Prince of Darkness ~ Gotham

~ Chapter Twenty Nine: Lovecraft ~

"You sure this is a good idea? Pretty far up," Holly gulped as she peered at the ground below. They were maybe about two or three floors up from where they were standing, or in Bruce's case, balancing on the staircase banister. Bruce's balance grew very unsteady as he held his arms out, slowly taking step after step to the other end. Holly did her best to keep her mouth shut, knowing this task needed most, if not total concentration. But Selina carefully perched herself on the other end, meeting his gaze.

"Keep it tight here," She instructed, gesturing to her diaphragm. Bruce took her guidance and straightened his posture. He could feel the firm pressure as he slowly took another step towards Selina, and as he was doing that, Holly slowly walked to the railing, ready to grab and pull him from the edge if things went wrong. "Better?" Selina asked, already knowing what the answer was. "Yeah," Bruce nodded before he climbed back to safety. "If you want to test yourself, you should come with me to the midtown bridge," Selina offered.

"You've climbed it?" Holly asked. "Since when?" "I do it all the time, right to the top. Kids go up there to make out all the time. I could take you and Bruce if you want. If you're not a chicken," Selina teased. "I'm not a chicken!" Holly rolled her eyes playfully. "That sounds cool," Bruce commented as he sat in a chair, putting his shoes back on. "Let me ask you a question, Bruce. What's up with all the weird homework about your mom and dad?" Selina questioned. "I'm trying to understand why it happened," Bruce answered.

"There's no why. Bad stuff happens all the time, you gotta get over it," Selina's voice grew soft but had a hint of exasperation. "Maybe you're right," Bruce acknowledged the thought. "Of course I'm right," Selina said. "Holly, you're with me on this, right?" On one hand, Selina made her point, but on the other, there wasn't really much they could do or say to make Bruce change his mind. 

Clearly, the plan to train and his investigation into the deaths of his parents was set in stone the moment the murders happened. And once it was grafted, it was almost impossible to change it. "You want to kiss me?" Selina cut the tension with a knife as she flashed her usual mischievous grin. Bruce looked up at her, caught off-guard. "No, thank you," He answered. "Well, what about Holly?" Selina chuckled as she saw Holly's cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. "Selina, we talked about this..." the blonde whispered. "Your daddy's not here. What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Selina whispered back.

Though neither Holly nor Selina could see it, on the inside, Bruce was smiling. Holly was a sweet girl, and though he wouldn't say it out loud - at least not right now, she was really pretty. "I would like to," Bruce spoke up. "But I can't help feeling you have an ulterior motive, Selina. And Holly, I don't imagine you consider me a suitable romantic partner. So why would either of you want to kiss me? I don't know," Holly breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Though she never really thought about romance, Holly knew one thing for sure. She wanted her first kiss to be at the perfect time. And a pressured first kiss in the hallway of Wayne Manor with Selina present was not the perfect time.

"You think too much, kid. I'm just trying to be nice," Selina replied. "No offense, you don't strike me as a nice person," Bruce spoke. Who wouldn't take offense to that? Holly looked surprised, and Selina shared the same expression as her. "What do you mean? I'm nice!" Selina squinted. "I don't mean you're not a good person, but you're not nice. You don't care much for other people," Bruce explained. Holly could feel herself mentally cringing at his words. The longer Bruce tried to explain it, the more Holly wanted to put duct tape over his mouth to stop him from hurting the girl's feelings any more than he already did.