Rubber Date

Kara sat in the driver’s seat of the SUV listening to music as she waited for Jason to come out of the school. She wasn’t so much listening to the music as wondering around inside her own mind. She still had her corporate law course kicking around in her head after the final she took that morning.

“Ave Maria?” Jason asked as he got in the passenger’s side door, “Isn’t that a bit Christian for a Kryptonian?”

Kara looked down at her phone and saw the track data of what was playing.

“Yes, Ave Maria,” Kara shook her head, “It is a track Tarja did on a solo album.”

Jason just looked at Kara.

“One of the ex-singers for Nightwish,” Kara said, “Clearly the operatic one.”

Jason continued to look at Kara.

“Fine, how about this?” Kara picked up her phone and hit a few icons, “This more to your liking young master?”

The song changed to Raining Blood by Slayer. Kara looked around her and put the SUV into gear and pulled into the flow of traffic.

“You know a lot of people would think you should be listening to Katy Perry…” Jason smiled.

“Touch my metal and I will punt you to the moon,” Kara snapped.

“Maybe some Madonna?” Jason prodded.

“Bruce won’t even yell at me,” Kara muttered.

“Fine,” Jason turned and looked out the window, “How was your tests?”

“I passed them,” Kara said, “And your civics test?”

“Oh, I am going to get a dirty look from Alfred,” Jason kept looking out the window.

“That good?” Kara smiled, “Well good thing I am going out for dinner tonight.”

“With the possessed god boy?” Jason asked, “good luck with that.”

*

“So you are really going to do this?” Bruce asked from the open doorway.

“We need to see if this sets off anything in him,” Kara said as she sat in her body wrap towel looking in her mirror, “I figure this will be the safest for everyone.”

Bruce didn’t even look at the outfit laid out on the bed or Kara herself. Instead, Bruce looked at the collection of pineapples on Kara’s shelf.

“It’s been seven years,” Kara said, “A pineapple for each year.”

“I know, Alfred gets so flustered when it gets to the week before your anniversary and he hasn’t found the right pineapple yet.”

Kara stopped and turned to look at Bruce.

“Now I know you are BSing me,” Kara said, “Alfred Flustered?”

“Well maybe Flustered isn’t the right term,” Bruce smiled, “More like ‘Terribly cross with…’ everything?”

“That sounds about right,” Kara smiled.

“Actually I wasn’t thinking of the pineapples tradition you and Alfred have, I was looking a snooky,” Bruce pointed.

Kara looked along the shelf to the stuffed cat that Selina had given her for her first Christmas on Earth. Kara hadn’t really understood the concept of a stuffed animal then. It was still a bit alien to her, but she had a better understanding of it now, even if she didn’t play with them at her age.

“What about Snooky?” Kara asked.

“I was thinking, what you are doing,” Bruce said, “It is a bit like stepping on a cat’s tail.”

“Selina must hate the Simile,” Kara said.

“Don’t deflect,” Bruce said.

“Ok, I guess I am stomping on the tail,” Kara said, “But I have to know now just in case, and besides if he does snap, who else would you trust to be able to walk away from it unharmed?”

Bruce looked at Kara without saying anything.

“Come on,” Kara said.

“You can catch a speeding bullet,” Bruce said, “That doesn’t mean you would walk away unharmed…”

Kara just watched as Bruce turned and walked away.

*

Kara wasn’t affected by the cold winds, her Kryptonian body’s processing of the yellow sun’s radiation resulted in her being able to resist the cold temperatures of the artic, so this chilly December night in Gotham wasn’t the reason for her big black overcoat. The chilly December night wasn’t the reason for the goosebumps and shiver going up her spine. Kara didn’t want to admit that she was nervous. But she had to if she wanted to be honest with herself.

Kara walked into the entrance of the restaurant. It wasn’t the most high end place in Gotham, but the owner, Jacque and his husband, had told Cobblepot, Falcone, and the rest to piss off rather than pay Protection. His declaration that he would personally cook dinner for the Gargoyle rather than pay protection money. He never suspected that he had all the Gargoyles in his restaurant many times, he was more than happy to have the Waynes dine with him, and treated them as preferred guests.

“Ah Kara Wayne,” Jacque smiled broadly as Kara approached, “So lovely of you to join us again. Monsieur Pennyworth called to say you would be dining with us.”

Kara noticed Jacque raised three fingers on his right hand and a conveniently stations busboy went into the bar area. Another conveniently stationed busboy, well busgirl came over behind Kara.

