[ The ash is gone. It was never there to begin with. He has no real reaction when Crane calmly accuses him of being on something. He isn't wrong and Bruce could simply play it off as a little experimentation before his session. Someone like Bruce wouldn't be shy about their drug use, would they? It's expected of him. ]
[Those words are ignored while he rounds his desk to return to his chair. Every answer is expected, every answer is calculated. Each time he offers this man his attention, he directs it somewhere else. Perhaps now he understands why.
And he still doesn't touch his own water.]
That's your decision to make. Yours is a preference, not a crime.
[ Crane doesn't touch his water. Bruce doesn't touch his. It doesn't look or smell off. But that doesn't lower the potential hazard or making Bruce seem particularly trusting of his therapist. He honestly thought the man to be strange and not in an entirely harmless way. Strange in a way that makes it easy to believe Crane would dissect his brain if he could.
Strange in a way that Gotham knows all too well. It doesn't stop him from being polite. Robin is still standing to the side of him. It's easier to ignore him now that he's decided to focus on Crane. ]
I feel like I should apologize. Partied a little too hard last night.
[Crane begins writing in his notebook, ignoring the lines in favour of writing freely on the page. His pen swings from the corner to the middle, his mind busy with writing ideas and theories. Perhaps his manner is slightly disturbing. He can recognise others might find it untoward. But everybody in this city is strange. One has to be to survive.]
We all need a little fun in our lives. But you are the one choosing to pursue it.
[ Everybody in this city is strange. Some of them moreso than others. Bruce watches the way Crane's pen scribbles across the page, unorthodox and bizarre. There's nothing sinister about it. At least not when compared to moments ago when he'd put himself in kissing distance of Bruce's face. It's something else to think about and Robin shrinks a little from his peripheral. ]
You could say that. I'm trying to make better choices.
[ Letting people who make poor ones suffer the consequences of them. Bruce is tired of saving them. Tired of living that beautifully, well crafted lie. None of them deserved saving. Not a single one. ]
It's just hard sometimes when the bad ones are so much fun. Do you know what I mean, Doctor Crane?
Addiction is misunderstood to be a disease when it is a function to remove distress.
[Crane cannot stand people who believe they deserve saving. He cannot tolerate people who believe bullies deserve kindness and understanding. Who cares if some of his childhood tormentors drank behind the woodshed? They made their choice.]
What that means is you are needing the power that comes with feeling complete and whole. It is nothing to be ashamed about.
[ He's not an addict. Except in all the ways that he is. Going out at night and putting the fear of the Bat into the bad (and more often now the good) folks of Gotham hits those dopamine receptors in a way not much else does. The liquor helps him sleep. He's not an addict. ]
Don't get me wrong, Dr. Crane. I'm not ashamed. It's just a bad look to come in here like this. Last thing I need is to say something I don't mean, know what I mean?
[ he's cavalier, dismissive. Making this seem not quite so serious. ]
[His voice is smooth but observant, making his cold calculations seem casual. What answer would anyone expect from a man specialised in understanding the terror of being human? Any fool who waves bait like before his face will - though he recognises the trap for what it is - lose a hand and half his arm.]
You really should fix that before your next press conference.
[ His voice is smooth and Bruce finds it irritating. He knew how to navigate his interactions with Bruce that always made Bruce feel like another piece of him is being picked apart. Like Crane knew something that Bruce did not. More than anything, Bruce hated being disadvantaged. ]
Don't worry, Doctor. Your hard work is going to waste.
[Now that's the problem, isn't it? Crane is at home in his office, surrounded by journals and knowledge, some of which are scribed by his own hand. Because much as he respects the work that preceeded his own, he knows his work is an improvement. He knows what his talents are - and is reluctant to suppress himself in the only field where he has power.
This is his domain. He has power here. He has control.]
Every part of my work is data. Nothing about this is a waste.
[ It doesn't offend him. Crane is analytical in his thinking. So is Bruce and sometimes it's easier to think of people are data points, figures to be puzzled out and picked apart so that you can understand them better. Nothing wrong with it on its face. It doesn't help endear Bruce to Crane. But they're not here to be friends, are they? ]
[Lives are certified at birth. Schooling is recorded. Learning curves graded. Names remembered and grudgies carried. Crane leans back in his chair and looks curiously to the other man in the room. Does he want to figure out this man and pull him apart? Or does he simply enjoy being challenged on an intellectual level?]
Even the Batman is a figure of information. Observed through measurement and analysis. Some need to figure him out and know what makes him tick. Others are really just along for the ride.
[ There's no change in Bruce's expression when Crane mentions the Bat. He is, after all, another data point. Nobody of interest to someone like him, right? Bruce does let the silence linger a little longer than necessary. Then he sits back in his chair, ignores Robin, and folds his hands in his lap. ]
I see he's gotten into your head too, Dr. Crane. He's all anyone ever wants to talk about these days.
[Crane sits upright within his chair. Not lounging against the headrest, nor propping himself against the handles, but in a prim and proper position. His hands rise to adjust themselves.]
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
[Wilde? Sure. Aren't those two men running a little wild in their costumes, without the grace and gentility of civil manners. How truly thrilling.]
[ The Picture of Dorian Gray. An interesting quote to apply to this situation. The upper echelon is supposed to think the Bat is an urban legend cooked up by the Poorsโข to help them sleep better in their crappy neighborhoods. Considering Crane is bringing him up, he must not think so. ]
I didn't think an educated man like yourself would believe in fairytales.
[Beneath the myth and the legend, the Batman is a man caught in the struggle between good and evil, between courage and fear.]
