7936/A Questionable Evening

A Questionable Evening
Date of Scene:	22 September 2021
Location:	Podium at Theatre Row
Synopsis:	Vic and Helena hit a fancy restaurant and talk crime
Cast of Characters:	Vic Sage, Helena Bertinelli

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Vic Sage has posed:
Vic may not be the most famous person in town, but he -is- a prominent TV reporter and can at least get a reservation at a good restaurant on relatively short notice. He's dressed well tonight, in a black suit with a white linen shirt and black tie. His auburn hair is tousled a bit on top and trimmed neatly on the sides.

He had a car sent to Helena's place to pick her up and he waits outside, smoking a cigarette while he waits for it to come and drop her off, making idle talk with the valet, who also happens to be a source on the comings and goings of the weathy and influential who frequent this fine establishment.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli has been badgering Vic's driver and interrogating him with her usual dry, defensive demenor, maybe thinking she could get some crime news or root out some fraud, that she needs to punch in the face. He quickly hops out and gets Helena's door for her in order to be rid of her, "Thanks," she says mundanely.

This not-famous teacher is dressed in a purple dress, becaue of course she is. It has a slit up the side to be fashionable. She is also wearing heels, which she doesn't look happy about as she steps out of the car, and she looks down at her shoes threateningly. She then walks up to the restaurant and waves to Vic as she sees him standing there puffing his life away, "Hey," she tells him, "Food good here?" she wonders.

Vic Sage has posed:
The driver is just somebody he hired for the evening, so he knows basically nothing about his employer other than the little bit he's seen of the guy on TV. "Geez, lady, you're the one goin' out wit' 'em, I ain't even met the guy. I got hired over the phone!"

Vic puts out his cigarette, snuffing it carefully and dropping it in the trash. "Better be, for what they charge,' he says. "Figured I could pretend to be classy for at least one night to make sure you got treated right. C'mon, let's go remind the maitre'd that I have a reservation."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli walks across the pavement and over to Vic. She gives a nod to what he says, "Thought you'd be busy doing your TV crap---your TV recording stuff," she says, trying to phrase it in a 'polite' way, "You said you were with the local station?" she asks him. It's just rained, so it's not as hot as a blazing Inferno, and Fall might actually be coming.

Helena follows Vic into the restaurant. She doesn't say anything else, maybe thinking of something nice to say.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage gives her a non-plussed look, raising an eyebrow, "Yes, my...TV recording stuff," he says. "Five local Emmys, investigative reporter of the year three times, nominated for a Pulitzer once. But I guess I didn't win, so it doesn't really count," he says in a bemused way.

The waiter quickly leads them to a secluded table. The place is well-attended, with a few other local celebrities about - city council people, a couple of prominent businessmen, the president of the Woman's Voting League, that sort of thing.

"Look around. All the glitter and glamor of Gotham. All the rot and corruption, too, if you peel off the top. But at least the grub is good," he says, pulling out Helena's chair before taking his own seat. "And you're a...teacher, right? College, high school or elementary?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli glances side to side and then says, "/You/ have competition? Really. Well I'll take 'em out," she mutters amusedly. She walks past all kinds of richass people, with their richass little dinner, "Sometimes fancyass food is fun," she states not-eloquently.

She smiles a little and takes the chair Vic pulls out for her, "Yes, a high school English teacher. Downtown," she explains.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage shrugs a little, "My competition doesn't think of me as much. They're just lookin' to make money and get famous. Been there, did that, ended up turning into an egomaniacal piece of crap. Better off actually doing good and showing how hollow and empty most of this crap is."

He orders a bottle of wine and leans back in his chair, letting you peruse the menu. He's got it memorized, mostly because he just does that sort of thing. "Not sure I could deal with being surrounded by teenagers all day. I don't know how Batman does it."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli looms over the menu as it lays in front of her and she taps her purple nail on the menu, saying, "You like crab legs?" she wonders. She looks up darkly as Vic mentions BATMAN, "Well, not sure if he has a degree in higher level youth education," she says dryly, "But I guess nobody has any missing limbs, so it's fine," she admits, tossing her hand.

Helena's eyes watch the bottle of wine as it arrives at the table, "They usually don't mess with me," she explains about teenagers, looking back at Vic now. She gives an innocent smile.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage snorts, "I'm not so sure about the missing limbs. Some of those sidekicks just mysteriously vanish now and then and nobody asks any questions. Well. Nobody who's ever gotten answers, anyway," he says.

"I'm sure they're split down the middle between crushing on you so hard they almost faint and being utterly terrified and on the verge of wetting themselves if they get on your bad side. Scared and horny is a potent combination."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli smirks a bit at Vic's comments, and then rolls her eyes, "Most of them just try to get away for dumb shiiii--dumb stuff because well--they're teenagers," she tells him, correcting her language as she continues, "I can actually do a normal job and not think about vengeance...or crime ... or stabbing crime ... or ...you know," she explains.

Helena motions to him, "You're actually accomplished," she notes cause she's impressed, at least a little, "I'll never be known outside of my building, but I don't really care," she explains, not disappointed about that fact in the least.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage shrugs, "Accomplished. I suppose. Half the people I work with hate my guts. To them, I think I'm better than them, that I do real journalism and they're just fluff. And they're right. I do. I am. And it costs me. Costs me promotions and airtime and it sometimes gets me shot at. I've probably been shot at more times as Vic Sage than...the other guy," he says.

