NotValentine's Day, or, Let's Have Some Fun!

[gotham_knocking]

Alex and Rapunzel left the Bar for Gotham on April 13, 1990. A Friday. For most of that Friday and good chunks of Saturday, they dove into the neglected mess that was Alex’ one-bedroom apartment in West Gotham Heights. To her credit, Rapunzel never once commented about the layers of debris, the empty pizza boxes and beer cans that have been a hallmark of bachelor living since time immemorial, or even the girlie magazines that would pop up every so often. To his credit, Alex helped as much as he could, let Rapunzel use her superior skills at organizing, and acted rather abashed at the state he let his place fall into. Though truth be told, he never minded it at all

When they weren’t cleaning, Alex would take Rapunzel for walks, showing her the working class neighborhood he called home. First stop was Barney’s, the men’s store of choice for men with money, where one finely tailored Armani suit was to be found. (They ran into a couple of Alex’s high school classmates, who couldn’t take their eyes off Rapunzel.) They stopped at a cheesy souvenir shop and got Makita a Gotham City Police t-shirt and Wayne Tower snowglobe. They got dinner from a Chinese takeout, lunch from McDonald’s – which she assured him was on her world as well – and videos from a local chain. (He offered to watch the Mets game with her Friday night but she politely and firmly passed on it.) And of course, they caught a moment or two of affection her and there.

Oh, and she also borrowed four Hawaiian shirts.

It had been years since anyone stayed in Knox’s cramped place. It was cozy and not unpleasant at all to have her around, but he looked forward to the move, and to having a place where there was room for guests. He promised himself he’d keep the new place clean, but knew deep down that unless Rapunzel made regular visits and insisted on him keeping it clean, he’d fall back on old habits.

Saturday arrived. Valentine’s Day at the Bar, just another windy April day in Gotham. But a day that would lead to the Top of the Nines, and to seeing just how old Gadfly would react to the Countess. As night fell, the cleaning ended, and Knox and Rapunzel showered and put on their best finery…

“How do I look?” he asks as he puts on his Armani suit jacket and then his gold watch.

Comments

[longlonghair]

Rapunzel hides her smile of glee. This has to be one of the jerks that needs to be taken down a peg. She already doesn't like him, by his condescending tone.

"Allie, you never told me that the sommelier here knows you by name. Thought I'm not sure I approve of such a familiarity from the staff."

Her tone at the last is a bit dubious as she eyes the newcomer with mild interest mixed with disdain.

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

It takes supreme effort for Alex not to laugh. (He knows the word sommelier, but only because he reads the food section of the newspaper.) "Countess, this is an old associate of mine, from the Globe. Jackson Gaddis. AKA Gadfly." He holds hand out to Gaddis. "I must say, it's been a while. Looks like we are both doing well." He resists the urge to say something about that pretentious ponytail.

"I suppose it has. I never thought I'd see you here. But please, no one calls me Gadfly any more and I prefer it that way." Gaddis studies the Countess for a second. "Good evening...Countess?" He looks very dubious. Knox must be with an escort (though how he could afford any of this is beyond him).

[longlonghair]

"They used to call you Gadfly? How...quaint."

And her tone is clear that by 'quaint' she means 'stupid.'

"My apologies for mistaking you for a staff member...it must be your suit. Countess Rapunzel Overbrook. Charmed, I'm sure."

She hold up a hand expectantly, waiting for the proper greeting due a Countess.

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

Gaddis gives her a handshake, nothing more. That remark about his $500 suit was unkind. "Countess...we don't see many countesses in Gotham. Any, in fact. And not with Knox. It's...different." Which is to say, he's not buying it.

"Give, Knox. I heard you just quit your job. How can you afford this place? I just signed a new deal with Random House, and I have trouble with the place."

(The elevator opens. A new couple is entering.)

[longlonghair]

"It is different. In England, people have manners."

She pointedly wipes her hand with the napkin in her lap.

"Allie doesn't need to be able to afford anything when he's with me. It's my pleasure to have him as my companion. Not that he - or I owe you any explanation."

She turns to Alex with a raised eyebrow, dismissing Gaddis simply by excluding him.

"Really, Allie, are all of your associates to gauche? As if it matters to us what his financial troubles are."

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

"well, my lady, Gadfly used to be a muckraker," Alex says as if Gaddis isn't there. "In his day, he made everyone's financial troubles his business. He really did get to the bottom of some major scandals. Despite his winning personality."

