Helena Wells-Quinzel is H.G. Wells (indelibleink) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-06-28 02:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, h g wells, harley quinn |
Who: Harley, Helena and Helena’s NPC!parents
What: Harley’s meeting Helena’s parents. Clearly this will end well.
When: Sometime in early June
Where: A restaurant
Warnings: Slight homophobia, otherwise low
Status: Complete upon posting!
Helena had been tentative in asking if Harley wanted to meet her parents while they were in town. Given they lived in London, meeting them at any other time would be a bit difficult. But Harley had agreed to it, and Helena had persuaded her mother into coming. Her father didn’t need persuading, he was curious to meet Harley. So after getting a sitter for Christina, Helena drove her parents to the restaurant she’d made a reservation at.
The restaurant was a nice restaurant, though no dress code was required. Which was why Helena was in a pair of nice skinny jeans and a dark blue oxford shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the top two buttons undone. When Harley would first see them, it would be obvious where Helena got her looks from. She was nearly a mirror image of her mother, just far darker hair and darker eyes. The hair and eye color came from her father.
“You couldn’t have picked a better restaurant?” Sarah commented, glancing around as they were led to their table. Helena rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be rude, mother.” Helena was either going to be enjoying herself immensely tonight or being in need of wine. Though both was a far more likely combination.
Harley had spent the better part of an hour tearing apart her closet, trying to find ‘meet the parents’ type of clothing. It had never been a problem in her dreams. Her own dad was an asshole and Mr. J didn’t really have any. Neither had Pam a lam.
She’d eventually pulled out a skirt that was just a little too short and matched it with a top that was a little sparkly and not too flirty. She could have gone with jeans, but she didn’t want to look like a fuddy duddy. She pulled on her heels as she ran to the car, and floored it to the restaurant. Her make-up was subdued, at least for Harley.
Unfortunately she’d dyed her hair pink and black before H had asked about her parents. Nothing she could do about that.
She screeched into a parking spot and bounced through the door.
Helena for one didn’t mind the dyed hair. And, well, she knew her mother would throw a fit over it. All the better, really. She kept her eye on the door so when she saw Harley come in, she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.
“Harley’s here,” she said as she stood up and gave a wave to Harley and moved towards her, ignoring her parents for the moment in favor of greeting her girlfriend. Which also included noting that skirt that was a bit too short, but Helena wasn’t about to complain. Harley had great legs.
“Hello, darling,” she greeted warmly.
The dyed hair, the apparently bleached skin, the huge shit-eating grin on Harley’s face. She leaned in and kissed H on the cheek. “Hey sweetcheeks, fancy meetin’ you here?” She left it up to Helena if there’d be more than cheek kissing.
She also couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces if they asked about her profession.
Helena chuckled and gave Harley a kiss on the cheek. Then partly because she wanted to and partly because she was going to look forward to the look on her mother’s face, Helena then gave Harley a kiss on the lips. Whether or not anyone else in the restaurant would be put off by it wasn’t of concern to her.
“It’s lovely to see you,” she said with a smile. She then took Harley’s hand and led her over to the table where her parents were seated, though her father, ever a gentleman, stood up. “Harley, these are my parents, Joseph and Sarah Wells. Dad, mother, this is Harleen Quinzel.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Joseph said with a smile, obviously genuinely happy to meet Harley. He held his hand out to shake Harley’s.
“Charmed, I’m sure,” Sarah said, a smile on her lips that wasn’t quite forced, but not quite genuine either.
Harley took Joseph's hand with a firm grip. She remembered enough of herself to be somewhat polite and she took a shine to Joseph right off. "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Wells."
Then she turned and offered her hand to Sarah. "And it's nice to meetcha too."
Joseph returned the firm handshake. Sure Harley’s white skin caught him a bit off-guard, but he simply thought she was exceptionally pale. And hair was hair. As long as Harley made Helena happy, he didn’t care what Harley looked like.
Sarah reached out and shook Harley’s hand. “My, you are quite pale,” she commented.
“Mother, do remember we are in public,” Helena said with an undercutting tone. “Would you like some wine, darling?” Helena asked, turning to Harley as she took her seat again.
“Skin condition,” Harley explained easily. “I need something like SPF-1000 to keep from getting burned.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Also I may or may not be a vampire.” She sat next to Helena, and smiled brightly. “Actually, wine sounds really good right now.”
The vampire comment got chuckles from both Helena and Joseph. Sarah just kind of eyed Harley.
“Sunblock is indeed a good thing to use. After all, can’t have you turning to ash in sunlight,” Joseph quipped. Clearly that was where Helena got her sense of humor from.
Grabbing the wine list, Helena held it so both she and Harley could look it over. “Shall we get a bottle for us all to share?” Both Joseph and Sarah responded affirmatively. “Red or white?”
“I’m good with whatever.” Harley nudged Helena’s foot under the table, her expression the spitting image of innocent and proper. She picked up her knife and made a cutting--into-dead-bodies motion. Like the body was a juicy steak. “But I’d like to suggest we don’t talk about your profession over food for, you know, obvious reasons.”
