Fear is the Mind-Killer [Crane]

[Deleted]

It would be putting it mildly to say that Iris has mixed feelings about her next appointment. In fact she'd considered maneuvering her way out of it - there's a few ways she could have done it without making it seem like she was actually trying to dodge it. But she suspects that Dr. Arkham would have known anyway, and she doesn't want to give him the satisfaction. Especially given how things have been going with Nathaniel - while she prefers to keep her head down among the other staff at the asylum and not draw attention to herself, a part of her actually wants to show her boss a little bit of what she's made of to prove to the man that she's not unworthy of his son's affections. Not that she needs his approval at all, but it's easier if she has it.

Not that she's about to do anything reckless with such a notorious rogue. In fact she told the guards who brought him to the session room to leave him handcuffed to his chair, and even made sure that one of them was among the more senior members of the guard staff just to be sure that they knew their business with that detail. What good are restraints if they're incompetently used? Of course, she's guessing that her patient will interpret this as a sign of fear on her part, but that's unimportant to her. According to the file she was given on him, he's likely to interpret everything she does as a fearful gesture so why bother pretending otherwise?

Before she goes in, she pauses for a moment behind the one way mirror simply to observe him. His record indicates that he's only been out of solitary since earlier this morning - this appointment might have happened sooner, actually, if it wouldn't have defeated the purpose of punishing him by depriving him of anyone to interact with. It's not a practice she approves of at all, actually. Well, not for most patients. But if she were to list off the things that they do here that she doesn't believe are therapeutic, it would take a very long time. She just hopes the after effects of that experience don't render him too much more difficult to manage that he would be in different circumstances. Then again, managing fear is kind of her specialty.

Which is why she appears quite calm as she enters the room, carrying only her notepad and a pen. She's wearing a pair of dark gray pants and an emerald green blouse with a light gray blazer layered over it. The only jewelry she's wearing is a pair of small, round studs in her ears, but she's wearing what appears to be a watch on her wrist. Giving her patient of the day a small smile as she takes her seat across from him, she says, "I'm Dr. Iris Ledford - Dr. Arkham has asked me to fill in for him for this session." Which she's sure he's been informed of previously, but it's best not to assume. Especially not in a place like this. Once she's settled into her seat she crosses her legs and quickly scribbles something onto her notepad. "How have you been adjusting?" she asks as she does so, looking up with another small smile when she finishes both her question and her note.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

The worn doctor stay lifeless and still in his seat as he waited to be seen. The chair was steel and bolted to the floor as always. Dr. Crane looked disheveled in his orange garb with the same inmate number as always. The collar of his jumpsuit had been torn slightly and hung down further on the left side than the right. His right hand laid flat on the table as he stared forward and revealed the extreme amount of dirt and grime underneath his finger nails. It wasn't as if they offered him the proper hygiene in solitary.

When the door came open the doctor didn't move. His eyes continued to stare forward at the empty chair until it was occupied by the young woman he was informed was Dr. Iris. He judged her immediately with his stare, never letting it falter from her eyes, not matter where they cast. The doctor refused to blink while he studied her and listened to what she had to say. Yes, He had been unfortunately informed that she was going to be filling it. It was a mistake that Dr. Arkham was going to regret here in the next proceeds with this session. Most of all, however, he was going to lose a staff member and Dr. Crane didn't think it was going to take long at all to get this one to crack and bleed her fears all over the floor.

Adjusting? The doctor stared at her convicting. Adjusting? How had he been adjusting? His eyes? They were adjusting fine, a bit blurry from the darkness level he was exposed to for hours but it was slowly building. Or did she mean how is he adjusting to her? This place was his, he was home. Dr. Crane tilted his head and scratched his dirty nails on the steel table. "I should ask you that same Dr. Iris......How are you adjusting?" He threw the question back on to her as to point it to him was already a ridiculous notion. He would have her in his session momentarily and then he could really find out why Dr. Arkham decided to do this.

