i_crusade Distraction [Open to ANYONE!]
Five-thirty-five. Bruce Wayne was in the elevator, going down.
So the City had seen fit to pull Arkham into the walls of itself. The City had seen fit to pull Harvey Dent into itself as well. There were kids running around in the Batcave. Barbara Gordon was in a wheelchair. He hadn't seen Dick yet.
His lips thinned. The small display of emotion was lost to all but the elevator doors.
Barbara was the key. Trust was almost impossible for him, but she had shown herself to be worthy of it the day of the explosions - the day Arkham appeared. He would go to her. Feel her out. See if she could be trusted to know that he had no idea who was with them that day in the Batcave. See if she knew anything about Harvey Dent in the City yet.
The muted ding of the elevator bell heralded the slide of the doors. Bruce stepped out, reaching for his cell phone as he did, and shouldered the door to the building open. It was doubtful that he had her number in his cell phone, but that was the first thing to check, just in case the City was being 'accomodating' again. He flipped through the Recent Dialed list, and was surprised to find 'Barbara Gordon' listed three entries back. When had he called her? Never. Not here, in the City. Have I? His steps mechanically took him out onto the sidewalk.
In that rare moment of distraction, he didn't watch where he was going. Purely by accident, he ran into ---
Lois was still nursing injuries from the explosions at her building-which had miraculously rebuilt itself over night. If only the cracked ribs and sprained ankle would oblige and do the same, she thought wryly as she waited for an elevator.
Instead, a man stopped off and collided with her.
"Hey, watch where you're-" she began to protest but looked up instead, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Bruce?" she nearly squealed. Perhaps things hadn't gone anywhere after the two dates they'd had, but in the City it was always good to see a familiar face. Even if, in Lex's case, that face didn't necessarily recognize you.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/01/2006 11:46:48
His free hand shot out to steady her and he immediately grinned at her, touching the smile with charm and sheepishness. "I'm sorry, Miss," he apologized immediately as he closed his phone with the other hand and re-holstered it. But then she called him by his name.
I am really beginning to hate this place.
"Yes," he answered, gently releasing her elbow when she looked like she was all right again. "I'm awfully sorry. I must not have been watching where I was going. Are you all right?"
Familiar face. Typists' hands, long, elegant, with that smooth, slightly shiny outer palm where they'd rested against the keyboard too long. Keen, fiery eyes. Also injured, perhaps from the explosions earlier. So familiar. Who was she?
"I'm just fine." her face fell slightly. "You don't remember me." it was more a statement than a question. But she quickly hid her disappointment and forced a friendly smile.
"This place seems to have that effect on people, but I'm sure you're aware of that." she held out her hand to him. "Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily-er, for the City Voice now."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/01/2006 20:18:12
He gave her another smile and shook her hand. "Ms. Lane, it is a pleasure to meet you. Again?" Laughing, he jerked his head toward the elevator.
"Are you going up? It's already the close of business hours. You're not a workaholic are you?"
The light teasing in his voice was planned to be a little more than enough to offset the possible offense in the words, but not enough to excuse the question. What was a reporter wanting here? There were more corporations housed here, it was true, but the entity formally known as Wayne Enterprises formed a good portion of City United Industries. Even if her goal wasn't to speak to someone about his floors of the tower, he knew enough to want to know what was going on with his associates.
Of course, masking the question in easy banter was much more effective - and wise - than anything else, and reporters rarely had issues saying what they wanted. Especially pretty ones.
She smiled brightly. "Don't worry, I have no doubt that we haven't met yet where you're from. Or perhaps I'm just that forgettable," she teased lightly.
"And I've been called a workaholic, yes, but I think it's only healthy to be invested in one's career, don't you, Mr. Wayne?" she asked. "But for once, I'm off-duty. Just here meeting a friend for dinner-Kylie Warren. I hope she's remembered I'm coming. She tends to be a bit flighty at times." Lois realized that she was talking to Kylie's voice and laughed. "When it comes to personal matters, that is."
