14679/Cupp Overfloweth

Cupp Overfloweth
Date of Scene:	13 April 2023
Location:	Wayne Enterprises
Synopsis:	Phillip Cupp makes another unannounced visit to Wayne Enterprises. Tim finds out that Cupp knows that Phoebe has powers, and has made the leap that Bruce Wayne must be sick to keep her around. Adding insult to even more insult, Cupp drinks Tim's coffee. Tim neatly removes Phoebe from the situation after she confirms Phillip Cupp must have been at the Silo in Montana -- he was able to recount precisely the bones that healed the fastest each time he broke her hand.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Tim Drake

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It started with a text on an unusually beautiful day in Gotham City, from Phoebe, announcing that she was out of class early and, if Tim was not anywhere he wasn't supposed to be, she was stopping to grab coffee and pastries and going to coffee Tim in his office because she wanted to nerd talk about the artificially created mammoth meatball and medical implications of having to test for allergies to extinct proteins as it related to a video game setting and a paper she was working on for one of her pre-med school courses.

    It was followed by a picture of Phoebe, hair braided, duck-facing with a snub-faced pooch with long hair in a pony tail so that it could grin in a bike basket and its owner and a message of 'HIS NAME IS ROBIN AFTER THE ROBIN :D :D :D'

    And then one of those tracking apps that logged where her phone pinged in case she needed to be updated of Tim's current location.

    And a picture of the front entrance, since Phoebe probably took public transportation on account that she was *functionally scared* to drive the Porche she ordered and coffee and motorcycles don't mix.

    And then quiet for a good twenty minutes.

    Shouldn't take her so long to get through security, she was a Wayne.

    And then there's a flurry of activity. One of the admins's voices was raised as Phoebe pushes through the doors. There was coffee spilled on her clothes, still steaming. The strap of her cami was snapped, and she didn't even stop, hyperventalating, she simply pulled the bust of Alexander Graham Bell, and slipped behind the book case.

    Sans stopping, sans coffee and pastries.

    Then the admin's voice raises a second time --

    "Mr. Cupp, I do not care *who* you were just following, you do *not* have an appointment with Mr. Drake, you do *not* go in without us alerting him that you are going in!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    You know, today of all days: he really could've used that pastry. He's skipped lunch due to work, and the cramping of his stomach is slowly eating away at his patience.

    Tim's seated at his desk, posture terrible as he curves over his keyboard. He's been working through R&D reports for the past hour, having lost all track of time. It's the only reason why he's still here and not out actively searching for Phoebe. If he'd noticed earlier, he probably would have guessed she'd been stopped by one of their overly chatty admins. This is, of course, clearly not the case.

    "Phoebe what--" is all Tim has time to get out before she's disappeared behind the book case, and he puts two and two together at his usual rapid clip.

    The answer isn't one he likes. Cupp doesn't get a chance to burst into Tim's office because Tim is the one to dramatically shove his door open, stepping outside with a thunderous (for him) demand of "What's going on out here?"

    He stands guard just past the threshold, letting the door fall closed behind him, securing Phoebe's escape.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phillip Cupp, similarly, is in somewhat disarray. He's got coffee on his pants, which he's holding out due to its heat, and another cup of coffee with "TEEDEE" written on it in one hand. He looks rather peturbed at the admin as everyone turns to regard the door shoved open, colliding with the bumper on the wall (installed after an incident with a skateboard), and everyone regards Tim Drake.

    "Timothy Drake! Heeey how you doing? Pardon the ah... mess. Your sister kinda tripped on the elevator coming out, you know, insistence on wearing heels, them girls, right ladies?" he asks.

    Neither of the admins smile. One has her hand poised over the security button. Phoebe does typically stop and say hi. She even sometimes brings coffee. There is no sign of the pastries, but Phil takes a sip of the cup that is *obviously* not his.

    "Did your sister swing by here? We were mid conversation but had to clean up a bit after the trip." he gives his best politician's smile. The one with so much teeth.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim's eyes narrow, his expression one of stony silence as he takes in the scene, eyes drifting from the stain on Cupp's pants to the clearly stolen cup of coffee in his hands. Then, without a word of acknowledgment he looks away, gaze cutting to the admin who is seconds away from summoning security.

    "Julie, could you run an errand for me real quick?" he asks, voice reverted back to a much more normal-sounding tone. Polite, efficacious, as Julie lifts her hand and says "Of course, Mr. Drake," rounding her desk to come over to Tim's side.

