Who: Dick Grayson and Selina Kyle. When: April 15th, Late Afternoon. Where: Projects; West Harlow. What: Nightwing makes a big mistake. Rating: R for language?
The clientele of Kitty Charteux consisted of a wild and motley bunch of well to do men with vastly differentiating tastes. Some opted for fantasy, and some for straight out torture....some just wanted a change of pace. Mayor Lee Antony of Star City was the favorite in her pocket book, and thus he recieved special treatment when he came during his scheduled weekend of the month (wherein his wife knew him to be playing golf with his buddies). The mayor was affluent, even in his greying age and one of the more pleasant men under her jurisidiction, it was why Selina Kyle allowed him more choices...such as a change of scenery that would afford him greater privacy and extended attention. This was why they ended up in a none too darling looking apartment in West Harlow of all places. The scene far more dreary than the typical boudoir she kept.
Still, however nice the company, it did not keep the dominatrix from tiring as the day wore on. It was strange how many men in power hungered for unending denegration. Mid afternoon and they'd already been at it for three hours with a small break for lunch, the woman dressed in the preferred black vinyl catsuit and dagger sharp heels and a toothy looking paddle in her hand as she rested over the politician's cowering and tired looking form. Her insults lessened with her energy, and she was already longing for a break. "You're a fucking mess, a horrible mess and you're going to bleed for what you've done you dog!" The came a loud cracking noise from the drawn curtains followed by a symphony of groans. "What you did to those people, for your party!? You're a whore to the system." There came another sickening crack.
From the outside, the interaction between Mayor Antony and his domimatrix sounded like something else entirely; torture, possibly, or some other violent attempt to extort information. Gangs. Maybe mob. If he'd known that it was just masochism, Nightwing wouldn't have bothered, but with only partial information... well, West Harlow was his. He didn't like the idea of torture on his turf.
The window was the sort that secured with a latch on the side, not in the middle, and swung open. It burst into the room suddenly, reeling back and banging into the wall with a loud crash. The young man whose foot had connected with the glass came barreling in after, worn black shoes hitting the rug one after another. He was in a ski mask, but this was no burglar; not with a blue spray-painted bird adorning the front of what was undoubtedly a bullet-proof vest. Nightwing had enough time to get one good look at the room. It was all he needed to know that he'd misjudged; the man might be enduring abuse, but judging from his state of dress and the look on his face, he'd asked for it.
"Shit."
Nightwing had made a mistake.
The mistake was realized far too late as at the flying of the window and bursting forward of an unknown and rather threatening looking male Selina had sprung into attack mode. Like a spooked cat, her claws were drawn and the paddle went flying at the intruder followed by her foot as she went to protect herself and her client. She'd told Antony that West Harlow was a horrid choice for this sort of thing, and with an upset grumble she stromped forward her fighting stance still up, as the mayor ducked for cover in the bathroom.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" She was pissed, hackles raised and ready for more of a fight than she seemed to be destined to recieve.
Nightwing didn't have a chance to explain; no chance to bluster that this was his neighborhood, thankyouverymuch, and that he had people to protect from gangs and mobsters, and that if they were going to have masochistic foreplay, could they please keep it down?
No. He didn't have a chance to explain because the paddle connected with his head. Selina's aim was good - the bit of wood clonked him square on the upper left side of his forehead, and the would-be rescuer crumpled. Great.
As he hit the floor, Selina's heart sank into the pit of her stomach. The first thought that came to Selina's mind was that she'd killed him. Fucking hell. Another body was not something she wished to deal with at this particular junction in time, especially not with a goddamn witness in the other room. Bending down to check his pulse, she let out a sigh of relief when she realized he was still breathing. Grumbling, she stoof up. "ANTONY, get out here." She stood up, her character dropped in her moment of panic. There was no way he was being brought to a hospital in this circumstance.
It wasn't but a few more practical directions for the mayor left in her work day (strong as she was, dead weight was something she was not up to moving), the boy was moved onto the bed in the small studio they had been staying in and the man, with his reputation to consider had been dismissed. Handcuffing the stranger's arm up to the metal posts so Selina would be the secure one, a cigarette was lit up while she took to reading a book. All she had to do now was wait for him to wake up so she could get her answers.
When Nightwing came around, it was with a grunt. The ski mask had migrated and when he opened his eyes, he could see only dark fabric. He gave his hand a yank, discovered that it was cuffed, and used the other instead. With the mask pulled into place, the world came into view. Slowly. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the light, and when they did, he discovered that the throbbing in his head had nothing to do with his vision.
