2019-05-10 - Spiders and Bats and Cats, Oh My!

Summary:

Peter brings Mayday to the Wayne Mansion for help, and things are revealed.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Mon May 10 00:00:00 2019
Location: Wayne Manor, Staten Island, NY

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

mayday-parkerbruce-waynepeter-parkerselina-kyle

Wayne Manor. One of the statliest manors you'll find in all of New England, it's amazing how the Wayne family manages to have /that/ much land available in New York City. It'd be a drive out- but once Peter had asked, Bruce had sent a driver into the city to pick Parker up. The car pulls through the gates of the Manor home and onto the large circular drive that's usually used for parking dozens of cars for a soiree - not that Bruce has hosted one in a while.

However, there does seem to be some work going on around the home. They're preparing for graduation party. Helena's graduation is on the cusp of happening, and of course, Selina and Bruce would want to have a get together for her.

There's a few planners moving about, making notes and such as standing outside the door is an elderly and seasoned gentlemen. Tall. Lithe. Perfectly British.

Peter was rubbernecking, of course. He was also trying not to look too nervous. His request had been through Helena, and he felt a little guilty about playing the Family card.

He looked to the other person who was his "plus one" and realized this was for family, too. As far as Peter and Aunt May were concerned, she was family.

"Well, I've either gone to the right person to help, or I've misjudged badly. It's still a tossup, either way."

May… honestly feels like she's driving into a movie. Especially this /house/. "You never told me you had crazy rich friends!" She flashes Pete a grin, before going back to looking out the window. …And they have a butler. Of course they do. "Well… Hopefully we won't end up worse off than we have already?"

Maybe this place didn't exist in May's world - it could still be secluded or a landfill if 9/11 never happened. As the car pulls up, the gentleman comes down and opens the door. "Master Parker. Welcome to Wayne Manor. If you would follow me, I'll show you to Master Bruce and Miss Selina. Excuse the commotion. They are quite excited for their daughter's graduation."

Guiding May and Peter into the house, the large foyer with the split stairs greets the pair - a large painting over the main wall of Bruce and Selina with their children - Helena and her brothers. Helena seems to be clearly the youngest.

Stepping through the large room, Alfred heads towards the doors at the end, opening them into a large living area. "Miss Selina, Master Bruce, may I present Master Peter Parker, and his company."

Peter LOOKED at May, open-mouthed. "You…said it." He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "OUT LOUD." He sighed. "I don't know the guy from Adam or his wife from Eve. I just know their daughter. She's very…"

And then the door opens and the tall, dignified man greets them. He can't quite keep the nervousness out of his voice as he says, "Uhm, yessir. Uhh, no, no problem…"

He was determined to keep going, though. And if he had to play his trump card…well, that's why he had the entire suit, webshooters and all.
Peter GOGGLED at the wide living room. His whole HOUSE might be able to fit in here…

"…Well, she's part of the family, so…" May abruptly cuts off as well, givng Alfred a polite nod as he leads the way. She tries not to stare… too much. It's kinda unavoidable, though. The Avengers base and the F5 building had been entirely different than this. An entirely different flavor of expensive. And she wasn't the only one packing webs, although her own shooters were in her backpack. Kind of a necessity due to the bulk.

Selina is balance precariously on a tall stool, messing with one decoration or another when Alfred announces the pair, managing to make a purple sweater and black trousers and boots look fashionable, as she cranes her neck back with a smile. "Oh hey there! Don't suppose either one of you have about six inches on me and can reach this hook?"

Selina lets go of the decoration, leaving it hanging from one of it's two anchorpoints and hops off of the stool. "I'm kidding. Thank you, Alred" She says kindly. "So!" She crosses her arms and walks slowly down the stairs and with a bemused smile. "You must be the famous Peter Parker. Welcome, both of you, to Stately Wayne Manor, the worst kept secret on Staten Island~" She says with faux grandiosity, and reaches out one hand to shake Peter's, grinning a bit. "I'm Selina; Helena's mother."

"You know, I pay people to do that." the tone offered to Selina is warm and teasing as it comes from the newcomer that steps from around a corner of the room where he was looking over some information. Bruce Wayne just gives off that confidence and aura of old money. He's never wanted a day in his life, his six feet and three inches are perfectly maintained, dressed in a black turtleneck and grey slacks. "Selina, did you tell me how many invitations we're sending? And should Steve and Bucky's be a joint one?" he asks, before noticing the newcomers.