    They have a muted conversation, exchanging words like "security footage" and "armed guards" before Julie gives a single crisp nod and heads for the elevator.

    It's only then that Tim looks at Cupp again, though his attention has remained on the man to some degree this whole time. "Mr. Cupp, this level is for Wayne employees only unless given specific clearance, and I wasn't aware of any meetings here today that you were invited to attend." His smile is fake, and obviously so: playing the game without putting much effort into it, so the veneer is particularly thin right now. And Tim wants Cupp to know that.

    He tucks his hands into his pockets, faux casual. "Phoebe isn't available at the moment, but I'm sure I can help you with whatever brings you here today."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And probably growing thinner.

    "Oh, we were just having a little bit of a conversation, Timmy. You know, girls like her running around with some rough people. Could reflect badly on the Waynes." he smiles, brushing his hands on his pants again and taking another pull of *Tim's Coffee*. "Just trying to lend a hand where obviously she needs a little..." he weighs the word a moment, "guidance. You know how they are. They come in, they have no way how to behave themselves, and just become the embarrassing talk of the galas behind their own backs. Not you though, you know. Don't think Bruce ever had a problem with you 'fitting in' to polite society." he just gives his slimy smile again.

    "But you know, not the first time I've met her? I met her back when she was sixteen."

    He continues to smile, though Phil's eyes are unusually cold. "And I know she's got a couple a' secrets, but I know how to make a girl like her light up. If you know what I mean."

Tim Drake has posed:
    "The Waynes have never had a problem with rough people. Gotham is built on the backs of immigrants and blue-collar workers, Mr. Cupp, and we gainfully employee a great many of those same people within our company."

    Tim's clearly having none of it, and even though his posture remains casual, weight shifted onto one foot as he leans against the wall near his office door, his eyes remain narrowed. "Strange, I've never heard anything but compliments about Phoebe when she steps out to represent the family," he adds. He gives a subtle shake of his head towards some of the other office workers who have come out to investigate all the noise, and it forestalls any outright intervention. But there are definitely people milling about, trying to seem like they're not listening in on Cupp passive-aggressively insulting one of the Wayne kids.

    This all comes to a screeching halt when Cupp opens his mouth again. Thankfully Tim's got enough training not to let the shock show on his face, but the gears immediately start to turn. And he doesn't like the implication, not one bit. It's a dangerous one, enough that it prompts Tim to throw caution (and polite society) to the wind and say, "I have a boyfriend, Phillip, so no. I don't know what you mean."

    His voice is especially deadpan as he says it, expression flat and unamused.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phil had a smirk on his face, and was going to take another pull off Tim's coffee, but the revelation gives him pause. His forehead crinkles a moment, as if it's taking time to digest that Drake just divulged, and he takes a look at the coffee -- which is marked with two shots of espresso -- and then looks back to Tim.

    "... well. To each their own, I suppose." he states neutrally as he can manage, but the look he gives Tim is full to the brim with loathing. Tim's just dropped so many points in his opinion.

    But he leans in.

    "I think you know about her. And what she can do. Which means I've also figured out Bruce Wayne's secret." he gives a smirk, his voice low as the dimple-chinned son of fortune looks back to Tim. He's so sure of himself, looking so pleased with his figuring out that Bruce Wayne must be *so sick* to have adopted the nearly-legal healer.

    "I know Wayne was on that list of people that Mickey Rogers invited out. He had to be. All I want, Timothy Drake-Wayne, is a piece of that pie. What we were all promised if we bought in to Mickey's plan. After all, it'd be such a *shame* if suddenly everyone knew *the* Bruce Wayne was fragile enough to 'adopt' some sorta healing freak into his family, what'd that'd do to all those jobs for those immigrants and blue-collar workers when the stock plummets?" he gives a sniff, and reaches to brush off Tim's shoulder.

    "She can hide behind her gang-member boyfriend and queers all the likes, but eventually, she *is* gonna see the better option. And when she agrees to a marriage to protect her secrets -- I'll make sure you get the chance to dance with her at our destination wedding, yeah?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    It's a simple thing, for Tim to shrug his shoulder and side-step slightly to avoid being touched by Cupp. One smooth motion.

    All thanks to Batman's training, of course. Maybe a little bit of Nightwing thrown in there too, because Dick's the most graceful of the Robins. And by the time Tim has settled into his new position, his arms are crossed over his chest. An eyebrow raises. "As you *might* be capable of imagining, Mr. Cupp, people trying to threaten and blackmail my family isn't an uncommon occurrence, and I'm less than impressed with your attempt."

