the whole situation. truthfully, he didn’t think he’d be face-to-face with jason without actively seeking him out. funny how the world works sometimes.
“ hey - blueberry pie is a universal desert. everybody likes blueberry pie. “ his words were spoken with such conviction that one might think he was defending his family’s legacy or pointing out the holes in a court case. “ working. “ he repeated lazily, scanning the papers that lay between them before they were hidden away. “ whatcha workin’ on? what’ve you been up to lately? “ any intel dick had on jason came secondhand from roy, so it’s safe to say that dick was pretty much in the dark. as many times as he’d played out this conversation in his head, as badly as he wanted this, he couldn’t find the right words. frankly, he didn’t know exactly what he wanted out of this meeting. “ come on, jay. “ dick gave a melancholic smile, obviously unimpressed with his brother’s dramatics. “ we both know we’ve had our...differences in the past. no secret there. but you know i don’t live my life constantly plotting over how to ruin your life. “ leaning back into the booth, dick threw his hands up in surrender. “ i just came for the pie, honest. believe it or not, i’m just as surprised as you are. “
