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Danny was kind of getting concerned about Gotham's vigilantes. That's two, now, that have some kind of ghost core, though Robin's was apparently hibernating until just now unlike Hood's. He actually felt it wake up the closer the kid had gotten, felt the stutter of confusion and concern at sudden unfamiliar sensations and instincts warring with years of training and engrained belief. Danny had been about to ask Robin if he was okay when Hood moved, ever so carefully sitting down and repositioning him before slowly reaching out for Robin. The kid's core hitched with worry again, but Hood suffused his grounding rumble with comfort/care/warmth to help ease Robin's own purr into a pitch and rhythm much more comfortable and sustainable for such a young core. As Robin's purr started to relax into a tired/worried/comfortable trill, Hood let out a soft series of chirps that had the kid flashing a quick hand sign at the others before diving into Hood's arms next to Danny.
"You're still here," Robin trilled, sending off waves of relief/shock/amusement, and Danny's concern turned to confusion. Hood… Hood never left, though?
The sound of a throat clearing across the room seemed to break the moment. Hood's gaze was immediately locked onto Batman while Robin sniffled imperceptibly. After regaining his composure, Robin shifted within the cradle of Hood's arm both to sit more comfortably and, presumably, get a better look at Danny himself.
After a brief moment where Robin visibly looked Danny over, he nodded and said, "You seem to have come to no harm during any of the altercations. Normally, protocol would have us part here and now—" Hood let out a highly agitated hiss at that "—however, that would appear to be inadvisable at the moment. For the sake of expediency," here, Robin turned to address the room. "Myself, Hood, and Danny will meet the rest of you upon the roof after you are done dealing with the cops. Nightwing may come with us, Batman, if absolutely necessary, but only if he promises to follow any instructions I tell him to the letter."
The eldest vigilante was silent for a moment before nodding in agreement. "A reasonable assessment, Robin. Nightwing, it's up to you, you can follow Robin and Hood to the roof with Danny, with Robin's caveat in mind, or you can stay with Red and me as we finish cleanup."
"I think I'll head to the roof," Nightwing said. "If for no other reason then to stand guard."
"Very well, we'll meet up in ten minutes."
As soon as Batman finished speaking, Hood had Danny and Robin curled protectively in his arms and was halfway across the room, on his way to the nearest window. Danny faintly heard Nightwing curse before following after them, though he was more focused on Robin than anything. The kid had hidden it well earlier, but he was obviously still reeling from his core waking up, seemingly unaware of the aimless chirps and trills he'd started making again. Hopefully, any and all questions from all parties would be answered in short order and Danny would be able to get both Hood and Robin to the Far Frozen for some checkups.
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"Okay, why is the baby bird chirping and trilling like Danny was?" Jason asked the Pit. He still wasn't fully in control, but the Pit had settled enough to let him at least direct when and how they acted. "And how come I understood him when he trilled earlier?"
"T̷h̴e̶ ̴B̴a̶b̴y̵ ̷B̶i̸r̶d̵ ̵i̵s̴ ̵l̸i̶k̶e̵ ̴O̴u̶r̵s̸,̸ ̵h̴e̶ ̴i̸s̴ ̸L̴i̸v̵i̵n̸g̴ ̵a̶n̴d̷ ̷N̵o̵t̸.̴ ̴W̸e̵ ̶n̶e̶v̸e̵r̷ ̷m̴e̴t̵ ̷t̵h̶e̸ ̷B̷a̴b̴y̵ ̴B̷i̷r̴d̷ ̷b̸e̶f̶o̴r̶e̵ ̸p̸a̵r̸t̴ ̴o̵f̶ ̴U̴s̷ ̵S̸p̷o̴k̵e̷ ̶f̶o̸r̵ ̸h̶i̴m̵,̵ ̷s̶o̷ ̵W̴e̷ ̴c̶a̶n̵n̵o̴t̴ ̶s̸a̴y̵ ̷h̴o̵w̶ ̸o̶r̶ ̷w̴h̸y̴," the Pit said as they climbed the fire escape. "O̸u̶r̷s̷ ̸w̷o̶u̴l̸d̷ ̴k̵n̴o̶w̸ ̴b̷e̷t̶t̴e̶r̷.̸" As they reached the roof, Jason had the Pit wait for Dick to catch up. "W̵h̸y̵ ̵d̷o̸ ̷W̵e̵ ̶w̴a̶i̵t̸ ̶f̷o̵r̵ ̶t̴h̵i̵s̸ ̸o̶n̴e̴ ̸w̶h̴e̵n̷ ̷O̵u̴r̸s̸ ̸a̷n̵d̵ ̵t̴h̴e̷ ̵B̴a̶b̶y̷ ̷B̷i̴r̸d̴ ̷n̵e̷e̵d̶ ̵U̵s̵?̴"
"Cuz baby bird asked for the big bird to come with us," Jason explained, mentally tracking his older brother by the faint sound of his footsteps on the fire escape before them. "We gotta take his desires into account, after all. Both of them, not just Damian's."
