Another Man's Business [Nina]

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Gotham was a fascinating place, full of interesting people and Oswald had a habit of finding the most interesting of all. It was after all his business to know what the rogues were up to and who they'd been associating with. He followed police reports, news on businesses that came and went in the city, conversations within his own club. The average, normal citizen in Gotham hardly ever comes up in the Penguin's records, they certainly never get a priority setting and several additional notes.

Nina Stenet had got both. Her name had come up multiple times with ties to a few rogues, predominately the Riddler but also Lex Luthor, the Ventriloquist and Mr. Freeze. Quite what was the deal with this woman Oswald couldn't quite decide. Officially she seemed to be a law-abiding, innocent (Faking her death and escaping custody aside) yet brilliant microbiologist but so many things appeared to have revolved around her. A double life as a criminal perhaps? He could use a less than ethical microbiologist of her skill. Not that he was exactly convinced, there simply didn't seem to be enough evidence that she'd done much other than hang around criminals a lot. Oswald hated not knowing what was going on.

Her mention in reports from the time of the FBI's presence in the city just highlighted Cobblepot's irritating lack of knowledge and so, out of the blue one day Oswald had an invitation sent to her home.

Mr. Cobblepot requests the pleasure of your company for dinner at Chez Dominique on Thursday, April 5th, at seven-thirty. Attire will be formal.

Printed neatly on a card baring the logo of the Iceberg Club in one corner that was the entire message. There was no address or stamp on the envelope, Oswald had had someone walk over and deliver it personally. He'd offered a week to prepare but left no obvious way to back out, certainly she could call the club easily but either way Oswald intended to have dinner and he'd made reservations at the most expensive restaurant in the city for that night.

---

On to tonight.

As soon as he entered the restaurant Oswald was escorted to his usual private booth and having brought his assistant, Linsey, Oswald was guaranteed at least some intelligent conversation even if Nina failed to show up. At the very worst he could work and make Linsey feel even more indebted to him than she already did by treating her to a fancy meal. Plus the woman made Oswald a little less scary, it was miles better than bringing Mike in, who'd been happy to stay in the car.

Oswald checked his pocket watch, he was a little early and ordered a bottle of wine while he waited and scanned the menu. The maître d' knew who he was waiting for and would show her over when she arrived, Oswald only hoped she would be prompt and not refuse to come. He would have his meeting whether Nina wanted one or not but he'd much rather she simply accepted his invitation.

[Nina Stenet]

Ever since receiving the invitation, Nina's been rather on edge about it. Of course the first thing she did was mentally go over everything Edward has ever told her about Oswald Cobblepot. And once she recovered from all the emotions that stirred up, she realized that the only smart choice would be to accept. From what she can gather, the man is not someone you want to upset and, provided that she's careful with what she says, safe enough to meet with - someone to negotiate with, not avoid. And it's quite a bit of comfort to know that he's asked her to such a public place - that seems to indicate that he just wants to talk. Then again, she only holds onto that idea loosely since her time with Edward has taught her to be suspicious.

Of course, once the 'will I or won't I?' question was answered, she found herself wondering exactly why he wants to talk to her. It really isn't a matter of being unable to think of possible reasons, it's narrowing the list down - which of the many reasons he may have to talk to her is it? Of course it doesn't help her thought processes at all that she keeps finding herself idly wishing that she could ask Edward for advice...

Fortunately, the man gave her a week's notice, which for Nina is plenty of time for her thoughts to settle themselves. Well, as much as they can be, anyway. She has to admit that she's somewhat anxious, especially since she can't seem to narrow down a specific reason for this meeting, but she's fairly confident that she'll manage regardless of what's talked about. Though she strongly suspects that Edward will come up, if only because that's what everyone seems to ask her about.

