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Pen likes the new apartment. It's bigger, she has new walls to draw on (she's got paper, too, but sometimes she wants to do a proper mural), and she doesn't have grit under her feathers anymore.
She gets left alone a lot, though. Cindy is out doing things all the time. He doesn't have as much time to take her to the flying place. (Once, when he is out and she can't even ask, she hops out over the patio balcony onto the neighboring roof, and checks to see if there is anybody around, and flies a little bit, low and owl-quiet. She doesn't think anybody sees.) She builds elaborate structures. She solicits another box of pieces.
He leaves the news on, a lot. Pen mostly ignores it. She knows English, technically, but the pentagon didn't tell her the concepts her upbringing has left her missing.
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campanas
manofmyword
"These're dangerous," he says. "They're some of what I was keeping in that room I told you not to go into. They won't blow anything up, but they could still kill somebody if you mess around with them."
manofmyword
It's not particularly interesting, but it seems to absorb all his attention.
Except that when he is most of the way through, a little before lunchtime, the news anchor says the words "...live from the steps of Blackgate Prison" and he puts down the shotgun he was examining and looks up intently at the screen.
Bane is there, climbing out of a vehicle with an interestingly familiar silhouette. He'll have to see if John knows anything about that. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
Symbol of oppression, yeah, sure. The Dent Act is fucked up from the inside out, but the Joker still isn't buying what Bane is selling. Burn a picture of Dent, yeah, good one. It's a pity there are no pictures of what he looked like with half his face burned off. But what's this? He knows. Bane says 'the truth about Harvey Dent' like someone who understands exactly what he's talking about.
"Jimmy's gonna pop," the Joker murmurs when Bane starts quoting from Commissioner Gordon's unpublished, undelivered resignation speech. "If they haven't killed him yet."
The speech rolls on, all the way to the end. Bane's delivery is perfect.
'The things we did in Harvey's name brought desperately needed security to our streets... But I can no longer live with my lie. It is time to trust the people of Gotham with the truth, and it is time for me to resign.'
And of course Bane asks the crowd, "Do you accept this man's resignation?" And of course they start cheering. He's got them in the palm of his hand now. On he goes, all about taking Gotham back from the wealthy and the corrupt and giving it to the people. Well, that would sure be nice, except for that tiny insignificant problem of the nuclear bomb he's got rolling through the streets. Fat chance of anybody else remembering that now, though.
They bust into the prison and let everybody out. Arming them on the way, of course. Bane keeps talking. He's good at that.
The Joker watches.
Except that when he is most of the way through, a little before lunchtime, the news anchor says the words "...live from the steps of Blackgate Prison" and he puts down the shotgun he was examining and looks up intently at the screen.
Bane is there, climbing out of a vehicle with an interestingly familiar silhouette. He'll have to see if John knows anything about that. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
Symbol of oppression, yeah, sure. The Dent Act is fucked up from the inside out, but the Joker still isn't buying what Bane is selling. Burn a picture of Dent, yeah, good one. It's a pity there are no pictures of what he looked like with half his face burned off. But what's this? He knows. Bane says 'the truth about Harvey Dent' like someone who understands exactly what he's talking about.
"Jimmy's gonna pop," the Joker murmurs when Bane starts quoting from Commissioner Gordon's unpublished, undelivered resignation speech. "If they haven't killed him yet."
The speech rolls on, all the way to the end. Bane's delivery is perfect.
'The things we did in Harvey's name brought desperately needed security to our streets... But I can no longer live with my lie. It is time to trust the people of Gotham with the truth, and it is time for me to resign.'
And of course Bane asks the crowd, "Do you accept this man's resignation?" And of course they start cheering. He's got them in the palm of his hand now. On he goes, all about taking Gotham back from the wealthy and the corrupt and giving it to the people. Well, that would sure be nice, except for that tiny insignificant problem of the nuclear bomb he's got rolling through the streets. Fat chance of anybody else remembering that now, though.
They bust into the prison and let everybody out. Arming them on the way, of course. Bane keeps talking. He's good at that.
The Joker watches.
manofmyword
Eventually that speech, too, winds down. The Joker stares at the screen for a moment, lost in thought, after they cut away from the prison; then he shakes his head and picks up the shotgun again.
campanas
Pen snuggles under his arm, obstructing him a little but not all that much.
manofmyword
In only a few more minutes, he finishes the rest. And hugs her properly.
"How're you doing?"
"How're you doing?"
manofmyword
It is! It is good.
He puts all the guns away after lunch and gets out his knives to check those, also in front of the TV. Some time later, he puts those away too. He washes his face. He changes into comfortable clothing: one of his nice blue shirts, unremarkable black pants, and a faded old grey sweater with a band logo on the front and the words THE FREAK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH on the back.
He says, "Still wanna meet this guy?"
He puts all the guns away after lunch and gets out his knives to check those, also in front of the TV. Some time later, he puts those away too. He washes his face. He changes into comfortable clothing: one of his nice blue shirts, unremarkable black pants, and a faded old grey sweater with a band logo on the front and the words THE FREAK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH on the back.
He says, "Still wanna meet this guy?"
manofmyword
"All right. C'mon."
He has the altered minivan again tonight. It makes for a reasonably comfy ride across town to his old apartment, where once again he goes up the tree and in the window.
He has the altered minivan again tonight. It makes for a reasonably comfy ride across town to his old apartment, where once again he goes up the tree and in the window.
