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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2013 11:51:46 GMT -5
She turned to him, her eyes narrowing. "He's already back in Gotham. I've ran into him a few times..and he is just odd. Moreso than normal, Bruce. I don't like it, and he's not exactly chatty about what's going on, either." Pursing her lips, she didn't like the fact that he seemed...so behind on his intel. Or maybe he was just trying to politely gauge her reaction on her friend, and flush out information, either way, she switched back to the topic of this copy-cat, literally. "Quite interested. I might have to look into it, and soon. If you have any notes to compare, I'd love to borrow them. And..honestly, I don't think I could do a sidekick right now. You've done fantastic with Dick...he's turned out to be rather amazing, even with the mask, and duality thing...but me? I just...don't think that's in me. Not right now, at least." She added hastily, shrugging. Moreso, it would mean a lot more responsibility, and more strings than she could, or would want to manage for the time.
Linking her arm around his, she smiled. A genuine, purely Selina smile, one rarely seen by the cameras, or on the rooftops. As peculiar and odd as this was, it felt...real. Something that wasn't hidden, nor flaunted for the sake of response. "Well, I haven't exactly been here to inspect your bar, now have I?" She teased, walking with him to the kitchen. As butler and ward bantered, she could feel the color rising in her cheeks at Alfred's compliment, offering him a smile as she was suddenly too shy to respond to him in kind.
And it was sad, what he was saying about Nina. There was no way to keep her entirely safe for the time, and it made her chest hurt. "Unless you use her...as bait, to snag Edward. I just...Don't like how much attention she's garnered, and so quickly. She's going to turn into a pawn, and quickly, if something isn't done, Bruce. And I've done as much as I can. Now it seems that your reputation is necessary, and I hate saying that. It's the reputation that preceeds it." She sighed again, her other hand clasping his arm as well, before she let him go, and took her flute of cider, and seat. A sip to taste, and the light, bubbly liquid settled her stomach.
Shaking her head, she knew he was right. "Gordon is good, but this..is out of the police's hands, or jurisdiction. I'm just...at a loss on what to do, I just...sadly, I don't have the mind to compile some sort of, plan, or whatever it is you do to reverse engineer whatever the rogue at hand is doing. That's not my game, that's your own." She felt hopeless, an emotion she hadn't encountered in years; and hated to handle at that. Someone she had taken into her own confidence was now at risk, and as much as she could try, there was not a damn thing she could do about it.
"You know, Alfred is just saying that." She breathed, changing the subject, and more than likely failing. Never in her life would she have thought she'd be with Bruce Wayne, discussing Batman and the Riddler, out in a star-lit garden. This was the stuff of dreams. Of odd, odd dreams.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2013 22:02:28 GMT -5
Bruce’s eyebrow raised at the Selina’s admission that the Riddler was already in town. He had no reason to be jealous of who she spent her time with, but he was bothered that she was spending it with him. He wondered why she hadn’t come to him earlier, but he let it go. She walked a different fence than he did, and she walked it well. That she had come to him at all was either a sign of trust of one of desperation; he wasn’t sure which yet.
“Dick has done fantastic with me, you mean. I’ve taught him the job, but he’s made his life on his own. I wouldn’t have it any other way, if this were a perfect world. He’s become someone I could never be; he’s surpassed me in so many ways. But, every complication he adds to his life brings him that much closer to being compromised.”
He left the threat unspoken, being left to hope and trusting that Dick wouldn’t let it come to that. He hated hope. Hope was crushed. Hope was fragile, diseased, and weak. But, hope was all anyone ever had in the end, and that made is something to treasure. It didn’t him from hating it, though. Planning and preparation were far better. Training. Execution. Intel. That was how it was done. Hope was for amateurs.
“Not bait,” he answered, looking up into the sky. The ancients had drawn pictures in the sky with the stars they saw, given them life and purpose, but the stars never changed anyone. Change came from within, and only when it was wanted. Or, from the outside, if something was traumatic enough. He looked at her for a long moment, then back up at the sky. Maybe the Riddler had changed his stars, but he doubted it. From the information he had, Riddler was the most likely choice, but not the only one.
