"Is Foggy his real name or a nickname?" He asks and then looks around the bar at all the other patrons, nodding.
"Course. Local pubs are far more common where I'm from, my local is one that's been in our neighbourhood for many years. The owner, Jon, is a good bloke. He used to let me do a lot of works deals there since it was a safe space."
Well that and it's not like Alfred had a proper office.
"Nickname. His real name is Franklin," Karen answers with a smile. "He and Matt were roommates in college. Apparently he snored like a foghorn." It weirdly almost suits him more than Franklin does. She always finds herself taken by surprise when someone uses his given name.
"What was it called? A lot of British pubs seem like they follow the same naming convention. Adjective noun." She always gets a kick out of the names when someone mentions going to a British pub. His comment about doin his work deals there prompts an interested look. "What kinds of deals?"
"Roommates and now co-workers, I imagine that gives the office a bit of a more relaxed feel than some other law firms." He says and then chuckles at her comment about British pubs because she's not wrong.
"The Severed Arms. And by deals I mean work contracts, security gigs and the like." A small pause. "I helped Jon out with a bloke who was bothering his daughter so he opened up his business to mine."
"Considering we worked out of the Nelson's family meat store for a while...I think it's a pretty unique vibe." Maybe not entirely relaxed, because the three of them do still all wear business clothes for their office hours and in court.
"Oh, that's brutal," she answers with a laugh when he names his local pub. She can just picture what the sign must look like. And she can't help but smile when he mentions how he helped the owner out. "It was nice of you to give a hand. That sounds like it was a good arrangement."
"No, that's not his style. To be clear, he does craft a really impressive threat. But it's all entirely based on things that are legal." Honestly, it's wildly impressive to behold when he really gets on a tear.
Matt is much more likely to leverage a butcher shop style threat. Though that's really only during his...extracurriculars that she's not at liberty to share.
There's a pause after his comment, and she lets out a laugh, trying (and failing) to give him a look that looks more genuinely scandalized than playfully so. "Sounds like things heated up after you gave her a hand."
Karen just looks amused when he makes his confession, coupled with that guilty little look. Honestly, it makes sense. He's a good looking guy. And she's pretty staunchly determined to solve all of her own problems, but she's not immune to the appeal of having someone in your corner.
"Wow. That second time was the real choice, huh?" she points out with a grin, just lightly ribbing him. "Sounds like you're a regular heart breaker, Alfred. Should I be worried?"
It had mostly been a joke, but it is the sort of statement that deserves an answer. Especially considering how...elusive she tends to be when it comes to talking about the specifics of her work. She presses her lips together, looking thoughtful for a moment.
"Well, uh, I'm great at first dates," she begins, all self-deprecating humor. "Anything beyond that I try to be careful. I investigate criminal activity and corruption, I write articles about it. There's people in this city that would probably consider me their enemy for the work I do. And for the people I work with." It's not like Matt and Foggy are exactly passive in the cases that they take on. "I hate the idea of getting someone caught up in that. So it gets...complicated."
"You try to be careful or you try to distance things?" He asks with a little smile, amused at the fact that her pattern of dating is very similar to his own for very similar reasons.
"Usually one or the other. Or both," Karen admits, looking amused that he's so accurately called her out on it. There's really no point in trying to refute it. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience there."
"You're not wrong there," Karen agrees, tipping her head in acknowledgment.
The statement about him getting shot at more than she does gives her pause as she tries to track exactly how high that number is and realizes she's going to need more than a quick moment of mental math to get there. "Well, it's usually not on a weekly basis?" she says after a moment with a helpless shrug. "It's not my favorite part of the job. But I can't imagine doing anything else."
He leans back in his chair and laughs, "Nor mine but I guess it's all part and parcel."
But in a way that's kind of good because it means Karen actually understands parts of his job more than most the women he's met who always say they get it and accept it but later it causes issues.
"Could you imagine doing this again?" He asks, gesturing to the bar and them.
"Yeah, less of a fringe benefit and more of a, uh, borderline drawback?" she suggests, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes as she takes a sip of her own drink.
His question is met with a thoughtful look, a slight smile at the corner of her mouth. "Maybe not at Josie's. But yeah. Do you think you can handle not being involved when I have a dangerous case?" She figures it's a fair question, if fairly direct. And an important one. Keeping people from being caught in the crosshairs of her bullshit is her top priority.
"I believe so." He answers but then lifts a brow at her, "Do you think you can handle not always getting the full story from me about my work or the people who hire me?"
After all he works with some people who require anonymity.
It's a fair question. One shoulder lifts in a shrug. It makes sense that people that want to hire a private security company would also have some conditions of anonymity. "So long as you're not involved in anything shady, I don't think it'll be a problem. If your name turns up in one of my investigations, I'll have a lot of questions."
