Long Days Ahead (open)

[Deleted]

Victor had moved to Gotham only a few months before all this nonsense with the FBI started .And he had been looking for a job ever since. He had a night life that no one else knew about. As well as a little nagging friend. But he didn't tell anyone about this friend. If he did then inevitably everyone would think he's crazy.

Right now he was sitting on a bench in the park. He leaned back and sighed.

"Why does it have to be so hard to get a job now?" He muttered.

"Well the FBI getting involved in almost everything probably isn't helping you at all." Lupin said. His friend, a Wolf like creature from an ancient race that lived in a mutual relationship with Victor. Slightly like a Clownfish and an Sea anemone. Although Lupin was only able to live in his mind. He was also the source of Victor's powers.

"Don't talk right now." Victor muttered. Then he just smiled and nodded when he saw a man and his dog staring at him. "Just thinking out loud." He said before getting up and wandering around the park.

He didn't have anymore job interviews today. And he doubted that if he did he would get the job. So he thought he would relax a bit then go home and get ready to blow off some steam.

(Anyone and join in here)

[Joan Leland]

The problem of work is a wide spread one with the lockdown. So many places have been forced to close or reduce staff, so many people are unemployed with no hope of getting out to find more work. It's a difficult time for the unemployed of Gotham.

Joan is in almost the same situation. She considers self employment her last resort to surviving the FBI. It partially works, she's gotten a few patients but she's still having to dig into her savings to get by.

None of which explained why she was walking through the park. Her car was playing up so having left it at home she'd proceeded to walk across town so she could listen to a very dull man talk about his marriage before stopping by to fetch the bit she was hoping would fix the car. Say what you like about the regular visitors to Arkham, they were dangerous and insane but she'd never found them boring.

Heading through the park she was currently on her way home again. It felt like a very long day and it seemed set to get longer. She didn't even notice the guy come running up behind her until he'd snatched her bag right off her shoulder and started dashing off with it.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" she yelled, a little anger showing. She was already kicking off her heels where the average woman might be yelling for help. Within seconds and with shoes in hand she was giving chase "Somebody stop him!" he had a pretty good headstart but Joan wasn't keen on adding a stolen purse to her list of reasons to be stressed.

[Deleted]

Victor was arguing with Lupin at the moment about how things weren't going well. They both stopped when they heard someone shout to stop someone. When Victor looked he realized that someone had been watching his one man argument. Not knowing the full story. But more importantly he saw someone running with a purse and a woman chasing him.

"Let's go help." He said and started joined in the chase. He was able to run a bit faster then the average man but not a whole lot faster. He closed in on the guy and managed to pass the woman up. He was having a little trouble catching him. It was probably the outfit he was wearing. It was all meant to help him get a job. Not chase a man down. Finally he lunged and talked him. The man struggled against him.

"Look now is a bad time to want to fight me ok?" He said to the man to finally stopped struggling. He didn't even notice the woman come up.

[Joan Leland]

Joan doesn't practice so she's far from the fastest runner out there. Still, as a man comes up behind her and overtakes she's surprised and very grateful. If anything the thief was getting even further away from her as she started to get a little out of breath.

She doesn't slow down when the thief is tackled, it's not until he's stopped struggling that she decides she's safe to reduce herself down to a jog and catch her breath while she closes up the final few metres.

She stops with a relieved sigh as soon as she's close enough, finally giving Victor a smile "Thank you. You're quite the runner" She still sounds out of breath, she can't remember the last time she had to run like that. She not out of shape but she's definitely not used to it.

Her attention shifts to the thief with a look of annoyance before she stoops to yank her bag out from under the guy "And that is mine, thank you very much" Perhaps if he'd got away she might have got as far as being angry with him but her mood is improved by getting her stuff back.

[Deleted]

Victor looked up and saw the woman. "Your welcome" He said and realized that he had run faster then he thought he was. "I didn't know I could run that fast." He said grinning and as she took her bag back from the thief he let the man go and got back up. "I hope you don't mind me letting him go?" He asked in a light hearted tone. He thought about asking her name but wasn't sure if she would like it.

"So.... Does that happen often around here?" He asked trying to make conversation. He wasn't sure if he was going the correct route for someone who lived in a place like this and his little mental friend wasn't helping. He decided that he would keep up with what he was saying and offered a kind smile. It wasn't a big smile but it was a smile none the less. "The name's Victor by the way." He said offering to shake hands.

[Joan Leland]

Joan's lips thinned in disapproval for a moment when the thief was allowed to run off but she didn't try to stop him. She's was loath to just let the man think he could get away with it and do it again but what was the alternative? There was no justice in Gotham, there hadn't been since the FBI moved in. She had to let it go. She nods after a moment and puts her heels back on now she's definitely not planning on running anywhere again "Everything considered it's probably the fairest thing we can do right now"

Her attention focuses back onto Victor rather than a thief and a small smile reappears. She's not opposed to a little conversation, particularly with the man who helped get her bag back.

