Little Fear Goes A Long Way [Nina]

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dear Dr. Stenet,

I request a formal meeting, the topic discussion to be disclosed with either the accept or the decline to meet. There is quite a lot of knowledge we could offer one another. In a public setting I request to meet you at the Rose Café on Thursday at 2:00pm. You don’t have to come alone if you don’t wish to; this will be an entirely public setting.

Dr. Jonathan Crane.

When the letter was sent it was short and sweet, not revealing too much of what he wanted to speak about. Not revealing his place of residence could only rely on the fact that she would most likely come. He hadn’t given her any reason to fear him despite his reputation, and recently he had been….closer with Edward. She was probably still emotional about the issue, but that wasn’t what he was going to discuss with her unless she brought it up.

No….He was going for a very specific reason. Putting on the sharp jacket he had gotten he tried to straighten the cuffs on his own. It wasn’t that he had never dressed nice before, it had just been a while. His hair was slicked back instead of its usually lazy wave. His tie was pressed and straight, wearing black suit with a white button down shirt underneath.

He watched Heather come up behind him in the mirror, she was already ready and was observing him struggle with his cuffs. “Let me” She said as he turned taking a cuff in her hand and turning it correctly, buttoning it how it should be. His eye’s scanned down her dress and thought he should say something. It wasn’t often she dressed up, although he had forced her to do so this afternoon. It was important that they were not in their normal attire. They were also going to quite a fancy place, so dressing was appropriate.

Dr. Crane stood silently as she fixed both cuffs and tried to figure out something to say, he should probably say something. She was dressing up for the event which she wasn’t keen on doing in the first place. “You look….Nice” He said awkwardly, pulling his hands up a bit after they were cuffed. She offered him a smile and with that they were off.

Dr. Crane put on his sunglasses as they got into the cab and sped off toward the Rose Café. It was rather silent in the car, he couldn’t see very well out the windows. His vision was blurred passed about ten feet without his glasses. It was just slightly, blurred making it difficult to read small lettering, making some people’s faces blend together. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t work with however. They passed many buildings until finally arriving at their destination. Dr. Crane looked down at his watch as he stepped out of the vehicle and Heather followed. He shut the door behind her; it was almost 2:00pm. Dr. Stenet would have already been here or was about to arrive.

Walking inside Heather grabbed his arm and wrapped hers inside it. Dr. Crane stiffened at the motion but remained composed as they entered asked if Dr. Stenet had arrived, she hadn’t apparently and they were seated saying that they were expecting her. When she arrived they would lead her in the right direction. Dr. Crane specifically requested a table away from any windows; it wouldn’t be good to be suddenly recognized. Especially since he had to take the sunglasses off inside. When they were seated he took them off his face but kept his head rather away from the general public as they waited.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Yep, Jon definitely cleans up nicely. Not that Heather is surprised by that, since he's certainly not bad looking even outside of a suit. She always has a habit of staring when she's on brave toxin, but at the moment that's slightly more pronounced. So of course she doesn't fail to notice and offer her assistance when he struggles with his cuffs, obviously not used to wearing such things. Then again, she's no different that way - she hates wearing dresses. It seems more like a costume to her than actual clothing. Then again, that's the whole point - it would take her own mother a few moments to recognize her in this thing.

Of course, it's not just the dress but she's also wearing her hair up and switched her 'fun' make-up with her 'formal' makeup. The switch of style is drastic enough that she probably looks a lot older than she normally does, and different enough from the photos she knows the news media has been passing around that she figures that she's safe enough to go hatless. She still dyes her hair that vivid orange color, but it seems less drastic when she keeps it contained instead of loose. She can't help but smile at his compliment when she's finished with his cuffs, and offers a simple, "You too."

