#I like 'three words eight letters' because it's super cheesy and Ed would definitely announce his love with a crossword clue

[thepuzzlepirate]

Part 2 (Part 1)

AU -  Between episodes 3x05 and 3x06 of Gotham, instead of Oz being the one to realise how he really feels about Edward, it’s Ed that comes to that conclusion. Now it’s the following day and Ed is trying to confirm what his feelings really are for the other man by facing his problem head on.

Edward Nygma x Oswald Cobblepot - Gotham AU

It was a good job Edward was particularly organised when it came to his work, or this morning would have been a disaster. Despite wanting to cling to the many distractions the role of Chief of Staff could offer, he found he couldn’t keep his attention focused on anything for more than a couple of minutes at a time. But that was fine, because he was already ahead of his to-do list. Oswald’s schedules for the day had been pre-prepared of course, written in advance the day before, and checking through them earlier that morning had only taken a couple of seconds. The files for the city clerk only needed a couple of signatures and then they were done, and Ed had been tinkering with the little ‘gift’ for Nicky the Nail for days now, so that was all ready to go as well.

Which meant when Edward found himself lazily gazing out of the window behind his desk instead of actively doing... anything else, he didn’t have to feel too guilty for not working. The sound of a cough did make him jump though, as one of Oswald’s staff members demanded his attention from where she was hovering at the end of his desk. He found himself clearing his throat self-consciously and turning towards the files she’d come to pick up without acknowledging the fact he may have been slightly daydreaming when she’d walked in. 

“These go directly to the city clerk’s office,” he began, pushing the necessary papers into an envelope and handing them over to her, before turning to the more interesting delivery. “And this...” he said slowly, trying to ensure he didn’t shake the strange wooden box too much as he placed it down in front of her. His hands stayed protectively on the top of his little creation as he listed off instructions for her, attempting to get the sense of urgency across to the woman about its contents through just his tone (although the large wick sticking out of the side of it may have given that away already). “Leave this outside Nicky the Nail’s place. Knock twice. Light it. And then run.” 

He finally removed his fingers as she went to pick up the box, only responding with a confused, “Okay...” but then this wasn’t the strangest task she’d been asked to do in this job so far anyway. He was just about to turn back to the remaining papers on his desk, now nothing but Oswald’s schedules really, when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, with a very familiar lob-sided gait, and he glanced up again to see the Mayor entering the room.

And Ed’s heart stopped for a moment.

Oh dear.

Well.

That was quite powerful evidence, wasn’t it?

Oswald had made it all the way over to Ed’s desk before he’d managed to do anything more than stare at the advancing figure with an almost dazed expression on his features, and it had clearly been noted. “Good morning my Chief of Staff. Is something the matter?”

Though it was clearly too late to act ‘normal’, Ed jumped to his feet quickly with the two schedules in hand, hoping to make up for the time he’d lost in wondering why the hell his heart had suddenly begun beating faster once it had deigned to start up again. There was nothing different about Oswald today than any other day, there was nothing new, nothing special about this meeting compared to any other - except for what he’d been dwelling on all of last night. Had he just talked himself into this reaction? Had he got himself so wrapped up in figuring out this mystery that the adrenaline of getting close to an answer had spiked such a physical response?

Or was it really just as simple as seeing his best friend in a different light for the first time? Were the butterflies in his stomach the same ones he’d felt every time he’d laid eyes on a pretty girl back in high school? This was the reaction he’d been looking for after all, wasn’t it? When he’d been concocting a plan this very morning to identify the true reason for his insomnia, it was this exact response he’d been expecting if the answer was in fact love. And even he could tell his vague attempts to brush it off as something else were weak and desperate. But still, fighting it felt better than just accepting the truth.

It couldn’t be the truth.

But what other options were there for why his chest felt so tight he could barely breathe as he met the increasingly worried gaze of his friend? “No, sorry, I just, didn’t sleep very well last night. So I’m a little bit slow today, my apologies Mr Mayor.” It wasn’t the strongest excuse in the world, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either, and his mind was running too sluggishly to come up with anything better.

“Are you sure? I told you we should have taken you to a doctor, I will kill Butch the next time I see him!” Oswald’s concern quickly shifted into anger as he latched on to Ed’s apology with enough vigour to make the taller man breath a silent sigh of relief.

It caused Ed to smile a little too though: he still wasn’t quite used to someone defending him so ardently like that. It was... nice. “I have your schedules for the day,” he continued, hoping to breeze back into work talk as though there was nothing at all different about today. He handed over the two thin bundles of paper as he spoke, explaining, “This covers your duties as mayor, and this as kingpin of the underworld.”

That seemed to be enough to distract Oswald for now, who frowned slightly at the quick change of subject but otherwise let his gaze run down the list of activities for the day. “You really are settling into your role here, aren’t you Ed?” the mayor said, almost proudly, as he smiled up at the taller man.

And again, Ed just melted.