“You’re asking me to deconstruct who, out of all the rogues, would be most likely to attack Dr. Nina Stenet. The most obvious is the one she’s had the most contact with, Riddler. If they’re not seeing each other anymore, so much the better, and she means something to a lot of people, which would allow him to make a statement by attacking her. Scarecrow is a possibility, if it were to cross his mind. Cobblepot would not likely make a move himself, but if he could sell information to someone that wanted it, he would do so in a heartbeat. And the list goes on.
“I’ll make an appearance.”
Bruce smiled at Selina’s dismissal of Alfred. “Really? And what makes you so sure?”
Bruce took a sip of the cider and gazed at Selina’s face. He knew that moments like this, people like Selina would never have been a part of his life had his parents lived. Every day he lived, and with every breath he took, he wished that they had, but moments like this make him appreciate where he was I life this very moment, and for a very few seconds, he could let the burden go. Of course, he reminded himself, she wouldn’t be here at all if she didn’t need the Batman, and the irony was not lost on him.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2013 8:29:25 GMT -5
"Actually, I'm not, Bruce. We know that Edward; the Riddler is going to go after her. I don't care what creepiness Jonathan is up to, he doesn't have as much invested in Nina. And Edward likes to tie up loose ends...." She murmured, her eyes going wide over her own flute of cider. That was it. He broke up with her, now he had to get rid of her; she knew too much.
"Shit. He's going to try to kill her...one way or another. A civilian with her brain, and skill..knowing that much about Edward Nigma isn't going to fly with him. One of the only reasons I'm probably allowed to be his 'friend,' is that I deal in this sort of circumstance, daily. Both ways." She rushed on in a breath, her mouth suddenly dry. That was one question answered, her eyes narrowing as Bruce stared at the sky, and her interchangeably.
"Dick is something else, you know. He was kind when his bike crashed, helping me, and keeping one hell of a secret; using your own protocols, you know, to keep him, and myself safe. And yes..while he has surpassed you, Bruce, he's not you." Her hand went to his knee, gently as she spoke, her gaze breaking from his momentarily. "Then again, he's found a happiness that is work the risk...and complications, as you put it. There doesn't always have to be compromise. And sometimes those complications add a richness that may not have been there prior." She wasn't saying that this was a good idea, or bad. It was just....natural progression that had taken almost way too damn long for them to come to this. Catwoman and Batman, out of their suits, enjoying a night of conversation. And if he didn't want it, well, she couldn't stop him. But she could persuade him that it would be folly in his mind to ignore her, and not get to know the woman behind the mask, even though they had years of interaction on the benefit circuit. Even then, there was more to Selina Kyle, and even Bruce Wayne that either had divulged in polite conversation.
"And Nina is too smart to be bait. She probably already has some sort of plan, I just need to talk to her at some point, soon..." When he gently mentioned he'd visit her, she smiled. "Thank you, you know. I just..this is hard for me. I'm usually able to plan, plot, and execute something on my own, entirely. This..is a whole new arena, that I'm not accustomed to. I don't do crimefighting..but it doesn't seem to be all that different than what I do, to a degree. I just...it's not exactly my kink, if that makes sense. But some things are just too important to let go." In that quiet admission, Selina is showing her strength, and vulnerability. She didn't know who to go to, who to trust, other than the man who main an attempt to stop her at every chance he got. Even if she hadn't known his identity, she'd gone to him. He was the Batman, and underneath that, a man, still. If anything, unlike her namesake, Selina was loyal to those she was close to.
A man who would poke fun at her. "Alfred? I couldn't tell you exactly. But..." Selina shrugged. "Would it be all that horrible if we went beyond a pair in public, Bruce? I know it's just another set of masks...and I understand the persona you've crafted for the public...but you're not as daft as you act, and hell, you can't really enjoy the models all the time?" Well, he did have to enjoy them, they were models. But wouldn't it be better to have one person at his side? Lifting her hand, she broke the physical contact between them, cupping her flute of cider. "We could just shift organically. We're in most of the same circles, social and business wise, and we could play the press, even." She added wanly. Hell, he could knock down the entire idea. She couldn't rule out any of the possibilities, as her eyes went back to his face. Maybe it was odd they were plotting their possible relationship, but it wasn't...as easy for them as it was others. It never was. Ever.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2013 1:36:44 GMT -5
Bruce nodded. Nigma was the front-runner, though in Gotham, killers were dime-a-dozen. Nigma would only use the Penguin if Cobblepot were a pawn in his movements, and it was very unlikely that even the Riddler could beat the Penguin in the art of the deal, and Penguin wouldn’t be involved any other way. That took a lot of options off the table. If what Selina believed was true, Nigma would want it to be as personal as possible. Though with Riddler, that didn’t mean a lot. Dropping a person in a blender from halfway across the city could be seen as quite personal to the madman.
