thecapitol | Open!

Entry tags:

Open!

Who| Helena Wayne and OPEN!
What| Helena dealing with undeath and meeting new people.
When| Post-Announcement
Where| District 4 Suites; Common Area; Training Centre
Warnings/Notes| None as yet?

[Prompt 1: District 4 Suites]

For the past few days, since returning back to life, Helena has holed herself inside of her room, fiddling with the communicator, studying a map of the city (because it was always good to be familiar with your surroundings) and listening to this whole destruction of District Three thing. She doesn’t have any emotional connection it, not yet. She’s still dealing with the fact that, somehow, she’s alive after having been killed.

I’m going to kill Loki. Possibly literally.

Still. It’s time for her to venture out. She can’t stay holed up forever. It’s not like her.

[Prompt 2: Commons]

Food. Food is good. Food is always good. Though what she’s craving is something hideously junky and laden with carbs and sugars and possibly everything that’s bad for her, she’s fought against the urge. If she’s going to stay in tip-top shape, if she’s going to win next time (and Helena really does hope that she’ll win), then she needs to stay healthy. Lean meats, lots of veggies, milk, and water. All the things a healthy, growing teenage girl needs.

And all I really want is a cheeseburger topped with bacon, chili, onion rings, and barbecue sauce.

But no. She can reward herself later. For now…well, for now, she’s going to try to be serious and healthy about this.

[Prompt 3: Training Centre]

She’s a fierce little fighter, but there’s not a lot of finesse there, as anyone watching would see. She’s a tough brawler - all street fighting fury but no martial artistic finesse. But she is working out her anger and her frustration, which is probably a good thing. She needs to be calm, cool, collected, and centered. She’s lost, but this place more than anywhere makes her feel comfortable at some sort of level. After all, this was what she’d done for hours at end back at home. Fighting, training, honing.

Between it all, though, she takes breaks. Rests. Watches everyone else, and scopes out the competition.

And maybe the possible allies? I don’t know. Can there be such a thing here?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

One of the best parts of Capitol life was by far, the food.

Sitting at a table across from Helena, Harley had a feast fit for a king...a king with a short life expectancy anyway.

Three full sized, fully loaded chili dogs, some curly fries, and some kind of monster ice cream milk shake with sparkling candy sprinkles and swirls of fudge.

She was tiring a bib around her neck with three black diamonds on display while licking her lips.

It's good to be Harley some days.

Holy god that milkshake.

Helena's staring at it for a long, long moment. She can't help it. Compared to the glass of nonfat milk she has...

Not that I'm worried about the milkshake going straight to my hips or anything. She'd never been one of those girls. She'd faked it well at Gotham Academy, but she'd never actually gone to the restroom to purge the way most of her classmates had. But that would give me a hell of a sugar crash. And she couldn't afford that, could she?

In spite of herself, her stomach may have rumbled against her in argument.

Harley caught sight of the girl admiring her milkshake. Deciding to have a little fun she took a spoonful and luxuriously, almost obscenely licked the cream and candy from the spoon in three long, slow strokes.

Then she winked playfully and slid out a seat patting it in invitation for Helena to join her.

Okay. Helena's eyes narrowed at that. Tease. And yet, something about the way she did that reminded Helena of Kara, and of going out for frozen yogurt with her. Kara'd stuff her bowl full of everything while Helena would get an original flavoured yogurt, topped with fresh fruit. Kara'd tease her consistently until Helena gave in and took a bite of Kara's obscenely sweet concoction.

Then she'd trade in her healthy snack for something a little bit more indulgent.

God, but she missed her best friend.

After a moment's hesitation, Helena stood up and walked over to Harley.

"That was evil, what you just did there," she said with a raised eyebrow, taking the offered seat.

That prompted a giggle and Harley rewarded the girl by sliding the sweets closer to her.

"Evil perhaps, but if I was shy about sin I wouldn't have a collection of mug shots back home." She laughed at her own joke "I probably wouldn't have won my way out of the arena either for that matter."

As casual as if they were longtime friends Harkey tucked into her first chili dog surprisingly neat despite the messy nature of the meal.

Helena looked at the milkshake. It wasn't as though she couldn't have gotten one on her own - certainly, she'd had the option - but it was a really friendly move on Harley's part. Helena appreciated that, considering everything that had gone on.

