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The aftermath of what Oswald and Edward had been through with Isabella wasn’t easy. For Ed, it was weeks of physical therapy and doctor’s visits. Not only that, but Oswald had been walking on eggshells with him, not wanting to talk about it at all. Anyone who knew Edward Nygma, not talking was definitely not his forte. For Oswald, he had healed up for the most part, just some more defined aches in his bad leg, but with physical therapy it had helped quite a bit. Now, the only reminder was the scarring on his skin and his mind. He didn’t want to upset Ed, thus slowing the healing process down further, so he hadn’t brought up that day at all in the past few weeks. He just wanted to forget that it had happened and move on.
“Stop it. Just…stop. I’ll do it myself,” Ed gritted to the woman posing as his assistant now trying to sort through papers on his desk. Oswald had insisted he work from home until he was well, as City Hall was too big to traipse around. His one leg was in a case, so he readily agreed at the start; Although Ed neglected to mention the mansion was as big, if not bigger, since Oswald was so adamant about it. He knew Oswald cared deeply for him, but this was getting to be a nuisance. The woman in question, Mary, was just as incompetent as the rest of them, and he was fed up. He shooed her away with his hand and she stalked off with a huff. Oswald saw her come down the stairs, and raised an eyebrow.
“Finished already?” He asked, standing up.
“No. His highness thought me unfit to do the job…again. I’m sorry Mayor Cobblepot, but I quit,” Mary grabbed her purse and coat, and made her way to the door. Oswald sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ed had pushed another one to quit, and this was the third one, in as many weeks. This was getting tiresome, he thought bitterly.
Oswald grabbed his cane, and made his way upstairs, albeit slowly. When he reached the door the office Ed was using, he rapped on it lightly. “Ed? Can I come in?”
“If you must,” Ed answered in a clipped tone. Oswald could tell Ed was irritated, and he braced himself before he went inside. Ed glanced up for a moment, and returned to writing on his laptop. “Did you need something?” Ed asked.
“Just wanted to know why Mary quit just now,” Oswald asked, sitting on the chair beside the desk.
“Ask her,” Ed shrugged. He knew why, but he couldn’t give ass over tit at the moment.
“Not an option now. She already left.” Oswald told him.
“Good riddance. She completely destroyed my filing system, and it's going to take a while to fix it,” Ed replied.
“No one is as good as you, Ed, but she was trying to help. Besides, she was being paid to help. It’s what assistants do,” Oswald explained.
“I wouldn’t need an assistant if you didn’t keep me locked up here,” Ed spat, but covered his mouth when he realized what he said. Oswald gasped. “Oswald, I’m—“
“You really think I’m keeping you here against your will?” Oswald asked, in horror.
“That’s not what I meant,” Ed said, quickly.
“Sure as hell sounded like it,” Oswald bit. Ed secretly roared with triumph inside. That’s more like it, he thought. Not like he wanted a fight with Oswald, but the other man acting like he was a patient and not his boyfriend was more annoying than endearing. Hell, they hadn’t even kissed since they left the hospital!
“You are treating me like an invalid, and it is highly irritating.” Ed turned his attention to focus on Oswald. He noticed Oswald’s face flush with anger, and Ed wanted to devour him.
Oswald was angry that Ed had thought he was keeping him here under lock and key. He was furious. “You had been through an ordeal! I was making sure you were safe! How in the hell do you think that I am treating you any differently?”
“You are, Oswald! You were in the same situation as I was, and yet you won’t even let me go back to work yet and it was over two months ago! The court hearing came and went, Isabella is in prison, and yet here I am! Even the doctors had cleared me for regular activity, and you still keep me locked away. Hell, even Harvey fucking Bullock asked me why the hell I am locked up here!” Ed voiced all of his thoughts to the man sitting in front of him, without pausing to take a breath. “Do you honestly think I cannot take care of myself?”
“That’s—“Oswald faltered, and Ed widened his eyes.
“That’s it, isn’t it?”
“No, that’s not—“
“I can’t believe you!” Ed yelled. He stood up from his seat and paced the length of the room.
“Ed, I just—“Oswald tried, but Ed interrupted…again.
“Just what? I am not some kept man! I can work…I can go out into the city, and you shouldn’t stop me! Why are you stopping me from living outside of this mansion?” Ed asked, and he wanted an honest answer.