“You’re his friend as long as it suits him. If your usefulness to him ends, your life will not be worth a nickel to him, though your death could bring him great amusement. I know you don’t see him that way, and I’m sorry I can’t see him as you do. He’s twisted. He only has ‘friends’ of convenience.”
He let her change the topic. Dick had grown to be quite the man. He had friends and the chance at a normal life. Deep in his heart, Bruce sometimes wished that Dick would take the more conventional road and put away the armor and the mask and enjoy life, for both of them. Then again, better than anyone, he knew you couldn’t just put the mask away. It became a part of you. It was insidious, and as long as it had its grip in you, you could never be completely free.
Her hand on his thigh forestalled his planned rebuttal. Granted, she wasn’t really talking about Dick, at least not completely. Yes, Dick had grown into a more complete human that Bruce would ever be. That had drawbacks as well. His focus would be divided, and sooner or later that would cost him. Friends could help, but it was better not to get put into that position, and not to put anyone else in the position of being possible leverage against you, though with Selina, the latter was becoming a problem for him. They were too public, and sooner or later some nutjob would decide she was the best way to get to him. Would be put the mission first, or would he risk it all to save one person? He knew the answer, but he didn’t like it.
“If there is more than one person involved, there has to be compromise, sacrifice, and commitment.” It was fairly obvious that he was generally not the person in a relationship that compromised, though the fact that he had three Robins and worked with Batgirl was some level of proof that he had.
The conversation shifted toward Dr. Stenet again, and Bruce let it. “There seems to be more to Dr. Stenet than meets the eye. And don’t sell yourself short. You’re looking at things from the wrong angle. Your skills lie toward studying your prey, learning its weaknesses, and exploiting them to your benefit. You’re putting yourself in the position of a defender, and while you can create security systems to defend specific things, those things aren’t people that move around of their own accord. If you set yourself to defend someone, you are automatically putting yourself at a disadvantageous, something you rightfully avoid. Far better to attack than defend; it permits you to choose the battle conditions. Caesar and Alexander were both masters of the art.”
Bruce reached out and caressed Selina’s jaw line. “No, it wouldn’t be horrible." He paused, letting the possibility play out in his road even though he already knew how it would play out. "I don’t expect you to betray me. I don’t believe that you ever willingly would. Knowing, though, that you could be a pawn in somebody’s attempts to get at me is something I don’t like, because I can’t always be there to protect you." He'd learned that with Jason. "And it’s not just Batman that has enemies; the wolves are constantly circling around not only Wayne Enterprises, but the Wayne fortune as well. The closer we are, the more likely it is that, someday, someone will betray you. And it will be my fault, because I let us get too close. That would be horrible.”
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2013 19:44:32 GMT -5
While she couldn't agree with him, she could appreciate his views. And while her jaw tightened as he mentioned Edward being a fair-weather friend, she laughed at that. An actual sound of joy. "Trust me, Bruce. He's a friend, if you want to call him one of convenience, then so be it. But he actually values me, and knows not to cross me. How? I know you're going to ask that. He knows, and I know, because he's tried to do away with me. He's tried to not be my friend. He's pissed me off, and not gotten away with it."
As Bruce continued, Selina listened. It was an honest back and forth conversation for once. "There is always compromise, sacrifice, and commitment. There isn't such a thing as a relationship without such values included. Even in a friendship, there is such a thing. Commitment to the other person, be they a teary mess, or a joyful person. There is sacrifice, in compromise. Sometimes you have to settle on pizza, instead of Chinese, because, well, you had it two nights ago. And there in comes the sacrifice, in the compromise. I bet even when you're on the rooftops with Dick, that happens. He wants to go one way, you need to go another. Or when you were teaching him, and had to sacrifice something, to show him. It's not just in a romantic relationship, if that's what you're hinting at." Her hand squeezed his thigh. "It's in business, in...all things. Sometimes it's not so black and white." She added.
