Owner	Pose
Elizabeth Greene	Life is unpredictable. If it were otherwise, it would get boring quickly.     In the life of Elizabeth "Beth" Greene, bumps in the road are the norm. She took a couple of extra nights on-call for homicides this week, leading to three more cases on her desk. Too many deaths, many stemming from the Russian mob. Despite them being more high profile, they don't get any more attention than the homeless man found in an alley. All are looked at equally, given the same attention as she works through leads to try and find the culprit.     The homeless man was killed by a kid wanting to prove he could do it. The kid, who was an adult on paper, was now in jail and would be spending the rest of his life there most likely.     The mobsters? Still lots of leads with nothing solid. It's frustrating.     Her social life took a plunge the past week. The man she had been seeing had taken ill while out of town, leading to her spending a lot of time in the gym or binge watching tv shows when she wasn't putting in the extra hours at work. However, he is back in town and they've agreed to meet. She made sure one of the other detectives took her on-call for the night, returning the favor since she'd helped him earlier in the week.     She got to pick the place. It's a hole-in-the-wall bar with a dozen tvs scattered about the place showing various sporting events. At least three have MMA on at all times. They also serve a mean Philly cheesesteak. Beth has taken up her usual booth in the far corner with a view of the room. and the door.
Dick Grayson	Relationships are unpredictable. If it were otherwise, it would get boring quickly.     In the life of Richard 'Nightwing' Grayson, the smooth parts of the road are the rarity really. It had been a tough last few weeks after the debacle with Damian and then the ensuing training that was required by the Batman just to get out of the cave. And then there was the all hands alert of Joker's Birthday which... could have gone better. Way better.     But this... this was a chance at normalcy, to actually try and keep connection with someone who seems to actually tolerate the absences and the lack of calling and the horrible horrible excuses for being so late or sometimes even standing them up. It's hard to be involved with a masked vigilante, and harder when it's a Bat just because of the organized craziness of it all.     But when they were finally able to connect, all the reasons why for trying to maintain this connection and to actually embark on a third date? Second official? Criminy. But all those reasons came rushing back and he smiled into the receiver of the phone as they chose the time and place.     This time it wasn't going to be a place that he regularly goes to, that last restaurant had been a mistake. But this place... it looks like it might not be a Michelin star place of service, but the smell when the door opened with a jangle of the bell, well it seemed like it was at least doing somethign right.     And there he was, young Richard Grayson looking a little haggard and rough around the edges, with some stubble on his chin and cheeks, but otherwise no worse for wear. He slips into the place, looks around... see her waving and he'll smile and wave back. A few steps and he moves down the aisle towards her and then leaning in for a small kiss to the cheek before taking a seat opposite her.     "Officer," He says a little formally.
Elizabeth Greene	Uh oh. That doesn't sound very good.     Stop it, Beth. Don't jump to conclusions when he just sat down.     Her brows lift upward a the title instead of her name. She can't let it sit though as she smirks, "That's detective." It's followed with a bright smile, her blue eyes shifting to take in the stubble which she has not seen him rocking previously. Looks good on him, just not what she's used to. He's looking like he's had a bad week. Which she knows he has. Food poisoning is never fun. She's been there. It was a long time ago and she never went to eat at that place again, unable to even look at the building without feeling queasy.     "Missed you. You're looking good." She doesn't ask if he's feeling better. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have met her. "For having been down for so long."
Dick Grayson	"You know, I should know by now." Dick smiles at her as he settles into the seat.     His blue eyes meet hers and he lightly slides his foot forwards to rest beside hers because of reasons. Then the next step is extending his hand towards her palm up so she can take his hand if she so wishes. "Detective."     Should she allow he'll give her hand a squeeze and then looks to the side, towards the front of the house, then back to her. "Missed you too, and yah. I mean..." He pushes a hand through his hair and rubs at the back of his neck thoughtfully, eyes meeting hers again as he crinkles his nose. "I might have taken a few days extra so you wouldn't see me looking all ugh and ick with the green gills and all."     He slides further into the booth then murmurs, "You also look like you've been keeping busy. So what is good to have here?"
