addy and steph are the (blondebat) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2013-04-08 05:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | door: dc comics, riddler, stephanie brown |
who Stephanie and Eddie.
what tacos, kitties, makin' plans, being cute. the usual with these kids.
when Recently.
where Steph's apartment.
warnings lots and lots of feeeeelings.
Eddie felt like he hadn’t dressed sharply in months. An exaggeration, but from someone who trotted out a giant ear of corn for a riddle back in his glory days, it was one of his least offensive ones. Now that he didn’t have to wear his blasted sling anymore and actually had use for walking with a cane beyond wielding it as a weapon, he had to work very hard not to show up at Stephanie’s apartment in full Riddler costume. Green question marks everywhere, a bowler hat just for style and his brass cane that her father tried to beat him to death with. That’s what he felt like, but restraint was the name of the game lately, so he settled for a simple spring tan suit that belonged at brunch or yacht parties that no one in their right mind would invite the Riddler to. It looked out of place around Stephanie’s apartment building of lower class wage earners and college students, but Eddie always felt more comfortable when he stood out anyway.
This part of town didn’t recognize him like the heart of Old Gotham did and so venturing to her side of the tracks really felt like taking a step into a new territory that had been previously closed off. Nevermind that he knew every roadmap of Gotham like the back of his hand. Never mind that if she was ever in trouble, real trouble like a building fire, he’d know and could probably react faster than the worthless police or the overburdened firemen. That was the kind of thing she didn’t need to know even though she could probably guess. And, with anyone else? Anyone who actually enjoyed his riddles and conundrums? The fact that she knew so many of his tricks would have driven him completely bonkers. But, here he was, purple and gold tulips in one hand and blueprints tucked under his arm like he didn’t mind that she held the decoder ring to what made him tick. It was hard to fight it after a couple months of playing the sweetheart game.
He knocked on the door and when she opened up, he squinted from behind his violet shades. “Riddle me this, Stephanie Brown. What kind of flower do you kiss?” He handed her the tulips without waiting for an answer and then took a step closer to her, his blueprints crinkling a little as they hit the side of the door, threatening to unravel in a creased mess, but Eddie didn’t seem to care.
The little blonde bat had spent the better part of the day cleaning up her apartment. Full class load plus bat-related evenings plus a boyfriend who vied for her attention ate up a majority of her time. Certainly, she had better things to do than make sure her couch didn’t have cat hair on it. It wasn’t as if she spent too much time in her apartment anyway. When she wasn’t at Eddie’s or patrolling or in class, she was usually somewhere around Gotham U., studying or working. But, spring break offered her an expanse of time she normally didn’t have, and Eddie coming over for the first time felt like motivation enough to finally put her laundry away after living out of a laundry basket for a month among other things. With the kittens mewling around as she blasted some pump up music, she scrubbed as much as she could, piled up books in corners, made her bed, and ensured the apartment was generally tidy.
So, when Eddie arrived at her front door in his spring tan suit, the apartment looked presentable, at least. Stephanie had just showered when she swung the door open with a smile, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and still slightly damp at the ends, and she wasn’t dressed as fancily as Eddie, opting instead to stick to her skinny jeans, purple Converse sneakers, and an unzipped Gotham U. hoodie over her green shirt. Nothing out of the ordinary, though the day was a little special. It felt almost momentous, finally having Eddie come over to her apartment. Her place had been one of those final secrets kept tucked away, something fresh and new for their relationship to work towards. But, she had gone over Eddie’s enough to warrant a trip to hers, and maybe this would get Arthur a little mixed up, if he was still following their movements. Whatever the case, Eddie coming to her apartment crossed one of those final thresholds, and she didn’t feel weird about it at all. Maybe, maybe a little apprehensive about what he would think, but if her apartment chased him off, that was kind of ridiculous.
She beamed up at him. “They’re beautiful,” she said, pressing the flowers to her nose to take a sniff before lowering them so she could step closer, too. “Hi,” she said, voice a little breathless, and she pressed against him to stretch for a quick, but passionate kiss. Glad to see that damn sling gone, she tried to get as much of herself against him as she could before she pulled back and snatched his hand to drag him inside. Even from the threshold of the front door, it was clear this was a college girl’s apartment. To the left, the kitchen was small and open, and even in the dim light, you could see the midway attempt at the mural she told him about that night in IKEA. Straight ahead, a couple of feet in was the living room, equipped with hodgepodge and threadbare furniture with a nice sized television and her computer humming the glow of Facebook on the couch and a faint beat of Biggie Smalls (because Steph Brown was hood, yo) pulsing through the tiny speakers. To the right, a hallway led to both bedrooms: one Stephanie’s and the opposite room Damian’s. The floors and rooms were clean but still held that general aura of casual messiness most twenty year old girls had, like the coat strewn over the back of one of the chairs and her keys thrown on a cushion. Little puffs of cat hair, a pile of textbooks by one of the couch arms, a bag of chips opened on the coffee table.
“Clean bill of health?” she asked as she stepped backwards into the apartment, towards the living room. On the tiny coffee table was a bag from Los Tacos filled with their favorites, which she’d managed to get between cleaning frenzies and Eddie arriving at her apartment. “Last time before you go back on your diet.” She waved at the bag. He was going on a diet after this. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. She pointed at the blueprints with a quirked brow. “What are those?”
“Tuli-” He managed before she kiss attacked him and tried desperately to finish the riddle. “Two- two lips.” Eddie pressed himself closer to her, eager for affection like they hadn’t chatted with each other for years. “Get it. Because-” The blueprints fumbled from his grasp and he quickly broke concentration and busied himself rolling them back up neatly. Snatching his glasses off, Eddie scanned the room quickly, picking up all the little college girl details in a matter of seconds. He also detected cats. “How many did you say you had? Thirty?” He pointed to one of the balls of fluff that actually turned out to be a tumbling, tiny black kitten. And, he knew this was a mark of Selina, but he really didn’t want to know in what degree. The last thing he wanted was for one of them to be pawned off to him and Matilda.
Eddie gave the thing a look like it was a tiny Batman spy and tossed the blueprints on the table next to the tacos. “I made some progress on goon hunting. I thought I’d show you what I have so far. Make some plans. That kind of thing.” He naturally gravitated to the bag of tacos, but found himself easily distracted by the apartment like a kid lost in a hardware store. “You cleaned. Recently. But, not enough to make it look like you were trying too hard. I’m mildly impressed.” He lifted a single finger in the air, geeky and know-it-all as per usual.