Of course, given that she was asked to what has to literally the most expensive restaurant in the city, she's dressed up for the occasion. Shawty came with her, though her dress is more demure as is befitting an assistant - one shouldn't outshine their boss when it comes to these things. She walks beside Dr. Stenet, her eyes very watchful. She is, after all, a bodyguard in addition to her other duties even though she hardly looks the part. Like her boss, she doesn't much like the idea of this meeting but figures it's probably better than avoiding it.

Nina herself is relatively calm as she's led through the restaurant to the table where she'll meet with Mr. Cobblepot. They're a minute or two early, as she isn't sure just how finicky the man is about time and it's better to be early than considered rude by being late if he minds. When she spots him, her expression is serious without necessarily being unfriendly. She's not about to say 'pleased to meet you' or 'thank you for inviting me'. But she offers a polite "Hello, Mr. Cobblepot. I hope this evening is treating you well?" as she and Shawty approach the table.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald wished he had a specific reason for this meeting, information was a lot simpler acquire when you knew what you were looking for. Determining Dr. Stenet's connection to several criminals was a little vague for a public setting, even if Ozzy's private booth was purposely out of earshot from others. After all you could never tell who was listening in.

"Sir?" Oswald's attention on the menu is broke by Linsey as she spots Nina plus one first. He didn't offer a plus one, bothersome but hardly important depending on who the other woman was. The worst Oswald could consider was if Shawty was a cop, not that he couldn't deal with that. More likely he imaged it was merely a friend come to make the most of a free meal and keep an eye on Nina.

He focused on Nina, even if the other woman was a refreshingly smaller height she still wasn't as important as the doctor. He stood from the table to give the pair a small bow as he lifted his top hat "Good evening ladies" the hat is replaced moments later before he gives Nina a pleasant smile "Please, you may call me Oswald, my evening has been brightened considerably by your decision to join us. I see you have brought a friend with you too, I assume she'll be staying?" he finally looks back at Shawty again with a polite little nod in greeting before he beckons to the hovering waiter who's been charged with leading Nina over and finding out why there are four for Oswald's party rather than the arranged three "Arrange another place if you would" For a second the waiter almost looked like he might object but Mr. Cobblepot is just one of those guests who wouldn't really need the reservation anyway and another spot is quickly set up for Shawty as well.

Acting the friendly and polite generous host is one of the things Oswald does best, a little over the top for common folk perhaps but he's not giving off a dangerous vibe, at least not to anyone who doesn't know he's always dangerous.

As he sits he gestures to the other woman at the table "This is Linsey, my assistant, good company is an important factor to eating in such places as these" In general when Linsey turned up it was without a second name, officially, if one were to actually look hard enough, it was Finch but that was usually considered fake and Oswald had taken great care to have her past wiped from the records. She was a sufficient mystery to appear to have very little that could be used against her to turn her against Cobblepot, which was just one reason she got to be involved in his work a lot. He trusted no one, he just had an awful lot of dirt on her.

Tonight her only job was to provide some normality compared to Oswald's eccentric behaviour, in addition to carrying a gun and subtly looking up anything if her boss required it anyway "Hello" she offered with only a quick glance away from her menu.

"I believe the duck should be particularly good tonight, I hope that you don't mind but I already ordered some wine just before you arrived" grating though it might be for the already anxious social conventions must be upheld before questioning begins and that included greetings, introductions and seeing to it that food was on the way. He wished to know all about her but he was bound by some habits, it would hardly be proper to simply blurt everything out.

[Nina Stenet]

Whether or not she was bringing Shawty wasn't something that Nina had to think twice about. Even if there was no seat or meal for her assistant, the added level of safety is just not something she's willing to do without at this point. "Yes, this my assistant, Shawty," she introduces simply, "And I hope that it isn't too big of an inconvenience." She offers a polite nod to Linsey as well, but her eyes and attention stay mostly with Oswald. "I wouldn't know - I'm not used to eating at places like this," she replies. Her manner isn't exactly stiff, but it remains rather formal in spite of Oswald's friendliness. She isn't here because she wants to be, but because she thinks that she would like the alternative less. And she doesn't mind if the way she's acting informs him of this.