The very fact that this was happening at all boiled his blood and made his bones brittle. If he wasn't the calm and lifeless corpse he was his mind would have torn this room in half already and had her stripped down to her bare soul, screaming for its release.

[Deleted]

When the man casts his gaze upon her, Iris doesn't immediately meet it. But that's only because she has a lot of other things to look at right now, and she hardly feels the need to join him in a pointless staring contest - clearly he's had far more practice than she has, and she wouldn't care about the result anyway. But once she's done finding her seat, settling herself into it, and ready to actually pay attention to him, she meets his gaze easily - though he may note that her eyes are somewhat dilated. But she also easily breaks his gaze when she glances down at her notepad to write a little more.

The fact that he turned the question around on her causes an amused smile and she replies by calmly stating, "Quite well, actually. This is not exactly an environment that I'd been familiar with before, but I'm a very adaptable person. I'd imagine that any novelty about the place has worn off for you by now, though. Why do you suppose you keep finding yourself here, Dr. Jonathan?" Again both her attention and her gaze returns to him at the question, hoping but not necessarily expecting that there will be an answer this time.

She, for one, did not think that her first question was ridiculous at all. But she'd soon wear herself out not just with him but many of her other patients if she let a little thing like an unanswered question bother her much. Sometimes it's the very fact that a person refused to answer that tells her the most about them, actually - whatever a person avoids revealing is a sign of unresolved anxiety. And every person on the planet has some, as the world inflicts itself upon everyone before they're even able to articulate their emotions. But, given her specialty, that simply means that she has job security - no matter what happens, there will always be people living in fear. Including the man she's speaking with now, whether he'll admit to it or not.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

To Dr. Crane, this was almost like some twisted joke. He didn’t find the humor in it, yet he rarely found humor in anything. There was a certain distance between him and the ability to feel that emotion, or at least show that he did. The true nature behind that, law enforcement and psychiatry still had yet to determine after a decade but it was widely believed he had little, or no ability left. He would let them decide that for themselves, to each their own that dares come into the same room with the Scarecrow and try to judge him or try to understand him. They would only be left with more questions than they had originally came in with, and an intense fear to never return.

His observations of her were intense enough and attuned to every detail and movement in her face. Her eyes didn’t go unnoticed, but it could have been several things. In his experiences the most likely options came immediately to his mind, most people became psychiatrists when they needed to fix themselves. Though, to their eventual knowledge find out that’s quite improbable and to Dr. Crane’s deeper understanding of it all it was never a possible endeavor to begin with. Despite that he knew he put it aside to answer her question. “I suppose the answer is the most obvious one…..The police keep bringing me back here.” The doctor answered quite seriously with only a small pause in between to show her that he almost found the question to be something she couldn’t root very far into the soil with. “When they choose to bring me somewhere else…I suppose I will find myself there.” He concluded and waited for her to draw whatever opinion she thought she had.

This was a joke after all. He could tell that she was the type of woman that was going to come in here believing she knew something ahead of time. She was going to think that she had him figured out, that she was confident in her observations of him, and that she would tell herself she wasn’t going to allow herself to be intimidated. He could tell that she was trying her hardest to act independent, a woman that had her own ideas, values, and her own thoughts about this building and especially him as a prisoner here.

“And you Dr. Ledford? What brings you here?” He again swayed the conversation back upon her. This was after all his session. But if she had done her homework then she already knows that.

[Deleted]

Did Iris choose her profession to fix herself? Perhaps. She did drastically change her career plans shortly after a very emotionally turbulent time in her life. But though she can't say that she's fixed herself, she didn't expect to do so. No, she only expected improvement. And she's found it. In fact she feels that she becomes slightly more healed everyday. It's simply a very slow process, and one that probably has no ultimate end. A part of that wound will probably never heal, and yet that won't stop her from having a full and happy life.

