"…You want me to get you into the good graces of Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop so you can befriend their son as per request of your mother" Bruce Wayne raised his eyebrow over steepled fingers at his protégé. Terry shrugged helplessly. "Mom pointed out I'd have probably gone back to the gang if I hadn't met you. So, she wants me to be a good influence on him" He folded his arms. "Not like I think I'd really make an impression, or get along with him. He's got creepy taste in music. And clothes and-" "Terry" Terry stopped talking immediately and looked at Bruce. Bruce's half-smile vanished and Terry wasn't sure if it had been there at all. The old man turned to his computers and began typing something in.
"You're familiar with fear toxin, yes?" Terry rolled his eyes. "Uh, yea. I got sprayed in the face with it, remember? By you. For training. Jeez, is your memory going now?" Bruce hit the 'ENTER' key and news clippings and old videos of reports came up, as well as official looking files. "Do you know who first created the fear toxin?" Terry scratched his head. The old man had taught him this ages ago, but it was hard to…the guy had a name of a bird, right? Crow, Wren, Bluejay, Robin…no, that was the name of the Bat's sidekicks. "…Crane, right?" Wayne gave a nod in confirmation and Terry raised his eyebrows. Wow, he'd been guessing on that one.
"Doctor Jonathon Crane. Also known as the Scarecrow. He went mad on his own gas. He was a former doctor in Arkham Asylum. He wanted the city to know what true fear was" Terry gave a low whistle. "Looks like Ghoul, kind of" He looked over at his mentor, eyebrow raised. "What, you think Ghoul is some sort of major fanboy or something?" Bruce shook his head. "Try nephew" Terry's jaw dropped. "No way" Bruce just looked at him and Terry shook his head. "Okay, Okay, not that surprising, I guess. Explains the outfit and shit. But what, you think Ghoul's going to follow in dear Uncle Crane's footsteps?" Terry may have been joking but Wayne's face said 'yes. Yes I do' Terry groaned. "So I would have had to keep an eye on him no matter what, then" Bruce gave a slight smile. "I think it's a good idea if you follow your mom's advice, McGinnis"
"Stew-uh, Ghoul, someone's here to see you" the blond teen sighed. Must be Wayne's assistant his mother had told him he was going to start hanging out with from now on. Ghoul paused his music and swiveled in his chair to stare down the maid. Huh, she was new. She soon started trembling under his gaze and he waved her off, going back to his computer. "Tell them to fuck off" He turned back to his computer and was about to start searching a certain annoying teacher who gave him hell in the third grade when- "Well, that just fills me with cheery vibes" Ghoul spun back around, eyes wide. "You! The hell did you get in here? Go away" Terry rolled his eyes and walked into the dark and gloomy room. "Yea, the guy who beat you up because you threw his girlfriend off a balcony in a nightclub!" Ghoul's eyes shifted and he shrugged slightly. "Hey…it wasn't my fault, man. I was under orders" he began advancing and Ghoul began backing up on his-thankfully wheeled-swivel chair. "Your maid let me in here, Winthrop, and no. I'm not going to leave" Ghoul stared at him "…you two going steady?" Terry backtracked at the unexpected question. "Yea…" Ghoul grimaced. "That's one annoying, nagging bitch!" Terry's fists clenched. "Hey!" Ghoul raised his hands, face showing that yes, he was freaked by the sudden anger. "Just speaking my mind, man. I generally avoid girls like that, is all"
It was Terry's turn to smirk, then. "What do you call the Dee Dees, then?" Ghoul frowned, paused what he was going to say, thought about it, and conceded with a nod. "Touché" He turned back to his computer, hearing the almost silent footfalls of the other teen as he walked into the room and closer to Ghoul. "What are you doing?" Ghoul shrugged almost imperceptibly. "Doing research on my new 'playmate'" it was almost funny how it took Terry McGinnis, (who liked fried chicken, had been a member of a gang, had a loving mother and 'twerp' of a younger brother, not to mention his father allegedly being murdered by Jokerz) a few minutes to figure out what he meant.
The blond teen had already a notion of how strong the other was, but this was taking it to a new level. He was almost ripped out of his seat with how hard Terry grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He was livid. Even staring into a face that rivaled the face of an angry and insane Delia, Ghoul managed to smile. "What? Don't like people knowing your past? Yea, I wouldn't be too proud of the stint in Ju-" he never finished his sentence as he suddenly found himself on the ground with a throbbing (and probably swelling) Jaw and a very angry teenager standing over him. Oh, right, those parts he'd glanced over on Terry's files. A hot-head with several years in wrestling and boxing. Yea, getting him riled up wasn't the best idea.
Terry clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down, admittedly feeling a little-well a lot actually-guilty about punching him. Ghoul had been trying to tick Terry off and the teen had walked right into it. Stupid moron that he really was. And he was supposed to be the new Dark Knight? If the old man found out about this he'd never hear the end of it. Terry crouched in front of the blond with an apologetic smile. "Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten ticked at that. It is a bit of a touchy subject, but I'm over it. Being Wayne's assistant helped that" Ghoul narrowed his eyes and batted the offered hand away, getting up on his own and making his way over to his computer, pulling his chair behind him and sitting down with a languid grace most girls would kill to have.
