Vegas Knights
- Chapter 2by Darklady
Rated: PG-26 (Not dirty, just a topic for grown-up people)
Disclaimer: DC owns the Good People. I own the Bad People. [And you can have them if you want them.]
Slash: Officially yes. Lot's of want - no get. Life is tough. Still, Hornet Universe.
Archive: Here- all others Ask
"No, Gregor. We need to do something. To almost lose our baby girl....." Roy hugged the tiger closer and scratched her comfortingly behind one tufted ear. "She's going to be a mother, you know."
"We'd offer you a cub",Siegfried added, " but.."
"No thanks." Dick Grayson demurred. "My place has a strict 'no tigers' policy."
Bruce Wayne ( or 'Thomas Malone' as he was currently introduced) shook his head sadly. "Terrible the way some places discriminate."
"Isn't it just." Dick agreed with a grin.
"Please." Roy looked beseechingly at his partner. "We absolutely must find some way to show our gratitude.."
"Dinner?"Bruce suggested hopefully.
"Humm." Roy gave it a minutes thought, then turned to his partner."Sig? Dinner and dancing?"
"Someplace reasonably discrete." Dick added quickly.
"How discrete?" Siegfried asked. "TV preacher or just closet queen."
"Let's say senior Senator on a toot." Bruce replied quickly."We don't want to be tomorrows front page."
"Performing in Eastern Europe, eh? The Scarlet then." the blonde man said, starting to flip through his card file. "Not my kind of scene, but nice. Private club. Very low key. No leather. Older crowd with bucks. Not young enough to be a 'hot date' place, but they do have a nice quiet band. As a member, I can call and get you in."
"No problem after that. You both look respectably over age. Here."The entertainer pulled a business card from his desk and scribbled a note on the back. "Get whatever you want - it's all on us."
By the time the duo reached the lobby doors, a white stretch limo was waiting.
"Discrete." Bruce muttered.
"Please, Mr. Scaforzie." The uniformed attendant bowed to Dick as he held open the door. "With the gratitude of the Mirage."
"Well, Tom?" 'Gregor' said, stepping back to let his companion proceed him. "I guess we're stylin' tonight."
They driver was impressively professional, sweeping them smoothly through the jammed streets and delivering them within minutes the tastefully lit entrance. The door was indeed red, but so subdued that even Alfred would be hard pressed to call it garish. A small brass plaque besides the door was the only indication of the establishment inside.
Before they could touch the knob, the door swung open.
"Gentlemen" the uniformed doorman greeted them. "Please come in."
The interior was as tasteful as the entrance had promised. Scarlet carpet, white linen, and tuxedo-clad waiters combined to create an aura of European sophistication.
Bruce gave the room a cautious inspection. "Not the usual club scene."
"What, no knife wielding bikers for light entertainment?" Dick quipped, not noticing that their entrance had caught almost as many interested looks here as they might have provoked had they appeared at the Solitary Cyclist in dinner jackets.
Bruce smiled at his companion. "You'll just have to find some way to keep me amused."
A carefully coiffed man in an elegant black velvet gown inspected the new arrivals carefully, as if somehow gifted with Superman's x-ray vision and thus able to read the labels on their suits.
"Mr. Scaforzie. Mr. Malone." He drawled. "Mr. Siegfried told us we might expect you."
Bruce gave the velvet-clad man a withering look. "So glad not to disappoint."
A snap brought an extraordinarily pretty young man bustling over. He smiled broadly at the sight of the two men.
"Together?"
"Yes."
"Damn." Came the instant reply. "Well, then," the young man said, showing them to a softly lit table overlooking the dance floor. "I'm Charles, and I guess I'll just be your waiter tonight. Would you care for drinks?"
"Not just yet." Dick answered.
"Then I'll give you a few minutes to decide."
"Nice suit." Bruce quipped the moment the waiter was out of earshot..
"Kid should have used spray paint." Dick replied. "At least then he wouldn't have to worry about lost circulation."
"Oh, I bet he circulates plenty."
"Hey, I thought you promised not to notice."
"No, I promised not to be tempted." Bruce ran his fingers tenderly over his partners hand. "Believe me, I'm not."
"Let me check out the wine list. Then you can find out if all those dance lessons you insisted on actually did any good." Dick opened the menu. "Holy.."
"That high?"
Dick said nothing, just passed the scarlet leather folder across the table.
"Girlie menus?" Bruce's eyes widened in amazement at the menu without prices. "I thought these were extinct."
He started to hand it back, but Dick shook his head. "No, that ones yours. You're my date tonight."
The moment the menus closed, their waiter was back at their side.
"Ready, gentlemen?"
Bruce nodded at Dick. "Your date. Why don't you order for the two us us?"
"You are such a traditionalist*" Dick teased as he complied.
Bruce delayed until the waiter was gone before countering. "Very traditional. So. If I'm your date - shouldn't you ask me to dance?"
Moving out to the dance floor, they glided together, then bumped noses as they both moved forward simultaneously.