Oswald stood up abruptly, and threw Ed through a loop. “Because I couldn’t protect you, Ed! There! Is that what you wanted to hear? I am afraid! I don’t want anything to happen to you, so I asked if you could just work from home for now, where I can be here to protect you!” He shouted in Ed’s face. Ed gaped at him, stunned by his omission.
“You actually believe…oh, dear…Oswald,” Ed’s face fell. Oswald was breathing heavily, with the force of not letting himself get upset.
“No one will ever hurt you again,” Oswald gritted out. “If they even come near you, I will have them gutted in the street for everyone to see,”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” Ed asked, smirking a bit.
“You’re god damned right I would.” Oswald answered, with a single nod.
“I love you, Oswald,” Ed breathed out.
It was Oswald’s turn to gape. But, he didn’t have time to dwell on it or answer Ed, because in the next moment, Ed had swept Oswald into his arms and kissed him deeply. Oswald squeaked a little with the force of it, but after it became heated, that squeak turned into a moan of longing. It had been way too long since he felt Ed’s lips on his own.
When they finally broke apart for that obnoxious need to breathe, Ed rested his forehead on Oswald’s. “It wasn’t your fault,” Ed whispered.
Oswald shook his head. “I should have seen it coming.”
“Os, no one saw this coming,” Ed replied softly. He should have known Oswald would blame himself, and act out in a loving, yet over the top manner.
“But, I couldn’t protect you. I couldn’t do anything!” Oswald cried out. He tightened his grip on Ed’s waist, and buried his head in Ed's shoulder.
“It was not your fault,” Ed told him seriously. When Oswald shook his head again, he stuck his index finger under Oswald’s chin and had him look in his eyes. “It was not your fault,” he repeated. “I don’t want this to come between us. I—I have never felt this way before. You—infuriate me to no end, and at the same time fascinate me. You are lovely and adorable. I cannot even begin to describe all of your wonderful attributes. If you are so inclined, I would very much like to continue what we were well on our way to before all of that nonsense happened,” Ed enunciated his point by kissing Oswald again, this time licking into his mouth, mapping out every bump and ridge. Oswald gripped Ed’s shoulders hard. Gotcha, Ed thought, happily.
Oswald pulled away, reluctantly. “But, what about you? We can’t—I mean, we shouldn’t do anything too strenuous,”
“I promise…we will take it easy. For now, anyway,” Ed promised.
Oswald smirked and raised an eyebrow. “For now?”
“Yes…I would love to see if you could actually follow a direction if it came from me. Especially if there’s a reward attached to it,” Ed purred, and licked Oswald’s bottom lip.
“You fucking tease,” Oswald groaned.
“You love it,” Ed pressed a chaste kiss to Oswald’s lips.
The rest of the evening was spent in Oswald’s bed. Ed had walked them into Oswald’s bedroom, and undressed Oswald bit by bit until he was fully naked. “You are beautiful,” Ed gushed, and covered Oswald in kisses from his face, to his neck and chest. Oswald blushed under his compliment, and felt his skin heat with want for Ed.
“Ed, darling…you’re overdressed,” Oswald breathed out, hands roaming over Ed’s still clothed shoulders.
Ed chuckled, and pulled back from where he was lavishing Oswald’s beautiful neck with attention. “Yes, of course.” He kissed Oswald before shucking out of his own shirt and pants, and crawled back into bed with Oswald. “Better?”
“Absolutely,” Oswald gripped the back of Ed’s neck, and pulled him in for a kiss, which Ed returned with enthusiasm.
---0---
“Hello, I am here to see Oswald?” Jim stood uncertainly outside of Oswald’s front door.
“Yes, please come in. I’ll let ‘im know you’re here.” Olga replied, and showed Jim inside to the sitting room. He sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace, and clasped his hands together.
“Jim?” he heard a voice cut through the silence. Ed came into view and Jim stood up to greet him.
“Hey. You look better,” Jim commented.
“A lot better, actually. Physical therapy helped a great deal,” Ed explained.
“That’s good to hear,”
“Yes. Oswald should be down in a minute.” Ed smiled a bit, and sat down across from him.
“How is he doing?” Jim couldn’t help but ask.
“Good, good. We—um…had a bit of a disagreement, but it was a misunderstanding,” Ed pushed his glasses back up from where they had fallen to the edge of his nose. “We are fine now,”
“Disagreement?” Jim asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes.” Ed glanced over to the staircase. “He—he had had me working from home. He blamed himself for what happened with Isabella,”
“He does that. He will take the blame if something happens to someone he’s close to,” Jim explained.