His answer to her question causes her to give a thoughtful pause as she considers it. Not that it's overly profound - it is, as he said, the obvious one - but one wonders why he chose to give that answer and not another. Try as one might, it's impossible to interact with another human being without revealing much about oneself. Which is why Iris isn't even really trying. Then again, that doesn't mean that she's going to voice what conclusions she's making out loud. Or at least, not any that aren't revealed by the flicker of amusement that crosses her expression before she asks her follow up question, "And why do you suppose the police would keep taking you anywhere instead of leaving you alone?" A question that she asks without humor, in spite of the fact that something clearly amused her, for in spite of the seeming simplicity of the question she really is asking it seriously.

The fact that he asks a question of his own does not surprise her. Perhaps it would surprise him if he knew how little 'homework' she did on him before coming. Oh, she'd been given a file on him before this session, but it was a joke - like she's going to believe some other doctor's opinion on this man. Well, if any of it had been written by Nathaniel, perhaps she'd have paid more attention... But knowing the caliber of the vast majority of the people who do and who have ever worked in this facility, she knows that she's better off trying to interpret what she's seeing here with her own mind rather than through the lens of their opinions. She did glean the files for the indisputable facts - what he's done, what is known about his history (rather than what's merely speculated), and other things of that nature. But the question is already unsurprising because she knows that he was once in the business himself and already noted his previous attempt to take over the session - no, it's not a shock that he'd try again. She already suspects that he'll keep at it the entire time.

But, as it happens, she hardly minds the question posed. "Interesting that you should ask! You see, I'm here because my boss doesn't like me very much. After all, he already knows that this session is useless and easily skipped - one session with a patient is hardly enough time to establish a rapport and get anything accomplished unless they need a simple bit of counseling. So why would he schedule one of his least experienced staff members to work with a patient known for causing enough trauma that those who work with him have ultimately quit if not gone insane? Clearly this is a punishment - he wants this to upset me," she says quite easily, ending with a headshake that seems to express her disappointment in the man. "The question is: Do you approve of being used in this manner?" she asks, tilting her head in curiosity. Of course she'd end with a question. This is, after all, their session.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

His feet moved and shuffled on the floor while she spoke. The cuffs clanked and the chains rattled as his body shifted. Under any other circumstance with Dr. Arkham he would have been uncuffed, but he had a feeling that she wasn’t going to budge on the issue. Dr. Arkham would have preferred him getting into more trouble.

Her plight, almost brought him to a smile. There was a small twitch in his features that showed he tried. ”It seems we have something in common” He replied.

Dr. Arkham probably punished far more people than he was aware of. It was difficult to think that Dr. Arkham saw anyone else but him. He liked to think there was some sort of possession, not for Dr. Arkham but for himself. There was oh so much effort put into him. But why was he so eager to hurt this woman? Why was he so intent upon killing her sanity? Isn’t that what he condemned her to by sending her to him?

”No need to break the session, you did just start.” He paused. ”So why do you think he is punishing you? He must have some reason to fear you so, though it is difficult to determine why. Unless he simply believes you can overshadow him.” He bit his lip. ”It isn’t as if he hasn’t done it before.” It was the whole reason he was here after all. If it weren’t for his brilliant mind he wouldn’t be in this cell holding a session, strapped and chained to the floor. He’d be in a professional suit instead of the orange Arkham garb.

For now he wanted to keep her here. Not permanently but he could see her for a few sessions. He could fix her, he knew hot to solve her problems with Dr. Arkham. Not that she would be able to understand, but he could fix that too.”How about we become more comfortable with this session?” He asked and extended his bound wrists to be unlocked.”Don’t be afraid…..I’m chained to the floor” He assured.

[Deleted]

His reaction causes Iris's pen to abruptly fly across the page. So many observations, so little time! Though she tries to keep her notes down to things she won't remember later, even with the recording of the session to remind her. But there's a lot of little details that both the camera and her memory wouldn't pick up later.