"Now I know why you always want to stay in on Valentines Day." Dick whispered.
"Brat. I always knew you'd want to lead."
"I'm flexible."
"You're incredible. Now if you'd only learn to dance backwards."
The arrival of their wine drew them back to their table.
"Sorry, 'Tom', Be back in a minute."
No sooner had Dick vanished then another waiter arrived, bearing a bottle of champagne.
"From the man at the third table."
"Thank the gentleman, but.. no thanks."
A tall Asian man in a flashy Italian suit rose from where he sat alone and came over.
"Hi handsome." he smiles, stepping very close. "I'm Eddie Cha. Care to dance?"
"Thomas Malone." Bruce replied, staying in his seat. "Thank you for the kind gesture, but I'm afraid we can not accept."
"Don't be.. afraid, I mean. I don't know what your circus star friend is offering, but I bet I can match it."
"Unlikely."
"Hey. How do you know till you give me a chance?"
"Because I know him."
"But you don't know me." The man retorted, placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder." Not yet."
"True enough," Bruce answered with a glance cold enough to send the trespassing hand scurrying back to safer territory, "But I think my friend would prefer that I keep it that way."
"Jealous type? He has reason to be. Your hot, you know that?"
"Thank you, but....."
"Hey, take my card. Think it over, handsome."
Dick walked up as the newcomer was laying his card on the table.
"Tom?"
"Mr. Cha here was just propositioning me, I believe."
"Really?" Dick's lips parted to show several teeth.
"He thinks you might be the jealous type."
"He's right." Dick answered, reclaiming his seat.
"Good."
Bruce watched with satisfaction as the trespasser retreated under Dick's withering glare.
"I thought you friend said this wasn't a meat market."
Dick smiled. "You wont believe the scene in the bathroom."
"Well, there is a reason I never did the club scene."
"Not like that - exactly. The place is pretty discrete. Although I bet there some interesting action upstairs." Dick pulled out another card and dropped it by the one on the table. "No, this is more of an auction thing. I'm washing my hands and this guy comes out with a proposition. Point blank."
"As long as that's all that came out."
"This places exchanges more business cards then the real estate room at the Gotham Founders Club.
Bruce picked up the second card. "Victor Chadwick? I've heard of the man. Don't know him by sight, obviously. Still. I must complement his taste."
"Must you?"
"Of course." Bruce tossed the card back on the table. "It so matches my own."
The band had switched to soft jazz, and the gentle rhythms had drawn many couples out onto the dance floor; Dick and Bruce among them. As they spun slowly to the melody, Dick sighed and drew his partner still closer.
Bruce froze, and a bit of the Bat flared in his eyes.
"Problem?" Dick asked.
"Unless that hand was after my wallet, I'd say some people lack faith in the power of champagne."
"You too?"
"You?"
"A few minutes back. That's why I lead us over here."
Bruce cast a tactical glance over the increasingly crowded dance floor. "Maybe we should just eat."
As Dick settled into his seat, Bruce murmured. "Excuse me a moment."
Straightening his tie in the mirror,Bruce observed a well dress black man take a spot at the sink to his right. From the careful movements, the man had been drinking more then champagne.
"Who's the daddy?" he slurred.
"Excuse me?"
The strangers blurry look was blatantly accessing. "I was watching you two from the bar, but frankly I can't figure out who's keeping who. You're older, but with your looks? I figure your still at the top of the game. So, he buying? Or are you?"
"I gather we can exclude the concept of mutual affection." Bruce replied stiffly.
The other man smiled cynically. "Along with little green men and honest politicians."
"If I said he was?"
"Then I'd put in a bid."
"And if I was?"
"Then I can still give you a sweeter deal." Fumbling out a business card, the stranger tucked it into Bruce's vest. "He's cute, I dig. But I could be a lot better to you long term."
"Really."
"Give it some thought. It might be time for you to trade up."
"Give it some thought. It might be time for you to sober up." Bruce replied. "Before you annoy someone less polite then myself."
"You are so right about the bathroom." Bruce said as he spun another card onto the table.
"Another admirer?" Dick asked, picked up the embossed pasteboard. "You do have a way of getting into trouble in bars."
"And this time I didn't even pack my leathers."
"God." Dick shook his head. "That's a thought. And here you told me it was your politics that started that bar fight.
"That one, yes." Bruce held up one hand in mock-defense as he slipped back into his seat. "This bunch doesn't seem the type to stab me in the back.
"Not with a knife."
"Yes, there is that."
"You really want to eat here?"
Bruce took a last sip from his glass."No one's food is that good."
"Come on." Dick said, dropping a few bills on the table."Let's go before I have to defend your honor.
Bruce began to rise, then stopped. "Christ. Eli Williams " he said , the corners of his lips twitching upward. "I just remembered. I'm due to meet with the Williams Technology Group group next month."
"Some fun."
"He said he'd give me a good deal."
"I don't think electronics subcontracting is exactly what he had in mind."
"No" Bruce laughed. "But I'm imagining the look on his face."
End Part Two
KKR 2003
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