She's not sure what to make of this meeting. What kind of a woman would the Riddler have been with? Good thing she's on brave toxin for this or she'd actually be pretty nervous about it. Though she'd like to hope that Jon wouldn't want her to come with if nerves were warranted in the first place. As it is, she's always pleased enough to go out somewhere that it would have to be pretty bad before she'd wish that she'd stayed in the hideout. A fancy-type restaurant is actually pretty low on her list of 'fun', but she'll take it.

As they head in, Heather grabs Jon's arm. Partly because she knows it will make them look more natural in this setting, and partly because she strongly suspects that he'll let her get away with it. While she doesn't exactly fear being recognized, she does realize that it's the whole point of their change of clothing and the constant oddness that it is to wear a dress keeps reminding her that they're trying not to be recognized, so she remembers to keep her face turned away from the other patrons. Then again, her face isn't nearly as famous as Jon's - it's her voice that would give her away more.

[Nina Stenet]

This may be only the second time it's happened, but Nina is already getting tired of these notes. Especially since this one seems to only up the ante - Mr. Cobblepot had been bad enough, but from what little she understands of the man he's someone you can work with like a semi-reasonable person. "Dr." Crane belongs to a different category of person, so she was even more reluctant when it came to her decision of what to do about this.

But it works out about the same way: she doesn't necessarily believe the small indications that the man includes in his note about it being a formal, public meeting are signs that she'll be safe. She wouldn't put it past the man to gas an entire restaurant, after all. Still, if she doesn't show and he wants to push the issue the alternatives would be even worse. At least she doesn't have to worry that bringing Shawty with her will raise a fuss this time, as he specifically indicated that she doesn't have to come alone.

So at almost exactly 2:00pm she walks into the cafe with Shawty by her side, and isn't surprised that they're led to one of the more discreet tables. She is more surprised when she sees that he isn't alone, though when she casts Shawty a questioning look as they walk along, her assistant hastily whispers a very brief explanation. Ah! Nina isn't one to really pay attention to the news, and so wasn't really aware that he'd kidnapped someone. Who is apparently okay enough with the idea that she's out in a public restaurant with him? That just adds another large unknown variable to the situation, and she doesn't like that at all. Still, her expression as she approaches the table is perhaps surprisingly calm - she's a bit nervous, but far less so than your average person would be.

Shawty, on the other hand, is openly suspicious. She isn't much to look at - blonde, blue-eyed, but with the main distinguishing feature being that she's only 4'9". When they enter she quickly scans the room, but keeps most of her attention on Crane once she spots him at the table they're approaching - mostly able to recognize him because she expected him to be here, in spite of the suit and his other attempts to be discreet. VerMillion also gets a careful lookover, but that not the one to keep an eye on. Shawty's far more in tune with the major criminals of Gotham than Dr. Stenet is and knows that while the Penguin usually has others do his dirty work, the Scarecrow does his own so she'll be watching him like a hawk. But it's Dr. Stenet who's in charge here, so even as they reach the table she remains quiet. She's only here if she's needed, and if not she intends to let Dr. Stenet run the show.

But Nina isn't exactly sure what one does when someone like him asks you to dinner. In a way it was simpler with Mr. Cobblepot since she knew going in that the man considers himself to be high class and therefore you simply know to be excessively polite. She ends up simply saying, "Good afternoon," as she and Shawty find their seats, figuring that much of a greeting serves its purpose. Polite, to the point, and the lack of any attempt to start any further conversation immediately a small indication of just how happy she is to meet him.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Crane remained rather silent at their table; he restrained himself from making eye contact with others. Instead he kept his gaze on the white cloth that was draped over the table. It would have been incredibly simple for him to terrify this whole cafe in a matter of minutes. The thought was pleasing, but it wasn’t what he was here for today. It would all be for something much greater in the end.

He looked to Heather for a moment keeping his eyes low, she seemed to be enjoying herself, though he knew it wasn’t exactly her thing. He knew that she would much rather do something with a bit more action involved. Dr. Crane had plans for her to get more involved in that, but until she could defend herself correctly it wasn’t smart, especially with the fact that he was hunted already.

