eddie and steph go gamblin Who: Eddie/Steph (part 1) Where: Citadel When: Right after this conversation. What: showing off a new door Warnings: making out/talking about sexy stuff
Eddie did leave the door open for her. Why? Because he knew he had her. It lead to an apartment complex on the Citadel called Tiberius Towers. She was cleared with security, of course and if she asked to check the directory, there were their names Eddie & Stephanie Nashton Apartment 421. When she made her way up to the door, the security system recognized her instantly and unlocked the door, leading her inside to a beautifulapartment with a living room, kitchen, guest rooms and a bedroom. If she tried to play the piano? It played a song he programmed into it. The riddled man could not play the piano that well, but he could sure as hell teach a computerized instrument to do it. Matilda, Isis and Bandit were all around the apartment, easily making the place home without much trouble at all. Upstairs, on the bed, was the outfit he bought her on the Citadel along with some futuristic makeup that a pretty girl from the shop suggested to give her. There was a note with it: “I love you, baby. Take your time. Enjoy the apartment. The shower? Amazing.”
Where was Eddie? Waiting for her at the Silver Coast Casino which was, he wanted her to realize, not a strip club. He was over at the bar, watching the varren racing with a couple of aliens. Eddie was always great at meshing with a world if he wanted to and here? He looked right at home. He had made friends with a giant krogan who laughed loudly and hit him on the back hard when one of them won a race. The riddled man was in a black suit that only looked slightly more futuristic because those really never went out of style. And, yeah, he was dressing up for her. The suit was crisp, his hair was slicked back and he was wearing that cologne she loved so much.
Even though Eddie had taunted her into seeing him, he needed her to show. He was feeling down on himself, unwanted (even if it wasn’t true), and nothing in the whole world would cheer him up more than his blonde bat chasing him down exactly how he wanted her to. The thought of seeing her walk through that door filled him with a giddy kind of energy. Gotham rarely made him feel alive these days what with the planning and the work and the lack of people he loved and knew, but this place was different. The bright colors, the sleek design, the eccentric characters, the easy acceptance of roguish types? That reminded him of a home he had long since lost.
“Let’s go Salarian Slobber! Don’t DO this to me again!” Eddie cheered at the screen showing the varrens racing around the track. The crowd around him shouted and swore and as the beasts raced around the track. Everyone got to their feet, hollering in drunken fashion and then that side of the casino erupted in a sea of elation and disappointment as the varren named “Citadel Beauty” crossed the finish line. “Oh my GOD YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” Eddie yelled and waved his arms and chuckling krogan.
“No one ever picks the varren with the stupid name.” The krogan said wisely, still chuckling at the excitable, small man.
“I’m telling your buddies you picked the one with the stupid name! What’s next! Dazzler McGee?” Eddie shouted back, grin on his face. The krogan laughed harder, practically slapping his knee.
“You tell them, Nashton. And, I’ll tell them how much money you lost on slow varren.”
“I’m going to buy you a drink and then you pick a hound out for me. This is getting silly.” Eddie grinned back and waved at the bartender, getting his new friend whatever the hell he wanted.
Stephanie had planned on going to the other door the second he asked her to, but she liked prodding him. It was something they were good at, the needling, and even while she felt a twinge of guilt for leaving the island for a couple of hours when this had been almost all about her, nothing ever trumped Eddie. These days? Nothing even had a chance for it. And she would always chase him. Through doors, across the stars, around as many goddamn universes as she had to, she would always follow him. Maybe it harkened just a little back to their Gotham roles, that flash of green and that black cowled ears, and maybe she didn’t care what it meant. Only that she would chase him until the ends of time if he needed her too, and she knew he would do the same.
