2012-08-21: Getting Culture

There was really little interest in art for Roy Harper. For all the interst in crafting and artistry that the Navajo showed, it really wasn't -his- kind of thing. And yet, here he was, pondering a large sculpture in a Soho museum tilting his head every which way, because of some misbegotten idea that exposing Lian to art at an early age might give her ideas for future possibility. This had to be done, primarily, because Lian was taking a) far too much interest in his guns, and b) insisting she was going to become a gun-fu princess, whatever the heck -that- meant.
But, inspecting the statue, while Lian just kicked her feet boredly on a bench, causes Roy to sigh a bit. Maybe this wasn't the -best- idea- he could have picked.
"Daddy, I'm boooooored," whines Lian, as she aims a particular kick towards her father's leg, as a reminder she was still here.
"... come on, it won't hurt to pick up a little culture," Roy says. Where were the darned dogs playing poker paintings?
A woman who is dressed almost like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's has been wandering the gallery herself, looking here and there as her path takes her past the various displays and artwork. This is a bit more folk-artsy than she normally indulges in but the name of the show-ees and their style lured her in.
Roy and his little girl gets her to stop despite herself, his sigh and her declaration of boredom getting her to chuckle.
"He's right, you know," she says while looking at Lian, her expression warm. "There's nothing wrong with picking up culture. Trust me, you'll come to appreciate it when you're older." As she ends that she looks at Roy, brow creaseing thoughtfully. "Are you her nanny?"
In contrast to the elegantly dressed woman in the form-fitting black dress, Roy was dressed in bright primary colors, something that -looked- vaguely formal, being a bit of a short-sleeved red polo shirt and navy blue jeans with a belt. That he happened to be wearing sneakers didn't really help the impression... but if it helped, he was wearing colored socks.
Lian, wearing a little pink sundress, startles, quickly looking down and away shyly, leaving Roy to smile. "She'll get used to it, I guess."
Grinning a crooked half-smile (the sort that must seem oh so familiar to the woman as she's probably received many of those over the years) as he does a quick once-over of the Holly-esque woman, Roy brings his hand to brush Lian's hair as he comes in closer, allowing her to half-hide behind his leg. "I'm not used to all this culture myself, and, well..." He motions to the statue. "I have no idea what it's supposed to be."
"It's a twisted up snake, Daddy," Lian says, keeping her half-wary expression on the woman.
"... uh... Darned modern art." There's a quick look at the plate on it, followed by a shrug. "I have -no- idea what's going on with these things..." He offers a sheepish smile and a hand. "Roy Harper. This is my daughter, Lian."
The way Lian reacts gets a slight chuckle from Selina. While her first love is cats there is also a soft spot in her heart for children and the way the girl acts bashfully tugs on her heartstrings. "I think it might be an Ouroboros," she says as she takes a step back, allowing for Lian and her father to have their personal space. That is untill Roy offers her his hand, making it so she has to lean in to take it.
"Selina Kyle. Pleasure to meet you both."
After the introductions are concluded her eyes lift back up towards the statue, her expression thoughtful. "I am not sure if I'd like that in my house but it is a lovely piece."
"An... Ouro...?" Lian repeats, her face squinched up as she tries to word that, before giving up and looking at her father. "Uh... ouro..." In turn, Roy looks towards Selina, perfectly blank at the meaning of the word.
Lian goes on, "It looks like a snake eating its tail."
"It does," Roy echoes, giving Selina the look of quiet desperation that one gets when one doesn't want to appear stupid in front of his child. "It's... well... yeah, it's really nice."
"I'm afraid that is all I know about it," Sel admits to the youngester. "My forte falls more along the lines of things feline, not reptilian." Hopefully that'll stave off any more questions from Lian which should hopefully also spare Roy from getting a million and one questions from being asked.
Catching the look from Roy, the black clad woman merely smiles and shrugs a bit, looking apologetic for having caused this to begin with. "It is nice to see parents try to teach their children about art. So many do not bother..."
"Oh, well, it was more of trying to teach her other things while she could still learn them," Roy admits, as he motions out there. "All the stuff I've been reading about trying to get them interested while they're young, before they stop wanting to learn new things, so..." There's little mention about the sort of things Lian was interested in, but there's just -enough- of a note in his voice that would indicate she hasn't had a mother to show her these things.
"So uh..." Rubbing his freshly shaved chin (something about going to an -art- place meant having to clean up nice for one), Roy motions around. "You've been around these places a lot, right? You, uh, with anyone, or are you free to show us around?" Because clearly she wasn't dressed up like museum staff. Way too... high-class.
Selina looks at Roy and then to his daughter, obviously considering something that she doesn't speak upon. Takes her a while before she says anything, her voice held at a quiet level of volume as if it were a library she was in and not a gallery. "It's nice to hear you say that. So many children are left without any kind of education outside of the basics."
