Richly Insecure [Ozzy]

[Lola Marks]

Lola walked through the halls, rehearsing her lines over and over in her head. She didn’t know why she was spending so much time on it, she should just walk right in and talk to him. She should tell him how she felt about it and exactly what she wanted. She should demand it from him, how dare he try to keep anything from her after all of this! The least he could do would be tell her sweet lies so she has something to go on, but no, he was locked away in his office, working on God knows what.

She was more important than whatever he was working on and She deserved better than this! She deserved better! She adjusted her mink on her shoulders and fixed her hair as her heels clicked quickly against the floor. Lola was going to march in there and lay everything down on the line. She was going to walk in and tell him exactly how it was. She demanded his attention and his love. She deserved it!

As Lola got deeper into her own thoughts she walked faster and faster on the floor, becoming more upset by the moment. She held an air of confidence in herself. She was beautiful, stunning from head to toe, he should consider himself so lucky to have her through all of this! This city was ripped apart and re put together and all the while hushed deals and more plans behind hidden doors. Her thoughts reflected to how much he’d confided in her only for more of it to happen without her knowing. How much was he involved in all of this? What exactly was he doing?

And most importantly, were they making any money?!

He had to have a high status still or they couldn’t be where they were and he was always so busy he had to be doing something. But what was he doing! And when was he going to take her shopping! Not that she really needed him to go shopping, she just needed his wallet, but it was nice for him to judge outfits for her sometimes. It was nice to be taken out to dinner every once and a while. It was nice to get another pair of shoes or bags or coats!

Her fingers wrapped around the door handle to his office and she took a deep breath to steady herself. With her head held high she walked in and went straight up to the desk. She was going to let him have it, this was it! “…………………Puffin.” She almost sniffed, everything seemingly falling apart. She was scared about the new transition. She wanted reassurance, she wanted to feel secure. She wanted to know that they still had a place among these people and that it mattered. She wanted to know that SHE mattered. But after the small break she held her head up again and tried to enact the lines she’s practiced. “I want to know what you’re doing. What we’re doing.” She finally managed to speak out as if the first word of weakness in herself never happened.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Days, weeks shut in his office, Oswald could almost lose track of the time staring at his computer, taking his calls. Monitoring, observing, arranging. Gotham had changed and it was time to plan big, to secure his future and perhaps more than that. It was of course difficult to ignore the change around the mansion after he gave the east wing to Lola and the accompanying thoughts which had come with it. Thankfully he was able to bury such thoughts in work, distractions were not something he could afford now.

Judging by the increasing stubble it had been at least three days since Oswald had really taken a proper break. The smoke from his endless line of cigarettes lingered in the room as he stared at one of three monitors attached to his computer, a news program playing on a TV in the background as he typed, bouncing arrangements between shell companies to cover his tracks, no two ingredients seemed to come from the same place.

The sudden movement of the door immediately snapped his attention and the rage that had been bubbling since the loss of the club flared, ready to burn whichever member of his staff dared to enter without requesting permission. His eyes twitch when he sees who it is and the endless battle resumed where the rage wanted to continue unchecked but something held him back with Lola. That little voice that told him to stop, look at her first. He looked, the familiar features soothing him with their history bringing his mind out of his work if only temporally.

His eyes narrowed as she got closer though, something was wrong and his rage instantly refocused towards whatever was upsetting his Lola "What's wrong my dear?" She explained and he almost had time to blame himself before he pinned it on Gotham for everything they'd done lately that was making him work so hard to keep his place in society.

He stretched out his hand for her, encouraging her to come around the desk though his other hand had already pressed the keys necessary to hide what he was doing on the monitors "My dove, you should not worry so much, you must trust me. The future, our future, has been threatened and must be secured again. Are you not happy with your rooms here? The clothes? Shoes? Would you like the cooks to make you something special?" He offers endless distractions but of course not an actual answer.

[Lola Marks]

Lola saw the invitation of his hand and gracefully she took it and moved around the desk. The click of her heels was slow as she came around and moved close enough to sit in his lap if she wanted to. She didn't, but it was tempting. Instead, she held his hand and continued to pout.