And Shawty's role here is actually quite similar to Linsey's - company, protection, and miscellaneous. The word 'assistant' can mean so many things. And the diminutive young woman returns Mr. Cobblepot's looks with an overly calm stare before flickering away to observe the happenings in the rest of the room. And she doesn't say a word as she seats herself next to Nina, positioning herself between her boss and the rest of the room. Perhaps her most important duty at the moment is to assist Nina by being overly suspicious of everything.

Though there's plenty of suspicion to go around, as when Oswald comments that he's already ordered for them Nina takes that as a reminder to give everything she and Shawty eats or drinks a cursory look-over with her gift for suspicious molecules before doing so. Not that she's expecting Oswald to sink that low on a first meeting, but as he wouldn't be able to tell that she's doing it and it wouldn't distract her much, why leave that on trust?

"That sounds delicious, and no, I don't mind at all," she replies. But she's quite eager to find out exactly why she's here, and she's a bit less constrained by the need to be so overtly polite in this situation than Oswald is. "I have to say, I was surprised when I received your invitation. To what do I owe this?" she asks, which is the most polite way she can think of to say 'can we get to the point, already?' that she can come up with. If it's not polite to start talking business even before the food reaches the table, that's just too bad.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Clearly it's a good night for assistants with complex job descriptions. When Shawty's actually introduced Linsey looks up again for a quick once over, though it's hidden behind a friendly smile. Blond and 5'8'' she was pretty confident she had no competition in the job field just for her ability to turn Oswald's attention back to her if needed, even if she lacked much in the way of curves and had a little more muscle than the average woman. Dressed up for dinner she could pull off a classy kind of beauty, usually she went for a more forgettable look, it suited her job.

Oswald tends to assume if someone doesn't put up a fuss to get out of seeing him then they're alright with it, sometimes honoured, though more often than not that's a status thing, believing meeting him will somehow improve their standing "No inconvenience at all, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Shawty" he tries to hide his discomfort with the name and it sounds a little odd as a result. He's short, he never accepted such things. He can instantly recall Shawty's real name too and a few details but not a great deal, he made a mental note to check her out too, if she's been brought to dinner there's probably more than just a working relationship there, friends can be useful targets if needed. It's mostly true that it's not an inconvenience though, provided she doesn't get in the way. Maybe it's an inconvenience to the restaurant but they don't count.

The wine arrives, undrugged. Ozzy has no plans to drug anyone so far, it's just a nice pleasant meeting where he's surrounded by pretty women. His kind of evening. He places his order with the waiter, lets others do the same and finally gives Nina a smile for getting to the point, how helpful "Well my dear, I have to say what I have heard of your work is quite fascinating and I would like to discuss some of the things you can do" test her willingness to work for him more like "But I will say that my primary motive is that you appear to have met so many of my friends and I began to wonder how such a thing could happen when they are such independent people" Oswald's words were careful, he was always careful. Even if logically, as everyone at least knew he used to be a criminal it was perfectly sensible that he once knew other criminals it was loath to just blurt it out and he certainly didn't like to say that he still knew them. Still, who else could he mean when he was talking to Nina, their social circles were hardly likely to overlap anywhere else.

[Nina Stenet]

A slight amount of amusement reaches Shawty's eyes when she hears how the man says her name, but otherwise she keeps quiet. They may be somewhat in the same boat when it comes to height, and as a result she's particularly sensitive to the little moments she could take issue with, but their attitude about it is completely different. Her height combined with that name means that people constantly underestimate her, and she likes that. Though the observant might note that, similar to Linsey, she has the build of someone who works out much more than average. But her manner remains observant and quiet - she's only here if needed, and this is otherwise Dr. Stenet's business.

Nina is silent as Oswald responds to her question. She's well aware that they could be many deeper meanings to anything the man says, so she listens with a very careful ear. Her lips purse a little as he mentions her work - he's definitely not the type of person she'd like taking an interest in it, for all that she's proud of it. His attention can only be a threat to it.

