Who: Ivy and Harley and some NPCs lacking good timing. What: A little jewelry store break-in. Where: Gotham City. When: While the Birds & the Bat were busy holding hands and being a family. Warnings: Mild violence? Lots of links to random jewelry?
Truth be told, Harley wasn’t the least bit surprised that Bailey went and tattled on her. What she had been surprised about was the fact that she did it before she could stop her. The price she paid for a little fun. It actually worked out fairly well for the most part. She’d heard about Catwoman and Bat in Arkham - it was hard not to in all honesty - which meant Batman was more preoccupied with his little kitty cat to be bothered with little old her. Ivy had been angry, grumpypants in fact, but the conversation had actually turned out well. Harley wanted attention, always had. She also wanted to feel like she had a place in this Gotham, which had her poking around Arkham again.
By poking, of course, she meant chatting up the head of psychiatry every few nights. It would take time to discover if her credentials would get her through the doors, if she could ‘break in’ without really breaking anything. That kind of access could prove useful, especially if Catwoman made a habit of getting an all expenses paid trip into the Asylum. There was a lingering thought in the back of her mind that it would be useful to have an in if the Joker appeared, but she tried to push it away. If Ivy was making such an effort to save her, then she’d do her best to go along with it. That meant a little jewelry heist was in order and the blonde was more than happy to provide a time and place.
Harley was on the roof of the jewelry store she’d chosen at a quarter to 11, dressed in black and red. Her hair was down, wavy and wild, and her lips were a bright, blood red. She was going to have fun and she and Ivy would have a little bad girl bonding time. This wasn’t the time to just fetch some rope when told. Maybe she didn’t have fancy toys like Catwoman or the ability to bespell others like Ivy, but she was valuable damn it and she was ready to prove it.
It was becoming impossible to ignore the truth, this was not her Harley. Ivy had every intention of grooming the girl into something more respectable and independent, a less volatile blossom of unparalleled beauty.. but this strange hybrid was rooting it's thorny crown instead. If there was emotion left in Ivy, it was designated for the ghost of that long lost friend. The one that crowed over video games and scarfed junk food and cartwheeled her way through a shoot out like one of Death's prima ballerinas on a Swarovski crystal stage. But jewelry heists weren't the time to get sentimental. This might have been more of the Cat's arena, but Ivy was no stranger to breaking, entering, and breaking some more. It was all in the name of fun usually, but tonight Ivy craved a distraction. Soon - if not right now - Catwoman was preparing to store a couple of wounded batbirds at the Greenhouse, and the idea left Ivy's pale teeth clenched in a rather cannibalistic grimace. The Greenhouse was her sanctuary, her home, and if those fucking Birds did anything to her plants while she was away, she'd...
A deep breath centered her, all cool reminders that she'd deal with those circumstances when they reared their masked(and capable of being decapitated) heads. For now, there were games afoot. With the Bat brigade away, the little girls could play. Ivy was smart, but she didn't know much about security systems. Her doctorates were cylindrical with botany, not computer sciences. Regardless, when the police arrived, they wouldn't be much of a problem, and Ivy didn't plan on this event to last for very long anyway.
Ivy was on the roof a moment later, scaling the fire escape with dexterity that came from years of fighting crusaders, not planting flowers. Beneath the crescent moon's unholy glow, she noted the blond standing near the edge, apparently lost in thought. Ivy was at least dressed for work tonight, no skimpy tanks and nonexistent skirts, just dark leggings and an oversized t-shirt in jungle green. "Lovely night, isn't it?" Her voice was honey spilled across satin, and the heels of her boots clicked quietly across the roof's tarmac when she approached the doll.
Excitement coursed through Harley's veins, leaving her on edge and ready to move. She wore a wide smile as she looked out along Gotham’s skyline, waiting for her friend to come out and play. It was easy to slip into that mindset for her, that Ivy was a friend, and she was just in a good mood that she was determined not to let anything affect. Harley didn’t want to sulk anymore and that was, unfortunately, what she was prone to doing when she was on her own. She could only spend so much time in the zoo and really, stealing things just wasn’t all that fun on her own. Arkham’s head of psychiatry was a distraction, but a boring one. At least she could recognize the importance of that particular distraction. Stealing was just starting to give her a rush. All she needed was that little extra push and maybe, just maybe, she’d get a little closer to the Harley Ivy wanted her to be.
