Day 46: Lunch

[tostepforward]

The mere fact that she'd been susceptible to whatever hold the Institute had had on her yesterday was sufficient to leave Ayumu both upset and angry - no, not angry, downright furious, both at herself and whoever was responsible for that. But there was also the fact that because of it, she'd lost out on an entire day of work, and in several ways

Comments

[unheroed]

All in all, Tim did a good job. Maybe there was some tension in his shoulders, but it wasn't anything most people would have noticed. Harvey was just used to analyzing people's body language as they stood before him on the witness stand for questioning, and so he picked up on it. Not that it mattered when he already knew, but it was interesting nonetheless.

He didn't let the handshake linger, but he did make note of the fake name and nodded in response to it. Gary Summers. He'd have to let Jason know about it and see if the younger man had any idea of whether or not there was some significance to the pseudonym.

The fact that Tim went ahead and asked that question when he obviously knew (had it been tossed acid in the courtroom where the kid came from?) gave Harvey an idea of how much of a punk he was. There was no need to hide the annoyed glare he sent him. "No, it didn't happen here," he said bluntly. "Not that it's any of your business."

He took another sip of his shake as he watched Tim eat his pizza. Harvey wasn't even the biggest fan of the stuff, but what he'd give to be able to eat something like that right now. Still, he could just imagine how much the acidic tomato sauce would hurt on his wounds.

[unheroed]

The emphasis implied all sorts of things. Maybe the kid thought he was a monster, and while Harvey didn't even know if there was a history between some other version of him and "Robin," he wasn't about to get caught up in that kind of bullshit. He was who he was, and he was going to play this however he wanted. The kid was just a means to an end, as he'd told himself before, so he wasn't going to get too worked up about it.

"Guess you're lucky, then," Harvey responded. "Were you not around during the attack back in town?" He kept coming back to that, but what had happened had just been so ridiculously bizarre. As much as he wanted to get it out of his mind, the images of those moving dead bodies wouldn't leave him.

And here he thought he'd been desensitized.

He got the feeling that Tim probably had run into something and was just lying, but he was going to have to get a better idea of that before he jumped to conclusions. If the kid wasn't used to the creatures here, that might make him easier to take advantage of, after all.

[unheroed]

"Hell if I know if that's how it works," Harvey said, managing to make a shrug look annoyed as he glanced across the room at nothing in particular. The truth of the matter was that he'd just heard different from the man he'd spoken to last shift -- apparently the creatures had been here in the institute as well -- but he wasn't going to share that with Drake. It might be a pointless bit of information, but seeing how that's all they really had here, Harvey would rather keep it to himself.

"Still, in my experience zombies count as monsters, so you have seen some," he pointed out as he glanced back at the kid. Either he'd been bluffing or he was trying to draw Harvey out and get him to say more about what he'd been through.

Both of them were being careful while seeming casual, and Harvey wondered just how much he would be able to get out of the kid before the shift was over. He'd drained over half of his protein drink already, so it might not be too much longer.

[unheroed]

"Hardly," Harvey quickly shot back as his brow furrowed. It pained him on the burnt side to do that, but it was hard to kick the habit when he'd been moving his face in certain ways for all of his life. One would have thought he'd learn to be careful when every wrong move made him hurt, but maybe it was his own brand of masochism.

"Do you?" It was hard to imagine a Gotham that was overrun with the living dead, but he got the feeling that Drake was just being a smart ass. Jason hadn't mentioned that Robin was such a little prick, but it was a good thing Harvey didn't have to play nice during this conversation. His anger management wasn't what it used to be.

As for the kid's skepticism, Harvey couldn't really judge. He'd felt the exact same way until he'd run into a few of the things himself. Chances were Robin was due for a monster attack by now, and if not that, then he and Jason would have to play their part instead.

"I'd say don't believe it until you've seen it," he said with a shrug. "I'm sure your time will come soon enough." It was best to be ambiguous about his own experience with the things.

[unheroed]

Harvey doubted anyone wanted to believe in monsters (anyone who did was the sort of person who actually belonged in here), but he got the feeling that Tim was just trying to say the things he'd expect any kid his age to say provided they were normal. In other words, not him. Still, the mask was easy enough to see through when Harvey had a vague idea of what was hiding underneath it.

"Maybe you'll never have to," he muttered in response, though his tone was doubtful. If Drake scraped by his time in this place without even seeing a monster, then that was just another sign that the world was truly unfair. Harvey had already learned that a few times over, but these days he searched for justice wherever he could. Usually it had to be enforced by his own hand, however.

"Just how long have you been here and dodging the supposed monsters, anyway?" There was a good chance the kid would lie, but there was always that small chance that he would speak the truth. Either way, it would be interesting to hear his answer.