Fortunately, writing quick notes is a skill that was well-honed during the course of schooling, so there's only a moment's delay in her verbal response. "No, I don't think he's afraid of my skill - if anything I suspect that he thinks that I'm less capable than I am. I don't give him my best. Why cast my pearls before swine?" she says, the derision very evident in her voice. Never mind that she knows that the man that they're speaking of will be watching the recording of this as soon as he's back from his fancy conference. And she's always so polite when speaking to him in person - yet here are her true colors.

"But it could be a few things, or perhaps a combination. He may have simply realized that I'm the one who disliked him first, and is now returning the favor. Though if you ask me, this response is a bit excessive - perhaps his ego is much more delicate than I assumed," she adds with a thoughtful pursing of her lips, and a repeat of the disappointed headshake. "But... I only know so much about the man as of yet - I think that it's more likely that there's more to this than I know. But that's okay - he has the same handicap. He only knows so much about me," she adds with a satisfied smile. After all, he only has her resume, their limited and very shallow past interactions, and the various recordings and paperwork relating to her patients to go by. Is that enough for him to understand what goes on in her head? No. Not even slightly.

Her lips purse again as she looks at the handcuffs that he's holding up. Seeming to debate within herself before she says, "Let's discuss 'comfortable' for a moment..." Her attention abruptly shifts to the device on her wrist. "This isn't a watch," she starts, before quickly correcting herself, "I mean, it is, I guess - it also tells time. But it's a part of a heart rate monitor set." As she speaking, she pushes a few buttons on it, and it starts to quietly beep - slightly more than twice per second. Examining the display, she frowns at it as if dissatisfied. That's the best she can do? Really? Even when things are going this well?

Pulling her attention away from from it, she comments, "I'm afraid that the more comfortable you are, the less comfortable I would be. But I suspect that we're at a happy medium now - unless you disagree?" In her opinion, the more restrained this particular patient is, the better - at least for her. But she's not so selfish as to only consider what she wants - she does note all the signs of his discomfort with the restraints. But then, as she's indicating, she's not exactly comfortable with this situation herself.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

The woman in front of him didn’t seem to care that she was speaking in front of her superior. However, he never cared himself that he was. More often than not he would make it a point to speak directly to him from the room he was in just so he didn’t have to speak to him in person. ”Because the pearls are just as worthless.” He corrected her philosophy with his own.

She had confirmed that she was knew here, though he knew that right away. She hadn’t worked here when he was here and since he had been in and out since he hadn’t seen her until now. Perhaps it was a punishment for both of them. Dr. Crane knew better than to take it on Dr. Arkham’s word that it was simply because he was going to be on vacation and he would be right back. They both knew better, both of them sitting here knew that they were being punished in their own ways. All Dr. Arkham found was that he could kill two birds with one stone.

He listened and watched the device carefully as she set it off. A heart monitor on her wrist? She must have had an interesting condition to need such a thing. Her heart rate was escalated which brought a small smile to his face that disappeared as quickly as it came. But in exchange for the little display he put his hands back on the table and then down into his lap to show he understood. He didn’t have to have them off to continue with his session, it just would have made things nicer.

”Interesting choice of words Dr. Ledford. It seems we may get someone in this session after all.” He shifted in his chair and leaned back in it, not having an desire to seem full of life anymore. If she wanted him to be stationary and stagnate she might just get more than she bargained for. Dr. Crane never had to move much to unnerve anyone. ”If you believe he’s punishing you then what do you think you did to make him want to do so?” He asked getting back into the heart of their session.

[Deleted]

His response causes Iris's eyebrow to immediately lift and she gives him a long look before asking, "Aren't you making a very large series of assumptions to say so when you have no idea what my work is, let alone seen enough of it to evaluate it?" Wisely, she'll refrain from questioning his ability to evaluate it even if he did see it. It's difficult to get anywhere with a patient if you start questioning their delusions too much too soon. Of course, as she already stated, this session is a complete waste of time in any event.