Elizabeth Greene	"Cheesesteak. It's to die for," Beth answers immediately. "I come here at least once a week to get it. Although they have other stuff as well. Nothing too fancy." She pulls out he menus which are kept at the table, held in place in a little stand by the wall. She pulls one out and lays it on the hardwood table, flipping it open. She doesn't need it. She always orders the same thing.     "And yeah, been a long week. Just once, I'd love to have no cases to add to my desk. A nice week of nothing but burglaries and grand theft autos, which I don't have to work. The murder rate seems to have spiked in the last two months." Mainly thanks to the Russians, something she can't say. "If we don't get to the bottom of it, bodies are gonna keep piling up."     She pauses as a server comes over, a young woman in jeans and a tight fitting tank top with the name of the bar emblazoned across the back. "Get you all something to drink?"     "Sweet tea for me," Beth answers. It's one of the few places where she can get pre-sweetened tea instead of mixing it up herself. The sugar never seems to melt properly that way.
Dick Grayson	"Alright let's have that then," Dick leans to the side and only glances at the menu, trusting her taste in what to have. But then he looks back up at her. "Though honestly, this place can't be any worse than our last time out. Unless an ex or some guy who used to obsess over you works here. Then we'd be even." His lip curls a bit as he squeezes her hand again.     "See, Beth... you say this stuff to me. But I know you." He looks at her sidelong as if she were trying to get one over on him, "If you weren't totally in over your head, or didn't have all the minutes of your day spoken for, then you'd go and find something else to do." His smile is a touch roguish as he shakes his head at her, tongue clucking in a small tut tut of sound.     "I'll have some ice water, and I think we want two cheese steaks and some fries?" Dick looks away from the waitress to her to make sure that's acceptable for an order, then he nods and smiles to the server. "Thanks."
Elizabeth Greene	She nods her agreement for the order then watchs the server rushing off to get their drinks. Then Beth flicks her gaze back to Dick, the smirk twisting her lips once more. "Busted. Yeah, I'd be volunteering to help with property crimes or putting in to go to some extra training classes. Maybe do some teaching. Anything to keep busy. While I do enjoy binge watching shows once in a while, I can only take so much before I have to go outside and just /do/ something."     She looks to their hands, turning hers more into his grasp so her thumb can slide along the backs of his fingers absently. When her gaze flicks back up, mischief is dancing in those blue eyes. "Well. I used to date the waitress but we agreed we should just be friends."
Dick Grayson	"See, my friends give me a hard time about never watching TV." He shakes his head sadly, "I still haven't seen any of that Game of Thrones thing. I'm told it's required pop culture viewing lest I be left behind by my generation." But he grins as he says that last, clearly not really that concerned about it.     He lightly touches her hand as well as they sit there, giving a small squeeze and then resting his feet on either side of hers oh so presumptuously. "Oh you did? See I could totally tell with the way she was undressing you with her eyes." Dick shakes his head sadly, looking off towards her and then back towards Beth. "The chemistry was electric. Clearly I shouldn't stand in your guys' ways and all." He begins to puuulll his hand back from her, disentangling his hand oh so meanly.
Elizabeth Greene	Her laughter is the answer and she holds onto his hand more tightly, refusing to let it get away. "I think I'll stick with this chemistry instead," she says before sobering a bit. She shifts her legs, feet parting, bringing her feet in contact with his own. She is wearing a pair of slip on shoes. Taking her left foot out of the shoe, she slides the top of her foot along his calf playfully then replaces it back in the shoe.     "If it makes you feel any better, I've never seen Game of Thrones. Not a single episode. I understand that when you get attached to a character, they kill them off. So why bother? If I can't be emotionally invested in my show without them ripping my heart out, I'd rather not bother."
Dick Grayson	"Gee thanks, ever hear of spoilers?" He tells her with that wry smile, blue eyes on hers and his amusement there clear to see. He shakes his head and sighs, next thing you'll be telling me about this Luke Skywalker character's secret history with his family. Sheez." But as he says that he leans back against the side of the booth.     It's at that moment, however, when the waitress returns and slides their drinks to them. "Be right back with your orders, folks." She smiles to them both, each in turn before she turns around and bounds her way back towards the counter and the kitchen, sidling up to the next table and taking their order.     It's then that Dick looks back at her and shakes his head, "Electricity. Woo." But he gives her a small smile, "So tell me what you can about the stuff you're investigating. I know you can't share details, but I'm always curious."