She listened to him tell her not to worry, but not to worry about what? She knew something was wrong. So many things had changed and she'd been left in the dark about all of it. She wanted to know things, she could handle knowing things! She wanted to know things because if you knew things you were important. Not to be confused with going to school and getting that kind of book smart but knowing things that other people knew that got them in trouble. That was where the real power was. In this world it wasn't what you knew, it was who you knew and WHAT you knew about them.

There was obviously something to worry about and it wasn't that she didn't think he could handle it, she just wanted him to handle it with her. Yes, yes he showered her with gifts. She didn't want to complain about the hundreds of pairs of shoes, designer bags, jewelry and multiple rooms of her own but she was about to. Enough was enough! She simply didn't have enough things. She was bored with the things she had and the things that he was offering her again was just a repeat of the last things. Lola wanted something new.

"Those things are nice…" She sighed as if she wasn't satisfied but was trying to sound thankful for them. Living here had been fantastic since the last time she'd been assaulted by Gotham's worst. This city was crazy enough without being bored all the time. "But I want to be involved in what you're doing. I want to do something. I can shop any time I want." She took his hand from his and now crossed them, a little more upset than she was before.

There was a quick glance at his desk but there wasn't anything immediately that caught her eye. It didn't look like he was doing anything except staring, which she knew couldn't be true. If all he was doing was sitting in here staring then she had an even bigger problem with what was going on. He could be staring at HER.

What to give the woman that has everything? Attention.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald expected her to sit so when she didn't he could see the action for the protest it was. He tried to gauge how serious this was, how set she was to learn things that Oswald was reluctant to share.

That was the problem, Lola was right about the power of knowing things that would get someone in to trouble. Oswald did not like to give others that power over him. He had shown her his history to escape the threat that someone would do it for him but he'd hadn't said much about his present business and his history was a matter of public record, the worst of it making the papers. He'd shown her little she couldn't have looked up or been told by someone looking to warn her off or steal her for themselves.

Lola wanted him to trust her with his plans. Oswald in a way wanted to too but he had been burnt too many times to indulge in a thing like trust and besides there was no need for her to know and little she would be able to help with.

Oswald couldn't tell her everything. He couldn't tell her he was trying to manipulate the start of a gang war or anonymously tipping off the cops to new hiding spots of the other mob bosses. He'd lost his headquarters and so much of his territory to Arkham City and the mansion was now his only suitably fortified location to conduct that sort of business from. He'd gone about acquiring a new set of offices for his public face but his criminal side lurked in the dark, ordering goons from the shadows, doing deals through third parties and waiting to pounce. The more the other gangs fought for the remaining land in Gotham the better and the more men the cops threw in to Arkham the weaker they became on the outside. A wrong word to the wrong person though and every mod boss in the city could turn on him. While Oswald was accustomed to the game he played Lola was not.

Still, he had to give her something or she'd never leave him alone...or worse leave him alone forever.

She sounded like perhaps she was simply bored, a restlessness that shopping could not solve.

He stood as he spoke, still holding on to her hand to keep her close "No one wants to be involved in meetings" he says quietly, discouraging her further. He wanted her plausible deniability intact but she also had no experience with the Gotham underworld.

Oswald glanced back to his computer. He knew there was one thing he could show her, it would likely solve his problem but it was like admitting to a life long dream when you're still afraid to try and make it a reality. The moment he told someone it would become real. Yes a few of his staff knew but he'd been considering the idea for years, at this point they probably didn't believe he'd really do it. Lola he's sure would believe it and that meant he'd actually have to go and do it. That was a somewhat terrifying idea.

With a deep breath he quickly gives her hand a squeeze and taps on his computer a few times "There is something I have been working on...I had considered this for some time. Perhaps your opinion would be...nice" the computer didn't bring him back to the things he had been working on, she didn't need to see him shopping for micro-explosives parts. Instead the computer requested a username and password and Oswald used the details for his spare login, the one he kept clean in case he was ever court ordered to provide such information. He navigated quickly around until finally he had a little group of images. They all looked like posters and as he opened one up it proudly showed a picture of himself with the title 'Cobblepot for Mayor' "This is just a mock up of course, the final design is under consideration" he flicked through the other images and they were all along the same lines, all different designs for potential campaign posters.