Gaddis seethes. "Companion? You don't mean...him? Alexander Knox?"

(Across the room, the new arrivals head closer, and a pretty blonde looks over and spots Alex and his friend, and she points them out to the handsome dark-haired man.)

[longlonghair]

"I see."

She looks at Gaddis as if he were a specimen found on the sole of her shoe.

"I'm sorry, did I stop speaking English? It's clear to me that you don't really know Allie at all. Exactly what is it that you interrupted us for?"

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

Gaddis is ready to offer a stunning and devastating series of comebacks, inpugning both Alex and this fake countess, when...

"Alex!" Vicki Vale has arrived at the table, with Gotham's richest man in tow. "Sorry we're late, but Bruce was busy with some work tonight." Bruce Wayne, wearing a hand-tailored suit from Saville Row that costs more than everything Alex, Rapunzel, Gaddis and Vicki are wearing combined, just nods.

"Vicki, it's great to see you! You look amazing. She keeping you busy, Bruce." Alex extends his hand.

"She tries," Bruce says as Gaddis just stares.

"Vicki Vale, Bruce Wayne, this is Countess Rapunzel Overbrook."

[longlonghair]

Rapunzel gets to her feet, completely ignoring Gaddis, and smiles winningly at the newly arrived couple.

"Mr. Wayne, Ms. Vale. What a pleasure it is to meet you, at last. I've heard such wonderful things about you both from Allie."

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

"And you, Countess," Vicki says in return, even though Alex hasn't told her much. "Oh, and I see you've meet Jack Gaddis." Who she dismisses fast.

"Wait. You know about this...this woman?" Gaddis sputters.

"Of course. The Countess Overbrook. Alex...Allie met her some time ago, when she arrived from England. I thought everyone knew about her." Vicki is being unusually catty.

The men just watch as Gaddis twitches. Bruce seems bored, though.

"But she...she would have him?"

"I'd be careful, Gadfly," Alex says in a low voice. "She can afford to buy and sell a lot of men. And a few publishing houses."

[longlonghair]

"Oh, is he still here?"

Her voice bored.

"It seems that he felt it necessary to interrupt us in that middle of a conversation for the sole purpose of casting aspersions on Allie, and then myself. I can't imagine why he's being allowed to wander about on his own like this. He clearly needs a keeper."

She turns to Bruce Wayne, whom she has heard a lot about in the past twenty four hours. It seems impossible to come to Gotham and not hear the name Wayne--It's on the news, in the paper and even the architecture.

"Ive been very impressed with the parts of the city I've seen. I understand that Gotham Tower was built by your grandfather?"

She deliberately turns her back to Gaddis, and lays a hand on Alex's arm.

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

Gaddis keeps on glaring. "I expect this from Knox, but from anyone else? Especially you, Vicki. I thought you had some dignity and class."

"Did you now?" Vicki places her arm on Bruce's and follows Rapunzel's lead.

"Sorry about this," Bruce mutters. "But I did read your novel. Pretty good." That doesn't mollify Gaddis, but it does pre-empt one last attempt at a comeback. He storms off as Bruce turns his attention to the others.

"Yes, Countesss - or can I call you Rapunzel? - it was Solomon Wayne's gift to the city. I like having my office there. Thanks."

[longlonghair]

Her lips curl in satisfaction as Gaddis is dismissed, and she turns her attention back to the other couple.

"Of course, Rapunzel is perfectly fine. The view from your office must let you see the entire city."

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

"Oh, oh yes. It's...quite nice. I can see all the things I own. Which I'm told is a good deal of property." Bruce sounds oddly unsure of this, as if his accountant told him something he can't recall.

"Alex, would you like come to the bar and get some drinks, and let the ladies cathc up?"

"Sounds good, Bruce." If a little odd. They could just get the actual sommelier. "What's your pleasure, Rapunzel?"

[longlonghair]

"Some wine would be lovely, darling. You choose."

She isn't sure this was part of the plan, but she's not complaining about a change to speak with Vicki. She can find out what Bruce had to say to Alex, after dinner.

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

It wasn't, as the slightly perplexed look on Alex's face might indicate.