So, she came through the Mass Effect door still in her toga and sandals, and she ignored the downright baffled looks her get-up got, and she moved into the apartment complex. Relieved that she was cleared by security, and grinning stupidly that he used their married names on the deed, she went up to Apartment 421. The apartment was beautiful, even moreso in person, and when she entered, she called his name, hoping in vain that he hadn’t left just. Only he had left, and instead, she was greeted by Matilda’s trotting and her happy face. Steph stooped down and snuggled her for a moment, having already missed all her girls in the few days she was gone. Bandit came out of the woodworks and followed her heels as Steph walked through the apartment, and Isis meowed at her feet until she scooped the fat kitty up.
Instead of wandering further, she went up to the bedroom to see if he was waiting there, but the only thing that was waiting for her was the outfit he’d sent her earlier and that note. She smiled, and she heeded his advice, and she went to the shower first. It was amazing, and the blonde bat lingered in there for a little longer than she meant. Soaking in the warm water like she hadn’t had a hot shower in ages. She dressed, socks hitting just above the knee and tattoos on her thighs just peaking out from under purple and combat boots giving her a sort of edge he hadn’t seen from her since well before the hospital stay. As she looked in the mirror with blonde hair a mess of waves and eye makeup a dramatic dark and lips purple, she could see herself. For the first time in months, she saw Stephanie looking back at her. And that? Made her feel better than any stretch of time on the island could.
She wandered around the apartment for a little bit longer, wondering at the hitech feats that were lightyears away in Gotham, and just marvelling at the sleek beauty of the whole place. The piano’s keys were pressed in experimentation as she strolled by, the song eliciting a bright, affectionate grin from her. She sat on the piano until it finished, eyes closed and fingers curling around the edge as her head sunk back a bit, and she just listened. Stephanie and Eddie were both very sentimental types, and music always hit the right notes in both of them. And when the song was finished, she didn’t want to spend another second in that apartment. All she wanted was her riddled man.
Directions were asked and followed dutifully, and Steph was more than relieved that it wasn’t some strip joint. She wasn’t scared that Eddie would cheat on her, of course. She just knew he was a pervert, and he would probably love to watch some naked women writhe around. The casino was a welcome sight then. She breathed in relief before stepping inside the sleek casino, beelining to the bar when she recognized that frustrated yell of the love of her life. Smirk curling up her dark purple lips, she came up behind Eddie and told the bartender as he glanced her way, “I’ll have whatever he’s having.” Her voice was warm, and her body pressed up on Eddie’s back, arms wrapping around his neck from behind. Leather jacket still on, purple dress hugging her body, and gold accessories glinting, she fit in a little better than if she had just strolled in her toga and sandals. “This handsome stranger will pick up my tab.”
Eddie knew the feeling of her body against his better than anything else, better than any riddle and he smiled at the sound of her soft, warm voice. “Hey, I don’t buy strange girls drinks anymore. I’m married.” Eddie turned to look at her and gave phony surprise. “Well, since you look just like my wife, I guess I can make an exception.” They weren’t official yet, he knew that, but the deed said Nashtons and in this world she was already his wife. Plus, it was kind of fun to play pretend a week before the real deal, right? Eddie spun around to take her in his arms and smiled happily at her. God, she looked good and more like the Stephanie he knew than anything he saw of her from the past month. He kissed those dark purple lips, thumbing off the extra color smashed to his mouth before turning to his giant, lizard, krogan buddy.
“Crudrak, this is my wife, Stephanie Nashton.” Eddie introduced Stephanie to the alien towering over them. Crudrak was a jolly, scarred, old krogan that seemed more than amused by the tiny humans.
“Your species is so small.” Crudrak exclaimed, taking the drink Eddie had just bought him. “Is this why you want a new bounty job, Nashton? To buy your woman nice things?” He asked gruffly with approval. “I mated with an Asari, I know what that’s like. Fine, consider yourself hired. I’ll send you information in the morning. Have your woman pick your next varren.” Crudrak advised and then with a slap to Eddie’s shoulder, he excused himself towards a different part of the casino.