As Selina hops down, Bruce moves to join his fiance, and offers a warm smile. "I meant to properly introduce myself to you at the science fair, but work calls.." he says with a sigh of mock frustration. Of course, in this pace - that duty calling led to Helena going out to dinner with Peter - and then coming across Jason with Selina. "Thank you for spending time with Helena the other night. It's always a pleasure to meet one of her friends." With that, he finally extends his hand. "Bruce Wayne."

Peter blinked. Him, famous? There was that little blurb in the paper about the science fair, but it had been in the Lifestyles page, 10th page, small type. Not even a picture.
"Uhmmm…hi, Selina's mother. I mean, Helena." He stops. "MISS. KYLE."
Not even the first move and he's flubbing the game. Peter was flushing red with embarassment. He looks to Mr. Wayne, and that's no help. "Uhm, yessir. Helena's a bright woman, sir. She's got a pretty good grasp of aesthetics and mechanics. She asked a lot of good questions." He suddenly remembered why he was there, and stepped aside. "Mr. Wayne, Miss Kyle…this is May Patterson."

…Whoah. Still getting used to the situation she's found herself in, May grins sheepishly at Selina's question. "Sorry, Pretty sure I'm not any taller-" And then the man himself comes in, who'd featured /heavily/ in a lot of May's research on how this universe differed. And somehow, he looks even more like a Bond actor in person. "Ms. Kyle. Mister Wayne." She extends her own hand, figuring she might as well get in on the handshake game. Pete gets what is intended to be a reassuring nudge, a sign that they'r eboth in this together. "I'm a friend of Peter's, and it is a pleasure to meet both of you."

Selina smirks at Bruce's response and says "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you're paying me more, so…"

At the foot of the stairs, As Peter stumbles all over himself, Selina's amusement gradually rises to levels she struggles to contain, crossing her arms and raising her brow while nodding indulgently. "It's funny, Helena said almost the same thing about you. Didn't mention you were cute, though~" And there it is. Socialite turned charity giant-and-billionare-fiance has begun the time honored process of flirting with her daughter's imagined romantic prospects to make them squirm.

Is that not normal?

Selina shakes May's hand and blinks curiously. "Oh? Sorry, I would have sworn you were siblings. You both…" She tilts her head for a moment, then shrugs. "Anyway."

There's a chuckle when Peter flubs up the introduction. "Don't worry, Peter. Selina has that effect on most men. Myself included. I still get surprised that she's in my life at times." Bruce gives Selina a wink as he gets introduced to May. Pausing, Bruce's attention turns to the young woman and gives an appraising once over. That Peter's in the manor after asking to visit and bringing a young woman with him has the brow of the older Wayne rising momentarily. "Miss Patterson." he greets the young woman, then his attention turns back to Peter. "I assume she's part of the reason you asked to speak with us?" he starts to ask curiously - Selina would recognize it. It sounds friendly, but that detective is already going to work.

"I pay you?" he asks Selina when she points that out. "Here I was thinking that you just like being around here." he responds with a small chuckle, before his attention returns to the pair before them, and Selina makes her observation. "Like a pair of bookends."

Selina Kyle thinks you're cute.
His face goes blank for a full second. He doesn't even notice when they cast their suspicions out there, his brain is rebooting. Then his eyes come into focus and he tries VERY hard not to think of the fiance of one of the richest men in the world, then says, "Uhm, Miss Patterson has a problem and I wanted to ask you Mr. Wayne but it might be something you didn't want to do so I wanted to talk to you directly…!"

May's enjoyment of Selina's Pete-teasing is somewhat tempered by the fact that she still has no clue how trustworthy these people are. But, if Pete trusts them… Okay. Better she go ahead and do this before Pete does something like bring Spider-Man into it. "Soooo…" She squirms a bit, twisting the toe of her sneaker against what must be a very expensive carpet. "You might have heard about the… strangeness at ESU on Sunday. I was also at the same demo, but…" The teen squirms a bit, gaze flicking down to the carpet again for a moment. "Not the same one. I'm not from this universe, and something went wrong with the experiment that linked mine and this one just long enough for a bunch of stuff to fall through. Including me." ~Oh crap, what if they don't believe me…~

Selina smirks and shrugs at Bruce "Welll, you let me spend your money without throwing me in jail, that's *like* payment." It's a joke; Selina Kyle is… well, she's supposedly independantly wealthy. She never goes into a lot of detail about herself. 'Enough to live comfortably' she'll say, and then add, 'Maybe not *this* comfortably, but.'

