Batman Beyond: Double Trouble (closed)

[Eazy]

The remainder of the night had gone along rather uneventfully compared to the earlier portion. There remained a lot of concerns which weighed heavily on Terry's mind long after he finished changing for bed after returning to his room. Laying there under the covers - one arm pulled back with his head resting upon the palm between the back of his head and the pillow beneath it - Terry stared silently at the ceiling of the room kept for himself when needing to stay overnight at Wayne Manor. The young man tried to sort out his conflicting thoughts for what felt like hours, as the dull throb at his side reminded him of how being conflicted when dealing with the twins could prove very deadly.

His past experience with Melanie of the Royal Flush Gang had made him no stranger toward these type of feelings, but they were a bit less complicated since in that case there wasn't anyone in her family that apparently had the hots for his alter ego. The latter of which had brought to mind the possibility of turning stuff around for Deidre while wearing the batsuit and talking to her. Granted, her idea of interaction with the Bat seemed to involve destroying mass amounts of private and public property in hopes of getting him to 'play' with her, but Terry doubted he'd have any better luck in getting her to listen to him out of costume. It was something which the young hero considered, as his sleepy eyes began to drift shut, while the pull of exhaustion slowly drew his worried mind into a deep and much needed slumber.

********​

Despite the physical abuse taken the previous night, Terry was able to wake up and slowly pull himself out of bed at a relatively early hour. Years of juggling his responsibilities as both the Batman and his personal life had made him accustomed toward these type of morning. If anything, the dark haired youth got to sleep in a bit later than when he'd had to worry about juggling a school schedule in there. Not that it made the discomfort any easier while Terry showered and changed before placing some fresh ointment and bandage over the healing bruise on his side. The clothes covered them well enough, however, while Terry made his way downstairs.

The thought of checking up on Delia had crossed his mind as he walked past her door, but the young man had decided against doing so for now. She needed her rest, and it may be better to not seem so pushy by keeping tabs on her constantly. Besides, if anything worth immediate attention had happened with either of the Dennis sisters since last night, then Terry was certain Bruce would be the first to know. As such, the young assistant of Mr. Wayne focused on preparing some breakfast for himself and others to start the day. The grumble of his stomach signaled how hungry he was - especially after taking the first smell of bacon from the nearby kitchen. Wait, what?

Confused, Terry moved a bit faster toward the kitchen door, before entering slowly while half-expecting to see Delia in there after her offer to help out with dinner the previous day. What he saw instead, however, was the less pretty yet surprisingly more eyebrow raising sight of Bruce manning the oven. The older male was already dressed, of course, with no signs of morning grogginess to his stoic gaze, as the resting Ace raised his head from his resting position nearby and looked toward the arriving teen.

"Huh. Never saw you as a morning person. Or is this more a continuation of the previous night for you?" Terry inquired, trying to fight away any lingering signs of morning sleepiness as he went for a cup of freshly brewed coffee for assistance.

"I slept enough." The older male stated plainly, barely glancing toward the teen from the corner of his eye while explaining, "You were sleeping in later than usual, so I decided to start breakfast in the event of you getting up too late."

Seemingly a touch surprised at the consideration, Terry finished pouring himself a cup while looking with a slightly startled expression as he gave an awkward, yet genuine "Uh... thanks." in appreciation of the early morning assistance.

Turning the cooking bacon once more before putting the tongs away to reach for his cane, Bruce began to get out of Terry's way while informing his 'assistant', "I finished the repairs to the suit last night. I also added a few upgrades to make sure we don't see a repeat of last night anytime soon. You know where to find it when you need it." Starting to make his way out of the kitchen while Terry moved to take his place at the burner, the former Batman did shoot him a stern stare while adding, "Try not to break it again."

The parting words were enough to make Terry pause in the middle of taking a sip of coffee, yet the current heir to the cape and cowl didn't seem terribly affected otherwise as he watched the older male leave for his study until breakfast was ready. The words stung, naturally, but Terry had long since come to accept Bruce's 'tough love' for what it was as the teen glanced over at Ace after they were left alone. "Even when performing acts of kindness, he still needs to get at least one scolding into the conversation, huh, boy?" The teen noted with a hint of amusement, while the Doberman mix simply stared with perked up ears, before resting its head onto his paws once more as Terry went to finishing up the cooking.

 

[Faux_Pas]

Delia had managed to sleep, but not as well as she had hoped. Last night lingered on her mind... Not just the earlier portion, but far more heavily on the ending of it. It confused her. Terry had... Why had he done that? She tossed and turned a bit more, trying to contemplate it. But then the other thoughts kicked in. Her sister. The whole fight in the bedroom, the way things had gone in there. A knot quickly formed in her stomach, a dread of even attempting to leave the room. She knew exactly what would happen the moment the two of them crossed paths.