Fairytales are like parables. Full of moral lessons and political statements from the time they were written. [He rolls his shoulders.] Perhaps the Batman presents himself as an urban legend because it's easier to work that way. Imagine what one could accomplish were half the city afraid.
[ Bruce takes a moment to consider what Crane is saying. Making the bad people afraid is what the Batman is built on. If they hesitate to attack another innocent family because they don't know if the Batman is watching? That's a win. He'd take it. He wanted people to be afraid if that's what it took to make them stop. ]
[Such a wholesome question from an innocent and honest patient. Crane retains his iron level of control. Showing no emotion. No excitement. Feeling afraid of people stopped working a long time ago. Now he watches them, categorises them, and files them into different areas of his life. Only a few files are kept open on his desk. The most fascinating. The most interesting.]
Not at all. I find him stimulating.
[Meaning he's someone worth finding time to study.]
[ There's always a question that lingers: What do you do with the ones who are not afraid? He'd found the answer in Robin's death. Seen it with perfect clarity. If they weren't afraid to stop, he would remove them from the board. He stares at Crane for a moment, eyes focused even while Robin is on the edges of his vision, smoke billowing from him like a campfire. He isn't afraid. What would Bruce do with him? ]
Who knows, Dr. Crane. Maybe he feels the same way about you.
[Hope is a psychological coping mechanism. He prefers cold, hard evidence.
But he sees Bruce watching and he stares back from the abyss. His gaze is cold and his emotions fluid, twisting around and unable to be pinned down. Whatever (whoever) dwells beneath remains obscure and undisturbed. Nietzsche is not his preferred philosopher but he finds the quote appropriate in the moment.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Sorry, Doctor. I only drink sparkling water.
no subject
And he still doesn't touch his own water.]
That's your decision to make. Yours is a preference, not a crime.
[Whatever. He's not a cop.]
no subject
Strange in a way that Gotham knows all too well. It doesn't stop him from being polite. Robin is still standing to the side of him. It's easier to ignore him now that he's decided to focus on Crane. ]
I feel like I should apologize. Partied a little too hard last night.
no subject
We all need a little fun in our lives. But you are the one choosing to pursue it.
[He looks up from the page.]
Are you addicted to the chase?
no subject
You could say that. I'm trying to make better choices.
[ Letting people who make poor ones suffer the consequences of them. Bruce is tired of saving them. Tired of living that beautifully, well crafted lie. None of them deserved saving. Not a single one. ]
It's just hard sometimes when the bad ones are so much fun. Do you know what I mean, Doctor Crane?
no subject
[Crane cannot stand people who believe they deserve saving. He cannot tolerate people who believe bullies deserve kindness and understanding. Who cares if some of his childhood tormentors drank behind the woodshed? They made their choice.]
What that means is you are needing the power that comes with feeling complete and whole. It is nothing to be ashamed about.
[He certainly isn't. Fear gas goes brrrr.]
no subject
Don't get me wrong, Dr. Crane. I'm not ashamed. It's just a bad look to come in here like this. Last thing I need is to say something I don't mean, know what I mean?
[ he's cavalier, dismissive. Making this seem not quite so serious. ]
no subject
[His voice is smooth but observant, making his cold calculations seem casual. What answer would anyone expect from a man specialised in understanding the terror of being human? Any fool who waves bait like before his face will - though he recognises the trap for what it is - lose a hand and half his arm.]
You really should fix that before your next press conference.
no subject
Don't worry, Doctor. Your hard work is going to waste.
[ Robin still lingers. ]
no subject
This is his domain. He has power here. He has control.]
Every part of my work is data. Nothing about this is a waste.
[His hand gestures between them.]
no subject
[ It doesn't offend him. Crane is analytical in his thinking. So is Bruce and sometimes it's easier to think of people are data points, figures to be puzzled out and picked apart so that you can understand them better. Nothing wrong with it on its face. It doesn't help endear Bruce to Crane. But they're not here to be friends, are they? ]
no subject
[Lives are certified at birth. Schooling is recorded. Learning curves graded. Names remembered and grudgies carried. Crane leans back in his chair and looks curiously to the other man in the room. Does he want to figure out this man and pull him apart? Or does he simply enjoy being challenged on an intellectual level?]
Even the Batman is a figure of information. Observed through measurement and analysis. Some need to figure him out and know what makes him tick. Others are really just along for the ride.
no subject
I see he's gotten into your head too, Dr. Crane. He's all anyone ever wants to talk about these days.
no subject
The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
[Wilde? Sure. Aren't those two men running a little wild in their costumes, without the grace and gentility of civil manners. How truly thrilling.]
no subject
I didn't think an educated man like yourself would believe in fairytales.
no subject
[Beneath the myth and the legend, the Batman is a man caught in the struggle between good and evil, between courage and fear.]
Fairytales are like parables. Full of moral lessons and political statements from the time they were written. [He rolls his shoulders.] Perhaps the Batman presents himself as an urban legend because it's easier to work that way. Imagine what one could accomplish were half the city afraid.
no subject
Are you afraid of the Batman, Dr. Crane?
no subject
Not at all. I find him stimulating.
[Meaning he's someone worth finding time to study.]
no subject
Who knows, Dr. Crane. Maybe he feels the same way about you.
no subject
[Hope is a psychological coping mechanism. He prefers cold, hard evidence.
But he sees Bruce watching and he stares back from the abyss. His gaze is cold and his emotions fluid, twisting around and unable to be pinned down. Whatever (whoever) dwells beneath remains obscure and undisturbed. Nietzsche is not his preferred philosopher but he finds the quote appropriate in the moment.]