Meeting the Plant in Person [Poison Ivy]

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Were she anyone else, VerMillion would probably be at least a little nervous right now. Apparently, being allowed to go to the rec room is one of the privileges she gets for being a harmless and relatively well-behaved patient. It does give you a chance to be somewhere besides your cell, perhaps socialize a bit, and a few ways to entertain yourself. Though VerMillion can't say that she's actually that interested in any of that - being confined in a big room with more people is still being confined even if it's not in her cell, so there's no real difference in her eyes. And the only person she really cares to socialize with got his rec room privileges very revoked after the last time he came here. And since she has full privileges with what she can have in her cell, she doubts that what they'll have in the rec room is much of an improvement on the mediocre things she could be doing in her cell.

But as she can't be nervous, she's blind to the potential problems the rec room could pose. There are, after all, other patients in there. All of whom are either seriously mentally ill or mentally ill and accused of criminal activity. Of course the ones that are normally threats to themselves or others don't get rec room privileges, but there's probably plenty who would change their minds with the right provocation and you never know what might set one off.

And she doesn't come into this situation as an unknown person - rumors pass easily from patient to patient, and though there's not many actual facts known about her, she already has a bit of a reputation. Some of the patients remember her from her time on the radio - she'd been popular among those who don't like Batman, and that includes a healthy portion of the asylum's patients - and those who followed her show know she was kidnapped by the Scarecrow while on the air. And those who don't know that may still have heard the rumors that the Scarecrow has been seen with the same young woman for a suspiciously long period of time, contrary to his normal habits - which of course prompted all sorts of speculations about why that's the case. And then there's the tale of how he was brought in with her, spread by those who were in or near the holding cells at the time. Some of the patients know about all of the above, even.

And so, when a short, skinny young woman with hair dyed like fire is escorted into the room, a rather large number of the glances in her direction come from people who already know who she is and those gazes tend to linger. Though when VerMillion notices the stares, she frowns and glares at each set of eyes in turn as if asking what they're looking at. Unknowingly, she's confirming the rumor that she'd been as fiery in temper as her hair while in the holding cells. Though most of the gazes that are pointed in her direction are quickly averted when it's obvious that they've been noticed - the number of patients who are afraid to mess with the Scarecrow is on the high side, and for all they know messing with this girl would sooner or later cause him to hunt them down.

Others are bolder and fancy themselves to be 'tough', but they too look away - some because they have a hard time taking a glare from someone so scrawny seriously, but while there may be a few threats in the crowd they won't bother her now if only because she's just arrived. Adding a patient into the mix rec room who is new to the facility is such an obvious trigger for something to happen that the orderlies will be keeping an eye on her, especially for the first few minutes and for her first visit. If you actually want to do someone some harm, it's wiser to wait.

Once she's satisfied that everyone's returned to what they were doing before she came in, VerMillion has to decide what it is that she wants to do here. Not interested in the company, she glances briefly at the various things that she might do. But as she suspected, there's not much of anything interesting going on. Though she does have an idea for a way to make the most of her time here. "Heather, it's your turn to be 'out'," she murmurs quietly to herself, "Yes, now - it's good for you. I don't need 'rec' time, you do, so you should get used to this place. ...Oh, come on - what's the least scary spot in here?" VerMillion would never be able to pick that out on her own.

Turning, she heads where Heather indicates - one of the back corners of the room is bare of furniture and not many patients are in that immediate area. Putting her back to the corner, she notes that nobody seems to be paying much attention to what she's doing. Yeah, Heather should be able to handle this. Probably. Honestly, she doesn't see why her other half has a problem at all, but obviously she does even though it makes no sense to her. "Ready?" she asks, smirking before adding, "I'm taking that as a yes..."

---

Heather blinks in surprise and alarm when she suddenly find herself in control again. Her surprise is enough to cause her to nearly cry out in alarm, but she forces herself into silence. She doesn't want to draw any attention to herself, not here of all places. Of all the stupid VerMillion ideas, making her be out while she's in here!

But she can already feel her heart pounding hard - she's starting to freak out again. It's a huge amount of effort, she tries to ignore where she is. Just try to breathe normal... that's the important part. If she can just breathe normal she'll probably be fine - if something bad happens VerMillion will step in, and they wouldn't put her in here with anyone really dangerous, would they? They'd definitely have regulations against that, right?

Though as much as she tries to keep her focus on her breath rather than all the fears buzzing around in her head, she's finding it really difficult. This isn't her cell, Jon's not here - it just doesn't seem safe at all even in this quiet corner! Breathe... She lets herself slide down the wall until she's sitting with her knees bent in front of her, as if they can shield her from the rest of the room. Breathe...

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

All things considered, Poison Ivy prefers the solitude of her cell over the company in the rec room. Then again, if they're going to give her the opportunity to go to such a place, she'll use it to her advantage. In fact, she'll even deign to follow the annoying rules of the place just for the 'privilege'. Because this room has one thing that her cell lacks - the opportunity to come into direct contact with some of her fellow patients. And many of them are so mentally unwell or outright stupid that manipulating them is child's play. Which gives her many opportunities that she might not otherwise have.

