7637/Important Questions

Important Questions
Date of Scene:	01 September 2021
Location:	Selina Kyle's Penthouse
Synopsis:	Batman goes to Selina's penthouse to find out if she may have carried his child in the past. She hasn't. Selina admits she doesn't want him to leave. He doesn't. Turns out they both think rather highly of each other~
Cast of Characters:	Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne

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Selina Kyle has posed:
    So Batman got some strange news the other day. There are precious few bits of news in the superhero community that qualify as 'normal', but this one stands out. Some girl's running around Gotham using Batman and Catwoman's moves; which is weird enough without her also running around using Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's faces.

    So that warrants some digging.

    Publically available files on Selina Kyle have done little to clarify the matter. Her known aliases did nothing unusual around the time that might have become... relevant, but given the sensitivity of the matter, it's not impossible that she invented a whole new one. Digging deep on Selina herself wouldn't turn up much other than the usual - some (probably professionally) buried records of a stint or two at juvie, and a full on disappearance that lasted a couple years in her mid teens. So the direct approach may be called for.

    Selina's penthouse apartment is spacious, luxurious, and, at the moment, rather dark; decorated tastefully - if somewhat eccentrically - with a variety of lovely and expensive paintings, vases, statuettes and the like. A percentage of it isn't even stolen!

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce rarely felt guilt about breaking into places. It was his stock in trade, and there was scarcely a person he knew as Batman that he hadn't broken into the home of at one point or another. But this felt different, especially given the context. Selina had been turning over a new leaf for some time now, and her visit to his home a few days ago had shown what he believed to be a genuine heart and good intentions.

Nevertheless, he needs to know and he's willing to sacrifice for the information he needs. The security system is more in-depth than is typical on a penthouse, but nothing he hasn't seen before. He cracks it in silence, slipping inside and moving through the shadows with practiced grace. He opens the drawers, careful to memorize where everything is so he leaves nothing disturbed.

He's not sure what he's looking for or what he might find. For now, it's a simple matter of seeing what is there.

Selina Kyle has posed:
     Selina's personal affects aren't terribly incriminating. The vault where she keeps her costumes and some of her more portable gear is SUPER incriminating. Though a little nostalgic! She still has the purple costume with the really tall boots. There are memories attached to that one, though some of them are connected to a trio of scars drawn across Batman's body. Some good ones, too. But not relevant.

    Files name criminals, hoodlums, mobsters and worse, with the associated rap-sheets getting worse the farther back in time one searches. There's on old framed photo buried a little callously among other things, as though it had been stuffed away in a hurry. A shabby picture inside a shabby house of two shabby young women, clearly living in a state so lacking in wealth and style that it would be part to associate it with Selina Kyle, if one of the girls didn't have vivid green eyes.

    There's a loud squeak of a knob turning somewhere in the apartment. There hadn't been any lights or sound before now, but a few seconds later a light switch is flipped, and the bathroom door swings open.

    Inside are recently-extinguished scented candles surrounding a spacious bath that is currently gradually emptying of water. More pressingly, Selina Kyle is standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of wireless earbuds playing music, a white towel slung around her shoulders, a slightly oversized black dress shirt, and... that's it.

    Her eyes are closed, at first. She doesn't dance out, so much as just sort of... grooves, stepping to a beat only she can hear, and swaying along gently as she hums pleasantly. Completely oblivious, she gravitates towards the kitchen, grasping in the general direction of light switches as she passes them.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman pauses in his search as he hears the doorknob squeak. He has already calculated how long it would take Selina to notice him, based on a dozen different factors. He has three seconds to leave before she'd notice something amiss. Now two. Now one. He doesn't go anywhere, the option of creeping through her house and leaving without her knowledge perhaps more than he can bear for the moment.

"Selina."

She'll spot him there in the shadows. The outline of his cape and cowl that reveals only the glowing white eyes. He steps forward then, taking shape in the lit room.

Selina Kyle has posed:
    Selina Kyle usually isn't easily caught off guard... but she's also usually in costume and on the prowl when that's tested. Tonight it's just Selina Kyle, in the comfort of her own home, undressed and still damp from the bath.

    So these aren't ideal circumstances.

    Selina gasps so loudly that a hitherto sleeping black cat BOLTS across the room, Selina's eyes snapping wide open, as she immediately whips open a drawer and pulls out a long fork that she points in the general direction of the unexpected sound... before she sees who it is.

    Selina stares for a long moment, before she visibly deflates with a long sigh; one of the rare cases of someone becoming LESS tense when they realize the Batman has snuck into their home. She presses her lips together firmly, squinting a bit, dissapprovingly, as she reaches back with one hand, hooks a finger under the wire connecting the ear buds, and tugs, popping them out of her ears.

