We Were Born Sick • Gotham Fanfiction •

XXXVII: Breaking Point

"Satan has his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and detested."
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

~()~

Bird stood in Harvey's kitchen next to the coffee pot that she'd started a little while ago while he finished getting ready for work.

Turning around she leaned on the counter with her elbows and thought back to the day before and how ridiculous the choice to leave when she did was. In all honesty she'd halfway expected to wake up with Victor Zsasz at the foot of the bed again –but luckily that had still only been a singular occurrence and she was hoping it stayed that way.

She was startled from her thoughts when a pair arms slid around her until she smiled and leaned back against Harvey as he greeted, "Good morning."

"Morning." She repeated back, closing her eyes and leaning against him, she wished he didn't have to go to work so they could just stay together for the day.
But even if he didn't have to work, she'd still have to go see Falcone and apologize for how she'd left things the day before –if the conversation went well enough she was thinking about asking him why he wanted to keep her alive.

"You're quiet." He observed, still keeping her wrapped in his arms with her back against his chest.

"I'm still waking up." She answered with a small laugh.

"No, I mean you were quiet last night too." Bird couldn't see the expression on his face, but his voice was flooded with concern as he pointed out, "I woke up a little after three in the morning and you weren't in bed."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." Turning around she rested her hands against his chest before reaching up to his blue striped tie to adjust it as she continued, "Then I came across this documentary on TV about the top five most common parasites found in human bodies and..." Her voice trailed off when she saw the disgusted look on his face.

Giving him a wide smile she asked, "You getting something to eat on your way to the office?"

"Not now." He answered, still looking at her a little strange until he leaned in and pecked a kiss to her lips, before he reached above her to retrieve an insulated thermos cup from the cabinet above her head. "I don't know how you can watch that stuff." He admitted.

"It's interesting!" She defended with a grin when he shot her a look to say he didn't agree with the statement at all.

Pulling the lid off the top of the thermos, she turned back to the counter and pulled the coffee pot from the machine to fill the cup, walking over to him she held it out as he poured a splash of milk into the cup and glanced at her from under his brows when he asked, "Was this a normal night of not being able to sleep, or does this have anything to do with Falcone?"

"Harvey." She sighed, watching as he returned the carton of milk to the refrigerator and she twisted the lid back onto the cup, "You promised you wouldn't do this."

Taking the cup from her, he said, "I wasn't pushing... simply offering you the opportunity to open up."
With that he raised the cup to his lips and tilted it back just as she warned, "It's hot!"

With a hiss of pain he reached for his stinging lip with his other hand and Bird shook her head as she laughed, "You do that every single morning."

Despite the pain he smiled at her, setting the cup down on the counter as he wrapped his arms around her and asked, "What are you doing today?"

"Going back to my place to shower and change and then I've got a few things to do today. I might take my brother to lunch if I have time." She shrugged.