Irgendwann laufen wir zusammen

[jonboy]

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[3rs]

""What is the freak doing here?!" Barbara said it accusingly, staring at Jonathan as if he was especially repulsive. "Pervert."

Granted, Jonathan probably had not chosen to be taped to a toilet stall door in the girls' bathroom, but she was not happy about it anyway. "This is the girls' bathroom, you shouldn't even be here. Oh, hi, Ed."

She changed her tone from one moment to the other, smiling at Ed and giving a short wave as he walked in with Deirdre, better known as Echo, evidently not taking any issue with that boy being here.

"Hey." Ed waved back, then looked at Jonathan, looking him over. "Wow. Someone had a lot of tape."

Quite the observation.

[jonboy]

"Oh yeah, I heard them bragging about it in class. Yeah, no, someone has a lot of tape. I think it was a group effort from the football team." Echo explained as she looked in the mirror and checked her lipstick. She had to hand it to Jonathan, the weirdo was taking it in his stride, he was slowly cutting himself free with what looked like his house keys and he wasn't making any direct eye contact. Which was still very creepy. This guy truly did not know how to not be creepy, huh? "Is it rude of us to not help?"

"Yes." Jonathan answered for them but he wasn't expecting that to change anything, he just felt they should know that yes, it was rude to talk about someone like they were there.

Ah well, he didn't need their help, he had time and patience. And this was still nothing compared to the shit he got back in Georgia.

"I like the accent." Echo mused as she finished checking herself over, turning to Edward with a smile. "You?"

[3rs]

"Wow. If only our football team knew how to work together during a game." Not that he liked knowing anything about it, but he had heard Harvey rant. He had also, very reluctantly, watched a game or two, largely because of Oswald's crush on Jim Gordon, and because Oswald was oddly persuasive. Quick to blackmail, for one thing.

Still, only made him care less about sports. He looked at Echo when she smiled at him, musing over the question. "I don't know, I'd have to hear more of it."

"What's that shade called, Echo, girl?" Barbara moved closer to her. "It looks great on you."

Letting the girls discuss make-up, Edward - having checked his eyeliner and concluded that it still looked fine - finally moved over to properly address Jonathan. "I've got a knife. I'll help you out if you hold still."

[jonboy]

As the girls chatted about their lipstick and swapped tips, Jonathan exhaled slowly and kept working his key slowly through the tape. This shit was driving him nuts but he was trying to get through it. Patiently.

Then Edward came over and he felt the urge to use what little wiggle room he had to kick the guy. There was something about his casualness that just inspire a deep hate in him. He loathed this place and he thought the people were absolutely garbage - and they were proving him right daily.

"Then do it, son. I ain't gonna beg you."

[3rs]

"...did you just call me 'son'?" How weird was that? "All righty, daddy-o." Edward laughed, getting his knife out and flipping it open. It was Gotham, he was from the Narrows, of course he had a knife on him. Would be stupid not to. He stepped forward, cutting through the tape and trying to avoid cutting his clothes or his skin. But, damn, there was a lot of tape.

"Use alcohol to get rid of the residue." There, that was just a friendly tip. "The tape residue, not any trauma you may have sustained. Although..." Might also help.

[jonboy]

Jonathan landed on his feet as best he could, pulling off the rest of the tape from his hoodie and tossing it onto the floor. He was sticky and he knew he'd have to toss the thing in the washer after this. This fucking school, it was exhausting. "This ain't a trauma, it's an annoyance." Just to be clear - he was not even a little upset or scared, just pissed off. He would have to think of revenge but he knew he had to be careful, he had to leave his last home for a reason and it wasn't just his dad.

The two of them, they made quite the pair.

Jonathan looked Edward up and down for a moment and then he nodded in appreciation. "Thanks." Well, he had manners. "See you around." Hopefully not.

[3rs]

"They're gonna escalate it for your first week. They always do. It's like hazing." Really kind of was. And then it continued after, or maybe it would be over. Though for someone like that? Unlikely. "You should try some eyeliner, make those eyes pop."

Another piece of well-meaning advice. Although he would probably start with the dress sense, because he felt there should be an immediate cease and desist on all that plaid.

"Tell him to not be creepy," Barbara suggested, as she finished applying her lipstick.

