Pulling her over into his lap, Edward started braiding her hair, since it was silky, soft, and right there. He always liked to keep his fingers occupied when talking, after all. "I'm sure he'd play with you, but he might not be the best at playing. I don't think anyone played with him growing up."
He could not be certain, but he was fairly sure that was true. Perhaps some crows played with him, odds were it was that. When they weren't trying to eat him, anyway. It was all very Hitchcock, Lovecraft, Poe, Gothic horror all over the place. "But I bet he'd love a drawing. He likes crows. And scarecrows. Pumpkins... He really likes spooky things and Halloween."
"Halloween is the best. I love it. You get candy and you get to be all gross and scary! But only for one day. Da-- old dad, he used to say that we can't go out on Halloween. It sucks but I know I can't. Is it safer here?" Edward lived in a nice part of town, up a nice hill, away from the Narrows and more upper end. Very fancy. Maybe they did trick or treat here. "I wanted to get candy last year but the mean ol' Scarecrow made everything gross and scary so we couldn't go."
And she hated that! She wanted to go so bad. Why did he have to hit the Narrows? Why not the fancy places? "Do you think Jonathan will take me out for Halloween? Is he a fun friend?"
"Mean ol' Scarecrow, huh?" Well, that was predictable and awkward but also just a little bit funny. Would certainly give Jonathan a new perspective of the kind of Halloween spirit he liked the spread all over town. "We'll ask Jon and maybe he'll take us out for Halloween. He is super, super fun on Halloween."
Not the kind of fun he'd really want a child around for, but hey. Maybe the old Crane could learn new tricks yet. "And either way, I'll make sure you and I can go trick or treating on Halloween. That mean ol' Scarecrow is quite scared of the Riddler throwing a hissy fit."
"You never ruin any holidays. I always liked that. I got no Halloween candy and I wanted to see Santa last year but the Joker scared him out of Gotham so I never gave him my list." Stephanie didn't like most of the rogues, they ruined everywhere fun. No safe Christmas, Halloween or parades. Clowns were deadly, houseplants were scary and Alice in Wonderland was banned at school. Which was sad. She thought the movie was funny.
"If the Joker comes to bother you, I'll kick his butt for you. I'll use a flying kick. I know how. I do Kung Fu." She took one lesson once. So yeah. Expert.
"I have a secret weapon against the Joker, you know? It's a super, super secret weapon and it only really works for me, if I use it sparingly." Edward didn't mind telling her secrets. He felt it was part of making her be good at keeping them. Had to trust her. Besides, there weren't exactly many she could blab this to, nor would the effect be replicable for literally anyone else. "When he gets too scary, I try and look into his eyes and I call him Jackie. That usually works."
It was the ultimate safe-word. Which was why he made sure to only ever use it under extremely dire circumstances. "But Scarecrow, he's a lot easier than that. For me. So don't worry, Halloween will be fun for you from now on. And for Christmas, honestly, we'll just go somewhere else. Maybe to the mountains, you can learn skiing."
She liked the idea of a magic word that could tame the beast. She was excited to try it out. She hummed to herself as Edward braided her hair and stuck to pieces together, going fast for an almost six year old but slower than Edward was probably used to. She was trying though, she wanted to be smart so her dad would be super proud. "Skiing sounds fun, rich people do it. I wanna see mountains and beaches and-- and forests!"
She was a city girl, she had never seen anything outside of large towering blocks of buildings. "Echo says beaches are the best. You can tan, have a cocktail and look at all the shirtless men."
"You sure can, Echo is very right. And she looks great in a bathing suit too, no mistaking that." Had to be appreciated, Edward felt. "Maybe you and I can go to a beach somewhere soon, we can take Echo and Query. Might be a fun little holiday. Maybe we'll take Jonathan along too, he always complains about Gotham being too cold and rainy anyway."
Especially in winter, or basically as soon as Halloween was over. Jonathan really was a walking cliché. "What dessert shall we have today? I already know what we'll have for dinner, but what about dessert?"
"I want... oh! We could make it together. Like a chocolate cake maybe? They have them in boxes and they're really tasty." She was sure her dad could make something amazing without box mix but she felt it was helpful to offer an easy solution. "Everyone likes chocolate cake. Unless they're allergic, I guess, but they probably like the smell at least."
