There came the flattery. Oh Helena loved it. "Just because I may know it does not mean I do not like hearing it," she responded with a little smirk of her own. "And might I say the company is no less handsome?" Certainly this evening would live up to her expectations, and how could she not enjoy herself when she was in the company of such a charming, handsome man? And one that was intelligent. She was extremely thankful for that last trait. Now if she could just avoid the possibility of Tony eventually becoming an adversary to her, it would be even better. Helena didn't exactly have the best of luck with men in her life, be they friend, lover or adversary. Then came the magic question of why she hadn't just published them herself. That stirred up old resentments and anger, but it was something she could talk about without getting upset.
Helena was going to respond when the appetizer was delivered, so she waited until they were again alone before answering. "My mother was the ones who forced me to give my ideas to Charles. I had all ready angered her by being an unwed mother at seventeen, and she would not allow for two writers in the family, let alone of them being a woman." Picking one of the shrimp and dipping it in one of the sauces, Helena took a bite, enjoying the appetizer for some moments before she turned her attention back to Tony. "My mother was a devout Protestant, my father was a free-thinker, but it was my mother who ruled the household." She rolled her eyes a bit at that. "My mother and I never got on well. I take after my father in many aspects, though he too wished me to be married instead of pursuing a writing career. So Charles said he'd write my ideas down, but he would use my initials instead of his own name. We were not always at each other's throats."
As Tony asked about producing other products, Helena looked at him with a little smile. "Oh I have a great many other ideas. I was actually looking to see if an idea I had would be feasible as an actual thing. I use a Tesla, which is a kind of stun gun, if you will, but I was curious if I could build a gun but have different settings on it. Such as it being able to shoot holy water as well as having a functioning stun gun setting. Sort of a Jack-of-all-trades in one, it would save people from having to carry various devices and weapons on them everywhere they go. But of course the issue is how to make it practical, but obviously I cannot properly judge that without a prototype to see where the issues lay."
Oh yes, Helena had many ideas. She was going to privately remake some of her own devices, such as her Grappler, but she also had ideas that could potentially help them fight the evil they had in this world. And she always did love bouncing ideas off of someone else. It helped in discerning which ideas would ultimately work and which wouldn't.