"W̵e̶ ̵d̸i̵d̴ ̵n̶o̴t̴ ̴h̴e̵a̸r̸ ̴t̷h̶e̷ ̸B̷a̷b̷y̴ ̵B̵i̶r̸d̷ ̶a̸s̵k̸ ̷f̸o̵r̶ ̸t̸h̴i̴s̷ ̸o̴n̵e̶'̶s̵ ̸p̴r̵e̷s̴e̵n̶c̶e̸,̴ ̸W̷e̴ ̵h̶e̷a̴r̶d̵ ̸t̵h̶e̸ ̸B̵a̷b̵y̴ ̸B̶i̶r̸d̸ ̸s̶a̷y̸ ̵t̶h̴i̸s̶ ̸o̷n̷e̴ ̶c̷o̸u̸l̴d̸ ̷f̷o̸l̶l̷o̶w̸ ̸i̶f̸ ̸h̸i̴s̷ ̶P̴a̸r̸e̷n̶t̶ ̵r̴e̴q̸u̶i̴r̴e̵d̴ ̷i̴t̴,̷" the Pit responded, sounding both miffed and confused.
Jason snorted. "Yeah, it took us a while to figure it out, but that's how he asks for things like our presence or our opinions. If he really didn't want Dickiebird around, he wouldn't have offered to let him tag along in the first place, and would have thrown a big ol' fuss if B had suggested it anyway. Trust me, the baby bird wants the big bird nearby."
"I̵n̶t̷e̴r̶e̷s̶t̵i̷n̷g̸…̴ ̷a̸n̷d̴ ̸H̵e̸ ̸w̴o̶u̵l̸d̸ ̴h̴a̶v̵e̷ ̵r̷e̵j̶e̷c̶t̶e̴d̴ ̴U̷s̶ ̶i̴f̷ ̸W̵e̷ ̷w̸e̸r̴e̴ ̶o̶u̷t̴ ̴o̵f̶ ̴l̵i̴n̶e̴.̶ ̴H̶e̴ ̴d̷i̵d̷ ̶n̴o̴t̸,̶ ̷s̵o̷ ̷W̵e̸ ̵p̸r̵o̴c̴e̸e̵d̴e̵d̷ ̶w̸i̸t̸h̴ ̶C̸l̴a̴i̷m̷i̴n̷g̵ ̸H̶i̶m̶.̴ ̸I̷t̷ ̶i̷s̷—̴"
"—It's fair, yeah, I know. So you've said. But what if he didn't know what you were doing? Or what he was doing by not rejecting us?"
"H̷e̸ ̸i̸s̴ ̶K̴i̶n̷g̶.̵ ̸O̸f̷ ̶c̶o̸u̶r̸s̵e̶ ̸O̸u̷r̴s̸ ̴k̶n̸e̵w̵.̷ ̴B̸u̷t̴…̵ ̷i̵f̸ ̴i̵t̸ ̶w̷o̴u̴l̷d̵ ̵m̶a̸k̶e̷ ̸p̸a̶r̸t̷ ̵o̷f̴ ̴U̷s̵ ̸f̷e̸e̴l̶ ̵b̵e̷t̷t̸e̵r̷,̴ ̷W̶e̷ ̴w̴i̴l̷l̷ ̷c̶o̵n̷v̵e̴r̴s̷e̴ ̸w̴i̷t̸h̷ ̷O̸u̶r̴s̸ ̸t̶o̴ ̶m̸a̸k̵e̴ ̶s̵u̵r̴e̴ ̴H̴e̵ ̵k̶n̶e̶w̷.̶"
"Thank you," Jason sighed. "It would make me feel better." At that, Dick joined them on the roof, carefully regulating his breathing in such a way that made Jason want to wince. Apparently they were pretty fast when sharing control of their body like this, faster than Jason had thought they were.