Eddie grinned and gave Crudrak a thank-you before he left. “He reminds me of Lucha.” The riddled man said to Stephanie, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek and running his fingers along the leather of her jacket. “You look amazing. I knew you would.”
Stephanie smirked down at him as he looked around, gaping at him a little as he accused her of looking just like his wife. “Oh god, I hope she’s pretty then,” she teased, not even moving her arms as he spun around. She looked so happy standing there, blissfully unaware of anyone else in the entire world when he looked at her. Her smile was bright and easy, and the keyed up tension from the past couple of months was practically nonexistent now. She looked healthy now, and wasn’t that the best change of all? But it wasn’t because of the island, not really. No, she always looked happiest when she was in Eddie’s arms or when he kissed her. And when he called her his wife? There were stars in her eyes.
The spell was broken however briefly at the introduction, and while Steph could hardly get over the stupor of being introduced as Stephanie Nashton, she managed a smile up at Crudrak and a laugh at his observation. “I always knew I was small for a bat, but you don’t have to point it out.” She wasn’t sure if the man-- alien would get the reference, but that didn’t really matter at the moment. There were job offers, and raised eyebrows in her husband’s direction that were left unanswered until the lumbering alien left with his drink.
She followed his retreating form for a moment. “He’s certainly got his attitude.” She preened at his compliments, leaning her cheek into his lips with her eyes drifting shut, and her hands went to fiddle with the collar of his shirt. “You look really hot in a dark suit.” She smirked, then raised her eyebrows again. “So, your wife, huh?” Steph teased quietly after Crudrak left, her hands skating down the lapels of that dark suit of his. She didn’t sound like she minded, and even if she had been able to hide how pleased she was in her voice, the way she leaned into him betrayed all of that.
Eddie gave her a flat look like he’d explain the bounty thing, probably as soon as they were done kissing and proclaiming their love to each other. Which, frankly, he needed a little of. He let his hands drift down her curves and then hold onto her as she fiddled with his collar. “I’m glad you showed up, otherwise you’d never get to see the suit.” And, it was no surprise that he sometimes bought clothes just to look good for her in. The number of times he showed up in a new suit just because was impossible to count.
“Yeah, my wife.” He said with confidence and squeezed her hips for a second, kissing her again without giving a good godamn who was watching. Yes, Eddie was a drink or two in, but this was all love-drunkness off her. This world was amazing, but lonely. He was lonely without her. “Tell me you like the way your name sounds. Stephanie Nashton.” Eddie handed her a blue drink in a skinny, tall glass and clinked it against his. “This booze? Like nothing you ever tasted before.”
The drink was strong, she could tell that. The flavors? Completely out of this world. Like Willy Wonka invented a new fruit. Eddie gave an aaah and squinted as the booze burned and then set the glass back down on his bar, facing her again. “I actually have proof you like how Stepphaanie Nashton sounds. Hell, I have proof you like how it looks.” Eddie held his arm out for her, forearm up and gave an expectant look for her to roll the sleeve up. “They have tattoo parlors here. Super futuristic and it still hurts like a bitch.” He smiled, almost giddly, when she pulled his sleeve up to reveal her name Stephanie Nashton written on his arm in her fucking handwriting.
“Is it bad that part of me just wants to bring you back to that apartment and take this off of you?” she asked, hands roaming his front as she leaned forward to nip his jaw. Not caring either who the fuck was looking. It’d only been a few days without him technically, but she had spent a month away from him. She was allowed to miss him completely, especially because he was just about to be her husband. She stood back up though, letting his hands roam everywhere they wanted as she grabbed onto his blazer. Kissing him a little greedily, a little sloppily, and lovedrunk, too.
“Say it again?” Steph begged quietly, unabashedly loving the way it sounded when it came out of his mouth. She could listen to that for years. Decades. Before she could tell him how much she loved it, however, he was handing her that drink. She could smell the alcohol as she brought it to her lips, but it really did taste like nothing she had ever had before. Fire burned down her throat, and a fuzziness zipped through her veins as she took a second sip, a bigger gulp, before putting it down on the bar with his glass. She closed her eyes for a second before shivering. “That’s delicious. Learn how to make those at home, okay?”