Elizabeth Greene	"She's just playing it cool cause you're here. Otherwise, she'd be all over me," Beth says with a sage nod before she laughs, spoiling her attempt.     She uses her free hand to lift her glass and take a sip of her tea. Then she sets the glass back down but holds it in the circle of her fingers.     Her brow furrows slightly as she tries to think how to explain. "Some has been in the papers. The Russian mob has decided they should have a turf war which is leading to a lot of bodies ending up in the morgue. Throw in they have illegal weapons." She doesn't mention they are alien in nature, something that mobsters shouldn't be packing. "But we haven't been able to recover any of the weapons in working order so we can't get much from that angle." Careful phrasing. It'll sound like she means serial numbers off conventional weapons at least. "We managed to take several in custody a cuople of weeks back, thanks to some vigilantes.' She takes another sip of her tea. "The costumed kind," she adds, as though that explains things better. "They had taken down the bad guys for us. We just had to throw on cuffs and take them to jail. Well, a few to the hospital." She shrugs. "Gave us a few more leads but nothing concrete."
Dick Grayson	"That sounds intense," Dick lets go of her hand but only after giving it another squeeze. He grabs his glass and slides it over, lifting it to take a sip and to let an ice cube slip into his mouth for him to crunch a few times. He sets the glass aside, leaving a small streak of its condensation on the tabletop as he settles further into the booth seat.     "Must be frustrating to have to deal with vigilantes messing up crime scenes and causing all those erroneous cases in court since they don't give evidence and all that." He shakes his head and frowns, looking across and to the side, glancing in the way of the front door and the waitress.     Looking back at her, Dick half-smiles and then tsks at her condemningly, "Stop sneaking forlorn looks of lost love at our waitress, Beth!" He shakes his head again, "Man!"
Elizabeth Greene	Beth giggles, glancing in the direction of the waitress then back to Dick. "I'll try. But she's just so damn hot."     Her mind is on the vigilante point. "Some of the guys despise the vigilantes. Call them all sorts of names." She toys with her glass a moment, her brow furrowed as she tries to express her feelings verbally. "I think they are a means to an end. Sure, we don't always have perfect crime scenes. We don't even always have a case we can prosecute unless they leave enough behind for us to build one. Yet, they manage to catch bad guys. They help people. Save lives. I know that I should be out trying to arrest them but if one costumed hero can save one person that would've not be saved by us? I can't say it's a bad thing."
Dick Grayson	His features soften a bit as she jokes back with him but he shakes his head and looks at his glass of ice water. "Well perhaps I'll have to try and look at it from a different angle then, I still am not entirely convinced but... yeah." As he says that he reaches for a small sugar pack and pulls it out of the container, tearing open the corner of it and adding some to his ice water, because really why not?     "You'll probably think I'm crazy..." He tilts his head away as he looks over towards the front door again, just casually giving the room a once over before his eyes find hers again. "But I had the vague idea you might be one. Just with how well you fight and your sort of... addiction to adrenaline thing." His lip twitches slightly.     He holds up his hands as if to stave off any anger from her when he adds, "Not to mention you'd fill out a leather cat suit pretty well."
Elizabeth Greene	She is thinking he's crazy. Nothing to do with his thoughts at first. It's that sugar going into his water. First, why? Second, it'll never disolve. She's ready to start twitching as she watches the crystals sinking into the clear liquid and just not going away. She forces her attention back to him as he explains.     Her eyes go a little wide as he suggests she might be one of the costumed heroes. She's not offended but it strike her as funny. Hilarious really. Only made more so as he adds the last.     Beth laughs much louder than she should and she slaps her hand over her mouth. Her eyes are sparkling with the suppressed homor as she tries to control the giggles. The idea of her in a catsuit is laughable. To her. Finally she gets the sound under control and can remove her hand, her smile bright. "If just being able to fight and having a need for adrenaline rushes is the criteria, then both of us must be vigilantes."
Dick Grayson	"That may well be," He scritches his chin as he looks thoughtful, eyes lifting upwards as he stifles a small smile. "Then again, I've never worn a cat suit. Leather pants though..." He points at her and nods as if indeed having done so, which he has.     But then the waitress comes back with their cheesesteaks, setting them down upon the table before them with the fries on the side of the plate. She smiles to them both, "Eat up guys, can I get you anything else at all?" She looks between them both and grins openly.     Dick looks up at her and smiles, "No thanks, we're good." He then looks over at Beth and his eyes narrow as if daring her to say something.     But then the waitress heads off, Grayson affixes her with such a glare, "Did you hear that? She asked if she can get you anything else 'at all'. That's the important part right there. The 'at all.'" He shakes his head condemningly, "I'm onto you."
