A Meeting of Fortune - [Catwoman]

[hush]

Tommy walked up the steps to the Mayor's large illustruous house, straightening out his tux as he did so. He hated this. He hated the very idea of this. Having to socialise with the various stuck-up members of the Gotham hierachy, pretending they're interesting and completely not self-centered. It was a hard thing to do, but he knew if he wanted to get anywhere in life, he had to play along. If he was going to get Wayne. Who knew, maybe if Tommy was lucky, the spoilt brat would be here, undoubtedly with a pair of floosies at his arms, swooning him.

Tommy flashed his invite to the man on the door, and nodded to him as he stepped inside, gentle piano music from the grand piano in the corner filling the air. It was soothing, he wouldn't deny that. He tried to keep himself out of sight, mixing with the crowds, not exactly wanting to talk to anybody just yet. Let a few drinks go down the neck, relax, not be so aware of how bored he was. But he was caught, and breathed a very quiet sigh, as he politely picked up a glass of champagne from a waiter walking past.

"Mr Elliot, glad you could make it!" cheered the Mayor, as he waddled over.

"Mayor Hill, a pleasure."

[Avalikia]

Generally, Selina would ignore the invitations to gatherings like this. A party of some sort held at the Mayor's mansion that she really couldn't care less about. Whether it was something to do with politics or even just a chance to rub elbows with Gotham's wealthiest, it took a long train of thought to actually get her to arrive at the party. Eventually though, she did. For reasons that only she would know, though most of it had to do with the fact that she had nothing else to do.

As was par for the course with Selina, she showed up to the event fashionably late. The party had already begun and people were already drinking themselves silly with the champagne and wine and whatnot that was being served. Given that it was a formal event and Selina was never shy about dressing up, she showed up in a strapless black dress, even if she thought the particular dress showed off a more conservative side to her taste in fashion.

As she entered the room, a few younger and a few older women who recognized her immediately flocked toward her and began asking her hushed questions about her previous run-in with the Scarecrow, that'd made some local news. However, time had passed since then and she'd already had her fair share of questioning. In fact, she was quite sick of hearing about it. Shooting the women a glare, Selina continued to walk passed them all, instead making a bee line toward one of the waiters walking around with trays of champagne. She could tell, she'd need it.

[hush]

Tommy stood facing the Mayor, a fake smile put on his face as he drank the champagne up. How was he going to get out of this one?

"Any serious incidents lately, Tommy?" the Mayor asked casually, obviously after something interesting.

"No no, it's all going fine. Nothing for you to worry about!" Tommy reassured, wishing he could drink his champagne faster.

The Mayor looked a bit downtrodden after hearing this, obviously more interested in a cool story than the safety of his citizens. He really was drunk. Tommy kept up the pointless, dull small talk, his eyes occasionally flicking around, looking for a way out of this. Why did he bother to turn up here? Two minutes and he'd already been cornered. But maybe this would be the worst of it? For the rest of the night he could just have a nice drink. He chuckled at a poor joke of the Mayor's when, he saw a beautiful woman walking past in a black dress. She seemed just as bored as Tommy, and was obviously aiming for the champagne. Bingo.

"I am sorry Mr Mayor, but I just need a word with her about a hospital appointment," Tommy bluffed, pointing to the woman as she picked up some champagne, and strolled over to her.

"Hey! How are you feeling?" Tommy asked the woman as he went over, trying to keep up the act. He leant in lose to whisper in her ear very lightly.

"Sorry about this, just play along," he muttered, before pulling back with that same pointless grin.

[Avalikia]

Before she could bring the glass of champagne to her lips and feel the annoyances of the room slowly slip away thanks to the splendid effects of the alcohol, Selina was once again interrupted. Not be pseudo-concerned socialites like herself though, only interested in speaking with her so that they could in fact be seen speaking with her. No, instead it was by a man who she felt she should recognize, but couldn't place his name right away. For being as well known in Gotham City as she was, Selina was pretty lousy at remembering names of those who she didn't come into daily contact with.

The question rang in her mind a few times before she actually looked up at the man who she knew to be a surgeon at the very least, she just couldn't remember the name that went along with the profession. Holding the glass up to her lips she took a sip of the alcohol and smiled afterward, looking up at him and shrugging vaguely.

