exsilium | fourth leap | from a tablet in no way traceable to that other kid Robin's

[ Dick’s sitting in a nondescript corner of what’s probably the cafeteria, facing the screen at a front and center angle that could almost pass for a little rehearsed. He’s tired and drawn, posture curled in and oddly small. He has a hand in his hair, awkward and unsettled. If he's been practicing this, it's not showing much. ]

I, um. Hey.

I just wanted to say I’m turning myself in now. As one of the guys who brought down the systems and took over the base. [ Specificity is important. His eyes aren't on the tablet anymore, but he's still speaking. ]

-Which I know I could’ve done couple of days ago. But I didn’t because I thought maybe... [ a faint, rushed breath out. ] –maybe I could still fix it. And maybe it’d just be easier if I didn’t say anything. [ For the people in jail. And the people on the outside. ]

...But it wouldn’t be. That would just be me letting somebody else take the whole rap for something a lot of people already know I had a hand in. And then not speaking up is on them too. So it has to be this way. [ He’s thinking about you, Kate. 8( ]

...Anyway. That’s just the good news. Just- I wanted to do the right thing. Not just now, but then too. And I still believe in all the same things I did before, which is... [ he has to say it, he can’t let it go. ] –yeah, they’re real people. I know they are. But when it comes to fighting their own war they’re just getting people killed.

But what- what I did about it wasn’t okay. Guys like me, we- [ It's a little specific, that word. ] -we have to follow the law even when we don’t like what it says. When we start to let the system go, that’s when everything falls apart. That’s when people get hurt. And that- I know me knowing that now doesn’t change what happened, but... [ It’s a thought that trails off unfinished. ]

But whatever the other guys get, that’s what needs to happen to me too. [ the word "mutineer" is pretty noticeably pissing. And there’s a belated moment where he stops, halfway out of his folded up pose. He’s not in a position to make demands, he knows that. But- ]

...The one condition is that you don’t get a package deal out of this. You just get me.

[Barely five minutes later, there's an addendum to this post, coming from the same tablet but in audio, and the voice is very much not Dick Grayson's.

Steph's tone is sharp, but steady:]

I want you all to know that this will be discussed with Rosyln, but no one is to even think about laying a hand on him. The same goes for any accusations or harsh words you might wanna start throwing around, regardless of what he claims to have done. From this point on he is under my supervision and protection, and he won't be harmed.

[She might have been against the mutiny, but she doesn't trust the people on "her" side either, not when so many of them were howling for blood.]

Don't test me.

Hey, I didn't!-

[The feed cuts again. Replies by Dick probably delayed ICly! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's actually part of my job. [certainly to Sir Integra.] I work as part of government sponsored organisation to protect my country from vampires and other monsters.

The fact you came out and confessed your part is very brave though.

Doesn't really feel that brave. [ He ducks his head down, though it's an invisible gesture. ]

Man, that's pretty amazing. You get vampires and monsters?

Considering what you're risking by confessing I'd say it was. I'd be scared to do the same.

Well, a vampire is a monster. [She says this quite serenely. Seras suspects Dick missed her post identifying herself as a vampire from his responses.] But we also have ghouls and I've encountered a werewolf before.

You would? [ He sounds more curious than startled. ]

You hear about those things sometimes, but we just don't get that many where I'm from. Not verifiable, anyway.

Of course. When the majority of a population thinks what you did is wrong with some of those probably being people you care for, it's... intimidating.

[It's the idea of disappointment more than anything. The idea that someone you love could look at your with disappointment in their eyes.]

Probably for the better, they're no easy thing to deal with. Certainly beyond most humans.

Well, I know- I know if I could do it again I guess there's a lot of things I'd change. [ That's not what she's asking him, but it seems important to say it anyway. ]

...But even if I still believe in a lot of that stuff, what kind of person would it make me to let all those people keep thinking I'm some nice guy? I still did those things. And my friends who already knew aren't going to want to turn me in. It's up to me to make sure they can sleep at night.

At least that was the plan with confessing. [ it hasn't gone as well as he'd wanted it to. ]

I think you did the right thing, I really do, whatever happens after this you made the right decision.

Can I ask, if it's alright, why did you choose to go along with them?

...Yeah? [ It catches him a little by surprise. ] -Thanks. I think you might actually be the only one. I knew they'd be mad, but-

[ But he hadn't been expecting this. To be told that he has to be quiet, that he'd made things worse for everyone by speaking up.

After a minute it clicks that she'd asked him another question. ] Yeah, it's okay. I was just mad about a lot of things. But mostly the Exiles, I guess. Nobody who thinks it's okay to leave all those people to die deserves any kind of control. [ It's something he still believes, too much to pretend it's changed even now. ]

...But we still shouldn't have tried to fix the problem this way.

Honesty's important for me. And once you admit your guilt you can start moving on from it. I can understand people are afraid for you but to suggest you should keep up a lie... it's a bit too far.

[Seras is looking solemn on her end at the explanation and she can forgive Dick more than the others -- mostly because of his youth.]

That's a reasonable thing to be mad about.

[She was angry too, so so angry and feeling helpless in her anger.]

If all the transports work together we can still fix this.

...You really think so?

That's what we all wanted, we just- we didn't do it the right way.

But maybe I can still help. If there's anything I can do from, uh- you know. Jail.

I do.

I don't think they'd put you in jail. [She says with almost complete certainty.]

I don't know what'll happen yet...

But I want to make it okay again. If I have to go to jail to do that then that's where I'll be.

fourth leap | from a tablet in no way traceable to that other kid Robin's

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