Flash Back: Meeting (Arnold)

[jervistetch]

It was a dreary day, even more so than usual in Arkham Asylum. It had been pouring rain since the day before, and showed no signs of letting up. On top of that, Jervis's friend Jonathan had been placed in solitary confinement for catching and hoarding spiders somehow, and then loosing them on one of the other patients with Arachnophobia. So, as it were, Jervis had no one to play chess with.

No, he sat sadly staring out the tiny bared window so high above them. Staring at the rain.
"I bet it isn't raining in Wonderland..." he noted crossly, folding his arms over his chest.
"The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--" he quoted to himself, settling down on the couch with a frown. It was not his maddened quoting, but for the moment simply quoting because he had nothing better to do with his time. No, Jervis himself was quite (that is to say mostly) stable for the moment, which was why he was in the recreation room to begin with. He had been very well behaved during this incarceration, minus sinking his teeth into that first pesky nurse who tried to jab him with those needles for what ever reasons. But he could hardly be held accountable for that!

He glanced about the room, which was frightfully empty of people he knew. In fact, the only one who stood out at all was the man with the puppet. He couldn't quite remember his name, he hadn't much dealt with him. He wasn't sure he felt like talking to the other man too much, and was about to look away when he was noticed. Caught staring, caught in the act! Great, now he had probably caught his attention and initiated the beginnings of some kind of interaction, he imagined.

[ventrioquist]

Arnold Wesker had this unaturally bad habit of focusing on an individual when they entered the room. He just couldn't help it. The man would give at least simply stare and usually have horrid thoughts. When the Mad Hatter entered the recreational room, that is what Arnold did.

He and Scarface were sitting in the commissary enjoying a plate of left over pasta. Arnold had insisted that the guards and chefs bring over a plate for the mannequin. With bewildered looks, the powers in charge had complied with the request.

Scarface sat in the table again with a full plate of pasta before him.

"What's wrong Mr. Scarface? Why aren' you eating your pasta?"

"It is horrid! Ye call' dis linguini?!"

The guards in the area, naturally flinched at the rise in Scarface's inflection. Arnold merely chuckled, already use to the crime bosses outbursts.

That seemed to draw the attention of the Mad Hatter who was not staring at them...

The Ventriloquist shifted Scarface's position so that the crime boss was now facing the Mad Hatter.

"Hmmm. Wat's he lookin' at?"

"I think at us."

"Ah' know dat dummy! It was one of dem rhetorical qu-we-stions." Scarface began, the Ventriloquist closed his eyes with a simple nod, seconds later..."Any idea who da mug is?"

"They call him the Mad Hatter."

"Like in da g'ook Alice in Wond-er-land?"

"Exactly. Some would call him a lunactic. Hehehe."

"A dangerous lunatic," Scarface stated bluntly, and with some insight. "Let's not g'e rude."

"Bu---bu--but.." the Ventriloquist began to protest.

Scarface simply shot him the 'look'

"Ye---y--yes sir."

The Ventriloquist and Scarface made their way over to the Mad Hatter with his pot of tea, and his game of chess.

"Ah' da game of chess. One of our favo-o-rites." Scarface began. The Ventriloquist looked a bit nervous at being so near the Hatter. "May Ah'?" Scarface asked.

The Ventriloquist lifted the wooden arm of the mannequin, making it so that Scarface was referring to a game of chess.

[jervistetch]

Jervis noticed the man and puppet coming his way, and silently scolded himself for staring in the first place. However, when the puppet spoke up about joining him for chess, he would raise a single eye brow and motion to the empty chair.
"nO RoOm." He quoted, despite the motion for him to take a seat anyways.
"mOre TEa?" he would pour two new cups, one for each of them no matter what they might say. It wasn't the best quality of tea, of course. But then, he was lucky to have it at all. There had been times when the doctors commanded the patients have nothing they might like. Claimed having things like prank objects for the Joker or tea for he himself only made them worse. Such boring times those had been. To be fair, the Joker had killed a guard who dirtied one of his novelty soaps. Drowned him in the water basin in the outside area. Or so he had heard, but that was so terribly long ago. Longer even than Jervis himself had been coming here. So now he was allowed once more his simple pot of tea and plastic tea cups.

"I don't believe I've seen you two around much." quoting out of the way, he'd resume his calm (for the moment) demeanor.
He spoke of each of them, and poured each a cup, not wishing to be truly rude to either the doll or the man. After all, he had spent enough time around dolls. Or around humans who may as well be dolls, sadly. He hadn't wanted it that way at all, but it seemed he had no choice. Too bad, so sad. Nothing to do now but move his white pawn to take the black one. Wait to see how the Black Queen would command her army.
"I imagine you might know who I am," he nodded the over-sized paper top hat he had made and been allowed to keep, "But I am afraid I can not quite return the favor. Were you at one of Penguins meetings, perhaps? You do seem familiar." For just a moment, he had forgotten to refer to both of them as separate beings. No matter.