Deidre was going to hurt her. They had never fought like that before, not to that extent. Not with that type of interaction, involving others. Not by taking sides with someone they should have hated. The things she had said...

She sat up in the bed, looking toward the window to see the stat of the sun rising. Maybe she could beat her downstairs. If she were around Bruce, around Terry, there was less chance of-

No. She'd still do it. God, what was SHE doing herself?! Trying to hide behind others, trying to run away from her own sister! How pathetic was she being?! She had never let Deidre bother her this much before, why was she letting this happen now? Because of him? No wonder Deidre was so mad. She was letting Terry make her weak, and foolish, and... And normal. A normal girl would defend herself, but she wouldn't be running around town in crazy clothing and breaking into buildings. She was supposed to be going out to have fun. NORMAL fun. Not psychotic destruction.

Yeah. It was Terry's fault. But it was better to be wrapped up in the "trouble" he was causing, than the trouble her sister attempted to cause. The more they did that, the more it called out the Bat. Sure, that was what Deidre wanted, but Delia wanted nothing to do with him. It almost happened last night, she almost lost her chance... She had to prove herself to Terry. She could be normal. It was just a lot harder than she thought it would be.

The biggest thing of all, was getting past her sister's influence. But she was just so damned good at it! Between guilting her into doing what she wanted, threatening her, tricking her- Deidre was certainly the more devious of the set. Delia just seemed to.. roll with it. Like sis said, you never abandon your family. That thought settled into her head, causing a tiny whimper to leave her lips. Did these feelings for Terry mean she was abandoning Deidre?

Get up. Get cleaned up. Get dressed. Don't focus on that. Simply think on the day. There's no reason to let too much burden down. Taking to the bathroom, a quick shower. Starting to put her clothing on for the day, she paused as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She always looked like her sister. No matter what. The blonde hair, the blue eyes. The way she dressed.

She needed change. maybe if she didn't look like her so much.. Maybe that would make it different. Grabbing a hair tie, she twisted and tugged at the long blonde locks, a tight bun taken to the back of her head. Stepping back a bit, it looked so strange to her, to see all that hair just... gone. No wig atop it. It wasn't her sister... but it still wasn't her.
Make up. Not the night time version, but enough to make her feel not like her sister.
There was a few different outfits that had been sent for them, a few things not picked by the girls. A dress or two shoved into the bags, trying to get the set to attempt more feminine things. Deidre had ripped hers up. Delia had saved hers, intending other things with it, but now...
A little blue sundress, barely passing her knees. Another glance in the mirror.
Strange. She liked it. But it still... wasn't... quite what she was looking for.

Maybe Terry could help.

She hastily left the room, trying to avoid her sister's door as best she could as she crept down the hall. No giant worries there- as she passed the door, she could hear the snoring coming from inside. Delia had always been the alarm clock of the two. Continuing downstairs, she paused as she saw Mister Wayne, a hesitant smile given. "Good... Good morning, sir."

No acknowledgement. Just a mere glance.
Still mad.
She understood. Her head fell slightly, watching out the corner of her eye as he walked past, then slipped off the last step and headed for the kitchen. The big dog met her first, his head raising to huff a quick breath at her arrival. "Easy, Ace. I'm not that one," She whispered to him, glancing up to spot Terry. Her smile grew genuinely then, stepping around the large dog and over to the table. "Good morning, Terry... I, um... Hope you slept alright?" She peered around his shoulder as he continued to cook, a tiny sniff of her own taken as she noticed the cup beside him. "Oh! Is that coffee? Ohh, I haven't had a good cup in forever... It always tasted so gross in- there." She paused, frowning again. Had to go and bring that back up again, didn't she? Moving over to pour a cup for herself, she continued to steal glances his way, adding in some sugar and cream before taking a sip. "Ohhh. That is nice." She smirked at him again, setting the cup down and clearing her throat. "Okay. So what can I help with?"




----------------

Upstairs, however, Deidre was not at all asleep.
The sounds coming from her room were made by the girl sitting upon the bed, a look of complete wildness upon her features. She hadn't slept. At all. Anger. Fury. Betrayal. All different things that poured through her mind. How dare she. How dare she! Delia made her out to be the bad guy! Well... She was... but... Delia had her own part to play in all that! Who was it that tried to shoot the Bat, hm? Who was it that broke the equipment? Who was it that made her hurt the man she loved so much?!

No sleep.
Can't sleep.
Need to think. Need to plan.
Naughty Delia. Naughty naughty Delia.
How dare she.

