Re: Main Street
The Riddler dropped one more book for good measure after she told him not to and waited for her answer. A large part of him would be kind of pleased to see the bat family tear itself apart. Not in the way Crane envisioned, but something that would result in letting him spend time with Stephanie without getting a lecture. Eventually, they’d figure out how close the two of them were getting and find new, fun, interesting ways to beat him half to death until he pushed her away. He’d take it, maybe even whine a little to her about it afterwards for some sympathy, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
He paused after she answered his riddle correctly and then slid down the ladder he had just climbed up. “I didn’t want to.” Eddie walked towards the big windows and looked up at the black Gotham sky as if he expected to see a bat flying somewhere out there. “Not at first.” He tapped a fingernail against the glass. “I don’t understand family. If you save someone like me or Scarecrow or Ivy in Gotham, you get a favor. Sometimes not even that. But, when you save someone in your family what do they give you? A lecture about who you’re hanging out with? An ultimatum to put the cowl back on or you’re out of the family for good? Or even better, they go behind your back and talk to me directly about it like you need a permission slip.”
Eddie leaned forward and pressed his forehead on the glass like he had done right after waking up in Arkham for the first time beyond the door. “I’ll do anything to make you happy. Anything.” He didn’t even have to tell her that. She knew it better than anyone. “But, I know they’re going to checkmate me in 10 moves because I let them keep the rook.” He hummed in thought and then turned from the window, heading towards the books to gather them like he was picking up toys in a child’s playroom. Once he had his arms full, he walked to the fireplace and threw them in. “Now let me burn these books for fun.”
Stephanie knew that the family was not going to be happy with the way she and Eddie were getting closer and closer; hell, they were already unhappy about it. Now, with the two of them dancing around that line between friendship or mentorship and something more, she could just imagine how Dick or Tim would react. Even Damian, who saw more shades of gray than she, wouldn’t stand for it. But, she couldn’t completely sever ties with everyone just yet. She loved them all for different reason, and she couldn’t think of her life without them. Now, however, she couldn’t think of her life without Eddie either. She stayed near the ladder as he drifted to and fro in the room, staying quiet the entire time he spoke, and even for moments longer.
The fire jumped when he tossed the piles of books in, and she didn’t argue or try to stop him This wasn’t the real Wayne Manor. Bruce’s things weren’t actually being ruined. Plus, she still had bitter feelings towards the rest of the birds and the bat and cat. They could keep their meddling to themselves. “Just don’t burn the whole place down,” she said with a quiet tease. “I think they just fixed this one up.” From what she remembered of the movies Nick had rewatched for her sake. She picked up one of the discarded books he hadn’t managed to grab, a history of Eastern European economics, and drummed her fingers against the hard, old spine of the leather binding.
“Family’s complicated. I hate them all so much right now. But, I can’t just stop loving them. That’s not how it works, not when it’s family involved.” She sighed and stepped closer to the hearth of the fire, close enough to reach him if she wanted to. “But that doesn’t make it okay for them to do what they’re doing. Or whatever they might do. I’m an adult. I know what I’m doing. Worried or not, they can’t keep diving into our business.” Because it was ‘our business’ to her now. “It’s not fair, and I wish I could stop it altogether, but like I said...complicated.”