Let's Party Gotham Style! (Hush)

Meradith was holding one of her first parties here in Gotham, she had advertised about it and through her shop she had managed to get a lot of people to say they were going to come. Never had she thought that it would be this busy though! The club was maxed out to full capacity and she was having to get people run out and buy more alcohol for her guests because the bar was running dry.

She supposed that was what she got for subsidising the cost of the drinks there, what with her clients being the normal people of Gotham, Meradith knew that they needed things to be cheap to have a good night out. That was why entry was free, it was open to everyone, and the only thing they had to pay for was the bar food, the drinks and her work if they wanted some of it.

And boy did they want it!

It seemed that many people, like her, found the villains fascinating and they wanted to have her little posters of them in her home. She had sold lots of the prints and even some of the higher class people were here tonight and she had shifted 5 framed, and 2 original works.

Tonight was very profitable! And it wasn't even over yet!

Hopping into the VIP area of the club, she sighed softly and fanned herself with one of her art programmes lying around. The VIP area was the place she kept all of the artwork, it was quieter and people weren't allowed drinks up here so they couldn't spill them on the canvas.

Clicking through all of the people in her high heels, dressed as stated in masquerade of their favourite Gotham Villain, she stopped by the painting of Harley Quinn and hummed. It was one of her favourites. Her costume was different, a black dress with short skirt, a long net bustle flowing down her legs, black stocking and suspenders with her high heeled shoes. Not to mention her top hat with added mesh trail at the back, her inserted Joker cards, and her black and white cane.

As she listened to the thrumming music, Meradith hummed and tilted her head to one side to look at the painting of Two Face next to Harley.

Hush was not really very comfortable with being Bruce Wayne to be honest. He wanted to disgrace his old friend and he wanted his money, that much was true, but he didn't really want to pretend to be his old friend for too long. Being Bruce Wayne was hard work! It was seriously hard to think about how someone could stay this self-centred and self-obsessed for so long!

Until you recognised that sometimes he wasn't Bruce Wayne, playboy.

Sometimes he was Batman, the Dark Knight.

He was still trying to find out how best to break that news when, in the end, he just sighed a little bit and decided he wanted to go to a party that he had been invited to. Following the directions, Hush found the club alright and was already dressed up as it were.

Of course he was dressed up like the villain known as Hush.

Ironic didn't begin to describe it.

As he was wandering around he caught sight of a woman dressed in a steampunk like outfit. Deciding to socialise, he smirked as he stood next to her,

"I've yet to see the steampunk villain." he joked a little bit before looking at the paintings, "Harley and Dent? Both are very interesting characters and villains I must admit."

He paused before asking,

"So you are the artist right?"

Meradith was happily admiring her work and thinking about how great it would be if someone wanted to buy it from her tonight, even just a print version. It seemed people didn't want to see Harvey Dent as a villain but there was definitely something about him, something about the way he was so disfigured that made her think he couldn't have been all there.

Blaming Batman? It just didn't seem plausible to her.

Although when a man came up to her and started a conversation, Meradith smiled widely and she turned her attention completely to him, her deep hazel eyes locked onto his own underneath the bandages of his costume;

"Well I thought I would come dressed up as myself, I'm a villain in my own ways." she laughed softly "Harley Quinn is my favourite villain, she is so strong and so devoted, even if it is to someone she really shouldn't be...in some ways she's a great role model."

Holding out her hand for him to shake it, Meradith nodded her head with a grin;

"Yes I am the artist, Meradith Astraphel at your service. You, might I say, have the best Hush costume here tonight!" she complimented "Are you here for the art or the subsidised bar fees?" she asked teasingly.

Hush had to admit that the artwork was good and captured the characters of each of the villains rather well. Indeed, Harley looked positively obsessed with the Joker in all their pairing or group paintings and he had to admit that when she was on her own she looked a lot hotter than he would have thought.

But then again he'd been thinking about her when she was with Joker; that was bound to reduce her sex appeal.

