It was slipping through his fingers like the finest sand. Bruce's desperation was at its highest as the distance between him and his child grew like an expanding gulf. Feeling as if one extra inch out of his reach would sever the smallest inkling of hope he harbored for the relationship to be re-established.

The answers to his questions were short, the hugs were even shorter. The straw that broke the camel's back was watching his kid's bedroom door close and never open back up again for hours, immediately igniting the idea to pack the necessities into his car and setting off on a camping trip which was reluctantly agreed to. The disposition of an average father wasn't something that came naturally to him, but he was trying, and he was trying even harder with each step, setting up the tent and starting the campfire.

His gaze focused on the crackling flames as he rested back in a camping chair, words eluding him. Packages of marshmallows and graham crackers sat beside the fire untouched, the image sent his mind in a whirlwind of bittersweet flashbacks of seeing a sprightly face with a mouthful of s'mores hidden behind a smile that made him laugh. He misses his kid, even if they've been here all along, even if it was his fault that it got to this point.

"How about some hot chocolate? You still like it, right? I remember you used to love how Alfred made it." Bruce broke the silence with a tone of confidence overlapping the sound of his uncertainty, pulling out a large thermos from his bag to fill two cups and holding one out with an unsure half-smile "How about that night sky, huh? It's pretty nice to see the stars away from the city lights."