But still, she didn't want to agree with him. Yes, there always were wolves about them. And yes, she was more of a defensive player, than offensive, but that was just...how she was. "I don't think I'd want to be an offensive player, Bruce. I've never been a forerunner in crimefighting, either, but it's not a hugely difficult switch. Not to say I'm going to just..drop what I do. But my company, isn't some minuscule thing. And I'm as much in the limelight outside the mask, as I am in it. I've have my own attempts at manipulation plied on me. Just a few nights ago some thugs tried to use kittens to lure me in, to lure you in. I'm not stupid. And knowing your offensive...protocols and plans, and my defensive, and security measures, to a degree, are better together, than used against one another. You even know that." Leaning into his palm, she sighed.
"This is not the easiest pairing, if there ever was one. There is going to need to be give and take. And with what you know, it puts me at stake to even breathe a word of it. And vice-versa. It's uncharted territory, that we're both well equipped for, but have never gone forward into. I can understand if you don't want to try, but I personally believe that it would be a waste, if we didn't even try. If that fails, then we..." Her voice faltered. What then? If they could at least throw as much effort at a possibility of them, as they had to their own respective masks, how couldn't it work? Pulling away from his touch, she glanced down at her hands, and then back to him. "It's not only a you thing, Bruce. And considering we've both been through worse...." She shrugged. She could only be so hopeful in the midst of all of this. To doom it from the get-go would be against her outlook. And true 'horrible' would to let years of interactions go to waste. To ignore the feelings that have always been there.
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Last Edit: Jul 27, 2013 1:34:13 GMT -5 by Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2013 1:25:58 GMT -5
Bruce let Selina’s comments on Nigma go. She was a big girl, and she knew how to take care of herself. The problem was that Nigma was not just anybody. If she had won a pissing contest with him, there were really only two ways he could see that happen. It either suited his purposes for her to have the upper hand at the time, or he was plotting revenge for when it would best suit him. He’d have to make sure that she didn’t become bait. It wasn’t lost on him that he was putting more emphasis in keeping Selina safe than Dr. Stenet, and in truth, that bothered him a little. It was a part of what he was worried about – losing focus. On the other hand, he couldn’t say that having a Robin wasn’t similar. She didn’t fall under his command or have his training, which was more than a little maddening, but she had proven herself very resourceful.
Bruce almost ignored the allegory of food and compromise; it was usually a non-issue and in situations where he felt a decision needed to be made, he made it. The reference to training, though, hit deeper. He walked a difficult tightrope in training others, balancing between mentor and task-master, and all too often becoming closer to those he trained than he’d ever intended. They were soldiers. There was a war being fought, and they had their parts to play. Not as pawns, certainly, and it had taken a lot to convince him that letting someone else into his life was worthwhile. He’d been convinced, though. Sacrifice, compromise, and commitment. He really hated the compromise part.
“If it were just a romantic relationship, just something physical, it wouldn’t matter. You’re not just another warm body, though. You never have been. Not to me, and that’s what makes me vulnerable. My instinct is to save you, whether that’s the right decision or not. A moment’s hesitation is too much. People can die. But, at the end of the day, me denying that won’t make it any less of a reality. You’re right; there are infinite shades of gray. Your being out there makes it harder to see the shades.”
He felt her hand on his thigh; he enjoyed her touch, even when it was just friendly. At the moment, it felt a little more than friendly, but not quite intimate. She was, in effect, asking him to stay, to give a relationship a chance between them. For him, it already existed, but apparently not at the level she wanted. He hadn’t committed because commitment was dangerous. Not in the way that the sleaze balls in the bars thought of it. Nothing was ever that simple in his life. He wasn’t God’s Gift to Women, though Bruce often portrayed himself as such. Any belief he had in a god flowed away with his parents’ blood into the sewers. It was dangerous because it would be a chink in his armor. If he were compromised, people would die. He was already compromised.