Of course, the fact that she has a heart rate monitor is perhaps a slight hint of what she does. Though it's not as unusual of a device as he assumes - this type is specifically designed for runners and other exercise enthusiasts so that they can monitor their heart rate as they workout. Though Iris doesn't use it for that - instead she uses it as a biofeedback device on herself. Though in this particular case, it's also a very useful tool for giving her patient a very clear indication of her current emotional state - one that's impossible for her to use deceptively, even. To that end, she leaves the device on, allowing its quiet beeps to become a background noise to her.

Though if he's paying attention, he may note that her heartrate slows just a fraction after he accepts that she's not going to remove his restraints. And it seems unaffected as he asks about Dr. Arkham. "The only instance I can think of specifically was a recent staff meeting he called, which I attended but didn't take especially seriously, and I know that he noticed that," she says with a shrug, "I don't normally interact with him much, and when I do it's been very polite. Though the subtext of those conversations has gotten rather sour. I hadn't realized it was this sour until he asked me to do this session with you, however." There's a repeat of her disappointed headshake at that.

Pursing her lips slightly, she comments, "Perhaps it might help if you could explain to me why he's punishing you? He gave me your file to read, but... Well, for obvious reasons I don't trust his perspective on the subject."

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

It had become apparent that for the moment at least even though her anxiety was elevated that the session was going to continue. Most doctors he would have had out by now, not that he couldn’t drive her out yet. He chalked it up to not letting himself try too hard to do it today. After all this had quickly become his session and he hadn’t had one of his own in a while. The least he could do is sit here and show her what fear really was. Even though it was right in front of her she would never see it but her nerves couldn’t deny it.

What transpired at the meeting didn’t come as any kind of shock and it never would. He remembered attending those kinds of meetings where little to nothing was ever accomplished but much was always complained about. He never missed one when they were called in but he never participated either. After his recent trouble with the board of directors in the college school system he didn’t want to put himself on that block anymore, if anything because he knew it wouldn’t make a difference. They would never learn because they couldn’t. As a result people became distant from him, not that they weren’t headed that way already.

But for Dr. Arkham to punish this child for speaking against him? Dr. Crane could say the same was done to him now, but then it was so different. Rather than constantly criticizing his work with his own markings or adding his own input Dr. Arkham seemed to support most of his projects, in fact encouraged most of them. It was always an odd relationship from them before the incident. Dr. Arkham gave him his own wing in the building and allowed him the space he needed to work alone. He put him in charge of many people and had him oversee many projects. When he looked back it now it just seemed like one giant ruse leading to what he was going to do to him in the end. But he would eventually pay for it…..He’s suffer for it.

Her question causes his eyes to focus slightly and a microscopic pull to come onto his lips and then fade. She had turned the session back onto him and now it was his turn to answer a question. Under a normal circumstance he simply wouldn’t have answered but she added a part to the end that made him change his mind. ” That, is a long story. But the brunt of it being that he is jealous of me and my capability, my work and my study. He knew that I was his better and when he saw the opportunity he had me locked away.” He raised his cuffed hands slightly off the table and in front of his vision to show her steadily his fingers in the air. ” All of those patients that went missing he pegged on me, he knew how he was going to do it from the beginning. All of them just suddenly thought about and gone in a split second.” He snapped his fingers and listened to it echo against the table and then absorb into the walls.

[Deleted]

As he explains, Iris nods slowly. Does she believe that Dr. Arkham is jealous of Crane? Well, maybe a point or two here and there - it's probably impossible to find any two people where both aren't superior than the other at something, and it's only natural to be at least a bit jealous of whatever that is. In fact, Iris herself could find a thing or two to be jealous about with both men if she wanted to - she's not perfect, even if she honestly considers herself to be the best of them on the whole.