    "... I could *swear* you have my phone number."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I don't make phone calls," Batman admits. It's more or less true. He much prefers to simply show up unannounced and have conversations in person. It's the only way to read body language and learn what is really going on. He wants to tell her it's important, but that would give away too much.

"I have questions for you," he continues, not sitting or making himself comfortable but rather just standing tall in the center of the room, "I need to know if you've ever put a child up for adoption."

Straight and to the point.

Selina Kyle has posed:
    "Yeeeaaah, I know..." Selina sighs as she reaches into the cupboard she had previously opened, starts to pull out a wine glass... hesitates with a little twitch at the corner of her lip, and pulls out two instead. She sets them down and moves towards the fridge as she says, "You don't make phone calls, you never write, you never want to meet my friends from work..." she teases in a long-suffering tone as she fetches a wine bottle from a cooler, opens it, and fills both glasses partway. So at least she's regained some composure. It's subtly odd to see Selina Kyle speaking and acting this way, in a manner one would associate more closely with Catwoman... but it's also different somehow. Less eccentric, more grounded. It could be she's just uncomfortable, but...

    Told he has questions for her, Selina raises one glass and looks curious. "Is that so?" Funny, she doesn't REMEMBER doing anything news-worthy recently. "I'm tempted to be a little difficult, considering." Selina tilts her head, "... But I guess you're still ahead of me on favors." Selina smirks just slightly, "Plus, the night isn't unsalvagable..." she says suggestively, and begins to move away, "One second."

    She walks past a copy of Simon Trent's book - personalized to Selina Kyle with a bookmark planted partway through, and moves to her sound system as she says, "Hey Waynebox, start 'relaxation mix'." before she unplugs the receiver connecting it to her earbuds, which she puts away.

    The room fills with a gentle, sensual sort of music at a tasteful volume. It's just Selina being Selina. "There we go. Shoot." She says, as she begins to sip from her wine glass.

    'I need to know if you've ever put a child up for adoption.'

    Selina visibly chokes with a little lurch. She manages to swallow the wine that was halfway down her throat - avoiding the spittake that the moment tried to initiate - and pats herself on the chest for a long silent moment while her throat clears. "... Hey Waynebox." She calls out a little hoarsely, "... *Stop.*"

    Selina takes a deep breath, shaking her head slightly as she steps a bit closer to Batman, folding one arm across her middle, "... Either I'm missing some crucial context here..." she says with some concern, "... or this is unusually forward of you."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I've met your friends from work," Batman states flatly, "Half of them are in Blackgate, the other half are in Arkham."

The Dark Knight doesn't move as Selina sets up the little relaxation suite for herself. It's an odd image. The sign of Catwoman, out of costume, languidly making herself comfortable while the terror of Gotham's criminal fraternity looms amidst it all.

He doesn't react to her response, either. Perhaps he expected it.

"I hope you'll accept that it's important. Something I need to know but can't reveal why."

He looks at her critically for a moment, like she were an open book with the pages laid bare.

"You've either done it and never expected anyone to find out, or it's too unbelievable an idea to mention. Which is it?"

Selina Kyle has posed:
    "And they all have nice things they want to tell you~" Selina purred regarding her 'work friends, as tickled as always to inspire a back and forth with The Bat.

    Now, though? She's curious, concerned, a tiny bit angry at the insinuation, though she's not sure why. She would *love* to know how the hell THIS came up, and she approaches Batman with her wine glass in one hand, examining him as if the answer were on his face somewhere. One might expect Selina to be... difficult in this situation, and in the beginning she probably would have been. But she knows Batman well enough to know he treats *everything* as some sort of life and death mission to some degree, and when he calls something out in particular as important, that means something.

    So, looking Batman right in the eyes, she calmly says, ""I have never been pregnant, never had a child, and I've never given a child up for adoption, mine or otherwise." Selina walks past him, while saying "You kind of shut down a lot of questions right at the start there, so I'm not sure what else to say without driving you up the wall." before she takes a seat on a couch behind Batman, facing him, and crosses her legs.

    There's suddenly a feeling of pressure on Batman's lower leg, and a glance will reveal the source to be Selina's black furred cat 'Terri' rubbing up against him, apparently haven forgiven him his startling entrance. Selina smiles, clearly charmed, and says, "Sweety, no, I've tried that already~" in a subtly cutesy 'talking-to-adorable-animals' voice. She sighs and leans back slightly, asking, "Anything else I can help you with?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman slowly shifts his head to look down at the cat, watching as it brushes up against his leg. After a long, drawn out moment of silence he crouches alongside it and scratches the top of Terri's head with his knuckles. Then under its chin as he looks back up to Selina.

