Dinner and a show [Ivy]

[twice]

The Fox Garden, Gotham’s finest eatery, and a socialite’s watering hole. Looking at it from the outside it looks as if it costs an average Gotham citizen a month’s salary to buy a drink there. The gothic architecture that the surrounding buildings are built with has been subdued for a more French decor. The main entrance alone is a sure to have a photographer or two snapping some shots of Gotham’s most influential.

Harvey Dent was not spared the wrath of the paparazzi when entering the eatery with his gorgeous bride to be. Multiple photographs and videos were taken of the two, most of which were destined to arrive in local tabloids. Harvey wasn’t too fond of the possibility that it’d lead to an article about some sort of “secret love life’” story that’d frame him for sleeping with Jack Ryder but it’s the curse of publicity.

The two slowly enter the Restaurant. Harvey couldn’t help but quietly grumble at the gaudy appearance of the restaurant. Hung from the bronze painted walls were large awards and photos of the most prestigious guests of the past. Harvey didn’t know if it was humorous or embarrassing that the esteemed guests had gone from Thomas and Martha Wayne to Rupert Thorne and Roland Dagget. The lovers approached a small, even more blatant, front desk were they were greeted by a miffed Concierge.

“Do you have reservations? “

“Yes, It should be under Harvey Dent.”

The concierge, who hadn’t the care to look up, soon looked up at Harvey. “R-right this way Mr. Dent.” Harvey should have been flattered but was instead annoyed by the added attention his arrival gave him, he didn’t really care to be greeted by any socialites. He was brought to a small table with white table cloth, useless candles, and a vase with two flowers in it for good measure. Harvey must’ve had a worn and annoyed look about him, something Gilda wasn’t going to let fly.

“District Attorney Harvey Dent, thrown into the den of Gotham’s most wealthy. Will he survive or die in the mad struggle for power? Tune in next time, true believers!”

“Funny, Gilda, should’ve been a comedian.”

“Your sarcasm doesn’t effect me.”

“You’re lucky you’re pretty, would’ve just left you on the door step of some stranger’s house if you weren’t.”

“But where would you be if that happened.”

Harvey took a long pause. “No place worth living in.” He made a big grin and grabbed her hand. Yes, it’s true this is no place Harvey would usually dine at. But as long Gilda is with him, anyplace can quickly become Harvey’s favorite.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Officially joining the ranks of Gotham's rogues, while a huge benefit to her credibility and reputation among the more unsavory elements of the city, has put a bit of a damper on Poison Ivy's ability to go anywhere nice. True, there's the back room at the Iceberg Lounge, but it gets boring after awhile to go to the same place all the time no matter how nice it is. And she's always been one for nice places - she was born into a lot of money, after all. True, in her younger years she was too shy and withdrawn to really capitalize on it, but since her reawakening she's fallen in love with high society. That she's given a lot of it up recently in favor of things that she considered more important doesn't mean that she doesn't still enjoy it immensely.

So as she and her latest beau pass the small herd of cameras on their way into the establishment, she can't help but smile. She has little fear of being identified by any of them - with her eyes hidden behind designer sunglasses, her hair styled in a way she doesn't normally, not a plant to be seen around her (not that she doesn't have any hidden on her person), and hanging onto the arm of a millionaire, she simply becomes some excessively attractive redhead. Specifically which attractive redhead she is doesn't largely matter, and by the time they figure it out the man now taking her to dinner will have outlived his usefulness.

And he has been very useful: Tom Richards is quite free with his money when she asks for it. Of course, that's partly because he's been practically drowning in her pheromones since she met him several weeks ago, but he's been one of her easier conquests. Unfortunately, keeping a hold over any one man for too long is dangerous - the authorities or, worse, the vigilantes would eventually be able to find her that way. It's very necessary though, as there are many things that she needs that simply can't be stolen and need to be bought with money - finding someone to leech it off of keeps her account with Oswald in the black without having to do anything dangerous like rob a bank.

Besides, little perks like the ability to go to somewhere like the Fox Garden when she's close to dumping a man and doesn't have to worry so much about being identified are quite nice. He probably assumes that her new-found willingness to go out in public with him rather than keeping their relationship private is a sign that she's ready to move forward with their relationship, rather than the opposite.

