FORCED HONESTY

[ancillary]

MAGICAL ELEVATOR OF FORCED HONESTY

Your character has just stepped in to one of the teleporters only to find that it's not a teleporter at all! It's an ELEVATOR which is like a teleporter, but not-- your grandparents probably used these at one point. To make matters worse it's an ELEVATOR OF FORCED HONESTY.

○ COMMENT with your character
○ COMMENT other characters and start grilling them with questions they wouldn't answer truthfully under normal circumstances.
○ Abuse and beat the gift of truth like a rented mule
○ aww yiss

Comments

[punliners]

[He thunks his hand against the wall next to the panel. Stymied. Then he turns to look at Damian, still crouched. Srstime. His expression is-- fond, but tempered.]

Don't insult my girlfriend, kick my dog or try to make me wear Dick's old outfit.

[shrug!]

And we'll do fine, kiddo.

[hair-ruffle. are you sick of this yet.]

[demon_brat]

[GLAAARE.]

Why would I kick your dog?

[You so have no idea, McGinnis. So still have no idea how far from 'fine' things are. But whatever.]

[punliners]

[He just laughs.]

I'm just saying, Damian. Relax.

[demon_brat]

[Blank stare.] Why does everybody keep saying that?

[punliners]

What, 'relax'?

[demon_brat]

Yeah.

[punliners]

Because you don't. When was the last time you smiled, huh? Or laughed?

[Please don't make him specify 'at something other than violence.]

[demon_brat]

Relaxed gets you killed. [Simple, really. Duh.]

I've had to dress up in monkey suits and smile for people who range from idiots down at Wayne-presence events.

[That's not violence. Other than in his mind. Does it count?]

[punliners]

No, relaxed gets you relaxed. I mean, if you're smart about it. I'm not saying kick back and put your feet up in the middle of a street brawl. But you could stand to suffer through a movie or two with me and Dick.

[... and then he just. sighs.]

Doesn't count. I mean from being happy.

[demon_brat]

No, McGinnis, where I come from, relaxed does make you dead. I've seen it. [Shrugs.] But if I must.

[Stares some more.]

Never happened.

[Or, rather, Damian Wayne will not recognize being happy if it hit him on the nose. They just don't live on the same planet.]

[punliners]

You haven't seen everything.

[pointed look. Because Damian may have been exposed to some of the worst that humanity has to offer, but the best is out there too, and Terry will damn well drag him into it if he has to.]

Huh. So how do I go about changing that, exactly?

[demon_brat]

... I know.

[Doesn't make his point any less valid. And this station is far from the best place do disprove his lifelong habits, isn't it.]

Dunno. Maybe - probably - they left it out when they trained me. [Wry, oh so wry.] Happiness is apparently not a skill needed to rule the world.

[punliners]

[He eases his hands into the air in a classic gesture of surrender.]

All I'm saying is that you may have seen plenty of situations in which losing your focus can get you killed, but there's dozens - hundreds - of other ones where it won't even get you a papercut.

[And then he is just. wat.

TALIA (fuu)]

What were they aiming for, 'most boring world leader ever'? Come on.

[demon_brat]

You do realize that's how assassins operate, right? They wait for an opening where, logically, letting your guard down wouldn't even lead to a papercut - which I've never had, by the way - and they strike and then clear the scene. And it's even less predictable with the crazies we deal with. With assassins, I've seen hits arranged on people with far less consequence than Father has; with the crazies... [shrugs. If McGinnis doesn't know by now...] Falling into bad habits doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

And a ruler doesn't need to be entertaining to be efficient. In fact, the two are rarely compatible. [shrugs.] Or maybe she expected me to do the ruling and herself to have the fun, probably with Father.

[Is he mocking Talia? Yes. It's still difficult and probably comes out not ridiculous at all, but he can see just how blind she's been.]

Not relevant what the intentions were, anyway. Fact remains that it was never something I was allowed to even consider thinking of.

[punliners]

You're not hanging out with assassins anymore, Damian. Look at Dick. He's been in this game longer than any of us, and he's still kicking around. There's a balance. You just have to find whatever works for you. I'm not saying you should emulate him, for example. Or Bruce, or Tim. Just find what works, yeah?

[... pause]

And papercuts aren't so bad. It's the ones you get off cardboard that are totally killer.

[MOCK-GRIMACE!!]

Well. You're 'allowed' to consider a lot of things now. You're your own person. Who're you gonna end up being?

[demon_brat]

But they're still out there. Or will be, when I get back. [And he looks down, jaw clenched. Admitting to the failure of not knowing how to find what works? Yeah, sorry, not yet.