“Do you have a riddle for every single flower in the world?” she asked against his lips, smirk curling up before she giggled as he fumbled. It was a mostly rhetorical question because he almost definitely did have something tucked away up there for anything and everything she could think of. Letting him walk and wander into the apartment, she kicked the front door shut with a calculated toe of her sneaker before wandering into her kitchen to find something for the flowers. “No, I don’t have thirty, and none of them are actually mine,” she called out over running water. She turned off the tap. “Three, I think? They’re all Damian’s, though I’m a good cat aunt, thanks very much.” Emerging around the corner, she held a large glass with the flowers in it. She flashed him a sheepish smile before placing it gently on the coffee table as well. “No vase. I don’t normally get flowers, okay.”
Steph pulled a face. “This is supposed to be my spring break. Can’t we put planning off?” There was a childish tinge to her whine, even if she knew they couldn’t ignore any of this. She smiled at that little kid look flashing across Eddie’s face before she rolled her eyes. “Well, yeah, duh. I didn’t want it to be a pigsty. Only mildly impressed?” She raised her eyebrows, mouth turning down in mock offense before scooping up the tiny tuft of fur he just curled his lip at and scratching behind its ear. “You sure know how to make a girl feel good.”
“Well, the lack of flowers is my fault.” He took a seat on the couch, arm around the back as he made himself comfortable easily. Eddie was a carnie at heart, raised on the now broken down and crime ridden Boardwalk since his dad kicked him out and so there were very few places that actually made him nervous. Though, he did admit to feeling a little giddy at finally being allowed over to her place. It was almost a milestone for them. So, he reached for the bag of tacos finally and unwrapped his tinfoiled protected taco goodness with another wary look towards the tiny kitten that was now inching closer to the smell of food. “I’ll get you a vase next time, too.” Eddie took a couple thoughtful, appreciative bites, eating a little like a college kid instead of some dignified man in a nice suit. God, did he love tacos.
“Oh, are you on spring break? Gee golly.” Eddie said after gulping down some food and reaching for a can of soda. “You know what, let me call the Bank Robbers Association. I’m sure they can clear this up.” He put his fingers to his ear like a phone, big brown eyes wide as he waited for the imaginary thing to ring. “Yes, hello? Goons? Would you mind holding off on a city wide sweep heist? Yeah, my lady is on spring break and-” He brought the phone down, delicately placing his hand over the pinky receiver. “He put me on hold.”
“I could have bought myself flowers, too, y’know,” Steph said in a sudden bout of feminism that was far more teasing than serious. She wasn’t the type to expect something from her boyfriend every moment of every day. Like Jordanna, ugh. Hovering over her boyfriend wasn’t Steph’s thing, though that didn’t mean she hated the doting Eddie draped over her. Quite the contrary. She just didn’t need him to shower her with material pieces of affection. “You don’t have to. Unllllessss this is another good excuse to go to IKEA. I think we might be allowed back by now.” The kitten began to squirm in her hand, wiggling towards the food in Eddie’s hand, and Steph dropped the fluffball on the couch cushion with a sigh. “Get out of here,” she said as she bopped the kitten on its backside. It jumped, but didn’t skitter away like she wanted.
Her hand digged through and grabbed her own taco, quickly ripping off the tinfoil and picking out the pieces of lettuce to pop into her mouth. “Ha, ha, ha.” She rolled her eyes as he began to roll through the motions of a mock phone call. “So funny.” When he held his hand over his pinky like holding a receiver, she grunted as if fed up with the entire thing and tackled him on the couch there, half-wrapped taco falling onto the couch cushion. “Haaaang it up!” She swatted at his hand, grasping until she folded his pinky into his palm, as her legs straddled his lap. “Click. It’s done. And, I knew you had them on speed dial, you bastard.”
“Nooo, taco.” Eddie’s first (and probably last) words as she flung herself at him, delicious Mexican treat toppling onto the couch and nearly on his suit which would have been an actual tragedy. He gave a hiccupping laugh as she pounced him, immediately leaning back against the couch cushions to look up at her. “If getting you to jump my bones was as easy as calling my old thieves guild I would have done it a looong time ago.” He grinned brightly as she hung up the phone, overly delighted that she played along instead of simply rolling her eyes and chastising him for being immature. One of the many reasons why they got along.
Eddie reached up for a quick kiss whether she wanted one or not and wrapped both of his arms around her. Something he hadn’t been able to do in weeks. “The blueprints are fun. I got all kinds of floor plans, sewer systems and even a couple underground tunnels. Last time I was there, I got stabbed by Clock King, so I’m hoping this round will be a little more agreeable.” He hadn’t specified where he got stabbed, but predictably he seemed unphased by it.
She looked down at him with a smile. “Desperate times call for desperate measures, Eddie Nigma. I couldn’t let you fall into their wily hands again, and I couldn’t let them track our location to drag you away from here. The cats can’t see a scene like that. Thiiiink of the kiiittensss.” A faux-pained look crossed her face, and she clutched his now healed arms dramatically, throwing her head back as if calling to the heavens. Or her upstairs neighbor. She looked down at him again, kissed him back with a little more pressure than he intended, and settled easily in his pair of arms.
“Stabbed?” she asked, not really surprised but still not happy about it. Her fingers dragged through his thick dark curl before dragging down feather-light across his jaw. She could still see faint reminders of what her father had done to him, or maybe she imagined them there to haunt her into guilt. Either way, she frowned for a split second before letting her arms rest around his neck. “You aren’t getting stabbed.” Her face was deadpan, eyebrows quirked as if she dared him to even try. “You aren’t getting hurt this time around. Or else I’ll hurt you.”
“Stabbed.” He repeated dramatically, pulling himself against her the second she took ahold of his dark hair. Eddie buried his face as close to her ribcage as he could manage, closing his eyes for a moment through the embrace and exhaling. Maybe he was showing his cards when he should have been keeping them facedown on the table, but this whole ordeal with her father had taken so much out of him. The simple act of holding her handicapped and the worst part was that he didn’t understand how important something so simple could be until it was gone. His hands dug into her shirt, creases of fabric bubbling between his fingers and he might have whimpered a little. Something small and pathetic that he regretted immediately.
Trying to recover, he looked back up at her with a brave sort of smile. “I’ve seen you beat a cripple before, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and the smile on his face turned easy and simple again. “We’re almost at the end of this. And, once you’re done being a hero and shutting down a bank robbery we can go do something for us.”
