#troiah

aching beating heart, with a steady rythym while longing its way home. through the past nearly two year gap her persona was deliberated targeted as dead, donna's mind was tangled into a web of several lies and another yet failling marriage — to have your mind and body played like you were a part of a puppet show was quite maddening. & hadn't it taken her time to realise who she truly was, to sense the pieces of her actual's life puzzle simply missing. because she didn't belong there, with those people, with that "family" ... her significant ties belonged in that tower, with the titans. that was family, her family. it personally hurt her how she simply forgot about them for nearly two whole years, and especially now that azure hues stare at his figure, still taking her existence in — still watching her every move as if she would just disappear if he dared to blink. how could she forget dick grayson? that man was her brother, and his very soul was attached to hers no matter if that was possible or not.

lips curved into the warmest smile, grounding herself next to him at the couch, hand quickly reaching for his before their fingers were linked. ❝ I'm not goin' anywhere else, I promise. ❞ her voice echoed softly, more a reminder to herself than to him. deep down, she feared her mind would come to betray her again, getting rid off who she was and where she belonged. it lingered, silent and recurring. ❝ I'm fine, or at least will be fine. ❞

shurgging, eyes travel around the familiar living room, finding comfort at the sight. ❝ I guess nothing truly changed, right? Weirdly enough, it seems like everyone was here yesterday and we were living all together again... ❞ chuckling that off, ❝ Happy tears, will you? ❞ the amazon shoke her head before staring at him, ever the observant one. ❝ Which reminds me - Roy told me something, probably because he needed me to give you shit since you obviously deserve me knocking some sense into you. ❞ maddening enough, she was truly back. ❝ What was that bullshit of ending the Titans after I ... family belongs with family, Dick. hell, you know this. ❞

DICK'S  SMILE  CRUMBLED  into  a  frown,  the  familiar  kind  that  appeared  when  donna  prodded  at  a  topic  he  didn't  want  to  talk  about.  "this  wasn't  supposed  to  be  about  me,"  he  grumbled  and  turned  his  eyes  to  the  wall,  feeling  her  sharp  and  waiting  gaze  on  him  anyway.  she  saw  right  through  him  like  few  could,  and  he  knew  all  too  well  that  she  wasn't  going  to  back  down  until  his  answer  satisfied  her.

"that's  just  it,  donna.  i  let  someone  in  our  family  die.  someone  too  important,  someone  i  knew  i  couldn't  lead  the  titans  without."  his  shoulders  slumped,  brows  furrowing  together  at  the  memory  of  that  acute  loss.  "if  i  let  YOU  of  all  people  down,  then  what  would  happen  to  roy?  garth?  vic?  i  told  you  i  was  doubting  my  leadership  even  before  it  all  happened,  then  i  just..."  he  closed  his  eyes  tight,  shoulders  slumping  in  defeat.

"i  couldn't  do  it.  i  couldn't  be  the  one  letting  my  friends  get  killed  anymore."  a  dam  within  him  broke,  words  he's  held  in  for  two  odd  years  that  he  told  no  one,  pouring  out  of  him  now  into  donna's  lap.  "it  took  me  weeks  to  look  roy  in  the  eye  again  after  the  funeral.  he  didn't  blame  me  to  my  face,  i  know  he  never  would,  but  i  was  the  leaderwhen  you  died.  that  made  it  MY  FAULT  he  woman  he  loved  was  gone."  dick's  own  pain  and  love  for  donna  didn't  need  to  be  stated...  but  as  the  one  feeling  responsible,  his  feelings  became  secondary  in  his  mind.  his  grief  was  his  penance  for  failure.

maybe  that's  what  dick  wanted;  someone  to  be  angry  at  him  for  screwing  up,  to  pin  the  tragedy  on  him,  but  no  one  would.  and  so,  in  true  dick  grayson  fashion,  he  did  it all  himself.

and  then,  his  voice  hardened,  sounding  more  resolute, his eyes meeting hers once again.  "i  couldn't  see  a  world  where  the  titans  carried  on  without  you,  so  i  made  that  call.  i'm  not  apologizing  for  it,  either."

@troiah liked for a random one liner starter | accepting

      a  lump  began  pushing  its  way  into  his  throat,  something  he'd  normally  choke  down  in  the  presence  of  others.  he  couldn't  hide  anything  from  donna,  though;  and  after  losing  her  once,  he  didn't  want  to  hide  ANYTHING  from  her  anymore.

      dick's  eyes  grew  misty,  flooded  with  the  joy  of  seeing  her  again,  and  the  sorrow  of  the  time  they'd  lost.  "jeez,  i  thought  i  was  done  crying.  sorry,"  he  laughed,  pushing  a  tear  back  with  the  back  of  a  knuckle. 

      "how's  home?  are  you  acclimating  okay?"

╭────── · · ♰ · · ──────╮

“it is pretty funny: our lives have been orbiting close for so long, and only now have they actually overlapped,” huntress — unmasked, mask set aside, not carelessly — responded in agreement, gaze tilted upwards as if to REFLECT on everything and everybody that brought her here today, in the presence of the amazon warrior, a moon-loved soul like NO OTHER in helena's eyes.

“but not surprising, i was never going to spend more than a year at the LEAGUE — or anywhere outside of GOTHAM, for that matter.”

patching up wounds. ⁽ ¹ ⁾

my shirt remained tucked under the wire of my bra in a makeshift half cropped top, making sure it didn't rub on the wound i'd suffered as a collateral during the mugging - reflected in the mirror, true to her word, was a clean and changed bandage, one that didn't look like a pre schooler had gone and played doctor. “ oh, wow. yeah, that looks way better. not your first time, is it? ” i laughed, turning from my reflection and towards my friend instead. “ that was too clean, and too quick. i'm not asking questions! but maybe you should contemplate a change of career from photographer to doctor. ”

there  was  a  joke  sitting  on  the  tip  of  tim's  tongue  that  was  quickly  swallowed  the  moment  he  saw  the  somber  look  upon  the  other's  face.  instead  ,  a  thoughtful  hum  slipped  from  him  as  he  perched  himself  next  to  the  amazonian.  “  i  mean  ,  no  questioning  that.  heart's  too  big  to  be  anything  but.  ” 

hazel  eyes  lit  up  with  pure  excitement  as  she  stared  up  at  @troiah  ,  instantly  grabbing  the  other's  hands  and  holding  them  in  a  squeeze  that  would  injure  any  lesser  man.  cassie's  gaze  flickered  back  and  forth  between  the  other's  eyes  ,  trying  to  see  even  if  there  was  the  smallest  ounce  of  deceit  or  trickery  in  her  words  ,  but  the  moment  the  demi-goddess  had  clocked  the  pure  honesty  in  her  senior's  expression  ,  a  piercing  squeal  emerged  from  the  blonde.