tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Evening, August 7th
Rating; PG-13, at worst
Characters; The Master

master_supreme and Stephanie Brown

indigo_justice
Summary; The Master shows Stephanie that he is capable of behaving like a normal person, thank you very much, by taking her to the Den for dinner and dancing (and he doesn't have any ulterior motive at all-- ohhh no, of course he doesn't!)
Log;

One evening without taunting, without games (well. Without overt games). Did the silly little girl truly think the Master incapable of such a thing? Archangel Network aside, he did have to gain the trust of a great number of humans before his campaign for Prime Minister-- and even after they were effectively in his thrall, he had no problems keeping up appearances. The only reason he hadn't bothered to do the same in the City was-- well, there was no point. The Doctor had warned everybody about him the moment he landed, and it would be a wasted effort to pretend to be one thing while there were others ready to disprove his kinder, gentler persona in an instant.

(What he needed, of course, was a catalyst, something-- some person, event, anything really-- that could conceivably spark a change in him in the eyes of others. He was still weighing the potential benefits of such an act, though. Would it be worth it, in the end, assist him in getting what he truly wanted, or would it be more trouble--)

Well. He supposed "not plotting" was one of the stipulations of the... date.

Dressed as impeccably as ever (for all his disdain for humans, he does so love their clothes), the Master stood before the Den, awaiting the arrival of one little blonde vigilante. Tonight, he would be truly kind-- a gentleman-- and perhaps... perhaps he would let her in just enough to have her believe she understood his poor, tormented soul.

[OOC: I know they said the Lux in the last thread, but I didn't know if they actually had food there so I changed it to the Den XD]

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Steph looks irritated, as she walks into the Den. She's in a nice purple dress, and she is able to see both Raven and Kara there as well.

She's really prepared for just about anything, as she enters the Den.
Honestly. This is all just an observational experiment to her....
"Evening."

"Ah, a dress again. And it isn't even a curse day! Lucky me," he chirped, grinning. He offered a hand to take Stephanie's and added, "You do look lovely."

Oh, he could have made it teasing, but he did mean it. He could admit when something-- unappealing though he might have found it-- was aesthetically pleasing. "Of course, you would look lovelier if you didn't scowl so much. What's the matter, did your friends force you into that outfit?"

Hm. Did that count as being nasty? He didn't think so, but then, the Master's definition of "nastiness" tended to differ wildly from others'.

"Well. Shall we?"

"Oh, shut it. I wanted to look nice, don't make fun of me."

And Steph glares a little when he mentions her friends. No, they didn't, it was true....she picked it....
"No. I picked it."

And she sighs, the scowl disappearing, taking her hand.
"Fine..."

"I wasn't making fun of you. You're much too sensitive." He let out a little sigh. "And here I was, complimenting you, and you haven't even said a word on how nice I look."

The Master gave Stephanie a curious look at her admission that she had picked the dress herself. "Then why the scowl?"

But then the scowl was gone, and Stephanie seemed to relax enough to allow him to take her hand. The Master gave it a brief kiss, then began to lead the way inside. A table had already been reserved, of course, and it was not long before they were seated.

There. Two minutes in, and he hadn't outright insulted her yet!

"Well...I don't know what to say, honestly. I either insult you or compliment you, and it ends badly for me either way..."
Steph sighs. This is already off to a bad start...why the scowl? She didn't know...

But she was a little pink in the cheeks, from the compliment. And the kiss.
"Ok...thanks, I guess...I'm a little stressed, ok? I'm sorry. What are you thinking of getting...?"

"Then relax. It's dinner and dancing. I'm not going to poison you, if that's what you're thinking."

Although he could have. It certainly would have been entertaining, but he wasn't ready to dispose of Stephanie. It was too soon, and he'd hardly had a chance to have any fun with her yet.

"What am I getting?" he repeated, looking down at the menu with disinterest. "Wine." What he really wanted was something sweet, so nothing really looked that appealing to him, aside from the dessert. Ah well. He would just order the most expensive thing on the menu. Oh truffles! He liked truffles. Where's a dish with truffles?

"Does... anything look good to you?" he asked slowly. He always hated making 'small talk'-- it was so dull and dreary. But, he supposed, that's how socializing is done with humans. "How's the weather? And your favourite sports team? What are the other requisite questions one must ask?"