"That was some little stunt you pulled on Gadfly. Thanks." Vicki smiles like someone who knows Gaddis very well. "I'd say Alex has found a good match, since most women I know wouldn't have the nerve to do anything like this in public. But he's got nerve and I think you must as well." Some people would say such things and not mean them nicely. Vicki, on the other hand, is quite impressed.

[longlonghair]

"Thank you. Alex told me that you were in on the joke, and I was only too happy to help. People like that Gaddis need to be reminded that poor behavior isn't the way to make friends and influence people."

She likes the other woman already.

"Alex is a gem, isn't he? He's very fond of you, and respects you and your work a great deal."

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

Vicki gives a nice smile, the kind that beguiled both Alex and Bruce.

"He's a great reporter, so it's nice to hear that he thinks highly of me. He brought me back here, in fact, with his stories about Batman, and he's really helped me settle back in. He's a good man." Vicki goes quiet for a bit.

"He really hasn't said much about you, and I'm not going to pry. We all have our secrets. But he's never seemed more..." Mature, she thinks, but that would imply he was immature. Which he was. "...thoughtful. I'm not sure if that's because of you, or if you just met him at the right time. But either way, things seem good for him, and I think you had something to do with that."

[longlonghair]

There may be tinge of color to her cheeks at the compliment.

"I would love to take credit for any change in him for the better, but I pretty much found him this way. I think he was a a sort of crossroads, career-wise when I met him, and was thinking of taking the plunge to being a columnist. I just encouraged him to go with what his heart told him to do."

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

"Really now?" That makes Vicki really smile. "Then someday all of Gotham might owe you something. He's got it in him to be a great columnist.

"Just don't tell him I said that. It would go to his head.

"But it's nice to see him this way, no matter how he got there. And it's nice to see him with someone who can see through him. Just be careful, though. For all his Gotham Tough Guy act, he's a softie." Her way of saying, perhaps, "treat him gently or I won't be happy."

[longlonghair]

She probably will tell him, because he deserves the praise.

"He's going to make a real name for himself, once he gets his column going."

Not a trace of doubt in her voice that this might not happen.

"I haven't seen too much of the Tough Guy, though I can see that it's there in his passion for his work and for the city. He really cares, and that's why he's going to be great."

She smiles and amends her last statement to: "Well, others will know he's great."

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

Vicki is pleasantly surprised by Rapunzel's confidence in her man. Maybe is a lot more to Alex Knox than she ever guessed. Then again, there's a lot more to Bruce Wayne than anyone would ever guess, isn't there.

And across the room, at the bar, Bruce and Alex order the drinks.

"I hope you didn't mind that we send my car for you. Vicki likes the joke and all, but this must be costing you two a fortune."

"Wait...that was your limo?"

"Um, yeah. I have five or six."

"And the driver was...Alfred, right?"

"Yeah. I have one of him."

"How did you get here?"

"I have five or six other cars. I drove. I like to drive. It's relaxing."

Alex is a bit surprised. Shocked. A tiny bit annoyed. "We can afford it, Bruce. We're both doing rather nicely."

"Don't worry. So am I. Think of it as a my contribution to the joke." Bruce seems only absently interested. But then, he always does. "She's quite attractive, Alex."

"Rapunzel? Oh, yeah. I really lucked out."

"I can tell. Not many women would play the heiress just for laughs on a date."

"It was her idea, actually. I just found the patsy."

"Hm. Interesting." Why did Knox feel like this was a test? Like Bruce was paying attention to something no one else could see? Weird. But then, Wayne could be weird.

"Alfred is at your disposal as long as you want, Alex. Just don't use up all the gas. It's not cheap." There is a very small smile on Bruce's face as the drinks arrive and the men return.

"Here we go, ladies."

"

[longlonghair]

Rapunzel gives Alex a brief searching look as the men rejoin them, and takes her wine with a murmur of thanks.

She isn't sure if the show is mostly over, of if they'll run into more people that Alex isn't expecting, but she's game.

[gotham-knocking.livejournal.com]

The two couples settle back in at the table. Alex's glance at Rapunzel tries to say "Wayne is a strange one, I'll fill you in later." But the glance passes fast as he sips his screwdriver.

No sooner does everyone sit than Alex is gazing out the window again.

"Now THAT is something you only see in Gotham, Raps!"

The Batsignal.

[longlonghair]

She follows his gaze, and narrows her eyes to better make out the image projected on the clouds.

"That's odd...is it a picture of a bat? What does it mean?"