“It’s not your business, or you as a very successful civilian that I’m worried about. The Rogues know who you are. Yes, that has advantages. It's also a weakness. They know the Cat and the Bat play tag. And even Twister. That makes you, to an extent, a liability to them. If Catwoman and Batman are seen as a couple, as open as that relationship seems to be, and Selina and Bruce are seen as more than just people that happen to meet at charity functions, it won’t be a huge step to them putting Bruce under the mask. That will put Dick and Alfred in jeopardy, and others as well.
“You’re right in that we have much to offer one-another, in many different areas. And yes, your company is a great success, and very meaningful. How much of that would be put to risk by our giving in to our desires? It isn’t only ourselves at stake; it’s every single person we care about. Who are you willing to risk for our happiness?”
“If I may intrude,” Alfred said as he carried out their dinner, “I don’t know of a single person in your life that would be comfortable with you foregoing your happiness for their well being.”
Alfred set out their plates, continuing before Master Bruce could interrupt.
“For my part, I would not have you throw away your happiness because it might be inconvenient for me. Now, please, carry on,” he said with a bow, backing away before Master Bruce could order him away.
Bruce scowled at the old man, and thought Alfred was interfering far more than he should. On the other hand, he had invited the comments when he’d spoken for him. The old man knew the worst possible times to be skulking in the shadows.
“There will be a lot of give and take. I never said I wouldn’t try. For the record, logistically and rationally, I think it’s a bad idea, but it wouldn’t be the first bad idea that worked.”
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2013 5:45:45 GMT -5
He spoke truth. He always seemed to find the complete opposite view of what she was seeing, and offer it up. Not that this was bad, but it gave way to conflict. A conflict that she could see, and accept, but not agree with. Not always. Sighing as she listened to him, she fought down the urge, a third time, to be exact, to get up and leave. There was more at stake right now than just how she felt; like he was pushing her away, because of his focus. He'd always been a driven man, and speaking with him now, like this, without pretense was showing her how intricately woven his life truly was. How every minute was orchestrated for him to achieve his goals, and to bring about a peace that he couldn't even posses within himself. So he sought to reach out to others. To equip them, to teach them, to try and protect them. To save them. Like he had been unable to when he was younger. Like she had been unable to when she was younger.
Gritting her teeth, she shut her eyes, and nodded. "We've both had these notions. But it's been years, now. Give, take, flirt, walk away. Both of us had. If you can honestly say right now, that you'd walk away, and give up on the hope of a happiness you've been denying yourself, I'll leave, Bruce. And by leave, I mean Gotham. It's my home, I was born here, grew up, mostly here, but I can find another city with welcoming arms, and no doubt, another savior. But personally," she paused, green eyes opening and focusing on him, "...as much as you think this is a bad idea, I think it'd be even more stupid to never give it a chance. I don't need to be saved, I'm a big girl. I just don't play by the same rules you do, or in the same playground. If I can run jokes with the Joker, I like to believe I can hold my own. And I think you're incorrect. There are exactly five people that know me outside mask, and as a civillian. And after our little dinner, you're aware of more than half. The other two have been mentioned by name more than once since we've been talking." Nina, Edward, Dick, Kory, and himself. How many knew who the real Bruce Wayne was?
"So, please, correct me if I'm wrong, but there seem to be more on your side that know who you are, and you're not exactly keeping them at arm's length, or not allowing them to eke out a tiny part in your life." She added quietly. "But if I'm such a glaring obsticle in you being able to judge your moral barometer, I'd have to say you need to do something about it." She was being honest. She knew she'd be a liability, just as much as he would be to her. It'd not only mildly ding his reputation, for finally consumating something with the 'bad girl,' but for her, sleeping with the enemy. She'd never hear about it from those at the Iceberg. "Not all that I know, are aware of who I am." She murmured, her hand going to her hair, running through several strands as she thought on his words. It was cryptic, but his words were weighing heavy on her. Continue as they have, but with new knowledge, or change their paths, and risk, to possibly fail, and risk everything, including her livihood? It was a question she'd have to think on moreso.