    He looks over to the elevator as it dings, and there's Julie again stepping out from it, two armed guards at her back. "You're leaving now."

    One gesture has the guards coming forward to stand to either side of Phillip, and with that Tim dismisses him, turning around and re-entering his office.

    The door shuts directly in Phillip Cupp's face.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    THe guards come out of the elevator. One is armed. Julie gives a side-eye to Cupp, and hands Tim a data card.

    "Mr. Cupp, you are being evicted from the premesies, and if you step foot on a Wayne Enterprises property again you will be considered trespassing." the guard states, "And yous better not try us, 'cause the lady *obviously* said 'no thank you' more than once." the guard states, and the two put a hand on each one of Cupp's shoulders, and then turn to physically remove him.

    " -- Drake. *TIMOTHY DRAKE*. You can't DO this to me! You'll be sorry! You're out of the wedding!" he shouts out, trying to kick out of the grip of the security guards.

    "Yeah yeah, you lost my vote ya jerk."

    The office is quiet. The yells of Cupp are halted as he's taken around the corner not to the nice elevators, but to the big freight elevators for an ingloriously quick exit out the back.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim doesn't need to see what's on the data card, though he does say "Thank you," to Julie, and gives the guards a grateful nod each. This is, of course, before he tells Cupp to leave.

    No acknowledgement is given to Phillip's caterwauling. The office door may as well be a six-inch thick vault door for how little Tim reacts to what he hears through it. He drops the data card into a drawer and closes it before he slumps back into his seat and sighs.

    Then immediately he hacks into the security system so that he can watch Cupp be escorted out of the building.

    It's only when Tim has seen with his own eyes that Phillip Cupp is no longer on the premises that he sends Phoebe a single text:

    he's gone. you can come out whenever you're ready.

    And when she does, Tim has fresh coffee and pastries, having obviously sent one of the admins out to replace what Cupp had ruined.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There's a few moments that pass, and the bookshelf shifts out again, and Phoebe's hand slides out, holding tight.

    Followed by Phoebe. She's tied her cami strap so that it's not flapping about, she's not removed the coffee stain. She pushes the bookshelf back into place, and she steps to Tim's desk, and perches lightly on the chair, as if she's not sure if she's going to make for the window.

    She takes a deep breath.

    "I'm sorry. I lost my cool in the elevator."

Tim Drake has posed:
    "That's okay," is all Tim says. He pushes a napkin-wrapped pastry into Phoebe's hand, which reveals itself to be a raspberry danish. And then Tim puts a disposable coffee cup down in front of Phoebe, too.

    Sure, it's not from their favorite place, just the cafe downstairs, but it's not like Wayne Enterprises doesn't contract in food vendors that aren't high quality. So it's still decent! See, Tim even keeps a totally straight face when he takes a sip of his own drink.

    But admittedly there's not a whole lot of coffee that Tim would turn his nose up at, in times of need. And right now certainly counts as one of those times.

    In fact, he takes a few more sips in the ensuing moments, and then says, "I've called for a car. We can head back to the Manor whenever you feel like. Maybe pick up dinner for everyone on the way, if Alfred doesn't already have something cooking?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe accepts the pastry. She seems to chew on her words a moment and takes a deep breath, and she looks up to Tim.

    She opens her mouth a moment, and breathes out:

    "... I froze. He grabbed the hand that he kept breaking when I was in The Dark." she says quietly.

    The pastry in her hand is visibly shaking.

    "He was able to tell me the order that the bones knit. Told me he had one of my braids from where they drugged me and shaved my head." she draws herself down a little bit. "... he's such a disgusting person."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim chews through his own pastry with single-minded determinism. It's another danish (cheese, this time). And good enough that he's not going to waste it, even if he feels vaguely ill.

    "I figured it was something like that," he says. "He made it pretty clearly that he was part of it all."

    He looks down at the pastry in his hand and then sighs as he sets it down on the desk. "We'll figure out how to deal with him." That's the best reassurance he can offer, and he looks over at Phoebe, brow set with determination. He nods once and then moves around his desk towards the windows. "I think we should get out of here. Regroup. Maybe take a breather."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That's a good idea. If I stay here too long I'm gonna start panicking again." she breathes out, and tilts her head back.

    "Out the window?"