It's… Empty. She hasn't lived here in over a year, I haven't lived here for nearly as long. I was appearing wherever she was stationed to sleep when she was on a low-intensity mission, but I stopped doing that when the broadcast happened so that I could be on call immediately when some new disaster happened. I suppose I could start again now… But with Batman doing whatever he's doing with the Global Peace Agency, I don't…
Still, it essentially costs nothing to maintain, and having a place to put someone up that isn't in the middle of a desert is always useful.
I consider Selina.
Hm.
I take a plate of shortbread out of subspace and offer them to her with a smile.
And before anyone asks, he means
biscuits. Not baked goods.
Her suspicion visible increases.
"I didn't spike the shortbread. I realised that I pushed you in a way that was unproductive, so I want to patch things up."
Ah, ever mindful of team morale, eh?
"But not apologise."
I shrug. "I see what I see. I believe that I'm correct, but I should have approached it better, particularly when you reacted negatively."
Yeah, sometimes, OL, your full-frontal assault approach to problem-solving isn't the best one.
I put the plate of shortbread down on the sideboard next to her.
"How is Karon actually doing?"
Since I assume Selina has more regular contact with her than OL does,
"Haven't you asked her?"
"Of course I've asked her. And when I do, she comes up with immediate practical issues and I've helped her deal with them. What she's never voluntarily mentioned is how she feels about her 'Mistress' phase."
That, folks, is called 'deflection'. Productive, but unhealthy.
"Have you tried telling her that you're an empath?"
"Would you like me to bend over and hand you a paddle?"
I mean, she probably
does feel like giving you a beating occasionally.
She looks away for a moment, smiling wistfully. "I used to charge three hundred dollars an hour for that."
"Really? Gosh."
I would
assume that's high-class stuff.
Her eyes are back on me. "And what does that mean?"
I shrug. "I've never used a prostitute or been involved in vice policing. I don't really know what it costs to hire someone, but that sounds like a lot. Which means that if I've got my timelines right, you must have reached the top of your field fairly quickly."
I'm guessing it's a comparatively
short time.
"Or I convinced people that I had."
"Isn't that what being a dominatrix is all about anyway?"
A good one, anyway. There's a degree of care involved in it, after all.
"True, but you have to judge what the client can afford. I didn't have the luxury of going without work to satiate my ego."
"Um. Going..? Is this a good point to go back to our prior discussion about what you want in a romantic partner? Because if what you're after is 'bad boy on the streets, naughty boy in the sheets', then it-"
The lady has very particular tastes. Nothing wrong with that.
She chuckles, dipping her head slightly.
"-clarifies things for me, but it cuts down the range of possible candidates a good deal. Like… A lot."
At least on the side of the angels. Then again, I wouldn't go anywhere near some of the Gotham rogues with a ten-foot-pole.
"You're not letting go of this, are you?"
"I want you to be happy."
Problem is, OL...
"I am happy." I open my mouth slightly and raise my eyebrows. "Yes, I haven't forgotten that you're an empath. I think what's tripping you up is our very different standards for 'being happy'."
"Alright then. I want you to be happier. Because you have been happier, and we both know a route to that level of happiness."
...And sometimes, people
want to be grumpy. Sometimes for longer than is healthy.
"And route that has you and your girlfriend living at opposite ends of the galaxy."
"That was my fault."
"I suspected as much." She nods. "You seem to have a knack for insulting people."
Actually, it's something else entirely. Not that he
doesn't have a talent for
upsetting people.
"No, a-. The first time we met, I grabbed her with a tentacle construct and said 'stop moving, I've seen this film and it doesn't end well for the Asian woman'. At-"
Her eyes boggle, and she snorts with laughter.
I'm impressed she recognises the concept, but given the likelihood of some of her clients having those tastes...
"-the time she was too distracted to hear it, but when I visited later to apologise for saying something that inappropriate she actually found it funny. Not the.. comment itself so much as the juxtaposition between the crudeness of the comment being delivered by someone as clean cut as myself speaking with a received pronunciation English accent." I find myself smiling. "I think it was that which convinced her to tolerate me visiting her; I'd be an entertaining distraction if nothing else."
And making her laugh was a good first step.
"So why is she on the other side of the galaxy?"
"She wanted to establish her independence. When one party in a relationship is rich… Approaching the dreams of avarice… And has superpowers…" Selina nods. "I could probably have talked her into staying, but I could see that would be setting myself-. Setting us up for trouble in the long run. Unless I could make us more… Equal. I offered to train her to use an orange power ring, but her first try… Didn't go well. Or rather, it went well for the people of Vietnam, but she found it unsettling. She didn't like the loss of control. So, I knew that the Darkstars were on the lookout for people with her skill set, I knew it would satisfy her desires… So I suggested it. We're spending a lot more time apart than I'd like, but she's satisfied in a professional way that she wouldn't have been on Earth."
I bet the people of that region have never been healthier in recent memory, certainly.
"Did you tell her that?"
"Yes, of course. And after everyone started making 'if she's moved to the other end of the galaxy then she's probably dumped you' jibes then I made it clear to her that I didn't like being apart as much as we were, but that I wasn't going to try and insist on changing things."
Certainly, having someone like OL as a partner is nice, once you get used to dealign with his quirks...
"Because that would violate her trust."
"Yes."
"Huh. I hate to say it… I mean, I really hate to say it, but I think that's the best thing you could do."
Certainly, given how he focuses on things so
intently, having him
around more might well have messed up any relationship otherwise.
"I was visiting regularly, then someone Anti-Lifed the Earth. So… About Batman-."
"So close. No, you need to let me process what you just said about your relationship before we go back to talking about mine."
You do know that your former relationship with batman isn't the
only bit of business he's dealing with, remember?
"No, I mean, you know him better than me. What do you think about the Global Peace Agency?"
"That he finally hired more help than Alfred? That if he'd done that years ago we might have had more time together?"
Heh. Of course she'd look at it that way.
"You don't have any concerns?"
"No. Do you?"
"I'd have concerns about anyone getting as much power as he's got. But just about everyone I've asked doesn't really see the problem so I'm wondering if-."
At some point, OL, you do have to wonder...
"It's-" She nods. "-just you."
I sigh. "That's the conclusion I'm coming to, yes. So, what's been happening in Gotham lately?"
Still, letting it go completely might result in him being blindsided when things go mammaries-skyward.
