#graceofgotham

Flying to Gotham to attend yet another Gala was not his idea of a productive time but like any man answerable to investors and boards of directors he had to do his duty,network, network,network and it was very much treated like work by the environmentalist CEO of Queen Industries. He carried himself with the weight of a 40 billion dollar company and it's crushing weight of responsibility, of 13.500 employees in the US alone that counted on the next grid regeneration project to put food on the table.

He was in the middle of discussing project Magnolia, what he called his energy grid regeneration project using more sustainable and renewable sources to provide electricity, about the profits it could bring and government subsidies for going greener yet every other sentence he kept glancing at a young woman that looked progressively more and more uncomfortable.

Now these were wealthy men of course but very few in this country were on his level. Well ,the Gala benefactor was but that was beside the point, Oliver carried himself with the weight of his wealth always and he was known for three things.

Being the CEO of Queen Industries

Aggressive acquisitions,

A nasty temper which was more under control now his youth was behind him but still ever present the way some men don't dish out empty threads, they dish out a warning.

"Have you three not leered at this poor young woman enough? And for crying out loud Jackson, your fourth wife barely had time to tan around her wedding ring" he announced that he had noticed and that they ought to make themselves scarce or else...

So it had been an easier choice to disperse rather than risk Oliver's ire, and such hobbies usually were best left unnoticed, if a single person with enough gravitas had remarked before they could have scattered then as well.

"Nothing to be grateful for. It was souring the mood witnessing it and more so that no one seemed keen to intervene" he said that loud enough to convey his disappointment that no one had intervened yet. His mood was ruined by such a behavior and that simply could not be allowed to continue.

"I'm sorry , you look familiar and I never forget a face...yet your name evades me. Have we met before?" Had she not gotten that prestigious scholarship, she was going to be getting a letter inviting her to study at Washington School of Medicine under Queen Industries' STEM program,one of her teachers petitioned her on her last year of high school seeing great promise in her, an passionate letter of how studious and hardworking she was and a victim of her financial circumstances that would prevent her accessing higher education on her own, he remembered her face vaguely from the file of candidates that year but seven years later the correlation had long been lost seeing as she wasn't the recipient of such and Wayne got the glory for another promising young scholar studying under his ever so gracious charity.

“ I am so sorry I'm late! ” Josefina says and doesn't mean it.

Josefina laughs awkwardly, sliding into her seat across the table from Grace. she's done a bit of research on the other, and she's aware of her history with Umbrella, meaning that this conversation teeters on confrontation with every social blunder Josefina makes. she takes a deep breath to collect herself. and then, almost as if a switch has been flipped, she smiles brightly.

@grace-of-gotham // im sorry I have owed this for an eternity love me anyway // song for mood inspo

If there ever was a city where it's people loved her despite the odds, it would be Gotham. She was a grubby barely held together den of debauchery and villainy but she was also soft and full of hope and perseverance. Gotham's citizens rarely left, Zatanna too no matter how far life took her it was a long journey to getting back home.

"It was the first place my dad took me when we came to Gotham" Zatanna had given Grace no hint as to where she would be taking her for their second date, she was not allowed to know, a mere hint and she'd guess. Just a trust me and in the taxi they went to Robinson park, Zatanna had arrived near Grace's with the cab and not until they got close would she probably guess the destination.

During summer free movies were projected alternating Saturdays on what was practically scaffolding metal frames holding up a sheet and a projector so ancient it was practically a museum piece. Old black and white movies all summer entertained the crowds for free.

"This was the first movie my dad took me to" The Merry Widow , a old black and white movie accompanied by music played on old Phillips speakers from the 1970s.

"I adore black and white movies..." Her ex had re-ignited her love for them and tainted them when it all went to shit a decade and a half ago. "I haven't seen one with someone for a decade...or so." It wasn't just a second date to her, it was a leap back to believing in love again, one more time on the merry go round and hoping her heart wouldn't get broken as it had every time before.

"Silly isn't it. To be that intense on a second date...it will get worse from here I fear, if you let me."

Had Grace expected anything but intense from someone like Zatanna?

Second official date, third if they were counting their blind date...Zatanna didn't.

Morning after prompt: 4. for one muse to stop the other from trying to sneak away || @grace-of-gotham​​

“Wouldn’t do that if I were you, lass.”

