with_my_teacup | Private to Selina

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oh fuck he's a warden

Private to Selina

Selina. Guess we're talking business today.

Got your file this morning-- we should probably get introduced a little more formally.

Hit my room around midnight? Cabin twelve deck one.

[Spam for Selina]

[Riddick's room is a little better lit than usual-- more low-power bulbs turned on. Not too many more, it's still just a step above twilight, but it's a sign of welcome.

He considers his weapons, and leaves them on the rock walls, just double-checks the gravity traps that keep idle hands from walking out with one.

Then he makes tea.]

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[She shows up in regular street clothes, because it's Riddick and she likes him well enough that she doesn't feel the need to test him.

But he's wise to make sure the weapons are secure.

And she scratches the door, instead of knocking, so hopefully he has sharp hearing.]

[He does have sharp hearing, actually. He palms open the door-- the metal slab slides to one side instead of swinging open.

Inside, the walls are crudely carved out stone with animal hides hanging up and padding the floor-- something like a mammoth, something a little more hominid, some of the deer he's taken down in the CES. ]

If I let you in do I have to feed you?

[Teasing.]

[The hominid gets an eyebrow raise, but then she looks at him and smirks.]

Well that depends, do you want to keep me, Warden?

Can you keep a feline, though? They tend to be pretty independent.

[He beckons her in.]

Tea, before we get into the details? It's mint.

[Bonus points, Riddick, because she laughs and trails her fingers along his chest as she walks past. He might have to get used to that.]

Bruce always asks the same thing.

And mint would be perfect... [it's in the catnip family]

[He makes a little shocked face, a moue of sullied innocence as she touches him.]

Miss Kyle, you know you're my first inmate-- you gotta be gentle.

[But then he smirks in acknowledgement, one eyebrow bobbing up to serve him for a wink while his eyes are covered. He goes to pour out tea into two metal mugs, simple and not elegant, but made of good alloys that don't leave an aftertaste. He passes Selina one casually, without challenge in his body language.]

I need to ask you-- what's your endgame right now? For being on the barge. Do you want out ASAP, or are you happy killing time here?

[Expertly handled, Riddick. She laughs, and settles, and...well then her expression falters a little.]

I want to get out, but it's going to happen when it happens. When I've got the all clear from the Admiral, I'm going to Gotham. Not mine--the one Bruce here was from.

[He takes a seat on a hide-draped wood-frame chair, gestures for her to do the same.]

Yeah? What are you going to do there?

[He is approaching a point, he just wants to know some things first.]

Hard to say. Live in a palace with my batty prince? I'll have a dozen cats, and I'll drink tea with Alfred.

...I've been thinking maybe- [pause, self-conscious] maybe I'll follow his lead a bit. But I'll stick up for the women of Gotham. God knows they need it, when he's so busy with the big name psychopaths of the city.

[He makes a little acknowledging noise.]

Doesn't sound like a bad life, if it's gonna be enough for you.

I read your file. Nothing in there I couldn't understand or respect-- you're a survivor, linked in to your animal side. But you don't always agree with it... seems like you've got too many 'maybes,' don't know what direction to aim yourself.

But in the end, graduation ain't about what I think. It's you and the admiral. I'm just your--

[he waves a hand] -your sage, your holy guide handing down dubious advice and privileges. I'm not here to fix you, because I don't think you're broken. Just need to rethink some things.

[It's almost unnerving how well he's caught on to things, things Selina has carefully ignored ever since Bruce's graduation. The flirty facade has vanished to something a little more naked and earnest; she hardly blinks as she stares at him.]

What if I don't know what direction to take?

Then we got a lot of time.

I didn't know either. Where an animal like me fit into the universe. Didn't know what I wanted even if I could have anything. But you'll figure it out.

Now maybe this is where I lay down rules. Not easy for me, I tend to break them myself. So... I'll keep it brief.

Don't get into fights with the other inmates. Rough play in sparring is fine, as long as everyone's having fun. But no long grudges, no bodies in stairwells, no ending up a body in a stairwell. Come to me when there's a real issue. I know it doesn't sit right to be a snitch, but it has to be done.

No aiding or abetting any jailbreakers-- do as I say, not as I do on that one. They won't deliver what they promise, and that's the voice of experience.

Don't aid and abet the psychopaths, either. Try to keep petty crime to a minimum in general.

That's what I'm asking of you.

Now. What do you want from your warden?

I'm done with psychopaths. There's only room for one in my life, and that's me. [She smiles, all tooth.]

Look, I can't promise anything, I take things one step at a time. I see another inmate--or a warden--bullying some poor girl, I'll break their legs. And I can hold a grudge a long time if I don't get justice.

So that's what I want from you. You get how things are for an inmate, for lone animals like us...I want you to understand I don't tolerate bullies, and that I'm counting on you to make sure I get justice if someone wrongs me. Otherwise, I have to do it myself, and I don't play fair when I'm mad.

Barge can't be a pure anarchy, though. [He lounges back.] Sets a precedent where the strong run over the weak, and that bullshit I don't want any of. It helps us function and at least pretend to be civilized if there's a little more... standard punishments.