Allowing Tom to handle the bad-tempered concierge, she's in a pleasant mood as they're led to their table and is looking forward to the rest of her evening. Though as they approach their reserved table, a familiar voice catches her attention. Glancing in the direction it's coming from, she sees another couple. The woman she doesn't recognize, but of course she remembers Harvey Dent. He'd been one of the first men she'd been with after getting her doctorate a few years ago. Which probably accounts for why he's still alive - she's gotten a lot better at killing people lately. Ah, good times...

Seeing that the path through the restaurant will pass right by their table, her smile broadens as she steps behind him and says, "Hello, Harvey..."

[twice]

Harvey went pale. Had the voice he had just heard belonged to the woman he suspected. He didn’t dare turn around though, the last thing he wanted to give her was the attention she desired. Gilda however seemed confused with the situation, her confusion swiftly morphed into anger as she saw the frightened expression Harvey wore.

“Who the hell is this?” Gilda said with a tone of severe anger and mistrust. Harvey ignored his love’s severe tone and slowly turned his head until he could see Ivy’s porcelain white hand. His stomach soon had the sensation of a stone dropping inside of it. He unwillingly stared up into Ivy’s eyes. To a normal man they’d be enchanting, but Harvey wasn’t susceptible to Isley’s charm. “Pamela…” he growled. Harvey’s shock began to wore off, as Gilda had just swallowed what was happening. The wide eyes that Harvey once had were now narrow and piercing. His lips curled into a sneer like fashion, he knew that his anger was only giving Ivy severe satisfaction.

Gilda had heard the story many times. She heard about how a small kiss from Ivy, soon drove Harvey into a comatose state. Her emotions started to conflict. Anger, fear, and confusion raced through her head constantly at the same time. She tried to keep quiet and calm, as she knew saying anything at this moment would not lead to anything pleasant.

“How dare you.” Harvey said in a more gruff and exaggerated growl. “You have the nerve….to come near me, to come near her.” He said at almost a loss for words. Harvey couldn’t even find beauty in her. To him she was as ugly, ugly enough to be treated as a leper. He looked straight into her beeedy eyes, without any sign of lust or desire. He felt only anger and hatred, a feeling he hoped she’d find hard to stand.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Poison Ivy can't help but smile at Harvey's immediate reaction. So much anger there! Sure, she likes it when men fall for her charms and adore her, but she doesn't do that because she's that desperate for them to love her. Especially not the fake, forced love shown to her by the men caught in her spell. No, for her it's all about being in control. And seduction is her method only because it imparts such a complete control, in addition to being rather easy; you could take away her pheromones and other such tricks and she's still a devastatingly beautiful and manipulative woman. But by being so frightened and angry with her, Harvey is unwittingly giving her that control that she craves.

"Pamela?" she asks immediately when he identifies her, "That's not my name..." Or at least, she doesn't consider herself to be that woman anymore. She didn't really consider herself to be Pamela Isley even back when she was dating Harvey, but it was convenient to do so until the point she was first discovered as a criminal. As far as she's concerned she ceased to be Pamela Isley the moment she woke up after being attacked by Dr. Woodrue - she's Poison Ivy now.

But that's not the reason she said so, as Tom is very quick to notice that she's stopped to talk to someone and is quick to return to her side. And, hearing what's being said to her, he's very quick to come to her defense even though he recognizes the man she's talking to - he remembers voting for Harvey Dent in the last election. "I hope this is a case of mistaken identity, Mr. Dent," he says very seriously, "Nobody talks to Tiffany like that!" Poison Ivy smiles when she hears his voice - she has the man wrapped so tightly around her little finger... She turns to him and quietly says, "Oh, don't mind Harvey - I was with him a couple of years ago, and he's still sore about our breakup. You know how it is..." She keeps her voice quiet so as not to disturb the rest of the restaurant, but purposely keeps it loud enough that Harvey can hear. And at that Tom nods and gives Harvey an almost triumphant smirk - she's his now, and a far better prize than the woman Mr. Dent is sitting with now.

Turning back to Poison Ivy, Tom murmurs, "That still doesn't excuse him!" She smiles and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. "So protective of me! But don't worry; I'm a tough girl - I don't care what he says," she responds, her eyes shifting back to Harvey as she gives him a smug smile. She doesn't care that he's not attracted to her - she remembers all too easily just how attracted he was to her before, after all. He's actually lucky in a way - she had been still learning what has come to become her standard ways. She hadn't ensnared Harvey as tightly as she holds Tom, but she knew she had him well enough - knew that he'd fallen for her.