He at least had the decency to pull on his trousers before standing there arms crossed in the doorway. Sure, John didn’t have any reason to keep her (Gail? Gina? It was definitely something with a G…) but he held up a hand for her to stop anyways.

And probably a good thing, too, that sharp bang and screaming sounded a lot closer than it had any business being.

vampire AU + @grace-of-gotham

Not again-

The last time the ancient gazed upon this land, the world was changing. The land was ravaged, he'd find out that they now referred to the global conflict as world war one and a second one would be waged less than 20 years later. Maybe it was a good time he had buried himself instead.

He promised-

Underneath the ground, an ancient horror slumbered for just over a century, vampires you see would not die of starvation if they were old enough to endure it. It was a little known fact that burying one self in the ground and slumbering would have them emerge more powerful if they survived it. He done it before, he would wait out the years until the cattle repopulated and a new world would be waiting for him. He slept...until her voice broke the silence.

Despair. Betrayal. Vampires could survive a dirt nap but upon emerging they required sustenance. A rat,the next one, the grave robber looking for loot and the Ancient still looked more husk than humane, skin clinging to bones, clothes of the century past and covered in the burial dirt that cradled him.

The streets were loud, the land unfamiliar but he could hear her...if he focused all the noise was silence and her mind would call. The cars, the helicopter blades, the music, the chatter, all faded...heart beats everywhere beating their rhythmic song...hers beckoned.

Her pleas were so far away, a blink of an eye for someone as hungry and as fast as him and before their mortal eyes could even blink a blur had already tore through this man's accomplices. Two men tried to run away stating they were not paid for this...one remained frozen in fear using a blond young woman as a human shield, another mortal froze with his hands on the steering wheel calling to the other male to jump in.

He simply cocked his head to the right as the stupid questions begun. What did it matter who he was when the more important question was...what he was. And he was starving.

The man's heart beat as rapid as a hummingbird...terror. He can barely register the words spoken from the mortals when their hearts summon him.

So hungry...

BANG! the bullet fired from the car did nothing but startle him.

Jesus Christ!

"I'm older than your Jesus..." the vampire remarked tearing the car door and pulling the driver out. "Would have liked to have met him...but I missed it. I miss everything." he remarked, tearing into the driver's neck.

"I don't fight everyone I meet , only the ones that deserve to get punched and only after a warning to change their ways" Dinah was such a regular at A&E that she pretty much could guess who was on shift well enough to make sure to bring a decent coffee, Grace was the picture of Gotham's quiet dignity, even crying was done only on her break and not when she was needed.

Dinah's eye was bruised, her knuckles were raw but her mirth was ever present. You simply got used to the pain enough to be able to grin at a young doctor who struggled to find the respect she deserved from her lead consultant.

Back again huh Canary a paramedic pushed an empty gurney past them and remarked on the known entity. "What can I say Barry, I love the people thought I'd come hang out"

"Do you need a hug? I'm really good at them...from the right side though, left side is fucked" she offered to console the girl. "Dislocated left shoulder , popped it back in wrong" she explained with the same banal voice like sharing the weather report and lifted her top to also show her gnarly bruise on her left ribcage,

@grace-of-gotham​ + Talia al Ghul

Some people truly were a bad omen, a great signifier that whatever the status quo was, whatever stillness was had it all was about to be disrupted. She was a shadow, the last thing you would never see when she needed to be. But infiltration wasn’t always about not being seen, sometimes it was about blending in, sometimes it was to halt everyone at their tracks and take notice.

In a city of Gotham where everyone had a secret, to be obvious and in the center of attention was to be the least interesting for inspection. With long dark hair that cascaded, lips ruby red and a dress that hugged the right curves and offered the sight of a long lean muscled leg she wore the most dangerous weapon she possessed.

To give away the promise of more but deny anything more until every whim was obeyed.

Sure, one could simply snag Grace away, intimidate her and see if she would break but Talia simply did not wish to break her. Or to scare her. It was to see her in her natural habitat, to evaluate her personage and find some pressured buttons to push and see if the sweet bleeding heart of a girl did not hide some dark socks in those thrift shop goodie-two shoes of hers.

“You bore me with such a tedious attempt at dissuading me from my choice.”

On such a desk was Grace’s university file and when you were playing the CEO of a 6.7 billion dollar pharmaceutical company to be made to feel a conversation was a waste of time was to lose investment.