"Nothing wrong with doing thankless work. Most of the people who get thanked don't deserve it anyway."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods to what he says and seems in agreement, "I'd rather be shot at and do thankless work than be one of these richass two-facers," she says, inventing words as she goes, "But I can just sneak away when I guess you're always in the spotlight," she tells him, maybe wondering what his secret is.

Helena glances over her shoulder, "There's not gonna be any camera guys here, is there?" she asks. The waiter comes over to take the ORDER and pour Vic and Helena a tall glass of red wine.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage shakes his head, "Not really. These people don't notice anyone but their own kind. I either don't exist or I'm someone to call security on. The anchors and the weatherman, though, they're face first in browntown kissing away."

He shakes his head, "This is Gotham. Paparazzi don't tend to work here because they make an easy target for splash zone clown murder. Yet they still keep having all those charity balls and costume parties, just begging to be robbed. The idle rich of Gotham are an essentially argument against meritocracy - here only the dimmest rise to the top. The curdled cream."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli hmms, as she thinks over his appraisal of Gotham, "You could be right," she mutters, "Thought I saw some camera guys this one time at this double murder---they usually sell pics to the rags. Freelance assholes," she says with her own appraisal.

"You could do newspaper work instead of television?" Helena wonders, "Or maybe teach journalism," she smiles, "You'd be a great teacher."

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage leans back a bit as the waiter takes their orders. He gets the Atlantic salmon with lime-seasoned rice and some sort of sweet potato compote. He flexes his fingers a little bit, the nicotine itch already hitting him. Hardcore cigarette junkie.

"I'm better at talking than writing,' he admits. "Plus, sometimes TV is live so they don't have time to censor or edit me. As for teaching, I'd get fired for kicking some rich little punk in the teeth sometime. That's how I got kicked out of schools when I went there, usually."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli hmms, "Oh? I thought you were a rock of patience, hmm okay," she notes, "Must be buried anger then, like me," she says. She puts her ORDER in with the waiter, getting the crab legs and a wee little salad.

"Live TV you said?" Helena wonders, "It's the news right? And editorials?" she asks, "They get upset if you go off script?"

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage considers, "...I used to be more angry. Maybe I still am, underneath. Now, it's mostly just contempt. Seeing how hollow things are, underneath the surface. How much of the world is just a false face, put up to sell things and keep people in their place. Makes you question things," he says.

"Yeah, they don't want to piss off advertisers or the board of directors or the police or...anybody, really, with any authority. They want crime stories about gangbangers and hookers on the street, but not the sex trafficking or the exploitation or the corruption that lets it all happen. All symptoms, no causes."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli shrugs, "You can't really even keep the kids away from it," she explains, "It's all over the media. You'd think the corruption part would be even a bigger deal but the air time usually goes for the murders and sex," she tells him. She has to have a drink of wine for that.

"Did you want to talk about crime tonight?" Helena wonders amusedly, "We could talk about something else," she offers.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage takes a long drink of his wine, "You're right. Kind of a downer subject. I do have a habit of being a little obsessive. Hyperfocused." Does he have a room covered with maps and photos and scrawls of paranoid speculation? MAYBE. But not at his apartment, at least.

"I'm open to any subject you'd care to breach, although I'm not conversant in everything. Quantum physics is a little out of my realm."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli chuckles, "That wouldn't be my first choice," she explains, "How about books? Literature?" the English teacher says with a knowing smile, "Too boring for us ...?" she indicates, as she thinks about leaping through the air and kicking criminals.

"Maybe we /should/ talk about crime. How to break up the gangs. Or the new gun imports from New York," Helena comments.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage considers, "I admit, most of my literature tastes tend to be low brow. And mostly about crime," he says. "Sometimes reading noir feels a little too on the nose, though. You start to feel like you're a trope in your own life, just another fiction."

"I tend to be a little existentialist by nature. I'm not sure you can break up street gangs. Most of them are formed out of survival instinct - the solution to that is systemic, to provide opportunities for money and security and community that don't exist now. As for the guns - yes. That's a more concrete problem. One worth solving."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods to what he says and gets an opportunity to explain to Vic, saying, "You're right. We're putting a band-aid on the solution by kicking ass all night," she explains, "That's why the school and the University is sponsoring a new Safehouse downtown---it's a charity building, to help with food and other crap, free of judging," she explains.

"I'm going down there to help. See what I can do. Maybe they don't need me," Helena wonders, "You want to come with me?" she asks.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage nods, "I'd be happy to lend a hand," he says. "Sounds like the kind of thing the city needs more of," he says. Is he suspicious of it? Of course. He'll do his due diligence and check that funding and make sure there isn't an ulterior motive behind it all, because he sees devils in the shadows whatever he puts himself into.

"I imagine they'll be happy to see you whether they need you or not. Not a lot of beautiful young women volunteering in bad neighborhoods."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli motions to herself, "Everybody's coming down. The school wants it to be a volunteer day," she explains and then smiles, "Hopefully it won't be too pretentious for ya, but I think it could work," she adds.

"It's in Coventry, on the neighborhood border there. Sometimes the assholes respect that sort of thing but I still need more information about the area. I'd like ...it to work," she suggests, hoping the Huntress won't be needed.

Vic Sage has posed:
Vic Sage smiles, "I don't think it would be too pretentious. I'm suspicious of philanthropy, because the people capable of it usually aren't the best kind of people, but there are good people in the world. It would be nice if you were allowed to do that good work in peace. If not, well...I'm sure somebody will be around to do something about it."