Like how she first heard the news that Crane was now at the asylum, for instance. She was probably one of the first to hear the rumors, as several of the patients she sees frequently in the rec room have been unwittingly trained into gossip gatherers for her. Reward someone enough times for repeating any rumors that they hear, and they'll automatically do it for you every time you see them. And then there's the large, stupid man currently sitting next to her on the couch as they watch the TV: his job is to intimidate anyone who attempts to interact with her that she doesn't want to talk to. That's probably why she's kept herself out of trouble, really - if nobody annoys her then she's less inclined to kill anyone.

In fact, between the patients and even staff members that she's managed to manipulate to such a degree that they'll do pretty much whatever she tells them to do, she's practically the president of a small, informal organization of sorts. Though at the moment, that organization's only goal is to make her life at the asylum as tolerable as possible. Take now, for instance - if she's in the rec room then the TV gets turned to a news station and she gets a place on the couch, end of discussion. The patients who like her always manage to convince the others that they want that too when she arrives, perhaps because she made sure to befriend the most dominant personalities around. It's not that she likes the news so much, but keeping aware of the happenings outside of the asylum is perhaps the only productive thing to do in this room once she's done catching up on the asylum gossip.

Though she had only been rather vaguely interested when she'd heard that Crane had been caught. She really doesn't care about the man, though her feelings are definitely on the more negative side of neutral. The detail about the girl who was brought in with him made it mildly more interesting though, perhaps because she finds it difficult to imagine the kind of person who would be around that man by choice. And she also used to listen to that radio show that the young woman had - it was amusing. Though she'd mostly shrugged off the speculations about what may be going on between those two - Crane doesn't strike her as anyone's lover boy, though she'll admit that perhaps it's possible. If there's truth to it, however, that merely means that the girl is an idiot. And either way she has her pity.

So when that distinctive looking young woman is escorted in, she gets some of Poison Ivy's attention. Unlike a lot of the other patients, however, she'd not impolite enough to stare. That's hardly necessary when you can just as easily scrutinize the person out of the corner of your eye. And what she sees is actually mildly interesting - not a hint of fear in the girl. She's always been good at reading body language, so the lack of that emotion is perhaps more apparent to her than it would be to most people. Though she immediately suspects that it's Crane's doing - she's heard about his brave toxin. She suspects that she could come up with a similar concoction herself, but doesn't see the point. Then again, she doesn't see the point of pretty much anything he's managed to make while fumbling around in his lab. That monster he can turn into is rather amusing, though...

But as she's keeping her gaze politely unobvious, she goes unnoticed as the young woman glares at everyone with less discretion. And when the girl heads for a corner to apparently be alone with her thoughts rather than actually do anything, Poison Ivy finds herself in an internal debate about whether she wants to interrupt the solo act and introduce herself or if she simply doesn't care enough to bother. Though she's mildly surprised to find herself favoring the former - she does care. ...Since when does she give a damn?

Though her internal puzzling over her emotions gets interrupted when she sees the sudden, dramatic change that happens once the young woman reaches the corner. It seems to go unnoticed by the general population of the room, but then again she'd been watching. Strange... one moment completely fearless, and now the girl almost seems to be in a carefully muted panic. It's very unlikely for it to be brave toxin then - while she may know next to nothing about whatever it is that Crane puts in his toxins, she knows more than her fair share about how toxins work. A change that sudden would certainly be very odd if it's indeed some form of drug. But if it's not that, what exactly has Crane done to the poor young woman?

Without even realizing that she's made a decision, she finds herself standing and walking over to the girl, quickly but quietly. And when she notices that the young woman seems to be hyperventilating, she doesn't stop until she's sitting right next to her. The sickly sweet pheromones that she emits are obviously more geared toward attracting men, but many of them work on women as well. In particular, the ones that try to persuade the people around her to relax and feel a sense of well-being are fully functional for both genders, while those meant to incite feelings of attraction and lust are a male-only sort of signal. Mainly because, while it's hard for her to think of anyone she wouldn't want to lower their guard around her, there's all sorts of problems with being unable to stop herself from being attractive to women if she encoded that into a pheromone. Having all men take an interest in her... well, that's different. But it strikes her that the girl could use a solid dose of the calming variety of pheromones, and that means coming very close.