Steph sighs again, looking at the menu...the steak looks good. Really good. It's been ages since she's had good steak...
"I know, I know. But I have to be a little cautious. Really, think better of me."

His attempts at making small talk, however, are hilarious.
So, Steph giggles. And her giggles become small fits of laughter, which, after they stop, are followed by her grinning.
"You really don't have any idea how to make small talk, do you?"

"I do," he responded-- rather lamely, he supposed. Truth be told, it was difficult for him to make small talk without throwing in some condescension, insults, double entendres, the works. "I had to make a lot of small talk when I was running for Prime Minister. But it usually revolved around polls and demographics and other... technical stuff."

He thought for a moment. Ah! A topic of mutual interest: "How far along are you on your investigation into those dastardly murders?"

Steph nods a little, in agreement. Why was she doing that?
"Yeah. Boooring. That's not small talk...that's just talk. Not good talk either."

...
She pauses, thinking. When she speaks again, her voice is quiet.
"Not very far. I've got a theory I'm investigating right now, but if it doesn't work then I might be stuck. Why, have you been looking into them?"

A theory? Now that piqued his interest. As it was, he hadn't been following the murders too closely. He leaned forward a bit, staring very intently at Stephanie as she spoke.

"I see. And no, I really haven't. I've had other things to occupy myself with, and the murders have no reason to concern me yet. That being said, I'm rather curious about them." He glanced up, then, as a server came, and while he wanted to shoo the man away, he played nice, smiled brightly, and ordered a bottle of wine. Once the potential eavesdropper was gone, he returned his attention to Stephanie. "Now. Tell me about your theory."

Stephanie wonders what the Master has been keeping himself occupied with...whatever it is, it can't be good.
When the server comes, Steph orders her steak before turning back to the Master.

He'd only think her theory was embarrassing...but hey, never hurt...did it?
"Vampires. Or somebody imitating them."

"Vampires," he repeated softly. Not an unlikely conclusion to come to, given the lack of blood at the crime scenes and the decapitation. Of course, vampires were not the only ones inclined to do such things-- the lack of blood at the scene could point to a number of different things, and the decapitation could just be for show, rather than a poor attempt at covering one's true nature.

But then, the Master hadn't seen any of the bodies yet, so what did he know?

"Plausible. How much of the blood is drained from each corpse?"

"Almost all of it. It's a plausable theory, given the lack of blood and the decapitation, but it's not the only one out there....I've been considering going Underground to see if there's anything to dig up..."

She didn't mention Kara and Molly's little adventure Underground, for obvious reasons.
And then, her steak came, and Steph dug in, quietly.

"Unless, of course, they were using blood for other purposes. Or," he put on a thoughtful face, "were merely a sadist. Let the victim bleed out before the decapitation."

Did he enjoy that thought? ~~Probably~~ Possibly. As the food arrived (pretend he totally ordered), the Master looked down at his plate with vague disinterest, then looked at Stephanie's.

"How rare is that steak? I suppose we shouldn't be talking about bleeding out while you're digging in to a slab of meat."

"It's a possibility...I'm trying to figure it out, but...it's hard to tell."

The idea of a sadist or somebody else using blood had come up before...it was a possibility. It was hard to tell what was going on, but the fact that nobody else had died yet was good.
The steak was good, she realized.

"It's pretty rare. I like it that way. And I don't mind, it's normal to me."

"Hm. What a life you've led, then," he mused. And then, after a beat, the Master reached out with his fork and snagged a bit of Stephanie's dinner. He was paying, after all, so it was his anyway. "Yum."

"So." He took a sip of his wine and looked about the Den lazily. "There's all this talk about how I care for nothing but death and destruction. But here I am... and I don't know what your hobbies and interests are. Aside from vigilante-ism. Tell me about yourself, Stephanie."

"That's about it, really...There's not much room for anything else in there. But I like books, and music, and stuff. Normal stuff, I suppose... Not much else I can say, really.
What about you?"

"I like stuff, too," he replied dryly. "What brought you to this line of work?"

Steph smirks at his response.
"Stuff. How very specific."

She sighs, trying to remember why she started. It was her stupid dads fault, really....
"It's complicated and slightly boring."

"Oh, come now." He took another sip of wine and grinned. "Don't be coy with me. Origin stories are hardly boring. And you should know enough of me by know to understand that I love things that are... complicated."

Steph sighed. Oh, of course he'd push it.
She didn't have to tell him everything. She didn't plan on it...

