DELUSIONS? Shock spread across Jeromeās face as the other boy replied.Ā āDamn teenagers, never listening when you tell them thingsā¦ā He leaned forward, elbows settled just before the glass separating the two; head cocked in curiosity as he looked the younger over with curious eyes.Ā āYou STILL havenāt figured it out, have you?ā Forehead pressed to the divider, a sharp HA was given if only to emphasize the disbelief in the shorter boyās lack of intelligence.Ā āI thought you were smarter than that⦠OOPS.ā
One quick shrug of shoulders and he sat straighter again. If heād said it once, heād said it a MILLION times.Ā āThe only one living in their DELUSIONS, is YOU.ā A pause as he thought more about it. āWell, you and all of the people stuck in their BORING little lives with their RESTRICTING rules, their HIDDEN truths, and their GUILTY pleasures just waiting to claw to the top and take over where LOGIC screwed them all up.ā
A grin pulled at the corners of his lips, only made to look wider from the scars of having his face temporarily stolen from him. Truthfully, that was the only GOOD thing about his downtime ā medically corrected problems and a little bit of time to heal. But it was about time to get back to it.Ā āDid they send you to CHECK UP ON ME?ā He let out a crackling laugh that was really meant more for the two of them; volume kept just loud enough to have a slight echo against the barrier.
āMake sure Iām still locked up tight and not calling the shots out on the street?ā Eyebrows raised, amusement only becoming more evident in the playful turn his tone had taken in those few short moments.Ā āOr are you here to see if I KNOW anything of whatās going on on the outside?ā Of course he knew what was going on outside! Heād warned them all that it wasnāt going to end like that ā told Bruce, himself, that there were no heroes around to stop it from getting WORSE.
Not so subtly, Jerome cleared his throat and shifted so that one side could settle against the glass; a more CASUAL air coming over their conversation.Ā āDid ya MISS ME? Is that what this is? Is it the looks? The STYLE? That little bit of SHOWMANSHIP theyāre missing out there while trying to copy what they can never be?ā Valeska shook his head, sighing through another, slower, unimpressed laugh.Ā āWhatās the point of KILLING SOMEONE if you have to hide it ā I mean, cāmon, even YOU understand that much.āĀ
Ā Ā Ā Ā having his intelligence insulted aside,Ā Ā Ā he would not give jerome the pleasure of clarifying what he meant, nor would he dignify the young man with a response, or even a momentary pause. instead āLE PETIT PRINCE DE GOTHAMā held his ground, even as the jackal of a boy grew as close as possible to him with a wall dividing their presences. Ā for doing so, would give the madman what he wanted. Ā and it would be a weakness he could sink his teeth into, one he could exploit. Ā and bruce had given him one too many of those already. Ā
maintaining a calm composure, Ā he makes alfred proud in this moment as his eyes DO NOT ONCE diverge from the otherās. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā he faces down the man he almost killed, and who had almost killed him, and he does it with a sense of regality; the likes of which he had not had with him in { Ā the house of mirrors Ā }. Ā Ā for there, he had lost everything. Ā his calm, his composure, his sanity. Ā he lost himself, Ā but heā Ā and only heā Ā brought himself back.
jerome would not make bruce lose himself again. Ā Ā this he swore. Ā Ā as he had also promised himself and alfred that, no matter what, HE WOULD NOT KILL; even when it felt right, even when it felt like justiceā Ā he would be the man { Ā his father Ā } wanted him to be. Ā whoever that was. Ā
remaining within a foot of the glass, Ā Ā Ā dark eyes pierce Ā through sterile air, Ā Ā and watch with what he presumes to look like mild interest, Ā Ā at jerome as he spoke with overzealous exaggerations (as bruce saw them) on near every word. Ā was it really showmanship, or BAD ACTING?Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā there were heroes in gotham. Ā there had to be.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā but was bruce one of them? Ā Ā could he ever be? Ā Ā Ā Ā or was he something else.
gritting his teeth in silent protest, DARK EYES barely manage to hide a flare. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā for such a privileged, well-educated boy, rage lingered in abundance just under the surface of his skinā { Ā crawling and growing Ā }, only to be repeatedly squashed down by the calm composure bruce bolts down into place, like a wall of steel. Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ā ... they didā ā request bruce to come here, to get answers, a last resort surely.
there was no point in lying, no point in falsehoods; Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā JEROME WAS INSANE, but he was smart, and he was clever, this not even bruce could deny. Ā the jackal shouldnāt dare be underestimated. Ā Ā Ā { Ā however Ā }, if he could play jeromeās gameā as he did the night of his abduction, Ā Ā during those few hours he had thought alfred was dead, and he could play it right ... Ā ? Ā Ā Ā then maybe he had a chance. Ā Ā Ā Ā keep him talking. Ā Ā Ā it would beĀ THE DOWNFALL of the jester, how much he blathered.