[He lifts a shoulder, because he does understand, and 'civilization' doesn't come easy from him. He was the same.]

If that kind of shit happens, let me try to lean on their warden first? I don't wanna have to put you in zero when there was a better way.

Isn't that how the real world works? The rich get richer, the poor pile into the meat grinders....

[But she can see quite clearly he understands that, probably more intimately than even she does, and she nods. Okay. Fine. She's listening.]

You know I don't like it. But if it means I don't go to Zero for someone else's fuck up...okay.

Pretty much. The barge, it's a cute little microcosm, we have more of a chance to keep things equal without getting bloody. I'm not actually against bloody.

[He laughs, low and rumbling, giving her that look of real empathy--oh, he understands the urge.]

Just.. you gotta be a little discriminatory about when it's actually necessary, when there's a better way that's gonna be more effective in the long run. I'll try to always listen to what you've got to say, make sure that if there's a low-level problem it gets stepped on. Between us, you can make me look like an a+ prison warden and I can keep you outta trouble while you sort through shit at your own speed. Business partners-?

This may shock you but subtle is hard for me. [There's a coy smile teasing at her lips. It's rare she makes fun of herself.]

But I think I can manage as long as you have my back. [She holds out her hand] Partners.

[He takes her hand and squeezes, but not as if to crush. He's always been better at seeing eye to eye with women, for whatever old hidden instinct. He nods agreement to her, the start of a partnership.]

I know you're more a city type, but I'd like to take you out into the CES in a couple weeks, see how your feline side manifests. Up for it?

[That one really is mostly for his better understanding-- he's willing to drop it if she's uncomfortable.]

[Selina typically views men as tools, scratching posts even. But Riddick has the same restrained savagery that she and Bruce Wayne do, and it's magnetic...and soothing.]

Of course. I haven't had a chance to stretch my legs in weeks.

[He releases her hand and leans back, taking up his own tea and sipping. He considers the timeline-- not today, everyone's nerves still jangling from Port. Soon.]

We usually get a day or two of normal after a flood or a breach. If neither of us are death tolling at the time, want to call it an appointment?

You're top of my day planner. What can I expect in there?

[Selina would have rushed into the CES if he'd said they were going, but it's wise that they aren't. It's been rough. She takes a cue from him, and sips her tea--

well. Actually she laps at it with her tongue.]

[The effect is surprising-- makes him wonder how much is artifice and presentation, how much is the real animal in her. He almost smiles.]

If it's feeling nice, a woodland, or rocks. Someplace we can play 'tag' in all three dimensions.

How's your night vision.

[If asked, even she wouldn't be able to say for sure. But that's part of why she's here: she no longer knows who or what she is.]

It's perfect. I could beat an owl in the dark.

[At that, he does grin.]

Then you and me are gonna have some fun. It's gonna be a novel thing to have someone who can keep up in the dark.

[And she returns it, leaning forward.]

You should tell me about yourself, Warden. How is it you can see so well in the dark? You know all my secrets now...it's only fair.

Like all my good stories, this one starts in prison. [He stands, setting his tea carefully aside, and goes to dim the lights a little more so he can pull his goggles off.]

Specifically, a double-max they called Slam City. A floating penitentiary station in the ass end of space. I've never really liked being incarcerated, so the first thing I did was break out of my restraints and jack my bounty off the greedy little merc who brought me in. Took his cigarettes, too.

But it's space. Where do you go in space? I bolted for the dark parts of the station, abandoned maintenance tunnels...didn't realize there was someone already there. A gang of cons and psychos with shined-up eyes. They took my cash, left me for dead. Nearly did die.

I don't know why the surgeon saved me down there, pulled me out of the dark. He was nobody-- a veterinarian, I think, in there for debt or something.

I gave him the merc's cigarette as a down payment. He gave me these. [Riddick gestures at his eyes, smiles.]

Went and got my cash back. Paid him. Never seen things quite the same since.

[When she sees them she's quite positive that he has her beat for night vision. She stands, moves closer, fascinated.]

What does it look like with these? Is it like daylight?

[He shakes his head, watching her approach.]

Nah. It's not like seeing before. Whatever he put under my corneas, it doesn't just focus the light, it... Bends it, makes more of it visible. A little UV, a little infra-red-- can see heat like a shadow. But my color vision is shot to shit. I usually don't miss it, considering.

I'd trade up, too, if that's the package deal.

[Selina, being mostly dead, doesn't have much heat; she'd have more of a heat signature in her Catwoman costume, but in regular clothes she's lukewarm at best.]

When does UV come in handy?

Not often. It's just... interesting. To see what puts off light I couldn't've seen before. To see what reflects it-- strange patterns where there weren't any. [Another headshake] Had to get used to seeing like this. Worth it.

I've always been a little jealous of all those animals that see colors humans can't. I know there's a trade-off...but it could be so useful. Especially if you get into jewel heists [that last part might be a joke]

[He makes a show of considering this] I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to discourage crime. Then again.... eh.

Crime is such a sticky area. So many crimes are justified, how can you think of prosecuting?

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