"I guess you must be pretty new here" the question gave him away "We have masked heroes and villains, gangs, mobs and a few monsters. We've got our own prison and in more usual times our own mental institution. I don't think I could call the city quiet. I would though make a guess that our thief today was likely just an opportunist or desperate. The professional ones don't spend too much time randomly mugging people in the park" it's definitely not the first time she's considered the workings of the criminal mind and she smirks softly, briefly wondering why she even still lives here.

No where else would be quite like Gotham, maybe that was it. Maybe deep down she was just as crazy as the rest of them seemed to be. She tends not to worry about it, all that's certain is she's definitely not moving.

She shakes the offered hand with another smile "Joan...Let me at least buy you a coffee or something as thanks for stopping the guy" As a rule Joan does not flirt and not just because most of the people she meets are insane. She's perfectly fine with rewarding a good samaritan though, however it might be taken.

[Deleted]

Victor listened to the woman who had introduced herself as Joan. "Well its nice to meet you Joan. And believe me, I know all about your masked heroes and other infamous residents." He said with a slight grin. He shook her hand and said. "Honestly I'm not much of a coffee fan....... I know this might sound weird but I drink chocolate milk instead of coffee." He grinned after saying that. This was usually the time someone would look at him and ask if he was sane.

"I tried coffee once and had trouble keeping it down. Same with wine." He said in an upbeat tone. He looked at her and took in the details of her face. It was a strange habit he had picked up when he was living with his uncle. He would always do is subtly but sometimes he slipped up and let it show. It was a concern he always had. He gave a slight smile to show that he wasn't a threat or anything...... And smiled abit wider then he meant too the smile revealed the fact that his canine teeth were slightly more pronounced. "So I take it you know alot about the more well known residents of Gotham?" He asked referring to her almost textbook account of life in Gotham.

[Joan Leland]

Joan's version of sane was a lot more official than most people's, liking chocolate milk over coffee just made her smirk, his grin only amusing her further. She figured he expected her to think he was weird and apparently didn't care, good for him "There are stranger things to choose" he probably didn't want to know how strange "Alright, I did say 'or something' I believe that will cover chocolate milk if you'd allow me to buy you one" she tries to think where to even get one, the coffee place she usually goes to probably would if she asked but really she figured a dinner or something might be better.

Despite her friendliness there is a quiet calculating side to her. She hasn't taken her eyes off of him, every little movement is noticed without her really paying attention to it. She can't really fault him closely watching her because she's doing it too, though probably for different reasons. Her subconscious is basically trying to figure him out along with trying to find something wrong with him.

He's lucky she's not a dentist, she can't recall seeing someone with such big canines but the thought pops into her mind for less than a second as she really knows nothing about teeth and she's seen so many weird things. Now if he started talking to himself /that/ she has a great deal of experience in noticing.

She barely pauses at his question but it's enough time for her to weigh the pros and cons of mentioning having worked at Arkham. While it would definitely show she's likely to have a wealth of knowledge on the criminals she can't talk about a lot of it and people tend to look at you differently when they know you've worked in a mental asylum full of insane villains. Liking chocolate milk is nothing to the sanity questioning looks that gets.

"Well I've lived here several years now and they like to make themselves known" she settled for a more vague answer. Anyone who hangs around Gotham long enough will have heard of a lot of the heroes and villains, the only difference is Joan has actually met a lot of them.

[Deleted]

Victor grinned at her response to the chocolate milk comment. "Well I notice alot of coffee shops have chocolate milk." He said. He looked around some and tried to think of what to say. Lupin started nagging on about how he should be sure not to get to involved with her reason being she seemed awfully official. Which meant that she might catch on to his..... 'special friend' Lupin was getting so persistent that he grunted deep in his throat inorder to get him to stop. Thankfully it worked.

He kept a smile up and hoped that Joan didn't hear him. If she did then he was thinking up something to say. "So where do you have in mind?" He asked trying to throw her off the grunt he just made.

[Joan Leland]

Joan has never tried to order chocolate milk from a coffee chop, by this poiont in her life she's been drinking much the same thing so long she doesn't even look at the menu anymore so perhaps her knowledge has a gap there. She'd take his word for it, obviously he'd know better if he likes the stuff so much.

She almost starts to suggest a place but then he seems distracted for a moment and grunts. She noticed alright. Her curiosity is hidden behind an "Umm..." as she pretends to be thinking but never takes her eyes off of him. It's a small thing but her mind was already looking for something and she has to go over the possibilities.

Multiply identities, hearing voices, delusional, of course her mind instantly goes to the worst and most insane ideas but even with her paranoia she has to stop herself at the thought that it could be a secret signal to some gang of thugs. 'Yes Joan, because if someone's out to get you they'll randomly save you from a mugger and do it in one of the busiest parts of the city' she thought sarcastically before finally rationalising that he probably had a cold coming on or something.