A surprised little sound slipped out of her throat when he buried his face into her chest, but a warm smile crawled up her lips. Fingers slipped back up into his hair and tugged slightly against the dark curls to let him know she’d missed this, too. She’d missed this so much. Aside from her birthday night in Wonder Tower, they hadn’t been this close in what seemed like ages. Just another thing in a long list that her father tried to destroy for her, but he couldn’t ruin this. As much as he might try, as many cracks and fissures scattered across their concrete connection, she wouldn’t let Arthur Brown rip this apart into pieces.
She slowly ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair, back and forth to soothe both of them, and she let out a long, drawn-out sigh. A sigh lodged in her chest since this whole thing began. Being in his arms lifted a weight off her shoulders she didn’t quite recognize until now. “Baby,” she said softly when he whimpered, hand still busy combing through his hair, and she stooped down to press a kiss to the top of his head before sitting up again. Rolling her eyes, she forced a laugh. “Ha ha.” Her fingers stilled at his jaw. “That cripple asked for it.” She mirrored his smile, blue eyes flashing with an easiness that hadn’t been there in a while, and she pulled at his chin to steal another kiss. “It’ll be worth it. Right?” She pulled back again, smoothing his dark curls back from his face. “It’s all got to be worth it at the end of this.”
“It’s already worth it.” He corrected her, tilting his head as his breathing turned steady and slow. The gears were still running behind those dark eyes, they almost always were, but he wasn’t feeling edgy anymore. Eddie could see the finish line and he was determined to enjoy foiling a heist on the way there even if there wasn’t anything fun about going up against Arthur and his terrible parenting skills. “I’m going to outsmart a machine, you’re going to be Batgirl and we’re going to save the day.” He glanced down at the fallen taco next to them where the furball he had glared at earlier was pawing at. Eddie’s expression softened a little. He talked big, but cats always found a way to worm into his good graces.
“Besides. How many times did we get into a fight this past month? Real big fights that would have led to so many breaks back in February we probably would have just called it quits?” Eddie was sure it was a good prime number. He rolled Stephanie off him and slipped down to the floor, picking up the kitten with one hand and placing it on the coffee table before cleaning up her deceased taco. “You can have half of my taco stash.” See? That was real love.
Steph flopped onto the couch cushion after he nudged her off with an oof and a silly grin. “Are you ready for that?” she asked with a quiet tease laced in her voice. “To save the day? We’ll finally get Gotham back on our sides again.” She hadn’t exactly thought of what taking her father down might do for the both of them, but it would be good. Maybe the city would trust her again in a way they hadn’t trusted Batgirl in a while, thanks to Siobhan, thanks to Steph’s own fuck ups. “If you don’t mind being in the city’s good graces.” Shrugging, she nudged his shoulder with the toe of her sneaker. “Too many times,” she replied, unable to even count the number of fights they’d had since her father arrived on the scene. A lot, definitely, and all exhausting in their own way.
“Oh, god, you must really love me.” She reached forward and popped open a can of Coke, then reached for the bag of food. “Giving up your tacos to little ol’ me? I’m honored.” She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before sitting up and propping her legs on the coffee table. “Okay, what do you have here?” She plucked at the blueprints scattered across the surface, and then took out a fresh taco to unravel.
“Don’t tell anyone. If Gotham knew I was willing to give up some of my tacos for you, they’d never let me hear the end of it.” Eddie said like the entire city was not only aware of his passion for tacos, but apparently oblivious to his devotion to Stephanie. Both of which were painfully obvious to even the casual observer. “What we have here is a gameplan. I haven’t figured out what bank he’s planning on hitting, but I know it’ll be in Bludhaven and I know how to get to any of these locations within a couple minutes.” He snapped his glasses back on, violet light shining over the blueprints he brought her as he smoothed his hands over one of the bigger maps. It reminded him of the time he planned the nefarious takedown of Gotham with Joker and Scarecrow, but circumstances had such a funny way of changing.
“See, that whole city is just as crime ridden as Gotham. Which means there’s a remarkable amount of secret passageways, tunnels and places to hide equipment.” Eddie circled the major banks and numbered them in what he thought would be the most likely order Arthur would pick them in. “We have two options. Either try to hit him before he can go after a bank or wait and react.” He didn’t have the connections it took to locate Arthur easily, but it could be done with enough time. Eddie looked up at Stephanie, reaching out to pet the little black kitten that sniffed for remnants of taco before purring into the palm of his hand. This was Batgirl’s show and Riddler never minded playing backup as long as he got to make a real contribution.
As he spoke, she busied herself with unwrapping the taco and nibbling on the end thoughtfully. Stephanie wasn’t really used to sitting down, drafting ideas, and executing plans. Or, at the very least, being the person who actually called the shots. No, Batgirl tended to ignore the old adage “look before you leap” and leapt blindly far too often. Barbara was in charge of leading the way, or sometimes Proxy, but when Steph ran the show, it was mostly brawn, some batarangs, and a little bit of quick thinking. Fight or flight, usually. But, this time, she recognized the need for a strategy, and Eddie was good at strategy where she wasn’t. “Going to Bludhaven wasn’t the trip I had in mind, honey.” Another bite, then she chugged the soda, her foot giggling against the table surface with a tap, tap, tap.
“I haven’t had any luck drumming up any stuff about any followers or guys on the ground.” She sighed, leaning forward to place the can on one of the corners of the maps before slinking back into the couches. “No one knows anything, or they’re getting paid enough to keep their mouths shut until Arthur sets up shop. We don’t know how many goons he’s brought from here, how many he’s getting there. You know anyone there?” The only person she even knew with connections was Dick, though she’d heard Tim and Cassandra had laid roots in the city, too, during her year in Africa. Nothing concrete, and nothing that would help them take Arthur down any quicker. “We need to take him down as quickly as possible,” she said after a moment of staring up at the ceiling, and she almost wished she’d just taken him down in Slaughter Swamp. Saved she and Eddie a world of angst and trouble.
