[ 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.]
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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.]