theansweris | DUPLICITY: IC INBOX

There may be a time when Oswald may find the courage to make a request of Ed along the lines of laying bare for him, or perhaps Duplicity will offer something in the way of dubiously assisting in building his confidence. Though here and now, Oswald wants are surprisingly simple. Or unsurprisingly, perhaps.

And gentle as it is, careful as it is, the presence of Ed's tongue sends delicious, wicked heat prickling across Oswald's skin, so pleasant it's almost close to something uncomfortable. At least he's had this experience before so it doesn't startle him too greatly. It's enticing of Ed too, these little steps that feel like they're climbing somewhere, making it easy for Oswald to meet in kind, cautiously chase Ed's encroaching tongue with his own with warm breath just shy of a fully-formed, far more embarrassing sound.

Ed lingers in the kiss, draws it out, but does break it eventually to beam at Oswald and press close to him again. "Come back to my place with me tonight," he invites softly. "I'll make us dinner. I can even ask Ginger to have a date with her boyfriend."

Victor wouldn't be a problem. He'd see it was a date and either make himself scarce inside, or fit in neatly with the social part of the evening and then vanish. "I'll promise not to make untoward advances." And a hint of Riddler's cheshire smile peeks through. "Or I can promise to make them. Whichever will help sway you to say yes."

This time when the kiss breaks, Oswald doesn't feel cold fear up his spine that it might be the last or that he's going to be cut loose. In fact, each moment passing like this just adds an additional small thread between them, just like how thick rope is formed from lots of tiny little strands. It's the same process that makes rope strong enough to hold anchors on ships.

And it's such a smart move of Ed, anticipating where to draw a line that's not a cut off and is instead an offer and a promise. A date. It makes something flutter in Oswald's chest and draw up a chuckle that while still on the nervous side doesn't have that cracked edge to it anymore like he might cry, though Riddler's insinuation lends itself to another wave of warmth that prickles the back of Oswald's neck.

"That-- Yes. I would like that. But" he pauses, weighing the words in his head to try and assess if they will come out sounding foolish, knowing that flirtation is not something that comes naturally to his tongue, "However, I will not reveal which offer laid sway over my decision."

Really, it probably comes across more coy than flirty, but he's trying.

It makes him laugh. Both of him (it's more both of them than not right now) laugh sharp and loud and honest at the comment and steal one quick, firm kiss from Oswald's mouth. "All right, keep your secrets. Now, do you want to show me more about this place, or can we adjourn somewhere with food and drink and talk business plans in comfort?"

For a brief moment, Oswald watches Ed laugh with a kind of awestruck expression, like he'd never expected to hear that sound again. A slow smile spreads across his face in turn with a soft exhale of a chuckle, like he still can't quite believe this. And then there's the little kiss Ed dips in and out of, short and sweet and like a kind of reward for good behaviour. That's something else to get his head around--how different kisses can feel and convey different things, but so far they all carry that same pleasant dizzying sensation.

Oh. But he has to make his brain actually clock in and work again now.

Following a sort of bashful dip of his head and a short, muffled little laugh, Oswald nods slowly, trying to pull himself together.

"It's true there is a distinct lack of choice when it comes to refreshments here currently, baring ingredients from the Supermarket, but I'd honestly opt to not sample the wares at this point."

Reluctantly, he steps away from Ed and makes a gesture across the gutted space, back toward the stairs.

"I'd say I can take us somewhere good for lunch, however the best we can hope for here is--" his lips quirk down comically as his shoulders go up, "--meh."

And then the wide smile returns.

"But that's precisely what we want in this case."

He could suggest they return to Duplicity, but they still have a few hours on their collective timers and Oswald wants to give Ed a clearer lay of the land in person if they are to talk business.

"I've never been here before," Ed admits. "It never interested me, not when I was still building my map of the Down. But it's near complete now. I have the majority of the under city up here." He taps his temple, smiling at Oswald.

They'll be bringing something new to the city. Something unknown. It's a good niche to occupy. You don't need a double armful of cheap, crappy clubs when a couple of good, exclusive ones will more than pay the same with lower outlay.

"All right, lay on, MacDuff."