... beat. And he looks up and stares. But Terry knows just how 'killer' any paper - or cardboard - cut would be. So, after a long moment, his lips twitch up. Oh so very slightly.

Before he looks down again. See, the 'your own person' is brand new and he has no specific answer to this question.]


Not ruling the world. Not in Mother's way, anyway.

[punliners]

That's later. Don't think about it. What we're doing right now? That's real.

[Which reminds him--]

Here, let's see if we can get the top panel off. I'll give you a boost.

[He's tall enough that he could stretch, but eh, what's the point when Damian can just stand on his shoulders?

Also that's totally a smile. Or as close as Damian ever comes, and he grins in answer.]

You planning on being more into getting fanned with palm fronds and drinking wine out of coconuts?

[demon_brat]

[An incredulous look. Not at the grin, that he just accepts. Tucks it in somewhere deep in his memory, because such are still rare.

But, really. Damian just could have bounced up the wall and tried to punched the panel up. But, fine. He can actually see if he can unscrew it, rather. No pissing off the crazy AI by destroying shit, right?]

Sure.

[And just like that, he's ready, whichever way McGinnis motions to boost him up. He can take a body language hint quickly. And climb up the older guy even faster.]

Hey, I already own an island where I could do the palm fronds thing, I got it as a Christmas present, why would I need the world for it? Or... at least I think I can do the palm fronds thing there. Didn't really get a chance to visit.

[punliners]

[Yeah and Terry could have reached up for it, but this is about teamwork, thanks. At least Damian obliges him! And. Is up on his shoulders almost before Terry even crouches. That as fast.]

Somebody gave you an entire island? What the heck for?

[demon_brat]

[Even with the heavy combat-type boots, he's a pretty light climber. And his tongue is sort of pressed between his teeth as he's focusing on the means to open the panel - yes, he starts with plain pushing, just in case, then screws... - while he answers]

It was a Christmas present from Mother. What are Christmas presents for?

[punliners]

[... weird, that the conversation's come back around to this. Terry's quiet for a moment. He doesn't really need to steady Damian, since like all Bats his balance is ridiculous. So he folds his arms, instead.]

They're supposed to mean something. Things that you think might make someone happy. It's not about spending money or just... throwing things at people until something sticks.

[demon_brat]

Yeah, well, there you have it.

[Okay, that screw maybe 'slipped' hard enough from his hand to scratch the wall. Oops.]

That was before I turned into a disappointment for her, of course.

[punliners]

[ugh his heart hurts. no parent should ever treat their child like this. :(

Also, he. Has no real idea how to respond to that. Telling Damian that his mother wanted a puppet rather than a son? Yeah, that would go over so well.

And the way Damian says it? ... Yeah. There's definitely more to those words than what simply meets the eye.]

Sometimes it's-- hard for parents to see a kid as they really are, instead of how they want them to be. But that's a street that goes both ways. Our parents are our heroes, until something happens to make them human.

[demon_brat]

[Terry doesn't need to tell him. He knows. Literally knows the puppet part, too.]

No, she's too much of a perfectionist.

[If he had more knowledge, he can point out that when he's never been good enough, perfect enough, he's never been able to touch the part to contentment. The part of existing in perfect balance, the way Grayson does when he's up in the air. He's never known what this thing he is supposed to be aiming for is. He just knows that Father met him and promptly returned him to Mother, and Mother... well, he severed things with her, himself. Human? Not what he sees. Exactly.]

There we go.

[He slides the panel sideways to reveal the opening, instead of dropping it down. Quietly. All reflexes. And then he pulls himself up, the rest coming from the hollow darkness above the elevator booth.]

Hey, I don't even need my parents to be heroes to worship them. Though I guess one of them is.

And unless somebody cuts the cable before we find a door we can open, we should be all set.

[punliners]

[Terry sighs a little, scrubs a hand through his hair and then jumps enough that he can get his hands on the edges of the opening and haul himself up and through. It's an easy motion. Effortless. He's not quite as good as Grayson, but it's close.

Instead of getting immediately into any kind of action, he just. stays there a moment and looks at Damian.

No worries about the darkness. Night vision, well. It runs in the family. Sort of.]

For the record? I think your mom's standards are ridiculous. Damian, you're ten. You've got a lot of learning and growing up left to do, and that's fine. No one's perfect. The fact that she expects you to be is-- frankly? Kinda cruel. No parent should put that kind of pressure on their kid. I don't care who they're raising. I'm amazed that you've been able to work through it even a little, and I really have a lot of respect for your decision to stay Robin.

[A little bit of a smile.]

You're a pretty good kid. Don't let anybody tell you different, got it?