[jonboy]

"Tell a folk not to be himself is a tall order, ain't it? It's like asking you to not talking your head off in class. We can say it all the live long day to you but I reckon you won't ever change. Will you, darling?" Jonathan was firmly in the no camp for not being creepy. "People don't change." He couldn't change himself. He knew he was a target, he'd always be a target and he had kind of made peace with it. It would always come at him, he was a popular target in his old school for the same reason.

"I know he's being a dick but I think the accent is like... I don't know, I feel charmed." Echo teased, laughing as she turned to Barbara with a smile. "He's got a bite, maybe he won't get eaten alive here."

Jonathan rolled his eyes and yeah, he wasn't to leave this place but first... where the fuck was his bag. He pushed open the stall and tried to see if it was in here.

And yep, there it was. In the toilet. A very blocked toilet. Wonderful. "Fucking Christ. Give me strength."

"Aww, no, was it in the toilet? That's so mean." Echo was smiling though - it was funny!

[3rs]

"I get it now, Echo, it's the 'darling' that pulled me in." Edward was definitely beginning to hear the appeal of the accent. Barbara, not so much, but she didn't really care for anyone under the required threshold of popularity and, going by her huff, had apparently decided to simply loudly ignore Jonathan. And probably sic people on him later.

Looking back over at Jonathan he hissed in sympathy. "What's the difference between a car and toilet paper?"

Probably not a riddle that would be appreciated right now. They rarely were. "I stopped for a while. Bringing a bag, that is."

[3rs]

"We have to stop meeting like this," Edward commented as he opened the trashcan, after having moved the weight off of it. He hadn't come here to free Jonathan from his imprisonment, he hadn't even be thinking about Jonathan, but he knew what it meant when something weighed down the lid of the trashcan and he wasn't enough of a jerk to simply ignore that.

Still, once the lid was open, he moved over to where he had abandoned his notebook to pick it back up, leaning back against the wall and returning to scribbling furiously. Something didn't quite make sense and it was getting to him, rather visibly, as he frowned and ran his hand through his hair repeatedly, all five fingers.

[jonboy]

"Thank you." Jonathan climbed out of the trash can and dusted himself off, glad that it was before lunch and not after so it was mostly just random snack wrappers and wastepaper in there. Not that he was thrilled to ever be in garbage but he had to pick his battles. Right now, the hazing was at it's peak and he was battling to survive it - any luck was luck enough.

He turned around and gently moved the papers around, gingerly looking for his phone as he heard Edward scribble and mumble to himself. Odd. He was always odd. "Did you forget your homework orrr...?"

[3rs]

"I've got disinfectant in the front of my bag, if you want," Edward offered without looking up, feeling like a chance to be hygienic should be afforded to everyone. He certainly wouldn't fancy a day smelling like trash, he doubted Jonathan did either. Very few people would, in spite of what had been said about Jonathan. Sometimes it was just difficult to get a choice.

"I'm working on a riddle. Mental exercise, I suppose. And it's not adding up." Which was getting to him more than it ought to. "I don't know, it's my nerves or whatever. I'm not like this." Why was he so stupid? What was the issue here?

[jonboy]

"I got some in my pocket." He pulled out his disinfectant spray once he had his phone out of the trash and sprayed it down, slipping it in his pocket again before he started to clean up his hands. He watched Edward drive himself nuts over some dumb riddle and frowned, wondering why it was bothering him so much. Then again, he thought of their shared classes - Edward hated not being the smartest person in class. Actually, no, Edward was always the smartest one in class so he didn't have any threat. What he hated was people not knowing he was the smartest.

Quite an interesting psychological profile he was gathering. "If you got jitters or nerves, I got relaxants in my locker and weed in my hoodie. Take your pick."

[3rs]

"Damn, Jonny. I know who I'm gonna hit up if I ever need a disco pharmacist." Still, Edward could concede that Jonathan was probably right, in a roundabout way. It was his anxiety that kept him from figuring this out, rather than actually lacking the brain power, and obsessing over it was making it worse. So he closed his notebook decisively, even if he immediately ran his hands over the cover, fingers playing with the pages, sorely tempted to open it up again.

"I was doing mental exercises to calm me. Backfired." Obviously. Edward laughed, shaking his head and looking Jonathan over. "You got any injuries? Seems like they didn't knock you about too much."