Unlike the sprawling mess of Duplicity, it's relatively easy and quick to traverse Insincerity. Oswald has tried to get through the gate as much as possible since the seed of this idea had been planted and started to sprout, though he's far from having a full lay of the land just yet.

It doesn't surprise Oswald one bit to hear Ed has been working on mapping the city either--it had been something he'd considered consulting and enlisting Ed on in terms of research and getting a firm grip on the terrain. Of course he's already working on it; of course he's almost completed that arm of the task. Ed never fails to meet those expectations.

The cafe-bar Oswald takes them to isn't far from the university, frequented by faculty and students and supplying mediocre but edible food and okay but not great wine at a price that's a little steep though not so much it's worth kicking a stink up over. Very on brand.

Once settled, Oswald props his cane against his chair and folds his hands upon the table, positively beaming even though under most circumstances he'd insist stopping somewhere like this would be entirely beneath him.

"Your initial assessment of the situation was pretty spot on, really. I suppose all there is to really cover is the micro and macro matters," he pauses to lean in a little, bright-eyed and excited, Oswald in one of his absolutebeyyrr states. "What do you need clarity on?"

Ed offers Oswald his elbow as they head out, feeling confident that it won't be rebuffed or, worse, seen as an insult when it's really just an excuse to stay close to each other.

He gets Oswald's chair for him before sitting down and lets him order the food and drink. "Well, for a start, we need to hash out exactly who to and how you're pitching this in Duplicity itself. As a social equaliser, what sort of currency you're going to trade in, even how you'll market it to the locals."

He pulls out a notebook and pen and starts making notes as they talk. He picks at his food (he's still too thin, but he has trouble focusing to eat sometimes) and mostly focuses on listening and making suggestions as appropriate.

"Duplicity is overstatured with night spots, that much is clear. There's less a need to find something that stands out then there is a need to find something that fits the general bill with space to spare. So the hook here needs to be two-fold: something that will be enticing enough to bring people over the threshold and will bring something different to the local residents to create two revenue streams."

He pauses, sips his glass and watches Ed's hands, what they do and don't do and with how much regularity.

"So, it needs a purpose, not a gimmick. Unique four hour experiences on rotation, six slots a day, with revolving and ever-changing cocktail menus tailored for each visit. We're not presenting a night that sprawls out without aim or direction, but something exclusive and highly specialised."

He draws one shoulder up in a light shrug.

"In essence, our currency is time."

Ed's lost the sharp edginess of his prior paranoia and agitation, but he's still a bit restless, fidgeting and making notes about other things as he's listening to Oswald and thinking. "Are you planning on having a different set of experiences each day? Because that might get difficult. Mm, anyway, timings are easy to work out once there's more- a heaven and hell theme might be niche enough for one slot though, given the modifications this place can produce, ubiquitous rule!63, maybe make that a whole experience, spa day feel with hair and make up and suit fittings...?" He makes a few more notes, which are being written in the pattern of a circuit board he was studying earlier.

"And of course, there's the big decision." He looks up from his notes, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Are you going to be offering silent partnership or... association with the Rubies?"

Oswald shakes his head.

"No. Partnership with the Rubies will remain something very separate. This is our first claim to independent ground. No funding from them, no favours. It must be able to stand alone."

The particulars of each evenings event can wait until a later discussion really; until everything is secure it's like counting chickens before they've hatched.

"Currently, the space is under my possession through contract only. The funds are currently... a big question mark."

A small smile quirks Oswald's lips.

"And I happen to know big question marks are your speciality."

Riddler raises an eyebrow and smiles at Oswald. "I see. Well, I suppose I could convince a few places to contribute to the start up fund for the business. There's a casino that's donated some large amounts to me previously."

Vrenille took him on a date and he fleeced them until he felt he had pushed his luck far enough and then cashed out.

"I'll get John to take me, he'll be an admirable distraction, and then Ed can work the tables more easily."

Oswald's expression falters a little, not overtly displeased or scornful so much as cautious and careful.

"Hm. Yes. John Doe."

He lets the name hang there for a moment, like a slow pendulum as he twists the neck of his glass a few times thoughtfully.

"I'll leave this in your ever-capable hands. Though I admit I have a particular degree of hesitation when it comes to this friend of yours."