He hadn’t noticed them approaching, his gaze was focused now on the watch around his wrist. It was 2:00pm, just as he looked up from it Dr. Stenet, and a guest she had brought with her took their seats at the table. Dr. Crane looked up from his watch to observe them both for a moment. He was never a terribly social man, it took the right situations, and the right people to get him talking for a long period of time. He was aware of who those people were, but even them he tried to limit his conversation.

Dr. Crane first glanced to her guest she had brought with her, without saying a word he observed her in an awkward silence. She was possibly the shortest woman he had ever seen, possibly even had some sort of medical condition that stunted her growth. She must have some connection to Dr. Stenet, though what exactly he wasn’t able to determine at this time. Attention turned to Dr. Stenet herself.

She looked good considering the previous lifestyle she held according to the file he had pulled from Arkham Asylum. The thought of that day almost made him smile as he started turning the gears for his plan the moment he pulled the three files from the cabinet itself, directly in front of Edward. That was the first way he had found out about Dr. Stenet, the rest was research of his own. There was still much he didn’t know about the woman, but that’s why he was here today.

Looking at both of them together he nodded “Good afternoon Ladies” He spoke sincerely, rather polite for his usual monotone and uncaring voice. He lowered his voice some saying his next words. “My name is Dr. Jonathan Crane, and this is Miss Glass.” He pulled his hand from where it was on the table toward VerMillion beside him and then back after he introduced her formally. “I’m glad you could join us today. Dr. Stenet it is a pleasure...and this lovely young lady is?” He turned toward the short woman that was still silent in her seat.

Dr. Crane was unusually polite. It was probably one of the first times he was since he worked in society. He was certainly capable of it thought he had an outward reputation, that it wasn’t possible for him to be kind to another human being. Easily it could be masked over as saying it was fake, a ruse to get what he wanted, which might have been true. He always did have a hidden agenda.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Heather finds the wait, short as it is, to be just barely on the good side of tolerable. A part of her impatience problem is that while she's on brave toxin there's simply seems to be far fewer things to occupy her time thinking about - even something as small as taking a moment to decide what she wants to do tomorrow is linked to fear, as it was the fear of getting nothing done the next day that would give her the idea to think about it in the first place. So in this situation of nothing to do, she also has little to think about.

Fortunately, though she keeps her face turned away from the other patrons, she spots two women being led in their direction before she starts to get restless. The first one to catch her eye is the short one, and mostly for that very reason. Heather's short herself, but she's not nearly that short. But she's quick to guess that the older, taller woman is Dr. Stenet, if only because of the "Dr." part - aside from certain prodigies, the amount of school required for that means that you have to be a certain age for it. She isn't immediately certain what to think of either woman, though she is glad they came quickly.

"Nice to meet you," she offers to both of them with a smile when Jon introduces her, but other than that she keeps quiet. She doesn't know what else to say anyway, and she's guessing that whatever reason Jon has for this meeting is important so she'd best let him have at it. Hopefully whatever it is will be fun to watch.

[Nina Stenet]

Nina nods politely to the girl with him, still trying to figure out what to make of this unexpected element. You hear that someone's been kidnapped, and it's almost a reflex to want to help them. But on the other hand, Miss Glass looks okay. Relaxed, even. And though Nina is definitely one to want to help others, she also knows what a valuable contribution she can make to society, and it's not by sacrificing her life to save someone else's - if it was, she'd be a superhero. No, this is one of those problems that it isn't her job to solve.

Shawty's keeping an eye on VerMillion too, but instead of worrying over the ethics of trying to help her or not, she's noting the calmness as a possible warning sign. What did Crane do to her? Brainwash her? She'll definitely want to keep an eye on her then, though her main focus is of course on the Crane. When he asks for her name, she simply says, "Shawty." Actually, her real name is Shannon Morrison, but absolutely nobody ever calls her that. And with that one word introduction, she goes back to silently keeping an eye on VerMillion, the crowd, and especially Crane.