He had to admit that while he had never heard of a steam punk villain, this woman was pulling the whole image off nicely. Smirking a little bit, he had to agree that Harley was very devoted but that was all he agreed with her about the clown princess of crime,

"Aren't we all just villains? The only difference is that some of us where masks." he told her with a smirk before nodding in agreement, "Well she's certainly dedicated. Role model though? For what?"

Taking her hand, he kissed the back of it before grinning,

"I'm loving your work Miss Astraphel." he told her honestly, "You seem to have a real knack for painting the rogues. As for why I'm here... I'd like to say I was only here for the culture but the drinks were alluring."

Meradith smiled softly and she thought that for someone she had never spoken to before this man and her were already getting on quite well, although that might be the two glasses of Champagne she had before she had come up here to check on all of the buyers in case they wanted to purchase any of her art.

Instead of finding a buyer she had found a really rather interesting man, with a shockingly good Hush costume in fact she would almost say that it was the real thing if she didn't know that the real Hush would have something better to do than come to her lame party.

Well, it wasn't too lame she admitted with a small smirk.

"Quite true, I just thought I would give myself my own costume for tonight, maybe I should give myself a name as well? Perhaps you can help me think one up if you are so inclined to spend some more time with me." she stated with a cheeky grin "I'd hate to be keeping you from some Poison Ivy or a Harley Quinn..."

Humming softly she spoke, she had a very unique view on Harley it must be said; "For love. Some might think it just stupidity, and some will blame her madness but I choose to believe that her love is great enough to withstand intense violence and abuse, and their lifestyle, yet still be so strong. I'd like to have a love that strong for someone some day." she admitted with a soft smile, a strand of her brown hair falling out from its pin as she looked up at Hush with her eyes sparkling.

Unable to stop her little blush when he kissed her hand, Meradith smiled gently and looked around the gallery;

"Would you be open to some culture viewing if I promise you a drink afterwards?" she asked with a little grin "I promise I wont make you buy anything, its not my style."

Hush had to admit that she had a better costume for someone who wasn't a villain than many of the villains who tried to style themselves as enemies to Batman. Well... she certainly beat Calendar Man and the Mad Hatter that was for damn sure. Although Hatter was more of a madness related villain than anything else. But still, there was an open market for a steam-punk style villain in Gotham it had to be said.

Smirking a little bit, he shook his head slightly,

"No ideas off the top of my head but I'll keep you informed on that." he told her with a smirk before laughing a little bit and shaking his head as he accepted a flute of champagne from a passing server, "Oh I've never been too interested in those two. Too into plants and too into Joker for my tastes I'm afraid."

Listening to her reasoning and he defence of Harley and, to a lesser extend, the Joker he frowned slightly and tilted his head to the side,

"For love?" he repeated before humming a little bit, unable to really think about how that would feel. In the end he just chuckled a little bit, "I'd have to take your word and Harley's word for it. I've never been in love so I'd never experience this."

He held out an arm for her to loop hers with,

"Oh it would be my pleasure to view some culture with you." he told her with a wide grin before shaking his head slightly, "No no... I'm sure that I shall be buying something from you sharpish you know? Too good not to really; the quality is amazing."

Meradith was really very happy that this man was single and currently not here with someone else, otherwise she would have felt bad for all the flirting that she was planning on doing with him but...she didn't feel bad at all now. She was going to enjoy it very much, and her outfit was thank god one of the most sexy she had ever tried on. It apparently flattered her very well, Alfred had said but then again...he was so nice he wouldn't say otherwise.

"Well I think that I shall have to take advantage of that. Just so you know I have no strong feelings about plants or playing cards." she purred softly "I hope you don't mind. Besides I'll have to stick with you so that you can tell me when you think of that name."