When she heard Ivy’s voice, her smile turned positively gleeful. Gone was the woman who had begged Ivy for purpose. In her place was a slightly more sure woman, wearing the look of a child getting one on one time with her favorite adult. This was play time and she was bound and determined to make Ivy proud of her. Harley, for all her potential, was nothing without a guiding hand. Being left alone would never end well for her but the company she kept went a long way in shaping the path she walked. “More than lovely,” she replied, her voice child-like with excitement as she turned to face the green-tinged woman. Her head cocked slightly in curiosity at Ivy’s choice of clothing, but it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. “Ready to have some fun?” Harley sat on the ledge of the roof and rocked back, her fingers curling along the edge more out of habit than needing to.
Ready to have fun? "Always, sugar." Ivy wasn't a woman of smiles or warm eyes, those things had been stolen away from her and buried in a sandlot of her lost life. But she knew that Harley needed this. If the Doll was causing irresponsible chaos on the other side of the door, Ivy would easily take on the responsibility of keeping her girlfriend entertained here instead. Always the mother figure, with the Earth, and with this. Even the Cat, on occasion, got some warm tending to. There was a faint tick at the corner of her mouth, a soft attempt at a smile that bordered more on nostalgia than glee. "The Bats are away, but the police will still come. I give us a good seven minutes, but math was never my best, so try not to get shot if I'm wrong.”
A thick tendril of fern green slithered up the fire escape ladder like a ball python, wholly animated and directed by the redhead in the killer leggings. All it took was one blade of grass to sprout an army, and in this case, the monstrous vine sprouted and rose up the side of the building in rapid development. Ivy was the sun, and it yearned for her vitality. Always please the queen. The budding vine coiled around the steel grate of the roof's ventilation shaft and ripped it clean with a loud pop of bolts being sprung loose from their grooved wombs. By the time the plant was finished, and the grate was tossed aside with a clang, flowers were blooming where the buds had only begun moments before. Blossoms of exotic purple and acid trip orange. Some new breed that belonged in Willy Wonka's paradise, not the deadbeat deadlands of Gotham.
Stepping forward to the hole, Ivy peered down into the darkness. If there was night time security inside, they'd take care of him or them easily enough, she wasn't worried. With one final glance at Harley and a wink to follow, Ivy slipped into the busted crevice and down into the cool metal of the ventilation duct.
Harley wouldn’t have called her fun irresponsible exactly. It was an exercise in control and a way to relieve her bad mood, and it wasn’t like she’d actually hurt the man. He was a useful bargaining tool to keep that stupid slut in line. Sure, she might not have had a reason to go exercising her control, but that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. At least not to her. That incident was long forgotten now, pushed into the very recesses of her mind as she focused on the woman in front of her. The mere fact that Ivy’s lips quirked just barely reminiscent of a smile had Harley positively beaming.
“Seven whole minutes?” she repeated, eyes wide and more than a little excited. Definitely child-like. Why was this so easy with Ivy, but when she was on her own, she was bored as hell? Harley pushed herself off the ledge when the vine came into view and walked over to it as it went for the shaft. She crouched down, watching curiously as it ripped the metal covering off as if it were nothing. Her attention was caught on the flowers, such vibrant colors that were such a stark contrast to the gritty Gotham landscape. It was beautiful, and she looked up at Ivy with awe and wonder. She was a truly magnificent woman and Harley was glad she had her attention, at least for a little while.
The wink had her chuckling and she didn’t even look before she went head first into the shaft after the red-head. “This way,” she said, leading Ivy down to one end that would dump them out in the back of the jewelry store, between the safe in back and the display cases in front. When she found the right opening, Harley unhinged the grate and lowered herself down expertly. She landed on the counter and looked up at Ivy with a grin. “Is it bad that I wouldn’t mind a few cops crashing our party?” Not that she wanted to kill them, she wasn’t quite there yet, but she certainly wouldn’t mind a nice fight.