To enhance their effect further, she leans over and puts her arm around the young woman, her voice quiet, slow, and silky soothing and she says, "Breath: deeper, slower... Relax... You're okay - you're perfectly safe. Calm yourself, there's no need to worry here." Her voice is gentle, but carefully insistent as she unknowingly repeats the words that the girl is already telling herself. But it's just as obvious to her that if the young woman doesn't calm herself that she's going to pass out. Or would, at least, if she didn't have another personality on stand by ready to prevent that, but of course Poison Ivy doesn't know that - yet.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

It seems rather sudden to Heather that someone is sitting down next to her, having been turned so far inward at this point that though she fears the other patients she wasn't actually watching them. And her first instinct when she realizes that someone is suddenly with her is to panic even more, but instead she finds herself relaxing. The woman's voice is strangely compelling, and easier to listen to and obey than her own - her breaths start to deepen and slow as she'd been told. Though she'd started feeling light-headed, her mind clears and she even feels her heart settling.

Turning her attention to whoever this woman is, she blinks in recognition. "Y-you're... You're Poison Ivy!" she says, surprised. Again, her first instinct is to panic - this is an incredibly dangerous woman she's talking to! This is the person who seemed quite happy to kill everyone in Gotham just to get the FBI to leave! And yet, she doesn't feel threatened. Indeed, she feels like she's much safer now - calmer...

The pheromones aren't quite enough to completely get rid of the uneasy feeling within her, however, as there's still something about the woman that doesn't feel quite right. Or perhaps it's this place in general. Still, she feels calm enough not to feel like she has no choice but to be freaking out over nothing. And here she thought that only Jon could do that... And given just how extreme the difference is, once she finds herself reaching a new level of calm she finds herself saying, "Thank you..." She's has no idea why Poison Ivy's words have made such a strong impact on her, but whatever it was it's keeping the anxiety at bay rather well and she's grateful for that regardless of what it is.

But though it takes her quite a bit longer than it probably would otherwise, eventually she thinks to ask, "What do you want?" It doesn't strike her as exactly normal for someone like Poison Ivy to want to help someone, so even calmed she has room to be vaguely suspicious of the woman's motives. Though she may be grateful for that calm, it does occur to her that there's probably some sort of a price for it. She just hopes that she hasn't accidentally gotten herself into some sort of trouble now, even though that possibility seems more remote while she's feeling so much better than she was.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

The smile on Poison Ivy's face when she's identified is almost instant. She rather likes her new reputation, she really does - it's helpful. It saves on having to introduce herself and explaining why anyone should care about what she says. Then again, if someone is too uninformed to have heard about her or too much of an idiot to take it seriously, she's quite happy to take full advantage of their underestimation of her. "Yes," she replies, watching the girl's reactions very carefully, "And you're VerMillion - the host of a rather entertaining radio show until recently. I don't think that I can forgive Crane for stealing you away from it - though rumor has it that you're his girl now." She keeps her voice very light and casual, as if they were chatting over coffee instead of huddled in a corner of the rec room in an asylum, in hopes that will help calm the young woman further.

The thanks is not completely expected, though she's quick enough to respond with a simple, "You're welcome." But though those words are so often repeated to the point of near meaninglessness, she finds that she actually means it. It strikes her that the girl she's holding is rather like the namesake plant of her true name, Calluna vulgaris, a hardy plant that can grow many places where other plants struggle - which must be the case if this young woman can stand to be around Crane for any length of time. Yet it nevertheless possesses such beautiful and delicate little flowers, flourishing when given adequate care. Though in this case it seems she's found one that's struggling, and she finds herself wanting to help her survive and grow... It's not unlike how she feels about Harley, though she hasn't the slightest idea why she feels this way about this particular human when she'd literally kill thousands of others without a second thought.

Which isn't to say that her intentions are entirely pure - she's far from unaware of the girl's connection to Crane. The man is utterly ridiculous and she could easily go the rest of her life without hearing of him again. On the other hand, he might also be useful - that beast he changed himself into was interesting. She could naturally do much better if she was ever inclined to invent such a thing herself, but interesting nevertheless. And while she wouldn't harm the poor young woman just to harass Crane, there are so many ways to use someone against someone else without harming them. And she probably knows every single one of them - some are actually helpful to the person so used.

Though the question that the girl asks next causes Poison Ivy's eyebrow to raise slightly. She knows just how strong her pheromones are, and how heavy the dose must be with the way she's leaning over the young woman. In such close quarters the effect ought to be quite powerful, and the only plausible reason why the girl to think to ask that question is if the distress the pheromones are muting is really that severe. Enough to make her wonder why the young woman hasn't fallen into some psychotic state - there are plenty of examples of what happens to someone when more happens to them than they can mentally handle. Poison Ivy is one of them, actually, though she'd never admit it to herself. But that makes deciding how to answer the question very easy. "I'd thought that it would be nice to simply meet you, but instead I find you so upset? You seemed fine when you came in..." she probes gently, allowing concern to cloud her casual tone. Hopefully the girl's resistance to falling completely under her spell isn't enough to stop her from answering.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

"Um, it's Heather, actually..." Heather says quietly, very quick to correct. She's not even fully sure why, but it really, really bothers her to be called VerMillion anymore. It used to be like a second name to her, but since VerMillion appeared in her head she's started to greatly prefer her actual name over the pseudonym.