Oswald and John have only met once thus far. Partly it's just down to Oswald having more pressing matter, but partly the idea of being around someone claiming to know Eddie and Riddler so well--a unique kind of bond--discomforts Oswald in more ways than one.

"Oh, John is a dangerous, unstable, unpredictable psychopath," Riddler agrees. "And his alter ego, Joker, is frankly far more dangerous than John is. They don't have the same agreements and understandings that we do."

He doesn't clarify, but it's fairly clear that the 'we' he means is both of himself. At either extreme, Ed or Riddler, they're still very recognisable as the same man. Riddler is never so far from Ed as to be almost someone else.

"He's a broken, damaged person and the sharp edges of his breaks will make you bleed, even if you are careful. But he's great fun." And he definitely encourages Riddler's madness (and sociopathy, frankly). "And he's a fantastic distraction if you want to bend the rules of the casino for funding."

Hearing Riddler's sort of gleeful report on John doesn't do much to set Oswald's mind at ease, though he's not entirely sure that's the goal here. Reading between the lines of what John had said, it seems to make sense that there's a shared experience of personality split.

If nothing else though, this only confirms to Oswald that when it comes to John Doe, or Joker, or both, he needs to tread with care. In fact, probably anyone Ed has gotten caught up with in Duplicity is someone Oswald will need to approach with far more finesse than in the past; Oswald learns his lessons well.

He's quiet though, shifting a little in his seat as he tries to think of something to say that doesn't immediately convey some kind of over-extended jealousy or knee-jerk aggression. There are more options available, he just needs to let his initial emotions simmer down to pick through them.

"Well. At least you've been making friends and finding some fun for yourself."

Riddler tilts his head, has relatisation spread over his face and then Ed reaches out to curl his hand over Oswald's. "He's a friend. He's also the first person I ever met who is something like... us. He gets it."

And that is something Oswald will, blessedly, never know. What it's like to literally have two of you, tearing each other apart.

The next hand squeeze is a bit sharper, to get Oswald's attention. "You know he wanted to help get us together? After listening to Ed wax poetic so much."

The take that Riddler gives Oswald on the complicated four-way-split connection going on with Doe lands a little strangely for Oswald and it's probably all for the best that he's in one of his more reasonable places overall. It doesn't stop 'he gets it' sounding all the more like a solid link and less like something Oswald shouldn't feel a tremendous amount of concern over.

He doesn't fully jump when Ed's hand folds over his own exactly, but it's an unfamiliar and distant kind of feeling. And in public, no less. For a short second, there's not only the sense of misgivings he has about Joker, but the chilling awareness that someone could see. And then it settles. No-one from Duplicity comes to Insincerity (yet). And even if they did, no-one in Duplicity seems to care about arbitrary combinations of genders.

He refocuses his attention onto what Riddler is saying after his brief flicker of panic, his brow creasing as he sort of belatedly catches up on the direction of the words and for a second he wonders if he's missed a step.

"He-- What?" he shakes his rapidly in confusion, vaguely recalling John's overall excitement about getting to meet 'Eddie's special friend' before. "Why would he want that?"

For Ed, some five months out from deciding that he didn't have the energy for a sexuality crisis and it was easier to just roll with it, it doesn't even pass his mind not to give that affectionate grip and squeeze.

"Mm." Riddler looks out onto the see of bland that makes up Insincerity. The lack of colours does make details easier to pick out. "Well... John's only memories are of Arkham. He has a reactive attachment disorder of a kind, a show of friendship or affection is so alien to him that he latches on with fervent need. An extreme version of Ed's own difficulties in setting socially appropriate boundaries. We're friends, therefore getting involved with helping us get what we want is his expression of friendship."

Alien though it is, Oswald really would prefer that Ed's hand stay precisely where it is over his own. It's a gesture that makes his mind go through a few different ups and downs alongside some predictable spikes of paranoid questioning--all the what-ifs about whether something is a trick or a trap will take time to fully dissipate--but it also has a settling effect.

This shouldn't really be a surprise. Through the mayoral campaign, Ed was a thoroughly calming presence, able to apply just the right amount of pressure and clarity at just the right moments when Oswald needed to calm down, and also knowing when to be hands off when Oswald needed to be the very opposite of serene.