"We do have much to offer; we look at the same task as if we are different sides of a coin. But you're right. Does the outcome outweigh the risk? I can't answer that right now. Nor can I speak for those that care about me; my parents are dead. I would know that those who do care for me, wouldn't want me to pass up a great happiness." She was gently interupted by Alfred, the scent of dinner wafting before him. She bit her lower lip as he spoke. While he was aged, he did have a certain coy wisdom about him that she appreciated.
Nodding, she separated from where she had contact with Bruce. "I could say you taking up the mantle of Batman was a bad idea, that somehow worked, but I think that would be an entirely new discussion as is. And Bruce, everything is give and take, no matter the risks. You taking on Dick. Letting him go as Robin, and then Nightwing. That's the closest you've had to a son, ever. And you trust him, and have more than enough give and take there, as well as risk. And the others...?" She didn't want to speak names, but she knew he'd had those he'd failed, and lost, even.
"If you think being open to the possibility of someone is bad, you need to get your priorities straight, Wayne," she murmured, raising her glass of cider.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2013 22:10:56 GMT -5
Bruce looked over the food as Selina talked, but at the moment he had no appetite; he knew Alfred was one of the finest chefs on the east coast, but his attention wasn’t on the food. He was thinking about what Selina said, and it seemed to him that he was talking to a brick wall. It was a rare thing for that to happen; few had the internal fortitude to treat Bruce Wayne in such a manner; his money meant too much for the businessmen of Gotham to be rude to him. As Batman, it was an even rarer thing, usually met with scorn if not outright violence. Selina was one of the few people that were able to treat him as an equal and not be cowed by him in one way or another. Normally, he appreciated that.
He looked to her out of the corner of his eye. His body tensed as she spoke; he felt she was covering the same ground again and either hadn’t understood or just misunderstood what he’d said. He knew that his getting upset about it was more than him just feeling that she was wasting his time. He cared about what they were talking about. He wanted her to understand, but words just weren’t working. And he wasn’t of the frame of mind to keep battering against a brick wall.
He turned to face her, his ice-blue eyes blazing with intensity, his jaw set in grim determination. He began to rise from the bench, turning toward her as one sandaled foot cleared the bench. One arm took her near shoulder and the other reached across her waist. He lifted her as he moved over the bench and brought her into an embrace, holding her off the ground with her feet several inches above the patio. He pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss, smothering away any words of protest she might have and holding her until she stopped struggling and accepted the kiss. Finally, he pulled back from her and let her slide down his body until her feet reached the ground, though he didn’t free her from his grip.
“I said ‘yes.’ Relationships are something I am not very good with. I use people, like I used you in the manor with Dick. I don't consider myself a ‘good catch,’ but you're right. What we have is too important to throw away just because it ‘might’ be a bad idea."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2013 20:36:33 GMT -5
They'd danced before, at night, swept up in soirees, galas, and balls. But in his sequence of moves, he'd evoked other memories. Not quite dancing, but something that brought about an instant set of reactive motions they'd repeated not on the ballroom floor, but on the rooftops. Effortlessly Selina was swept against him; cotton and bare skin meeting her instead of a hard exoskeleton and synthetics. As soon as her feet left the ground, her legs automatically wrapped about his waist, an arm coiling about his neck. All that she could think of was how blue his eyes were, but there was no cold, icy stare in them. She could see his hair, and most of all, feel his lips on her own. A gasp was cut short, her mind racing at the juxtaposition of scenery, and muscle memory. Barely remembering that such an action required two people, he'd pulled away, and her own limbs loosed from his body as well, her head light, and she was quite glad he hadn't let go of her. She was pretty sure she'd have collapsed right then and there.
Not that they hadn't kissed before; him saying something dumb like 'that's not yours,' and her turning, with a smile to tell him that it wasn't his, either, so what did he care. The closing of distance, the flirting, the stealing of a brief kiss, or even her claws tracing the bat emblem on his chest. But this time there was no leather, no armor baring them. No masks. Just her rambling about something, and his damned redirection. This time it was them. Selina Kyle, and Bruce Wayne, sharing such an intimate exchange, but possibly with different masks. Not quite physical ones covering their eyes and identities, but something else was peeled away, and she didn't quite comprehend right now. Not only that, but her head was swimming.