[jonboy]

"A few punches, nothing I can't handle. It's nothing on Georgia, let's put it that way. They think they're breaking me but it's like a fucking vacation." Nothing could compare to the brutal bullying he had suffered at his old school, years of torment and pain. These Gotham bullies, they were generic and cruel but nothing as humiliating or painful. Yet, at least. Not that he felt they were allowed to continue, he was starting to lose his patience with them.

"My granny hits harder than these guys." Jonathan smiled and yeah, as always, it was a bit off. There was something there that wasn't quite right. It didn't reach his eyes, he didn't smile with joy, everything was always like a poor copy of emotions and never really enough. "You sure you don't want anything? I even got anti anxiety stuff but that's in my apartment. I got some from the doctor but I never use the stuff."

[3rs]

"Let's have the weed then, Jonny-boy." Hey, if he got the offer, why wouldn't he take it? He waited for Jonathan to give him a joint - or whatever it was he had on him - thinking over what he'd said. "Used to be worse here, back when Jack was still in school." Jack, Gyungho, Joker, whatever name. "He knew how to break people. Still does, but he doesn't bother with school these days."

Great fried chicken though, admittedly. "These days you should be fine, just don't piss off Butch. He hits hard." As stood to reason. "Kind of gorilla-like, on the whole."

[jonboy]

"He's the guy who sucker punched me in the gut. I figure I'm too late for that one, I called him an ape. Still ain't scared of him - more concerned about the gangsters living above me." They kept trying to talk to him and he didn't want to deal with it. He wasn't into the whole gang scene, he didn't want to buy their drugs either but he didn't want to start anything. It was a delicate balance. "Jack. The guy who engraved his name on my desk in math."

Crudely 'Jack waz here' was jaggedly cut into his desk. He didn't know much else about the guy but he was glad he didn't have to deal with him. "Breaking people is what they love doing in Georgia. Or, at least, the folks I knew did. I wore white socks to school once and they deemed me queer. Never takes much there. Once it starts, it ain't ever gonna end. That's the issue with being an outsider there, they want you gone. In Gotham, it's more a thing. Being an outsider, it ain't great but it ain't a death sentence. I'll fucking take it."

Jonathan held out his lighter for Edward so he could light up. "I made the weed, it's a blend but it's good stuff. I don't cut it with anything but the plant. I just used to species."

[jonboy]

Jonathan was bored. Two weeks in Gotham, no more hazing and not much was going on. The school was boring, the crows weren't active after sunset - which was crazy early here - and he didn't have much else to do. So he went to a club. He needed cash for drinks so he sold some of his compound to people who looked like they wanted a high, dealing as subtly as he could, like he used to back in Georgia. Though it was harder here, gangs had a monopoly and all. He still managed to make enough to have a generous amount in his pocket as he purchased himself a bourbon from a very lax bartender who didn't bother to card him.

The music was loud and Jonathan sat there, sipping his drink, considering his next move. And then he made a potentially dangerous mistake. He knocked back one of his own pills.

His pills were hard to miss. They looked like candy corn and the bottom had a JC on it. He thought half the market was in the branding and apparently it was true. October and everyone wanted to buy from him.

Now he was almost all out and riding a high in a strange club where almost everyone was older than him and likely the gangsters would get word of his work. He should be scared or concerned, should have left but... well, he wasn't bored any more. He giggled to himself and knocked back his drink. Oh, he hoped he had trouble tonight.

[3rs]

"Whoa, Jonny, you are eager for trouble, aren't you?" Edward was good at figuring out people's schemes and - in all fairness - it was not as if Jonathan had put even a minimum amount of effort into making this particular scheme a subtle one, especially not given he was aware of the other's interest in chemistry in general and in drugs specifically.

He sat down next to him, holding one of those little candy corn looking things in the palm of his hand, shaking his head. "You are gonna get into big trouble over those tiny pills, Jonny-boy."

What a shame. Edward wrapped an arm around Jonathan's shoulder, smiling at him. "At least you seem happy for a chance, you rambunctious rascal."