"Better than I was a minute ago. What about yourself?" She asked, not so much interested in conversation about her nearly fatal run-in with the Scarecrow the other day as much as maybe getting to know just how much that tuxedo he was wearing was, which would let Selina know how well off he was as well. To be at this party, he had to have saved a few pennies.

Chuckling a little bit, Selina shook her head and took another little drink of the champagne. "No arguments here." She said, by far preferring the company of a rich man than multiple heiresses. Or whatever they were.

[hush]

The woman was obviously a Gotham socialite, that much was obvious, but he was never one to pay attention to social circles. He barely even paid attention to politics, and only knew Hill due to a few hospital board meetings, all almost as dull as the parties he was forced to attend.

"Better than I was a minute ago. What about yourself?" she asked politely, and Tommy considered the question as he finished off his glass.

"Struggling to breathe with all these egos in the room," Tommy joked dryly as he grabbed another glass, placing his old one onto the passing tray.

He subtly looked over his shoulder, to see the Mayor had gotten distracted probably by something shiny. He returned his attention back to the woman and gave her a large warm smile as he extended his spare hand out to shake.

"Sorry about all that. I'm Tommy Elliott," he told her as he took a light sip.

[Avalikia]

"Oh, good. I'm not the only one, then." She said jokingly, looking around at the rest of the guests and rolling her eyes afterward. Sure, Selina was a socialite. But it wasn't as if she really took that title very seriously. If she did, she wouldn't be prowling around at night in a catsuit stealing millions of dollars worth of jewels.

When he held out his hand and introduced himself, the name immediately rung a bell in her head. Tommy Elliot. So, Doctor Thomas Elliot, the one close to Bruce Wayne and from out of town. Holding her hand out, she gave his hand a shake and nodded. "I thought you looked familiar, I've heard that name before. You're some kind of doctor, aren't you?" She asked in what was clearly a feigned ignorant tone.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Elliot. I'm Selina Kyle." She said, finishing off her glass as well and handing it to one of the waiters who happened to walk by just as she needed him to be there.

[hush]

"I thought you looked familiar, I've heard that name before. You're some kind of doctor, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm a surgeon at the hospital. Only reason I'm invited to these things. It's one of the negative things about the job..." he teased with a wink.

The woman seemed to be like him in her attitude to the rich snobs that were here, and he definitely liked that. It was a refreshing change to talk to somebody here that wasn't going on about themselves. In fact, he wasn't sure it had ever happened before, which just proved the sad lifestyle a socialite can live. Obviously, this person had made a wise choice.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Elliot. I'm Selina Kyle."

"Please, no need for formalities, call me Tommy. It's nice to meet you Selina, you've already saved my ass from a conversation here and I've only just met you," he laughed, sipping his drink. "So, how'd you get dragged into this?"

[Avalikia]

"I see. Well, at least that means someone with more than half a brain is here, at least." She joked back, taking another look around the room. It was filled with people like, .. admittedly, herself. She hadn't really done much to gain status as a socialite aside from working for the benefit of animals. Selina had the right idea at the right time, and had robbed a few places prior to boost her status.

'So, how'd you get dragged into this?'

Glancing back up at Tommy, Selina smirked and gave a shrug. "I didn't exactly get dragged into it. I was invited, and I came along. Unfortunately I do have a reputation to keep up with if I'd like to keep my shelters running smoothly. Making an appearance isn't that much of an inconvenience."

Even though she didn't necessarily like being at the parties, she knew it was a responsibility. A tough one, at that. While most had the responsibility to sit in an office for ten hours or work longer, harder factory jobs all day, she had to sip champagne and play nice with rich people. It was horrible.

[hush]

"I didn't exactly get dragged into it. I was invited, and I came along. Unfortunately I do have a reputation to keep up with if I'd like to keep my shelters running smoothly. Making an appearance isn't that much of an inconvenience."

"Oh, you do charity work? That makes a change, nice to hear. Together we're the brains and the heart of this whole place," he laughed, as he took another sip of his drink.