In the moment, however, Selina's expression goes from the pure hearted enjoyment of watching Peter squirm, to a blank stare in May's direction. She takes a very deep breath through her nose, then lets it out very slowly, lowering her head. "I was not prepared to hear that today." She says, and gives Bruce a pained look. A look that says 'I've been dealing with wizards all month, and this is your fault somehow, but I can't say anything about that'.

"Careful, Mister Parker." Bruce may have caught that look. "I plan to marry that woman when she finally decides to stop being independent." he comments dryly, a playfulness entering his tone before the young man turns the floor over to his friend. "Yes, I had read about the accident." Bruce tends to stay on top of the science magazines and articles - though May continues, and those brows rise anew. Of all the reasons that Bruce had assumed for Peter's visit, this is not the one he expected.

Then his eyes glide over to Selina, sharing a glance with her. Wizards? Just this month? Then it's a slow month. "So. To understand this - and that this isn't just a prank, or a pitch to get a grant - you're suggesting that ESU's particle accelerator caused a Higgs singlet?"

Peter exhaled slowly. They weren't calling for the men in the white coats yet. "I'm saying that, for one moment, the acceletator interacted with an anomalous substance in a meteorite recovered from the moon, and caused a "pocket" between universes to form. The pocket "ate a number of items near its alternate-universe counterpart, closed, and re-opened in ours. It's only a theory. I found out someone changed the code, and the server itself doing the process was convered into a three-foot square, eight-foot-high mass of cooked linguini. I think it was the result of the attempt to traverse what one scientist called the Zorth axis, their name for a fifth-dimensional axis."

…Welp. That was the look she'd been afraid of. Time for the demo. May sighs, looking over. "Peter… I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier." She takes a look around to make sure they aren't being watched by prying eyes, places her hand against the wall… And lifts up. She hangs there for a moment, supported only by one palm flat on the wall, before dropping again. "I'm sure you've all heard about another Spider-Girl being around lately. And yes, before you ask, Pete, I can get you Spider-Man's autograph." She turns back to Selina and Bruce, expression still fairly serious. "I helped rescue a few of the scientists and was just kind of trying to figure out what to do outside afterwards, and he came up and started asking questions."

As Peter explains the theory, Bruce frowns. "I see.. and hopefully everyone was alright..?" he starts to ask. That is, until May decides to put on her little demonstration. As she outs herself as Spider-Girl, the color drains from the billionaire's face - these are the type of people his daughter associates with? He lets out a breath, and takes a moment to process this. "Another Spider-Girl? I heard of one.. but I assumed that was all.. theorum and just bluster from Jameson trying to sensationalize his crusade against Spider-Man."

Moving towards the door, he takes a moment to regain his compsure. "Alfred." he asks, "Can you bring our company some refreshment?" This may be going on for longer than he expected.

Selina's eyes begin to get very very wide at May's demonstration, which at least shows greater comprehension than she did during the science talk, the capacity for which Helena seemingly did NOT inherit from her mother. Her first thought it voices out loud in a quiet "Jesus…" and the second is that she was pretty sure Spider-Girl was shorter. That one doesn't get spoken out loud.

The third is mulled over as Selina briefly scrubs her face, then drags her hands down over her mouth before clasping them together and keeping them in front of her chest with a sigh. "… Why are you telling us this? What do you need from us?"

Peter is about to explain further, and then…May does it. Well, that's one way to ut through this Gordian knot. Hopefully all the cut pieces can be picked up.
He takes a deep breath. "Everyone's fine, thanks to Spider-Girl. But now she's trapped on a world that's not hers, and she has no identity. No Social Security number, no license, no birth certificate. And until we figure out a way to get her back to her home…she needs to make her way here. Aunt May and I took her in, but she needs more than a roof over her head and the best Yankee pot roast on the East Coast."

"Pete's pretty much got it. I don't legally exist, so I can't really do anything as… Not Spider-Girl. Like get a job or anything." May bites her lip, looking a bit nervous at how scared they seem to be getting. "You don't have to worry though. Honestly, From what I read about your daughter, we're in entirely different social circles. I did pretty well in Science class, but I'm nowhere near as good as he is." She nods to Pete. "Entirely different social circles. I was… just hoping that you guys might know who I'd talk to about this kind of stuff. I don't want to end up in some kind of SHIELD lab for the rest of my life. If you're uncomfortable though, I can go and you can forget you ever saw me."

