Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

A Deal With the Devil

"Isn't this nice?" Oswald asks, as he splashes water against my back.

I sink my naked body deeper into the water. Luckily Gotham's tap water is so dirty the water is an opaque white, obscuring our bodies from view.

"You know, for a moment I thought we had something special," he begins, rubbing my back with his large hands, “you were the nicest person I’d ever met. To be fair, you still are,” massaging my shoulders, he pulls me toward him.

I glance to my side and see his pocket knife, lying on the stand by the bathtub, just out of his arm's reach. He takes my chin in his hand, and pulls it to face him, "But perhaps, you're also the cruelest person I've ever met. You gained my trust, and then you betrayed me."

"I never had your trust to begin with," I accuse.

He pulls me closer toward him and my stomach brushes up against something...

"That better be your arm," I threaten.

He pulls both of his arms out of the water and gives a knowing smirk. I grimace, this is highly unsanitary, with or without the dirty Gotham waters.

"Do me now," he murmurs, turning around.

I grab the soap bar and start rubbing it on his back.

"No...use your hands," he commands tilting his head around and placing my hand on his.

I put away the soap, and with my hands, I begin massaging his lower back. He arches his back and opens his mouth, closing his eyes. Is he...getting off to this?

He suddenly grabs my arms and pushes me down with his entire back, plunging me into the water. My legs and stomach are crushed by his weight and his head digs into my neck. He's trying to drown me...how quaint. Luckily I can hold my breath for at least two minutes, but when he wrenched me underwater it knocked a lot of air out of me. I lie as still as possible, trying to save my breath while looking for a way out. There’s a muffled sound coming from the surface. Oswald’s saying something, although I have no idea what. Perhaps he’s quoting Shakespeare, or maybe Virgil, or both, who knows?

I slowly begin to wiggle my arms free from his oppressive force. My elbow is just out of his grasp when he reacts, scrambling to push me back down. I use his panic to slip to the side of the tub, and with both arms, pull him down into the water as I resubmerge. Gasping for breath and pulling wet hair out of my face, I hold him down in the water with my elbow and upper body weight. I could kill him right now, it would be so easy. But...something’s telling me not to, maybe it’s just my conscience, or maybe…

At the last second, I yank him out of the water. He gargles water before spitting it out, wheezing down toward the tub.

“That’s what you get for trying to kill me,” I warn him, crossing my arms as I grab a nearby towel and step out of the tub.

I turn around as I quickly wrap the towel around me. Oswald stares at me, dumbfounded, “You’re not...going to kill me.”

“Why, do you want me to?” I ask threateningly.

He shakes his head rapidly, flicking droplets of water off of his soaked hair.

“Get dressed and get out of here,” I instruct coldly, gesturing toward the door.

"But...I have no where else to go," he pleads, grabbing the one leftover towel and stepping out of the tub.

I turn to him, sneering, "Tough luck."

   Oswald’s dressed in those awful clothes by the time I return to the bathroom.

"Why not just go back home to your mother?"