Eddie was the kind of person who didn’t do well in uncertainty and in some cases it could completely shut him down. He could think on his feet, but not nearly as fast as the bats. Someone could shove a puzzle into his hands and tell him to solve it, but Eddie liked cheating for the answers first. It didn’t matter if he was a genius, his compulsions centered around playing against the rules anyway. But, when someone asked him to solve a real mystery, something that only he and his riddled mind could figure out, that’s when he could feel the sanest. Even if it was still work. He moved his finger along the map thoughtfully, reaching to stop her foot from shaking the table and then pulled out another blueprint. “I’m glad you think so. I think this has gone on long enough.” He told her, writing some notes to himself on the blueprint of the sewer system. “Still. The only way I can make connections fast enough there is to partake in dealing. Maybe even smuggling. I can’t.” And, he didn’t sound regretful or angry that she wouldn’t let him play dirty for results. It was his own choice. Something Arthur made him see that wasn’t clear before.
“I can get you into the city with an alias, but I think all the questioning should be done by Batgirl. I’ll stay somewhere else, keep a low profile and see what I can do about shutting the machine down.” He made a frustrated noise, forgetting that tacos were even a thing anymore and sat back to run his hands through his hair a couple times. “That bastard took my eyes away. And, I hate it when I can’t be the smartest guy in the room.”
“To say the least.” Her head dropped down, chin resting on her chest as she closed her eyes for a second. All of this had gone on too long, and she took fault for that. If she could have been smarter about everything, if she had just tucked her goddamn emotions away, Arthur Brown wouldn’t have the freedom to be planning a huge heist in a city she didn’t have a damn clue about. Opening her eyes and popping the rest of the food in her mouth, she chewed with a smile, leaning forward to run a hand through Eddie’s hair. Appreciative that he wasn’t even upset that he couldn’t go about this the old way. Steph scooped up the kitten Eddie busied himself with just moments before with her free hand, crunching up the foil with her other hand. The little black fluffball strutted across her lap, walking to and fro against her awaiting hand. “You’re always the smartest guy in the room, Eddie,” she assured him because she thought it was true. Even without the gadgets or the eyes everywhere, even without some goons in his pocket, Eddie would always be the sharpest man in the room to her. And, that wasn’t just affection talking.
Dropping one foot onto the floor with a thud, she nudged at his thigh. “Alias might be the best bet. I can learn the ropes of the city before we strike, and all his goons know who I am. I don’t think being Batgirl is much of a secret identity anymore in this city.” Almost all of the rogues knew who Stephanie Brown was by this point, so she was sure they could make the connection. Especially given Siobhan and Breeze’s little show when she, Eddie, and the others were stuck in Vegas. Her fingers skated across the kitten’s soft fur. “And, while I sniff around, it’ll give you time to set up what you can?”
When people called Eddie a genius it usually was coupled with a healthy dose of and crazy. He leaned his head into her hand, expecting the crazy part like it was the last lyric to a song that played constantly on the radio and when it didn’t come his eyes flicked up to look at her. Half surprised, half earnestly grateful. The last fight that meant anything to him got dangerously close to both of his insecurities which could send him into one of those legendary panic attacks that used to haunt Arkham halls. It wasn’t just the feeling of being outsmarted or inferior, it was the sinking sensation that he really couldn’t be a genius without all the lying, cheating and stealing that he enjoyed so much.
He reached to touch the side of her face and then rub the top of the kitten’s head. “That’s the best we can do. We’ll have to be careful about seeing each other, but no one can hack into my comm.” Eddie crawled back closer to her, draping an arm around her back along the couch cushion and leaning his forehead on her shoulder. “I want you to memorize those blueprints. You’ll need to know as much of that city as you can.”
Steph let the other foot fall from the table with another thunk against her hardwood floor just as Bandit, Damian’s first cat, came slinking around the corner to paw at her sneakers. She ignored the cat, turning her chin down to look at Eddie as he crawled up towards her. “Noooo,” she groaned, dropping the foil to run a hand over her face. “Homework? Seriously? Anything but homeworrrrrk. It’s my Kryptonite.” She sighed dramatically, neck whipping back and arm draping over her eyes. Her free hand still rubbed the kitten’s back as it strutted back and forth across both their laps. “Do you want to assign me anything else, professor? The entire history of Bludhaven while we’re at it? A point-by-point presentation on those banks?” She frowned, arm falling away from her face and slipping behind his back. “Also, I don’t know if I’m down with this no contact thing. I don’t think I can survive on comm convos alone. Even if you give me some dirty pics on the side.” She picked her head up from the back of the couch and turned to peck his nose. “This trip sucks already, okay. Totally, completely sucks.” Oh, they definitely needed a vacation after all this. “I’m gonna miss a shit-ton of school, too. Worst second semester ever.”
Her other hand reached forward to tug against his tie. “Blah, blah, blaaah.” She hated complaining so much, but sometimes it just happened. She was only twenty, after all. “I want a good alias, baby.”
“Spring Break is oooooverrr.” He whispered deviously like he had hidden a bomb somewhere in Gotham along with a soft, maniacal laugh that went heh heh heh. Eddie could do a really good super villain laugh that was high pitched and louder than a car alarm, but that was left in his do not open box stored far, far back in his mind. Eddie perked up a little, pulling her close as the tiny kitten crawling around them began a slow ascent up his arm. Little claws carefully digging into his jacket like he was the side of an indoor rock climbing wall. He wanted to hate the little menace, he really did, but instead he simply allowed it to climb wherever it damned well pleased. “Besides. I already memorized all the maps, historical landmarks, political figures, city demographics, gang activity and where all the best taco places are. It really shouldn’t be that hard for you.” Eddie gave her a smug look and then kissed the top of her head.
“I was thinking goth chick?” Eddie’s voice lifted hopefully, and if she looked up at him he gave her a cheesy, all teeth smile. Completely innocent. And, then came a wave of logic and reasoning. “If you think about it, it’ll just make the no contact thing a lot harder for me. You can take solace in the fact that somewhere, across that crime ridden town, I’m pining to see you in black lace and boots so heavy you could knock out Killer Croc with them.”
Bandit jumped onto the couch cushion with a thump, and Steph stretched her hand out to rub the girl’s back. She didn’t want to play favorites, but even the best cat aunt around couldn’t deny that Bandit had a special place in her heart. So much so that maybe she bribed her to sleep in bed (when she slept in the apartment) with her even with Damian around. She took a moment to thwack Eddie in the chest to knock that laugh out of his chest. “You’re entire life is a vacation,” she teased, the anger not wholly there in her voice. “Don’t begrudge me my Spring Break, ass.” She pulled a face, rolling her eyes and mimicking him as he spoke. Of course he had everything memorized already. Genius boyfriends were pains in the ass. “I take the genius thing back. You’re just annoying.”