She similarly almost objects to being called Jon's girl, but she's a bit nervous about sounding like she has to correct every little thing this particular woman says and supposes that it might be technically true - it all depends on what exactly one means by calling her his girl. She's not his girlfriend. Or even his 'henchgirl', really. She is the girl he'll go out of his way for, who's hung out with him a lot, and generally speaking there's not a single other girl on the planet who could be called more Jon's girl than she is. So instead she simply responds to that by saying, "Yeah..." Let the way her voice trails off imply that things are probably more complicated than whatever rumor has been passed around.

As the rogue explains her reason for coming over, Heather supposes that sounds reasonable, but why then is the woman being nice on top of everything? Seems fishy to her... she thinks... Then again, she doesn't know anything about the plant lady except for what's been in the papers and that's always so incomplete. It's possible that the woman is actually sincere, though a strong part of Heather suggests that she ought to be careful. She's aware that if there's something funny going on it's probably a threat to Jon, but then again as far as she knows the two could have never met or may even get along. She does know better than to think that they could be friends - any idiot who has been around Jon for long enough could tell you that he's unlikely to have allies - but she doesn't know of any reasons why they'd be enemies either.

But that leaves her wondering what to say when the woman starts questioning her apparent mood swing. Especially since the nagging feelings of worry are being matched by a desire to do what Poison Ivy says. Eventually, she simply says, "I've been through a lot of... things recently." There, that ought to be enough, right? It's the truth, after all, only it's very... vague.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

"Heather, then..." Poison Ivy says without a second thought, figuring that the girl simply prefers to be called her real name while she isn't working. Though she does raise an eyebrow at the way the young woman confirms what she said. So many ways that one syllable say that particular way could be interpreted...

Perhaps she ought to narrow it down? "And how exactly did that come about? I was listening the day he stole you away, and you didn't exactly sound thrilled about the idea. But that's changed?" she asks, sounding merely curious about it in hopes of loosening the girl's tongue a little. Poking one's nose into another person's relationship status is a time honored tradition, after all. Perhaps not in this particular time and place, but it isn't a question that ought to strike the young woman as very odd. It's only her reason for asking it that would bother anyone, if they knew.

And she is, of course, far from satisfied by the answer that she's given about why the girl behaved the way that she did. Though perhaps she'll be more successful with another attempt? "Oh, I see... I'm sure it must be difficult, suddenly being dragged into all of this. Can you tell me what happened? At the very least I'm a very good listener. Although, depending, I may be able to offer you advice if you're having problems..." she offers, though there's a certain commanding tone to her voice. This time she's not exactly acting nicely, but she also isn't quite demanding answers. Instead she tiptoes along the edge of the two extremes, and with any luck the young woman will feel somewhat pressured but not so much that she becomes defensive. Come on, you know you want to talk...

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

"Um, yeah..." Heather replies, fidgeting a bit uncomfortably. The unnatural calm that she's feeling at the moment hardly mutes that slight flutter of her insides as her feelings for Jon are touched on. "I... well, I guess I got used to him. And... well, he's nice... to me... I like him..." she explains somewhat awkwardly, trying to put her admittedly somewhat twisted feelings into words. Which is something she's never really done before. Well, technically she told the Penguin, but she'd been on brave toxin at the time so it doesn't really count.

Though that was easy compared to figuring out what she should say to the next question the rogue asks. She hesitates for a long moment. What should she say? A very large part of her wants to simply tell the woman the whole story straight out. Surely there's no harm in it? Just a curious question, she's sure, and nothing to worry about. Then again, wait a minute - what if the devious woman does mean to harm Jon? For all she knows that's why the rogue immediately came to sit by her in the first place! But no, the woman said that she was concerned, she's just being nice... "Um..." she starts, trying to come to some sort of a decision.

Eventually some sort of compromise is worked out. Well, either that or she starts to get really worried that she's making the woman wait too long for an answer and so she simply blurts one out. "Um, well, it wasn't me who came in - that was VerMillion. And, well... I've just been having a hard time since the Penguin kidnapped me, and all the fear toxin..." she explains, before suddenly stopping and frowning. Um, should she have said all of that? Or is that okay? None of it's really about Jon, so it should be okay, right? Her expression turns anxious as she watches the woman's reaction to her words and hopes that she doesn't see any signs that she screwed up anything.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

As the girl confesses her feelings for Crane, Poison Ivy sighs internally. Actually, he's one that she can somewhat understand having an attraction to. She too fell for a scientist once, though it was one who studied something actually useful. And she supposes that Crane isn't horrible to look at. But it's still extremely unfortunate for the young woman to be freely admitting to such feelings - this can only end in disaster for the poor dear, and she finds that she wants to save the girl from it.