He looked around at the crowded room and sighed at the sight of all of them. It was despicable how they acted, without a care in the world. He was half tempted to just put on the Hush pseudonym and take them all out (excluding the beautiful Selina of course), but he had better things to do. But, it was tempting...

"Shall we go somewhere a bit more private? This place is huge, there has to be somewhere..." Tommy muttered, looking around at the various staircases and doors leading off somewhere.

[Avalikia]

Selina nodded at the question presented to her, and glanced around again just out of sheer habit. Maybe even staking out the place for a heist in the future, though it'd be a risky one. Her habits had changed as far as theft goes lately though, so actually it was very possible that she would attempt to make a run of this place as well. Eventually.

"I do. A few for stray animals, of which there are way too many in this city. It's unfortunate, really." She said, sounding at least minimally more somber at the thought of all the stray cats and dogs; mostly cats, without homes. She did what she could, but even with all of her time and money, it was impossible to care for hundreds of thousands of animals.

Grinning at his comment, Selina gave a slight roll of her eyes, though it was an agreeable light-hearted one and not one to mock him in any way.

"That's a bit forward, don't you think?" She asked with a wide smile now, clearly not offended at all but at least willing to take the opportunity to call him out on it. Her sense of humor was always piqued, and even more so with the remaining traces of Scarecrow's toxin messing with her, as well as what little alcohol she did have.

[hush]

"I do. A few for stray animals, of which there are way too many in this city. It's unfortunate, really."

"Yeah, it is, but it's nice to hear somebody's looking out for them," Tommy nodded understandingly.

He finished his latest glass of champagne, and sighed as he handed it to the waiter. At the rate he was going tonight, he'd have the hangover of the century, but he merely shrugged it all off. At least with Selina he had a chance to enjoy himself at one of the upper class parties.

"That's a bit forward, don't you think?" she said with a wild cheeky grin.

"If it gets us away from this lot, I'd do anything," he joked, offering out a hand to her for the pair to walk off.

[Avalikia]

"Glad to see someone appreciates the effort." Selina commented apathetically, not really very interested in talking about her shelters at the moment, which admittedly was rather unlike her. Normally one could expect her to go off on a tangent if her animals were concerned. Maybe it was the champagne? Maybe the toxin? Probably both. She just didn't care about the shelters right now.

Grinning up at Tommy, Selina took his hand and nodded her head again as well. "Fine by me." She said quietly, walking with him and taking a glance back at the group they were leaving behind. Not a big loss, that much was certain. Although, it seemed like the further away she got from the safety of the group, the more her head began to ache. Taking in somewhat of a sharp breath, she reached up with her free hand and tucked a bit of her short hair behind her ear, and grabbed another glass of champagne from a waiter passing by. If this headache was anything like the ones she'd been getting lately.. she'd need a lot more bubbly where that came from.

[hush]

"Glad to see someone appreciates the effort."

"I'm an appreciative guy," Tommy smirked.

“You aren’t jealous of him, are you?” Selina replied to his comment about going somewhere else, which caused Tommy to smile warmly.

"Great," he said as their hands met and they wandered off.

Tommy tried to keep his head down, not wishing to attract the attention of anybody who'd want a long, dulll, mind-aching conversation with him. Somebody would try it, and no matter what Tommy could say, he wouldn't be able to get out of it. These people were like leeches. He heard Selina take in a sharp intake of breath, and he looked over towards her with a face of concern.

"You okay?" Tommy asked, both worried and surprised. It didn't sound good.

He lead Selina towards a pair of open double doors that lead towards a balcony. He slowed as he got outside into the fresh air, and closed the doors behind them, blocking out the hubbub of the supposed "party".

"Is something wrong?"

[Avalikia]

As the two of them exited the manor and walked onto the balcony, Selina turned her head toward Tommy and nodded, chuckling nervously and waving off his concern, literally, with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I'm fine, really." She said, and shook her head instead of nodding it at his second concern. "Maybe I've already had a bit too much." She joked, and let out a release of breath in the form of a sigh.

Keeping her mind elsewhere, she looked off at the skyline of Gotham from the north set mansion, and grinned. "For all of it's problems, Gotham sure is beautiful at night. Looks almost normal." She mused, not even really to him in particular, but just so that it was said.