Chapter Text
It was a mistake, a huge mistake, terrible mistake, oh why oh why had he agreed to this.
Edward had gone back to his own apartment, the two both agreed to meet up at a later time, the meeting with the Penguin had only been late afternoon.
He sat in his wreck of a closet, staring at two ties, both nearly identical in shade, having a mini crisis over which one would look better. Would wearing earrings be too much? How should he do his hair?
Every few moments he had to remind himself it wasn’t a date.
Jonathan couldn’t believe he asked the Riddler on a date.
Every few minutes he needed to gently rub his arms, a self soothing motion as he got ready. Surely a flannel would be okay? And a turtleneck, not too casual but comfortable and he actually made his hair look presentable. He hadn’t been on a date in god knows how long- since college? He couldn’t care enough to remember. The word ‘date’ wasn’t a pleasant word- a courting? No, Christ no. He winced slightly.
For once, Ed was planning on wearing a suit that wasn’t green, what a shock. That plan was thrown out of the window when he remembered a vest he owned. His poor wardrobe, in utter disrepair. He had to always be best dressed in a room. It wasn’t a full suit, a light white shirt with a vest, no blazer. Perfect, he could actually get going now, curious as to what Jonathan wanted to discuss, maybe another try at ACE.
Jonathan thanked the florist, it was a small bouquet but it was pretty. He didn’t like roses, they were overused and quite frankly, not a very pretty flower. Orange Chrysanthemum and Blue Thistle. The sky was turning dark, there were dark clouds coming in, it would probably rain later, not a big deal.
When he reached his truck, he rested his head against the wheel and groaned. This shouldn’t be as stressful as it was. He was too old to be panicking over something like this. Jonathan reassured himself, it would go well. He sent through a text.
‘I’ll pick you up, address?’
Quickly slipping a domino mask into his pocket, Edward checked his phone, staring at the message for a second. Did he trust him enough?
Eh, who cares, he had the security in case Mr Potato Sack wanted to break in.
Maybe a pocket knife as well, it never hurt to be careful.
He checked his watched, wouldn’t hurt to be early. Double checking the locked door, checking it again and done. The stairwell was dark, normally the light would be on, Edward frowned.
Edward Nygma was a grown man and he was not afraid of the dark.
He told himself as he narrowed his eyes and was trying his best not to sprint down the dark stairway.
Why did he take the stairs when there was perfectly working elevator? He skipped a step, regretting it instantly as he slipped. ”Aw fuck.” Luckily he caught himself, before slamming his shin into the railing. Pain, absolute and utter pain. He winced. That was definitely going to leave a nasty bruise.
Edward prayed Jonathan wouldn’t notice the slight drag of his left leg, god that hurt way more than it should have.
Oh but of course Jonathan noticed as he made his way to the truck, he was taught to notice things like this. Part of Ed couldn’t believe the man had actually worked at Arkham, what had gone so wrong that he ended up like this? Some sick villain.
“Hi.” Jonathan was sweating buckets, looking like the verge on a panic attack. He clumsily shoved the bouquet into Edward’s chest. Ed stared at him, then at the flowers, he could feel his face heat up. ”Oh.” “Sorry-” “No it’s okay, nice actually.”
This did not go as expected. The usually calm and composed Jonathan Crane looked so freaked out right now. It would’ve made Edward feel pitiful had it been anyone else, but it being Jonathan? Made it somewhat funny, just a little bit.
“So I take it that this wasn’t just to discuss business opportunities?” Edward grinned at the Doctor, looking so incredibly smug. ”You look nice.” He added.
Jon just looked at him as if had grown another head. Not saying a word.
Edward held up the flowers, eyebrow quirked. ”This is actually surprisingly nice, didn’t know bringing flowers to a meeting was the new thing, it’s nice nonetheless.”
Jonathan cleared his throat, talking incredibly slow. ”I didn’t intend for this to be-” He waved his hands, almost knocking his own glasses off. God he was a mess. Ed just smiled sweetly. ”What do you want this to be?”
He didn’t like the word date, it seemed to mundane and Jon felt too old to be calling that- maybe it was pride thing, but Jonathan wasn’t a very prideful person. ”I wanted to take you to dinner and get to know you better” It sounded horrid coming from his own mouth.
It was a pleasant surprise to Edward, he wanted to see how this would go. He originally had mixed thoughts on the Doctor but seeing him like this, nervous over a date? It was quite endearing.
“I’d like to get to know you too.” He leaned back into the leather seats, holding the flowers. ”Thank you for the bouquet Jon.” The other just nodded, starting to drive.
Jon, he said it so casually.
The Riddler was going on a date with the Scarecrow, what a turn of events. ”You ain’t gonna stab me right?” Jonathan glanced over at him. ”What?” “Knife, up your right sleeve, you keep playing with the handle.” How did he noticed? Edward was sure he had been concentrating on the road.
He began to realize that Jonathan made up for his horrible social skills with observation, he was good at that.
“I felt it was needed, just preparing to be thrown into a situation such as earlier.” He heard Jon wince. ”I’d like to apologize about that, I thought you would’ve been interested.” Edward was intrigued in the way he pronounced words, it was different, but he didn’t say anything.
Might as well start with a few questions. ”You worked in the asylum, yes?” Jonathan glanced at him, suspicion in his eyes. ”Technically, yes.” Why was he asking this now? “Elaborate on the technically.” “It was never meant to be a permanent position, the facility was low on staff, so they brought me in.”
“You were there when I was admitted once, did you ever come across my file?” Jonathan didn’t understand why Edward was grinning, he looked almost proud. He kept one hand on the wheel as he adjusted his glasses. ”I don’t think I can legally tell you that.” Another thing he didn’t understand is why that made the other laugh so hard, almost as if he was in pain. ”You’re funny.” That grin was replaced with a sweet smile, it made Jon’s face feel warm.
One thing he noticed is Edward’s eye’s were green again. ”Contacts?” “Hm- oh yeah, it looks nicer than my glasses.” Jonathan hummed. ”No, your glasses look nice.” His voice sounded so soft, Edward could barely hear him.
Edward hadn’t even asked where they were going, maybe this time the act would be up and they’d go to some shady lab. But he trusted Jonathan, more than he probably should.
The place they had arrived was in a quieter part of the city, the sky had gotten far darker. Jonathan gestured for Ed to follow him- down an alley, maybe his previous thought was right but he didn’t question it out loud.
He was a smart man, but right now, all that intelligence was thrown out of the window as he followed the Scarecrow down a dark alley. But Jonathan wasn’t the Scarecrow right now- it was something that Ed was always curious about, the difference in how Jon acted when working and when he was like this.
“Here we are.” There was a door, slightly glowing from the fairy lights nestled in the leaves. Edward tilted his head, walking in.
Oh wow.
The best way to describe this place was a library turned into a bar and he was surprised as to how or why Jonathan would take him to a place like this- actually, it made a little bit of sense, he had noticed the stacks and piles of books in the safe house. There was only a few people, mostly around the bar.
Jonathan looked so nervous, posture slightly tilted, hand rubbing his own neck. ”It’s quieter here- thought it’d be better than a more ‘public’ place.” He right. Edward smiled at him and nodded. ”It’s really nice.”
The best part? Edward noticed a cat sitting on one of the shelves, his face lit up.
This was going to be a good night.