Tentatively, as Riddler talks, Oswald shifts his thumb in an experimental caress across the side of the other man's finger, down the length of the digit, across the elegant slope of knuckles, all with this sense that if he got even the slightest hint of displeasure that he'd stop immediately.

"He had indicated a certain familiarity with Arkham and anyone who has endured that hell hole in any form has my sympathies."

Reservations aside, this is really a question about how much Oswald trusts Ed and Riddler. It's a different question that is more about something to build than something that already exists in a fully formed state.

After a pause, he gives out a small sigh; nothing ventured and all that.

"And anyone that you would consider a true friend, I will extend the same offer to."

Maybe he can speak these feelings into existence and it'll chase off the prickly jealous insecurity. Hey, it's gotta be worth a shot, right?

Riddler smiles, slightly distant. "John is a friend. Joker... is not. He's not an enemy, but he did take mild advantage of Ed before helping us out of a situation." Pinned him and stole a kiss he had not been invited to take before finally letting Riddler out from the charm's effect.

The finger stroking his own makes him glance down and back up with a more direct smile, hints of Ed's content pleased smile in it.

"John is a pharmaceutical genius, but I would hesitate to trust either of them too far. I would only ask you to trust that I know how to handle them. And trust that he is a friend."

Strangely enough, it's that particular clarification that brings the smile back of Oswald's face too--not the comment of about Ed being taken advantage of, but the distinction of where the lines of friendship do and do not exist. There are some parallels there, definitely, but Oswald can willfully bracket that for now.

Placing his glass down for a moment, Oswald brings his newly freed hand over to clasp it briefly atop of Ed's already on his own. Somehow, that sort of gesture is more practiced and doesn't feel remotely so transgressive.

"Now, that is a formation of trust I can back with confidence!"

Ed smiles and does that thing where his whole self seems to bubble and tense with the unexpectedness of feeling good. "Good. Good." He pokes at his food again.

"No, it's no good, this is so mediocre as to be offensive. Please, we need to go back to Duplicity where we can get decent food, decent wine, or decent ingredients for me to cook something."

Over the years, Oswald has come to appreciate small wins that he would like in time to extend into something that lasts just a fraction longer each time. Just a little bit longer. Bit by bit. Some of his aspirations really are ridiculously grand, while others are very small.

Here, to Oswald, the food doesn't really matter. It's not ever going to beat Chinese takeout straight from the box and wine in beakers, which remains one of his favourite meals to date, but it sort of doesn't matter how only passable the food is here. What matters is who he's with and how no weapons have been pulled yet.

The Ed-style outburst initially makes Oswald blink in surprise before a fond, warm little smile takes over his face. He lifts one hand in a mild shrug.

"And who I am to make you suffer so!" he says with a hint of a chuckle in his voice before reaching across to take up and drain the rest of his glass. Sure, it's not good wine, but he may as well finish it off and settle the bill.

"Fortunately, you and I have plenty we can do about the mediocrity in this city in the longer term."

What matters for Riddler and Ed is that after two or three months of spiralling out of control, of stimulant abuse and weight loss and food tasting of nothing much but parental anger and a fake Oswald's bemusement, food needs to appeal to make himself eat. And this... isn't doing it. Is making him want his white tablet to make himself not hungry.

"If I'm going to make myself eat, I'm at least going to find some pleasure in it, rather than just stuffing down whatever will keep me going." He pushes the plate and glass away and resolves that he's not eating here again, only at the Clocktower.

At a later point, if Oswald comes to understand a little more about what Ed has gone through since arriving at Duplicity, he may realise his misstep in this particular choice of venue and city--what is more than acceptable to him isn't what Ed needs.

But he doesn't know, or at least it only begins to dawn on him belatedly how the things Ed has told him are matching up. The episode, the self-medication, the weight loss, the pushing at his food. Ah. That would all make sense.

Pushing himself to a stand and gathering up his cane beneath his palm, he extends his other hand to Ed.

"You finding pleasure in whatever it is you're doing is something I think should become the chief goal in the vast majority of things we do together."

One day Oswald will learn to be a bit more discerning about that kind of phrasing in this place, but for now... it still escapes him.

"Forgive me for missing the mark this time around, but I am hopeful we can find a way to remedy that."

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