Cocking her head to the side, she waited for him to tell or show her the proof he apparently had. She didn’t think he had anything, and when he held out his arm, she couldn’t hide the confused amusement on her face. “What is this, Nashton?” She heard the explanation of the tattoo, but it didn’t click immediately. There was furrowed eyebrows shot his way, but she took his arm, one hand holding his wrist gently while the other pushed up the sleeve of that sleek, dark suit to reveal his new tattoo. “Oh my god,” she said, immediately bubbling out a loud, messy guffaw, looking up at him with amusement mingled with horror. “Oh god, you found my notebook.” Her cheeks, which were pink from the drink, reddened further. Okay, so she had spent some time in the hospital practicing how Stephanie Nashton looked. It was all very, very middle school, and she was mortified that he had actually found it, but she couldn’t help the warm charm and affection spreading through her body at the sight of his tattoo.
Eddie raised a finger in the air and put on his old timey, carnie accent. All mid-Atlantic that didn’t exist anymore, especially in a bar like this. “Excuse me, old chap. I’d like to purchase a tattoo art on my arm. What of, you ask?” Eddie bobbed his head back and forth, all know-it-all nonsense that she hated and loved in synchrony. Then, his arm lit up in a beautiful, neon omni-tool and after tapping away at those hologram keys on his arm, some pictures popped up between them like screens. “How about one of these, buddy?” Eddie asked, showing her one page of her journal that he took a picture of. “Or what about this one?” Another page. “Oh no, I like the loopy thing she does with this!” Eddie scrolled through a few more pages, shit-eating grin on his face. “Gee, tattoo man. There’s just so many, I don’t know which one to pick from!”
And he wiggled his eyebrows at her like he knew the kind of trouble he’d get in for making fun of her like that. But, Eddie didn’t care. He got her name tattooed to his arm to show how much he loved her and the very fact that it was in her handwriting made it all the more special. Eddie turned the omni-tool off and tilted closer to her, chin up and asking for a kiss. His voice returned to its modern, geeky roughness. “I was putting away your stuff and looking for wedding instructions when I found it. I couldn’t resist. This is easily the most adorable thing you’ve eevvvver done.” Eddie stole a soft, lingering kiss tinted with booze before she could give him one. “Stephanie Nashton.”
Steph’s blush deepened, and she glaaarreeed at him, arms crossed over her chest. Oh if looks could kill at that moment, Eddie might just be dead on the ground. She looked just a little startled at the weird, futuristic light on his arm, but it was forgotten as he continued to tease her. “It’s not funny,” she whined out with mortification, waving through the holographic screens that just wouldn’t disappear. She stomped her foot, in that way she claimed she never did, and she tried so, so hard to continue to look angry at him. Arms crossed, frown twitching, and blue eyes trying to shoot him a flat, completely unimpressed look.
“It’s really not funny!” The wiggle of his eyebrows earned him a slap to his upper arm, working really hard to convince herself not to slap the healing tattoo on his forearm instead, but her lips twitched more. Rolling her eyes, she sighed deeply, like her love for him was entirely a burden. The request for the kiss was ignored, chin tilted away from him as he spoke. “I was practicing,” she said with a betraying sort of smile, turning her head back down to look at him with narrowed blue eyes. The kiss was nothing at first, a teasing sort of anger that didn’t really exist, but she relented towards the end. “Say it again,” she demanded again, stealing another kiss. Soaking up that liquor-tinted kiss and tongue for a moment before backing up. “You shouldn’t be nosing around. What if you saw my dress designs, huh?”