But then she'd said that part about the mugshots.

Calm down there, Wayne. Even your mom had mugshots of her own.

Helena took in a shaky breath. Right, wrong, criminal, hero. None of that mattered here. Somewhere in her heart of hearts, she knew that. This world was not as black and white as the world that her father had seen. And if anyone had taught her about the gray area between the both, it had been her mother.

Still, she studied Harley closely, wondering what crimes she had committed. She seemed awfully perky.

"So you're a..." what was the right word, here? "Champion? Victor?"

"Yes and yes, also a mentor, idol, and general nuisance." She joked cheerfully. "We had a special mini arena where there could be multiple victors and the fans nominated me to take a run at it. I was a lucky one out of four." She explained.

Finishing her first chili dog in two huge bites she dabbed at her lips with a napkin and swallowed. "Harley Quinn, District Nine, nice to meetcha!"

Fans. I'm going to need to find a way to win some of those over. But that was going to be easy, right? Back home, all of the wonders had fans of their own. Helena was sure that she would have as well, had Robin really gotten the chance to go public.

"Helena," she introduced herself. Then, using her full name, "Helena Wayne. District Four. I take it that you only mentor your own district?" Still, the milkshake went untouched.

"Wayne?" She echoed and stopped mid bite into her second Chili dog. After that hesitation she chomped into it and answered again after swallowing. There was no way it could be ANOTHER Wayne here could it? Not after the last four?

"Technically yes, but actually I mentor whoever I want! It's more fun that way. Besides we have three living mentors on my district. They don't need me all the time."

"I'm afraid I dunno much about District four...that probably means they're boring. Sorry."

"Wayne," she confirmed. "As in...oh, right." Not like it mattered if her family was one of the ones to help found Gotham City, right? She was further from Gotham than even Kara had been from Krypton. "Wow. So you District Niners are the ones to beat, then?" Helena joked. "All I know is that Four's trade is fishing. And some other stuff." It was considered a wealthy district, which put Helena at ease, somewhat. After all, she'd been raised in wealth.

She'd also been sorely tempted to pull her hair into a fishtail braid to honour her new district, but that seemed as though it would have been taking the idea too far. This from the girl whose parents dressed up as giant nocturnal mammals.

"So, you've probably been here for...awhile?"

Ok, now that wax a little spooky. Harley focused her eyes on the girl like she was trying to read words written there. The sharp eye'd jester was actually trying to see a family resemblance with Bruce...not that it mattered. He adopted kids all the time.

There was something familiar there though...hauntingly so.

"Over a year." She sighed leaning back in her seat and using a fry to scoop up some chili. "Four arenas, one mini arena and I was out." She explained. Then she smiled.

"That ice creams gonna melt, you gonna keep it clean or do I need to hurry up and eat some more?"

Her father had always said that she looked like her mother.

But her eyes - those brilliant blueberry eyes - those were all Bruce.

Helena twitched a little as Harley stared at her and stared back, quirking up an eyebrow as she did so. She pushed the milkshake towards her. "Go for it," she said before adding, "You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Is everything okay?"

Harley blinked and her cheeks went pink as those eyes burned right through her memory.

Scooping up a bite of ice cream she swallowed hard and enjoyed the candy crackling on her tongue.

"Sorry, you're no ghost yet." But her family might be. "Riddle me this Helena Wayne, how's Gotham look in' last time you were in town?"

Helena paled very, very visibly.

Did she just...

Did she...

Did...

What?

Helena shot up from her seat, her jaw hanging open, her cheeks burning, and her eyes wide open with shock.

"How did...who...I don't..." Yes, she was at a loss for words, thank you for noticing.

"Gotham?" she finally managed to squeak out.

The reaction alone was enough to wash away Harley's grim feeling for a moment and set her into fits of giggles.

"I'm a Gotham Girl myself, born and bred. Graduated with honors from Gotham U, then graduated dishonorably from Arkham Asylum." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully and popped another chili soaked curly fri into her mouth.

Helena continued staring at Harley for a long, long moment.

Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn.

And she mentioned Arkham Asylum.

Slowly, Helena lowered herself back into the seat. "Gotham Academy," she said. "I'm not college-aged yet." She reached up, pulled the elastic off of her hair, and shook it loose before pulling it back up into a ponytail again.