Gripping the steel edge of the duct, Ivy lowered herself onto the counter with a soundless drop, all the weight cast onto the tips of her toes rather than the tapered heels of her boots. "You're not a fighter, Harley." The girl wasn't even a thief, she was still a doctoral intern, wasn't she? Ivy had to wonder where this urge for crime was coming from, as it certainly hadn't sprung from any Clown's influence. Maybe it was just the knowledge of what Harley would eventually become that brought along the virus of boredom and heat-seeking danger. Ivy couldn't say the same thing for herself. She'd had Brielle do some reading on the matter of her character, and all signs were pointing to running hand-in-hand for justice with the Birds of Prey, but.. the idea was as far-fetched as Ivy heading an oil refinery operation.
She slammed the spiked heel of her boot into the glass top of the display case before hopping to the carpeted floor. The glass rained, all splinters on the diamonds and jeweled pieces. Such pretty minerals. Ivy drew a deep breath, and cast her hemlock eyes to the darkened ceiling, fully aware that they had all the time in the world.. so long as security didn't interrupt. All the known vigilantes were busy, that made this a field day. "Lets take some prizes for the kitty, yes?"
“I’m actually not that bad,” she countered. “I took out one of your hypnotized guards at Caesar’s without a problem.” Harley was actually really proud of that, despite the fact that she’d done it to stop him from shooting Batman. Ivy didn’t need to know about that. “Gymnastics taught me a few things. I’m not amazing like you or Catwoman, but I could hold my own against cops.” When she’d first arrived, Ivy had told her to make a name for herself and that required financing, didn’t it? So she’d held up a few stores here and there, found her footing. She’d taken Bailey for a drive and did a little research on what she was supposed to be like. The pictures were horrendous in some ways but the outfit she wore now was slightly different than the pictures, her way of saying ‘Hey, it’s Harley, but not the Harley you were expecting’. She’d upgraded to a few low end jewelry stores and then a few banks with some thugs. Then it was a bank on her own and she’d managed by sheer luck to escape the Gotham PD - she’d been kicked back to Vegas mid-pursuit.
Besides, if Ivy - this Ivy - wasn’t a ‘good guy’ then there wasn’t any reason for her to be one of the good guys. Batman sure as hell would never buy it. He was too far up on his high horse as far as Harley was concerned, but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to fade away into non-existence. She had to hope that there was a plan, that something would happen. In the meantime, she’d kick up enough fuss to get some attention and she didn’t care where it came from. Maybe she’d have to give Bailey a reward for getting her some. Harley wasn’t so sure Ivy would have suggested this if she hadn’t been in trouble. She didn’t have a witty retort about Catwoman, still unsure of the other woman, but that didn’t stop her from breaking her own case with a smile. Pieces of jewelry bedecked in chocolate diamonds, regular diamonds, and a handful of rubies and emeralds each filled a jeweler’s pouch which was then secured onto a thin belt slung low around her hips. She moved onto the next case, one with pearls, and filled up another bag.
"Shut up," was all Ivy said. Her back was turned, with that endless flame for hair spilling down to the base of her spine. Even without the revealing garmentry of her tradition, there was something otherworldly about Ivy. She never thought about it, because there had never been anything special about her before. She'd been shy and quiet, the auburn student with the cat eye glasses and all the eagerness in the world. It was the world that made her this, the men.. all the same, and they could suffer for it now. They could salivate over the plump spill of her curves, the untouchable honey that rested at the apex of her thighs. She was modeled for what they wanted, and at one point Ivy thought herself nothing more than an android, but.. in time she knew... oh, she knew how much more she was. Reaching into the busted case, Ivy extracted a delicate tiara. All sterling and diamonds, bits of sapphire around the edge. She placed it on her crown and modeled with a faint tilt of her head toward Harley. "You like?" In the distance she heard police sirens approaching, and Ivy's playful, preening grin turned into something a little more feral. Excitement.