Eddie’s expression softened into a playful, silent sorry downturn of his lips that she got when he pushed things too far. After she finally kissed him back, he took her hands with his and pressed his lips to her fingers, to the ring and rubbed his face along her hands. “Stephanie Nashton.” He said, dripping with dramatics, dark eyes up at hers with mischievousness in them. “My Stephanie Nashton.” The my meant something. It was why they could needle and tease each other into oblivion about birds and blue aliens, but none of it mattered. When he was with her, he didn’t see anyone else. When she was away? He had a hard time keeping her out of his thoughts.
“One more drink and then you can tell me about the island. Details. Gossip. I’ve been cut off from the world.” Eddie pointed at the bartender, who started making them another round. This one a purple drink that was also unlike anything she ever had before. Those dark eyes were brighter and happier than they had been in months. She had only ever seen anything like that when she got out of the hospital. He loved it here, didn’t he? Even though Eddie could make himself comfortable in just about any world, this one meshed with him so well. His instant affection for the door was dangerous because Eddie could find a purpose here that he couldn’t in their Gotham.
Her arms looped around his neck, lingering with her lips against his before his lips brushed against her fingers and that pretty purple ring and rubbed his just reappearing stubble against her fingertips. She grinned easily when he said her married name, eyes drifting shut to soak in the sound of it. “Your Stephanie Nashton,” she murmured, nose grazing against his and palm sliding flat down his jawline. “My Eddie Nashton.” The ownership, the claim wasn’t something that they wanted to define each other. They both agreed a long time before that belonging to each other wasn’t fulfilling, but it didn’t cheapen the claim. She did belong to him, and he sure as hell belonged to her. No one else could even contend.
She pressed a kiss to his cheek and took a stool next to him as he waved at the bartender, hand sliding up and down his thigh unabashedly. “One more,” she agreed with a smile, finishing off the blue one with a shiver of liquor burn in her veins. She could see the keyed up tension in him dissipated in just those few days in another door, and while there was a twinge of worry that he would like this place better than their home, she was happy that he finally could feel closer to himself than he had in months. “You really like it here,” she observed quietly. Her thumb kept rubbing against the expensive fabric of his slacks, and she looked at him with love and happiness that he was finding his way.
Eddie slid her the purple drink. This one was a little less strong with playful bubbles and a synthetic, bubble gum taste. “Eddie and Stephanie Nashton.” He said playfully and held his glass up, making a toast. Tipsy Eddie? Loved to make toasts every chance he got. “To you, my beautiful blonde bat. In a week we’ll be married and there’s not a damned thing anyone can do about it. I love you more than baseball, riddles and space-age technology.” Eddie clinked his glass against hers and took a sip. He liked the tickle of the bubbles on his lips. He liked having her hand on his thigh. He liked it here, just like she said.
“Sure I do.” Eddie agreed without seeing the underlying reasons why that might be worrisome. “The tech, the aliens, the places to explore. You can gain a good reputation with the right people by getting a job done right or looking out for their kind. Crudrak? I delivered him a Salarian who tried to steal an infant Krogan for experimentation and that’s all it took for him to respect me. Tonight? I’m going to save an Asari and see why Cerberus was sure she had destroyed their artifact. You do things here and people don’t get hung up on what you are or how you got the job done.”
“I really, really love the sound of that,” she said softly. Ever since he proposed, she dreamt of the day where that was official. She practice how her new name would roll off of her tongue, and she scribble signatures in notebooks to see how her new name would look. And in a week’s time, it would be real. She would be able to introduce herself as Stephanie Crystal Nashton, his wife. Nothing else, not one goddamn thing, mattered in the entire universe more than that. In a week, they were going to be husband and wife. What could be better than that?
