16319/Nocturnal Predators

Nocturnal Predators
Date of Scene:	13 November 2023
Location:	Catwoman Lair
Synopsis:	Batgirl makes a welfare check on Selina Kyle, and extends an offer.
Cast of Characters:	Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon

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Selina Kyle has posed:
It's about 10pm in Gotham City; either too early or too late to start something, depending on your perspective. Selina Kyle is enjoying an evening at home, for once. Sitting on the sofa, long legs stretched out, she's wearing yoga pants and a loose-fitting midriff top in black and purple, respectively. There's a reading lamp on, but the rest of the apartment is pretty dark. She is reading a book with a glass of red wine and her cell phone within reach.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl had a tendancy of trying to keep track of the various femme fatales of Gotham City. Most of the notorious ones have been trying to 'go straight' ffor some time, while others were a bit harder to know whether that was true or not. Selina might fall somewhere closer to the latter in that category.

Something that probably has happened before to Selina, while enjoying the down time within her home, a knock comes to one of the windows overlooking an alley outside. Anjd quite possibly, when Selina looks, she'll see a silhouette she may even question at first. A Bat-cowl, visible ears, lit up by a passing car at the mouth of the alleyway. The strange part, however, is the flash of red across the Bat's shoulders, and a large golden symbol upon the Bat's chest.

It's not Batman at all, it's one of his proteges. Come to check on her? Without even calling first? How typical.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle looks up when she hears the tapping on the window, and in that instant Barbara's trained eyes watch the woman go immediately tense. Fight or flight. Fight or flight. Instead, she calmly puts the book down and crosses the room to the window, taking her time.

The bars are unlatched and swing inward, then Selina draws up the sash. "Come on in." she offers, stepping back. "Is this a social call, or should I start thinking up alibis? And can I offer you a glass of wine?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl remains tucked away as well as she can be on the fire-escape, as Selina comes to the window to let her pass through. When she opens it all up, and makes that offer, Batgirl steps down and inside, gently ducking her pointed-ear-tipped cowl, and dropping down inside, her black and gold cape waving gently around her armored body.

She glances back toward the window, then toward Selina, a soft smirk touching her visible lips. She shakes her head softly side to side. "No, thank you..." She says quietly toward the wine. "Unadvised to get tipsy when one needs to do the things I do to get around out there..." She trails off before she nods once toward Selina. "Just a casual drop-in. I haven't seen you around much lately. Call me concerned, about your well-being." She speaks soft, her feminine voice not altered by a modulator, leaving it natural and her normal tone. She spares a glance around Selina's apartment, her visible green eyes peering out from behind the mask of her cowl.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle smiles wryly and locks back up once Batgirl is inside. She gestures to the other seats in the room as she returns to the sofa. Scooping up the glass, she tucks her legs up and lounges in a very Cleopatra-like pose.

"I've done worse than run the rooftops on a glass of wine" she replies. "Make yourself comfortable, then. And I wasn't aware that anyone was watching me so closely. Or was it the lack of attention on the police scanner?"

Selina's presence and activity is usually announced by the presence of bound thugs painted with cat slogans or the absence of feline-themed treasures.

"I do appreciate the concern, but as you can see my well-being is just fine. Or can't a girl enjoy a quiet evening at home?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
It was irrefutable that Selina Kyle had a charming personality about her. Sure, it came with claws, but her view on life offten painted a picture by which she used her words as the brush, and the conversation at-hand as her canvas. Barbara admired it, so long as it was a casual setting like this. She knew a lot of Selina's history with Bruce, but she surely didn't know it all. It kept her a bit on-edge around the other woman, as she wasn't one to enjoy the unknowns.

When Selina sweeps herselff back in to a comfortable place upon her sofa, and offers Babs to ffind comfort herself, Batgirl just responds by taking a couple steps further in to the home, her cape moving around her yellow thigh-high armored boots, the soles of the boots quietly impacting on the floor.

"I really didn't mean to interrupt your time to yourself, Selina..." She says softly. "I just. I do worry about you, believe it or not. I value what you know, and are capable of. But I also know you've made some enemies in your time... Thus, I feel it best to keep tabs on you, make sure you're still kicking, so to speak." She says in an even tone, as she stands beside a display in the room, letting her eyes roam over it and its contents, before she glances back toward the lounging woman.

"Haven't had any issues, of late, have you?" She asks then.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle smiles, and it's both warm and genuine. "Darling, if I wasn't up for company I wouldn't have let you in." she replies, flexing one knee to draw he upper leg along the lower. Selina takes a sip of wine, and now that Batgirl is in her apartment more fully she lets her gaze wander.

"Nice boots, but yellow isn't really my color." She is about to continue when a mewing sound comes from behind the sofa. Then another comes from down the hall. The calico hops up onto the sofa, nuzzling Selina's leg before turning towards Babs. A black cat just curls up at her feet.

Selina chuckles softly, then. "You are concerned about my welfare because of what I know? I have my own guardians, of course, fierce things that they are."

Her bare toes wiggle a little, petting the kitten curled up at her feet. "But everything is just fine, as you can see. Although I do appreciate the sentiment." She pauses, then asks. "That -is- sentiment I detect under the mask, isn't it?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Selina, of course, knows who Batgirl is under that mask. All of that had been realized years ago now, with Selina and Bruce dabbling with a more personal relationship. Bruce trusted her, and that's all it took for Babs to as well. But, Selina knows how the Bats are, and when they're 'on the job' they're so serious!

