Unappreciated by all except you.

Chapter 2: Bonding over toiletries.

"Detective Bullock!"

Ed watched from a distance as Harvey made his way over to where Penguin was being held. Ed would be lying if he said that he hadn't been keeping a casual eye out for news regarding the criminals activities, he was an individual that Ed found inexplicably fascinating. 

"Please, sir, I beg of you" Penguin cried desperately as, after a brief conversation, Bullock turned to walk away "My patron, Don Maroni, is obviously unaware of my predicament. A simple phone call would resolve things, I'm sure." "But you see" Bullock replied with a look of fake pity "I like having you here. I can sit at my desk and look at you. It's soothing, like a bonsai tree." Penguin stared at him in utter disbelief as Bullock then turned and walked over to his desk without another word.

Edward hung back for a moment, unsure what his next move was going to be. He wasn't going to deny, the urge to officially meet Oswald Cobblepot was one that was difficult to resist. However, he doubted his colleges would take to kindly to him 'socialising' with a known criminal without valid reason. Still, he felt drawn to Penguin in a way that he couldn't really explain. The man intrigued him. 

"Hey Nygma, have you got that analysis I asked for?" Alvarez called suddenly. Reluctantly Ed got back to work. His decision on what to do about his 'Penguin problem' would have to wait.

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"Hello." 

Oswald looked up irritably from his perch on the uncomfortable bench that was the only furnishing in his shared cell. A tall man in a lab coat and glasses was smiling at him a little too widely. "Yes?" Oswald snapped, getting grudgingly to his feet as Gabe continued to snore loudly. 

"Without an arm I am extended, I am not a gift but I am given, I am there when you need me most but can never be expected. What am I?"

Oswald frowned. "Are you asking me a riddle?" he demanded, too tired and crabby to attempt figuring out the answer. "A helping hand" the man replied as he held out a moist towelette proudly. It was usually some uni's job to hand these out at the start of the morning but Ed had beaten them to it, as excuses for talking to prisoners went it wasn't the greatest but it was the best he had been able to come up with. 

Oswald, looking nonplussed, accepted the offering with a nod of thanks before asking "Who exactly are you?" "Edward. Nygma" Ed replied with another enthusiastic smile. Oswald nodded once more although this answer had meant absolutely nothing to him. "You're not a cop" he said, merely confirming a suspicion. Edward didn't have either the sense of authority or self assurance that one usually got with police officers. "No" Ed chuckled "I'm in forensics." 

"And you are talking to me because?"

"Oh, I'm just an admirer" Ed answered before instantly realising that that hadn't sounded good. Penguin raised an eyebrow. "Let me rephrase that" Edward muttered as he pushed his glasses up his nose self consciously. He doubted he was making a very good impression but then he guessed he should be used to that. "I dare say that would be a good idea. I'm not sure 'admirer' is the sort of word you should use when talking to a known criminal, seeing as you work for the police force and all" Oswald remarked, not quite hiding his amusement. Ed was unbelievably irritating and subtly creepy but there was something about him that seemed to draw Oswald to him. He was better company than Gabe at any rate (although that wasn't saying much.)

"It's just that I know what it's like to always be underestimated and unappreciated" Ed said "To never be taken seriously." At this point he threw a surprising dark look in the direction of Harvey Bullock and Oswald's curiosity was kindled. He had caught a glimpse of something unexpected in Edward during that brief moment, something all together different from the shy and seemingly subservient man he had at first taken him for. Perhaps there was more to Ed than meets the eye. 

"Some times being underestimated can be a strength" Oswald replied carefully. "If you play your cards right" Ed finished for him eagerly "Something you certainly know how to do if rumours are to be believed." "You had better be careful or I'll think you're just trying to interrogate me" Penguin teased, surprised at how quickly he had grown accustomed to his new conversation partner. Edward didn't miss the light threat hidden behind the smile but for some reason it didn't bother him. "Oh, I'd never do that" he smirked and he had a confidence about him that seemed strangely natural for some one so clearly inexperienced at social interaction. 

That confidence quickly vanished however, when he caught sight of the red headed woman walking past. "Hello Ms Kringle" he blurted out, abandoning his conversation as he practically ran up to her. "Mr Nygma" Kristen Kringle sighed exasperatedly, stopping reluctantly.

"It grows and blossoms, it dies and wilts, it happens in the beginning and happens in the end, it can make you cry, it can make you sad, it can make you smile and can make you brave. What is it?"

"Mr Nygma" Kristen snapped "Why do you insist on tormenting me with these constant riddles?!" "Tormenting seems like a strong word" Ed muttered but Kristen paid him no attention. She took a deep breath as she composed herself. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some filing to do" she said sheepishly before turning on her heel and walking off without another word. "It was nice talking to you" Edward called after her forlornly but he received no reply.  A snort of laughter from behind him brought his attention back to Penguin once more.

"What?" he asked, glaring furiously. He didn't like being laughed at. Oswald raised an eyebrow before saying "I Hate to break it to you my friend but she isn't the least bit interested. You're wasting your time." There was a moments silence as they both took a moment to reflect on the unusual turn their conversation had taken, the last thing either of them had expected discussing was dating advice. Ed heaved a heavy sigh. He knew deep down that Penguin was right, he just couldn't understand why Kristen didn't seem to like him. "But those muscled morons she hangs around with can hardly provide very interesting company. Surely there's something I can do" he argued despondently. Oswald rolled his eyes. What a morning. 

"Look, obviously clever just isn't her type and if that is the case then you probably wouldn't like her anyway. Just forget about it and move on. You can't make people like you. That much I do know. Now, unless you want to lie to or manipulate someone then I can't help you. I'm not some criminal fairy godmother and even if I was, this is way outside of my jurisdiction."

They both stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing at the strangeness of the situation. "Ok. Forget Kristen and don't treat you like a fairy godmother. Got it" Ed smiled. Before anything else could be said however, Don Maroni stormed into the GCPD. Knowing that it was time for him to disappear Ed shrunk back into the shadows and watched as Penguin called over to his 'boss.' Maroni however, didn't seem particularly pleased to see Oswald and considering the circumstances that was kind of understandable. By the sounds of the conversation that followed it seemed that Oswald had ended up jailed because he had gotten too ahead of himself and tried to raise some taxes without permission. To be honest though, Ed wasn't overly interested in that. What did grab his attention though was what Maroni said to Penguin a minute later.

"I like you. You're a good monkey" Maroni said as he held Oswald's face in his hands in a way that was designed to intimidate "But you are just a monkey, and I'm the zoo keeper." How Maroni failed to see the look of exquisite rage on Oswald's face was a mystery to Edward, but then again it seemed that the people of Gotham were well practiced in ignoring the obvious. Anger welled up inside him on Oswald's behalf at Maroni's words and Ed watched as the mob boss made his way to the door, glad to see the back of him.

For a split second he thought he saw Oswald look back at him as he was dragged out of the GCPD by Maroni but Ed quickly dismissed the idea as simply wishful thinking. He wasn't entirely sure why he had gone to talk to Penguin in the first place. He had no idea why getting the mans attention seemed to mean so much to him. It was a pointless endeavour anyway, Oswald would probably have forgotten that he even existed by the time the week was out. Ed sighed, it was something he was more than used to.