The Lady and the Wolf: Max Charisma
Dedicated to @imhereandiexist who's fan art made me want to write out this au. A scene of thier early days where Lady Gotham and Wulf were still at odds. Slow burn
Wulf was walking down the street, minding his own business. A group of men and women follow him, trying to recruit him for a modeling gig or get him to sign an acting contract. He seemed unaware of the group as Lady Gotham watched from the second floor of the fire station, wondering what the big oak did this time.
Everywhere he went, he somehow had people tripping over themselves to speak to him.
She could not understand how the other-punished Ghost could wrap humans around his finger as easily as breathing. Not that breathing was truly easy. Lady Gotham often choked if she did too much movement.
Dr. Leslie claimed it was a condition called "Asthma" caused by the pollution she was exposed to, but Lady Gotham had always been exposed to pollution. Why would it affect her now? Humans were such pathetically weak creatures.
Eventually, the group of humans surrounded Wulf, shouting introductions and handing him cards. He accepts them all witha smile, lifting the card up to his nose to remember the scent of the owners. The humans' faces fell a little as Wulf had to make a real effort to gather the scents, but eventually they were all wafted away, and the other ghost, a peasant one, wandered inside.
She demands to know what that was all about. Wulf smiles, holding out the small stack. "Just some humans looking to hire me. Nothing I'm too interested in".
Lady Gotham snatches the cards, flipping through them, and a small twitch of irritation grows right under her eye. Of course, these types of recruiters had their eyes on him.
For all that Lady Gotham scoffed and mocked him, even she knew that Wulf was a attravtive human. He used to be much more appealing in his werewolf form, but that was out of reach now.
She turns to him again and demands the story while he sighs, throwing himself on the hammock he strung up between two pillars.
Wulf starts off by explaining he was hours late to their usual meeting time because he had accidentally wandered onto a filming set, and when someone yelled at him to move a box- assuming he was crew- Wulf and threw two boxes onto one shoulder while carrying a bigger one under his arm.
The action had surprised many, after all the boxes were heavy for one person. And when he had marched onto the loading area with a crooked grin, well, more then one person had noticed.
A few agents had scrambled for their business cards as Wulf's low, rough voice asked the flustered set manager where she wanted him to leave the boxes at. He was then asked to do a scene as an extra, which he agreed to, because the movie was about werewolves and he wanted to see what the humans thought of his kind. Originally, he was meant to be a pack member with no lines, but after one of the speaking extras fumbled his lines too much- earning a far too harsh reprimand from the director in Wulf's opinion- he stepped in, allowing his regular mannerism to help the extra move the scene alone.
He was offered a scene and told by the director to be "an intimidating rival alpha pack leader," and Wulf took that as "Assert dominance by making the other group want to give it to him."
Needless to say, he blew everyone away, and when the recording was done, he just... wandered off. They hadn't even been able to pay him for the day because Wulf didn't actually work there. A few of the agents had taken off after him, and he hadn't noticed- Gotham was loud and crowded on a good day, but Wulf had a long and fast stride so often he left people scrambling to keep up.
"You didn't get paid!?" Lady Gotham hissed. "Why didn't you demand pay!?
"Eh." Wulf waved his hand around, curling the other under his head as a makeshift pillow. "It was too much of a hassle."
"Too much- we haven't had a decent meal in three days! I've done things, horrible things, to get lunch." She trails off, a faraway look in her eye as if reliving the haunting memory
"You went to the Soup Kitchen," Wulf rolls his eyes. "That's what they're for."
"Soup Kitchen is the gateway to the Poor House!" She snaps, which causes the man to sigh heavily.
"Those don't exist anymore. Honestly, are you that out of touch with the current times?"
Lady Gotham purses her lips, biting back every swear and curse that she wants to fling at him. It wouldn't be proper, not a ghost of her standing, to swear like the common folk, but drat would it feel good. Taking a few breaths- ugh- she forces herself to calm down so she can level him a cold look that normally would have made the few humans that attemtped to summon her over the years flinch.
All she gets is a challenging smirk, amusement dancing in the werewolf's eyes. Under such a glance, her heart flutters a little, which has her gripping her dress in horror. The human business cards flutter to the ground, forgotten, as she tries to soothe the strange ache building up underneath her skin. Her heart is running too fast. It's disgusting. "Oh no."
Wulf stands up immediately, "What's wrong?"
"We must go to Dr. Leslie," She gasps, "My human heart! It is hurting!"
"You're having a heart attack?" Wulf says worriedly, placing an arm on her elbow and on her back to offer her something to lean on. His low voice makes her skin break into odd little bumps, and Lady Gotham wants to claw out of it.
She lets out a scream, pressing her hands harder against her chest. "The heart can attack!?"
Wulf must realize how serious this is, for he swings her up and throws her over his shoulder. It does no favors for her human heart as she feels it pick up speed, aching more than before as her somewhat partner breaks into a run, bouncing her on his shoulder with one arm wrapped around her to hold her steady. She wails, thinking she was going to die, and goodness, what happens to a ghost that turns human and dies?
Would King Phantom have her turn into unconscious ectoplasm? Would she vanish? Would she become the city, but without a form?
Wulf takes no breaks, sprinting at fullforce and leaping over oncoming cars to reach the clinic. Within twenty minutes, he burst through the front door, screaming for Dr. Leslie. An hour later, they are both kicked out by the irritated healer, who confirms that Lady Gotham is not dying, despite her worry.
She just needs to watch out for allergies, because apparently the human body sometimes self-destructs, since it can't tell the difference between a threat and not. Wulf takes it upon himself to clear out all the dust that Dr. Leslie said was affecting Lady Gotham while she naps in his hammock as the medication that Dr. Leslie gave her made her drowsy.
Lady Gotham fell asleep, pressing her nose against the woody musk smell that she often associated with Wulf. Oddly enough, it makes her heart ache again but in a good way, and soothes her into a dreamless slumber. She has the faint awareness that Wulf dropped a second blanket onto her, encasing her in a warm cocoon, and she thinks she understands why humans are drawn to him so much in that moment.
There is something comforting about having a werewolf like him by your side in times of need. The following morning, she wakes to find the fire station spotless, Wulf nowhere in sight.
The idiot wandered off. Again.
It takes her three days to find him doing shadow puppet shows for a group of children. She was ready to beat his face in with her fan, but when he invited her to sing the duet of one of Gotham's original musicals, she couldn't resist the offer.
It is one of her people's songs, and she knows the words as well as she knows her core. Their voices mix in perfect harmony as the children watch wide-eyed. When they're done, Lady Gotham is surprised by how their tiny faces light up with joy, and for one second, the humans make being alive perfect.