But first she must ask another important question. "He's 'nice' to you? You mean he likes you back?" she prods for just a little more. Is Crane even capable of feeling such an emotion? She'll believe that when she sees it. He's already proved to be so utterly heartless that she has a hard time imagining him feeling any such thing for anyone, even though VerMillion is clearly a very bright and entertaining young woman. If anything, the girl is much too good for him.

Of course, as her last question is answered she's all ears. And though the answer is brief, it's also rather interesting. Already knowing a couple people with the disorder, she's quick to realize exactly what is meant when the young woman starts saying that she wasn't herself. "You mean VerMillion is another personality?" she asks curiously, just to be certain that she's understanding that part correctly. Not that she really understands the condition very well, but she's been exposed to it. Like with Harvey and the way that he doesn't act like himself half the time anymore.

Though that's hardly the only part of the answer that's interesting. "Why would Oswald kidnap you?" she asks, frowning at that. The man may be her business partner of sorts, but she's hardly privy to anything he does that doesn't relate to her. And normally she doesn't really care to know, but why should he be doing anything to a harmless young woman like VerMillion? Dirty tactics, no doubt. "And fear toxin? What exactly has Crane been doing to you?" she asks, her frown deepening further. He'd better not have been doing what it sounds like he's been doing - because so help her...

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

The follow-up question makes Heather feel a bit uncomfortable - for more reason than one, actually. Partly just because the unsettled feeling in her insides returns again as she considers the answer, but also because she has to question why Poison Ivy is so curious. Then again, it could just be that the woman is trying to make conversation. "Oh, um, I don't know... He... well, he protects me. He takes care of me. Makes sure I'm safe and have what I need, and stuff," she tries to explain, "He, um, doesn't treat me like everyone else." Which is about all she can say with any confidence - she can observe his behavior, but interpret it? No, that's well beyond her.

She feels somewhat more comfortable talking about VerMillion. Not much more - she's still not completely used to all of that - but she's started to see the advantages of her other self. VerMillion's gotten her through a lot of tough stuff, even if watching her do it was a bit like riding a wild horse - she could do nothing but hang on and hope that she came out of it okay. She has, but some of it she chalks up to blind luck. "Um, yeah - she's new. Liked my radio name," she says, not really sure she wants to try and explain much more than that. Though after a short pause, she adds, "VerMillion thinks he definitely likes me." Which has given her a lot of pause for thought, as she struggles to decide if she thinks that VerMillion's certainty is because she's not blinded by fear and can see the truth, or because she can't fear rejection. Sometimes their differences are hard to interpret that way.

There's a longer pause before she can answer the question about the Penguin. She really doesn't like to remember that experience - not even the little bit required to answer the question. "Well, he was mad at Jon," she finally replies, "So he took everything including me. And tried asking me questions." The simpler the answer, the less she has to think about the details. It may have been VerMillion dealing with the bulk of that whole ordeal, but that doesn't mean that she wasn't affected and even affected worse.

Though when the woman starts accusing the fear toxin on Jon, she's extremely quick to jump to his defense. "It wasn't his fault!" she states, though after a moment she frowns and ammends, "I mean, well, I guess it was the first time. But he does it to everyone once. And I'm over that." But, not willing to leave it there, she adds, "But the second time the Penguin gave it to me. And the third time was Jon, but he got the whole building I was in so he could rescue me." So, see? It's just not fair to point any fingers at Jon. It's all the Penguin's fault.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Having more than one reason to doubt the girl's interpretation of Crane's behavior, Poison Ivy listens to the description of how he treats her with a very critical ear. As expected, she hears no sign that the man actually cares for this young woman, only that he apparently has reason to keep her alive and well. Which could be for plenty of purposes other than having any sort of actual feeling, and it's certainly far more likely to be the former in spite of the rumors to the contrary that she's heard. People think that any two unrelated people of the opposite gender who live in the same place can't have a platonic relationship these days, but that just isn't true.

No, more likely Crane's planned some sort of experiment, and this girl happens to fit a perfect profile for a needed test subject. The small size, perhaps? Or perhaps the man has need of a different skillset that Heather happens to have? Either way, it could justify going through the trouble of keeping the young woman around for the longer term, even if it's by all accounts unusual behavior for the man. "I see, so he basically treats you like a beloved pet..." is what she says, both to avoid voicing her conclusion but also in hopes of making the girl think about what she's saying. Of all the stupid notions - to have feelings for Crane, and especially unreturned ones. Dangerous, as well.

Of course, the other personality of this young woman is definitely of interest. Especially one that seems so different than the one she's talking to right now - reminds her somewhat of Harvey, who got a lot more difficult to predict after his little accident. "VerMillion seems to be very confident in herself," she comments, hoping that will prompt some more information. That does seem to be the major difference, given the sharp contrast in how the two present themselves and what Heather has said of her other half as well.