But she wisely doesn't say so, instead commenting, "Well, I certainly wouldn't put it past Dr. Arkham to do something terrible to someone he was jealous of." Because she wouldn't, even though she's skeptical about how that might apply to Crane's case. Because no, she certainly doesn't believe it's unfair that he's a patient here - she'd have to be insane herself to think otherwise.

Though she does think that it's possible that he's acted on his jealousy in another case... "Though I wouldn't think that in my case he'd be jealous of my work or skill - as I said, I don't give him my best. But I suppose he could be jealous of the attention I get from his son," she comments thoughtfully, because she wouldn't be surprised in the least if that was a factor in what prompted him to ask her to do this session. But who knows? Regardless of his reasons, she's sure that they're quite petty.

Hesitating for a moment, her expression becomes pensive as if she's trying to sort something out in her mind before she asks, "So you're saying that you don't know what happened to the missing patients?" Because that's one way of interpreting what Crane just said, though she has trouble believing that's the case. Then again, if it's true... well, that would definitely make things more interesting. Of course, either way she doesn't know very much about that whole mess - like she said, she didn't pay very much attention to the file Dr. Arkham gave her.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Arkham and Dr. Cranes relationship standing was no secret throughout the building, whether that was when he was still working or as a patient. Everyone knew exactly where they stood and how things were going to happen. Before he was arrested they were at least civil with each other although the tension was there but inside, Dr. Crane wanted to ruin him. Dr. Arkham had everything he should have had. Everything in this asylum should have been his and all of it did belong to him.

Dr. Crane became more still than usual after she spoke. He had never really had someone agree with him before on this issue. It was almost to the point to where he didn’t know how to respond, so he stayed silent and let her continue. There was power in Dr. Crane’s silence and he liked to use it often.

But there was something that caught his attention. Her work? She thought he was jealous of her work? There was nothing special about what her work was or what she thought it brought to her. If she couldn’t understand what was going on around her than she’d never be able to understand the insides of these problems. The attention that she gives his son would probably get Dr. Arkham’s attention better, but what she meant by that would have to be clarified. He could only imagine that it meant late night meetings behind the office desk…..what a waste of time…They should both be punished.

Her question made his eyes sink back and him think about the day that he was arrested doing his work. They had caught him with his hands bloodied and washing them off in the sink before they slammed him down and cuffed him. The rest was history from there. Although there was blood on his hands they had none to take away from anymore and none of these “13” bodies were found. ”Of course I don’t know what happened it them. They disappeared, patients jump chain every now and then, they probably got away. Perhaps there were weakness points in my wings walls. There could have been several things but it seems I was the only hot topic to investigate. So much so that I was convicted without bodies.” He finished and stared coldly at her. Why did she want to talk about a decade old open crime anyway. They were gone and he was in padded walls…Isn’t that what her society wanted?

[Deleted]

Noting Crane's silence, Iris can only hope that it's a good sign. The man is just as difficult to read as she was told that he would be, but so far their conversation seems to be going extremely well, so she's probably not made any major errors. According to the quiet beeping on her wrist, she's still very much on edge, but she's calming very slowly over time. Slowly enough that she'll probably not reach 'calm' by the end of the session even if nothing else happens, but all in all that isn't bad.

She's not surprised at the distance that comes to Crane's eyes when she asks about the missing patients - as skeptical as she may be about the official files on this patient, that his arrest and situation surrounding all of that would be a very significant thing to him is practically obvious. It's not completely obvious because there are quite a few patients in this very asylum who shrug such events off like they're noting, but he's unlikely to be one of those.

As she listens to his answer, she grows visibly very thoughtful but other than that it's hard to say how she's thinking about it. Probably because she's not completely sure what to think about it herself. But when he finishes, she nods half to him and half to herself before she says, "Well, it's certainly not unusual for a patient to disappear from the asylum - you yourself have done so on a number of occasions. Of course, unlike them, you turned up again." Pausing for a moment, she nods and then adds, "Of course, this facility has any number of weak points - it must, given the sheer number of disappearances, have many that are still undiscovered by anyone but the patients who have used them." She purses her lips thoughtfully for another moment before adding, "I suppose what probably most attracted attention to you is more a matter of sheer numbers - that some will disappear is even expected, unfortunately, but the number who happened to be in your wing was quite high."

