[There is some reason this man is drinking. They understand each other more than they did a few months ago. They understand what alcohol can do. They realise the delicacy of their situation, here in this party full of people neither of them care for, yet care for because of different reasons. One defends the lives they lead. The other would see them destroyed when necessary. Not for the sake of chaos but curiosity. He will experiment. His opponent will devise an antidote. He will adapt. Such is life in this city.
Bruce masks himself with effusive displays of emotion; smiles, bravado and calmness. But he shares nothing and does nothing except slide his hands in his pockets. There could be anything there. There could also be nothing.]
But do you check the signs?
[Wordplay. Something associated more with one mask than the other.]
[ The reason Bruce drinks are many. To be social. To set a target at ease, let them think he's just like them when he's anything but. Because an 8 year old once swore to abolish all crime in Gotham. Because he's seen how far humanity can fall. Felt losses no one should endure. Carries a weight no one else should ever have to shoulder.
Most of the time, he drinks so he can sleep for those few precious minutes without seeing Dick's face or his mother dead in a gutter, her pearls scattered all around her.
It's all easy to hide behind his bravado and a glass of wine. Crane, he thinks, doesn't bother to hide at all. ]
Always.
[ He offers him another half smile, less billionaire playboy. More calculating and forward. ]
Well, I already know that's true: people dislike acknowledging what lies under their nose.
[Crane barely tilts his head in response. He neither meets the challenge nor retreats. Acknowledgement. Insecurity. This man is free to read either; to observe his lips pursing in consideration. His lukewarm voice reveals nothing beneath the surface.
People are never hard to miss.
He is not amiable to hide from barbed tongue and critical eyes; he enjoys snaring somebody with his presence, knowing they cannot do anything to stop him.]
Mind your own business. Look the other way. Gotham is hardly subtle.
[ It's information to stow away. Nothing significant on its own, but it helps to form a fuller picture. Helps Bruce to see how Crane and this Scarecrow might interconnect. Helps him to see where the threads forming the web begin and end so he doesn't get tangled up in them. Crane broadcasts nothing because most people do not know what to look for. Bruce likes to think he does. He likes to think he's interacted enough, seen enough, heard enough to put all of the pieces where they fit.
Or maybe he's just paranoid. Seeing patterns where there were none. People are never hard to miss. But they are easy to misjudge. ]
[Cage. Prison. Hospital. Asylum. There is nothing and everything to assume in his choice of word. Perhaps he is simply crafting a new conversation, craving communication with somebody capable of meeting him at his level.]
Perhaps you're just assuming the wrong kind of input when it comes to promping specifi behaviour.
[ The look on Bruce's face is inscrutable. Cold, calculating. Then it smooths into something closer to human. An easy smile and a sparkle in his eye. You'd be forgiven for thinking there was never anything wrong in Bruce Wayne's world. ]
Maybe I am. But that's a little too much thinking for me tonight, Doc.
[ He peeks over the Doctor's shoulder, at a woman eying him from across the room. He winks. ]
[Crane mirrors that cold and calculating look. But his refuses to smooth into something closer to human - though his smile and eyes are bright with life. It is not a good life he is satisfied with but the promise of an exciting future.
Development. Discovery. Denouement.]
We all have fun in different ways, Bruce.
[His lukewarm and neutral voice echoes easily from beneath the mask. But he is ready to progress from this conversation, this occasion, to somewhere he has less need to be subtle.]
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no subject
Bruce masks himself with effusive displays of emotion; smiles, bravado and calmness. But he shares nothing and does nothing except slide his hands in his pockets. There could be anything there. There could also be nothing.]
But do you check the signs?
[Wordplay. Something associated more with one mask than the other.]
no subject
Most of the time, he drinks so he can sleep for those few precious minutes without seeing Dick's face or his mother dead in a gutter, her pearls scattered all around her.
It's all easy to hide behind his bravado and a glass of wine. Crane, he thinks, doesn't bother to hide at all. ]
Always.
[ He offers him another half smile, less billionaire playboy. More calculating and forward. ]
Sometimes they're hard to miss.
no subject
[Crane barely tilts his head in response. He neither meets the challenge nor retreats. Acknowledgement. Insecurity. This man is free to read either; to observe his lips pursing in consideration. His lukewarm voice reveals nothing beneath the surface.
People are never hard to miss.
He is not amiable to hide from barbed tongue and critical eyes; he enjoys snaring somebody with his presence, knowing they
cannot do anything to stop him.]
Mind your own business. Look the other way. Gotham is hardly subtle.
[But it is afraid.]
no subject
Or maybe he's just paranoid. Seeing patterns where there were none. People are never hard to miss. But they are easy to misjudge. ]
Gotham is not subtle. But she is crafty.
no subject
[Cage. Prison. Hospital. Asylum. There is nothing and everything to assume in his choice of word. Perhaps he is simply crafting a new conversation, craving communication with somebody capable of meeting him at his level.]
Perhaps you're just assuming the wrong kind of input when it comes to promping specifi behaviour.
no subject
Maybe I am. But that's a little too much thinking for me tonight, Doc.
[ He peeks over the Doctor's shoulder, at a woman eying him from across the room. He winks. ]
Loosen up some. You'll have a bit more fun, eh?
no subject
Development. Discovery. Denouement.]
We all have fun in different ways, Bruce.
[His lukewarm and neutral voice echoes easily from beneath the mask. But he is ready to progress from this conversation, this occasion, to somewhere he has less need to be subtle.]