When he said that he had never been in love before, Meradith linked her arm with his own and squeezed his hand very softly with her own;

"There is a first time for everything, and there are plenty of ladies out there." she stated with a reassuring warm smile "I'm sure that you'll find the right lady one day, maybe she's even a nameless new villain on the scene who kills people with serious bargains for her art."

Walking slowly down the art gallery, she decided that she would stop at the next little alcove which contained two large paintings and three medium sized ones. Bane was a main feature in most of them, the three paintings being separate canvases making up his body in an attacking pose. The others flanking him were scenes of destruction, such as the explosion of Gotham General Hospital, or the collapse of the Football Stadium mid match.

"You think?" she asked with a happy grin "Well I always try my best to get high quality paint and canvas but, I want lots of people to enjoy my art, and the masses of people are not very wealthy so...I have to make things slightly cheaper than I'd like."

Looking around she grinned wider; "If Bane isn't your thing I have one of Hush around the gallery, but that might be a little bit weird, it seems as if you like him enough to dress up as him though."

He chuckled a little bit when she said that she might have to take advantage of that. She was going to be flirting with him now was she? Well that was something he would like that was for damn sure! Licking his lips a little bit, he winked back at her. Of course he had every intention of flirting with her too and for a variety of reasons too,

"Well good, plants and playing cards do not do well with me you know? I'd go so far as to say that they actually put a dampener on who I am." he told her with a small smirk before chuckling, "Of course! I'm going to have to do my best to come up with a good one and that requires concentration I find."

She misunderstood but it was to be expected. The thing was that Hush had not only never been in love with a woman before but had felt absolutely no love for his parents either. Rich and famous but his father was abusive and his mother negligent. He had been happy when he'd killed his father and excited when his mother finally died too,

"Of course, I'm sure that said nameless supervillainess would be kind enough to give me her number too." he agreed with a wink before laughing slightly, "I hope I can be worth people coming out to try and find love with me."

Standing in the alcove, he looked at the Bane paintings for a moment before looking away. Hush... did not like Bane. Bane had come incredibly close to killing Batman before and that was his job. That was his RIGHT. He was going to be the one to off his childhood friend and that was final! He turned away from the paintings,

"I do think so... it shows that you use the best materials too." he admitted with a little chuckle before nodding in agreement, "Well don't worry, you get a large order and it's all alright."

When she mentioned paintings of Hush he was honestly rather looking forward to what she would end up saying about him,

"Go on then... Hush is my favourite villain as you can tell. And you can never have too much of a good thing."

Meradith was enjoying this casual flirting that she was doing. She honestly hadn't had much time to take a breath tonight it had been so busy and she had been flooded with orders for her work but now everyone was in the party more or less, or using the VIP area to catch their breath or have the occasional making out session before the security had to shoo them very politely back downstairs or out of the door.

When he asked for her number, Meradith scored a point for herself in her mind and very sensually pulled out her card holder from her small purse and withdrew a card, placing it in the pocket of his coat with a little smirk on her lips;

"Why the thought had just occurred to me myself, that's my card, it has my personal number on it in case you ever feel you need to buy some art rather urgently. Or fancy meeting up for a drink." she laughed softly, slipping the card case back into her purse and snapping the clutch shut again.

It didn't seem that the man liked the Bane pictures and she was a little put out, they had sold one of the most units this evening, especially the three piece as the print, they enjoyed the artwork she had managed to do, making him almost photograph quality in detail. However, it could be that he simply didn't like Bane as a villain.

"Tonight has been great I mean, I'm glad everyone is having a good time and I have had loads of purchases so I'm a happy bunny." she winked, picking up a flute of champagne from a passing waiter with a light smile in thank you to him.

Linking her arm with Hush's again, Meradith slowly stalked her way in her heels towards the end of the exhibit where she had the two paintings she had done of Hush. She liked them, and she was just sad that he wasn't one of the villains everyone seemed to want to buy because the quality of the picture was good!

