Work Text:
Jonathan was hungry. Actually, ‘hungry’ barely described it; ‘starving’ was more apt. He’d spent the last day or so shut up in his office finishing the final remaining touches of his new toxin’s formula. It had seemed, at the moment, a rather trivial thing to get food when he was onto such a large breakthrough, but now he was beginning to regret it as he shuffled towards the kitchen door.
It seemed to him that a kitchen shouldn’t really need a door. The apartment wasn’t very old and everywhere else seemed to have an open floor-plan, but he was also fairly certain that the architect had been doing acid at the time since Jervis’ bedroom was in the shape of an irregular hexagon and his own was more or less a trapezoid. Then again, that’s what you got when you looked for cheap rent in an ‘artists’ neighborhood.
He could hear Jervis puttering about on the other side of the door, but when he tried the handle, he found it locked. Who the hell designed an apartment with a locking door to the kitchen?
“Jervis! Open the door; I’m very hungry,” he snapped, knocking none too gently.
“I’m rather busy at the moment, my dear Raven. Won’t you come back later?” the other man chirped.
Jonathan shivered at the pet name and gritted his teeth. The little blonde knew damn well not to call him that, whether he’d slipped back into total madness or not. “Jervis, this isn’t funny. Let me come in!” he persisted, knocking a little harder.
“No! You’ll ruin it! You always ruin things and I won’t have you ruining this,” the other man snapped, his tone taking on a rather defensive quality. This, however, did nothing but enrage the brunette further.
“Damn it, Jervis, I’m hungry! I haven’t eaten since…I don’t know and I’m not in the mood for your inane little games! You’re a grown man for God’s sake! It’s time you started acting like one!”
Of course, he never took into consideration that standing there shouting at a door hardly made him look any more mature than Jervis was on a daily basis. What he did consider, however, was what came next.
“Then stop your incessant whining and go out for some goddamn take-away, Jonathan! I swear to God, if you step one foot in here before I’m done, I’ll gouge your eyes out with a tea spoon and use them to replace your scrotum so that you’ll see what an absolute prick you’re being!” the blonde shouted.
The older man flinched and despite the door already separating them, backed away just in case Jervis decided to have at him anyhow. It seemed his partner was having a lucid day and that meant that the Hatter would happily follow through with any twisted threat he saw fit to issue; the incident involving the enraged little blonde and what he’d done to their server the last time they’d gone for Italian still burned fresh in his memory.
“Alright…I’m going out. Just don’t kill yourself until I return,” he sighed, and with that, turned to snatch up his keys and plod out the front door.
Confident that Jervis wouldn’t actually do much damage to himself in his mostly-lucid state, the psychologist was more than happy to sit down and eat in a greasy little restaurant. There was something about cheap Chinese food that made him feel better than any other food. Perhaps it was a misplaced sense of camaraderie, the idea that he had something in common with a cheap and generally undesirable food-like product, that filled him with warmth. Then again, that could have just been the heartburn he got after eating six or seven egg-rolls and washing them down with hot and sour soup.
He wondered idly what his partner was up to. Usually, Jervis was somewhat standoffish during ‘good days’, but it had been a while since he’d seen the blonde so vicious for no apparent reason. Still, this was Jervis, and no matter how diligently he medicated the smaller man, there was no guarantee that sanity would linger for more than a few hours on any given day. Really, for all Jonathan knew, the younger man could be making some bizarre, paper-mâché model of Alice or… No, it was best not to think of such things. Jervis was capable of twisted things, just as twisted as the ‘research’ he himself committed, so he had no right to judge.
He took a moment to fiddle with his fortune cookie. The things always tasted stale, but it amused him on a level to think that these things were really supposed to carry any significant message. The fragile cracker crumbled in his hands and he was left with a few large chunks and a thin slip of white paper which, upon reading, he couldn’t help but snort a bit. ‘Love...’ Well, there was no real reason to continue reading it. Love was such a useless thing; something he found he didn’t want or need. It made people do incredibly stupid things… Hell, he had Jervis as enough proof of that! No, love could destroy the best of things. It complicated the works and the pain never outweighed the gains…if there were any to begin with.
It occurred to him then that he’d never truly felt love for anyone other than himself; though, he was hardly motivated by mere narcissism. In fact, if he were honest, it was more or less out of self-defense. If he had control of his heart, then he would never have to risk the chance of having it broken. It saved him time and pain…and left him, for the most part, incredibly lonely. Still, he supposed he would rather take loneliness over the downward spiral that had been Jervis’ life. All of that madness…all of that self-destructive behavior over one person’s rejection? It was hard to believe, and yet he knew it to be true because he had been there to see the after-math progress.
Oh, he tolerated Jervis…and to a point, might even admit to liking him for the company and easy sex, but really, the blonde was far too preoccupied with his childish, naïve views of romance to suit Jonathan’s tastes. Or so the brunette insisted to himself. Still, that was a dangerous train of thought to pursue no matter what the psychologist insisted, and so he shook his head and tried to clear his mind.
Without a second thought, he shoved the fortune into his pocket and stalked out, taking his time wandering back home in the hopes that the little fool had calmed down or finished whatever project he’d been working on. Of course, the moment he stepped through the front door, he rather wished he simply hadn’t come home at all.