Steph’s nose wrinkled up with affection, and she tried really hard not to blush as he toasted to her. “To us,” she insisted before clinking her class to his. “To making it through everything together. I love you more than waffles and Disney movies and falling off the sides of buildings.” She smiled softly, one hand still resting on his thigh while she took a nice, generous sip of her bubbly, sweet drink. “Okay, seriously, I want you to figure out how to make some of these at home. Look, it could even be a signature cocktail out our wedding. It fits our theeeemmeee.” The buzzing relaxed her, loosened her shoulders, and maybe she scooted her stool a little closer to him. Steph was always much more of a lightweight than he was.
She fought a sigh, the concern that he might fall in love with a city that wasn’t home niggling the back of her brain, and she took another sip of the purple drink to shush it up. Because despite the worry, she was happy he was finding something. Her thumb rubbed back and forth, and then her hand continued to skate up and down his thigh. “It sounds a little bit like Earth-3 to me,” she mused. “The simplicity of it, at least.” There was a risky dip of her hand to his inner thigh before she resumed gently caressing his thigh through his slacks. “Do you think it’s a good fit?” Read: is it a better fit than home?
Eddie’s eyebrows wiggled as her hand teased closer and he decided that he’d be more than okay with taking her back to the apartment and christening their new bed. But, he’d be good. If they let sex take priority like it did on Earth-3, then they’d never have time to dig around their own separate piles of baggage. That? Was what their relationship was built off of. If they brushed off Eddie blatantly running away to another door, buying property and making friends with the locals, then who knew what would happen? In a month he could be living here permanently and she wouldn’t know how he got from here to there.
And, the comparison to Earth-3? Made him a little more introspective. “There isn’t a war. Not yet. There’s just- Gotham feels like a small town compared to this door. There couldn’t be a Batman here. Where would he start? Earth? Would he Batman of all Earth?” Eddie thought about how this door was essentially doomed in a few years. How the Citadel would become a giant reaping ground that turned each person living here into a zombie slave. That hadn’t happened yet, though. Eddie was happy living in the present. He was happy letting someone else worry about the big picture for once.
“I think I could stay here and be happy.” He told her honestly, head dipping down a little as his hands roamed over her arms. “Gotham is my home, it’s my blood. But, it hasn’t felt like Gotham lately. There’s real superheroes now. No one gives a damn about anything. There’s one bird patrolling and there’s no rogues. Everything changed while you were gone.” Eddie hadn’t thought about it much until he came here. Where were his Arkham alumni? His bright colors and wild Gotham nights? When did that get replaced by a heavy mob hand and a cult out to fight the Justice League?
She didn’t want to brush off any of it, not really, but she couldn’t help touching him any chance she got lately. After months of deprivation, the fact that they could finally feel comfortable touching each other without either of them tensing up. It wasn’t meant as distraction away from bigger problems. It was just a greedy, greedy moment to touch her riddled man in a way she really hadn’t been able to do in what felt like a lifetime. But the barrell of issues the still had between the two still had between them was the priority. Her hand left his thigh after one more risque dip, snatching one of the hands from her arms and pulling it into her lap.
“So you want something bigger?” Stephanie asked with curiosity, tugging at his fingers until they spread open so she could trace nonsensical patterns across his hand. Between his fingers, over the grooves of his knuckles, around the swirls of color of permanent ink on his skin. “Something different?” She drew quiet for a moment before speaking again. “I’m not just saying about there being war. I mean that it sounds like it’s-- Gotham always has its set of baggage. I’ve got baggage, you’ve got baggage. Everyone in that city has got something. But on Earth-3, there wasn’t--.” She cut herself off in frustration, squeezing his hand slightly. She hated saying this, but it was true. Doctor Coleman even told her it was okay to take a while to adjust to it.
“It was easy there. There wasn’t time to have to really think about things. It was just doing it, And now, now there’s nothing but time to think and to have to try to fit in. I get it, baby, I do. Gotham,” she continued with a sharp inhale. “It feels different now.” She looked down at their hands, and her thumb grazed over the back of his hand. “I get wanting to find your place, and not being able to find it at home anymore.” Her thumb tapped his hand lightly, thoughtfully, and then she brought his hand to her mouth. “Do you really want to spend some time here?” she asked, kissing the back of his hand before flipping it over and kissing his palm as well. She fell into a thoughtful silence again before she asked what she really wanted to. “Do you want to start our family here?”