"I have a reason for not telling you. I hope you'll understand but this is ... good news."

Done petting the cat, he rises to his feet and takes a step back towards the window.

"There's nothing else."

Selina Kyle has posed:
    Selina looks genuinely delighted as she watches Batman return her lovely kitty-friend's affection over the rim of her wine glass. "I suppose that's something." She replies, and sets her glass aside on a small table beside the couch, Selina rises to her feet. "I have to admit, you kinda got my hopes up." She says, as she begins to approach him. "It's been a little while since you've made a house call. Was starting to think you'd gotten bored~" She teases gently, taking part of Batman's cape between thumb and forefinger and giving it a little tug.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Selina ... "

There's a certain cadence he always uses when he says her name. It's a cross between the way might chide an overzealous pet, and the way someone might ask another to go easy on them. This is why he usually waits until their backs are turned to disappear.

He pauses when she tugs on his cape, turning back to face her only to find her extremely close. His eyes narrow behind the mask as he looks down at the underdressed cat burglar.

"It's been a long time since you've broken the law. It's a good thing."

Selina Kyle has posed:
    Selina smiles a surprisingly genuine little smile, though not without bemusement as she replies, "I see, so you were rewarding my 'bad behavior'." Selina keeps ahold of Batman's cape where it parts in the front, though her smile fatlers a little. "... It's not easy, y'know. Resisting all the time. Staying quiet." She shrugs a little, "I can't take it *all* out on crooks and pimps."

    Selina steps a little closer and puts one hand on Batman's chest; an intimate - and rather daring, considering it's The Batman - gesture that's made simply, as though it were natural. "... It's nice to feel like it matters some times, you know...?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"It matters," he answers, not recoiling from the hand on his chest but remaining still. There's little to feel of him beneath the plate of ceramic armor and the steel that makes up the bat-symbol there - he learned the lesson of armor plating long ago when a certain criminals claws left deep scars.

"I learned something. Something I've been mulling over in my head for a long time. The idea that change is possible. Not just the change of putting an end to the monsters who take advantage of society. The change of walking down a different path. I didn't believe it at first. But I've seen it now ... in more places than one, true, but nowhere more than with you."

"I know it's hard. I know much you might want to scream in frustration or throw it all in. But I know you well enough to know that you can't. Not entirely. Maybe you'll slip one day. But even if you fall all the way to the bottom, you'll climb the mountain again. Because it's not in you to give up, and when I look here."

He lifts a hand, cradling her chin in his hands. His eyes fixated upon hers.

"I see a good person."

Selina Kyle has posed:
    Selina is visibly surprised. Far from the monosyllibic stereotype, she's heard Batman speak at length more than once. Though never so positively, or in such personal terms.

    "... Bat..." she says softly, taking the back of his hand, and guiding it so that his palm cups her cheek. "... It's not all out of virtue, you know." She gives a bit of a rueful smile and says, "... I've tried hating you. More than once. Got a couple good long runs at it, too. Couldn't do it." She closes her eyes, "Tried ditching the costume all together and living quietly." Her eyes open again, looking up at him, "... Couldn't do it."

    "I need to be here. And I... *want* to see you. To see more of you. There's, uh..." she gives a soft huff of a chuckle, and inadvertently echoes something that Bruce Wayne heard not too recently. "... There's maybe three decent guys in all of Gotham, you know? And you're the only one who knows me. *Really* knows me... and still gives a damn."

    Selina smiles, then... but it starts to fade, replaced with a kind of subtle anxiety. Like's she's realized too late that she's said too much, gone too far... maybe exposed too much of herself. She's a guarded person, used to fiercely defending something wounded inside of her. That makes two of you.

    Hesitatingly, Selina lets go of Batman then, and tries to brush it off with an embarrassed smile. "... A-anyway..." she sniffs once and begins to turn her back to him, "You can, ah... do your 'vanishing' thing now, I know how much you hate a mundane exit."

    A few long seconds pass. Naturally, Selina assumes he's gone; like he always is by now, and clasps her hands behind her back with a sigh. "Drive safe~" she says to no one with a gentle sort of irony.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
This is where the disappearing act comes in. There's no sound save for maybe the faint gusting of wind and then Batman is gone. Like he was never there. The darkness full enough to suggest maybe he's still watching, but one never catches a glimpse of the Dark Knight unless he wants them to.

That's the usual protocol, anyway. But not what happens here.

He takes a deep breath and then Selina will find his arms around her. One forearm resting across her upper chest just below the neck, while the other winds about her stomach. The hard, armored forehead of his cowl rests for a moment against the back of her head as he lets that breath out.

"I'm not going anywhere."