“Will you need help with your coat?” Jacque asked.

“In a second,” Kara said, “My guest is in the bar?”

“Ah,” Jacque smiled, “Of course, yes he is.”

The three waited for a moment for Jean-Paul walked into the entrance area from the arch leading to the bar area. Kara nodded and the busgirl reached over her shoulders and grabbed the collar loosely. Kara opened the front and bent her shoulders to step out of the black jacket. Jean-Paul paused at the sight of Kara. She watched as his and the busboy’s eyes traveled up and down examining her in detail. Kara was dressed in simple black patent pump heels, a latex minidress with black sides and back with bright red front panel that matched the silhouette of her torso and red bra cups, and a black rubber belt that ended in a large bow on her front right hip. Jean-Paul’s eyes bulged. The busboy muttered to Jean-Paul that he was lucky getting a date with Kara.

“Wow,” was all Jean-Paul could say as he walked up to Kara.

“Your table is right this way,” Jacque smiled.

Kara started after the restaurant owner and Jean-Paul followed suit. She could feel the eyes on her as she walked across the open dining room to the small booth in the back. The only eyes she was concerned about were Jean-Paul’s. She looked back a few times to see him walking behind her with his eyes running up and down the back of her dress. She wondered briefly if it was better or worse that the rear of the dress’ hem stopped midthigh instead of right under her butt cheeks. She could see his gaze follow the hidden zipper up the back, under the belt and right up to it’s end under her blonde hair. Turning her gaze back forward, she saw everyone in the room was looking at her and not in a bad way. The speeches Selina had given her and Barbara about owning the room when you enter came to mind.

“Here we are,” Jacques said, “Would you like a diet Sprite Miss Wayne? And what would the gentleman like to drink?”

“Just water thank you,” Jean-Paul said shaking loose of his fixation on Kara’s backside.

“Very well,” Jacque said as he bowed slightly and left.

Jean-Paul took a seat with his back to the kitchen, Kara was on the other side with clear lines of sight on the door to the kitchen, the server’s hall to the bar and the main entrance. Kara looked into JP’s eyes.

“Kara, wow, ah, uhm…” Jean-Paul stammered, “This place is nice, and that is the owner…”

“Jacque,” Kara smiled, “You saw the painting in the bar? That is Jacque and his husband Peter.”

“Ah, well that makes sense,” Jean-Paul took off his glasses and brushed the outside of the lense on black button down shirt, “Good for him finding the one for him.”

“What does the bible say about how to handle Jacque?” Kara asked.

“I am sure Leviticus has some rules for him,” Jean-Paul shrugged, “But as far as the rest of us, Mathew 7:1 would be the most applicable. ‘judge not, for you shall be judged.’ I know all to well what it is like to be judged unfairly.”

“You?” Kara asked.

“I have been judged as geeky, nerdy, ignorant, and everything else. In college I was called a Nazi because I have blonde hair and blue eyes and everyone kept telling me that I hated black people. And they seemed to think I was a religious fanatic because I am open about being a Christian,” Jean-Paul shrugged and put his glasses back on.

“You too,” Kara noted.

“I know plenty of people have things to say about you,” Jean-Paul said, “Many of them are rather unkind.”

“Like what?” Kara asked.

“Well the guys at my gym have pointed out in less polite terms that you have a latex fetish and date girls,” Jean-Paul tried to be delicate.

“Well, I am attracted to boys and girls,” Kara shrugged, “What do you know about fetishes?”

“Well from the Critical theory of sexuality elective course I was forced to take in college,” Jean-Paul said, “A fetish is a strong attraction fascination of a body part or other item that enhances ones sexual experience possibly to the point of limiting their ability to engage in sex without the particular items of fascination.”

Kara noticed Jean-Paul looking around the table.

“Looking for a way out of this conversation?” Kara asked.

“No, the owner forgot to leave menus,” Jean-Paul noted.

“This isn’t that kind of restaurant,” Kara said, “They make like two meals each night and you can pick between one or the other. Speaking of which, here comes our waitress.”

The twenty something young lady in the uniform black pants and white button-down shirt came over with the drinks in her hands. Kara recognized her from previous visits.

“Welcome back,” the woman handed Kara the glass with the clear soda and handed the glass of water to Jean-Paul, “Hi, my name is Missy, is this your first time here?”

“Yes,” Jean-Paul said with a definitively.