Asked for her help now, Selina darts a glance to her left and then to her right, looking like she is in the process of orientating herself. "I have to confess," she murmurs while a faint blush creeps to her face, "that this is the first time I've been in here. Not from the city, originally."
"Yeah, well... I had one screwed up childhood, so I'll be blasted if I let myself end up the same way," Roy grimaces.
"Daddy," Lian says in that way when a child has caught an adult saying a bad word.
"I didn't say anything bad!" Roy replies defensively. "Uh..." Well, hey, Selina's blushing. "Oh, you're not from around here? Where'd you hail from originally? I came out of Star City, mostly... well, and the Navajo reservation."
"Daddy's a Native American," Lian adds helpfully.
"Adopted," Roy amends.
Oh boy. To be Lian's age again. Complete with the delightful way they say things. It's a detail many might over look but Sel can not help but to notice it and long for those days. "Someone has her daddy on a short leash. You're going to be trouble for all the boys when you get older, I can tell." A hand comes out, offered to the girl, while she looks at Roy, brow arched.
"Adopted Native American, hmmm? That sounds interesting. Perhaps we can discuss that while we look around."
"Hey, I'm not on a short leash," Roy protests. "She's just..." And Roy leans over to whisper conspiratorially. "S-M-A-R-T."
Lian pouts in that stubborn way when children know that adults are trying to talk over their heads. "I am -not- going to be trouble. If I get in trouble, Daddy says he's taking away all my guns and---"
There's a quick laugh, and a cough. "Kids, they say the darndest things," Roy says, shifting to take Selina's arm by the elbow, while tugging Lian's hand. "So, what would you like to know about the Navajo? They're..."
Selina has grown up in Gotham and has seen many things in her relatively short life including the coming and going of several 'sidekicks' who trained under Batman, all fairly young people. But no of them were Lian's age and none of them had guns as a kid. That gets her to startle and she looks at her, nose wrinkling and then to Roy as he makes to take her arm.
When they start winding their way around the gallery she is distracted, the worry of a little girl being in the ownership of guns shifting to curiosity. "Well... mostly just curious about how one becomes adopted in," she says easily, her attention kept mostly on him.
Yes, well, it was Roy thinking that it might behoove Lian to expand her horizons -beyond- guns and all sort of things that her father would bring home. So there was zoos, arts, and ... well, she probably needed a feminine touch somewhere, but that would remain to be dealt with.
Lian squirms free of her father's grip, and dashes ahead a bit to look at a painting that was apparently some sort of 3-D visual effect, the result of an artist trying to be bold and visual with newer technologies and optical illusions. Roy gives a half-sad grin. "Oh... the Navajo took me in after my dad died in a forest fire. They felt obligated, y'know, cuz he was saving their lives."
"Oh. I am sorry." Sel looks at Roy when Lian dashes ahead, the girl left to her own thing for a moment. "That had to be a difficult time for you." The painting is finally approached and looked at, it given a slight bit of an appraisal that has her eventually shaking her head. "I wonder just what that artist was trying to convey."
"It's... well, you could say it set me on a path. Didn't turn out too well, got into trouble along the way, and... well..." Roy shrugged, indicating Lian with a tilt of his head. "She's pretty much the reason I straightened up, got my head together."
As they arrive at the painting, Lian turns around, breaking up her father's hold on Selina with a tug of her hand. A fit of possessiveness? Well aware of her father's tendencies? Whatever it was, she was having none of that, as she clings to Roy's hand. "What is it, sweetheart?" he asks.
"I can't see anything," Lian pouts.
Roy glances at Selina on her comment, and then squints, trying to get his eyes focused. "... I don't know. I see a big red glop and..." Whatever the artist was trying to do, the 3-D effect was really making it seem like there was a bloodspout coming out at him. Or maybe that was just a rohrsarch test? "It's... unique. I'll never get art like this, I tell ya... I think you see everything as you are, not as it is."
Selina comes up along Lian's left, stopping just behind the child so not to startle her or make her feel uncomfortable. Roy's listened to at the same time she tilts her head to the right first and then to the left, her expression faintly baffled. Doesn't help that she's trying to make sense of Roy's words at the same time. "I don't see it either," she eventually says, one of those people that such effects are lost on. "Oh well. I am sure we'd be stunned and awed if we were able to see the image that is apparently... lost in all that gobbilygook."
"Oh... I thought maybe it was like, if you see blood spouting out of that painting, it might be.." Roy halts, frowning. Was -he- just seeing things because he -expected- things to be like that?
Lian, unable to see the image, shakes her head with a pout, turning her head towards Selina. "Daddy sees things better than other people," she says, a bit frustrated.
Roy dismisses that quickly with a sheepish grin. "What say we just look at something more to your tastes? I mean, you've come from out of town to just... sightsee?"