Maybe Jonathan would like the cake and then like her. And then her dad would have a boyfriend. "If you date boys and then you marry a boy and then boy is your husband... what do I call him? Is he also my dad?" Or was there another word? "Or maybe another word. Not mom, obviously. Hmm."
Edward coughed, choked on it, and ended up coughing more. It took him a while to get that under control, tears in his eyes and, no, he had not been ready for that. "Oh wow..." Dom. What was his life? "That's-- I think maybe just call him Jon. Or whatever you two agree on together, yeah? If... I don't know about us getting married, so."
Yeah, this had all been a bit much in a short time. "Usually people don't want to stay with your amazing dad for that long. I'm a lot to take."
"I think you're special and you could marry any boy you want." Stephanie was on his side, determined to cheer him on. "Then I can be flower girl at the wedding!" Maybe she was cheering him on cause she wanted a nice party but hey, she was Eddie's girl. They had similar wants in the end.
"Today, we make cake. Maybe next year, marriage! Like Cinderella, it'll be a cool event and everyone will come and see my dress." And she'd get more cake then too.
"...maybe we just go to someone else's wedding. I'll find us someone and you'll be their flower girl." Maybe he could just hope for Selina to finally tie down the Bat, that would take care of that. "Now, no talk about weddings or marriage in front of Jonathan, promise?"
He would never hear the end of that. "And you can keep puzzling, sweetheart, but daddy will go make that chocolate cake now. We're going to have Southern food today, so you will get a lot of your beloved fried stuff."
And he had opted to just get take-out for this. Seemed like it would save him Jonathan complaining about things tasting healthy.
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icebergloungers2021-02-11 02:52 pm
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He could not be certain, but he was fairly sure that was true. Perhaps some crows played with him, odds were it was that. When they weren't trying to eat him, anyway. It was all very Hitchcock, Lovecraft, Poe, Gothic horror all over the place. "But I bet he'd love a drawing. He likes crows. And scarecrows. Pumpkins... He really likes spooky things and Halloween."
no subject
And she hated that! She wanted to go so bad. Why did he have to hit the Narrows? Why not the fancy places? "Do you think Jonathan will take me out for Halloween? Is he a fun friend?"
no subject
Not the kind of fun he'd really want a child around for, but hey. Maybe the old Crane could learn new tricks yet. "And either way, I'll make sure you and I can go trick or treating on Halloween. That mean ol' Scarecrow is quite scared of the Riddler throwing a hissy fit."
no subject
"If the Joker comes to bother you, I'll kick his butt for you. I'll use a flying kick. I know how. I do Kung Fu." She took one lesson once. So yeah. Expert.
no subject
It was the ultimate safe-word. Which was why he made sure to only ever use it under extremely dire circumstances. "But Scarecrow, he's a lot easier than that. For me. So don't worry, Halloween will be fun for you from now on. And for Christmas, honestly, we'll just go somewhere else. Maybe to the mountains, you can learn skiing."
no subject
She liked the idea of a magic word that could tame the beast. She was excited to try it out. She hummed to herself as Edward braided her hair and stuck to pieces together, going fast for an almost six year old but slower than Edward was probably used to. She was trying though, she wanted to be smart so her dad would be super proud. "Skiing sounds fun, rich people do it. I wanna see mountains and beaches and-- and forests!"
She was a city girl, she had never seen anything outside of large towering blocks of buildings. "Echo says beaches are the best. You can tan, have a cocktail and look at all the shirtless men."
no subject
Especially in winter, or basically as soon as Halloween was over. Jonathan really was a walking cliché. "What dessert shall we have today? I already know what we'll have for dinner, but what about dessert?"
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Maybe Jonathan would like the cake and then like her. And then her dad would have a boyfriend. "If you date boys and then you marry a boy and then boy is your husband... what do I call him? Is he also my dad?" Or was there another word? "Or maybe another word. Not mom, obviously. Hmm."
She frowned. "Oh! I could call him dom!"
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Yeah, this had all been a bit much in a short time. "Usually people don't want to stay with your amazing dad for that long. I'm a lot to take."
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"Today, we make cake. Maybe next year, marriage! Like Cinderella, it'll be a cool event and everyone will come and see my dress." And she'd get more cake then too.
no subject
He would never hear the end of that. "And you can keep puzzling, sweetheart, but daddy will go make that chocolate cake now. We're going to have Southern food today, so you will get a lot of your beloved fried stuff."
And he had opted to just get take-out for this. Seemed like it would save him Jonathan complaining about things tasting healthy.