A Clever Fascination

Chapter 39 - Fading Accismus

Thank you all for your lovely comments, I seriously cannot thank you enough to hear such lovely support for not just my work but also my well-being:) This kind of book community really keeps me writing!!

Also sorry i've been gone again, i'm just busy! Made this super long for y'all but once again it's very dialogue heavy. I like to build up connection through conversation.

Enjoy! Lmk what you think:)

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By the time Ed made it back to his study, he was guarded. Ready, with his defences up. Katherine had an effect on him that meant he could lose control of himself. To himself. Lord only knew, Edward could be such a pest at times like this.

"I can hear you cursing me." He faced himself again, in his study. Where Edward had talked to himself many times before.

The anger he presented was similar to Katherine's this morning. But Ed had already tackled that one, so there was no reason why this would be so difficult. If he carried on with such tact, his mood wasn't going to be ruined by the bitterness of his own jumbled mind. It just made things way harder than they had to be, as he didn't had full control of this life. In fact, he scarcely did. Even going as far as swallowing his pride and leading the weaker parts of himself by the hand. He had different motivations now.

"Oh, I wasn't cursing you. What good would that do? I was just wishing you didn't exist." He grinned back at him.

"Me? You're the alter, buddy," Edward spat back at himself, before his mind quickly moved onto other things. The things he'd obviously missed. "What was that anyway? I know something just happened with her."

"She's fine. The moral dilemma of our dating history was raised. I think I managed to fix it. I knew it would come up sooner or later, all things considered, but her approach was clouded by temper," He furrowed his brow just a little, enough to be noticeable but not enough to alarm. Ed continued after a moment to collect and choose which of his many thoughts to share. "She isn't sleeping again. I have a feeling she does this often, you know. Stays up at night, trying to iron her thoughts out. A cross many of us bare."

"How do you manage to say so much and nothing at all? So she's angry?"

"Not anymore. Let's just say I think I made progress. If you could get over yourself for a moment, you might see that this is actually your chance to shine." He added, moving to stand behind his desk.

The image of himself hardly moved from his spot in the middle of the room, hands in pockets.

"What do you mean?"

"The Gala. She knows about it now, right? There's no way the hit can continue, you know that. Time to call it off. You can make it sound like a chivalrous act, I don't care but we're a package deal, so I need you to start pulling your goddamn weight already." Ed's face twisted into a grin, one that prompted the other to lose his temper.

Edward's hands flew from his pockets, as he used them to expressed his frustration.

"You idiot, the Gala was about her. Monolith. You complete and total idiot."

Monolith Square was in an area of Gotham that Edward practically owned. It was like a second Cultural Quarter, surrounded by all the old and new brilliance of any city. The museum, for one. The News Station, the Gotham Gazette building, Wayne Media, The Modern Exchange Theatre. And a memorial park, of course. It was considered one of the safer areas but in Gotham, that didn't extend very far.

"Monolith? What about it?" He repeated.

"Katherine could never even consider me, because of who am I. How this city sees me. But a status of legitimacy can be bought, much easier than earned. Even cheated, if you know what you're doing. And I know what I'm doing." He spoke in an unintentional riddle that only he'd be able to follow, given that he was talking to himself.