7979/Outfoxing a Tiger.

Outfoxing a Tiger.
Date of Scene:	25 September 2021
Location:	The Griffin
Synopsis:	Corporations and greed make strange allies.
Cast of Characters:	Saeko, Thomas Blake, Pamela Isley

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Saeko has posed:
A day in the Griffin, so far Saeko was unsummoned. After a visit to make an offering to Inari directly, the kitsune had returned to the world of motals and...was currently brushing her hair.

With the imps giving her space, Saeko simply drew the brush through her deep black locks in a lazy, luxuriating fashion.

Thomas Blake has posed:
"Goddamit, get back here. Get BACK here you, big baby! It's just a little Anbesol for your gum... Ooof... stop!" Several crashes from the basement. The panel leading to the basement opens with a bang and a dozen imps flee through it into the living room.

Behind them comes a very put out Siberian Tiger. With a slightly swollen cheek.

Rasputin ignores the imps. However, the little monsters apparently left the front door open. The big cat approaches and sniffs.

In the basement Thomas starts to leverage the selves off him and contemplates a new rug.

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela's not on the warpath, which is probably a good thing. Probably. At least when she _is_ incensed and enraged, she's not quite so calculating or measured.

But today she's got herself a to do list. And since she already dropped off her drycleaning at Queens's only eco-friendly shop, and there's plenty of time before her evening plans, instead she's decided to handle something that's been in the back of her mind for awhile.

Folks might find it silly for someone who's been labelled an ecoterrorist and criminal to be upset at someone ruining her reputation, but it _is_ her reputation, and Ivy's not going to let some tawdry 'Based on real events' TV show misrepresent her!

Of course, any plans to storm in and raise hell are somewhat undone when she storms in and... finds a tiger?

Well, that's new. She eyes Rasputin slowly, arms crossing over her chest, eyes narrowing. "So... are you a talking tiger? Like, you're the door man? I'm here to talk about whoever wrote that cheap knockoff story about me for that show!" There's a brief pause, and then Ivy groans and rolls her eyes, "You are _not_ a talking tiger. You're just... a tiger tiger."

Which would, of course, make one wonder why she's still talking to him. But hey, it's Gotham. Besides, talking to a tiger's not really any different than chatting with her plants. Except Frank. God, why does Frank have to be able to talk back?

Thomas Blake has posed:
Rasputin does not talk, nor are his thoughts worthy of a thought balloon (as if this was a comic book -hah). With his natural disdain apparent he merely walks past Ivy, or through her, should she wish to impede him, eying a nice tree in the front yard. Left alone he will vault into a sturdy branch.

There is a final crash and a moment later Thomas Blake emerges through the same door the imps then Rasputin exited. He's wearing his leather, armored jacket, no mask, and it bears several scuffs and claw marks. "Hi Pammy, withyouinasecondlookinggood. Rasputin?" One does not scream at a tiger.

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela narrows her eyes further, to mere slits as Thomas comes out... not that she doesn't step aside, even sweeping an arm to invite him out the door to follow the tiger, "Thomas. Trouble with the big boy? He seems a little grumpy."

Which she'd know, being queen of the grumps of late and all. Not that she's grumpy enough to be looking forward to him acquiring a few more scratches from Rasputin or anything. But she's totally going to watch and probably laugh if things go wrong.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake runs outside to regard Rasputin settled onto a branch, and licking his paws unconcernedly. Thomas makes eye contact with the tiger who stares back.

The tiger blinks first. Thomas points to the door and the tiger jumps from the branch knocking Thomas aside and receiving a half joking boot in the rear. "Inside, you lout. In. Leave her alone. You were being bad." Thomas cajoles the beast into the living room where ironically the tiger settles in front of the fireplace. "Come in, Pammy. I just need to get him settled." He carefully applies the medicine to the tiger's gum. The cat shakes his head and sneezes loudly.

"Ok, come in. What brings you here?" Loaded question.

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela snickers out softly and shakes her head, "Oh, no no, don't behave on my account, big guy. Feel free to growl and grumble and refuse to behave!"

Not that she's really encouraging Rasputin to act out, following along and lifting her eyebrows as she eyes Thomas and again eyes narrow, lips press into a severe line, "Well, until I realized it wasn't some generic TV executive behind that godawful TV show with the 'Ivy League', I was planning out some hilariously ironic torments for the person behind it."

Arms cross over her chest and she goes from narrowed eyes to full on glower, "Now I'm just wondering what made you take the jump from hunting poachers and causing trouble in Gotham to trashy 'true crime' TV! And true is being very _very_ generous."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake settles on the floor. The tiger crawls over and puts his head n Thomas' lap. Thomas strokes his ears. "Money. And I donate a lot of it to protect cats like the big guy here. And the show is improving. They're taking my suggestions. Now the Ivy League... they had three actresses fighting for the role of Ivy We couldn't decide so we figured keep all three. They have to eat too. I feel you are unduly insulting of the show. The tiger is named Rasputin by the way. He has a cut gum but is improving." The tiger begins to purr. The room shakes a little.