But not serious enough not to crouch down, and pet the cat that came to her feet. Batgirl's cape pools around her as she is lowered down to the ground like that, with one knee going down gently to touch the floor of Selina's apartment. Babs' gloved hand moves to the black cat, and she gently strokes over its ears, and under its chin. A small smile even crosses her pink lips as she does so.

"It is sentiment." She answers the other though, her cowled stare raising up from the kitty to peer over at Selina. "You're important to all of us, you know." She reminds her. "We're still up against a lot out there, even all these years in to the job. You're... a master of it, Selina. You're a master of this crazy city, and your help is always valued."

Is she just here to butter her up? Does she need something from her? Valid questions.

With another look at the black cat, and a few more pets to illicit a lovely purr from it, Batgirl rises up again to her full height.

"I just want to reinforce the message, that should you need it... we're here. Help, of course."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle smells a pitch, of course, intentional or not. Real or not. Her foot glides along the other purring cat as an amused smile touches her lips.

The pitch doesn't come, just the offer of help. Her expression softens a little. Selina doesn't get many offers for help without strings attached. "You know that the offer is mutual, right?" she replies in a lower voice. "I made that arrangement with Him, but it's good for all of you."

Contacts, information, even less-than-reputable skills. Just like that. "The cats like you, Barbara." And that certainly says something.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
At her full height, Batgirl watches Selina pet the other cat with a foot, while she keeps a faint smirk visible on her visage. After a small pause following the other's words, she does glance down again at the black cat, before speaking once more.

"I do have a couple other requests..." There it is! "If you're up for hearing them..."

Batgirl raises her left hand up, and her right goes over to her bracer. She taps something on it before she shines a red laser pointer down at the ground in front of the cat, starting to waggle it around on the floor to try and get the feline to engage with it. Every Batsuit has a laser pointer, right?

She spares another look up to the other woman then. "There's a Church near here, a Catholic Church just down the block. Saint Michael's. I'm sure you know it... I was hoping you could snoop around there a bit for me, get to know some of the regulars, and see if there's anyone shady who seems out of place at it. Someone who seems to stick out, perhaps like they're watching over the place, or gathering information about it. I know Church probably isn't your favorite place to be, but you're... savvy... and I trusth you'd shmooze your way through any questions better than most I could ask this favor of."

Her eyes go back down to the floor where she zig-zags the laser pointer around upon it in front of the fuzzy black cat.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina Kyle's smile returns, her expression settling into something akin to 'why am I not surprised' when the pitch comes. But she manages not to laugh. Selina did offer, after all.

The cat pounces at the laser dot on the the floor, and Selina does chuckle softly at that. She looks up to Barbara's eyes, as if trying to picture the face without the mask.

"Saint Michael's... yes, I know it well. And darling, just because I'm occasionally a sinner, don't just assume that I'm uncomfortable in a church. That's why they have confessionals, you know."

Selina watches the cat batting at the moving light on the floor, and the one at her feet picks its head up to look as well. There is no need to accept, not since Selina already restated her own offer.

"Give me a few days, at least through the weekend. I'll let you know whether I find anything, either way." Of course this is Her neighborhood, which means even her aliases are pretty well-established as locals.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The fun of hearing a cat slap its paws against the ground as it desperately tries to get the red dot under its claws is a certain kind of fun you can't know until you try it yourself. Though it also comes with a fair amount of underlying pitty for the animal, as it fails to capture its prey. What must be going through its mind even? Who knows!

She zags and zigs the laser a ffew more times before she looks up to Selina again, showing her a light smile. "I'm uncomfortable in them, I assumed you'd be on a similar plain of comfort because of that..." She trails offf there then as she lowers her hands to her sides again. "Thank you though..."

She walks back toward the original side of the room she'd come in through the windows of, before she turns back toward Selina on her sofa.

"Lastly, I wanted to know what you'd think of officially joining the Birds of Prey. I know... I know... a Cat in a Birdhouse doesn't seem logically sound. But... as I've said, I respect your skills, when they're aimed at the right targets. Even if not as a full member, I'd enjoy your participation on some jobs... like the Church."

She pauses there then, before she glances away for a moment. "You don't have to answer now though..." She states, her green eyed gaze coming back once more. "Mull it over, if you'd like, and yes... it means I'd keep closer tabs on you, but I promise it'd only be for the best intentions." She says in a tone that suggests a playful underlying element.

Selina Kyle has posed:
When Barbara crosses to the window, Selina rises and moves to the latch on the bars. After all, a polite hostess sees her guests out. "Well perhaps you just need to change your ways." she replies playfully, on the subject of churches.

Opening the latch on the bars, she lingers near the window without being in the direct shadow of it. Old habits.

"Birds of Prey? I won't ask which bowling league you're in, but color me interested. Or should I say... curious. At the very least I'd like to meet them."

She swings the bars open, then. "I normally do my best work alone, but if I'm going to play nice in groups I do like to know who I'm working with."

Selina shifts her weight, then, leaning a touch against the reinforced window frame. "And Barbara, you are always welcome to stop by. Call ahead next time, and I'll give you a proper reception." Green eyes brighten, her smile full of mischief. "I'll even leave the window unlocked for you."