But the rest of what he says is not unexpected, so she hardly reacts. "I'll admit that my life has been rather interesting lately," she comments, though that's definitely putting it mildly. She pauses to carefully consider her words before adding, "But the answer would greatly depend on which of your 'friends' we're talking about - the reason for each was vastly different, in spite of the apparent concomitance." She's met enough rogues and in a fashion that other people would know for her to not readily admit that she's met more than one, but otherwise she's not about to help this man by indicating how many, which, or the nature of anything that happened until he confirms that he knows already. Oswald isn't the only one who knows how to be careful with words.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

People used to underestimate Oswald, sometimes they still do and he takes advantage of it but he will always prefer to be respected and feared. He doesn't want to have to fight to get his way, he wants his opponent to back down and give it to him because they know what he'll do if they don't. It's certain to say no one in his school days ever believed he'd be a vastly successful businessman let alone a crime boss, he did love the look on their faces when he proved them wrong and in some cases took them for everything they had. He likes people thinking he's dangerous, they'll never dare to pick on him again.

Just as observant as Nina he watches her closely, though he appears very relaxed as he sips from his wine. The purse lips are noted. Her work is hardly secret, she can't expect him not to know of it, so her objection to it's mention must be over him. Everyone has their price, he's not one to give up simply because someone disagrees with him. Something to be pursued after his curiosity is taken care of.

She's careful with her words, he hopes she likes the wine. He's perfectly used to talking to people who know not to give him too much information but it would be so much easier if they were happy little talkative drunks. Otherwise he has to do this the long and hard way "Perhaps we should begin with Lex Luthor" he suspects she'll expect him to begin with Edward but Lex was involved the first time he heard of her, he used her against Edward. Perhaps she's an innocent bystander there but that seems to happen a lot with her. Besides Lex is the least criminal on the list, or the least caught anyway.

[Nina Stenet]

It doesn't help that Nina isn't especially good at hiding her body language, or that she's fully aware of that. However, she's also one to under-react to pretty much everything and that sometimes helps - it's easy for people to think that she cares a lot less than she actually does. That little lip purse hinted at far stronger opinions on the subject of his interest in her work than he might think.

As does the slight lift of her eyebrows in mild surprise when he asks her about Luthor. Though it isn't because she's surprised that he's not asking about Edward but because he knows to ask her about Luthor. As far as she knew, the only people aware that Luthor was connected to that whole incident were Edward and his men, the Ventriloquist, whoever that Mercy woman is, Luthor himself, and Batman since she told him. She doubts that either Batman or anyone connected to Luthor would have let that slip. Luthor himself wouldn't have said anything to avoid incriminating himself. The Ventriloquist skipped town immediately after. Edward's men wouldn't have talked. Which leaves only Edward, who probably would have only told anyone else if he'd had to. And the only reason she can think of for him to do that is if it has something to do with whatever he'd had to do to resolve things with Luthor. Which means that Mr. Cobblepot probably already knows that Luthor attempted to kill her.

Then again, she doesn't know that for sure so she sticks to answering the question. Still, she's unable to suppress the angry look that comes to her eyes at the mere mention of the man. It would probably be going too far to say that she hates him, but she certainly despises him, detests him, is disgusted by him, bears him ill will, and feels many other negative emotions about him. "I've never actually had the 'pleasure' of meeting Mr. Luthor," she replies, "And I think that I'd prefer it if I never do."

She idly picks up her wine glass and takes a small sip, savoring it for a moment before swallowing. The wine really is quite good. Unfortunately for Mr. Cobblepot, Nina's not the type to drink much no matter how good the wine is - more likely she'll spend the entire evening nursing the same glassful. Shawty's even worse, as she'll not touch it at all. Not that she doesn't drink, but she's working at the moment.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald is very used to people attempting to hide their reactions, a muted reaction is seen along much the same lines for him. He assumes she's trying to hide them, he assumes she'll want to. Everyone does after all.