A woman was seated beside him. He watched her instead of speaking.
Engrossed in a copy of Anna Karenina with a cigarette hanging idly from her lips, a liter bottle of San Pellegrino open next to her...Selina didn't notice when the boy next to him came to, that was until he moved his arm to fix the mask. She'd checked his face at first, and seeing he was nothing more than a kid had let her guard down significantly replacing the mask for him to sleep in. She wouldn't tell him as much though, and as he took to staring at her the book was shut on a scrap of paper and the cigarette was pulled from her mouth.
"Who the fuck are you and what did you think you were doing?" He was alive, and moving now, his welfare was no longer something of interest.
The man in the mask snorted. "I'm fine, thank you." Nightwing shifted position, using his palm on the mattress to hoist himself up until he was sitting instead of sprawled flat. "Thought it was some kind of gang thing. Clearly? Wrong impression." He did not apologize; it might've been the polite thing to do, but in his mind, it had been an honest mistake. Still, as she hadn't yanked the mask, he was willing to be a bit more generous. "Your --" Boyfriend might have been the wrong word, so Nightwing reconsidered. "The guy's okay?"
"Yes. So you weren't here for him or myself?" Selina noted contently, unfurling herself from her perch upon the chair as the book was left on the bedside table. Crossing the room for the keys to the cuffs that kept him trapped and a bottle of water. "That's good, a mistake...I can forgive. And my client is fine, scared shitless but that's his own fault for picking this place." The water was uncapped and handed over to him to drink. "Explain what the hell you were doing then, why are you dressed like a goalie gone rogue?"
"It's my neighborhood." The man said the words possessively, the way an overprotective relative might say 'she's my child' or 'he's my brother.' That was all the explanation that Nightwing gave; Selina was left to infer the rest. Instead, he gingerly moved his head to check for soreness. It hurt alright, but he could function. "I wasn't here for you. The Cobras like this area, and they're not shy about 'teaching lessons' to people who cross them."
"You're neighborhood? What're you some sort of halfbit Batman wanna-be? Casey Jones or something?" She smirked, her arms crossing over her middle as if trying to conceal a laugh, her entire back rising and falling with unheard laughter. The cigarette stubbed out before she moved to step down onto the bed, hovering over him with a hand jauntilly held on her hip, keys jingled from around her ring finger. "Honestly kid? You're not in league with the cops at all, right? I can let you go without any further damage and expect that you'll keep your fucking mouth shut, yes?"
If he was anything less than fiercely in control of himself, Nightwing might've lost his temper. Slipped, said something he hadn't intended to, possibly shouted. Instead? His gaze narrowed. "As long as you can." He didn't move; he just looked expectantly up at Selina, blue eyes becoming clearer behind the mask as she neared the bed. "I'm not interested in what consenting adults do in private spaces; if you're not in league with murderers and thugs, you probably won't ever see me again."
"Whatever would I have to say to them? Hmm?" Stepping over him and onto the floor, she took to unlocking the handcuffs to let him free. "Only the men that pay me, kitten..." She flicking away the metal and tossing them onto her bag she settled to the side almost expecting him to make like an animal and flee as fast as he could. Pointing to the bottle of water in his hand. "That's yours to keep, stay safe and try and look before you leap next time, right then? Now go..fly away home. I know I am."
She was already at the window he'd come through, holding back the curtain.
Nightwing eyed the water, but manners were hard to shake. A gift was a gift, so he slid the bottle into one of the many pockets in his pants and started for the window. "Thank you for leaving me be." It was the first acknowledgment that he'd been at a disadvantage and that Selina had been somewhat generous with him. He didn't look back as he climbed out past the curtain, but once on the ledge, he glanced over his shoulder before his legs tensed and he leapt the story to the rooftop below. He had good form; he cleared the short distance and hit the pavement, landing in a crouch before straightening a little and breaking into a run.
Watching the kid take off with an impressed raise of the eyebrow, Selina shook her head with an irritated if not somewhat amused (at the horrific state of things) laugh. One had to, things had been so ridiculous. Her hands resting on her hips as she turned to finish packing away the rest of her bags so she could get headed home as well. Somewhat thankful for the rest of the paid day off, even if it had come at nerve wracking circumstances.
Bags slung over her shoulders, the dominatrix decided to get out of West Harlow as soon as possible..and get home to the bathtub that was calling her name.