Gotham Lockdown - Jada

Ryan stepped out of a helicopter, wondering if she was going to regret this.

Because of course there had been a helicopter. Jada’s wealth ensured she had the easiest time of navigating Gotham with the chaos it had currently become. Bag in hand, Ryan walked towards the rooftop entrance to Jada’s penthouse.

All of this for just the two of them. It ought to offer more privacy than the alternatives, she hoped.

There had been a whirlwind of checking contact details, letting friends know how to reach her, arranging things with Sophie - she’d been understanding, glad of the sister-time while extracting a promise for regular facetimes that Ryan had been more than happy to give - before Jada had sent a literal helicopter to the roof of Wayne Tower for her.

Still, it was with some trepidation that Ryan approached the door. Just then she wasn’t even thinking about the coming crisis. Things with Jada had been nothing if not messy. Abandoned as a child, corporate espionage, excessive paranoia, very questionable associations…

They seemed to have found some common ground now, and Ryan did want to get to know her, but being comfortable had never been a word Ryan would have used for being around her mom.

“Ryan! You made it!”

Well-dressed as ever, Jada was on the other side of the door like she’d just come out of a board meeting. For all Ryan knew, she had.

Her apartment was vast, well-furnished, with plush carpeting and artwork on the walls, and even a decanter just randomly in the hallway. Ryan expected they’d be spares - which, honestly, might not be a bad thing. Get black-out drunk and just wait for the months to be over.

“Yeah, I got the helicopter,” Ryan said. She hesitated. “Er, thanks for this.”

“Think nothing of it,” Jada said. “When I heard how difficult it would be to get food in, even with my resources, I thought about how impossible it must be out there.”

“But you did manage it, right?”

“Of course,” Jada said. “If worst comes to worst, I can get it air-dropped onto the roof by contacts outside the city. It’s costly, but nothing I can’t afford. And it gives us time to talk.”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. She grimaced. “Not exactly how I pictured us getting to know each other.”

For all her casual confidence, even Jada faltered a moment there. Brusquely, she turned around.

“Here, let me give you a tour,” Jada said. “You have a choice of rooms, though this is the best one.”

She pushed open the door to a bedroom that was the size of Ryan’s whole apartment. There was a huge, soft-sheeted four-poster bed, cabinets either side, an en suite, and an incongruous band poster plastered up overhead.

Quickly, Ryan glanced at the door.

“Does it look okay?” Jada said. “Mine is down the hall.”

“Just making sure it locks. Er, no offence, just… New girlfriend, phone calls,” Ryan said. She winced. She was babbling. “I did not mean to say that out loud.”

“Darling, given what my other child got up to when I left him unsupervised, what you and Sophie get up to is entirely fine by me,” Jada said.

Face heating up, Ryan followed Jada out of the bedroom. She pointed out two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, before finally making it to the sitting room.

“The staff are on holiday pay,” Jada said. “No one else is coming in, I can assure you of that. This is probably one of the most private places in the city. I would… normally have preferred to be alone but, well, I missed most of your life, I wasn’t going to send you walking naked through the shops if I could help.”

“Yeah, well, thanks for that,” Ryan said. “Definitely a start.”

Ryan gingerly sat on the edge of the sofa. It was disconcertingly soft. She supposed she’d probably get used to these trappings sooner or later, but the place was so lavish and formal that it just didn’t feel remotely like her low-rent home. It felt like the kind of place Wayne business sometimes took her, and where she was always holding her breath feeling like she didn’t belong.

Jada sat on a one-person chair opposite, not slouching but certainly more comfortable. After a few seconds, Ryan shimmied, shifting back.

The sofa was soft, anyway - she could almost feel the zeroes on its price tag. She swallowed.

“So where is Marquis anyway?” Ryan said.

“Out of town, recovering,” Jada said. “I was going to visit once I’d tidied Jeturian Industries up but it seems as though that won’t be happening.”

“You can call though, right?” Ryan said.

“Hopefully,” Jada said stiffly. “So long as I don’t have my hands full co-ordinating the company here.”

Right. Phoning her son while nude would probably be awkward in itself, especially if he’d seen any of the inevitable headlines about Gotham. No wonder she seemed so stiff.

Okay, focus on something else. Anything else.

“So, er, you have a TV here?” Ryan said.

It was a lame attempt at small talk, but it worked - as expected, Jada’s set-up with suitably over-the-top, with a collection of streaming services and blu-rays alike. They talked tastes, shows - apparently even Jada unwound sometimes.

And then all at once something changed, and Ryan regretted distracting herself from the rather major issue at hand.

Her clothes suddenly felt scratchy. Nothing had visible changed, but there was a strange tang in the air, and all at once every stitch in contact with her skin felt out-of-place. She yelped, and wriggled a little, hoping movement would help.

It didn’t. The scratching sensation just intensified. Reluctantly, but knowing it was necessary, Ryan loosened her top, hoping every second that the feeling would lessen. It never did. By the time she’d slowly undone her shirt, her legs were on the verge of actual pain. Less delicately, she furiously kicked off her pants, squealing madly as she pushed down her panties, her shirt flying off her arms as she did so.

The sofa was a little more noticeable, both from how her skin reacted and the fact that now it was her bare ass in contact with it, but nothing compared to how snug clothing had felt. Eyes wide, breathless, Ryan looked over. Her face was burning already.

Jada had been less effective at keeping her clothing in one piece - rather than bearing it for a few moments as Ryan had, she’d torn her once-glamorous dress apart, leaving herself bare. She had both hands on her lap, pursing her lips to try and keep from any less dignified reaction, boobs barely concealed. Her body looked remarkably young for her age - then again, that was what wealth did for you.

Ryan, meanwhile, crossed her legs, suddenly feeling remarkably exposed in front of her mom’s eyes. She coughed, and crossed her arms tightly, squirming.

Well. The next few months could only get less awkward, right?

Right? Ryan gulped.