Steph deadpanned up at him, not even a twitch of a smile at his suggestion. “I would look completely ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.” She unraveled her arm out from under him and scooped up Bandit to pull her into her lap. She looked up at him smugly. “What’s the point of dressing up in your ultimate fantasy if you can’t take advantage. What if I never do it again?”
The kitten had finally made it up to his shoulder, the fuzzy ball of fluff purring so loudly in his ear that he was pretty sure it was actually half lawn mower. He turned a little to look at it, which prompted a loud, sharp meow that made him squint like someone just turned on the high beams. “Jesus christ, cat. Take my money, take my entire wallet. Just don’t hurt me.” He murmured to it, tactically ignoring her comment about his life being a vacation because she couldn’t have hit it on the head of the nail any harder. Work wasn’t something he did until he honestly tried to reform and he didn’t even understand what it meant until he started dating Stephanie. Not that he’d tell her as much in those terms. Eddie didn’t even have to. They both knew just being together took more than the easy flirting that started this whole thing.
“Annoying...or adorable.” Eddie asked as the kitten head butted him and he scooped it up to hold against his chest. Completely abandoning any more attempt to seem indifferent to the creature. “I think with the right motivations I could bypass suspicion and find a way to thoroughly enjoy the fishnets and chains. See, it’s a game within a game.”
Though she seemed preoccupied by Bandit’s attention-grabbing mewling, Steph watched the kitten’s ascent up Eddie’s arm and shoulder through the corner of her eye with a smirk. Oh, yeah, she knew he was a sap, even if he tried to deny it. Deep down, the Riddler had a soft spots for kittens and Cats, for fluffy mutts and daughters of two-bit thieves bent on revenge. In her eyes, no one could deny Eddie Nigma’s heart; he just chose who to show it to. “Softie,” she murmured as he brought the cat to his chest, taking a moment to poke his side before resuming her duty petting Bandit. “I knew you had a thing for kitties.” She smiled over at him, all teasing and good nature.
“Or both,” she said, rubbing the top of the kitten’s head with one hand while scratching behind Bandit’s ear. “Definitely both.” She quirked an eyebrow. “You’d put the whole thing in jeopardy just to see me in a pair of fishnets and tight black clothes? You are a dirty old man.” A pause, then she playfully added: “You’ll probably have to go undercover, too, to avoid suspicion if you want to see me.”
Eddie gave a stern look down at the kneading furball that had attached itself to his tie and purred so hard he could feel it vibrate through his chest cavity. No, Eddie didn’t lack the certain qualities it took to be an utter and complete sap. He was nostalgic, loving, worrying and even affectionate all in a genuine way that someone like Crane or Joker couldn’t hope to emulate. It might have been because he started all this villain nonsense for the fun of it and he still saw Gotham in brightly colored baffs and pows, but he and the cats and Stephanie all knew there was more to the riddle than that. He still couldn’t feel sorry for making choices that he thought were right (however extreme) or care too deeply about the majority of Gotham. But, those select few got a glimpse of the man he could have been without all the Arkham crazy. “I hate cats. They claw up everything. My tie is going to be ruined.” Eddie said gently, looking up to Stephanie with a small smile and instead of pulling the damn thing off before it could do more damage, he put his hand over its back and felt it start to snooze against him.
“I wouldn’t tell you what or how or when.” Eddie’s voice turned sharp and mischievous. “Not until I had a good riddle set up. But you’re terrible at them, so it’s about the same if I didn’t give you a hint at all.” He flashed her the smirk she hated. “Besides, you can’t blame me for having a preference before meeting you. Who knows? Maybe you can’t even pull off the goth look in the first place.”
Steph shot him A Look, not quite like Death’s Look, but something very Stephanie Brown. Deadpan, dry, with that glint of playfulness in her blues that didn’t quite exist in Arthur’s blue eyes either. A Look he was familiar with, in an affectionate way mostly, of course. “Ohhh no, not your tie. What will we dooo.” She dragged her fingers down his jawline with a soft smile, then rubbed the top of the kitten’s head. “What a menace you are, little thing. I wonder what it’s like annoying people into loving you.” She beamed over at Eddie, grinning bright and teasingly. Obviously, she didn’t mind how Eddie burrowed his way into her heart that much. She still had him sitting there in her apartment. “I should take a picture of this for blackmail. I already have ones of you being nice to Matilda. No one would ever believe it, but it happened.”
A quiet hmph slipped out. “That’s just not fair.” She swung her legs across his lap and dug her sneakers in between the cushions, all the while sticking her tongue out at him. “You’re using my weaknesses to your advantage.” She glared and jutted forward to shove him in the shoulder. Bandit, thoroughly jolted by the sudden movement, hissed and slunk away to probably claw up her pillow or something. Steph looked sheepishly at the retreating cat for a moment before turning back to Eddie. “You don’t know that I can’t. You totally know that I can. How many dirty fantasies have you had with me all gothed up anyway? Exactly.”
Eddie raised his eyebrows as high as they would go, brown eyes wide and innocent the more annoyed she got. This was one of his favorite games, even when she threw one of those little fits and told him to stop smiling when she got upset. “I’ve seen you in fairy wings,” He reminded her, because Eddie had some blackmail fodder too. “Aren’t you too busy spreading joy and sparkles across the enchanted forest to put on black lipstick?” Eddie asked like she couldn’t possibly even walk through the front doors of Hot Topic without being arrested by the goth police. As she moved closer and subsequently smacked his shoulder, he pulled the little kitten off his tie (which clung like it was some kind of lifeline) and put it on the floor so that he could raccoon his way closer to Stephanie.
“It doesn’t matter how many detailed and eerily specific fantasies I have about you in goth gear, because they’re just that. Fantasy.” He scooted closer, pulling at her shirt and hips to get her tangled up with him. “You’re going to have to face the truth sometime, Stephanie Brown. You’re just too blonde and bubbly to pull off the dark and sulky act. You’d be better off if we put you in old spinster makeup and ship you off to Bludhaven’s senior center.” And, it was a challenge. It was the worst kind of Riddler challenge that was mocking, unfair and all kinds of rude rolled into one big annoying question marked ball.
“No, no, no.” A failed, hardly impassioned protest, the blonde bat shoved at his shoulders again lightly, barely enough to rock his body backwards, and she settled easily in his arms. Fingers curled into his tie, but she didn’t tug. She knew this game. This needling, prodding, let me annoy you until you do it even if you’ll hate it kind of game. Eddie was an expert at it, and she suspected that he was always good at that kind of damn game. But, still, she played into his hand so easily, that irritation and anger licking at the part of her brain that loved to prove a point. Loved to teach people that she could do anything she wanted if she put her stubborn head to it.