"It's my dad's fault, really. He was a criminal. And a poor one at that. Only started to stop him. Never really stopped...never found a reason to."
She sips her water, looking intently at her stake, avoiding his eyes.

"Did you do it to stop him?" he asked softly, leaning forward slightly, then added, "Or did you do it for his attention?"

Oh, that was an easy one.
"To stop him. I never wanted his attention, he was a jackass."

It was true. Steph never wanted to impress her father...
She'd always wanted to impress Batman.

"Ah. Then I'll inquire about him no more," the Master said, leaning back again. See, he could even pretend to be sensitive about some subjects! "And where was your mother during all of this?" See. ~~Intrusive~~ ~~Nosy~~ Sensitive. He was asking about the other parent now.

"Usually high on painkillers or something. Or drunk. It's hard to tell which it was, they caused the sort of the same sluggish effect."

She leans back. He probably didn't expect that. Or maybe he did. She didn't care.
She just turns back to her steak, finishing it up.

"What a dreadful home life," he said, musing. "I can see why dressing up as a superhero has its perks."

He paused, then grinned. "Are there any villains as delightful as me in your world?"

She shrugs at his comment about her home life. Yes, it had sucked. But her mom had fought her drug addictions, and by the time that Steph 'died', she'd finally kicked it. Her dad...Steph still didn't know where she stood on the Cluemaster. She probably never would.

At his question, she shrugged. Oh, there were a number she could name.
"A few come to mind. The Joker, the Riddler, maybe Scarecrow...And I suppose the Penguin, too, at times...And before you ask, yes, we all know how terrible those names are."

"Hmph," he snorted. "And people think 'the Master' is a ludicrous name." He thought, then nodded. "Ah. But I know of the Joker."

That one he recognized as the clown who sometimes posted on the Network about "Jokerland".

"They must have kept you quite busy. Did they all have some sort of silly theme to go with the name?"

"Everyone knows of the Joker. He's...well. You hear of him, even if he's not from your world."

She snickered a little, at the mention of silly themes.
"Not really. The Penguin looks a bit like a penguin, and he runs the Iceberg Lounge, but that's it. The Joker? Well, he's...again, you gotta see it to believe it.

Scarecrow and the Riddler are themed, but they're far from silly."

"Really? Because they sound the silliest of them all." The Master popped some food into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Scarecrow... Did he pop out of-- ohh, what's the film-- the Wizard of Oz?"

He propped an elbow on the table and leaned his cheek into his palm, giving Stephanie a very bored look. "And Riddler. Let me guess. He leaves riddles at the scene of every crime. Oooh. Scary."

"They sound the silliest, but you shouldn't underestimate them. Yes, the Riddler leaves riddles...but they're very tough, and usually are direct clues to what he'll do next. If you don't figure them out in time, people could..."

She trails off....
"The Scarecrow is mainly based on the Scare factor. He uses drugs and fear toxin to weaken his victims..."

"Oh, the gimmick. Glad I never fell into that trap," the Master remarked, rolling his eyes. Perhaps he had a bit of Supervillain Envy going on-- he'd never admit it if he did (which he didn't), so it was moot. How many of them had managed even a fraction of his accomplishments?.

Now, the latter, the Scarecrow, he found that interesting. Fear toxin... Imagine the chaos.

"Really. Well. I do hope he doesn't find his way here."

"...He's already here."

It was nerve wracking, the Scarecrow, a big old baddie, being here . It shows on her face.

...that's what he wanted to hear.

"I take it-- unlike the Joker-- this man has a separate alias?" The Master cocked his head to the side in response to the look that found its way on Stephanie's face. "Is he truly that bad? Do I seem harmless as a kitten in comparison?" he asked curiously-- if slightly teasingly.

"He does. He's not...well, I don't know, I've never actually faced him. But I've heard the stories."

She sighs, teasingly.
"No, you're still far worse."

"Oh good! I was afraid I was losing my edge here, taking the good guy-- well, girl-- out to dinner and all. I'll have to level a continent to make up for it."

If it weren't for the fact that (for the time being) the Master was trapped in the City, it would have been difficult to tell if he'd actually intended to follow through with that statement.

"I can't do it yet but... it's on my to-do list," he added.

Steph snorts. The Master is completely insane, but she can't tell if he'd actually do that...
"Oh, I think that you wouldn't do it."

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Log; Ongoing

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