"Alright, baby bat, where do you want me?" Dick asked, carefully broadcasting with his body language that he didn't want to fight. Worry was lining his face, though, and from the way Damian's trills and chirps had taken on a more distraught edge, Jason wasn't the only one who'd caught it.
"Hey… if I know Dickiebird, he's freaking out right now and desperately needs some reassurance that the baby bird and Danny are okay. I know Damian won't say anything, but he probably needs some Dickie cuddles right about now, too. If we let big bird close enough to hug the stuffing out of the baby bird and see for himself that Danny's alright, that'd go a long way to calming the little hellion down," Jason offered the Pit as the rumbling purr in their chest became infused with care/comfort/safety.
The Pit seemed to think on that for a bit before asking, "P̶a̸r̶t̴ ̵o̷f̶ ̴U̵s̵ ̵t̷r̸u̶s̸t̷s̵ ̷t̶h̶i̷s̶ ̷o̶n̴e̴ ̶w̵i̴t̴h̸ ̶O̶u̸r̷s̵ ̷a̵n̸d̸ ̴t̶h̶e̸ ̷B̶a̴b̸y̸ ̴B̸i̸r̸d̵?̴"
"Yeah. I'd trust him with my vintage Jane Austin collection, I trust him with these two," Jason replied.
"V̵e̸r̷y̵ ̷w̷e̵l̵l̴,̴" the Pit said as the baby bird started to tell Dick how close was probably too close to stand. "D̸i̶c̵k̵i̸e̴b̸i̵r̷d̷,̶ ̶a̸s̵ ̷p̸a̸r̷t̵ ̵o̴f̷ ̸U̴s̶ ̸c̴a̷l̷l̴s̵ ̵t̷h̶i̷s̶ ̸o̷n̴e̶,̴ ̸m̴a̸y̴ ̴a̶p̶p̴r̴o̵a̴c̷h̸.̵"
"No," their mouth chirped. Damian stopped mid sentence and all three of them turned to stare at them. They sat down cross-legged on the gravely rooftop, Danny resting on one leg and Damian on the other. "He is Trusted. He may approach."
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"No. He is Trusted. He may approach."
Damian could practically feel Danny's surprise at Jason's declaration, which made him hesitate. He'd felt the implied capitalization to the click-trill associated with "trust", knew it meant more than he'd been initially inclined to believe, but Damian's knowledge of how to handle this situation was built on a mixture of his memories of the stories about the Waters' Avatar and his experience with various nesting mother animals. If Danny, who obviously knew more about what was going on than the rest of them did, reacted strongly to something said or done, it was worth noting.
However, he'd just been given permission to have Richard closer than he'd expected any time soon. Damian wasn't going to turn that boon away.
"... Correction, Nightwing, it seems I was mistaken. I will tell you when you're too close, if you cannot figure that out for yourself," Damian said while keeping an eye on Jason's helmeted head, the buzzing in his chest seemingly reaching out for something from his brother. When the soothing/calming rumble in Jason's chest gained a note of reassurance, Damian decided that must have been what was being sought after as he felt some of the tension in his shoulders relax.
"Alright, if you're sure, baby bat," Richard said. Trusting this new sense of his to give him ample warning if Jason changed his mind, Damian glanced at Danny sitting next to him. The older boy was whipping his attention back and forth between Damian's oldest brothers like he was watching a tennis match, incredulous surprise and enthusiastic curiosity pouring off him in waves. Satisfied, Damian finished turning back to Richard, finding his attention was firmly settled on Jason as he slowly, casually, reduced the distance between them to almost nothing. Finally, just out of standard reach, Richard slowed to a stop and crouched down, keeping his hands loose and away from any weapons, as Damian had exemplified earlier. "Is this alright, little wing?" Richard asked Jason, who, a quick glance back showed, had cocked his head almost like a bird.
There was a short, tense almost-silence, where Jason seemed to be staring Richard down while Richard stared back, Danny and Damian stuck between them, before the arm that had been bracing Damian against Jason unexpectedly snapped out and a clawed hand carefully yet securely snagged one of Richard's. Damian and Danny had a brief moment of shared alarm before Richard was dragged off balance and nearly headbutted Damian had the man not managed to redirect himself at the last second. At some point, Jason let Richard go, only to pin him to Damian with the same arm he'd grabbed him with. "Hmmm. Better," Jason trilled, the rumble in his chest flashing from soothing/calming/reassurance to pride/amusement/contentment and back in the span of a heartbeat.