One was a photograph of himself made up of tiny photographs of Bruce Wayne, and his father, who he had turned himself into on other occasions. It showed his obsession pretty much made him who he was, his driving force in his life. The other painting was of a downwards view of Hush, in the centre of a circle of his fallen enemies, many of them were villains that he had beaten after the disappearance of Batman such as the Joker, and Bane.

"Well hopefully you like these ones better, I have to say Hush is a very interesting Villain. He didn't seem to be interested in causing mayhem but targeted Batman directly...the way he lashed out at the other villains when Batman disappeared seems to suggest that he was angry that he didn't get a chance to kill him himself. I suppose I can understand that, if someone took the target of my life away from me I'd be pissy too." she stated with a smirk on her lips.

All this casual flirting with Meradith was nice, it was something that Hush had never really gotten the hang of back when he was a surgeon and that was weird because every nurse tried to flirt with the rich surgeon from a good family. Not even mentioning the fact that he was the sole heir to the fortune of his family on both sides. But with her it was different; the words were flowing a lot easier when he was thinking about Meradith.

Smirking a little bit when she gave him her card, he winked at her,

"Well then expect my call within the next few days." he told her with a wink, "I don't like to tease all that much after all. And don't worry... I think I'll be needing art and the company of an artist the likes of which I have never seen the equal of."

He could tell that tonight was going to be a massive success for her to be honest. Right now he could see many of the more important and wealthy art collectors here too. She might care enough about the common people to let them in free and give cheap drinks but that didn't mean that she would turn away the rich after all,

"I'm sure that you're going to be eating well for the next few years." he teased her with a wink before sighing a little bit, "I'm fast running out of potential ideas for you though."

When they reached the two paintings that had been dedicated to him, Hush paused and stared at each of them in turn. The one where it was a collection of photographs of Bruce and Thomas Wayne was something that touched him and he knew he had to have it. Tapping the frame, he turned to Meradith,

"I want both of these paintings... the originals please." he told her simply, "I want to hang them up in my home in pride of place. You did a remarkable job."

He couldn't help himself... he spoke,

"People say he used to be Batman's childhood friend." he told her quietly, "They say they played chess with each other and Aristotle... funny how things turn out isn't it?"

Meradith was very very glad that this guy didn't really like to play games, because she didn't either and to be honest she just didn't have the time. Here she was in a strange and dangerous city trying to get to know the one relative she had left and that relative kept disappearing and missing their plans because he was suddenly busy and had to go out of town or some other excuse.

Messing with guys wasn't really high on her list right now; "Well then I look forwards to your call, but what name should I put in the caller ID, I can't very well just put Hush Cosplayer in can I?" she laughed gently.

Unable to stop a little pout when he said that he was running out of ideas for her name, Meradith crossed her arms around her chest and looked around the room, gesturing with her hand at all of the artwork;

"In the whole wide world of art related genre there isn't anything that speaks out to you?" sighing softly she smirked a little bit, showing she was just joking "So, maybe I'm not destined to be a villain after all, perhaps I should just be neutral, like Switzerland." Meradith winked with a cheeky grin on her lips.

As he looked at the artwork she could tell there was an emotional connection there but didn't comment on it. Meradith did comment on the fact that he had just bought two of her originals at over $8,000 each. It made her heart hammer softly in her chest and she hoped that he would be able to enjoy them in his home, they were slightly cheaper than her other work as Hush wasn't as popular but still it was a lot of money.

"W-well thank you!" she stuttered, still a little overwhelmed "I really do appreciate it, I will have them shipped to your home address this very week, if you just call me and let me know a good day and time I'll have them dropped off for you."

The quiet way that he spoke, made her heartstrings pull softly and she threaded her fingers through his own and held his hand gently;

"Friends always have a place inside of us, best friends even more so, but things don't last forever and they certainly do change with time. I'm sure the things between the two of them, if you're right, turned out that way for a reason. I'd just like to know what that reason was." Meradith smiled gently, and squeezed his hand again before laughing softly "Your hand is kind of cold you know that?"