Nygmobblepot One Shots

4 Morant

Ed sighed, taking in a deep breath as he stared out at the open space from his balcony. He hardly knew how he got here. It certainly wasn't willing, he knew that much. His eyes swung by the devils drink that sat on the glass table next to him. Half of it gone, half of it calling him. Pondering how much he had already drunk, Ed picked it up and read the sticky note that had been attached to it. 'Drink me'. He glanced down at the table, seeing something else. 'Eat me'. He placed the bottle down and opened the box, revealing white capsules on the inside.

A cold wind passed him, leading his sight into the dark abyss that was the night sky. Gotham City glew dimly beneath him, but it was the sky that held his attention. Reluctantly, his hand raised a small little capsule to his mouth, and he bit down, taking it all of it's contents. Quickly, he washed it down with the brown coloured liquid, but he didn't take his eyes off of the sky. He had no need to.

~•~

It was slightly late when Oswald got home, and he entered an almost silent house, which was unusual. Normally, there would be a faint piano in the background, or there would be mild and muffled mumbling. He glanced around, going room to room looking for any evidence of life. Then he came to the bedroom. Ed laid on the floor, staring up blankly at the ceiling.
"You feeling okay?" Oswald asked, standing in the doorway. "I don't think I've ever come in in you willingly laying on the floor." Ed didn't respond to him, instead he allowed his chest to breathe.

Ed felt like he was somewhere else, anywhere else.
"Do you regret it?" He mumbled. "Regret turning to crime?" He didn't want to talk. "Some people will say that you were never good to begin with if you do something bad, especially murder. I don't know how much I believe in that." Oswald walked over and stared down at the brown-haired male, who didn't react to him at all. "I sometimes wonder what my life could have been like. Could I have had a happy life? Would I have ended up going crazy? Who wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for me turning myself into a monster?"

"Ed, did you take another pill?" Oswald asked. His comment came off as rude, but he was genuinely curious. Ed had to take medication, but it always came off as strange to Oswald, for he never saw the pill bottles. He wasn't allowed to. "You really need to think more before trusting the doctors straight away."

"I wonder if I'd be happy." Ed continued. "I wonder if I'd be swallowing mistakes each day. If I'd be alive or if I'd be six feet under. I could have been married." He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Not that I can't get married. I'm just saying..." He seemed to hold his breath for a second. "I wonder if he'd become angrier at me. I probably wouldn't be me anymore." Ed placed a hand over his heart and another over his brain. "Who would rule?"

~•~

Ed had had an extremely long day at work, which was peculiar as he didn't really have a job. Today he pretended to be a performer and was forced to entertain people. Anything to bring money into the household. Luckily, he didn't have to do anything, but he was forced to sit in the middle of a stage at a piano and play in nothing but a tie and his underwear. It didn't matter if he looked sad or happy, all that mattered was that he didn't bore the patrons. This was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and yet Ed had found himself coming back to the club to do the exact same thing. You got the odd comment about him, the odd threat, the odd touch.

His brain had slowly gotten numb to it now, and he didn't feel as bad anymore. If showing some skin got him payment and compliments, then maybe it wasn't so bad. That was the thought process that stopped Ed from crying himself to sleep at night. He just had to remind himself that he was getting good attention. A very esteemed man who never liked to show skin and slept covering most of his body had convinced himself that it was worth it. Oswald didn't know about it, of course. If he did, then he would have put a stop to it immediately. Ed didn't have to work when he could rob or just live off of what Oswald managed to get.