15306/Helena and the Ghul

Helena and the Ghul
Date of Scene:	04 July 2023
Location:	Kitchens - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Finished scene
Cast of Characters:	Talia al Ghul, Helena Wayne

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Talia al Ghul has posed:
It's curretnly sometime later over in the evening. Talia is hardly one to pay attention to the festivities - the others might be attending parties, out on patrol, or tending to other things. She's quite happy to have the isolation over in the library, where she's got out an old book over on her lap, a mug of tea, and is enjoying the solitude of the even quieter than normal house. A quiet LP is playing with classical music - Peter and the Wolf.

Helena Wayne has posed:
When you grow up the only daughter of Batman and Catwoman, you can't help enjoying a certain amount of solitude -- especially when nothing around you is quite... home. When everything old and familiar is ripped away and replaced with new and different, you find ways to cope. You rely on your training. You hold your cards close. In this environment, surely not everyone is an enemy, but when you've met your mother -- and she had no idea who you were -- how could you possibly know who your enemies are?

At least she was allowed to be in the mansion. It wasn't the same, but it provided, at the minimum, an uneasy sanctuary. Where once Bruce was 'Daddy' and Alfred was family, here she is an outsider -- her story accepted, but the years she spent building bonds and memories virtually worthless.

So it is that Helena Wayne, twenty-one year old girl with long, dark hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, steps into the library. There's likely the specter of familiarity for anyone familiar with Bruce or Selina -- mere hints of both of them without being a clone of either. Family, maybe, of some sort, if it was even focused that closely on. But it could also just be a random quirk.

She's wearing a blue tank top and dark wash jeans when she steps into the library with a large plate of food. Mostly chopped vegetables and fruits, there's a sprinkling of cheeses around to mix things up. It looks remarkably like a party plate that Alfred had put together that someone might have just taken the plastic wrap off of and decided to help themselves to. That, and a glass bottle of water.

When she steps into the library, her eyes lift to Talia with a little curl of a smile on her lips. It's friendly--ish. It's at least not hostile.

"Want some?"

Did she realize she was disturbing the peace? Did she care? Neither answer seems obvious. She did lift the plate slightly as if in offering, though, and then set it down on the corner of a table with her water, apparently intent on finding a book.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia is busy over in her book, but she never stops paying attention. Her lifestyle has taught her that the only time one will ever truly have peace is in death. And even then, with the Lazarus Pit, it never truly lasts. Only when one comes back.. So upon the approach of someone about she would pay attention. The steps are.. Not familiar though. The way the girl moves, her mass, her profile.. It's not one that Talia is familiar with. And she thoguht she was familiar with all of Bruce's cadre. So this has her full interest as she goes to run Helena's profile through that of each of the Bats and other operators she knows in Gotham. Making adjustments for bulk, costume, armor, presentation.. Still no match. And Bruce's innate sense of control never lets him take in people he does not fully know and trust here..

"Ah, hello." She would glance over at Helena. "I don't believe we've met, but thank you." It's not one of her father's ilk either. They wouldn't have bothered so politely offering something after making the whole deal of sneaking into Wayne Manor. There's sitll the chance that whatever is on the plate is poison, but at this point Talia's curiousity is too high for her to deny it. "A pleasure, I hope." Her not giving up her name yet - words and names had power. SO upon the acceptance she goes to take the treat while going to evaluate the girl. A light check to see how Helena responded. Would she go with 'you first' the way that those with Bruce's innate tutlage seemed to even in close quarters (well, not that they did, that's just how Talia perceived it).

But, presuming the woman knew that she was here and who she was, that gave her more interest than Talia had. "Thank you again." Well, it wasnt often that she was caught by surprise in a way that didn't have her checking herself over for needles.

Helena Wayne has posed:
"So do I," Helena remarks to the comment of it being 'a pleasure,' glancing back over her shoulder when she says it. Because, yes, after she set the plate and the water down, she'd turned her back on the other woman. Not, maybe, something you'd expect from a complete stranger. But then, only one of them was a /complete/ stranger, and even if the environment was sort of like 'home if someone snuck in and renovated while you were out,' she seemed entirely comfortable in her own skin. It underlies every movement in a way that would be impossible to hide from someone like Talia. She may not be familiar, but she was not uninitiated.

The dark haired girl slows right in front of a bookshelf, like she /knew/ where to look for what she was looking for, but then a few seconds of silence hangs as she searches, finger running over a few spines.

Finally, she sighs softly to herself, "I /know/ he kept Descartes here. /Nothing/ is where it's supposed to be..."

And then she turns, an apologetic smile touching her lips. "I'm Helena," she says simply. No hand offered in greeting, but then, could one really blame her?

"You're Talia al Ghul." It's a statement, not a question, as she crosses back towards that platter, herself. Piece of apple and piece of cheese placed together and brought up to her lips, but she doesn't take the bite at first. "Sorry for interrupting. The least I could is share." /Then/ she takes the bite.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Well, Helena turned her back to her. THat's a good sign. It means that Helena doesn't think she's a threat or knows that she's staying here. Alternatively is that she's sure enough of herself that she doesn't -think- Talia can hit her and it's just a taunt. But still, the woman doesn't seem to have the innate ego to her from her body posture that indicates she thinks she's that good. Talia goes to glance over at her thoughtfully.