“But, that’s just not—“ Ed began, bewilderment etched on his face.
“Logical?” Jim asked, with a small smile.
“No, it’s not. He didn’t know she was here to kill me. How could he have known?” Ed asked, in honest confusion.
“Doesn’t matter to him,” Jim shook his head. “It only matters that he couldn’t have prevented it. All he needs is reassurance.”
“Taken care of,” Ed blushed when he remembered how exactly it was taken care of last night—and that morning.
Jim didn’t miss the blush, either. “I don’t want to know,” he said, waving a hand. Ed grinned in response.
Oswald chose that moment to appear. “Jim! How are you old friend?”
“Good, good. And yourself?”
“Happy and sated, my friend!” Oswald gushed, and Jim chuckled a bit when he saw Ed gape at him.
“Good to hear,” Jim answered, for a lack of a response.
“So—um, detective did you need something or is this a social call?” Ed asked, in order to change the subject.
“Just a social call. I just got off work and figured I would check in.” Jim’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he saw Harvey had texted. Ed was asking Oswald what he would like to do for dinner, so Jim flipped open his phone.
Don’t let them smooch in front of ya, Jimbo. –H
Jim smiled at the message.
None of that yet, but Oswald already made it known they are fucking. He’s not exactly subtle. –J
Didn’t need to know that –H Jim grinned as he could picture Harvey’s face.
You brought it there. –J
Sad to think they are getting some and we aren’t, eh? –H
At least they are happy. –J
You are too nice for your own good, Jim. –H
That’s me. –J
But, it’s one of the things I love about you –H
Did Jim read that right? Love? He thought. His phone vibrated again.
Sorry. You know what I meant. –H
Uh huh. You know you love me. ;-) –J
Jim was thinking about his and Harvey’s friendship more and more lately. He found that he always felt better in the other man’s presence, and no conversation between them was too long or unwanted. Jim found that the times when Harvey would clap him on the shoulder, or nudge him with his elbow or look at him like Jim was the most important person in the world, his own heart would stutter in his chest. What did that mean?
I wouldn’t put up with your shit if I didn’t. –H
Ha ha. We still on for the game tonight? –J
Absolutely. My place at 8? –H
Sure thing. –J Jim snapped his phone shut and stuck it back into his pocket.
“Sorry about that,” He told Oswald and Ed.
Oswald was looking at Jim with a raised eyebrow, and a smirk. “So who’s the girl?”
“Oswald, look at him again,” Ed told him.
Oswald looked back to Jim, then back at Ed, who was smirking, and after a moment, his eyes widened. “Oh!” Ed smiled at Oswald now. “How’s Harvey?” he asked, cheekily.
Jim’s cheeks burned with his blush. “Oh my god, not you too!”
“What can I say, he’s a good influence,” Oswald smiled, and kissed Ed on the cheek. Jim scoffed at that, but Oswald and Ed both ignored it. “So, will you be staying for dinner or will you prefer to give us a rain check?”
“I’m watching the game with Harvey tonight,” Jim replied. “It’s not a date,” he added, at Oswald's cheeky smile.
“Rain check, then,” Ed told Oswald, who was chuckling.
“Glad to see you both recovering so well. I’ll uh—just go now,” Jim motioned toward the door.
“Tell Detective Bullock we said hello,” Ed said, with a smirk.
“Oh, I’ll be sure to do that,” Jim grabbed his coat from the coat rack and waved for the last time to the two men and shut the door behind him. He was now nervous, thanks to those two. How could this be a date? It was Harvey…Harvey who was always there for him, would take a bullet for him, and nursed him back to health from physical and emotional beatings. The one steady constant that Jim had had in his life, and Jim knew if he ever lost Harvey, he would be lost himself. He glanced at his watch before getting into his car, and it read 7 pm.
“Shit,” Jim swore, and slammed the door to the car. He had to find something other than work attire to wear. He would think on what Oswald and Ed had said tonight some other time. For now, he wanted to enjoy the time he had with his best friend and partner. If he thought about it any other way, he wasn't sure he would make it through the entire night without blurting out something ridiculous. He had enough of that for one evening, thank you. However, he couldn't help the way his heart fluttered in his chest when he knew he was spending the evening with Harvey.