I was your friend
@deuscxmachina:
“ – Nice to see you again too, Detective Gordon.”
“What’s that? How was my therapy? Just peachy, thanks for asking.”
Don’t bother protesting, Jimbo, because he’s already thumbing through the files on your desk, lips curled into a grin. He’s no doubt here to speak with Bullock on behalf of Mayor Cobblepot, but, evidently, has decided to take a detour to rekindle old friendships. Ol’ Jimmy here always did have an answer for the resident perv’s riddles, after all. That’s got to be worth something.
“You know, Jim, I get the feeling that you and I are both in on a joke that nobody else seems to understand. Kind of nice being the smartest guy in the room, isn’t it?”
Simply the outward changes Edward had gone through alone were enough to make Jim tense up. The way Nygma held himself now was with such confidence---or perhaps arrogance was the better word. It was unrecognizable to the haunched over, awkward man who used to bumble his way around the precinct. The inner changes were what scared him. What brought Jim immense guilt, sadness and anger all at the same time.
“Hands off,” Jim growled lightly, pulling the files away from the taller man before proceeding to stow them in a desk drawer. “If I didn’t know you, I’d say you just called me smart,” he quipped as he closed the drawer before looking back up at Edward with a painfully fake smile. “Only I do know you---at least I thought I had,” he added with a light furrow of his brow.
“I doubt you are here for jokes, Ed. So why don’t you tell me what the hell you want.” With a defensive cross of his arms over his chest, the newly reinstated detective clenched his jaw hard. There was a part of him that wanted to apologize for not noticing Ed needed help sooner. The other part wanted to sock him in the jaw. The fact that Jim had considered Ed a friend was the only reason why he wasn’t going for the punch straight away. It was also why what had gone down between them hurt.