OTP Oneshots

A Penguin For a Penguin

It's cold. That's the only thing Oswald can think about as they lead him to the small room to see Edward. It's nothing new, he's come to visit several times, and each time he always distracts himself with how cold it is. It's a nice way to keep his mind off the fact that he was once in Ed's position, that his dear friend is still locked up while he himself is living a lie, masquerading as a sane civilian when, in fact, his more violent side has expressed itself more than once now.

He sits across from Ed, the cool metal table separating them.

"Something's bothering you." Ed states, always knowing when somethings playing on the criminals mind.

"I'm scared." Oswald admits. The forwardness of their conversations is nothing new.

"Of what, Ossie?" Ed asks, and a smile tugs on the corners of Oswald's mouth; he loves it when Ed calls him by his nickname.

"Fish. She's too much of a threat." He confides.

"I wouldn't worry about her."

"Why not? She has some sort of power now." It still feels weird for Oswald to say; these types of things are only supposed to be real in movies or books.

"That doesn't matter, you're stronger than she is. You'll persevere." Ed's words are reassuring but Oswald can't help but feel that twinge of doubt. He used to be at the top, he used to be ruling this damn city. Now he's back at the bottom, and pitted against Fish no less. She's smart and ruthless and Oswald doesn't know if he'll be able to make it through this, not after everything he's been through, not after what Strange put him through and now he's breathing hard and his mind is racing and he doesn't know if he's breathing or not anymore but his head is spinning and all he can think about is how cold

Cold

Cold

"Ossie?"

Ed's voice brings him back to the present, back to the real world, it grounds him and he looks up into Ed's beautiful brown eyes and he feels a little bit more at ease.

"I don't know if I can do this." He chuckles softly, trying to lift himself out of this pit he feels he's sinking into.

"Hey, you just remember; Penguin's eat Fish." Ed says, sliding an origami penguin toward him.

Realization hits Oswald. He's right, Ed is absolutely right. He always is. Oswald just needs to remember who he is and all that he's accomplished. He reaches for the penguin on the desk, cold hands briefly touching cold metal and then he feels warm flesh as his fingers brush Ed's. He stills, fingers wrapping lightly around the gift as Ed's fingers lightly brush against his hand, stroking Oswald's cold digits and spreading warmth through his skin, trying to be reassuring in the gesture but succeeding only in making Oswald's heart flutter. Their fingers linger one second too long and they both feel it, the unspoken affection and longing for closeness beyond these short visits separated by a cold metal table.

Oswald retracts his hands, taking the small penguin with him. He looks down at it, cheeks heating up, trying desperately to look anywhere but at Ed because if he looks up at those eyes he might just do something stupid.

"You, uh, made this?" Oswald asks.

"Yeah, It... kept my mind from the overwhelming boredom."

"They let you do arts and crafts in Arkham?" Oswald finally looks up, but Ed is staring at the table.

"It's a new thing, they thought it would be beneficial for some of the patients." He explains.

"Oh."

There's a cough from behind him and Oswald knows that it's his signal to leave. He stands and Ed stands with him, walking around the table so they finally have nothing separating them.

"I'll be back soon." Oswald says, catching Ed's eyes once more.

Ed nods, and then he reaches out and wraps his long fingers lightly around Oswald's wrist and the warmth is back in his skin and his heart excelerates once more.

"You can do this." He says again.

This time Oswald nods, and then Ed releases him and turns away.

It's cold, Oswald thinks as he makes his way out of the building, and he finds himself longing for the warmth of Edward Nygma.   

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Something I wrote a couple weeks before the season premier but had forgotten to post here (oops). Hope you enjoyed my little reimagining of this scene! <3