(Untitled)

[gothams_son]

(open to freelilahBruce had finished up business and packed the tux early on Friday. Before he left LuthorCorp buildings he emailed Alexander and Harry to let them know he was in the LA area for the weekend and he'd like to see them if they had the time

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[freelilah]

The place Lilah asked Bruce Wayne to meet her was in front of a much nicer building than the one she actually inhabited these days. She had parked her car behind, though, and slipped into the lobby behind a delivery boy. No one questioned that she belonged there, though; the elegant green dress with the plunging neckline, and the diamond choker that accompanied it, made sure of that.

A woman could get a lot of things on credit if she didn't to seem to need it.

She recognized Wayne from seeing his photograph in various newspapers. She let him stand on the sidewalk for a moment and orient himself to the neighborhood's glitz and the California warmth. Then she walked out the door, making sure she could see that she had years of experience balancing in stiletto heels. She walked as though not quite toward him, then moved in his direction at the last moment. "Good evening, Mr. Wayne." She looked down at the orchids. Of course, he was the type who would bring flowers. . .she tried the idea of Wesley holding a bouquet and had to look away for a moment to keep from cracking up.

"My," she said, with a smile that hid more than it revealed. "I should have known you would never be the type to settle for anything as dull as roses."

[gothams_son]

"It's nice to meet you in person Miss Morgan." he held out the bouquet to her with a carefully practiced smile.

"You seem to me the sort to appreciate something less pedestrian and overdone than roses. And someone who looks like you do in that dress deserves something less common than something I could get in any florist."

[freelilah]

Lilah took the bouquet and looked down at it with renewed interest.

"These were grown"

She was about to quote the old General's line in one of her favorite movies. Nasty things. Their flesh is too much like the flesh of men, and their perfume has the rotten sweetness of corruption.

But when she raised the flowers closer to her face, she realized they don't smell like much of anything. She felt vaguely disappointed. The movies had lied to her. Now whether Bruce Wayne could live up to his billing, that was another question.

"How do you find the City of Angels?" she asked.

[gothams_son]

He watches her smell them, or try to, even though they are from Hawaii and have more scent than a southern orchid they are still fairly perfumeless.

"Sorry, it is hard to find anything that both smells good and looks good. If it was a different season I would have brought roses since mine haven't been bred out of the ability to smell like so many have." Yes, he's dropping the carefully social talking. He finds it tiresome.

"Much as usual, all steel and glass and very little soul. But an interesting city just the same."

[freelilah]

"I've always considered souls to be quite overrated," she responds. She looks up at the steel and glass in question, eyes half-turned from the billionaire in front of her. "Souls and angels, too, for that matter."

She gives an inquiring look at the limousine to see if he is ready to head for the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion or if he has something else in mind. The curtain is at 7:30 which gives them an hour and a half; accounting for normal traffic, the ride should only take about thirty minutes.

There isn't time for a proper formal dinner, but they do have some time to kill between now and then -- unless he's the sort who is uptight about arriving late and disrupting things, or unless it is important to him that they mingle and be seen before the show. She is curious about Bruce Wayne's attitude toward killing time.

[gothams_son]

"You'd be surprised." Whether he's speaking of souls or angels or cities in general he doesn't elaborate.

With a glance at his watch he smiles at her.

"Eaten yet?"

[freelilah]

This is always a tricky one, because it says a lot about expectations. Is she the kind of girl who counts on dinner when it wasn't offered? Is she going to pay for dinner, since she after all, did the asking, since the entire basis of whatever relationship they might be building is that neither one of them needs the other?

Back when Lilah was alive, she would have downed enough energy bars to get by, no matter what Bruce suggested. One advantage of her current state, though is that food, while palatable, is utterly unnecessary.

She avoids lying -- for the fun of it, of course, not for the morality -- and also avoids a direct answer.

"I could have something," she says.

[gothams_son]

"Good, because I haven't and you'd hate to hear my stomach growling through the whole opera." he grins a little at her.

"You have a place you'd reccomend? Otherwise I can find us a place."

[freelilah]

She shrugs. "There's a nice place around the corner that does a divine rack of lamb."

If he's the kind of guy who won't eat baby animals, she may as well find out now.

"Of course," she says, "We're cutting it a bit close, who knows if we can get a table. . . "

If he doesn't take this as a challenge, she doesn't know her billionaire playboys.

[gothams_son]

He smiles, he knows when he's being challenged. There's no sense in being a billionaire if you can't get what you want occasion.

He'll have to reach in and put on his best Alexander Luthor face but he can do it.

"Oh I'm sure they can find us some place to sit." He winks and tells the driver to meet them at the restaurant before holding out his arm to Lilah.