"And I suppose that SWORD would be the same." of course, Bruce's dislike of SHIELD is known - he actively campaigned against them with tons of cash when they were being made to enforce the Registration Act. He draws in a breath, and considers as he goes to take a seat and folds his hands into his lap. "Wayne Enterprises hasn't done much work in the theorum and application of theory.." it's more known for it's pharmaceuticals and weapons and gear.

"What type of experience do you have then, Miss Patterson?" he asks her, his attention turning to May fully. After all, his alter-ego is currently funding an alien's secret superhero team, "And you will apparently need a way to afford housing, groceries - and day to day neccessities and niceties." And now, he's looking to Selina - this may be more /her/ speed than his.

Selina's crossed one arm over her chest and hooked it over her elbow as her other hand rests on her chin thoughtfully, picking up from where Bruce left off. It's been awhile since she was the pretty face of Bruce's end of the anti-registration movement, but she hasn't been idle in that time. "And we don't mean… superhero stuff, I don't think that pays." At least she's not supposed to know if that pays. Honestly she considered just ditzing her way out of this situation, but apparently the shallow civilian act is off the table. "Do you have any skills? Job skills? Clerical work? We both keep pretty well staffed, but there… *could* be some way to weasel you into the Kyle foundation's work." She frowns, "My assistant just eloped, but I kinda doubt you want to follow me around with a clipboard all day."

Peter looked to Helena's mother. Still can't stop thinking of her in any other way. And it helps to think that after the feeling he got when she was flirting with him.
Hormones. Can't live with 'em, can't control them with medicine.

"She needs legitimacy…and that means faked credentials, or some way to make real ones out of whole cloth. I don't know anything about that. Sometimes…" He stops himself before he can say how he really feels, because he can bemoan his wreck of a life another time. Right now, May needs help.

"Well, In my universe, Spider-Man retired back in the early two thousands. I got my powers in Late 2015, and he helped train me-" And then Selina says not superhero stuff. "…oh. Not that kind of stuff. Right." May bites her lip. "Well, I nearly got elected Student Council President, but ended up dropping out and naming my campaign manager as my successor since Hero stuff kind of got in the way of things. She ended up winning…. I tried working as a photographer for the Bugle, but it turns out I'm bad at photography. …I can probably do clerical stuff though, and following you around with a clipboard is probably better than trying to deliver pizzas on a bicycle or something." She grins weakly. It wasn't actually that funny.

No, but chemical castration is a viable option, Peter Parker.

Ahem. As Bruce listens to the explanation, he taps his fingers against his knee, looking thoughtful. "There's no way we can verify any of this of course." which makes it more frustrating, but he leans in to speak quietly to Selina. Since he's not aware that people can eavesdrop, it's a quiet, "Are you sure?" he asks her, before he considers, turning his attention back to May.

"Besides finding a job, and continuing your side work, Miss Patterson, what are your plans outside of getting home? What plans did you have in your home universe for your life post-high-school?"

For once Selina doesn't get to bask the longterm affects of her toying with men's hormones, and that, if nothing else, is tempting her to feel grouchy. She listens to May quietely, then, inclines her head to Bruce when he steps close to her, and frowns whispering, "No, I'm not sure about anything, there's a Mutant from another dimension in my house. I'm just…" she sighs. "Listing options?"

Selina… may or may not still have connections that could help with identification, and she squirms a little as that issue comes up, but in the meantime she waits to hear the answer to Bruce's question.

This is the point where Peter shuts up. They're talking to May, and that's all right. He steps back slightly, moving back into the background. It is a well-honed and well-used skill, and it comes in handy a lot.

"Yeah. I'm aware that this dores require a lot of trust on your side. I was originally planning on going to ESU like my Dad had, hence why I was at the demo that day. …pretty sure that can't really happen now anyway. Hopefully find a job of some kind that's flexible enough work hourswise that I won't get fired. …Help my parents with my baby brother." May sags visibly. The homesickness never really goes away. She can forget about it for a while, but it always comes back. "…Which I also can't do. So… Try to make the kind of contacts who know enough about interdimensional stuff that I can get home?"

For several moments, Bruce Wayne is completely silent. He looks between the three, taking mental notes, his gaze settling on Selina for the longest of the moments - before turning to Selina. "Here's my offer." he finally says, as he moves to settle next to Selina, settling his hand on his wife to be's. "I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. In the height of all the madness with registration, I was asked what I would do if I was presented with an unregistered power. I said I'd do all I can." And that has come back to bite him solidly in the ass.