Now that the introductions are taken care of, Nina asks, "And to what do I owe this 'pleasure'?" With Shawty worrying about her personal safety, Nina feels free to keep her own focus more on whatever it is that prompted the man to invite her here. She rather doubts it's for a reason that she'd like, and hence if she has any goal here it's to make sure that she leaves without worrying that there will be any repeated contact. These rogues wanting to meet her do nothing but interrupt her work.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

“Shawty” He repeated after her nodding his head slightly. An Odd name but Dr. Crane didn’t look to much further into it. She didn’t say exactly who she was or how she was associated with Dr. Stenet and he wasn’t sure he would be able to get that out of her right away. It didn’t matter very much, she was probably just a friend that was there because of his reputation.

His focus went back to Dr. Stenet as she began to speak. Wanted to get right to the point of the meeting? It wasn’t surprising, why would she want to sit at a table with the master of fear for longer than she had to? Although he couldn’t outwardly see it yet His eyes pierced into hers searching for anxiety.

There was a reason for this meeting, although he wasn’t going to come outright and say what it was. He couldn’t have them messing with his plans, and coming out and saying it would disrupt everything. He could give her bits and pieces to move along with however. Today was just about the meeting and finding out a few key answers that he needed to proceed with his plans.

“You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not direct; I’m not a very social man. I can see however that you would like to get right down to why we are here. I have an explanation for that as always…” He paused and a small smile almost appeared over his features, not for a moment did his gaze waver. “Dr. Stenet, You’ve recently caught my attention for one reason or the other, I won’t go into it if it doesn’t need to be said.” He turned his palm on the table as if he was trying to explain. “If you don’t mind me asking…” He broke away from his current topic for a moment, trying to detour from anything she may not want to discuss. “What line of work are you in now?”

His free hand that simply lay on the table beside the other slipped back and went to his side. He slipped his hand into his pocket and began to turn something inside of it. The gesture didn’t seem dangerous; more that he was lost in thought over something. Not even VerMillion knew exactly why they were here, he kept that much too himself, yet still brought her along. She was going to be just as important in making this all go over smoothly, but the first steps had to be laid down. That was all going to be dependent on how willing Dr. Stenet was to work with him.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Heather glances again at the short one when she says her name. Well, it's blatantly obvious where the nickname comes from. At least she's assuming a nickname - cruel parents otherwise. Then again, her own parents were cruel enough to give her a name that was hopelessly average.

The woman that Jon actually wants to talk to, on the other hand, seems far less interesting at first glance. At first talk too - all business. Hopefully whatever Jon wants to talk to her about is at least somewhat interesting. Her eyes shift to him as he answer's the woman's question, a hint of amusement coming to her face. Yep, she can always count on Jon to make things even more interesting than they probably have to be, in this case by not coming right out and saying anything. He hasn't told her much of anything about this meeting, so she's actually somewhat curious herself about it. And, not wanting to interrupt, she keeps her mouth shut as she listens in curiously.

[Nina Stenet]

Though Nina appears to be quite calm, a practiced enough eye would be able to see that she's a little nervous. But not nearly to the same degree your average civilian would be in this sort of situation - she's merely being careful where most would be really worried. She's uncomfortable and could easily list off a hundred things she'd rather be doing, but she expects this meeting to turn out okay even not knowing what he may want.

No, the vast majority of the anxiety in this pair is reserved for Shawty, who has plenty of it. But then again, she's accustomed to using her anxiety to keep herself focused. She's the one who notes Crane's hand moving to his pocket, though that mainly causes her to watch him even more carefully.

But Nina's own carefulness is directed at his words, not his movements. And her lips purse a little as he explains that he can't be direct, though she doesn't object otherwise - it's not like objecting would fix that. But her expression becomes more thoughtful as he dances around why he contacted her. "I don't think it does," she says, quietly but evenly. While she may not have been paying very much attention to the news in general, but anything about Edward in particular definitely catches her attention. So she knows that Crane has had at least something to do with Edward since she last saw him, if only because they escaped from the asylum together. How exactly that resulted in Crane hearing about her she can only speculate on, though.

