Day 57: Waiting Room/Lobby 2 (Fourth Shift)

[dualistic]

By some stroke of luck, Harvey hadn't been bothered while he'd been in the library, allowing him to lose himself in a random book for at least a little while. Even so, he'd gone through all of his possible options for who might be visiting, from Gordon (in which case he'd probably end up sedated by the end of it) to his mother to Bruce Wayne to even the Joker.

He knew the latter couldn't be possible, not when he had to be rotting in a cell of his own by now. He'd better be, anyway. If Batman was going to be making a nuisance of himself, the least he could do was get the insane clown behind bars.

In other words, the book hadn't completely prevented him from working himself up about this whole visitor thing. It was the last thing he wanted, but as the shift ended and a soldier came to collect him, it became clear that resistance would not be tolerated.

And so he was shoved into one of the rooms, watching as the patients from the previous shift exited out, some looking relieved and others looking crushed. It only made the knot in his stomach pull tighter, but Harvey forced himself to breathe and calm down. No one he recognized was here yet, so he'd have a moment to compose himself at least.

Taking a seat off in the corner, Harvey considered grabbing one of the outdated magazines to read over while he waited, but he couldn't relax quite that much. Instead, he pulled up one leg to rest on the opposite thigh and made subtle glances towards the door every few seconds.

Comments

[damned-visitors.livejournal.com]

There was a tenseness that tightened in Bruce's face as Aaron tried to bait him, the fury in him growing evident. No. He didn't look like he was making progress. And in all honesty, it killed Bruce to see it. There was something grim and mature like Aaron had never before witnessed in the corner of Bruce's frown, and he simply watched him with a steady look for a long, silent moment before responding.

"I hope that things change, Aaron. I really do. My goal isn't to keep you trapped in here -- no one wants that. We want you back home. The people need you." There was some mingled sadness there and then he swallowed it down with a slight shake of his head. "I'll visit again soon. I hope by then, you'll be a little more ready to talk about how things are going." He got to his feet, then he waited a beat.

"Oh, and try making some friends, will you? I'm going to get your behavior reports from your doctor before I leave. 'Playing well with others' used to be something you were so good at."

[dualistic]

Every single thing that came out of Bruce's mouth sounded like a practiced line to Harvey, and it was that insincerity that really got under his skin. Actually, even worse than that was that Bruce's squeaky clean attitude might actually be genuine, that he might actually mean everything he was saying.

The people didn't need him. In fact, even hearing that said in seriousness almost caused him to flip over the table between them and go rushing straight for Bruce's throat. He didn't need to be mocked, even if that wasn't the idiot's intention in the first place.

"Don't bother coming back," he snapped, standing with Bruce if only because he was still trying to decide if decking him was a good idea. It was good that the man's visit was turning out to be so short, seeing how Harvey wasn't sure that he could keep himself together for much longer. Being told to make friends as if he was a child was the last straw. He gripped the back of his chair, glaring at Bruce as he left, his anger only barely contained.