"A pleasure to meet you, Helena. Talia. I don't believe I've run into you before here." She would rise up and over to shake the hand gently while going to cross her arms. "And you're looking in the wrong place." She would gesture over and point to where the preferred item would be - at least from what her best guess was due to Bruce's (at least sometimes) haphazard organizational routines. Interesting, the woman was looking for a specific item which implied a great deal of familiarity.. But Talia had never laid eyes on her before and hse kept at least passive awereness of what was going on the Manor.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena covers her mouth while she's chewing, but nods once she's done. "Oh, we haven't. I'm.. in and out a lot." There's a beat and a little eye-roll. "Mostly out." Another beat. "Okay.. so, I only come around when I have to. I've got a paper due, and /all/ of the copies of Meditations on First Philosophy are checked out. So, I could either scour all of Gotham or...."

She's already ambling over to the shelf Talia had indicated. It only takes a little bit of skimming for her to find it, this time, hooking her finger over the spine and pulling it out with a little wave of it.

"Got it. Thanks. Saves me having to bug Alfred."

Just like she didn't bug him before she took the tray out of the fridge.

There's something so distinctly /young/ about Helena's energy, and it's probably because she /is/ young. There's a certain over-confidence, to be sure, but it's not directed /at/ Talia or.. anyone else. She just might be a little spoiled. And entitled. It's hard to be in the home you grew up in and not feel a /little/ entitled. And maybe indulging that a little was soothing, in a way.

"Did you know this is Wyke Farms cheddar? Alfred orders it special. Which is weird. I thought it was mom's preference. Anyway, I thought about ordering some, but it's ridiculously expensive. So, I thought I'd just snag some on my way through."

Another apple, another piece of cheese.

"It's weird, right?" She looks up and around the room. "Being here?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The girl's body language appears relaxed and she seems quite peppy. Which seems so unusual for someone in Bruce's cadre. The girl isn't familiar. Perhpas she's with the Birds of Prey? THey occasionally do rotate here - at least, in the limited experience that Talia has. That could account for her lack of understanding. As Helena goes over to speak about her philosophy paper, Talia would nod.

"One gets far more understanding from a text than one does from a screen." She's never been one to like reading things over on a computer. As Helena goes to head over to her, she would glance at her once more. "SO what brings you to here? Are you a friend of someone here then?" She would inquire over to Helena. A light, casual, conversational tone. A way to see how relaxed Helena is. Does she volunteer it openly? Is she more guarded? Or is she loose with her tongue and shares things easily?

"Of course, thank you." The mention of her mother.. Now who could that be? Likely she is someone with the Birds then. "And it is.. I suppose one could call it that. Not the best word.. But close enough to it. It is a resettling." Vague. But, sitll a response and an acknowledgement.

Helena Wayne has posed:
"You know how da -- Bruce -- is about taking in strays."

It's what her mother had always called herself. Helena was looser with her tongue than she probably should be, but the little slip does seem to make her a little less at ease. It was like a shadow had suddenly passed over her -- a ghost of sadness that swept out as fast as it swept in. Her father was dead. So was her mother. /This/ Bruce had taken in an orphan. Nothing more. It meant nothing that they had the same face.

..Right?

Finally she's cracking open the water.

"That's good. For you, I mean. For me, it's more like /unsettling/. So, of the two... kinda jealous." A little smile, and then she's taking a drink from the water.

"Actually, it /is/ good... right? I probably shouldn't assume."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And that little slip is what Talia picks up. The way it's phrased and cut off. She picks up the quick shift in body language from the reminder. "You're not one of his adopted children. I believe I'm familiar with all of them. she does however pick up the quick shift in pain that goes over Helena's eyes and doesn't press the point further. But it's a light nudge from Talia that she is aware something is giong on here and that it's standing out.

"I'm merely a.. Temporary guest in residence. I don't think it will be long term, but it provides a respite until life takes over once again." By that she means when her father decides it's time to come and whisk her away to use her as a weapon and crush her free will.

Helena Wayne has posed:
"I'm not," Helena agrees. And it wasn't a lie. She grabs a carrot and dredges it in a saucer of gourmet blue cheese dressing. "Too old." She grins, and nips off the end of the carrot with her front teeth. There were so many jokes to be made, but she leaves them alone.

Crunch. Crunch. She at least puts her hand in front of her mouth, and there's something so.. refined and practiced about that gesture. Like she's not even thinking about it. As relaxed an 'at home' as she is, this is is a woman that would be just as at home at a thousand-dollar-a-plate charity event.

"Do you /want/ it to be long term?" she asks once she's swallowed.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would glance over at Helena quesitoningly. But she doesn't press the question. She doesn't have the sort of manipulatory knowledge to make further inquiries or the sort of game of back and forth to try to get to reveal things. So for now, Talia will give her peace.

There's something very faimliar about the way that Helena carries herself - in her body, and her posture.. THe easy confidence.. Something is amiss, but Talia can't quite make the leap and the connetion. Likely then just one of Wayne's distant cousins that has come in.

"I haven't gotten that far. It's the type of decidiont hat will be hard and have good and bad."

Helena Wayne has posed:
"So, just like every other decision." Wicked humor glints in Helena's eyes. There's both a darkness and a maturity beyond her youth, but it's Bruce's smile that lights up her features.. that taunting little over-confident smirk he gets.

"Come on. It's just us girls and.." She lifts a hand slightly to gesture around at the books. ".. a bunch of musty old books." Was there surveillance? Did Helena not know? "What do you /want/?"

Talia may not have been pressing, but it seemed like Helena didn't have the same respect for boundaries. Regardless, she pops the rest of that carrot into her mouth.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would muse, "That depends. And do forgive me, Ms Helena." Her tone would be sweet and playful. "I'm just merely pondering and I don't quite think I know you. That's a rather personal thing and we've just met. And I'm not sure what I do want. Things come with pros and cons. Sometimes rather severe ones that make decisions difficult because they not only do effect you, but they do other people as well. An unfortunate thing. But some things cannot be done so well, alas. And I'm not sure it's one that will come anytime soon."