Unappreciated by all except you.

Chapter 3: A (flip-)FLOP called opening night.

His next encounter with Oswald Cobblepot was brief, uneventful and one sided (if a physical encounter could even be referred to as such.) Although seeing as at the time Penguin was dealing with the backlash of having accidentally revealed to Maroni whilst he was semi conscious that he was Falcone's agent it wasn't surprising that Oswald hadn't noticed when Ed had pressed a cup of water into his hand. Oswald's visit to the GCPD that day had been short and what with the hassle with Maroni and the Electrocutioner's  attack there weren't really any opportunities for socialising. Besides, Penguin had probably forgotten all about their encounter. He probably didn't even know that Ed was alive.

Then one day, shortly after his suspension from the GCPD had been lifted, Ed saw Penguin walk through the main doors with the air of a man on a mission. Ed watched as Oswald made a beeline for Jim Gordon, who looked less than thrilled to see the man he had once been ordered to kill. Edward tried to linger at reasonable distance as he tried to listen into their conversation without being spotted. Despite many horrible experiences in his childhood as a result of eaves dropping Ed could never seem to stop himself from 'spying' on other people, especially if they were people he found interesting.

"It's good to see you old friend" Oswald said with a smile that Ed personally felt that Jim Gordon did not deserve. "What are you doing here?" Jim demanded roughly, straight to the point as usual. Unperturbed, or perhaps even unaware, of the less than warm welcome he was receiving Oswald placed a black envelope into the cops hand. "I wanted to invite you to a party I'm hosting" he continued cheerfully. Jim had the decency to at least pretend to read the invitation before declining and returning it to Oswald. 

"I hear you" Penguin replied, trying not to look too crestfallen "Too busy, I suppose. Are you on a tricky case? Anything I can help you with? " He glanced around briefly before leaning forward slightly and adding "It worked so well the last time." "I don't want your help, it was a mistake to ask the last time" Gordon growled quietly " I don't want you coming here." Penguin drew himself up to his full, but not considerable, height as he stared Jim down coldly. "You shouldn't treat me this way Jim" he said in a voice not totally devoid of anger.

"One day soon, you will need my help. You'll come to me and walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."

Oswald smiled and pressed the envelope into Jim's hand once more. "Good luck with your police work" he continued "and please, reconsider my invitation. It wont be the same without you." In a move that could only be described as heartless Gordon crumpled up the invitation and threw it in the bin before walking away, leaving Oswald gaping after him in dismay. 

Ed let out an involuntary gasp of outrage which brought Penguin's attention to him for the first time that day. Unprepared for being caught out snooping, Ed quickly turned to face the other way and pretended to be reading one of the many files that he was carrying. He didn't realise until too late that he was holding his supposed reading material upside down.

"Ed Nygma?"

Ed looked up from his file to find himself face to face with Oswald Cobblepot. He blushed scarlet. "Hello again, Mr Penguin" he mumbled as he stared at his own shoes shyly. "Oswald, please" Penguin insisted with a smile as warm as the one he had given Detective Gordon. "Oswald" Ed confirmed, then finding he had nothing else to say he decided to improvise.

"Did you know that male emperor penguins keep their eggs warm by balancing them on their feet. Isn't that neat?"

As it turned out Oswald didn't agree. He heaved a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. "Anyway" Penguin said, not quite hiding the exasperation in his voice "this is for you." He handed Edward an invitation identical to the one that Jim had rejected. "There must be some mistake" Ed replied automatically. "You're Edward Nygma, aren't you?" Oswald pointed out, half amused and half frustrated "Penguin jokes and eavesdropping aside, you are still invited. You have showed me several kindnesses during my visits here and I refuse to let them go unacknowledged." So he really did remember him, Ed realised suddenly and 'several kindnesses' suggested that the glass of water hadn't gone as unnoticed as he had thought.  The fact that Oswald had recognised and appreciated his efforts meant more to him than he could explain.