The microphones in the club sometimes pick up on the most facinating of things. For instance a certain conversation between Luthor and the Riddler about a certain mircobiologist. A conversation Oswald has been sitting on waiting for a time when it might be of use, mostly with the thought of possibly using it against Luthor but having the edge over Edward's mystery girl was just as good. The tiny note of surprise makes him smile. He knows far more than she would care him to and not just about Luthor.

She looks angry. Luthor sent someone to kill her, not surprising. Even less surprising when she never met him. Happened all the time with Luthor and even Oswald. He'd had hundreds of people killed without ever having met them simply because they were in the way. He didn't expect someone like Nina to understand such business though "How curious. Do men you've never met often wish you dead?" he sounds like it amuses him, a little joke over her life.

Another sip of his wine and he buries his amusement again "For a time it even appeared he succeeded and yet here you are, your death just the beginning of a very long and strange series of events" curious woman. If not for this odd history Oswald would consider her work the only interesting thing about her.

[Nina Stenet]

Luthor may have seen his order to kill her as 'just business' and 'nothing personal', but that doesn't mean that Nina isn't going to take it personally. Anyone on the receiving end of such a thing would, even if the exact circumstances they were in forced them to pretend that they weren't.

On the other hand it was long enough ago, turned out okay in the end, and she has other, stronger grudges to hold now so she doesn't mind the hint of humor in Oswald's face at his comment even though she personally doesn't seem to be amused by it. At least, not until she answers his question with, "No, usually they have enough courtesy to introduce themselves first." Her completely even tone and straight face when she says this may cause one to question whether she meant that as a joke or not but, based on the smirk and hastily suppressed snort from Shawty, her assistant certainly thinks so.

His comment on her death and resurfacing gets a shrug as she says, "Cum omnibus cecidisti, concidisse simula; a very effective strategy." But beyond that she doesn't comment, growing a bit still. She can't think about her disappearance without thinking about what happened while she was 'dead', after all. At least she knows it's impossible for Oswald to know anything about any of that.

(Translation: When all else fails, play dead.)

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald appears faintly but pleasantly surprised and a little amused when she makes a joke about the matter. Most people take such things so seriously "Yes, I suppose Agent Tiffany would have had to by law" She had looked annoyed, perhaps he would annoy her again. Unimportant really, her feelings on the matter were of little relevance and Tiffany's idiocy was well documented, there was no mystery there but it was information and it amused him to bring it up even if he despised the man. The rogues were more important though and the question of course was why. Why had Lex Luthor taken the time to associate with the Ventriloquist to try and kill this woman? Or more accurately, what had Edward done to make Lex do so and why did the Riddler care?

Maybe Eddie was going soft, oh how much fun that would be.

The words in Latin produces slight curiosity from Oswald and he glances to Linsey. Already the assistant is pulling a tablet from her bag, brings it to life with a couple of taps and responds to Oswald's question with a shake of the head before he can ask one "Latin, one moment Sir" she knows several languages but is far from fluent in Latin, she only knows enough to recognise that's what it probably is. Not that she'd confess to it being a guess in front of Oswald. She makes a mental note to learn Latin as she guesses the spelling and brings up an answer quickly enough that Oswald can't object to her going as far as looking it up "When all else fails, play dead"

Obvious with the circumstances perhaps but words are important to Oswald and Oswald's feelings are important to Linsey. If he's happy her job is secure. Oswald could never happily just sit there and not find out what it means, it would be a piece of information he was lacking. Just as he would be loath to ask Nina what it means, that would be admitting he didn't know something so simple. Asking Linsey would be acceptable but annoying if she didn't know as he wouldn't wish to command her to look it up since that would be going to ridiculous levels for a passing comment and he'd rather just have it bug him until there was an acceptable moment for him to find out. So she does so without him asking. By side stepping all questions she saves him both from admitting any lack of knowledge, since he might have been going to say something else, and provides him the answer, embarrassing only herself with her over the top apparent need to please her boss.