“You like that I’m blonde and bubbly, honey,” she accused, eyes narrowed before she used her free hand to shove him one more time. “Fine. Just to prove you wrong, which is my favorite game, by the way.” He could tell his words rankled under her skin. Just the idea that she couldn’t do anything pushed her to want to do it more. And, he knew that. She knew that he knew that, and she played right in. “I was gonna invite you on a tour,” she said with a light tug to his tie, “but now, with that attitude? Oh hell, I don’t think you deserve it at all.”
“I promise not to be utterly disappointed with your inevitable failure.” He lifted his finger between them the way he always did when he either had an idea or was being a complete smartass (or both, he loved doing both). This was a victory in his opinion, even if the casual observer might think otherwise. He had known since the beginning, since even before Ikea, Oregon Trail and dinosaurs that the more someone told Stephanie Brown that she couldn’t do something, the more likely she was to completely and boldly make it happen. And, god did he love that about her. Even if he played the card a little too much. Eddie always did like cheating. So, he beamed when she pulled his tie close, tilting his head with a sweet dorky smile like he was expecting a kiss. But, all that gentle affection stopped short when she told him he didn’t deserve a tour.
Well, this was a game she was a little better playing than he was. Giving a playful, yet accurately disappointed drop of his brow and a digging frown he froze in place. Eddie had to be very careful how he proceeded. Too much teasing would lead to some twisted reason to get in a fight, but he couldn’t help needling when she got annoyed like this. “You like my attitude. You love it.” He leaned his head back on the cushion, facing her with sweet, innocent eyes. “Besides, I don’t need a tour. The likelihood your apartment has any surprises beyond bat gear is very slim. I bet you don’t even have a study or an office.”
Hmph sounded again from the little blonde bat, and she fixed another glare on him. “Don’t set me up for failure. I don’t react well to that.” Stephanie Brown was, more than anything, a stubborn little thing. Since a young age, she fought tooth and nail for everything she had. She fought to teach her father a lesson and stop him. She fought to stay a vigilante, to pick up the Batgirl mantle, to change her life for the better. To get her second chance. So, hell, of course it was easy to crawl underneath her skin and poke and prod until she snarled and snapped. It was her natural way of being. Nothing was handed to Stephanie, not even her relationship with Eddie, and she knew she needed to battle for everything good (or not so good) in her life if she actually wanted it.
And cue the big eyeroll and huff. “Your attitude is the worst,” she retorted. Okay, maybe the needling was just how they worked, but she didn’t have to enjoy it every second of every day. He irritated the shit out of her most times, and her mood or how far he went dictated how she felt about it. How she reacted. She shot him a smug look, trying her best to regain the lead in this game. “You’ll just never find out, will you?” She leaned away from him, swinging her legs off and back onto the coffee table, her arms slipping behind her head as she looked up to the ceiling. “You don’t want to see every inch of my personal space. Sure. Fine. You’ll never see where all the magic happens. How can you say you love me if you don’t even care about where I live?”
Eddie whined when she pulled away from him, somehow surprised that his annoying charm wasn’t working the way he thought it should have. He leaned closer as she moved away, still allowing her some distance, but turning his body like he was magnetized against his will. Shoulders hunched forward, chin tilted down to his chest and eyes up like she was just being cruel. “Maybe I can already surmise all I need to know about the remainder of your apartment, aka your room from just the comm conversations we’ve had.” He inched closer, dropping down to put his head in her lap and laying across the sofa with one leg dangling off it. Eddie looked up to her, eyes keen now and the gears were turning so fast she could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.
“For example. I know you blast popular music despite the fact that college is the best time to get into independent bands. I know your mattress has loud, creaky springs that sound every time you flop down on it. I know you keep homework and papers stacked on the edges of every surface including your bed with no real organizational habits to speak of. And, I have definitely heard you eat cereal in there, so I can only imagine the towers of dirty dishes you have stashed in the corners. Or used to be stashed, until you tried to clean the best you could to impress me. Though, I bet if I went looking, I could find a stray spoon somewhere under your bed.” He mirrored her smug look with just a touch of nerdy superiority. “Am I getting warmer?”
“Don’t give me the puppy dog eyes. You know I’m a sucker for the puppy dog eyes, Eddie.” Her lips twitched and twitched as he shimmied closer, and Steph fought the blossoming grin threatening to spread across her face with all of her might. God, he could be annoying sometimes, but he could also wiggle his way back into that little cavity in her chest with such ease that it astounded her sometimes. She wasn’t angry with him, just irritated with his strategic needling and smarmy smugness. All puzzle pieces that made up the whole picture of Eddie Nigma though, and they were things she couldn’t deny having a sweet sort of affection for sometimes. And, when his head fell into her lap, she smiled down at him briefly before trying her best to keep a straight face. “You can’t know everything. Unless you’ve been spying on me.” She paused dramatically, then plucked at his shirt. “You have been spying, haven’t you? I knew you hacked into my webcam!”
She knew (or at least really hoped) that he wouldn’t violate her trust like that, so when he rattled off some fairly accurate aspects of her room, she raised a curious eyebrow. Goddammit, she hated dating a genius sometimes. “If you find a spoon, I’ll give you five bucks. Or any sort of dirty dishes. I’m not a slob.” Her fingers busied, running through his dark hair and tracing over his nose and chin and cheeks like she was trying her best to memorize the detailed map of his face. That? That was interesting, that she could do. Learn the curves and edges of his face as if it were her own. Not memorizing blueprints and grids of Bludhaven. “And, it’s not all pop music. Maybe you should make me a mixtape.”
Eddie smiled warmly, closing his eyes as her fingers ran through his hair and across his face. This, he could do this forever if Gotham let him. When this first started, Eddie assumed their love would be fleeting like all good things were for him, but when she traced her fingers across his cheeks and brow, he thought he could make this actually last. They belonged in a city that was built on darkness and weird oddities. In order to keep it from consuming him again, Eddie knew it needed to have this, too. He turned his head towards her, nose buried into her belly as she effectively slowed his smarmy annoyance to a humming lull. “Hmm?” He asked like she was trying to talk to him through a nap, happily underwater in her affections. “Oh. Yes. I didn’t mean to imply you’re a slob. I would never fall in love with one. Too contrary to my personality. We need to have some things in common.” He murmured, turning his head a little to take nips at her fingers, gentle like a dog who didn’t want to bite down too hard.