Elizabeth Greene	Beth is smiling again, shaking her head. "I'm really sorry but I haven't heard a word you said since leather pants. I barely made it past you wearing a cat suit. I'd pay money for that, you know. To see you in a cat suit," she admits with a chuckle as she withdraws her hand, after another squeeze, to bring it into play parting to two halves of her cheesesteak. Lots of peppers and onions, a huge stack of meat, all oozing with cheese.     "Hell, I'd pay money to see you in leather pants," she adds, picking up a fry and popping it into her mouth. She chews and swallows before she speaks again. "Although I'd need to make sure no other women ae in the area when it happens, or I'd have to break some woman for trying to touch you."
Dick Grayson	"Such violence," Dick clucks his tongue a bit and shakes his head as he does likewise to his cheesesteak, pulling it apart and smiling a bit. "Man, I am going to have to take half of this home. It's huge." He says as he reaches for a rolled up knife and fork, unwrapping them and taking the napkin into his lap. He then starts to actually use utensils in the devouring of a cheesesteak, the barbarian.     "So right before I had the problem with my stomach, I had a sorta... fight I guess with Bruce." He looks to the side then looks back to her as he slices off a bit of sandwich and cheese and mushrooms and steak, then eats a bite off the tip of his fork. "He's still treating me like a child at times. Not sure how to deal with that without coming across like some petulant teenager."
Elizabeth Greene	"Yeah, usually it's dinner then the second half is lunch tomorrow at work." Beth shifts her napkin to her lap then goes to pick up her sandwich only to pause. She watches him breaking out a fork and knife, being ever so polite in his manners. Her mind tells her that she needs to follow suit, not be a heathen. Her stomach tells her to get some cheesesteak in there STAT or it's going to announce hunger in the loudest, most embarassing way possible.     She picks up half of hers, pushing the bread downward to compact the whole thing, then takes a bite right off the corner. She doesn't talk until after she's swallowed and wiped her lips with the napkin.     "You had mentioned some sort of problem with him. Didn't go into a lot of details. It's to be expected he's going to treat you like a child. If he adopted you, that's going to always be the case. You'll be fifty and he'll still be trying to boss you around or stick his nose into your life." She smiles. "It's what parents do."
Dick Grayson	"Well, is he always going to try and ground me?" His lip curls into a roguish smile that borders on exasperated. He shakes his head and waves a hand to the side as he reaches for his drink again, taking a sip after his first bite but then settling back in with knife and fork, taking his time with it and leaving one half of it for later. Sometimes he'll even spear a fry after dragging it through some of the cheese.     "But I think we're always going to be at odds since he adopted me when he was fairly young himself. So... basically it's all a mess." He looks at her sidelong and worries at the corner of his mouth thoughtfully, "Though I could also see how he might have been trying to just be protective. But... I don't know."     Lifting his chin he asks her, "How do you get along with your parental units?"
Elizabeth Greene	"Well, I'm not allowed to date until I turn forty, according to my father," Beth says with a giggle. "So we have to keep this whole thing hush hush or else he probably will try to ground me too."     She takes a sip of tea then follows up with a fry before attacking the subject seriously.     "I get along with them pretty well. We're really pretty close. Mom is a cop and I had to follow in her footsteps. Neither of them really wanted that for me. They wanted me safe somewhere, not in a high danger career. Dad would've loved me to just go to work at the dojo. While I enjoy teaching, it just wasn't what I wanted for the rest of my life. Someday, I know he'll want me to take it over and I'm not sure what I'll do." She shrugs faintly. "At least I won't have to worry about that for a long time."
Dick Grayson	"Ahh," Dick nods solemnly.     Then he takes another slice of the sandwich and pops it in his mouth, chews for a bit as he looks at her from across the table. "Clearly what's going to happen is one of your dad's best students is going to challenge you for the rights to the dojo and you'll both have to fight in a death match above a pit of snakes while balancing on a tight rope." He nods again and then grins around the bite he takes of the cheesesteak and chews for a while.     "But I could see you doing that after you retire maybe. You'd make this stern angry sensei who whupped her students into shape, and then I'd come down each night and have to sweet talk all the soccer moms into not pressing charges." His lip curls wider.
Elizabeth Greene	Her heart skips a beat.     Don't read too much into it. Chill out. He's just joking around. He isn't implying that years from now, he'll still be a part of her life somehow. No, it's just a smart comment. Nothing more.     She laughs, outright, unable to stop at the image of him talking to the moms seated in the chairs by the door of the dojo. He'd do a great job of it too. His looks and charm would have them eating out of his hand. Literally if he'd let them.     "I'll be sure to call you when I start beating my students down. And as for the death match?"     She purses her lips a moment as though seriously weighing the pros and cons. Then her smile is dazzling. "Sounds like fun."