The Adventures of Nightgirl

5: Bordem, Balls and Blackmail

It was 7:30 at night in the Wayne manor, and Ashley Grayson was conflicted. She had been invited to the first of many Wayne balls for the year, and was to be introduced publicly as Dick Grayson's younger sister, and another ward of Bruce Wayne.

Ashley now sat cross legged on her four poster bed, examining the three colors of nail polish laid out in front of her. This whole makeup thing was all so foreign to her, especially since she hadn't had more than one set of civies since her training days.

Closing her electric blue eyes, she rotated her fingers then reached out and grabbed one, her fingers closing around the cool glass bottle. Smirking, she noticed that the paint was a deep blue, with little flecks of sparkle in it. Interesting.

Rolling off the bed, she went into her tiled bathroom, and plopped her lithe frame on the tubs rim, and began to paint. For the first time in a while, Ashley was glad that she had a steady hand, as it soon became apparent that she sucked at the beauty arts.

When she had completed both feet, and her hands, she sat, staring off lazily into the mirror, examining her face in its glassy surface. Ashley knew she was beautiful, with her high cheek bones, full lips, and raven wing black hair, but she didn't see boys lining up to court her like they did for Stephanie Brown, the other girl who was frequently in the manor.

Twisting, she pulled her shirt over her head, and examined her scarred back and torso, tracing the larger one with her finger. She could still remember how she had Horton most of them, particularly the ones she had gotten from Him, who she refused to call by name.
One, a ragged line of puckered flesh that ran underneath her bra, and hugged her ribs, had been when he had lost his temper, and sliced her with a sword.
Another, small and crescent shaped, had been the one Abel had given her when they had been dueling the night before she left for His home.

Grabbing at the drawers, Ashley started hunting for a curling iron, and was satisfied as Bruce had insisted on stocking her room with girlish necessities. Pulling more from the same drawer, she found bags of makeup, brightly colored eyeshadow, and sticks of black eyeliner. With a grin, she got to work.

About 30 minuets later, and a bucket full of cussing, Ashley stepped back from the mirror to examine her appearance. She had done good. Black khoal line surrounded her eyes, setting her blue eyes out from her tanned skin. Curls of thick black hair were piled and cascading around her head, and down her back, and her lips, usually light pink, were a startling rose color.

With a smirk, the girl sweat out to her closet, and swung the double doors open, digging through the racks of clothes until she found the dress bags, which had all been picked by her brother. Pulling a few out, she wrinkled her nose with distaste and kept moving forward. When she reached the end of the closet, she found another bag, with much less, volume, then the rest of them. As she unzipped the bag, a note fluttered out, it's fluorescent color hard to miss, it read,
'Miss Ashley, although Master Dick does mean well, he does not know the fine arts of dressing a female. Let's have this be our secret. - A'

Ashley grinned, and bent over to pull the bottom of the dress out, then the entire thing. It was a deep blue, and had the appearance of crushed diamonds, a simple transparent one shouldered sleeve, crusted with rhinestones have it the appearance of water.

Slipping off her top, she folded her bra straps down into the cups, and pulled into on gently, putting her arm into the single sleeve, she reached back and zipped it up. Rising to the mirror, she rotated and admired herself for a while, a smirk on her red lips.

Her head snapped up, she could hear footsteps out in the hall, so she grabbed a pair of black heels and slipped them on, wobbling a little, before bolting towards the door. With a smirk, she opened it, and stepped out past Tim, whose hands was raised, and ready to knock.

"A-Ashley?" He said, his voice cracking, he looked like he was seeing a ghost "What?" She shot back, suddenly self conscious of her appearance. He took a step back and cleared his throat "Oh, uhm, you look nice."

Ashley nodded, then turned and said "So where is this ball thing at, and is it going to be fun?"

"It's at the west wing of the Manor, I'm supposed to escort you in, and yes, it's usually fun if you make it fun."

"Alrighty then," she paused, smiling at him "Lead the way."

As the two walked down the hall, a blonde blue shoved her way past Ashley, and a small note was pushed into her palm, taking a second, she said "Hey Tim, I'll catch up in a second!" Then turned and dove into one of the huge bathrooms in the manor, locking the door.

Unfolding the note, she read it quietly to herself, digesting every word, it read.
'Stay away from Tim street mongrel, or I'll tell him everything you've done, including your murder streak.'

Ashley blanched, then closed her eyes, before crumpling the note and flushing it down the toilet. "Bitch." She muttered, then rejoined her escort in the hallway, making sure to walk extra close to him as they made their way down to the sounds of the music.