Tea for Two [Harvey Dent]

[selinakyle]

The text had been a bit random, but the vernacular had put a smile on her face. Rife with double entandre, pairs, and of course, two’s.  So, there she was, literally hauling herself out of bed at an ungodly hour, if only to see her friend.  A friend that had taken a ‘vacation’ from Arkham, and was wanting to meet up.  Chuckling to herself, it was the onflux of lunch and dinner meetings as of late that caused the trill of laughter. 
That peal of laughter soon left her demeanor as she grabbed her crutches, and set her jaw.  The crutches were stupid. Just as asinine as was setting her sprained ankle in a cast.  And then giving her the wooden sticks to walk on, with her broken arm.  Rolling her eyes, she just –knew- how Brilliant doctors were.

But that wasn't going to halt her date with Harvey. She hadn't seen him for a few months, and hell, it was going to be interesting on how they were going to avoid the Feds. Then again, from what she had heard, they hadn't quite fully penetrated the East End as fully as they'd liked. Hell, even the Iceberg was still up and running, if not as smoothly as Ozzie would like. Hell, she still had her little meeting to deliver her 'blackmailing' of him, as well as her mugger to schedule.

But for now, she was awaiting the response of what little shit-hole eatery he had picked for them to meet at.

[lk]

It was in the basement of a run down hotel in which Harvey had set the date. As if in the duplicate nature of his personality, the hotel had two sides. The dilapidated and derelict state of the exterior masked the relative, albeit quaint, comfort of normality that a hotel should offer. Dent had set up several of these hidden havens across the city, using them for his own safety as well as using them to house several off the desperate mob bosses and seedy characters that came to him in need of protection.

Harvey had sent Selina a message, he did not know what form. He never oversaw the sending of messages - too much risk if one of those federal bastards got their hands on a cell phone number. He hoped she had got it, he was aching for some company, so conservation. Even with a split personality, he felt as though he had no one to just chat to. Arkham hadn't helped his unstable nature.

Nevertheless, he sat alone in the middle of the dining room of the hotel. The art deco room was dimly lit and was empty apart from a table several meters away from his on which a handful of gunmen sat, wielding guns and rifles as well as there two colored balaclavas. They were out of earshot but close enough to take action should his guest get a bit hostile. Harvey was no fool, although he knew Selina, he could trust no one in this city, especially in the hard times that everyone faced.

The table he occupied was positioned in the centre of the room. At its centre was a small flowerpot. Two roses delicately stood, one dead, the other gleaming red. His pressed suit, a mix of a black pinstripe suit on his right and a white tuxedo to his left, Two Face sat slouching tossing his coin, waiting on his guest. The hair on the handsome side of his face was combed and kept whilst the mattered tufts to the left were as wild as ever and oddly decorated the burnt and mangled remnants of his head.

At the sound of the clicking of the door, he straightened up and his hand closed into a fist around the coin. Someone was coming...

[selinakyle]

The next text had been concise enough, the address familiar enough to her she knew where she was headed; one of Harvey's safe-houses. A rather cushy interior masked by a run down facade. It was with little haste she made the move to gather a light jacket, her purse, and a rather large pair of sunglasses before hailing a cab. There was no reason Liv should drop her in this area.

The ride over was brief, and quiet. Paying the man, she had given him instructions to do two more runs, coming back in 15 minutes, and if she wasn't there then, to come back in two and a half hours. Her crutches were extracted first, one walking boot hitting the ground first, the next, a suede boot. At least when the door opened for her she was able to smile. No doubt the doorman wasn't expecting her to be hobbling along.

Once inside, Selina pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, smiling at the scene before her. One table. The armed henchmen. Harvey, looking dour and fussing with his coin. As she worked her way towards the small table, her right hand fumbling with her hold on the crutch, she paused a few feet from the table, clicking her tongue. “Harvey! You brought flowers!” she teased, a Cheshire grin on her face. She was glad to see one of her more humane 'friends' from the villain side, but he wasn't here on good terms; she knew that for a fact.

He had broken out of Arkham, and come to her first. This was either a good thing, a bad thing, or one of those things where he just wanted to see a familiar face. Either way, she was interested. Setting one crutch aside, she slipped out of her jacket, draping it along the back of what she assumed was her chair. Easing into it, she would sit gingerly, a hand smoothing out her skirt. She knew he would only address her as Selina, he knew better than to mention her other name, even if he had secured the room, and the hotel. Glancing up to him, she smiled again, green eyes watching him. He could speak first, and she hoped would before her own curiosity would get the best of her.

[lk]

Without pause, the coin was repeatedly flipped. Harvey watched his guest approach the table closely, his eyes cold and calculating, assessing Selina for any sign of a trap or a concealed article. Apart from the crutch, there was nothing much that had changed since they last met. His time in Arkham had enhanced his paranoia to the limit. He trusted nobody, just his faithful coin. The unquestionable justice of fate was the only restraint on his insanity.

“Harvey! You brought flowers!”

A soft smile passed across his face. It seemed harmless viewed from his normal side, but his deformed features created and malign an twisted grin which would have unnerved the staunchest of souls. It was not until she was seated, close enough for her presence to settle Dent, that he spoke. He did not look at her directly, instead he gazed down at the table cloth. Its intricate weaving fascinated his for some reason, more than likely he was just unwilling to come across as too intimate and friendly after his absence.

"Your leg..." he started quietly. "How'd it happen?" He was softly spoken, almost like a timid child. He had been like this for some time. Those long days in incarceration, at the mercy of Strange, had changed him. His 'normal' personality was reclusive and withdrawn whilst its manic counterpart had become more unfathomable to comprehend than ever. The slightest thing could change his mood but usually, the distraction of flipping his coin or a subtle interesting feature of his environment would keep him occupied and his madness, subdued.

Of course, he had not just called her over for a brief catch up. His mind flitted from thought to thought with the ever present desire of revenge against Gotham and the Bat overlooking his thoughts. He would not reveal his intentions straight away, that would just be rude...

[selinakyle]

He was being a gentleman, Harvey was. Smirking, Selina brushed part of her hair away from her face, showing off the still-fading bruises with her casted hand. “You're too sweet to notice the most minor of my injuries, Harvey.” Letting the hair fall, and her hand as well, she shrugged, getting comfortable in her chair, also allowing the movements to buy her a bit of time. He was a good friend, almost like family in the crime world, but he had been in -Arkham.- And knowing how being locked up made him, she was wary.

“I was mugged walking to a friends.” She held up a finger, silencing him. “Yes, I know, stupid. Especially for me. It was an old client, though. The one bastard I had to turn over to the police, and it went up to the FBI.” Clearing her throat she continued. “Concussion, broken arm, and...the foot is only sprained, but they casted it, because I wasn't listening.” And that thought made her think of Elliot, and Zsasz.

She could bring that point up later.


Reaching a hand out toward him on the tabletop, her voice was quiet, and calm. “It's good to see you, Harv. What brings about this lovely little dinner?” she queried, actually concerned for the man.