we're painting the town blue.

[skywire]

i hate captcha and so do you.

Comments

[skywire]

my parents were circus performers
I was too
it was a family act
acrobats and trapeze artists
The Flying Graysons

we stopped in Gotham for a few shows
a protection racket tried to make us pay up and the circus owner refused
to retaliate they cut the nets and the wires
my parents swung first and I was going to jump out for them to catch me
but instead they fell to their deaths in front of me and a full audience

you were in the audience

I won't pester you with asking what you decided
that's up to you
not my business really

[undisclose]

[ ... hours ... later ... . . . ]

I didn't mean to imply you were obligated to tell me.

[skywire]

you didn't
it felt weird that you didn't know
but I guess that was uh
what's it called, "oversharing"?

sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable

[undisclose]

You didn't.
I don't mind.

[skywire]

well, now you do
some of the circus was getting together to adopt me jointly or something
I appreciated the idea but I think if I stayed in the same place I never would have gotten over it
moving me to a huge gothic mansion that you liked to joke was haunted was one of the best things you could have done
or he
sorry I'll stop referring to you two as the same person

[undisclose]

You didn't think you might want to leave Gotham?

[skywire]

that would have felt like running away
also the police needed me as a material witness to catch my parents' murderer
and I wanted to stay to see him face justice
ultimately the police couldn't find him
so eventually I wanted to stay to find him myself

[undisclose]

Did you? Find him.

[skywire]

with y

[skywire]

with his help

[undisclose]

Good.

[skywire]

thanks
anyway after that I didn't want to stop and that's where the "vintage children's illustrated Robin Hood" came in

[undisclose]

Why did you want to continue?

[skywire]

for a lot of reasons
I wanted to help people
I wanted to make Bruce's job easier
I thought Batman would be more effective with a partner
especially a cheerful one
I wanted to cheer him up
I thought on some level it was the only way he'd keep me around
and the thrill of it didn't compare to anything
it still doesn't

[undisclose]

I'm sure he thought a cheerful adolescent tag along was the perfect addition to his arsenal.

[skywire]

Bruce
I know you have your problems with him but I love him like a father
and I don't regret any of it
it made me feel strong and capable again
it made me feel like more than the crying kid in front of an audience of a hundred terrified people
I know you think it's stupid
but it meant the world to me

[undisclose]

I'd like to ask you some things I can't help wondering.
They're sort of personal.

[skywire]

as long as they're not about my romantic life, feel free 👌

[undisclose]

Thanks for making it weird.

[skywire]

you have no idea how many people think my love life is their business 🙄
anyway shoot

[undisclose]

What I'd like to ask isn't any of my business, either.
You don't have to answer.

[skywire]

I'll tell you if I'm uncomfortable, don't worry
I've never felt obligated to any version of you to be what I'm not or do what I don't want to
doing something silly or backwards, maybe
but I've also never followed adult you blindly
and I don't intend to start with teenage you

[undisclose]

That's reassuring. I'm not used to dealing with someone so

unreservedly loquacious.
I was beginning to wonder if you had any personal boundaries at all.
No offense.

It's about your pursuit of the man who murdered your parents.
A few things.
Which are perhaps better saved for a face-to-face conversation as opposed to text
Although frankly I prefer text as a rule

[skywire]

you're saying I talk a lot
all that private school paid off!
and I have a few, believe me, but you either don't know about them or wouldn't think to ask
and that's just fiiiine with me 😉

Whatever you're most comfortable with
I don't mind talking about what happened to my parents
it was headline news for months and even years after there would be "where are they now" pieces in the papers
the sad little gypsy boy adopted by a millionaire, you know
so I had to get used to talking about it
though you shielded me from as much of that as you could

1/2

[undisclose]

He did a decent job, apparently. I found none of the answers I was looking for when I read about you.

That's part of the reason I said I didn't mean to imply you had to reiterate what happened that night. The details I wonder about aren't public domain, at least that I know of so far.