Her effort earns her a raised eyebrow from Oswald and a short stare. However, his curiosity is satisfied. He merely expects next time she will know without looking such things up and makes a mental note to watch out for any of the tricks she usually uses to try and get a raise. He seems set to return to ignoring his strange assistant though and turns his gaze back to Nina with a pleasant smile "A strategy that clearly has worked. Though I must admit a curiosity as to why such a man as Luthor would go to such lengths against yourself?"

[Nina Stenet]

The very immediate frown that appears on Nina's face at the mere mention of Agent Tiff quickly indicates how she feels about that man. She can't really say that she's angry at him - partly because the man is dead and being angry at the dead is a waste of time - because she's more angry at the government in general for it's reckless carelessness with regard to that entire screw-up. At least they were able to work out an understanding of sorts - she's not tried to pursue any legal action against the government, and they've done the same for her. It's better that way, because it could end up incredibly messy on both sides as they could probably get her sent to prison on something, while she could pour salt in an open wound by broadcasting her story to the public.

She looks mildly amused and takes a small sip of her wine when Oswald's assistant suddenly decides to look up the meaning of her words. She's tempted to cut Linsey off and just give them the translation since that would be even quicker, but she opts to be patient and let the woman suck up to her boss. Shawty sometimes performs the same role for Nina: making sure that she knows what she ought to. But her assistant certainly wouldn't go so far as to look something up without asking - in fact Nina would be annoyed if she did. Then again, Nina has always cared much more about efficiency than apparent self-sufficiency.

But before she can give that exchange too much thought, Oswald is talking again and Nina listens to his question very carefully. "Perhaps you should be asking him that. I personally have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to kill anyone, especially without provocation," she replies quickly, back to being serious again and very careful with her words. She may be upset with Edward, but that doesn't mean that she wants to go around telling his 'friends' things that would embarrass him, whether that would be harmful at this point or not.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald would have been surprised had she liked Agent Tiff and enjoys her look of displeasure. Considering the man's personality he would hate to have a conversation with anyone who did like Tiff for fear or being bored to death with preaching. He really must check the budget and see if revenge would be an acceptable expense yet. Tiff was in some ways safe from such things, killing himself robbed the rogues of the joy of doing it for him but his family and the government officials responsible for setting him on the city are on Oswald's list. As is the little brat of a girl they used to read his mind but that would require some specialised skills he has yet to procure.

He draws his mind back to the conversation. Perhaps thinking of Agent Tiff was unwise, Oswald is a great deal more prone to anger but for now it simmers beneath his gentleman act and fuels his mind to consider other possibilities "I imagine were he alive he would not have apologised for your knee, no one would have made him. Blame but admit no fault, that's the politicians way. I find it curious though that after they connected you to that bioweapon they seem to have decided to let you carry on peacefully again. I wonder how long that will last. Until the next crisis distracts the public perhaps? Maybe you'll just disappear one day as a 'terrorist threat'. It's such a shame you'll have no way to clear your name when they decide you're a risk. Should another similar incident happen in Gotham you really would be in trouble as the main suspect for providing such dangerous substances" a sly smile reappears as Oswald goes on, his tone hinting. Of course he does have evidence that it wasn't her that provided the bioweapon, though if he were to use such evidence he'd make sure to change it first so it didn't say it was provided by him instead but if need be he could provide another weapon and make things very unpleasant though it would cost quite a bit. It was nothing he wouldn't do if he got enough out of the deal though.

He hoped she'd pick up on the offer of information to clear her name as well as the threat to land her in more trouble. Edward would know where the first bioweapon came from but there had to be a reason for letting others think it came from Nina to begin with, he doubted the Riddler would jump in to save her if Ozzy got her into more trouble...though that was a tempting theory to test. Oswald's offer would side track Edward though, give her a way to defend herself without needing Edward. Somehow he expected her to focus on the threat more. So long as it made her stop dodging around his questions.