OOC: perhaps we can just assume Bruce saw Kylie leave?
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/02/2006 19:53:52
Done!
"Believe me," he said. "You're not forgettable at all. I hope I made a good impression."
She knows Kylie Warren. Hm.
"Investing in one's career is extremely important, but I find that one has to make time for the other things in life, too. I'm sorry to hear that it's Ms. Warren that you're coming to see. She left the office a few minutes ago. If you like, I can call up and have a secretary find her for you. I'm sure we have her cell phone number upstairs."
"Still the same Bruce I remember," she remarked, without bothering to expand on that.
"And don't worry, you always make a good impression at first."
The subject was quickly dropped as he mentioned the fact that Kylie had already left. Lois considered his offer to contact her, but thought better of it. If Kylie was too busy to remember their plans, well then she had work waiting for her at home, along with a pint of rocky road and a small collection of old romance movies.
"Never mind. Knowing Kylie, I'm sure she's knee-deep in something important and won't be torn away for anything, unless it's something that's more important than what she's already working on."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/03/2006 12:03:36
Something in his gut - something like a memory, a reminder, a whisper of warning - told him not to screw this up. It was a sensation that had been tormenting him lately, one he didn't understand completely (it was wholly unlike him), but the idea that he shouldn't listen to the warning never crossed his mind.
"Perhaps you're right," he said to the reporter. "But it seems that you're free for dinner now. Would you allow me to take second place in your dayplanner for tonight? I know a great little Italian restaurant off the corner of Fifth and Commerce. The canolli is superb," he said with a conspiratory grin. "Think you could manage spending a little more time with me?"
She couldn't help but grin, her cheeks flushing slightly as she took his arm.
"Well, cheese is good... In this case, at any rate."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/04/2006 17:38:57
"I wholeheartedly agree," he replied, tucking her small hand into the crook of his elbow and patting it seemingly absently.
He walked with her to the lobby, and then to the doors of the building. Every step was careful and slow, giving the consideration due to a woman who seemed to be injured. It was bad form to ask about how she got hurt, so he refrained. He did not need to know presently; she was hurt. That was enough.
"If I could beg your indulgence for a few minutes, I'll go get the car and pull it up to the curb. Would that be all right with you?"
He had no intention of letting her walk all the way to the garage and then up the stairs just to get to his car. But he also had no intention of ordering her to stay. It was always best to give people the option, when possible.
"Of course," Lois consented, torn between insisting that she was perfectly capable of walking there herself and the slight pang in her sides that would argue with that notion.
So finally, she settled on smiling and nodding.
"That would be fine. I'll see you in a moment then."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/05/2006 18:16:49
* * *
Dinner went exactly as he planned. Laughter. Wine. Good food. Outrageous tip. Over coffee, Bruce finally broke into the topic that had troubled him.
"Ms. Lane," he said, stirring the black coffee in front of him more out of idleness than necessity. "I remember that you said that we met before. Would it be too presumptuous of me to ask after our previous encounters?"
The truth was, his interactions with Lois Lane seemed familiar. Questions he'd never asked her before were met with answers he felt like he already knew. He found himself able to predict the movements she made -- the way she had of tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, the tilt of her head when she laughed, the arch of an eyebrow when she was displeased -- and he had no reason he could use to explain how he had come across this knowledge.
The City was a strange place, moving in its own channel like some great sacred river, but he didn't expect that it ever supplied memories (suppressed as they seemed) to the people within them. His thoughts traveled to Harvey Dent, who was Two-Face in his own world before The City took him. He fervently hoped that the memories of other versions of people were not routinely overlaid on the synapses of those who came here.
But he needed to know.
The trick was to make it seem like he had no needs. Not a care in the world. So directly after he asked, he leaned back and shrugged a little.
"Curiousity prompts me to ask. You needn't feel obliged, of course."
