Re: Main Street
Feeling the snow melt under the warmth of his burning fingers, Eddie sighed and reached to put a kiss on her cheek before sloppily landing next to her in the white, forest snow. A moment passed and he grabbed a handful of fresh powder and smacked it on her stomach across her winter coat.
Stephanie knew it was all too good to be true, that this tender moment between she and him was lasting a little too long for a place as vindictive as Passages. So, when the rug was (literally) pulled out from underneath them, she was perturbed, but she wasn’t surprised. There had been so many little shocks throughout the night already -- the raucous unpredictability of the other Riddler, the crumbling Batfamily, the abandoned Wayne Manor, the barrage of confusing feelings through all of it. The kiss, and how his lips seemed to fit perfectly against hers, and how gently he held her in his arms. If three months ago, someone had told her that she would be making out with the Riddler in a make-believe Wayne Manor, she probably would have punched the person. Now, however, she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.
And, despite how she couldn’t quite put her finger on her feelings towards him, she did know that Eddie made her feel more like herself than she had in months. In fact, she felt better than herself when she was with him. The visions showed that they needed each other, and Steph couldn’t have agreed more about that sentiment. She needed him in her life, now more than ever, and she wouldn’t be giving him up anytime soon, or by her own volition. He and his intoxicating kisses and touches, his frustrating riddles, his smarmy, yet charming remarks, all of that was there to stay.
Her eyes stayed shut as she laid in the snow for a moment, trying to recover from the fire burning hot underneath her skin that he caused. When he stepped away, her neck rolled back, and her eyes drifted open slowly, and she faced the canopy of jet black sky and white, weighed down branches overhead. This hotel was a curse, but tonight it turned out to be a bit of a blessing. Consumed by remembering the way his hand felt against her hip and the sparks where his lips met her skin, she didn’t notice Eddie toss the snow until it was too late. She spluttered in a playful outrage and scrambled quickly to her feet. “You son of a--.” She reached down to scoop some snow and dropped it on the top of his messy hair with a grin. “Two can play this game.”
He hiccupped a laugh and gave a yell like Stephanie just murdered another computer when she smashed snow on his hair. “Going for the hair is instant disqualification.” Eddie glared up at her as he dusted off his hair and shook his shoulders to get the snow off. “If you read the snow fighting rulebook I sent in my monthly e-newsletter you would have-” But in the middle of his seemingly cold and dignified rant, he had somehow managed to form a snowball with one hand and smacked it against the side of her ass. He kicked away from her, gracefully swaying to his feet like a man who had been knocked down so many times he had to be good at standing back up.
With an expression like he had obviously won a lifetime of trophies (fairly or not, obviously), he combed his hands through his hair, straightened his tie and smoothed his hand over his coat in a movement that only took seconds. Riddler was always a man concerned with his own appearance (one day she’d see his light up smoking jacket and really understand the twisted degree that went to), but it was much worse tonight after seeing himself in Arkham. With her it was more of a subconscious need to separate himself from the green clad man who broke her nose or the disheveled psychopath who tried to choke the life out of himself.