“Ok,” Missy smiled, “Welcome. So for starters we have garden salads with a vinaigrette dressing, French onion soup or Fried calamari. For the main course there is Duck a-la-rounge or Smoked salmon over greens with twice baked potatoes. And our deserts are peach cobbler or the house Sunday.”

“Can I have the salad, the salmon and the Sunday?” Kara placed her order politely.

“Ah… Salad, the Duck and a Sunday?” Jean-Paul was suddenly less confident.

“Two salads, a fish and duck and two Sundays,” Missy smiled, “Great, I will be right back with your salads.”

“So, let me ask you this,” Kara turned back to Jean-Paul, “Have you heard the story of how I came to Gotham?”

“Sure, refugee that managed to flee human trafficking and washed up in Gotham Harbor, got adopted by Bruce Wayne,” Jean-Paul recited the basic story off the top of his head.

“Right,” Kara said but sensed there was more, “What else did you hear?”

“Rumors about reasons why Wayne adopted you,” Jean-Paul blushed.

“Let me just say this,” Kara said, “He has never treated me as anything but a little sister and daughter. Any claims that he abused me sexually are entirely unfounded. Now, before I came to Gotham, where I came from had much different sense of dress. The basic foundation of our fashion is a sort of long johns. And over this is additional layers. The more formal the event, the more layers over the basic form fitted long johns.”

“Ok,” Jean-Paul said clearly forming a mental picture in his mind of how it would work.

“Right,” Kara said, “Now I am sure you have heard of another local notable… Selina Kyle.”

“Of course the charity dominatrix,” Jean-Paul said.

“Eh, close enough,” Kara smiled, “She is openly kinky and took me to try latex when I was teen. Of course Alfred and Bruce were not happy with her for doing so since I was too young to be getting into sexual things.”

“I can understand that point of view,” Jean-Paul said.

“Most people see latex as just bizarre lingerie,” Kara stated, “But for me, when I put on that first rubber catsuit Selina bought for me… I didn’t have a tingle between my legs or any other sign of sexual excitement… It felt like home, or at least as close as I would get here in Gotham.”

“So, this is nostalgic?” Jean-Paul asked.

“That is one way to put it,” Kara shrugged.

“Here you go, your salads,” Missy said as she came over with the two bowls on plates, “Enjoy.”

Both Jean-Paul and Kara smiled and took the plates. They muttered thanks.

“Did you need any salt or pepper?” Missy asked.

Both tried a bite.

“I think it is perfect,” Jean-Paul said.

“Excelent,” Kara noted.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Missy said before turning and looking around the dining room for another table to help.

As Missy walked off, Kara took a sip of her soda. Jean-Paul used his fork and knife to slice up the salad greens further.

“So your rubber wardrobe isn’t anything sexual to you,” Jean-Paul said.

“Not going to lie,” Kara put her glass down, “It has taken a slightly sexual nature, but, that is more situational dependent.”

“Like?” Jean-Paul asked.

“Who is wearing it, what they are wearing, are they putting it on or taking it off,” Kara said, “Condoms are sexual for obvious reasons.”

“I think that is universally understood,” Jean-Paul blushed.

Kara ate a mouthful of salad before continuing.

“This dress, not exactly sexual, but Selina got it for me to be very appealing and to highlight my body in all the right ways,” Kara said, “What do you think?”

Jean-Paul finished his mouth full of salad and took a drink before responding.

“Selina knew what she was doing,” Jean-Paul blushed, “It looks wonderful on you.”

“I hoped you would like it,” Kara said, “Now when people see me in leggings and regular catsuits, that is like putting on normal underwear for me.”

“Wait,” Jean-Paul said, “what about that Halloween catsuit thing in New York? You mean you went in your underwear?”

“Ah.. yeah,” Kara said, “like they said in Mean Girls, it is perfectly acceptable for girls to walk around in there underwear on Halloween… So I went in a set of Long-Johns.”

Jean-Paul was silent for a minute and proceeded to eat a few bites of his salad.

“What?” Kara asked.

Jean-Paul finished his mouthful of salad.

“I just had my mind filled with images from old western movies of the characters early in the morning wearing their long-johns and cowboy hats,” Jean-Paul said.

It was Kara’s turn to almost do a spit-take.

“That is funny,” Kara said.

“Of course, you looked much better in yours,” Jean-Paul said.

“I crushed on Michael J Fox in Back to the Future three back in the day,” Kara said.