A game she played so many times, a master puppeteer, a chess player setting the board with sights of the opposing Queen.

Mrs Al -Shaheed

“Doctor-” she corrected.

Grace is a talented girl but she is only a third year student, a more seasoned doctor would be more equipted to-

“Lie to me and hide any shady little secrets while each word out of their mouth made me hear your voice” Talia interrupted.

“I do not negotiate doctor, you wish for my research and financial backing you will provide me with everything I require to evaluate whether your hospital is worth even a consideration. Leviathan will not associate with anything less than organizations that have a pristine spotless track record and Gotham has a bad reputation. I have decided that a young duckling simply will not know either what you hide and as you insist that I require an attache to abide with data protection laws and OCR and HIPAA regulations you will either provide me with the resource I requested or all you will have out of me will be this cheap coffee conversation”

She was difficult to please, she targeted those weak to her pressure, eager to please her just to keep her attention.

Thus one of the attending doctors, Doctor Reid would simply inform Grace’s attending physician that Grace was chosen for an assignment.

“Do everything she asks, secure this deal and it will look very favorably on your record. After all we are all a team, we have to work together and God knows we need the extra funding Grace” said doctor who had never spoken to her before informed.

One of Talia’s bracelets was worth more than Grace’s entire student loan, it was the point. The excess wealth on display, to accent the difference in social standing.

Time for one little duckling to scrub up, little did she know she was stepping less into a babysitting role and more into the nest of a viper.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am doctor Zahra al Shaheed. Begin by giving me a tour of your long term care wings please, these are my assistants their names matter not to you they shan’t be accompany us long as they shall be working with the hospital’s HR department. Do introduce yourself, what field will you specialize in? Interesting choice to live in Crime Alley but I suppose real estate is limited currently, I had to rent an office across from the cinema myself”

Cheap.

She looked at her hair, the nails, the shoes.

@grace-of-gotham​ + Zatanna Zatara

When is the last time you even went on an actual date with an actual person.

After getting tired of having a phone with Grace’s picture shoved in her face as if the admittedly cute picture would change anything, as if it mattered. She had been scorned every time she fell in love, sue her for being a little done with love for a while.

“Yes, because having lost my father left me in a fantastic mood to date, Monique” she countered and she was right, for a while grief made her a terrible recluse and not a person in a place to open themselves for vulnerability.

“Fine give her my number then..if it will shut you up” she muttered the last part under her breath picking finally the right curtains.

Nah,nah nah we do this old fashioned. I’m thinking cute coffee shop, soft sunny rays.. the smell of fresh baked goods.

“Because actually talking to her before meeting her is such a terrible idea?” she questioned.

She’s a busy med student, you’re a work-a-holic both of you might use said busy busy lifestyles to get cold feet and never meet.

“Do I get to ask anything about her?”

Terrible taste in music, cute, not a lot of love baggage what else do you need to know Zee-Zee.

So here came the day, arranged for a coffee and lunch during Grace’s working day so there was a good excuse for the girl to duck out early if things did not go according to plan.

“Hey-” Zatanna wore a black hat like Monigue told her but not her identifiable top hat she found too over the top when trying to keep a low profile, rolling her earphones around her phone and pausing her audiobook she waved the girl over.

“Grace right? Actually it’s Zatanna..how was work?” Their mutual friend called her Anna just to perhaps try to conceal her identity, or keep Grace from googling the woman and then panicking...or something. Zatanna leaned in pressed cheek to cheek for a very European sort of kiss and flagged the waitress to come take their order.

“So we know each other’s names and that Monique thinks were are both losers that need help socializing like regular people...that about describe it?” she asked making a joke to cut through the awkwardness of such a situation.

“I haven’t been on a real date in years so forgive me if I am a little rusty.” Yet this was nice and casual, a nice coffee and a lunch. “I’ll admit I came because worse case scenario should we not fall deeply in love and elope to Cuba, maybe a new friend might be nice”

“A skinny iced latte and the green pesto chicken please, swap the fries for the side salad and hold the dressing...and what sort of cheese do you grate?”

Cheddar or Parmigiano, I’d recommend the parmigiano as we use it in the green pesto.

“Extra cheese on top as well please” she beamed a smile. “I have to watch my figure” Hence no fries for her!