A Clever Fascination

Chapter 38 - A Minefield

hi. so i'm going through a pretty rough breakup and have been a bit m.i.a on here.
so this chapter is a bit longer & i hope that makes up for it :)

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Kit had gone back to her room, slid the big window open as far as she could reach and sat on that windowsill for hours. She needed air. It wasn't often enough anymore that Kit saw greenery from a comfy spot in a window. The house was almost definitely on the outskirts of the city, near the forests. She collected herself, her thoughts, like this. In silence with herself.

Yet, she still waited. Just out of curiosity. To see if he would knock on her door. At first she thought he was bound to, given that he told her he was ordering takeout food. But it was now reading fifteen minutes past midnight on the clock. Kit made sure it was correct, the evening had gone by quickly, meaning he likely wasn't going to disturb her.

The door wasn't even fully closed for heavens sake! She had left it open for Pemberley, of course, but he easily could have knocked or called out?

It was just one of many things that were getting to Kit. Her situation was insane, unsafe and went against everything she stood for. The longer those thoughts stewed in her head, the angrier she got. Anger was an emotion Kit had a good hold on, she learned to make a safe space for her anger and dealt with it. Otherwise, the usually polite and good natured woman knew that she could become overwhelmed and unpleasant.

This was all wrong. She shouldn't want to see him. He wasn't somebody to be excited about, drawn in by. That was what he wanted, and Kit had resisted just fine before.

Ed would eventually go to see her again. In the morning of their second day. He had just wanted to spend these next couple of days how they had spent yesterday afternoon, but she seemed irritated. He'd greeted her normally, then proceeded to asking if everything was alright. Her answers were short, at first. The detective had likely been in that window all night and, once again, hadn't slept.

"You're cranky."

"Excuse me?" Kit had been in her room all morning and she wasn't conversational.

"You never left your room to eat last night. You haven't slept. You're cranky." Ed sat down on the bed, across the room from the window seat Kit hadn't left for hours.

His comment made her look over at him. Kit's frustrations were about to be taken out on her host if he didn't watch his mouth. She got these incredibly irritating migraines at times and the after effects of the fear toxin made them so much worse. She regretted not trying harder to sleep. Maybe if she, around the early hours of the morning, had laid down and closed her eyes then she wouldn't feel this sluggish.

"I'm not cranky, my head hurts and I couldn't sleep because of it. That's on the list of things you don't say to women, Ed."

"I don't need lessons in women."

He watched her. Ed wouldn't admit it out loud but the temperament of the detective today was a little thrilling. He used to study her different emotions but since she was here, now he just had to observe.

"Are you sure? You did kill your girlfriend that one time, no?" She was being argumentative, sharp and far less cautious than usual.

The comment vexed him, just slightly. She hadn't even been in Gotham back then, she wasn't aware of the vast majority of his life. Kit's scathing accusation came out of her mouth before she could stop it. The emotional toll of the past few days was catching up and usually she would spend this time alone. But she'd chosen to be here and was now taking it out on Ed.

"What you're referring to was an accident. It's not wise to speak on things you don't know anything about." He seemed to keep his cool, which a twisted part of her hated.