Helena looked at Harley at the nudge and she smirked a bit. “True, my job is not precisely dinner conversation. Stiffs aren’t exactly ones to encourage one’s appetite.”
“Helena Georgia, do not say such things,” Sarah chastised in a lowered voice. Though Joseph chuckled.
“I am more interested in hearing what you do for a living, Miss Quinzel,” Joseph said, still being quite proper. The waiter came over to give them all water, and Helena ordered a bottle of wine for them all to share. She supposed if worse came to worse, she could make her dad drive back home if she needed more than one glass of wine to get through the dinner.
“Depends on the stiff,” Harley muttered under her breath. She set her utensils back down and smiled. “Please, call me Harleen or Harley. I have a PHD in psychiatry and have a local practice. I’ve worked to clear police, and I’ve gone into prisons to speak with the people there and help them out.” She might look like a ditz at times but she was very intelligent.
That admission got quite the skeptical look from Sarah as she eyed Harley. Certainly with that appearance, she couldn’t be a psychiatrist. Or have a PhD in, well, anything.
“Of course, Harley,” Joseph said with a smile. “A psychiatrist? Now that is not an easy career to undertake. Though clearly you are very intelligent to have achieved a PhD.” Unlike Sarah, Joseph didn’t judge a book by its cover. He knew better than that.
“Harley is very intelligent,” Helena commented with a proud smile. Because, well, she was proud to flaunt having an intelligent girlfriend. Intelligence was sexy, after all.
Harley smirked knowingly, giving Sarah a look that was almost smug. “Years of schooling, and a crushing debt, but Doctor Harleen Quinn has such a fantastic ring to it doncha think?”
She hadn’t always been this crazy. She didn’t remember what it was like before, but she could at least act like she was still someone sane. Even if dreams had bled into reality. “There’s just something about… seeing the look in a man’s eyes when he realizes he’s not alone and that there’s someone who can listen to him.”
“Yes, quite,” Sarah responded to Harley’s name having a ring to it. But, of course, the word ‘quite’ had a very different connotation in British English than it did in American English. As such, Helena sent a glare at her mother.
“Need I remind you to mind your manners, mother?” Helena turned the screw there.
“I think it has a marvelous ring to it,” Joseph chimed in to keep the peace as it were. “It must be quite the reward when you are able to help someone turn their lives around.”
“It’s really amazing, sometimes, just what can turn someone around. A good memory, a nudge in the right direction, and it’s like the sun comes out.” Harley talked animatedly. If there was one thing she hadn’t had much opportunity to enjoy lately, it had been her job. Reminding herself of why did had chosen her profession was lighting her up.
Helena could see Harley was lighting up, and she had to smile. She liked seeing that in Harley. Sometimes one did need to be reminded of why they had chosen their profession. And, well, Helena just plain liked to see Harley happy and to forget about her dreams for a little while.
“That is really an excellent motivator, to help someone see that light and put their lives back together.” The longer he spoke to Harley, and the more he saw her light up, the more Joseph could understand what Helena saw in her.
Smiling, Helena watched Harley. “And that is what makes you a brilliant psychiatrist, darling.”
“It helps that I’m a little crazy,” She joked, flashing a toothy smile at her girlfriend. “Have to take care of myself. Helena helps with that.”
“Helena always was excellent at helping to take care of others,” Joseph said. Now, if Helena were the blushing type, that might’ve been a time she would have, but she simply smiled at her father, then looked back at Harley.
“I’m more than happy to be able to help with that.” Helena flashed her own grin at Harley. At which point the waiter returned with the wine, pouring them each a glass and leaving the bottle, then took their orders.
It was really hard not to be cloyingly sweet with Helena, even if to rub it into Sarah’s face. Harley was actually behaving. She was proud of herself. Red would be proud of her, even. Hopefully H was, too. “She’s secretly adorable.”
Oh Helena was more than happy to rub this in her mother’s face. She took one of Harley’s hands in hers, threading their fingers together. And Helena did catch her mother twitch a bit out of the corner of her eye.
“That she is. She doesn’t always enjoy people pointing it out,” Joseph teased.
“Why thank you, though I am not the only adorable one here.” She squeezed Harley’s hand in her own.
“Tell me you got some embarrassing story, Mr. W. I’m dying for blackmail material!”
And at that, Joseph got a bit of a wicked smile. “As it happens, I have a few of those. What kind of blackmail are you interested in? The kind from when she was a small child or teenage years?”
“Dad!” Helena protested. This was not exactly the dinner conversation she was anticipating, and Joseph simply waved a dismissive hand at her.
“Or shall I simply choose at random?”
“Lets go with the teens! Those are always the juiciest,” Harley replied, her eyes lighting up. “Kids and teens do embarrassing stuff but when you’re a kid everyone excuses it.”
“Excellent choice, my dear,” Joseph said with a grin.
“You should tell her about the time we found that boy half naked with her in bed,” Sarah chimed in.
“No.” Helena was quick to retort. “That wasn’t embarrassing as much as it was humiliating thanks to you.” And it had actually been humiliating and not something Helena cared to remember.