"So. Who are you? The Joker's daughter?"

Harley snorted and munched on some more fries before answering.

"Like that bum would ever have a daughter. I was Mr. J..." She caught herself visibly and corrected herself.

"I was Joker's second in command, and on again off again on again off again on again off again girlfriend. But that was awhile ago."

Turning the conversation back around "So in my time, Brucie only had three kids. All boys. You must be the lucky little sister?"

By now, Helena had been shocked into eating a few fries. "Three boys? No. There was only me. One daughter. No other kids." Alternate universes? There had been theories...and the fact that Helena was here proved that other universes definitively existed. But three boys? "You...you know who my dad is." Because Harley totally just namedropped him, right? "My mom is - was - Catwoman. Selina Wayne. Kyle. Wayne." And because she absolutely had to know... "Was that the case with...no, you know. I don't want to know."

She popped another fry in her mouth. "Wait. You were the Joker's moll. I'm Batman's daughter. This...we don't fight now, do we?"

Now it was Harley's turn to be shocked, the first shock came from the revelation of her mother.

"KITTY?! No freakin' way! Her and Brucie?!" She shoveled some more ice cream into her mouth to balance out the surprise...

...and then she dropped the big bomb.

So shocked was Harley that she choked on her ice cream and flailed, eyes watering as the sticky goop fought it's way out of her lungs.

Wheezing and doubled over when all was said and done her voice came out a strangled croak.

"Bruce Wayne was Batman?!"

Had it been possible for Helena to go even paler than she was, she would have. Instead, she turned mildly green. "Oh god. Oh god. I just assumed that...I mean. You know. I just assumed that secret identities weren't...oh god." Helena slammed her head down on the table. "This place is screwing with my mind, and after years - years - of keeping this secret, I let it slip to the Joker's girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Whatever." Helena lifted her head up again and looked at Harley. "Nothing against you. But, you know. Secret identities and arch-enemies and...oh god." She shook her head violently. "I think I need a drink." Or a good, healthy dose of common sense. "I'm...I thought you might have...known."

First, she'd let herself get killed.

Now this.

Yep. Helena was batting negative-one-hundred.

Harley wiped the tears from her eyes and predictably started laughing.

"Oh gosh, I just...after all these years! I shoulda known when he...ah haha HA! I've gone on a date with Batman!" She continued to laugh till she was slumped over the table with one chili dog and half her fries laying forgotten nearby.

The waiter, apparently sensed Helena's need because he arrived to see if they needed anything. Harley was still recovering and did not respond.

Helena didn't know whether to life or cry. She honestly didn't. On the one hand, she'd been so glad to find someone who was kind of familiar with Gotham City - even though she was starting to wonder if they were different Gothams because Helena couldn't for the life of her remember a Harley Quinn from her own world - but on the other...

My god. I'm the first, last, and worst Robin ever in the short history of Robins. No wonder Dad had his doubts.

She looked at the waiter, still pale, and seeming slightly nauseated. "Ginger ale, please?" she asked. "And also maybe a plate of Irish nachos. Because I need the carbs. And the cheese."

She turned back to Harley, then. "Are...you didn't just take a hit of Joker venom or something, did you?" Because she was way too amused.

Though Helena guessed that she couldn't really blame her.

I mean, with the revelation that...wait. Wait!

"You dated my father?!"

It seemed Harley was finally calming down as she dabbed tears from her eyes with her bib.

"Oh sure! Then a midget that was even more obsessed with Mister J then I was tried to kill us. Your dad shot his blimp down though, really macho you know?" She grinned lecherously and wiggled her eyebrows.

"..." Helena blinked. "Yeah, that's my dad. Super...macho." She was really at a loss for words here. Helena gratefully accepted her food and drink from the waiter, and took a long, long swig of the ginger ale. "Alright. So...level with me, Harley. What does this mean. I mean, you know the family secret and I...well. I'm assuming who you were wasn't exactly all that secretive."

Harley snickered.

"Nah, I'm sure everyone knows I was a criminal by now, but keep it down about your big secret unless you want the hidden cameras to broadcast it out all over huh?"

The last part she said with a smile but a rare serious tone in her voice.

"The Riddler was in the arena last I checked and if he ain't figured it out yet he'd be awfully steamed if a tabloid figured out the secret first."

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