But though she listens carefully to what's said about Oswald's doing, she doesn't have much to say about it other than, "Oh, I see..." But she does mull that over in her mind a bit. So he took this girl from Crane and questioned her because he was mad at the man? Well, she can certainly understand that, even without knowing what the specific reason for it was. Crane has a certain knack for ticking her off, and she's certain that he has a similar effect on others. He's not so much a Master of Fear in her eyes as he is a Master of Making Dangerous Enemies. Though she finds that she is somewhat troubled by her business partner's behavior. If he has a problem with Crane, fine, but taking it out on this young woman is hardly necessary. He shouldn't have taken her, or at least treated her decently if it was his desire to deprive Crane of her - she's noted the hesitant way that the girl spoke of the incident and doesn't like that at all.

Especially if he's going to go and do something like give someone Crane's fear toxin - that's rather cruel, especially since she doesn't imagine that the man knows what he's doing with the stuff. One may not expect her to care about such a thing given that she, after all, kills people without a second thought. But she purposely does so in rather quick and painless fashion and not just for efficiency's sake. She doesn't believe in causing suffering to those who don't deserve it, and just because someone isn't worth keeping alive doesn't mean they deserve torment. Then again, there's only so much fuss she's willing to raise with Oswald, so she'll have to consider carefully what she does about this. But she does intend to do something.

And she also intends to do something about Crane. Because while Heather tries to justify the man's actions, she's not so forgiving. She doesn't see the point in what he does to begin with, but to allow this young woman to be repeatedly exposed to that ridiculous toxin of his in spite of the obvious effect it's having? She'd imagine that without her calming presence at the moment the girl would be a nervous wreck. And isn't having more than one personality supposed to be caused by trauma. "Surely he could have come up with some way to rescue you that wouldn't have put you in the line of fire," she says, testing the waters for what she'd really like to say.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Naturally, Heather frowns instantly when the woman calls her Jon's pet. She's not his pet! Her lips part to argue, but she finds herself unable to think of anything to say that would make a good point against it. And that realization causes her to shift uncomfortably, even though she knows that it isn't true. While she has no idea how Jon really feels about her, calling her a pet is going way too far! Then again, exactly what is she supposed to do when the person saying it is one of Gotham's infamous rogues beyond simply looking unhappy about it?

In direct contrast, the comment that Poison Ivy makes about VerMillion is a rather large understatement. Her other half is not merely confident, but nearly incapable of not being confident - usually she only sees her that way when a goal is deemed impossible or more trouble to get than it's worth. And even then the dominant feeling is annoyance at whatever it is that's making it so difficult. "Yeah, well, she's like that..." Heather replies, intending to leave it at that but finding herself adding, "She's not afraid of anything, really..." Though immediately after saying that she winces a little - maybe that's not the best thing to go around telling dangerous rogues. Then again, a part of her simply feels like she wants to tell this woman everything, even though she knows that's a bad idea.

But though she feels quite a bit of discomfort about some of the things that they're talking about, she finds that oddly easy to ignore. To the point where she feels like she almost has to keep reminding herself that she doesn't like this conversation, because if she doesn't she'll forget that and say everything. And she certainly doesn't want that - what if this woman's intentions aren't good and she intends to harm to Jon? She can't let herself be the one who made it possible.

Though the comment about Jon's rescue of her seems harmless enough to talk about as far as that's concerned, or at least she thinks so. "Oh, I don't know..." she says, frowning as she thinks about it, "There were lots of guards with guns, and locks, and I was hurt. It was probably going to be hard any way he did it..." She actually doesn't remember the rescue itself, only the sudden and unexpected hallucinations that finally ended with VerMillion in Jon's lab. VerMillion later explained everything she'd missed so she knows what happened in between, but that's all she knows of it.

So as her thoughts touch on what she does remember, she suddenly shudders and thrusts the memory away from her mind - no, she doesn't want to remember! It's worse than the first time - she'd hallucinated the same thing twice and hadn't really recovered from it in between. And there will be no brave toxin to make it all better this time. Then again, having VerMillion around helps, but her other half eases the symptoms more than she actually fixes anything - comes to the surface when she just can't handle what's going on. Which is a lot of the time, lately.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

As close as she is to Heather, it isn't difficult at all for Poison Ivy to read the finer points of the girl's expressions. And she doesn't like the frown that her slight insult prompts. Of course she expected it to offend, but it seems she hit a stronger nerve than she thought - rather than getting slightly upset but also being made to think about it, instead she sees too much anger pouring off the young woman. Too much anger means that the idea has been rejected outright, but also that perhaps the girl's feelings for Crane are even stronger than she suspected. Well, that will never do...

Though the disappointment of that is quickly pushed to the back of her mind at what Miss Glass says next - especially that last part which seems to be something that the girl didn't want to say. Her pheromones do tend to loosen a person's tongue a little, as it makes it more difficult for them to remember that some things are dangerous to say, so the apparent lapse seems to hint that the comment is more important than it seems on the surface. "She's not afraid of anything?" she asks, immediately demanding clarification, and commenting, "That's a highly unusual..." Especially coming from someone who's spent a lot of time around Crane. Not that he really bothers her of course, but she does acknowledge that the man has talent when it comes to making people nervous wrecks - Heather herself being a perfect case in point. Not that the skill is at all useful for anything, really, but it still must be significant if this girl's other side is so confident.