“A mixtape.” He opened one eye up at her, surprised that she even knew what a tape was. Eddie had only played music for her once and it was in the middle of a fight to accurately portray how mad he was at her. And, honestly? He didn’t have a whole lot of songs he could turn to when he was mad at her because he was rarely upset enough to do so. “I’ll make you one. If you tell me two things. One, what’s a song that you listen to when you’re mad at me,” Eddie lifted a single finger and then another. “And, two a song you listen to when you miss me.”
Steph let out a pleased little sigh when he dug his nose into her stomach, and her fingers stilled in that moment, eyes closed and lips curling into a soft smile. She missed this so much. The quiet affection they both had for each other that came with such ease it was more like second nature than anything else she could remember in some time. Besides fighting crime, of course. Stooping her head down to kiss the first bit of him she could reach, she brushed her lips against his forehead, near his hairline, and inhaled the mixture of his cologne and shampoo that made her a little dizzy. “Good,” she muttered as she sat back up and wiggled her fingers in front of his face to let him nip at them. A quiet laugh burst through, and though she mimed swatting his little bites away, she didn’t mind one bit.
“Tape, CD, playlist, whatever. Don’t look so shocked, I totally had Spice Girl’s Spice World on cassette. Though,” she continued, “I wouldn’t be able to play a tape. It’d just be all symbolic, collecting dust.” She looked down at him curiously, blue eyes soft and full of that crazy, overwhelming love that she felt towards the geek laying in her lap. A quiet hum rumbled in her ribcage, and the tiniest vibrations shook her belly. Yes, Eddie had been right about Top 40 dominating her taste in music, but she had little surprises in her repertoire. Some jazz (there was a reason she chose Ella Fitzgerald that night at Wonder Tower), old school rap, even a couple country songs (not Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood, either). Not as eclectic as Eddie’s was, surely, but enough to keep things fresh.
“Well,” she started quietly as her hand curved across his neck to the back of his head to tangle in his dark locks. “I have...it’s more about sounds and energy, I guess? Really fast tempo, thrashy stuff for when I’m angry with you. Garbage, and stuff like that.” Shirley Manson certainly had a way to click with Steph’s pissed off mind sometimes. “When I miss you,” she contemplated before falling quiet for a second. “The time you beeped me in class? When we ended up fighting--like usual, lately, and I’m sorry about that--I got home and listened to this.” She nudged him with her thigh, but didn’t force him to move off her lap. Instead, she stretched and twisted until she could reach the laptop on the edge of the couch, which had fallen silent without them noticing. “It’s mostly quieter stuff. Soft.” She tapped on the touchpad twice, and a song began to play faintly in the background. Sitting up straight again, she placed her hand on his chest, fingers measuring the delicate pattern of his heart beating inside his ribcage. “Sometimes it’s other stuff. I like Florence’s Cosmic Love a lot, too. Kind of speaks to me about us.”
He made the bare minimum amount of movement so she could pull up something for them to listen to. Lifting his head juussst enough that she could reach the laptop as if that was the very best he could do. When she turned on the song he smiled up to her, recognizing it easily and traced around the top of her wrist and arm with the tips of his fingers. Eddie ran a roulette in his head to try and remember a time he sat with a girl and listened to music. Once in the back of a bank security truck with the radio blaring The Clash. Her in a revealing henchgirl costume. Him with his brass cane over his shoulder and pearled revolver on his lap. Another time as the carnival was closing up shop and the sticky sweet smell of cotton candy mixed with Beyond the Sea. Him dressed in stripes and red smoking a cigarette and hating tourists loudly. Her popping bubble gum and turning off lights. Neither were particularly romantic. The first he was consumed with his own genius, the second he was consumed with a desire for something more. It never had anything to do with the girl. Not like this.
Eddie might have been a romantic at heart. The kind who would really love anything from poetry to pop music. Who would build riddles and puzzles like an artist turned supervillain. Who could see the beauty in a place like Gotham. But, he never gave his heart over to someone else like this without trying to keep something for himself. He knew by the way she measured his heartbeats and looked down at him with true affection he only recognized from movie screens that they had something worth dedicating songs to in his head. “I’ll make you a mixtape.” He repeated after a long while of laying there in her lap listening instead of talking or changing the song. No competition, no snapping banter. Soft affection that had been lost through these weeks of fighting. And, then after a moment, after the song changed to something else and she could hear his heartbeat strong and sharp, he sat up and turned to look at her. Suit rumpled, hair sticking up from her fingers running through it. Eyes gentle and a little hypnotized by this quiet moment with her.
“I know you hate my declarations, but bare with me.” He practically dared her to roll her eyes, hands up like he was slowing her young 20 year old sarcasm down the best he could. “Every month since the end of December has been a different flavor of puzzle. Of a test for us to pass. I don’t know which one has been the worst or most strange, but they’ve only made me believe in this more. And, maybe I drag too much darkness into your life. Maybe we piss each other off to the point of yelling or hanging up the phone too often. But, there’s nothing in this city that I believe in more than you. It doesn’t matter what else Gotham has in store for us.” He smirked, visibly aware he wasn’t just rambling but delving a little deeper into how he felt about her than he normally did. Eddie couldn’t even blame Vegas this time. But, it was too late to take it all back now. “That’s- that’s all. I love you. That’s all.”
Lost momentarily in the soothing drum of his heartbeat and the quiet tune winding around their ears and hanging in the air, she traced nonsensical patterns where her fingers rested. She wished she could construct a lifetime of these little snippets with him. Capture these soft, quiet expanses of time and stitch them into something she could bury herself in later. Little snapshots of his wide, affectionate eyes, the way his hair stuck up in twenty different directions, the creases in his skin from laying his cheek on her thigh. But, he broke the silence and the calmness of that moment when he jerked up, and Steph looked over at him startled by his sudden movement. So caught off-guard that she couldn’t snap off a sharp, wise-ass comment or even roll her eyes before he begged her not to. So, she listened to his declaration without a word, smile crawling up the side of her mouth.
Her eyes only rolled once.