"Guess that depends on what you define as shady." He says and then expands before she can answer, "If you mean am I working for criminals that are hurting and killing folk? No. But am I always working for saints? No."
"Life's a lot more shades of gray than people usually think," Karen answers. It's clearly something that she's spent a lot of time thinking about. "My sources aren't always fine, upstanding citizens. I'm going to guess that means you've been known to work for some incredibly rich people?" she guesses, sounding amused. Morals tend to get...questionable...once people get into higher tax brackets.
"I've worked for incredibly rich but I've also worked for incredibly poor." He twirls his pint glass with his one hand, "But for the most part I work for Thomas and Martha unless things are dry."
He is intentionally leaving out their last names, he knows that Karen is clever and will recognize the last name Wayne. How could she not when the family is incredibly rich and one of the most powerful in Gotham?
"Sounds like you have a good relationship with them. That must be nice consistency in your line of work." She's met a few other guys that work in private security. The aggressively corporate types remind her of nothing so much as sharks in fancy suits. He strikes her more as the other type, like the draw is in doing something he's good at on his terms.
Karen won't run a search on his usual employers, but there's a non-zero chance she'll put two and two together at some point anyway.
"Also sounds like we should plan to go out again sometime," she suggests with a smile.
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"Course. Local pubs are far more common where I'm from, my local is one that's been in our neighbourhood for many years. The owner, Jon, is a good bloke. He used to let me do a lot of works deals there since it was a safe space."
Well that and it's not like Alfred had a proper office.
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"What was it called? A lot of British pubs seem like they follow the same naming convention. Adjective noun." She always gets a kick out of the names when someone mentions going to a British pub. His comment about doin his work deals there prompts an interested look. "What kinds of deals?"
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"The Severed Arms. And by deals I mean work contracts, security gigs and the like." A small pause. "I helped Jon out with a bloke who was bothering his daughter so he opened up his business to mine."
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"Oh, that's brutal," she answers with a laugh when he names his local pub. She can just picture what the sign must look like. And she can't help but smile when he mentions how he helped the owner out. "It was nice of you to give a hand. That sounds like it was a good arrangement."
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Because let's face it, being able to say you know where to get rid of bodies would make a good threat.
"It was, still will be hopefully if I ever go back." A pause. "So long as he never learns about me and his daughter...."
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Matt is much more likely to leverage a butcher shop style threat. Though that's really only during his...extracurriculars that she's not at liberty to share.
There's a pause after his comment, and she lets out a laugh, trying (and failing) to give him a look that looks more genuinely scandalized than playfully so. "Sounds like things heated up after you gave her a hand."
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A pause as he looks even more guilty. "And then we slept together twice."
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"Wow. That second time was the real choice, huh?" she points out with a grin, just lightly ribbing him. "Sounds like you're a regular heart breaker, Alfred. Should I be worried?"
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"I guess that all depends on what you're looking for."
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"Well, uh, I'm great at first dates," she begins, all self-deprecating humor. "Anything beyond that I try to be careful. I investigate criminal activity and corruption, I write articles about it. There's people in this city that would probably consider me their enemy for the work I do. And for the people I work with." It's not like Matt and Foggy are exactly passive in the cases that they take on. "I hate the idea of getting someone caught up in that. So it gets...complicated."
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Pot meet kettle and all that.
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"Although I'd wager I get shot at more often than you do."
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The statement about him getting shot at more than she does gives her pause as she tries to track exactly how high that number is and realizes she's going to need more than a quick moment of mental math to get there. "Well, it's usually not on a weekly basis?" she says after a moment with a helpless shrug. "It's not my favorite part of the job. But I can't imagine doing anything else."
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But in a way that's kind of good because it means Karen actually understands parts of his job more than most the women he's met who always say they get it and accept it but later it causes issues.
"Could you imagine doing this again?" He asks, gesturing to the bar and them.
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His question is met with a thoughtful look, a slight smile at the corner of her mouth. "Maybe not at Josie's. But yeah. Do you think you can handle not being involved when I have a dangerous case?" She figures it's a fair question, if fairly direct. And an important one. Keeping people from being caught in the crosshairs of her bullshit is her top priority.
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After all he works with some people who require anonymity.
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He is intentionally leaving out their last names, he knows that Karen is clever and will recognize the last name Wayne. How could she not when the family is incredibly rich and one of the most powerful in Gotham?
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Karen won't run a search on his usual employers, but there's a non-zero chance she'll put two and two together at some point anyway.
"Also sounds like we should plan to go out again sometime," she suggests with a smile.
ooc: shall we end here?
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