[jonboy]

"Apparently this is a Falcone turf..." Jonathan laughed because it seemed kind of funny now cause he knew that name, he didn't know exactly what it meant but he knew it was bad. It was really bad. It was dangerous and he was going to get in trouble. It was scary... that was kind of fun. Kind of hot. He loved being scared. He shivered and his eyes were almost sparkling with excitement. "I make better shit than his fucking dealers. I tried the LSD last week and it's pathetic. You barely get a buzz and you get all the side effects. They're cutting that shit with ibuprofen. You can make cheaper and better drugs and get more loyal customers."

Jonathan licked his lips and God, Edward was touching him and all of his nerves felt alive with the touch. It was a good drug, he wasn't going to lie. He did good work.

"This is a weak hit but it's a good one. My father makes it worse but he's no deal, he's a chemist. It's different, apparently." Jonathan clearly didn't buy it. He turned his head and watched as two people suddenly started yelling at each other. Pupils dilated, lost in paranoid and fear, clearly worked up. The drugs were working. "Oh yes, see that? See how they are? That's the anxiety - it's starting."

[3rs]

"Anxiety makes you irritable? Colour me surprised." What a shocking revelation. More interesting here was the why behind it. Not why they were fighting, but why Jonathan was so into it. Why he had made a drug that - apparently - made people scared. Anxious. "You're in some deep shit, Jonny, if Falcone gets word. Don Falcone is basically king of Gotham. Means a lot around here."

At least he was also more reasonable than, say, Maroni or some of the smaller bosses. Better chances that Falcone would not just kill the teenager who liked making drugs. "Why make them feel anxious? I take stuff to not feel that." Seemed a lot wiser. "Not exactly a fun state to be in, is it?"

[jonboy]

"Oh, you have to keep going. At first you're anxious then you're paranoid and scared and then finally, finally, you hit the peak. The peak is-- is terror. Terror like you didn't know. Your heart will beat and your body will enter a state of panic. Then the adrenaline hits. It's a good high, you just got to suffer for it. I think all men should suffer for their pleasures. It builds character." Jonathan explained excitedly as he watched people. Some were riding the high and enjoying that adrenaline, some were noticeably unhappy and some were getting aggressive.

"I love it." Jonathan admitted and then he raised his hand to take his own pulse, feeling his heartrate picking up speed. Oooh, yes, he was getting close now. Close to the peak. "After a while, you build immunity. Then it's just excitable unease until you peak. Like me." He smiled at Edward and winked. "I'm close."

[3rs]

"Close, huh?" Edward put the pill into his pocket, because he wasn't about to take it, as fascinated as he was by it. He turned his head to look at Jonathan properly, to see the signs of it all on him. Now that he had pointed it out, it was fairly obvious. Also obvious that, at the same time, he did not look that different from usual. "So much adrenaline, what are you going to do with it?"

He had to taunt him a little, a friendly jab more than anything. "Read a book in the corner over there? Some peak Jon entertainment."

He was not exactly known for bringing the fun. Edward reached up, tucking Jonathan's hair behind his ear. "Your eyes are blown out. I think I like it." Made them even more noticeable.

[jonboy]

"Oh no, that's -- that's not what you use a high like this for. It's gonna build, cause this is double strength. Once I peak, I'm gonna go over and ask to speak with --- erm, what was it again? Falcone? Falcone... Do you say the e? Either way. I'm gonna go there and I'll ask to deal." With a proud smile, he leaned forward and suddenly, he was pressing his forehead against Edward, eyes looking directly at him. He went deep into his eyes, wondering what Edward would sound like in fear. Probably intoxicating.

He would have to spike him once time, just so he could hear it. He'd have to record it, play it on a loop. jack off to it at night. He loved it. He licked his lips and then giggled with excitement.

"I may die tonight. I wonder where my body will end up." Probably nowhere good. "Live fast, die young."

[3rs]

"Pier. That's where Falcone dumps the bodies." Edward gave the information without really thinking about it, because he was mesmerized by Jonathan's eyes, feeling drawn in in a way he could not quite explain. He laughed again, a slightly breathless sound. He might not have taken anything, but what Jonathan was suggesting was enough to make his heart beat faster. "Are you an utter moron? No one just goes to talk to Falcone. You can go talk to someone ten rungs lower down the ladder before you do that."

Lil country bumpkin from the South, off to talk to the big mob boss? Edward had his doubts. "What, Jonny, are you suicidal? Because, trust me, there's easier ways to kill yourself off."