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Crane’s fingers had began to rub against each other as she spoke. She again remindedhim of how high the count was surrounding his particular patience, but he couldn’t tell whether she believed that he had done it or not. She remained quite neutral on the subject, it was refreshing but it didn’t matter, he was innocent of any crime. ”I had nothing to do with their disappearance. I have nothing but the highest standards of medical and mental health for my patience. It would be difficult to conduct my research and learn more about the diseases of the mind without patients to exercise the practices I’ve learned. It would make more sense for me to keep them around. Don’t you agree Dr. Iris?” The shadow tried to pull her back into his corner, though she never seemed far from it in the first place.

It was almost fascinating to him why she hadn’t seemed hostile toward him in the beginning, mostly because she was far beyond that stage of fear. She knew that he ran most doctors out of his cell before they were fully done, but she looked planted and ready to withstand whatever punishment Dr. Arkham had placed her on the rack for. Of course Dr. Crane was ready to deliver if that’s what he wanted….Was Dr. Arkham giving him a patient? The thought made a bit of life spring into his eyes and his fingers twist at the knock on the table he was chained to. That was a thought that often got him into trouble.

…but he didn’t care.

What he was after was always so much more important than what others around him could see. ” I was arrested and charged with murder with no bodies to be found Dr. Iris, don’t you believe that to be a sort of abuse of the system that if so deeply fought for? Everyone seems to be content with sending an innocent man to rot in a cell….” He left out the fact that he had done several things since then, but there was little point to behave when the world already saw you as the monster. He had always been the monster hiding under the bed, now the doctor just didn’t have to wait for you to crawl into the covers anymore.

His fingers finally released the ring when the thought settled in his mind. He would accept conducting this session with her, just this once. She could ask whatever questions she wanted but he would make it clear who was in control of this place. ”If we are in agreement on all of that then it seems there is wonder progress to report isn’t there?” He almost mocked her, but his tone remains stale and flat as he spoke.

[Deleted]

"Yes, it would make more sense," Iris agrees easily, though of course that still begs the question of whether or not he'd been behaving in a way that made sense at the time - a question that she doesn't see the need to bring up at this time. She doesn't see the need or purpose of being hostile toward him, especially since it's quite likely that he's had many therapists try that approach on him before - all of them obviously ending in failure.

What she finds fascinating is that he hasn't done anything that would make her feel too big of a need to flee the room yet, in spite of his reputation. Of course, she has no idea whether he's behaving differently or if it's simply not affecting her as much. She assumes the former since she doesn't see herself as being that much tougher than your average woman, but if it's the former she can still pat herself on the back because for whatever reason he's choosing to behave differently for her. Either way it's interesting.

One thing is for sure, though - he does have an effect on her. Even though she suspects that he's behaving differently, he's still rather creepy and even intimidating in his mannerisms, and the easily ignored beeping of her heart rate monitor proves that she's nervous and a bit uncomfortable - though nowhere near severely so.

When he mentions the lack of bodies once again, Iris can tell that's a bit of a sore point with him. "Well, conviction without bodies isn't exactly unheard of - with enough circumstantial evidence one can prove something 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. Of course, it's also not unheard of for all the available evidence to point to one conclusion when another is the truth," she comments. Of course, what is more unheard of is someone innocent of any murders to commit murder just because they'd been previously convicted - and there's plenty of evidence, including bodies, that he's killed people since then. But that's something else that she doesn't see the need to bring up at this time.

His last question actually strikes Iris as funny, so she laughs lightly as she responds with a question of her own, "And wouldn't Dr. Arkham be overjoyed to read that report?"