Close up your head. Your brain is getting loose. ( from damnoracle ! )
“heh. and here i thought you’d come to pick it.”
a gleaming grin splits the darkness of the cell once more. he leans in even closer, one hand resting on the glass, the nail of his index finger making a quiet but insistent scratching noise to set teeth on edge as it trails back and forth. right over the spot that’s in front of her eyes as she looks at him through her spectacles. the other hands falls to and twitches at his side, the fingers curling, flexing, wiggling. itching to reach out and grab something. a guy walks into a bar…a bird walks into a crowbar…a girl wheels into a bullet that’ll finish her for good… “that is why you’re here, isn’t it? it must be. it was a surprise to hear you were coming, but i’m glad you have. i know we – or at least i – will walk away from this feeling much better once we clear the air.” the grin widens, and he even winks. “but really babsy, i can’t think of any other reason for you to come. most people i’ve traumatised tend to book it in the other direction as fast as possible. the ones that live long enough, anyway. but you…you’re right here, as close as you can get. and a smart girl like you wouldn’t be doing that for the hell of it.”
his finger freezes; the scratching stops. the other hand goes still, save the pinkie finger tapping almost soundlessly on his jumpsuit’s fabric. shouldn’t you be checking up with your doctor? or did he do such a bad job you didn’t want to column back? “so what is it you want to know? what secrets are you hoping i’ll share? do you want to know why i did it? of course you probably know already, talked it over with dear old jimbo – is family therapy part of the police employee benefit scheme? – and maybe even bats…but you need to hear it from me. is that it? to hear my rationale, how i might possibly believe such a sick act needed to be done so that my twisted vision of the world could come true? do you want to understand it? do you want to try and understand me? hehehehe…” the giggle rises in his throat, echoing off the walls around him and almost down the asylum corridor before he cuts it short. “or are you just wondering why i didn’t spill your own brains; let them give that lovely coffee table a fetching new splatter design rather than let you fall and smash it to bits? maybe the commissioner and i can go back to being pals if i send him a new one for christmas. or would a chair lift for the stairs be more useful?”
a single bark of laughter punctuates his speech, loud and sharp and harsh against the ears. “you don’t look too happy. am i spoiling everything by guessing the questions right? did you fall and couldn’t get up after being swept off your feet? or it could, admittedly, be that i’m not at my most entertaining right now. i’ve got better material in my joke book at home. if you can get me there i’ll get back to you.” in a lazy motion that seems sudden after being mostly still for the past while, he stretches his arms out to the sides and moves his head from one to the other, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders before letting hands fall back to slap against his thighs. “well? go on! ask your burning questions. untangle the mess of a thousand lines of inquiry threatening to burst forth, in the hopes that you’ll be granted with the answers you yearn for…unless you can’t. unless you’re scared. unless you really are just like all the others. the screaming masses of poor sods who took too long to get the punchline. unless you’re happy to just leave now, and go home to a sleepless night of agonising over the things you may never have an opportunity to know again. the wonder will drive you mad.” the grin returns at its widest, and he shrugs. “either way, i’m sure your dad will pass along the message to the big man. i know you’ll let him know how much i miss him once we’re done here. but for once, this isn’t about him.
“who are you, barbara gordon? a lost and nameless soul, unremarkable and as stupidly, stubbornly sane as the rest of the world? or are you one of the few who can actually take a joke, and maybe share your own?” he pauses then, and frowns, looking confused. what was that one about amnesia again? i forgot how it goes… “oh, by the way, did i say sorry for shooting you yet? ah, i’m sure you already forgave me, handsome devil that i am. glad we could put that behind us.”