But that thought is laid aside at the young woman's halting attempts to explain away Crane's method for extracting her from wherever it was that Oswald was keeping her. And the shudder immediately afterward causes her to smile internally even as her expression smoothly shifts into one of concern - perhaps she's found the way to reason with her... "Oh, I doubt that he couldn't have come up with a better way if he was truly concerned for you - he's a clever man, after all, and of course by now he knows what his favorite toxin does to people," she says doubtfully, but then she pulls the timid girl closer, practically hugging her as she says, "Just look at yourself, Heather - you had a successful career and, I'm sure, a pleasant life. And now you're here, locked up in an insane asylum, someone else in your head, shaking like a leaf over things you don't want to remember - all because of Crane. I could help you..." She lets that last bit trail off, dangling it like a fishing lure and hoping for a bite.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

The further prodding about her other half causes Heather to grimace a little - she doesn't think that she ought to be handing out explanations of VerMillion. While her other personality is much stronger than she is in many ways, Heather perhaps sees more than anyone that the very thing that gives that strength is a weakness - the lack of fear. At the same time that she's rather jealous of how VerMillion is able to just do things, she's also kind of afraid of how her alter-ego seems to have no grasp of the idea that sometimes those things she does just aren't safe to do. She supposes that she should consider herself lucky that VerMillion listens to her concerns as much as she does, even as she wishes it was a lot more.

Still, in spite of her hesitation, a part of her really feels that she ought to just answer Poison Ivy's questions. It even rationalizes the decision: VerMillion certainly has no qualms about explaining herself, so if the woman really does have bad intentions she's bound to find out sooner or later why her other half is the way that she is. And if intentions are pure here, then it doesn't matter if she says anything or not. But though the internal conflict slows her answer, eventually she says, "Um, yeah, she can't fear at all..." Again she immediately has second thoughts, but she just sighs as she notes to herself that she can't unsay it now.

Fortunately, the woman seems more interested in criticizing Jon anyway, which at least has the advantage that she doesn't think there are any aspects of that which anyone else can't safely know. Even if the subject is making her rather uncomfortable. "Maybe..." she finally admits, though she gives that answer more because she doesn't really want to deeply ponder the question of whether or not Jon could have found a better way of rescuing her. Partly because she's afraid that Poison Ivy's right: maybe Jon could have done something different and didn't because he doesn't really care - but if so, she'd rather be unaware of it. Maybe it's not 'smart' to stick her head in the sand like that, but it's better than knowing for sure. But at the same time it may also be true that Jon hadn't the time, the resources, or perhaps simply an idea for a better way to do it. And if it's any of those, she certainly won't fault him - he got her out of their in one piece, didn't he? Or at least, not in more pieces than she was already in. That's good enough!

She's so lost in thought that it seems rather sudden to her that she's being pulled closer, though after a moment of hesitation she realizes that she likes it, actually. The close contact is comforting, and so is the apparent concern for her well-being. Not that she really agrees with any of the words being said. "So did you," she suddenly comments, "You were a botanist, right? And rich?" It seems so long ago now, but she still remembers what she read about this woman shortly after she started being called a rogue so that she could report on her properly. She'd actually found it all quite interesting at the time, because while female rogues aren't exactly unheard of, it's still a male dominated thing and unlike the other women this one is actually extremely dangerous. "And you're locked up here too," she points out, unable to let the hypocrisy pass without pointing it out. "And maybe Jon's worth it to me," she adds more quietly - she can't be sure if he is or not, but that's only because she so unsure about whether or not he returns her feelings at all. Obviously it's not really worth it if he doesn't, but if he does then it totally is to her.

Though after she's said all of that, there's a hesitating pause as she mulls over the woman's offer of help. A part of her wants to immediately dismiss the idea - the woman doesn't seem to like Jon so she expects whatever form the help might take to be something she's simply not interested in, or for there to be a catch involved or something. Then again, it hurts nothing to simply ask, "What do you mean by 'help'?" As she doubts that it would be a good idea to infuriate this particular woman, it's probably a good idea to not reject such an offer outright and saying no will seem less like a knee-jerk reaction if she at least knows what she's saying no to.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

"Interesting..." is all that Poison Ivy says, though she forces the expression on her face to remain mild in spite of her deeper ponderings. She prides herself on being a manipulative woman - being able to quickly and easily read a person and determine how best to get what she wants from them. But though she recognizes instantly that the lack of fear exhibited by the girl's other personality would be an undoubtedly useful thing to exploit, she can't immediately determine how. Partly because she's uncertain what she wants to do with it, exactly - she sees no reason to harm the girl, so whatever she does with it would be at least a little indirect. But she's sure that there's something, and she just needs to ponder upon the question for awhile.