He tried to return the smile, but he seemed to have lost any control over his jaw, so his lips just sort of twitched into vaguely the right shape instead. And his exhale was almost audible, the slightest hint of a sigh carried out on it as though he’d deflated with the action. He hadn’t felt so overwhelmed by something as simple as a smile since back in the GCPD whenever Kristen had voluntarily come over to talk to him. And even then, this felt different. He’d been clinging to something he knew wasn’t quite there with Kristen, trying to extend every moment she was in his company because he knew she didn’t quite want to be there. In hindsight, it had been a little desperate and she’d obviously seen that. But Oswald wanted to be here, wanted to talk to him, and that smile had been genuine, and h-

“Ed?” Oswald looked concerned again, more so than last time now, and Ed internally cursed at himself for being the cause of that expression. He hadn’t realised how long he’d been staring in silence, again, how long he’d been lost in his own thoughts. It was a fairly common occurrence for him, and it had annoyed people for years, the way he would stay focused on a task or a train of thought even while someone tried to speak to him. But he’d been making a very conscious effort not to do that around Oswald - the man was important enough to demand all of his attention after all.

“Sorry, I was, distracted again, I was just thinking about what you said about Butch.” Again, it was a stretch, but he wasn’t about to explain what he really was thinking about. The evidence was practically undeniable by this point, but until he had decided on a follow up course of action, he was going to ignore it with all of his might. “I... came up empty tracking him down.” It suddenly felt so much harder to say what he’d planned to on this topic, and he found himself floundering at the end of his sentence, gaze dropping to the floor like maintaining eye contact was too difficult. He knew failing at the task was letting Oswald down, and ever since he’d started putting out feelers for Butch’s location he’d been more bothered by that fact than by his own fury at letting the brainless oaf slip away from him. It certainly didn’t help that his morning had not been half as productive in that field as he’d hoped, what with his inability to stay focused on any one task for more than a minute.

Perhaps with a little more effort this afternoon he could do better, but it didn’t look promising. And he didn’t want to admit to Oswald that it had been his own lack of motivation this morning that had slowed the process. Who would have thought he would be so preoccupied by something other than tracking down Butch? His fool-proof scheme to catch the man red handed as the leader of the Red Hood Gang had been all-consuming from the moment he’d worked out the secret of that pocket square, and yet now it felt like a distant memory. It meant he’d lost the anger behind the words he’d planned earlier, and instead his tone sounded entirely apologetic. “He managed to disappear somehow, I suspect he’s hiding with his old crew but...” He didn’t openly want to admit that he’d failed a task, but there was no way to easily wiggle out of this one either. “Oswald, I’m so sorry, I’ve let you down, I should have been able to locate him easily, I should hav-”

Oswald didn’t interrupt him often. He certainly had the authority to, and Ed knew to quickly stop talking when that hand was raised to halt his speech, but the Penguin didn’t like to enforce such a thing on his friends. But he recognised the self-destructive loop Ed could get trapped in if given a free enough rein to do so. And hearing him apologise multiple times would do nothing but make both of them feel worse. “Ed, you have done nothing of the sort, not at all. Is this what you’ve been worrying about?” Oz took a step closer to him, placing a comforting hand on his friend’s upper arm. “Butch is a coward if his only plan is to run and hide; we’ll just wait until he surfaces for air and then snatch him out of the ground like a worm. But you have done more than enough for me already in this area, so please, don’t concern yourself with him.” 

Honestly, Ed hadn’t heard much after Oswald’s hand had touched his arm, instead trying his hardest not to look down at the gesture as though a wasp had landed there and was waiting to sting at any moment. Again, this was nothing new. Contact like this had happened numerous times before and yet this time he was suddenly struggling to keep his feet on the ground.

Maybe he was sick. Maybe it wasn’t love at all, maybe he was just deathly ill and all these strange reactions were symptoms. It was starting to sound just as plausible as Option A by this point. 

“Thank you, Oswald,” he settled on in the end, hoping to cover all bases with such a blanket statement. It got a smile back so it must have worked at least somewhat, and Ed quickly took the opportunity to move them back onto task before his sudden allergic reaction to any sort of proximity with Oswald did anything else to get him in trouble. “We should be going though; you’re touring a school first, and the press will be there so we don’t want to be late.” He made a swift movement past Oswald as soon as his words were out, heading for the door as he heard his friend mutter something about his love of children under his breath. He was out into the corridor before Oswald had taken a step, and took the momentary solitude to breathe an over-dramatic sigh and rub his hands across his face. That was their first meeting of the day, and Oswald’s schedule was busy. There were still hours of time left that Ed had to spend in his company today, and yet he barely seemed capable of holding a conversation with the man at the moment.

Whatever happened, today was going to be long...

#Sig writes #Nygmobblepot #fanfiction #I should probably come up with a name for this AU if I'm going to write more for it =P #I like 'three words eight letters' because it's super cheesy and Ed would definitely announce his love with a crossword clue #Gotham #Gotham AU #Edward Nygma #Oswald Cobblepot #Riddler #Penguin #DC