Slowly slinking off the bed, she made her own rounds in the bathroom, but had no immediate plans to head downstairs. No, no, there was far too much to be done up here. Wayne was watching, she was sure of it. He was always watching, wasn't he? There was only one place she figured she was safe. He wouldn't dare spy on her in the bathroom. Girls need privacy. Can't do that. She glanced about the room slowly, taking her big black bag off the chair and tugging it towards the restroom door.

So much pretty stuff. Little stuff. Things that could be used to make bigger stuff. Need to find new stuff, more little things to make big things.

Naughty, naughty Delia.
Frustratingly horrendous Terry...

 

[Eazy]

Both man and man's best friends attentions were drawn toward the arrival of the one sister, with both again having that moment of uncertainty on which it had been. It might be a little tricky telling them apart for a time, although their general difference of dispositions toward Terry was at least helpful in that regard. With Ace it was a touch easier, as the large dog took in Delia's scent and, while picking up traces of her twin, knew this wasn't the one whom had caused him such trouble the day before. Not that it kept the dog from maintaining a watchful eye on the female's approach toward the human male even as his head lowered back to resting between his paws.

For his part, Terry gave a welcoming smile upon recognizing Delia's presence, while similarly greeting and addressing her question, "Good morning. Sleep came a little rough, but wasn't too bad once I got there. Believe me, you get used to working around weird hours and rough sleep schedules with this job. Just hope you caught a few winks."

Glancing over his shoulder partially as she took a small sniff of what he was preparing, Terry couldn't help watching her for a little longer than was needed, as their close proximity to each other caused the teen's nose to pick up another nice scent. She smelled nice. Her presence in general was nice. Nice enough for him to nearly lose focus on the cooking until she commented on the cup beside him. Delia's catching herself hadn't gone unnoticed. Nor did the frown, which brought Terry down somewhat himself. It wasn't as if hers and her sisters time in Arkham was seen as a huge taboo for the teen, but he recognized how the topic affected her. Like yesterday, whenever a sense of normalcy started to form, a reminder would creep its way between them.

Trying to push beyond that, the young McGinnis gave a confident smile before stating with no small certainty, "Well, I think you'll enjoy this mix. Mr. Wayne really knows how to brew together a good cup for waking you up after a long night. I've taken to using it myself back home."

Turning the bacon, the sizzle rolling out in the background, Terry watched as she prepared a cup and let out her first sounds of approval. "Told ya." He responded with a smirk of his own, letting an amused chuckle escape his partially closed lips, before considering her offer of helping out for a second.

Since Bruce had already started stuff prior to Terry's own arrival, there wasn't too much to do with what was already cooking, but the teen knew the perfect thing for her to help out with for now, "Hmm. Think I have the basics covered for now. But maybe you can look through the fridge for anything special you may want to throw on here while the fire's going?"

They didn't really get a chance to ask the girls what they would want the next morning after everything which happened last night, so now seemed as good a time as any to make the attempt at offering a less generic breakfast than simple bacon and egg. Still, there remained the subject of Deidre, as Terry suggested with some levity to his tone, "If you know anything your sister might like on the table, that would be helpful. I'd ask her myself, but even if she's up I doubt I'll get much of a response. Aside from maybe asking for my head on a plate."

Almost expectedly, the moment the last word left his mouth, Terry himself paused and glanced toward the lone twin beside him within the kitchen. The two sisters didn't seem to be on the best of terms when he'd left them the previous night, so the teen questioned if bringing her up may have touched on a sore spot. Clearing his throat a little, being mindful of what she may say in response of his previous suggestion, Terry gave a slight change of subject as his words stumbled a bit at first, "So... how you holding up since last yesterday? Get a decent enough nights sleep after everything settled down?"

With his eyes seemingly focused largely on the sizzling bacon and cooking eggs on the pans, Terry listened, while considering his own late night, letting Delia saying what she may wish before rather randomly sharing, "I was thinking a lot about you." Blinking, turning his head to glance back toward her, the dark haired youth gave a brief half-smile at his own apparent randomness before elaborating, "After getting back to my room, I mean. Thinking about our talk last night. Just wishing I could have done something more last night. Wanting to do better for you in the future. I'll try to do whatever it takes."

His eyes sought out her own, gazing a little longer than was perhaps needed, even getting close to becoming lost in them when given the opportunity, before blinking a few times and pulling his head back slightly at the sudden realization of the weird turn this was perhaps taking. "Okay, yeah. Kind of bringing down the morning, aren't I?" Terry offered with a small smirk and brief chuckle, his free hand moving to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly while the other hand started to place the cooked strips of bacon onto a nearby plate for now.