The question he asks, however, is easy enough. "Medical research - I have my own lab," she answers, "I'm trained in microbiology, but I branch out from that extensively in my work." Not an answer she minds giving at all since it's publicly available if you know where to look.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Crane had studied Dr. Stenet carefully as she spoke; his hands kept circling an object in his pocket regardless never actually removing it from his pocket. She looked nervous, good, that’s how she is supposed to feel in front of Dr. Crane when she wasn’t terrified of him. There was always an amount of anxiety that he brought to others, just by sitting with them and barely saying a word. He enjoyed it, and soaked in every moment of it.

For now he paid little attention to the physically challenged woman ‘Shawty’ she had brought with her. He was sure it wasn’t going to be the last that he saw of her, but outwardly she didn’t seem much of a threat. A stern woman perhaps, looked quite stubborn off a glance, but nothing Dr. Crane couldn’t handle.

That didn’t matter with this meeting however, this meeting was for formalities, and that’s what he would do. This would go formally and professionally if he could help it. It wasn’t often that he could actually get through a normal conversation without mentioning his work, philosophy, or fear at some point, how could he resist? He wondered suddenly…What did Dr. Stenet fear?

The thought made him turn his palm back down on the table to tap his fingers lightly. Dr. Crane wouldn’t bring that up right now. When she mentioned that she would rather not talk about what they were both clearly implying he nodded in response. They didn’t have to talk about it if it made her uncomfortable. Although Edward was a large part of why he was here, it didn’t need to be said. This woman was smart enough to know there was a connection at least, she seemed educated. He also doubted very much so that Edward would ever be with a woman that couldn’t match his intellect in one form or another.

His thought turns as she mentions her medical research. “Microbiology….” He said rhetorically, almost to himself lost in thought. She worked with very small organisms. “Quite a field, I’ve dabbled in it myself some. Impressive profession..” He tried to remain polite though his last word were lacking in any enthusiasm. “I certainly prefer the study of the mind but other medical research is important as well.” He added just for conversations sake. He wasn’t learning very much yet, but he planned for that to change. “And lately you have set up your lab again and gotten back to work? Tell me how does it feel to return to something like that after this long?” This question he asked with a notable amount of interest, having several personal reasons behind it.

It was difficult not to let his psychological tendencies slip through when he was having normal conversation; mostly because he didn’t know how to hold a normal conversation outside of work. Lately he had been able to do it better, but only with the right people. His attention shifted to Heather for a moment who sat quietly in her booth. She hadn’t said a word yet despite her introduction. Not that he had expected her to, she was surprisingly well behaved. He wondered how long that would last in the conversation, being sure that at some point her and either Nina or Shawty would begin talking.

Suddenly a waitress appeared at their table ready to take their order. He hadn’t been interested in food, it was rare he ate at all, but he didn’t mind the ladies ordering whatever they wanted. Dr. Crane turned his gaze away from the waitress and looked further into the booth. “Coffee” He stated simply and waited for the rest of them to order. Normally he would have stared the woman down, but this early in the conversation…He didn’t want to start anything to disrupt it.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Heather smirks a little at Dr. Stenet's answer to Jon, figuring that they're so vaguely talking about the Riddler. That's pretty much everything Jon has told her about this meeting, actually - that this woman used to be with him. Though the woman she pictured when he said that and the woman in front of them don't quite match up. Because, well she's guessing if the woman actually tried she'd be pretty, but she's not at all flashy. And while she may have only met the man once and was rather focused on other things at the time, based on sheer reputation she would have expected him to go for flashy.

Then again, the answer about what she does gives a better clue - a medical researcher? Must be smart then. Also very boring, most likely. Then again, Jon does that sort of thing himself and she doesn't think that he's boring. Then again, that's because the only time that he's boring is when he's in his lab - what he does outside of it is usually anything but. Dr. Stenet, on the other hand, doesn't show any signs of that particular trait.