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela arches an eyebrow and tilts her head, "Oh, really? Unduly insulting? So when they decided to hire all three actresses, did they split the costume between them? Because it SURE AS HELL LOOKED LIKE IT!!"

She glowers and huffs, "And it's nice to meet you, Rasputin. I'm sure if you could talk you'd totally be on my side."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake scoffs. "Oh puhleeze! That outfit you were wearing when Bats brought you, in the night we met? Not enough material to keep a kitten warm. However, in the interests of artistic integrity we'll dress the girls up some more. They keep getting the sniffles anyway." Rasputin picks his head up hearing his name and yawns in a lethal manner before dropping his head again.

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela rolls her eyes and snorts out, "Hey, me choosing to wear revealing outfits is _worlds_ different than some TV show deciding to tart out the characters based on me for a ratings pop! There's _agency_ involved, and not like, a talent agency. In fact, maybe I should get an agent! I mean, unless of course my check got lost in the mail? I sure haven't seen any sort of royalties in the mail! Or is this one of those 'Well, we changed enough to avoid royalties' deals?"

Pamela shakes her head and rolls her eyes, "And really, of all the people I would've pegged to sell out to some corporation you would've been low on the list. I mean, you're no Cobblepot."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Rasputin gets his head lifted and plopped back on the carpet. He regards the proceeding, limp, relaxed and totally down to fight in a heartbeat. Ginger confronts ginger as Thomas confronts Ivy.

"Take that back. I'm not a sell out. I'm trying to keep us from looking like jokes. I'm trying to make this show a quality production. I put up my own money. I got Simon Trent on board as the police commissioner. Cobblepot. Pfft. You know how to push my buttons, Pammy. the episode they released was before I came onboard. the next few will show improvement. Maybe... you want to have lunch with the actresses and show them how to play a Poison Ivy? There'd probably be decent money in it."

"And on the topic of corporate sell out... I'm trying to take down AlcheMax at the moment. Justice League won't do shit. They make LexCorp look like the Vienna Boys' Choir. The menu in the executive dining room includes Siberian tiger steaks, I'm sure. Anti-mutant, anti-environment. You gotta defoliate ten acres to get promoted out of the mail room."

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela lifts her eyebrows slightly and hums, "Wait... do I get a consulting credit? I mean, that _would_ probably keep the parole board off my back, showing constructive growth in society and whatnot..." She frowns and chews her lower lip for a long moment. "...Fine! Fine! I'll do it! I'll show them how to be an _awesome_ me!"

Shoulders lift and fall, "I mean, LexCorp's not really any worse than any corporation unless you're an alien in Metropolis, right?" But then Alchemax registers and for a brief moment, Pamela's gone and Poison Ivy is there, face twisted with nearly uncontrolled rage. "Well, that I might be able to help with... I'll have to think on it. Things are good right now, I haven't had a bat-shaped object flung at my head in weeks. It's kind of nice. But... yeah, Alchemax are diiiiiiiicks."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake slips his arm around Ivy's shoulders and smiles. It is the confidence of a man who handed his dessert over to her with no strings attached (he hated pudding.) "Come downstairs to my office. I'll show you the crap I have on those bastards. The beauty of this set up is... if they call on the Justice League for help, the Bat will start nosing around. No one wants that. If they call the Avengers, well there's Mutants work wit the Avengers. they have no one to call on. Other companies hate them. I have learned two ways to cut down on a 'rang to the head... 1) Move OUT of Gotham and 2) Prey on people worse than us. Now, you want an omelette?"

Pamela Isley has posed:
Pamela's eyebrows shoot up as that arm goes around her shoulders, "You realize there are easier ways to tempt death than putting an arm around me, right Thomas? I mean, there's wide variety of skydiving services." She rolls her eyes and snorts out, "Oh, please, even if Batman snoops around and finds out they've been testing nerve gas on bunnies, they'll get a stern fingerwag and some fines. And the Avengers won't do anything worse than that. They're a massive corporation, they're too important to face actual consequences for their actions. Prices at the grocery store could go up five percent, and we can't be having that just because some corporation is grinding nature and the less advantageous portions of society beneath its bootheel."

What? She's not jaded just because she's usually some shade of green. It's unrelated.

Still her shoulders lift and fall, "Well, I wouldn't turn one down."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake smiles. "Easier? Sure. More delightful? Only one I can think of... that's putting you pretty high up Pamela. Anyway... this is a platonic gesture... the other kind starts lower down. Besides, you kill me you make your own lunch... and probably Rasputin's. But... I respect private space. I test it, but I respect it. I think you will find my cooking better than at the hospital. So let's be civil. I want to show you a script I killed... there's a meeting of the United Underworld that degenerates into a pie fight. The Jokester uses these drugged pies... I hung the writer up by his toes for that." Figure of speech? You decide. However he does take his hand off his friend's shoulder. He /was/ thinking lower.