Eddie pressed his thumb against hers as their fingers intertwined and he brought them up for another kiss. This one more gentlemanly, as if he were courting her during some swanky party. “I haven’t spent a moment to stop and think until I came here.” He told her honestly. “It’s easier, but it’s not fast paced the way Earth-3 was. The way Gotham is with the league and everything else. I can walk around my apartment, I can think about our future together. I can spend a whole night scouting out a location. I can go to a bar and talk with Turians or Asari about love and friends and teammates and they all get where I’m coming from. They fight and kill and steal and have worst pasts than I do.”
He took another sip of his drink and was starting to see the worry edge around her eyes. God, he didn’t want her to worry about him. He didn’t want anyone to, but now everyone from Banner to Grayson were asking him how he was doing. They could all see the cracks, or maybe he had finally let out all his problems without giving a damn who heard it. Gotham didn’t fix that. This place did.
But, it wasn’t home. It couldn’t be.
“Come here,” Eddie kissed her cheek, holding her jaw with his hand as he rubbed his thumb along her face for a moment before getting to his feet. He held his hand out for her, the other holding his drink and then lead her over to a quieter part of the casino. There were round couches, made for watching the races displayed on holograms on a circular table in front of them. He pulled her close, hinting that she should put her legs on his lap or sit on him if she dared and then took another sip of his drink.
“This place. Everything you see here? Will be gone in a few years. Maybe less. Most of the people on this station? The aliens, the humans, the itty bitty babies? Dead. We could stay on another planet, but that would be ravaged by a war you can’t even fucking imagine. This place is beautiful, it feels more like home than Gotham does, but it’s doomed. So, no. I’m not raising children here with you.”
Stephanie would always worry for him in the same way that he would always have a twinge of worry for her. It wasn’t anything unhealthy or mistrusting, but just the constant want for him to be happy and healthy and feeling loved. The worry didn’t consume her usually or distract from their relationship; it was just a reminder. A desire to make his life everything he wanted and deserved because he deserved everything.
The way he spoke about this place reminded her of times on Earth-3 when they would lay in their cheap bed in their busted apartment and talk about their teammates. There was affection and a little bit of pride there for the people he knew and the things he did and the life he was cultivating in this home away from home. It sounded like confidence she never heard about regarding their people in Gotham ever since they got back. Here? There was no reminders of a missing Bat or a family in shambles that he felt unwanted by. There were aliens and bounty hunting and strange drinks. Here? It seemed easy.
She leaned into his touch and smiled, trying to shake the worry from her brain because sure, she was adaptable and she would follow Eddie to the ends of time, but she wasn’t sure she could make this home. But then again, Gotham didn’t feel like home very much these days either. The only thing that made any place feel like home? Was that man looking into her eyes in that dimly lit casino.
She took up her drink and placed her hand in his and let him lead the way. Her fingers twisted with his, and when they sat on the couch, she slung her legs in his lap, combat boots hooked under the arm of the couch. Smirking at him like she wanted him to ask for anything more. As he spoke, she sipped on that purple drink, letting the warmth filled her veins and bones and his words settle on her in waves. She pulled his arm around her, scooting just a bit closer. “So then why even come here?” Steph asked, sliding the drink on the nearby table and taking his hand between both of hers. “I know you said to make a difference.” She looked up at him with curiosity. “Is it to make a difference? To instill hope?” That was her schtick in Gotham, and she still believed in injecting hope wherever possible, but she wasn’t sure if Eddie felt the same way about here. If that was his goal here. “I’m not worried about you coming here, baby,” she insisted quickly. “I just don’t want you to...leave everything else for here. Especially if the terrible things that you’re saying does come true.”