This particular conversation, though, is getting dangerously close to being boring to listen to aside from the fact that she suspects that Jon is going somewhere with this. Or at least she hopes so - if he's going to sit here and talk about the woman's career, she'll have to intervene at some point before she falls asleep. Her eyes drift back over to Shawty. Now she looks like someone more likely to have something more interesting than science to talk about, but given the sheer amount of attention the short woman is giving to the conversation the other two are having she doubts it'll happen.

When the waitress comes by, she orders a steak sandwich and a soda. She's hungry, but a part of the reason why she doesn't care for these fancy restaurants is because she doesn't really care for the fancy food that they serve, so she gets the most 'normal' thing she could see on the menu.

[Nina Stenet]

Nina doesn't react much to his comments on her field. Actually, she'd prefer him to stay away from it entirely. But when he mentions the study of the mind she comments, "The mind is interesting, but my talents took me another direction." She actually has a huge amount of respect for the mental health profession. But not in their handling of Gotham's rogues. And she certainly doesn't consider "Dr." Crane to be one of them.

The question that he asks next causes her to frown and there's a moment of silence as she chooses how to answer it. It's hard for her to separate the feeling of working again from the feeling of being told by the man that she loves that he basically doesn't care about her at all anymore and doesn't want to see her again - those two things happened at the same time, after all. Still, that was long enough ago that she's able to avoid the flood of emotion that threatens and answer the question. "How does it feel to breathe again when the person shoving your head under the water lets go?" she asks quietly, though her tone remains even. "Good," she answers her own question, "It feels good." She really is passionate about her work, yet she just doesn't have much if any enthusiasm for it anymore - or at least she doesn't have it right now. She's having a very hard time remembering why she found her life at all satisfying before Edward was in it.

Fortunately, the waitress is kind enough to interrupt her thoughts by asking what they want to order. "A large salad, and water," she orders. She doesn't see how she could be that hungry in this situation, but Shawty would throw a fit if she didn't order something. But Shawty herself says, "Water." Eating anything would distract her from her job, and pretty much any other liquid is bound to disrupt her thought processes in one way or another.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Her talents? Interesting choice of words. To Dr. Crane everything else was beneath his studies and his work. Honestly anyone that was in his previous field of study was beneath him. He knew without a single doubt in his mind that he was the best psychiatrist at Arkham, he was the best professor at Gotham University, and he knew his way inside and out of phobia and abnormal psychology better than anyone in Gotham. He dared anyone to challenge him, and on the occasion only one did.

He noticed that his question seemed to make her uncomfortable, that he defiantly had a certain talent for. Whether it was intentional or not he would let her decide. Her answer was clearly talking about Edward Nigma, yet He had said that they didn’t need to go into that. His eyes never left hers as she spoke of him though; this was going to be far easier than he had originally prepared for. “Good…Work I find always refreshes the mind..” his expression stayed static paired with his monotone voice.

His hand still lingered in his pocket, she was back into her line of work, which was only going to be beneficial to him. “I’ve been working on something interesting myself..” He smiled at the mention of his own work. He wasn’t surprised when Nina had ordered a salad and water, the medically challenged Shawty had ordered water as well. He was far better at this than he should have been…

Only VerMillion ordered something odd off the menu, but he didn’t mind, she could order whatever she wanted to eat. This demonstration wasn’t for her. Not that he would be able to do it well with soda anyway, it probably could be done but it would be harder to see. Soda was far too unhealthy and sweet for Dr. Crane’s liking. Coffee was just fine. The waitress had left after taking everyone’s order and came back moments later with everyone’s drink. He hadn’t asked for anything in his coffee, taking it black as usual.