There stood Jervis in an over-large t-shirt and jeans covered in white powder and God knew what else. Behind him, through the now-open kitchen door, Jonathan could see that the kitchen had nearly been demolished. Pots and pans were scattered everywhere, the powder and a thick, unidentifiable goo covering almost every surface. Granted, the psychologist’s preference for cleanliness did not touch Nygma’s obsessive-compulsive nature, but this was still far too much. The blonde was supposedly lucid! He more than likely knew better than to have strewn everything out like this!
“Jervis, what the hell have you done?! Look at this mess!”
But even the brunette yelling at him and shouting expletives that might give the kindly old woman upstairs a heart-attack didn’t seem to deter the blonde’s bright smile. In fact, Jervis was laughing, truly laughing at Jonathan’s reaction.
“See?! See?! I told you you’d ruin it if you came in too early!” he chuckled. “Open your eyes and look, Jonathan…”
“There’s no goddamn looking glass, Jervis! You’ve absolutely ruined my kitchen!” the taller man interrupted, sure that his partner would start up with his ridiculous quotes again.
The Hatter frowned and set a hand on his hip. “I meant past the mess, you twit,” he snapped, pointing towards the center island.
There, sitting amongst all the chaos, was the most gorgeous cake the psychologist had ever laid eyes on. It stood tall enough to be at least three layers and was iced in white, trimmed with delicate black swirls and adorned here and there with bright red roses. It occurred to Jonathan that the details alone must have taken the younger man several hours to finish considering just how fine the petals were and the great lengths that had been made to create individuality amongst them. But what struck him even more than all of that were the artfully scripted words “Thank You”, right in the center.
He was speechless and this seemed to please Jervis to no end. The bubbly blonde rocked on his heels a bit, grinning like a devil as his companion inspected the cake. Of course he’d cooked before, but baking was an entirely different thing and he’d never quite felt the need to share this particular hobby with his partner before. Besides, it was one that took great amounts of concentration and most of the time that was something he found himself lacking.
“I…I don’t understand,” Jonathan finally murmured, peering inquisitively over his glasses at the other man. “What have I done worth thanking me for?”
Jervis only chuckled again and wrapped his arms tightly around his companion’s waist, effectively coating Jonathan in the same sticky mess that he’d been ranting about only moments earlier.
“Everything in the world! It isn’t every man that would share his home with me, you know…let alone take care of me as you do. And I don’t know, really, what you expect to gain from it, if anything at all; but if you don’t, then I must commend you for being such a saint. I suppose there’s no reason to beat around the bush about it, but…I simply adore you, Jonathan,” he murmured, pressing his face into the other’s boney chest.
The brunette was left flabbergasted. His kitchen lay in ruins around this masterpiece of a cake, he and Jervis were now both covered in the mess, and here the little blonde was embracing him while perfectly lucid and declaring his adoration! It was almost too much to take in all at once and if he didn’t think that it would ruin his upholstery, he might have slipped away to sit for a while and think. Instead, he was left standing with his arms hung loosely over the other man’s shoulders and mouth twitching and jerking slowly, as though he were trying to form his words into a coherent thought before speaking. Truly, the usually eloquent Jonathan Crane was rendered speechless.
“You’re a mad man, Jervis,” he finally managed to sputter, looking down on his companion with an expression akin to amusement and fondness that would be vehemently denied if questioned about later.
“So they’ve told me,” the blonde laughed. “But really, is it so strange that we two would then find ourselves wanting one of our own kind? All creatures long for that sort of familiarity, Jonathan. How are we any different?”
This gained him a sharp glare from the older man and Jonathan shook his head. “You presume much, Tetch. Do not confuse convenience for desire. It was that sort of attitude that got you here in the first place, wasn’t it?” It was a cruel revelation, but more than that, it was the truth, and neither one of them were prepared for the consequences of what might come to follow should things take a turn for the worst.
That fact did not seem to be lost on Jervis, despite the frown that had settled across his lips while his partner spoke, but he did not withdraw his embrace and seemed to hold on more firmly than ever. “I hate it when you talk like that,” he whispered. “All I want is a little bit of happiness.”
“Happiness, like any drug, will never last long enough. You’ll have a taste only to be left wanting for more, Jervis, and I’m not sure I have a supply large enough to sate what would come. For that, I apologize.” There was a tone of sincerity in his voice that did not find itself congruent with his usual demeanor, and was all the more proof that Jonathan felt at least some guilt over it…even more when it looked as though the little blonde might cry as he released his hold on his waist.
Still, Jervis blinked through the mist that had begun clouding his bright eyes and leaned up as far as he could (while simultaneously dragging Jonathan down by his lapels) to brush a timid kiss upon his lips. “Then I’ll just have to try a bit harder then, won’t I?” he murmured, his broken smile slowly returning. “I think I’ll draw a bath…Enjoy your cake.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and strode out just as proud and confident as he’d been when Jonathan had returned home, leaving the brunette to stand there in a thoughtful silence. If he knew Jervis, and he believed he knew the man quite well by now, then that had been a challenge and the blonde intended to have his heart, more than likely, at any and all costs.
With a sigh, he plunged his hands in his pockets, not yet ready to face cleaning up the fiasco yet, nor willing to ruin the lovely cake so early. He frowned when he felt something rustle against his fingertips and withdrew the small paper slip he’d retrieved from the fortune cookie.
‘Love is like wildflowers; it is often found in the most unlikely places…’ A slender brow rose and he couldn’t help the twisted smile that found its way to his lips.
“Well, fuck me…”