Staring up at him, she pressed her lips together, some semblance of coherent thought trickling back into her senses. "I'd have to argue that, Bruce. You're quite good at relationships, just not this flavor of them. And hell. There are others that are much better catches; those that don't have double lives, or get beat up as much, or keep the nutcases in Gotham in line. But I don't think that means I have bad taste, it's just different. And trust me. I've gotten to know what I like. And what I don't." Her forefinger and thumb reached up to his chest, thumb brushing faintly where an outline would normally be, her eyes dipping away from his for a moment. He'd used her at that little ordeal. She'd thought something odd.
"But there was purpose. And you can think you want to blame him all you want. But he kept a secret, just as I did. And I blew it badly, in China, and you didn't say a damn word," which was pretty embarrassing, after she'd been able to assemble together the bits and pieces she could remember, along with talking to Nina.
"That's a start. And I agree. Let's give it our best effort..." she murmured, her eyes returning to his lips, and those vivid eyes.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2013 22:08:12 GMT -5
Bruce felt a pang of regret as Selina’s legs unwrapped from his waist, but pursuing her on a physical basis at the moment would have been an evasion, no matter how much he might have enjoyed it. The taste of her lips was like honeyed wine; the warmth and closeness of her body intoxicating, the touch of her hand on his chest called to feelings he couldn’t give into without losing himself to his passions. Not that he didn’t want to, but that wasn’t why she had come to the manor.
He smiled at her, both genuine and self-depreciating at once. “I’d be the last person to say that you don’t know what you want. And I won’t argue how I am with relationships.”
Bruce knew that others thought of him as paranoid, but nobody was ever betrayed by someone they hadn’t trusted. Letting anyone in was a risk, and the thought of anyone he cared about being used against him was something he never wanted to face again. That brought up the question of what he was -- a man, or the ghoul people portrayed him as? The ghoul, the terror, the theatrics were all tools. He was the Batman, there was no doubt about that. Admitting to the foibles of humanity was a hard thing to do, but denying them was simply foolish.
“You’re correct; Dick did right by you; that was just another point to spur him with. I used your curiosity and sensuality to goad him, and you reacted perfectly. I was pushing him to defend Koriand’r, to see how he would react under stress, assailed and offended. He reacted well. What I am most disappointed with is how many people have come to know my identity through him. That was a mistake, but it is done and can’t be undone.
“China was very interesting,” he added with the hint of a smile. “And, yes, I kept it to myself.”
He pulled her closer, bending down to kiss her once again. It was not meant to burn through her defenses or break her train of thought, but it was filled with passion and desire.
“We will, but this isn’t why you came here. Not that I mind. If our business is concluded, perhaps we have a little time for . . . other things.”
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Deleted Member
Deleted
Registered On: May 2, 2024 7:11:54 GMT -5 ~
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2013 17:04:39 GMT -5
"And I agree. I am a woman who..knows what she wants, when she wants it. And I know how the media has perceived you in 'relationships,' be it as I don't consider taking two super-models to a benefit...much of anything of substance." She teased, finally letting go of him, but not stepping away. As he went quiet for a moment, her hand went to his chest. A familiar place where her claws had eked out the emblem, or even slashed at him angrily. He was thinking, and she knew how important that was to him.
"Come back to me, Bruce..." she'd gently murmur before he did finally speak. "That...is a risk that happens when you choose to work on a team. There are reasons why I work independently. I don't want a sidekick. I don't need that additional risk. Not in my night life." While her words may be going directly against what they were aiming for here, it was true. She had no partners, therefore no chinks in her armor. No leaked information, nothing. If she did work with someone else, it was limited, and on her own time.
"But...we learn. And we adapt to what we known, and figure out how to keep it safe, Bruce. Dick did well, and if he trusts Kor'i, she will do the same. And I agree. Your China was my...." Did she want to say where she finally put everything together? Not really, because it was almost as intimate as her being hauled into a shower, naked.
Thankfully, he interrupted her with a kiss; one that she could wholeheartedly return with just as much heat.
"You want my fingerprints, Stud?" She teased, running a fingertip down his jaw. She could hear what he was saying in his tone, the words meaning little to the prior kiss.
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