multiversallogs | a million points of light ascending to the sky

Who: Bruce Wayne and Hasibe Ozcelik.
What: Bruce (not Tom - not yet) seeks out a friend, and hopes she remembers him.
Where: Hasi's apartment.
When: A few days after Bruce's arrival (~today).
Notes: Surprise, they have nexus history.
Warnings: ~~TBA?~~ References to BDSM.. immediately, welcome to these two.

It's not until Bruce is actually standing just outside the apartment door, hand poised to knock, that he thinks, What am I going to do if she doesn't remember?

There's no despair in that thought; he'd be regretful, sure, and he'd miss their friendship, but the question he asks himself is not an emotional one. It's a strategic one. He's found her address, walked all the way over here, watched to make sure it was her, went about his business for a day, come all the way back - and now he's standing outside her apartment door, near knocking, under the assumption that either she'll remember or she won't and this will be comforting or it'll be, well, fine. He's not letting himself inspect the emotional motivation behind wanting her to remember, wanting her to be the Hasi he knows. He hasn't seen her in a while, not since she was standing in on fundraisers with him, and he's pretty sure he owes her at least one birthday favor. It doesn't really matter if she remembers or not, except that if she doesn't, he looks significantly more like a crazy person right now, and he's already got a bit of a penchant for that to begin with. He doesn't need the help. He's perfectly okay with life and the universe if she doesn't, if no one does.

But he's already given one coffee shop barista the name Tom, and he's not sure how he feels about it.

It doesn't matter. (Yes it does.)

Maybe he just wants to know, all right. It's intelligence.

He knocks, and then leans back on the hallway railing, looking somewhere in between a man who doesn't really care where he is, and a trapped animal.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That other side of him is fairly useful, anyway.

"Yes."

Of course he has - and this is better, easier, than catching up and making half-flirtatious small-talk; he can do that, and happily do that with her, but he's still on unstable ground here. Being able to rack to focus is good for him.

He doesn't say anything else, but his expression is attentive. Go on.

"The people who did it are called Candlelighters. Anti-Xenian terrorists." She takes a breath before continuing, and that breath turns into an excuse to down the last remaining portion of her wine. She meanders back toward the counter tops to set it down.

"Their motivations are something we aren't clear on yet--it's obvious they did it partly out of a disdain for vampires, but I think there's more to it than that. It's too sloppy for people who have been considered a secret society that probably doesn't even really exist--like the Illuminati at home--for such a long time."

She turns around to lean her back against the ledge of the counter, continuing on with an evenness. There's no military crispness to her tone; it's like she's telling a story, as a performer, only the story is true. "Because I can pass for human if no one looks too close, I can sell myself to them as a witch. I'm staking out a mark to get near to."

Hasibe smiles, faintly. "I've always been good at this kind of thing."

Levering her sexuality? Yeah.

"Maybe they aren't a secret."

Terrible societies bent on destruction are something he knows about - very, very personally, though Hasi won't know anything about the League of Shadows. (How irritatingly timely, considering a conversation he had shortly before being yanked here.) But there's a difference between something genuinely covert and something that's just trying to gain momentum without being interrupted, aiming for something even more explosive. Does it matter in this setting? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

"Do you know what you're looking for?"

"Many things--their organizational structure, their authenticity, their whys. Specifically, I want to know what the use of this incident was." It bothers her on the level where Hasibe is so empathetic everything hurts, literally hurts; when she has her powers she can feel the world dying breathing living being born around her all the time, and with them, bound, well--

She still feels death. When she killed Hyde she felt him inside her in a way he couldn't have been for all his physical attempts (which were not inconsiderable). His death burst inside her like a dam overflowing. It's that way whenever she sees or feels anything die, and it aches indescribably.

Textbook for 'power of suck', this one. Hasi pulls herself up to perch on the edge of the counter. "It's covering something. Find that out, and we get to the real meat of the situation, the important bit. Not to denigrate what people went through, or the losses suffered, but there's something even uglier here."

He inclines his head; of course there's something uglier. There always is. People are alive here and where there's people, there's corruption, and hate. It's not the majority - it's been barely any time but already he knows Baedal is no Gotham - but such is the way of things, anywhere.

"Don't overwhelm yourself with what you look at," he tells her quietly. Batman may not be made for stealth, his own private monster not at all anything like subterfuge, but Bruce knows something about this sort of work. Mostly, he knows how every operative's biggest enemy is their own emotional state. "See everything, but keep what you focus on close."

Smaller goals and discoveries build bridges to larger ones. At the end of the day, good old fashioned detective work is what turns over mysteries, whether you're using science or magic to get there. Closer to the counter, now, Bruce looks at her, eyes on hers. "Remember that you've already chosen a side."

He can't do what she can; not with magic, not with her spirit, and not with the skills that are purely her, regardless of what her particular atoms are built out of. His advice will always be out of step for people who can manipulate and use hearts and souls - colder, more military and precise. But he worries, because he remembers her after Hyde, too.

It's good advice. What makes Hasibe terribly dangerous is her sincerity--she's beautiful in a way that really does stop traffic, but beautiful women aren't unheard of. The fact that she genuinely cares about others is much more seductive--she strips herself of what's problematic and turns herself into their canvas, the mirror that reflects what people want to see. Not all the time, but there's a surprisingly thin line between espionage and prostitution, and she's very, very good at providing a meaningful service in either.

All the same. That depth of emotion can catch her up. Her lips curve up at the edges, a touch wry, and she inclines her head.

"I will. I know I have to be on guard without looking like I'm on guard."

There's a pause.

"All I have to do is make the enemy fall in love with me." It's quasi-flippant, but that's what she does do in these situations. Emotion is much more binding than sex. Anyone can seduce with hormones and skin--she does, too--but feelings scare most people...people who aren't mad in her particular way.

"That's the easy part." Quiet, edged with a little teasing (in his own way). With something that might be wryness, he reflects that most everyone wants to fall in love with someone like Hasi; everyone but him, apparently, who prefers the sort of edges that cut.

These two people are very alike, sometimes.

"It gets less difficult, even when you're in deep, if you remember you're not acting on behalf of yourself."

It's a little bit of a concerning thing to have in common, but Hasibe appreciates the similarity; Bruce, she can trust, comprehends that sometimes you have to put yourself in danger. He offers her solid advice, and she knows he worries, but they get that they both just people who were born to get bruised, one way or another.

"Mmm. It reminds me of my old work. There's a lot of similarity between escorting and espionage." She wrinkles her nose at the thought, a little bit playful. "I don't think I'd tell MI-5 and the CIA that, of course."

There are no decisions quite like bad decisions, and though Bruce and Hasibe would be so much safer for each other than the world of options, well. It's not as if either of them are ever going to go down the safe path.

Having friends - real ones - does a good job of balancing it, at least.

"I'm sure they do a fair bit of it." Faintly amused. A beat, then- "I can't even find it in me to be surprised you're already doing this."

a million points of light ascending to the sky

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