"I'm asking you my dear. Guess for me. Edward got you involved in his world, put you in the sights of dangerous men. Why?" If it wasn't something she did to Lex then naturally the next option was that it had to be Edward's doing. Unless of course she was lying.

[Nina Stenet]

As the conversation shifts into her recent legal trouble, Nina's lips purse thoughtfully as Oswald talks but otherwise her expression remains quite calm even though the idea of the government simply making someone disappear is a scary idea to most. She has some substantial confidence that won't happen, though she's not about to explain to Oswald exactly why. The implication that he could somehow help her with that problem is interesting though, and her eyebrow raises slightly at that. And she definitely doesn't miss hearing the threat.

There's a very long pause before she replies, as she hadn't before considered that someone else may be able to clear her name or that someone may alternatively encourage the government to not ignore her. But though it takes her a moment to figure out what that means in the grand scheme of things, when she finally answers she's quite confident in herself. "I do have a way to clear my name," she says first, "And if I wanted it completely cleared I would have done so. But they have only the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence against me, and that's exactly what I want." Therefore what he seems to be offering to her is of absolutely no value to her whatsoever.

But, lest he think that she's missed the threat, she's quick to add, "Of course, that doesn't mean that I like the idea of them making the same mistake twice by assuming that I'm guilty. But given that they've given up their witch hunt, I see no reason for that to happen again. Do you?" Her eyebrow raises questioningly at that last part, clearly meaning more by it than her words would indicate; she's not exactly sure why the man would want to threaten her in the first place. But the motives of people like him are difficult for her to grasp since they're so foreign to her.

Of course, when he asks about Edward she can't hold back her emotional response to it. Both extreme anger and intense sadness play beneath the surface of her expression as she considers how to answer that, though the surface itself remains surprisingly even. But she doesn't consider it for long before she looks down at her hands and simply says, "I would hardly presume to guess Edward's mind. He's a terrible person." There's tension in her voice as she says this, though it's rather remote.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald enjoys threatening people. It encourages them to realise their proper place and see that they aren't outside his influence. Besides, it's fun to see them react to the insinuation that they're screwed. Nina's reaction sadly if far from the most amusing but he can see that she likely didn't expect that coming.

He sips his wine as he watches her, waiting for her to scramble her thoughts together enough to respond. She was irritatingly careful with her words and alas threatening her doesn't appear to have prevented that. Though it has brought up some curious information. She has a way to clear her name but won't use it. Odd "Hmm, perhaps you do. Though you know how these things can go wrong" evidence can disappear. It frequently does around Oswald "Why though would you have a desire to allow them to continue believing you were involved if you have a way to prove otherwise?" the only time Oswald would allow such a thing was if providing the evidence would come with strings attached. He generally doesn't trust the FBI with an excuse to stick their noses in his business.

Keeping others in the dark as to why Ozzy's threatening them is quite preferable to him, anything to worry Nina and give her something else to distract her mind. Truthfully he'd happily ruin someone's life for the fun of it but unless he discovers an actual reason or excuse to her priority isn't high enough to earn such a costly revenge. Not that he's about to inform Nina that she is likely saved from such a plot because of his inner accountant. Oswald simply raises his eyebrows innocently at her question "I believe that would largely depend on you"

He watches her reaction to the mention of Edward very carefully. There was clearly some history between the pair though it doesn't sound like it ended well. Perhaps Edward really did pick her up somewhere for a bit of fun...Not that Oswald could even imagine her as remotely fun but Edward's usual habit of using and dumping people would explain her current feelings, if not why he would blackmail Lex for no apparent reason would it would be far cheaper to have just let Luthor kill the useless woman.

The thoughts remained firmly hidden behind Oswald's high class act, his smile only changes to a look of fake sympathy as she says nasty things about Eddie "Oh come now, you can't have always thought so" he replies, fishing for information.