#roots verse

[uncontinuous]

at some point in time during season 4: I put Nicole/Rockwell into my document plotting list for outposts, and yes past me, this is a fantastic idea.

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

the flower vase || Crane & Raina

Raina's large doe eyes were fixed on the doctor from the moment he came into the view of her cell. She eyed the tall, pale man, and did her best to keep her expression neutral as she studied him. She'd seen him before, of course, passing back and forth with the guards, accompanying his patients to and from their little sessions. It must have been a hellish experience, because most people had to be dragged back in restraints, or carried, too paralyzed or numb to walk on their own.

And now, it seemed, he was here for her.

The woman managed a soft smile, and she smoothed out the fabric of her jumpsuit. They'd taken away her flower dress almost the instant she'd stepped into Arkham, but she'd done her best with the unflattering garments she'd been given. And now, she did her best to be charming. Charm, that was the key--had always been her key; persuasion was, after all, her forte. And so she lowered her head, glancing demurely up at this pale stranger through her lashes.

"Do I have to go?"

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

a-brass-shield has entered the lab

"You must be a friend of Renee's," Raina smiled, leaning against the doorway to the apartment, and studying the man coolly. "She's not here right now, sorry... Or are you just here to arrest me?"

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

eddie-nashton has entered the lab

Raina slid into the cafe booth seat across from the stranger, her dark eyes studying his face. She flashed him a smile, and leaned forward.

"It's Edward, isn't it?"

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

missninelives has entered the lab

"You're cute. But if you don't get your hand out of my purse, sweetheart, I'm gonna cut it off," Raina said, not bothering to turn and look at the young woman standing behind her chair.

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

montoyagcpd has entered the lab

"I hear this is the place to be, if a woman's got a problem she doesn't want to have the cops just brush under the rug. That true?"

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

Welcome to the Iceberg Lounge

birdofpower:

Oswald was leaned back into the comfortable material of his private booth, although it was set back from everyone else, it was clear that this was for the man in charge. 

Smoke rose slowly from the end of his cigar, held in his hand as it rested on the table. A large glass of scotch being rose to his lips as he took a sip. The penguins eyes moved onto the stage, the talent was being well received, which was an inevitability as he didn’t choose them lightly.

He placed the glass down onto the table, moving the cigar to his mouth and puffing on it lightly.  

The woman in the flower dress swirled her drink around in her glass, before lifting it up to her lips and sipping delicately at it, humming softly along to the music. The singer was good, but she wasn't interested in songs at the moment.

Her dark eyes flicked over to the VIP table once again, and took in the bold figure of the club's proprietor. Oswald Cobblepot didn't look much like a gangster, but then, Raina was spoiled by the thugs and super powered whack jobs she'd spent too much of her life observing, so "ordinary" men who just used their wits to get about were a strange species to her.

She kept her eyes fixed on the older man, knowing that, eventually, he would take notice. For some reason, people could always sense when they were being watched, especially when it was with an intensity. And intensity was something Raina had quite a lot of, especially in her gaze. So she waited, patiently, the faintest tease of a smile crossing her lips as the evening began to stretch on.

[hecalledmeflowers-archive]

Le Pingouin et la Fleur || Oswald & Raina

How had it come to this? Raina watched, as if above herself, as her signature flowed out across the small white space provided at the bottom of the contract. Was it really going to be just that simple? She signed her name and suddenly, she had a whole new life... was a whole new person... But, given that the alternative was being found and torn apart by Daniel Whitehall, did she really have a choice?

She supposed she should be grateful. After all, she had only arrived in Gotham that morning, and turned up very much unannounced on her aunt's doorstep, begging for shelter. She hadn't seen Fish in years, but it wasn't as if they hadn't kept in touch... after all, Gotham's mobster queen had been more a mother to Raina than her sister ever had been, so maybe it was only natural for the scientist to go running back home when the shit finally hit the fan. And it had hit the fan. Big time.

Raina leaned back in her chair, watching as Fish Mooney slid the contract back across her office desk to examine it, a faint smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. Her aunt cut an impressive and austere figure, swathed in her blacks and gold, but there was a strange warmth to her too, here behind the closed and locked doors, which she never seemed to carry with her elsewhere. Raina's dark eyes followed her aunt's, and when Fish finally set the contract down again, Raina tried to offer her a small smile, but was so unsettled, she couldn't manage it.

"So, that's it?" she asked, softly.

"That's it," Fish replied smoothly. "You're officially under my care again, baby." The older woman leaned forward, "However there is the matter of you going around the city, still to be discussed."

Raina tried not to roll her eyes. "Mama, I'm fine. I'm a big girl now, I've done a lot of growing up since you last saw me. I can take care of myself. I don't need one of your pretty boys trailing after me and tripping me up."

Fish snorted in amusement. "Please. You look about fourteen. This city will chew you up and spit you right back out, you're not careful about it. We need to let people know you're part of the family... someone not to be messed with..." She seemed thoughtful for a moment, then reached for the phone sitting on her desk, pressing a button for the intercom.

"Gilzean, get me The Penguin. Tell him I have project for him."