Harley just grinned and returned to cleaning out the cases. A string of pearls were wrapped around her neck and the strand was long enough to wrap around twice along her slender neck. She was in the process of filling another bag when Ivy called her attention back. Her head tilted to the side as she took in all that Ivy was, from her toes all the way up her slender legs, her torso, along her arms and the curve of her neck, and then her face. The tiara made her smile. It was beautiful, yes, but not quite right. Ivy needed something different. Something better. Harley didn’t care about the approaching sirens as she quickly scanned the counters for the perfect thing for Ivy. “Ah ha! Here.” She broke the glass and plucked out an emerald tiara. It took less than a moment for her to all but bound over to Ivy and swap the tiaras out atop her beautiful red hair. The sapphire one was tossed to the side, meaningless. “Beautiful,” she said with a happy grin. “Just like you.” In as playful a mood as she was, Harley deemed it entirely appropriate to bop Ivy on the nose with one of her slim fingers.
"Ooo," Ivy cooed at the sight of those emeralds. Their color was as lush and organic as any tropical canopy and the woman's poison smile was pure endearment when Harley planted it gently atop her head. The bop to the tip of her nose earned a half cocked quirk of a grin. For while this was no game, Ivy regularly found it impossible not to see Harley's childish quirks as a little compelling. Just a little. "Thank you, dollface." Then, without warning or expectation, Ivy leaned in to give her little Doll a kiss of thanks. Something so light and uncharacteristically sweet, a peck of that pursed petal mouth. Minus the toxins, of course. Not that Ivy was against using the persuasion of pheromones on women, but there was a level of trust that went hand in hand with friendship like this.
The sirens were fastly approaching, but Ivy drew back with not a drop of concern when she returned to the cases in search of that perfect something for her kitty cat. A couple of items caught her eye in one corner case, and Ivy brought the spiked heel of her boot up in a vicious spin kick that put splinters all through the thick glass. Dropping her elbow onto the epicenter of that glass web broke it the rest of the way so that she could reach inside and claim the necklace of black diamonds which she knew would go so lovely with the equally dark tiara. Ivy piled the items on herself, and maybe it was a bit ostentatious to be wearing two tiaras, but who the hell cared. Well, maybe the police did.. because at that moment, two officers spilled through the front doors of the jewelry store with their guns drawn and expressions so surly. "FREEZE!" Ivy paused while wrapping strands of chocolate pearls around her throat and turned slowly with those pretty eyes gone all wide, her hands up in a display of surrender. "Gentlemen, please.. don't shoot.." Her voice was satin soft, and the men glanced between one another, obviously conflicted for a moment as to what the proper protocol was when dealing with unarmed women.
Harley knew she’d done well when Ivy thanked her but then the redhead kissed her. The blonde hadn’t been expecting it, barely even reacted to it before Ivy had pulled away, leaving the doll in a slight daze. She’d kissed her share of people but the number of times she hadn’t been doing it to gain something could be counted on one hand. Huh. But Ivy was already moving, and the black jewels that went around her were probably for the cat. Harley wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t say anything, moving back to the cases to grab a fewnecklaces that went around her neck along with the pearls. She was just finished clasping them when the cops came busting in.
She turned with a childish flounce and pouted at the cops who held their guns at them. Harley took a minute to follow Ivy’s lead in lifting her hands up and she had to fight back a grin at the redhead’s words. “Oh please Officers. We don’t mean any harm,” she added, batting her eyelashes prettily at the two men. Maybe she was a little too cocky on account of her good mood and Ivy’s affection, but whatever it was had her taking a step toward Ivy, draping her arms around the redhead’s waist. She wasn’t all that afraid of the guns, even if maybe she should be. “Do we?” Harley looked up at Ivy with a smile that promised a hint of danger. Fight or flight. It would be up to Ivy.