And back at that time she'd still been refining and perfecting her poisons. She'd erred on the side of caution with Harvey, using a natural poison instead of one of her own very specialized creations. It had been too little to kill him, yet it was also impossible to link it directly to her. He'd known it was her doing, but he couldn't prove it. Had he tried to do anything about it legally, it would have been his word against hers - well, his word against the finest team of lawyers her money could buy. And his finely tuned legal senses that has made him the district attorney also told him that it was a lost cause.

And there's no end to her delight in how that all played out, aside from the fact that she really would have preferred that he'd died. But she's happy to settle with having gotten away with attempted murder. After all, it allows her the chance to be smiling at him now with so much self-satisfaction. The man who is so sure that he can fix Gotham can't do a thing to her. Not even now.

[twice]

Harvey felt more rage than fear. It was the simple fact that she would tread anywhere remotely close to him that set Harvey off. However, Ivy wouldn’t act up in a place like this, not in public and especially not in front of her puppet. “Mr. Richards, I wouldn’t think you the type of man to accept someone’s hand-me-downs, let alone mine. However with the state your company is in, you might want to take as many hand outs as you can get.” Harvey said, keeping a bitter and angry face. He gave Tom a sarcastic and sly smile, but keeping his eyes fixed in a cold expression.

Gilda gave a nervous giggle and sank into her seat’s cushion. Multiple thoughts of worry and confusion raced through her mind. “Harvey, should we go?” Gilda faintly whispered. Harvey didn’t respond but did divert his attention towards his bride to be. Harvey’s frustration wouldn’t be satisfied with childish insults and low blows, but he did need to hit Ivy on a more personal level.

“Gilda, these roses are lovely!”

“Harvey, don-“

“I don’t think it’d be a problem if I took a closer look.”

Harvey slowly picked up the rose closest to himself. As long as eyes, rich ones infract, were alert, he’d be safe. Harvey kept his bitter expression as he placed the blood red head of the rose on his thumb. Unfortunately, Harvey “didn’t realize his own strength” and lightly pressed his thumb against the rose’s head, snapping it off and plummet to the floor below.

“Sorry about that. But it’s not a big problem, it’s just a plant.”

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

The smirk doesn't leave Tom's face in spite of Mr. Dent's words, now seeing them as a case of sour grapes and reassured that 'Tiffany' is not being offended. Still, though he's confident in their harmlessness he still doesn't appreciate them. "I'm surprised to hear you speak of a lady with so much disrespect, Mr. Dent - I thought that you had some level of style. It appears that I was wrong," he responds rather calmly, leaving it at that as he sees no need to say anything more to deepen the insult.

Poison Ivy watches the exchange with no little amount of amusement in her eyes. At least, until Harvey mentions the roses... She can't say that she particularly likes them. Not that they aren't precious, beautiful babies, but though cut and displayed so nicely they're all slowly dying now that they're unattached to their mother plant. And she can sense every one of them in the room - it's really rather disturbing. Not enough to spoil her evening, as she encounters that problem everywhere - especially anywhere 'nice'. Mostly it reminds her that she has her work cut out for her if she's to prevent such travesties.

Though if that's not bad enough already, she stiffens slightly as he picks one of them up, and when he so casually breaks it she feels her rage threatening to boil over. But he's made one major miscalculation: she is not afraid to 'act up' in a place like this. After all, she's already a known criminal - serial killer, terrorist - she has no reason to stay her hand for fear of harsher punishment than she's already in for if she's caught. Nor is she particularly worried about being caught - she's not really afraid of the police, and unless she's really unlucky it would take any vigilante at least a few minutes to get here after the first sign of trouble and she could easily be done and gone by then.

No, only one thing hold her back now, and it doesn't have a very strong hold at all - Tom's money. He has a lot of it that she hasn't gotten her hands on yet, and she'd really like it. If she ends up in a fight with Harvey here and now, that has a good chance of being lost to her. And yet, she has far more control over her 'puppet' than Harvey probably realizes, so she may not even have that problem. And even if she loses Tom, it would not be that difficult to find a replacement for him.

Which is why, instead of attacking him, she gives him a very simple warning. "Do you want things to get ugly, Harvey?" she asks lowly and quietly, but with a hint of very real menace in her tone. And as she asks, a thin little tendril of a plant appears from within her dress, wrapping around her arm like an armband, very discreetly. She is very armed, very dangerous, and very willing to have another shot at killing him if he doesn't back down right now.