"Selina, if you want to try her as your assistant, I'll support you." he finally says, turning his attention to May. "Also, ESU. Full scholarship from the Wayne Foundation. But - it depends on you maintaining high academic marks, and continuing your… charitable work." That work that involves her costume. "Selina is in charge of almost all of my philanthropic foundations - this is /not/ going to be an easy task. And I want to make sure that this is something that Selina is comfortable with before we move forward on it." he pauses for a moment.

"This is also not an offer to suggest that you be Miss Kyle's bodyguard. I will not ask you to out yourself - or your powers like that. Also, as part of this, you will be working actively with those in the science field that may have ideas on how to get you home. I can talk to my own R&D and see what they have, but honestly, the odds or repeating this incident so percisely to attach you back to your world are astronomically small - but we will try."

Selina gives Bruce's hand a squeeze, and gives him a bit of a fond look as she's reminded of their work against Registration before the incident five years ago threw everything out of whack. Things were finally starting to look almost normal around here. She supposes it's high time to get back filling their plate up with as much weird trouble as possible. Like the good old days.

"… I'm okay with giving her a try." She crosses her arms. "I move around a lot, I keep odd hours, and I have a daughter to raise… so it can be hectic… but I can look the other way when duty calls, and the coffee is free." She smirks a little. "If I can read your handwriting, you'll already have a leg up on your predecessor."

May nods along. "I understand. And even if you don't want me playing bodyguard… I've still got my Spider-Sense. Which can also tell me if I'm being followed, which is kind of useful. And I fully understand that it'd be hard to send me back. But I'd at least want to be able to tell people that Spider-Girl is alive. I'm out to my parents, so…" She turns back to Selina, smiling a little more confidently. "I can handle hectic, and my handwriting's pretty decent. Free coffee's a good perk too." She gives Pete an encouraging smile. See? Things are totally working out.

Bruce gives a nod of his head. "Then I will leave it to you and Selina to work out. Do you have housing yet? Or will you need a dorm allowance." he asks, before his attention moves from the two women to settle on Parker. "This is a large leap that you took tonight, Peter." Bruce offers to the young man, and he leans back, considering him, "I'm impressed. Not that it means that much, I'm sure." he says with a smirk, then remembers.

"How did you do at the science fair? I did not get the final result. As well - you said something about pot roast?" he looks around, as if making sure the walls don't have ears. "I love Alfred to pieces, but American foods are not his speciality. Perhaps we can have you and your Aunt over some evening to share her roast with us?"

Selina smiles softly to May. "Then you're hired. As for ID we'll…" Selina averts her eyes. "… figure something out."

Selina's eyes begin to get very very wide at May's demonstration, which at least shows greater comprehension than she did during the science talk, the capacity for which Helena seemingly did NOT inherit from her mother.

Peter blinks. "Uhm…uhmm…yeah, sure." Wayne is impressed with HIM? Shut the front door. "I…it's something that doesn't travel well. I think she'd be more willing to cook it here…that is, if Mr. Alfred doesn't mind turning over the kitchen to a stranger."
His mind is awhirl and it takes him a few moments to collect his thoughts. "Oh! Yes, uhm…I was able to win the scholarship, and a letter of recommendation from Dr. Connors. I…got my acceptance letter a few days ago. I just have to show it to someone and they'll sign off on a work-study grant to cover my tuition. I'd have to ask if it covers books and supplies, too. At least I can take the subway to ESU from Queens."

"I've been staying with the Parkers for now. Pete basically said that he wouldn't be living up to his Aunt if he didn't offer, and she also kind of adopted me now I think." May grins a bit wider. Back to Selina. "Thank you very much, Ms. Kyle. I won't let you down. …Also among the perks of hiring a superhero is that I'm pretty sure speedwise I can beat any food delivery service. …Well, maybe not out here in the suburbs. Not as much stuff to swing off of."

There's a nod of Bruce's head as he takes in the information. And then he glances towards one of the windows. It's a picturesque view of the city - even as the sun goes down. There's a frown that comes to Wayne's face. "Though I'm afraid we've kept you long enough - we can discuss housing and a stipend for your personal account, dependent on Selina - another time. It's close to even here, and with the increased police presence and scrutiny with the Batman murders, I don't want to keep you too long." he sighs, "Dreadful business, that is."

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