Harley was the one so intent on proving herself, how useful she could be in these kinds of situations. This seemed like the perfect opportunity as far as Ivy was concerned. She cast a brief, sidelong flick of lime peel attention onto the blond at her left before taking a slow step forward, bejeweled hands extended in preparation for handcuffs. "They're only doing their jobs.. aren't you, boys?"
One of the cops' guns jerked up violently in Ivy's direction, all warning and animal fear. "Nu uh, princess.. don't you take another step, I've heard all about you." Ivy smirked, far from surprised that her own infamy wasn't going to work in her favor here. "Turn around, hands behind your back.. I'm not letting that mouth near me." Ivy tongued the edge of her teeth in a feral glimpse of displeasure before she brought up those soft shoulders in a sliver of a shrug, all compliance. Turning around, Ivy crossed her bangled wrists behind her back in wait. The cop holstered his gun while the second kept his firearm trained on the pouty blond. Ivy canted her head, sensing without seeing as the officer moved in close to slap one steel cuff on her wrist amongst half an armful of rubied bracelets. Just as he went to cuff her second wrist, the man paused... and Ivy smiled. He was close enough that there was no way to avoid her scent, something like freshly sliced green apple. A wedge of tart fruit dripping down sunkissed skin, something that would taste like the damp aftermath of a sweaty romp in the back of a cop car. The officer pressed closer, forgetting all about cuffing that second wrist as he dropped his mouth to the exposed stretch of her pearl-lined throat. Ivy gave another quick glance to Harley, "Don't get shot," was her only warning before pulling forward just enough to slam the back of her head against the cop's daring mouth. She took him by surprise for sure, and he crumbled with a groan just as Ivy spun to catch him across the face with her boot.
Harley was positively gleeful at just the smallest bit of attention. Her arms fell away as Ivy advanced toward the cops and Harley took a half step back and jumped up to sit on the display case behind her which was, thankfully, still in tact. That would’ve been awkward if it hadn’t. It seemed the cops were a bit more worried about Ivy and that was just fine with her. One cop flicked his gun at her, but he figured the blonde wasn’t very dangerous when they had the infamous Poison Ivy in their midsts. She watched placidly as a handcuff went around Ivy’s delicate wrist because she knew it was only a matter of time before Ivy made her move. And sure enough....”Yes, ma’am.” Harley gave Ivy a mock salute as she started to move.
Ivy had her cop handled and she managed to distract his partner too. In the span it took for Ivy to spin and kick her cop in the face, Harley pushed herself off of the case with a bit of a jump, landing low in front of her’s. He was distracted, the poor thing, and utterly confused as to what he should be doing. Harley took advantage of that and popped up, weaving around his shaking arms. She felt bad for him for a split second, hesitated for barely a fraction of a second, before her elbow came down on his and forced him to drop the gun. Her foot nimbly kicked it away, towards the front of the store, and then came back, moving into a sweeping gesture to bring the guard to his knees as her free hand pulled his cuffs free. It took another minute and some quick handiwork to have him handcuffed behind his back. Her hand gripped his sandy blonde hair hard and she pulled his neck back sharply, more than enough to hurt him. She was panting but doing her best to calm herself and looked up at Ivy with a hopeful smile. “See?”
Ivy admired the show Harley put on while her own naive officer lay useless and unconscious at her feet. The blond even got a little pat of applause before she lifted a hand in gesture toward the front doors. It was time to get out of here before more showed up, or worse, a Bat. The police cruiser was still stationed just out front and it looked like as good a getaway vehicle as any. But first, she nudged her delirious and half-unconscious cop over with the toe of her boot before kneeling to collect the radio attached to his belt. One cuff still jangled from her wrist, but Ivy didn't bother with going for the keys or even his gun. There was more fun to be had with the radio, and Ivy ticked her dual tiara crowned head for Harley to keep up as she hopped through a broken window and made her way to the cop car. Her thumb pushed the button on the static hiss of the radio while climbing into the driver's seat. "Commissioner? If you're listening, you might want to send an ambulance to Foster's Jewelry on Sixth Street.. oh, and thanks for the ride."