"In fact," she leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially "I'm surprised it took you this long to ask me how I knew you."
She paused, not meeting his eyes as she gathered her thoughts, deciding how to best sum up their history.
Finally she raised her gaze to meet his, her expression stoic, impassive.
"You were in Metropolis for a business deal, and I interviewed you for a story. But you spent most of the interview asking me questions rather than answering them." She smiled at the memory before continuing. "After the interview, you asked me to dinner, and of course I said yes. The first two dates were great, but then..." she shrugged helplessly.
"You were supposed to fly into Metropolis and we were going to have dinner. I waited at the restaurant for an hour and you never showed up. Nor did you seem to remember we had even had dinner plans when I called you the next day to, well, give you an earful," she admitted with a sheepish grin.
"At any rate, that was the end of that. We've seen each other in passing a few times since then."
She finally fell silent, studying him for any reaction, or perhaps remorse. No one stood Lois Lane up. Of course, it had been quite awhile ago, so she was over it now. Really.
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 10:18:24
He gave her a self-depreciating smile.
"That sounds about right -- the interview, I mean. I've never been very good about those. But the dinner... I'm truly sorry for that. Your company is delightful, Ms. Lane. Whatever it was that put you out of my thoughts for that night, it was certainly my loss. I hope you'll find it within you to forgive me. Second chances, when you can have them, are miraculous things."
He had a pretty good idea what it was that kept him from making that date. And he was also pretty sure that Lois Lane's company would have been much more enjoyable. He also saw the appeal of seeing this woman for more than just a dinner or two. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, capable...
Bruce sighed and set his empty mug down on its saucer. Developing feelings for her was a terrible idea. Sooner or later, if he continued, Lois Lane's position at the paper would be replaced by someone else, and the last column she would appear in would be in the back of the paper. "Lois Lane, survived by..." He'd seen it too many times. And it had always been his fault.
Damn. He just had to seem genuninely sorry for something that, most likely, he hadn't even done yet, if her theory about people being pulled in from different years in their life was correct.
That, combined with the fact that this Bruce hadn't stood her up (yet) made it incredibly difficult to turn down his request for a second chance.
She laughed at his last comment, breaking the tension.
"You and over half the men in this city," she murmured with a trace of amusement.
She took the last sip of her coffee and then set it down gently.
"I'll make you a deal. If you promise to show up, I won't say no to another dinner date."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/06/2006 11:29:11
"Ms. Lane," he said as he stood from the table and tucked the chair under it. "I do believe I'll take your deal." After he pulled her own chair out for her to rise, he offered his hand to help her up. "And now, may I offer you a ride home?"
"Yes, a ride home would be lovely," Lois replied, taking his hand and allowing him to help her up, her mind still reeling from the dinner conversation.
Certainly the oddest first date she had ever been on. Or, well, first for this Bruce anyway.
The entire thing made her head hurt. But at the same time... second chances. Perhaps that was one upside of the City. Everyone seemed to get a chance to start over here, for better or for worse.
***************
As his car pulled up to her apartment, she studied her hands, which lay folded neatly in her lap, as she debated with herself.
Finally, she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek, drawing away slightly and meeting his eyes.
"Thank you for a wonderful evening, Bruce. It was good to see you again..." she frowned in concentration. "Sort of."
From: [info]i_crusade Date: 04/07/2006 14:39:22
Interesting, indeed. Just as she drew away, he caught her hand and caressed the top of her hand with his thumb. There was no hand-kissing; he loathed that pretentious farewell.
"Thank you for giving me a chance," he said earnestly. "Rest well, when you get there, Ms. Lane."
She felt a little tingle at the spot where his hand touched hers, and forced a smile, attempting to appear unruffled.
"Don't mention it. Just remember, you only get one." she said, the smile still on her face, though the statement was meant much more seriously than the lightly teasing tone might suggest.
"I will. You rest well also, Bruce," she said, and with one last wave, she stepped out of the car and walked up to her apartment.