When she left again to go have their food prepared Dr. Crane reached for Nina’s glass of water and pulled it toward himself. “It’s interesting you mention being drowned. Taking that first breath always feels welcoming doesn't it?” His fingers began to tap the glass watching Nina’s reactions to him taking it. It wasn’t the politest gesture, but if she was that desperate for water he would get her another. Slowly from his pocket emerged a small box with two wires coming out of it. Placing it on the table directly in front of him he waited for some kind of reaction. Right now it just looked like whatever it was, had been forcibly stripped from something.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Heather continues to find her attention fading until Dr. Stenet's answer catches her attention. Mostly because she finds that to be a rather interesting analogy - unexpectedly gloomy. She likes it! It paints such a vivid picture. Then again, she's always been a fan of language, precise wording, things like that. Leave it to someone who talks for their job to appreciate that.

She finds herself frowning slightly when everyone else orders so much less than she does. Then again, she's currently unable to feel the tension on the room that would normally affect someone's appetite, and she's hungry. But she doesn't dwell on that thought for very long. And the soda - well, it's just nice to branch out from what Jon normally stocks the fridge with. When the waitress brings it, she picks it up immediately and sips it. Sooo good!

Though when Jon takes Dr. Stenet's glass her attention shifts immediately to that. Her expression becomes more amused as she silently just observes the two, now wondering herself exactly what Jon's up to. The little box he pulls out also gets a glance, but it's the interaction between Jon and Dr. Stenet that really has her attention.

[Nina Stenet]

Actually, Nina's reply doesn't really refer to Edward at all. It wasn't him that was preventing her from working, it was the FBI. They're the ones who earned her anger. In fact, if anything Edward made her inability to work much more bearable to her. The effect of her lingering feelings about her split with him was more in the tone of it and the fact that her face doesn't light up at the mere thought of her job, though of course Crane doesn't know her nearly well enough to know that. How she feels about Edward is a completely separate issue and not one that she'd bring up very willingly at all.

She doesn't reply to what he says now, though it's clear that she's paying close attention to his remarks - especially when he comments on working on something himself. She doubts that he would arrange a meeting just to ask the basic questions he's asked so far, and it seems that they're finally getting into whatever the point is. Though her expression does fall just slightly when he smiles about his work. She's heard about his work, and she thinks that it's utterly terrible - she's in the business of curing and reducing physical pain, and he's in the business of causing psychological pain, after all. Therefore she's inclined to assume that pretty much anything he does is not going to be anything she'd like.

But it isn't until he takes her glass and asks her an actual question that she really reacts. Yet aside from quickly suppressing the natural impulse to object to someone taking what's hers - it's only water, and it's not like she'll die without that particular glass of it - her reaction to him taking it is mostly of patience. She's guessing that he's leading up to something and is waiting for whatever that is. And his question only gets, "Like I said, it feels good."

Perhaps she would have commented more, but that's when she sees him pulling out the small box. She looks at it and her brow furrows slightly. Depending on the situation, it can be difficult to tell when she's using her gift. If she's giving it so much attention that she stops paying attention to what she's seeing with her eyes, her eyes can become unfocused. In this instance, however, she only gives the box a quick 'scan', to make sure it doesn't have anything unusual in it. She's guessing it's some sort of electrical or mechanical device, in which case her gift can only really confirm that - she doesn't know enough about such things to understand them based on how they 'feel' with her power, especially since her gift suffers from a severe case of myopia on that scale. But if there's any unusual chemicals inside of it anywhere, that's a different story - she can identify any that she's familiar with very quickly, and give extremely educated guesses about the effect of those she isn't. She doesn't expect to find any, but with Crane involved it doesn't hurt to be sure.

Her eyes linger curiously on the box as she simply asks, "What is that?" In spite of the unknown object, she still appears to be relatively calm. While Nina is fully capable of freaking out, she's not one to do so until until she's certain that's the proper course of action. Shawty doesn't react much to the box either, aside from adding it to her 'list of things to keep an eye on'. She's already at DEFCON 2, and DEFCON 1 could easily provoke something that might not happen otherwise, so she simply stays very alert.