“Helena was fifteen at the time, and she had a piano recital that she’d spent months preparing for.” Joseph continued on as though neither Sarah nor Helena had said anything. “She wouldn’t admit to it, but she had more than a touch of stage fright,” he said as he leaned a bit closer to Harley, as though he were being conspiratorial.
Harley had had plenty of naked boys in her bed so she didn’t bat an eye at that. The thought was kind of hot, actually. She smirked, leaning in as Joe spoke. “H? With stage fright? Say it ain’t so!” She shot a grin at her girlfriend, then turned back to Joe. “Tell me more!”
Helena promptly took a long drink of her wine. She could at least bear the story her father was relating. It was certainly something she could deal with as opposed to the one her mother had suggested.
“The day of the recital came, and Helena worked herself up into such a state that she could barely see straight. I’m not completely certain how it happened as I was in the audience and not backstage, but somehow Helena had ripped a hole in the pants she was wearing in a very inopportune place.” Joseph couldn’t help the chuckle he gave. Helena sighed, knowing he’d said that on purpose.
“I told you a thousand times, it was Charles’ fault. After I had gotten dressed for the recital, my brother decided it was an excellent time to pick a fight with me. Given my anxiety running sky high, I responded to his goading in a physical manner and I ended up ripping a hole in the ass of my pants.” Helena explained, some embarrassment in her tone.
Somehow, as impossible as it seemed, Harley’s grin only grew wider. Her eyes crinkled and her teeth showed. “Helena showed off her derriere! At her recital! Tell me, dollface, how long did it take you to live that one down? Do you still have nightmares? Do you have to wear loose pants just in case?”
Well at least Harley was grinning. Helena would take that, even if it was at her own expense. “I believe it’s safe to say I still have not lived that one down.” No, Charles liked goading her about it still. And clearly her father enjoyed talking about it. “I don’t have nightmares about it, but there is a reason I don’t really play the piano much anymore.” Helena had a piano in her house, but it was rarely played. At least by her.
“I do think she prefers to not think about it. So any time you are able to, I think you should remind her of it,” Joseph said with a grin and then he took a drink of his wine.
Harley looked at Helena as though she were plotting something. Expect trousers with tears in the rear as a gag gift at an unexpected moment. “I’m already plotting, Mr. W.”
And Helena saw that look Harley was giving her, and returned it with suspicion. Though at least it was something that Helena could be jovial about, more or less. It wasn’t a touchy subject, anyway, simply an embarrassing one.
“I quite like you already, Harley,” Joseph said with a grin. And at that juncture, their food was delivered.
Harley rubbed her hands together. “This looks good. I’m starving. One of those days, you know? The kind that makes you appreciate a good meal. Kinda like how some people make you appreciate a good meal. Present company included.”
“Then by all means eat up, darling. We can’t have you go hungry now, hm?” Helena said with a bit of a smirk. “You may even have dessert if you wish it.” She’d leave the definition of dessert up to Harley.
“So, Harley, do you have a regimented diet?” Sarah asked. She’d noted Harley’s physique.
“Why does that matter, mother?” Helena asked, giving her mother a careful eye.
“I was merely curious if there was a man in her life she was wanting to catch the eye of.” Sarah pointed out. At which point Helena rolled her eyes.
“Diets are a waste of time,” Harley explained. “As long as you’re taking care of yourself, you’re fine. Diets just make people sick.” She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. “Oh, there isn’t a man I’m wanting to catch the eye of. I wouldn’t say no if a nice one came along. Or a nice girl. But really if I could find a nice person, they’d have to get along with H. Sharing is caring!”
Helena couldn’t help but to chuckle a bit at Harley’s response. She eyed her mother who seemed to be highly uncomfortable with that thought.
“I see, though you could benefit from having a man.” Sarah said.
“Come off it, mother. You need to accept that I like women as well as men. Harley is my girlfriend, and that is not going to change just because you want to continue being in denial of who I am.” Helena said. It wasn’t the first time she’d had this conversation with her mother, and she doubted it would be the last. She’d simply hoped that her mother would’ve stopped doing this.
“Besides,” Harley said, timing her words for when Sarah was sipping at a drink. “Who needs a man when you can buy the parts in adjustable sizes.”
At Harley’s well timed words, Sarah promptly choked on her drink, and nearly spit it out. Joseph and Helena both started laughing. Sarah shot all three of them a pointed glare as she coughed a few times before recovering.
“Harley has a point. Not to mention women are better lovers in my experience.” Helena said, looking at Harley with a smirk.
“You aren’t wrong.” Harley threw her head back, laughing raucously. She looked at Helena with a suddenly unguarded, fond expression.
Helena looked back at Harley, returning the fond, warm expression with one of her own. She liked seeing that look on Harley’s face, and she wanted to always make Harley happy.
That exchange of looks did not go unnoticed by Helena’s parents. Sarah scoffed and went back to her food, while Joseph smiled.
“All that matters is that you both are happy.” Joseph said between bites of his food.
“Thank you, dad,” Helena said with a smile.