In the meantime, she can't say that she's happy with the sound of that 'maybe' answer - technically she won that point of the conversation, but she can tell that she failed to convince the young woman of anything. Actually, it seems more like the girl's simply refusing to listen to reason about it - which is a definite sign that there's some strong feelings involved and that changing her mind won't be easy. Love, hah! It's led far too many women into leading miserable lives, even if they aren't killed for it. It's suffering and misery hidden behind fancy paper and a pretty bow - a cruel trap that can't be sensed until it's too late. Perhaps it's already too late for poor Heather, but she feels the need to try at least.

Though she finds her resolve wavering a bit as her words are suddenly being turned against her. She can't help the sad frown that reaches her face as she's reminded of all the things that she's lost - not just a job and her money, but her garden, her reputation in high society, and all the pretty things she used to own and fancy things she used to do. Being in this asylum is a far cry from that - a huge leap into another world. A cold, unpleasant world, even if you can do whatever the hell you want in it without worrying about the consequences - that amount of freedom requires sacrifices, unfortunately. "Yes..." she acknowledges her past life, forcing herself to sound unbothered even though it does rankle just a little. "They only brought me here because they're idiots - just because they can't see the bigger picture and are unwilling to do what must be done they think I'm crazy," she scoffs, though her irritation isn't directed at Heather as much as the mess of society in general. Any system that results in her ending up here must be horrifically broken.

Then again, the girl's comment about Crane being worth it causes her some pause for thought. How could that man be worth anything? Let alone what she knows and suspects of the young woman's life before it was taken from her - not nearly as nice and comfortable as the one she gave up herself to be sure, but still! So naive, this girl - so blind to reality. If she doesn't step in surely it will only result in nothing but misery, assuming that the young woman lives long enough to be miserable. No, she needs to find a way to help, even if this case seems hopeless.

Almost as if on cue, her thoughts are interrupted by just the smallest little exploratory nibble on her offer. She smiles, quickly deciding that she'd better start with something she knows would go over well. "Well, for example, when I leave this place and can get a lab going again, I'd be able to make you immune to Crane's fear toxin," she says offhandedly, as if she does that sort of thing all the time. Actually, she's only done it for Harley - there isn't anyone else she cares enough about to want to protect. But she did notice that in spite of the girl's strange feelings for Crane she's obviously not a fan of that drug of his, so it's probably safe to assume she doesn't want another experience with it.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

The one word reaction causes Heather to have the uncertain feeling of wondering if she can be relieved or not - Poison Ivy certainly didn't seem to care too much about VerMillion, so maybe that was okay? Then again, by all accounts the woman is supposed to be manipulative, so maybe not. Hard to say...

It's much easier to know that her words have bothered the rogue, though she hopes her verbal jabs are mild enough to not cause too much offense. She doesn't want to insult the woman, she simply doesn't like that line of logic being used on her and so wants to push back a little. Especially since, like she pointed out, the same could be said of Poison Ivy's present situation. And the excuse that the woman has for it doesn't seem fully satisfactory either. She's not a psychologist or anything, but she doesn't think that killing random street thugs and the occasional millionaire in the name of plants is exactly sane. "Well, maybe I'm not crazy either," she argues back, "I mean... well... having VerMillion in my head is weird, but it's not like either of us don't know what's real or something. And being kind of shaken after crap happens to you is totally normal, right?"

Then again, she's not really sure if she's just saying that because it makes a good argument against the other woman's point or if she actually believes that she's not crazy. Having another personality in your head is kind of a hard thing to just write off as normal, after all. And yeah, she has to admit that how she handles being 'out' is pretty bad sometimes. Then again, it's also hard to look at yourself and decide that you're crazy when everything you do makes perfect sense to you. It's only when she takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture that she starts to think that the way she thinks is probably not exactly normal anymore.

Of course, none of that means that she's about to fight the path that Jon's been leading her down. Because, crazy or not, she still has her feelings for him and knows that she wants to follow those feelings wherever they take her. And does she really care whether she's crazy or not? Mostly she just cares about being happy, and Jon makes her happy. Well, sometimes he does, and she has hopes that the frequency will increase over time. She just needs to find out how he really feels somehow, and then she'll be able to figure out what to do about it all.

Listening as the rogue explains one thing she might want from her, she instantly frowns in thought. She could be immune to fear toxin? Never have to worry about experiencing one of those awful, awful hallucinations again? Oh, that would be heaven! She really doesn't take them very well at all, even with VerMillion in the picture. Her other half can withstand the toxin and help her deal with it somewhat, but the newer version of the hallucination is even worse than the old one - much too personal and much more plausible.

Then again, given the person offering it, she has to be suspicious of the offer. "You'd do that?" she asks, turning to actually look at Poison Ivy straight in the face for the first time during this conversation, "Why?" That's probably the million dollar question, really - why is this woman even talking to her in the first place, for that matter?