What he said was true though, about the constant barrage of tests ready to bend and break what they had. About the challenges they faced and the clashes they created between each other. So true, in fact, she found herself nodding along as he spoke, and she reached to take both his hands in hers and rub the backs with her thumbs. Comforted by the physicality and quelling that rumbling need to be closer to him. It was kind of overwhelming, really, to hear him lay everything on the line like that, especially sans the usual accompanying smarmy edge to it. Stephanie knew he loved her, and she didn’t need those three words to reaffirm it. But, to know that she was the one thing he believed in most? That was something new, and something that warmed her chest and stomach, that shot tingles through to her fingertips, which moved to entwine with his. She smiled over at him, squeezed his fingers, and leaned forward to capture his lips with hers. Slow, soft, exploring, and pouring her feelings into the slant of her mouth against his. She couldn’t quite provide the combination of words that explained precisely how she felt about him, but she would let him know in some other way.
“I love you, too,” she said finally, breath tickling his lips and drunk off of him. Letting one hand go, she grabbed his tie and tugged against the fabric. Pressing her forehead onto his, nose brushing against each other, she pulled again. “Thank you for believing in me.” It was the best thing someone could say to the little blonde bat who wanted nothing more than some faith instilled in her.
Eddie gave another small, embarrassed breathy chuckle. It was easier to talk in riddles, he learnt that a long time ago after seeing how far being straightforward with people got him and Eddie had over a thousand ways to analogize how he felt about her. He could have. He could have made it so obscure and obtuse that she’d have to go searching the internet later for what a tattered flag and an anchor had in common, but he didn’t want to. Eddie got so damned tired of hiding sometimes. And, even though she agreed and nodded along with what he said, it wasn’t until she grabbed his hands that he knew he didn’t need to backpedal all of this away. He knew Stephanie felt the same way about him, but to lose the details in a miscommunication would be tragic. Those warm hands around his made him stay. Turned his nervous vibrating into resolve and he leaned forward for her kiss. Returning it without the typical whine against her lips to prove his funny little desperation. Instead it felt familiar, like a companion, a partner. Something he had always wanted, but could never be trusted with.
“You have to promise me that you’ll remember I said that. It’s always going to be true, even if it doesn’t seem like it is.” Eddie opened his eyes slowly, directing the dark, wide things up at her like they were two kids making a blood pact in some treehouse. He moved closer, as close as he could without tackling her down on the couch. Hands latched onto the edge of her shirt, mouth hovering across her lips, down her nose and up her jaw, leaving small kisses in seemingly random patterns. Even if they both knew there was no such thing when it came to Eddie Nigma.
She honestly expected that riddle tucked away somewhere; there was always a riddle tucked away somewhere. In the way he caught her eyes, or the precise choice of his words, or the tilt of his head. Always some tiny whisper of a meaning she had to dig for later. But, in his confession she found none of that, only a certain rare candor in his voice and eyes that sent a jolt down her spine. The man of riddles and puzzles and sentences that sent her through rollercoaster loops as she tried to unravel them spoke to her with honesty she was sure no one had really witnessed before. And, this was the Eddie that she wanted the others to come to know, even though she knew it was impossible. This was the Eddie who helped bring Old Gotham back from the brink of the plague, who read to little girls and boys about dinosaurs when it filled his fancy, who declared faith and love for a twenty year old girl. It wasn’t a game, not the kind that the bats and birds thought, at least.
Steph nodded, gazing at Eddie through her bright blues. Brighter than they’d been in almost a month, and without that stormy weight Arthur Brown shoved onto her shoulders. She let out a throaty giggle as he peppered her face with kisses. “I’ll try my best to remember it. You make it hard sometimes, you know.” She didn’t say it in a mean way, just frankly. Her eyes fluttered shut, the hand pulling lightly against the tie for a moment before sliding up to rest near the collar of his shirt. Fingers busied to loosen his tie a little more and unbutton the top few. She didn’t intend it to be too suggestive (okay, maybe she did, but in the most innocent way). She smiled like a blonde little cherub. “I’ll remember it,” Stephanie repeated eventually, more assured, before curving her head to interrupt his attack on her face and catch his lips. She sighed into the kiss then, content for the first time in some time and assured that this was all going to be okay. That they were going to be okay.
Still: “Promise to remember it, too. Remember us, no matter what. Remember that I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone else.” It wasn’t particularly unfair to say that, either. She’d loved Tim, but in a different way. In the way a girl always felt about a first love. Infatuated, head over heels, scribble hearts on her notebook kind of love. The kind of love that taught a girl how to have this. With Eddie, it wasn’t the same. He consumed her body, heart, mind, and soul. Her entire being, and she didn’t quite mind it.
“You don’t get to have a patent on being difficult.” He told her with a grin, letting that shiver of being happy stretch through his nerves and skin without the typical nod of the head to Gotham’s darkness. In that moment, Gotham wasn’t outside of her apartment. Just like in that false Wayne Manor. It was just them, confessing, kissing and smiling like there wasn’t anything out there waiting to tear them apart. His dramatics aside, his ability to keenly put words in her mouth just to get her to spit the truth at him left at the door to be collected later. No, she could call him every kind of dragon in the medieval phone book now and he’d know better. Stephanie saw something in him that kept the imaginary patterns asleep. ”Thank you.” He whispered immediately after she promised him, helping her hands tug his tie off and then looping it around her head like a warrior’s headband of green. Eddie was happy enough that she accepted his own feelings that he didn’t expect to hear anything back. Maybe it was residue of waiting a month for an I love you from her lips. Maybe he just liked being surprised.
So, he was in the process of catching kisses and tying his tie around her head when she stopped him dead in his tracks. The tie fell around her shoulders like a shawl and he held onto her arms as she spoke. Eddie had never been told anything like that before. It was easier being the one making declarations, but when she said something that stopped him dead in his tracks and sent his whole body in a sharp wave of shock, he knew there was a responsibility attached to it. Something a younger Eddie couldn’t handle. A crazier one still high on his heists and genius couldn’t understand. “Me?” Was all he could say. Meekly. Almost confused, but quickly sorting it out in his head. He saw it. He had hoped for it a couple dozen times. But, hearing her actually tell him made him really see what was so great about this changing thing.
His heartbeat turned erratic, jumping from his throat, his wrists and chest cavity. And, he just about told her to take it back for her own sake. Stephanie could be less tangled in complications without her recovering Arkham boyfriend in tow. But, he was a little more selfish than that. “I guess you’re stuck with me, then.” Eddie told her with a smile, voice thick with affection and those bundles of feelings he laid out for her moments ago.