Work really had got to her that much that a random stranger could be examined for being an insane criminal over the smallest thing. She tried not to think about it too much and pretended not to have heard him at least, though his attempt to distract her back onto the topic just added another round of paranoid thoughts. She tried to ignore those too and gestured on ahead before leading the way "There's a small cafe by the edge of the park I think will fit the bill"

She forced herself not to ask anything to do with his mental state, he seemed like a perfectly nice guy. She had to stop looking for crazy people. It wasn't an easy thing to resist but she chides herself for nearly getting worked up over a grunt "How long have you been in Gotham then?"

[Deleted]

Victor was hoping that she didn't notice his grunt. Or if she did she didn't catch on to his 'special friend' He reached up and scratched his neck abit trying to make it appear as though he had a dry throat or something along those lines.

"Ok after you." He said politely after she mentioned the shop at the end of the park. He mentally told Lupin to keep quite until he could mentally reply without being seen as crazy. It was a problem he had on a regular basis. He normally managed to hide it but as the grunt shows. He didn't always manage.

As the two walked towards the shop he said. "I moved over her about five months ago...... I think time sure has been quick for me recently." He offered a smile as he said this. He was suppressing the urge to ask if she thought he was crazy for he earlier grunt. But he figured that simply asking that would get her to think he was crazy. So he kept quiet about that.

[Joan Leland]

From a simple grunt if she thinks it through logically Joan can't come to any of the crazy suggestions she comes up with. It's a grunt. He's playing with his neck, it's probably just a cold she finally decides even if the paranoid little thoughts going round in the back of her mind will never be happy until they find something wrong with everyone. They even briefly try and pick apart the whole chocolate milk thing and why he might help run down muggers then let them go...She halted the thoughts and considered the possibility that she was just a little work crazy. If Arkham was still open she'd have plenty to do, now her work is limited and she had a lot of time to waste, which mostly meant fiddling with her car simply as she has absolutely nothing else going on in her life.

She leads on through the park and tries to put it aside, she was always analysing random people and she couldn't really help it but it wasn't usually quite as bad as this. She looked ahead to focus on the cafe instead, no more watching his every move. "You must have just moved in and then the FBI locked us down, now that's bad luck" she forces her smile a bit. She really hopes she's not going crazy. The odds are good it'll happen one day given how Arkham is but she doesn't like to think about it.

Thankfully the shop isn't too far away and within minutes they're there. She always did prefer the tiny little places no one outside the city would ever hear of over the big chains and that's just what it seemed to be, tucked away across the road from the park, between a club that hadn't opened yet and a bank it all seemed a little long and narrow inside. Joan knew the coffee was good, she was always tempted by the cake they had on display too but she was good and resisted "A black coffee and one chocolate milk" the server raised a brow at the order. Joan she sort of recognised which means the addition comes from the guy. They gave Victor a subtle look, now she thought he was odd. No questions though, Joan just paid and took her coffee to a free table, a glance going to Victor to see if he'll join her or just consider his good deed repaid.

[Deleted]

"Yeah I just got settled in and poof....... The FBI was locking the city down." I was a little disappointed because it made it that much harder for me to get around this city." Victor said in reply to what the lady said about the FBI. He follows her to the shop and when she gets the strange look from the guy after ordering the chocolate milk he lifts up his right hand and says. "I'm not much of a coffee fan."

After thanking the man for the milk he followed Joan to the table. "Thanks for the milk" He said as he sat down. Then Lupin "said" 'You should ask first.'

Victor widened his eyes ever so slightly when he realized what he meant. "You don't mind if I sit here do you?" He asked after taking a quick drink.

[Joan Leland]

Joan didn't seem to mind the lapse in proper manners, in fact she didn't seem to even notice it at all until Victor asked if he could sit. She smiled again, well the guy was certainly polite "I don't mind at all, if you have the time you're welcome to stay" she had nowhere she desperately needed to be, apparently neither did he, she was quite happy for company who spoke back, it was more than she'd be getting from her cat at home.

"The FBI has been rather inconvenient for everyone" she says, understating their impact on the city and returning to the conversation they'd been on before all the drink ordering fun "In the beginning they at least seemed like they might do some good, now they seem to be cracking under the pressure" shooting someone live on tv certainly seemed desperate. Crazy and dangerous though Harley was Joan hoped she was alright, perhaps if the Joker had saved her Joan might finally have one thing to be thankful to the clown for. Though everytime anything happened to Harley it was the Joker's fault anyway.

[Deleted]

Victor smiled slightly as she said that she didn't mind him sitting here. "OK just wanted to make sure."

Then he listened to what she said about the FBI. He nodded and a big smile cross his face. He figured that he might say what was on his mind. "Well history is full of a smaller force defeating a much larger force. My favorite example is the French Resistance and the German Whermacht during WWII. And then the Veit Cong and us." He said.

'You had to bring that up for the ninth time this week.' Lupin said in his head. Victor bit is tongue slightly to get him to stop. Seeing as they shared the same body. They also shared the same nervous system. When one felt pain the other felt pain. The only draw back he also twitched his eye because he bit harder then he meant to. He hoped she didn't notice.