Now that's odd but is not the oddest thing she's heard. Not by a long shot. It's why Roy only gets a quick glance and a shrug before her attention is turned back to the painting, Lian getting a playful pat-pat on a shoulder while she continues trying to see the image. "I came to town due to needing to get out of Gotham," she admits. It's true, what she says, just lacking in much in the way of details. "Wound up having a fire at home so my stay here has been extended a few more days."
His invitation to see something else sidestepped, Roy tilts his head at the 3-D image again, watches the blood flows out of the nasty cut, and then glances back away, attention back on Lian.
"Oh. I'm sorry. So, you're... not long for New York?" he asks, wrapping his arms around Lian's neck in a slight squeeze. Lian fidgets, covering one of her eyes and trying to squint at it. Which really defeats the point of 3-D, but...
She missed Roy's inviation to move on, too engrossed by the current panting to have caught it except in afterthought. Selina turns around to look at what's hung behind them. Nothing fancy like the 3D painting but pretty. One's a framed print of exotic flowers and the other is a study in the human figure. Thankfully the pose the man was drawn in keeps the subject modest, but still.
"I got a meeting with the insurance people soon," she says before looking back at Roy, brow arched. "Why do you ask, if I may inquire?"
Giving up on the 3-D experimental art, Lian trots over to examine other paintings in the room. Flowers, pretty but not as good as -real- pictures. And a study in human figure... big deal. Although what was -he- hiding?
"Oh... just thought maybe I'd show you the real New York, if you're just visiting," Roy grins, shrugging. Not that he expected an affirmative, but...
Ah. Yes. That's what Selina thought. Roy might think he's being sly by wording his response like that but she is able to read between the lines fairly well. "In other words, you're wanting to take me out on a date?" A quick smile curls one corner of her mouth before she leans in to stagewhisper into his daughter's ear.
"Your father isn't very slick, is he," is the question posed, rhetorically asked. "I think you should give him some lessons in being subtle," she adds, that said while she looks back at Roy, now grinning impishly.
"He's speedy," Lian replies, now giving her father a stinkface, referring to an old nickname that her grampa Ollie had given him.
Roy meanwhile sighs. "I wouldn't call it a date, just a 'hello and goodbye' sightseeing tour," he says. "Not like you're coming back, are you?"
"I don't live that far from here," Selina says with a smile, reaching out again so she can play with Lian's hair a bit. "I am only in Gotham. A two hour trip, give or take." The smile slips as she considers something. "I migh be back sooner than I expect, though. Depends on if I decide to stay in a hotel in Gotham while my penthouse is being repaired or if I'll come back to relax here."
"Well then, -maybe- I might call it one," Roy smirks, as Lian's expression turns to a slight pout. Why did everyone -like- playing with her hair? She does her best to straighten it a bit, even going so far as to clasp at Selina's hands to demonstrate -how- to keep her hair neat.
"Not like I'm usually one to look at art, anyway, so I can just make you a trade - you show me art, I'll show you the rest," Roy smirks. "Although if you're looking to relax, well..." He motions to Lian.
Ah, that's it. At least Roy's finally coming clean as to what his intentions are, that being when he makes the joke he does. Little jests often bear truth, after all. "We can call it a sightseeing trip," she says once she gets Lian's hair all smoothed down, her hand leaving the child's head once she's sure she's got it just the way Roy's daughter likes it. "There isn't a lot to the city I haven't seen, Roy. I've been here numerous times on business. But if you'd like to show me around, perhaps we can do that the next time I'm in the city?"
"Business, hmmm?" Well he hasn't exactly been completely shot down... and besides, it wouldn't hurt to get a bit culture. "What sort of business? Museum curator?" At least she seemed to be quite an art connisseur, Roy muses, as Lian gives a satisfied giggle.
"I can show you around!" Lian exclaims. "I know how to ride the subway." Justifiably proud, at least, of her ability to identify locations and where, if not necessarily a complete whiz at reading yet.
"Uh, not that kind of showing around," Roy corrects. "Just... seeing sights."
"I can see sights too," Lian protests.
"I can't promise when," comes the small disclaimer from the woman. "But the next time I'm in town I'll let you know." She gives Roy a business card with her contact information on it and then gives one to Lian as well, Selina doing so to make the girl feel important. "And I'd love for you to show me the subways, Lian. Maybe your daddy will let me take you out for lunch somewhere and you can show me how big girls get around the Big Apple."
Glancing at the card, Roy nods, as Lian clutches her newfound business card and crows. Her first one! "Thank you," she says shyly without being prompted.
"Sounds great." No, he still wasn't sure what business she did, but the card was at least tucked into a shirt pocket. Flashing a grin, Roy shares his phone number, so that he could be reached. "She's a hell of a girl," Roy remarks, as Lian carefully puts her card away. "Anyway, take care. I've got to go take her to get ice cream, she's been patiently waiting for it long enough."
There was a wry grin, a two-fingered salute from his brow, and then Roy and Lian were gone.
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