“Ok,” Jean-Paul said, “So you wear rubber leggings and catsuits as underwear, or I suppose pantyhose. I suppose that makes sense then wearing them with dress or oversized shirt over them.”

“Yeah, that is about how my wardrobe works for the most part,” Kara agreed.

“So what about dresses and other special outfits you are photographed in,” Jean-Paul asked.

“Depends on the outfit,” Kara said, “I am pretty sure you can tell which ones I am showing off in and which ones I am just out and about in.”

“Do you…” Jean-Paul started but cut himself off with his red face.

“Sometimes,” Kara stated, “I have had dates with boys and girls that ending in rubber or completely naked… just don’t tell Alfred. What about you?”

“Actually, yes,” Jean-Paul said, “One of the girls in my neighborhood that was the same age as me. It was right before the start of her senior year and my first year of college… Her parents went out for a weekend so she invited me over to a ‘house party’ for two.”

“What did the parents have to say?” Kara asked as she took a drink of her soda.

“I was told to pray for my sins,” Jean-Paul said, “the neighborhood heard her mother read her the riot act. Turns out her family was already going to move by Christmas, at the beginning of the summer, her father has signed a deal that would have them move across the country to open up a new office for the company he worked for.”

“Did you keep in touch?” Kara asked.

“For a while,” Jean-Paul said.

Both sat in silence eating for a few minutes. Kara could see she had poked a nerve and Jean-Paul had some unresolved things… Both finished their salads in silence. Missy and another waiter brought over their dinners. Kara and Jean thanked the pair and waited for a long moment. The pair looked at each other as they started at their dinners.

“So how is the duck?” Kara asked as Jean-Paul took his first bite.

“Eh…” Jean-Paul chewed for a moment before responding, “It’s good, very good. The orange isn’t overpowering the other flavors. How is the salmon?”

“Really good, they added a bit of cream to it,” Kara said.

“So, you said you were close with Selina Kyle,” Jean-Paul said, “Are you still close?”

“More so now then ever,” Kara shrugged, “She seems to think it is her responsibility to be a mother figure for me and share all sorts of dating advice.”

“Oh, well,” Jean-Paul said clearly unsure how to respond.

Jean-Paul did the rational thing and stuff another bite of Duck into his mouth. Kara smiled and carved a bite of the sautéed asparagus and forked it to her mouth.

“It’s good to have a mother figure around,” Jean-Paul said finally, “It is clear that Mister Wayne cares for you very much as well.”

“Yes, Bruce does,” Kara said, “Sometimes I wonder what my parents would think of him, and him taking me in.”

“Unsure?” Jean-Paul said, “I sometimes wonder how my father would have felt about my life choices…”

“Is he… well…” Kara asked.

“I don’t know,” Jean-Paul said, “That’s my problem. He vanished a year and half ago…”

“Oh,” Kara said.

As the Batfamily, they knew he wasn’t in currently talking to his father, but Kara could now tell that Jean-Paul had not known about his father becoming Azrael full time.

“This is really good,” Jean-Paul tried to change the conversation.

*

Kara got to the alternate batcave under one of the Wayne properties. Barbara and Kate sat in their bat suits waiting for her.

“Well it seems you managed to avoid being burned as a witch,” Kate said while playing with her cowl.

“I am guessing there was no passionate, sheet grasping, screaming orgasm sex?” Barbara arched an eyebrow.

“Not with JP,” Kara said, “At least not tonight.”

“Oh, what happened,” Barbara asked.

“Publicly he didn’t freakout…” Kara said, “When I asked what he thought of Jacque, he quoted the line from the bible; ‘judge not lest you be judged.’ And left it alone from there.”

“Really?” Kate said, “He doesn’t strike me as the tolerant type…”

“You know, funny thing,” Kara took a seat next to the other two, “He mentioned how people tended to assume that he was an intolerant bigot with out getting to know him.”

Kate raised an eyebrow.

*

Kara walked over as Bruce looked at the close circuit surveillance video of Jean-Paul’s apartment.

“Kara,” Bruce intoned.

“How is he doing?” Kara asked.

“Right now? Sleeping. Earlier he was reading his bible and asking how or if to continue his relationship with you,” Bruce said.

“If he should continue?” Kara asked concerned.

“His concern is his job at Wayne Enterprises and how dating the owner’s daughter would complicate it,” Bruce said, “Relax, he hasn’t freaked out over your confessions about your wardrobe.”

“Well, that is good,” Kara stated calmly.