Chapter Text
Valentine's day, his least favorite day of the year. Sure, there were other quite annoying dates in the calendar that only existed to feed the capitalist beast and the money in the lounge was always good during that time, but no other time of the year made Oswald feel quite this lonely.
Sure, Christmas and Easter could be dull without a family and mother and father's day were now melancholic occasions, however nothing was quite as sad as valentines day, since he once had a family. He once had a mother and a father and their memories kept him warm those times of the years, but he never had a valentine. No sweetheart for that lonely bird.
In his youth, he was too ridiculed for his appearance by everyone around him to even hope to be happy, then, once he grew old he delved into work and building his empire and no longer looked at anyone else. Now he was approaching fifty, he had his empire up and running and was one of the most successful men in all of Gotham and no one to share it with.
The club only opened in a few hours, so he sat there in the hall, drinking some pink cheap liquor from a heart shaped bottle while listening to some good ol' Frank Sinatra. His dogs, a black pomeranian and a bulldog, slept soundly not too far behind him. Even their little snores couldn't really thaw the ice on his heart. Maybe he should have opted for the mansion, at least there the birds would have kept him company.
As Oswald sulked in his loneliness, he almost missed the knock on his front door, a hectic and desperate knock, the type only one of his fellow rogues could give. Out of the other criminals in Gotham, most of them who didn't hate his guts already had someone else to spend the day with, Ivy and Harley, Cat and Bruce Wayne, Two Faces and his wife, leaving just one option as to who could be there behind the door. It definitely wasn't one of his better riddles.
If Oswald had given up on dating a very long time ago, Edward had been quite the opposite. He threw himself into romance, maybe in a desperate attempt to have some normalcy in his life, maybe to make up for his own self loathing or maybe to prove his parents wrong once more by showing that he wasn't actually unlovable. Maybe all of the above. The point was, the Riddler was always very active during Valentine's day.
Oswald opened the door to look at his disgruntled old friend with tears in his costume and a limp on his leg. It looked like Batman had already gotten to him.
Even in his condition, bleeding and sweating, Edward didn't fail to notice the smudged makeup, the red eyes and the puffy cheeks in his friend, "w-were you crying?"
Oswald scoffed, taken aback by the other's presumption, "were you running away?"
"Touché. I need a place to hide, I think I lost the Bat, but I need a place to lay low for a couple of weeks."
"Edward, you do realize that it's Valentine's day, right? It's one of the days that we get the most clients!"
"I know that! Which is why I was hoping you'd let me stay in your mansion instead?" The green man forced a smile.
Oswald pressed his face against his hand. "What about your new girlfriend, hm? What was her name again? Quiz?"
Edward looked down, the smile dropping, "we, uh, broke up."
In reality, Oswald knew that. Edward's relationships didn't normally last long and the other rogues were talking about how this Quiz had dumped Ed's ass. He just wanted to hear the other say it because the last time they met, they had a fight over this bitch in particular. The Penguin knew she was no good, Edward insisted that she was the love of his life. He always did.
"Oh no, really?" Oswald used the fakest, most sarcastic tone he could, "but you two were SUCH a good couple."
"Don't patronize me, Oswald! Yes, you were right, happy?"
"Quite."
"Will you just let me inside?!"
Oswald hummed, pretending to think for a second, "yeah, I think I have enough space for you, you know," he squeezed Edward's cheek, "if you don't mind sleeping in the dog house."