Nygmobblepot

reasons

Oswald entered the master bedroom with the expectation that Edward's belongings would be moved. After all, he'd given him a chance to do so while he distracted Eleanor once they brought her home. Instead of finding the room half-empty, Oswald found his spouse in bed with the blankets pulled up to his shoulders, his belongings in their places completely undisturbed.

"Ed."

The taller man pressed his fingers to the inner corners of his eyes with a sniff. He cleared his throat. "Oswald."

"Ellie's asleep. We need to talk."

"I'm not in the mood."

Oswald scoffed. He didn't know why he expected anything different. "Well, at the risk of sounding like a skipping disc, you can't avoid me forever."

He turned and made his way toward the bathroom with uneven steps. He needed a bath to ease his muscles. Shutting the door behind him, Oswald sighed. Edward and Eleanor: his loves and current sources of anxiety. What was he going to do? The sound of the water as it filled the tub helped him start the process of clearing his mind. He peeled off his clothes and tossed them into the hamper. He needed to get his spineless assistant to take its contents to the dry cleaner tomorrow. Oswald shook his head. He couldn't worry about his to-do list for home or the club. He needed to fix his marriage and get his daughter back to herself. A groan left his lips as he slid down into the water. He hoped the Epsom salt would help with the pain. Oswald rested his head on the back of the tub and stared at the ornate ceiling. What was he going to do?

"Oz?"

He turned his attention to the doorway. Edward stood before him, hair mussed, eyes puffy. Oswald's gaze wandered further down to his grey t-shirt. He bit his lip at the sight of those blue boxer briefs that hugged Ed's body. If both men weren't so upset, he'd take him against the counter. Edward shut the door behind him and stepped deeper into the room. He set down the baby monitor in his hand. Oswald eyed it as though he expected to hear something other than Eleanor's music box and the faint sound of her even breathing. Thank heavens she was still sleeping. He sunk deeper into the tub until the water reached his clavicle.

Ed leaned back against the counter. He folded his arms, cupping his elbows in his palms. "Oswald, I need to talk."

Oswald scooped bubbles into his hand, opting not to respond. He wasn't sure that he could calmly reply to Ed's use of the word I. Of course he had wanted to talk now, when it was convenient for him to do so.

"I'm sometimes white, and always wrong. I can break a heart and hurt the strong. I can build love and tear it down. I can make a smile, but more often bring a frown. What am I?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you've been lying to me?" said Oswald. "Because honestly I don't think I can take hearing that you've cheated on me."

Ed wrung his hands. "I haven't been unfaithful to you. I took our wedding vows seriously."

"What you just said, is that the lie?"

"No. The lie is that I've been living the last three months as though I'm fine—we're fine—when I'm—we're—not. I think we should divorce because we've been drifting apart. I want a divorce because we've changed since Eleanor. It's not a bad change, it's a welcome one at times, but it's a change no less. We're not the same."

Oswald placed his arms on the side of the tub and rested his chin on top of them. "Oh, honey. We can't afford to be the same."

Ed bristled. He disliked that patronizing tone.

"Dear, we just can't engage in nearly as much outwardly criminal activity—you know, killing people because we lost our tempers, threatening and torturing people, all of that other stuff because we have Eleanor. Before, if one of us ended up in Arkham, it was fine. Now, if that happened, we'd be condemning the other to the struggles of single parenthood. Edward, I saw how much my mother struggled. Even though she tried not to let on, I picked up on it. Eleanor already picks up on every little thing. Imagine what would happen then. I don't want Eleanor to have to deal with that. We agreed we didn't want that for her, or us."