WHO: EDWARD NYGMA and POSSIBLY YOU.
WHERE: NOHoPE.
WHEN: August 8th - August 14th.
WARNINGS: Sweep you all up on a corner and pay for my bread.
SUMMARY: You know that I cannot believe my own truth.
FORMAT: To show what a truth, it's got nothing to lose.
(
A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it. )
Reply
Edward was not particularly good at showing gratitude, especially when showing gratitude for unexpected reasons. He had been joking, when he inquired over gifts to Katurian, hardly actually believing himself a recipient on his company's mind.
He coughed, then glanced around the room.
"As you can see, I've had a hand in amusing myself quite a lot."
A pause -- and then, recognizing the perhaps mischievous ambiguity, hastily added: "The riddles I mean. Obviously."
Reply
"There are a lot of them," he said, grasping for stability in the obvious, in its simplicity. His eyes snagged on one in particular. BIRTHED INTO ONESELF. It sounded like as much nonsense as the dead birds.
"How long have you been at it?"
Reply
He sat up suddenly, his mouth a thin hard line.
"I don't think I ever really stopped. Being the Riddler. That was his point all along, wasn't it? That your past is your person, and to deny that is to deny yourself." He simmered on the words, staring at Katurian, scouring his company with the intensity. But of course, he was only looking past Katurian. Looking through this moment and reliving some other time, dark and sharp and lonely as it was.
Reply
He stared at the riddles instead. AN OPERATING SYSTEM ANTICIPATING. He felt Edward's eyes. OR THE SCENT OF SULFUR AND OXYGEN COMBINED. He wanted to dodge this conversation like nothing more in the world.
And then the 'he' again.
The jolt was immediate. Like electricity. He swallowed and stared at the wall, at that riddle, his lips moving soundlessly before finding his voice.
"The first line is 'born.'"
From the way he said it, it was obvious he didn't need the others.
Reply
He didn't say a thing. He simply watched Katurian's dawning.
Silent. Breathless.
Wondering.
Reply
His voice was trembling.
"Operating and system." (Katurian was never very good at computer terms.) "Anticipating like beginning, like the first letters. Or the first part of a word."
He finally looked to Edward. There was something like pride in his eyes, something like invigoration. He had broken into Edward's thoughts. For one moment, he had broken into Edward's thoughts.
"Did he do this?"
Reply
Eddie would dwell on the consequence in time, but now? It was just nice to be understood, even in some small little way, even if Eddie had to believe that he hated it. It was nice to be this part of him.
Eddie stared at Katurian, his eyes round and unblinking, glowing with intrigue.
"Yes."
Reply
What went on between the two of them was not made for police eyes. It was not made for voyeurs.
"What now?"
Reply
He always liked knowing, first.
"What do you want to do now?"
Reply
In other words, he wanted to tell the police.
Even before he said it, he knew it wasn't the answer Eddie wanted. That was why he kept it vague, why he softened it with thoughts over actions, with gaps carved out for the unsaid. Katurian had spent his first year fearing the police - and he still did, to an extent - but the fact was that Osborn had broken the law, had killed people, and was still moving around. And if what happened to Edward was any of indication, he was still very, very dangerous.
Reply
And then he was on Katurian, hands seeking wrists, fingers vicious and squeezing. Legs spread to pin around hips, and pressing against muscle. He used the bed as a surface of resistance, keeping Katurian locked in place as he leaned over, whispering is savaged and hushed tones. Barely restrained rage, unrepentant madness.
"Do not take action. Do not tell anyone. I will burn anything that gets in my way, I will incinerate anyone, do you understand? He is mine, because of this, he has promised himself to me. Do you understand?" Lips sneered, nearly touching Katurian's ear. "Save the hypothetical thousands."
Reply
Katurian always worked better when he was trapped. He was learning.
"You're so much more than these walls, Edward." His skin was pale and his voice was wavering, choking, rough, but there was a calmness to him, too, a tone that hadn't quite given in. "You're better than this cage."
An echo from older times.
Reply
Eyes flickered over Katurian's face, watching that strangely calm expression. Calmer than expected, anyway. Any other time, and Eddie would have been proud.
"Do you know what he did? He dressed me in my own costume, to remind me. To humiliate me in my own creation, do you know what he did?" Eddie's fingers gripped tighter, his mouth twisted in the unsubtle spasms of mania.
"Nothing was left sacred."
Reply
"Norman knows you, Edward." He grimaced, afraid of the words, but he knew he needed to go on. "Doesn't that prove it? Psychological torture. H-He-- He'll know that you won't involve anyone else, and if you wait until you get out of here, he will be prepared for you. Don't you see that?" Another hard swallow. "C-Can't you see?"
Reply
Those fingers hooked into Katurian's cheek.
"He expects me to balk. To resent. To unwillingly, slowly, accept. But I'm much quicker than that, Katurian, I've already accepted." He exhaled, savoring his words. Hearing them outside his mind for the first time. "And I need to know you won't make me hurt you. I really don't want that, you know, I like you."
He dragged his nails downwards. His eyes, watching.
"Don't make me hurt you, Katurian."
Reply
Leave a comment