"McGinnis, I am not a 'project' for you to take up and work on. You being here has nothing to do with your own benefit, someone told you to come here and be nice to me so hopefully I don't go round the bender and go back to being a criminal" Terry stood up and scratched his head. "…That obvious?" Ghoul waved a hand, not looking at him. "You are one of the few people I cannot read like a book, but yes. It wasn't hard to piece together, with the overheard snatches of conversation that the servants let drop. Hm…" He trailed off as he fell inside his own mind and wandered down a train of thought. Perhaps it would be a good idea to invest in a sound-proof door (not that anyone seemed to be bothered by his still there whimpers of terror and screams of remembered pain, but it would keep the annoying conversations out and his more private life in. That was important) the gothic boy jumped as McGinnis touched his arm, reminding Ghoul the annoying black-haired errand boy of Wayne's was still there. He gave a long suffering sigh, put his computer to sleep, and whirled around so he could look Terry in the eye.
"Well, sit down, then. It seems the fastest way to get rid of you is letting you sit here for an hour and 'talk' with me" Terry raised an eyebrow, and looked around, finding an old barstool in the corner of the room. Ghoul didn't bother pointing out the more comfortable seat hidden in the dark of his bedroom. As far as he was concerned, the stupid muscle-bound black haired twit didn't deserve a comfy seat. He'd punched him for crying out loud!
They sat staring at each other for what Ghoul estimated to be close to half an hour. He had a weird habit about always being right about that sort of thing, his 'internal clock' seemed to be wired to Northern Pacific time. It was handy if the gang didn't have a working clock and he was using an old dinosaur of a computer that didn't display the time in the corner (surprisingly the things were still around, and a few still worked. Handy if cops were getting wise to hacking; the oldies didn't leave a trace that could be easily detected by new scanners and tech) Terry was giving him a slight, knowing smirk. As if he was well aware that Ghoul had been buffing the Dee Dee's family's funds with 'borrowed' money from some oil tycoon in East Asia. Ghoul felt like attempting to wipe that smirk off of the other's face. Not that he'd get far; he'd probably fail epically and get another swollen cheek for his efforts.
"So. You and the hyena guy, huh?" Ghoul blinked as he was forced out of his thoughts. Honestly, could people not let someone just sit and think? Morons… he processed the question and made a slight look of disgust. Not at the idea, but at the way everyone assumed. "No, not me and Woof. He's dating someone else. However, sharing a bed is necessary when nobody can get a 1994 era heater to work for more than three hours and it's a cold freeze. Honestly" his carefully neutral voice seemed to be more bruising to Terry's ego and knowing smile than a scathing tone would have been. Interesting. he'd have to remember to use that more often. He decided to continue this thread of conversation just to prolong the uneasy look on Terry's face. "Yes, I'll go for guys just as soon as girls-I'm bi. But Woof and I've just always been good friends, even when he was fully human"
Ghoul stood up and stretched, walking lithly to the mini-fridge he'd insisted get installed so he didn't have to come down and sit through an hour a night of 'family dinners' with his insufferable parents. Ghoul pulled some chilled soda out, putting it to his swollen and stinging cheek. "Mother informed you of my…preferences, didn't she? I'm assuming she also grilled you on whether or not you share the same views and whether or not you will lead me back into a criminal and unsavory lifestyle, given your background and the fact you're not…" He paused and gauged Terry. Tense, a little shocked (so he'd been right. Well, he'd have to be a little nicer to mother. Even if she cared more about image than him, he could still appreciate the gesture) but not angry and it didn't appear like he was going to attack him again. Good. Ghoul continued with a slight sneer. At his parents, not Terry. Honestly, the chance to rant was too good to pass up, even if he'd already decided he didn't like the black-haired teen. "The fact that you are not 'blue-blood' or 'rich' and all you have going for you is connections" Terry coughed into his hand and Ghoul gave a grin of victory. "This interview is over, Mr. McGinnis" Ghoul shook his head and walked around his bed and to the window, the only light in his room since his computer was asleep. "Come again next week. Or don't. I don't care"
Terry gritted his teeth at the profile of the gothic teen by the window. Honestly…he'd let the techie make him look like a right fool. Not that this was the first time, but it was more bearable with Max. he opened his mouth to say the hour wasn't over and how did Ghoul know anyway when he didn't even glance at a watch-bare wrists, no clock in his room, and then looked down at his cell phone and blinked. "How did you know?" a dry laugh and the profile shifted, Terry knew well enough that it was probably Ghoul shifting from right leg to left and folding his arms. "Internal clock, McGinnis. Now vamoose. I've got things to do" Terry rolled his eyes and got up, rather relieved because he was starting to get antsy, and walked to the door, starting to smirk. "Sure thing, Stewie" He was out the door and had it just about closed when the crash and tinkle of a glass paperweight hit right where Terry's head was, barring the four inches of oak door that got in the way. Damn, he'd forgotten Ghoul had a throwing arm like a baseball pro. He'd have to be careful not to forget that in the next few meetings.
"So, how did it go?" Terry groaned and ran his hand through his hair, looking at his boss. "Ever felt like a bug under a microscope and the guy looking at you knows a lot more about you than you do?" The former Batman rewarded his protégé with a rare smile. "Sounds like Ghoul is following in the good doctor's footsteps. Crane was a genius, could pull you apart with a few words and well placed observations" He looked at the files and pictures still on the screen. Terry grimaced. Yea, that's exactly what it had felt like. "Scarecrow never figured out who you were, though, right? So I'm safe" Bruce Wayne gave him an almost batglare. "I'd be careful if I were you" Terry sighed. Nothing could ever be simple, could it?