{A/N: I own none of Batman, only my ocs; hope you enjoy and reviews are gladly welcomed*}
`Yes, one could think that this was a stupid choice, that maybe she should have just worked at that diner down the street or something. But no, Madeline decided to take up that job offer of working at Arkham Asylum. Because that's smart. At least that's how she saw it, it did pay well usually and she would meet new people. Ha. That would probably make her sister laugh at her, but Madeline didn't really care about that. She was too much interested in what she'd learn on her first day at work, which was today. Yeah. She picked Arkham Asylum, where everyone was nearly mad or starting to go that way. But she didn't mind, as said, she was too much distracted and excited.
Madeline walked down the hall-way, looking from the right to the left, making sure she saw nearly everything that was around her, only slightly hearing what Dr. Steele was telling her, that buzzing noise coming into view as she then snapped her gaze to Steele when he cleared his throat as if to get her to pay attention
"Have you been listening to me at all, Madeline?" He asked, still holding his clip-board in his right hand, his glasses had slid down his nose a bit but he was ignoring, and quirked an eyebrow
She nodded quickly, now she wasn't just excited but also nervous "Yes, of course I have, Dr. Steele."
He sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket before looking at her again "I have no idea how your aunt talked me into this but I agreed to talk to Dr. Arkham, and now you have a job here. Please, at least pretend to be listening to me."
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." She whispered, then that perky smile spread over her lips and she tucked her hair behind her ears "So, what else do you have to tell me now?"
He smiled, as if amused a bit then slid his glasses back on, looking at his clip-board, and turned to look down the hall-way before looking back at her again "Let me show you the cafeteria, how about that?" He then turned an walked down the hall-way, Madeline quickly ran up until she was beside him, she looked confused
"The cafeteria?" She asked then "Why would I have to see that?"
"You never know, you might just have to be in there at one point." He told her, not even glancing over as he opened up the left door, holding it open for Madeline, who quickly skipped through and then he walked in, shutting the door close behind him as he took a few steps forward, turning a corner with Madeline following after him of course
The walls here had wall paper on them that looked a bit old, and some of the wall-paper seemed to be gone in a few places as if someone had ripped some of it off. And it was cold, but it seemed to be always cold there. As they walked, at one point beside them there was a large fan that blew slowly, and probably helped along side with that coldness in the building. Madeline shivered but didn't say anything; she just kept walking along side Dr. Steele. They passed a few other inmates rooms, there were names labeled on the front of the metal doors, one of them didn't say anything which made her shiver, wondering who was in there but didn't give it a second glance, she just continued on walking.
"This is a place of structure, but there is a nice…well, subtle touch to it as well."
She looked at him then, again with that confused expression. Subtle? This place was subtle? She looked away then, glancing at the walls and the floor, which looked like a checker board or something, but had dry dirt over near one of the corners of the wall and what looked to be water only so far away but then she looked back at Dr. Steele as she heard him talk again
"Don't let yourself be fooled by this place though, even with what I've said, this isn't the best place in Gotham of course. There are people here for a reason, Madeline, so don't let them trick you or tell you lies, just ignore some of them and the rest, just watch yourself around them."
"I'll be fine." Madeline told him, a small smile still set upon her lips
"You say that now but, I've seen even non-patients here change, their personality and looks even twisting because of particular patients, like the Joker." He said then and she glanced to the side, before looking back, trying to hide her slight blush
"But isn't he locked up?" She suddenly asked then, blurting it out before she could stop herself
"Yes, but he's escaped before so it's possible you'll see him around every so often. Just don't go around him, okay?" Dr. Steele looked at her then, a worried expression on his face now
Madeline nodded then "Alright, I won't." She wasn't too sure though, even though she had heard the stories, the Joker still made her interested, maybe she was too curious like her Aunt had said but still it made her blush. Steele looked away then, nodding and looked back at his clip-board then opened up one of the doors to the cafeteria, letting Madeline walk in first then he went in as well, the door shutting close behind him. They walked over to the center of the cafeteria then, in between two tables and he looked over at her then
"This is the cafeteria, where most patients come in to eat of course, while others have to remain in their rooms for whatever reason. It's rather large as you can see, and oddly cold, just like the rest of this place. But it is nice, and usually calm yet there are those days of messes and accidents."
She looked at him then, this time she had a worried expression when he said accidents, wondering what exactly he meant by that but didn't ask. The room itself was large as said, and the ceiling was way up, and there were a few other doors around and of course the two doors they entered the room from. The walls though looked nice, and the floor was clean, but the room still had that odd feeling to it, that just made her want to shiver as she looked around at all the tables there, then back at Steele
"It looks really nice." Madeline told him, sounding excited again and still nervous though
He nodded, tucking his clip-board under his left arm and smiled "Yes, it does, doesn't it? At least one place in Arkham looks that way." He sighed then, taking off his glasses and slid them into his pocket before looking back at her "Is there anything else you'd like to know before starting work?"
She simply shrugged; a smile still plastered on her face as she looked around once again then looked back at him "What else is there to tell me?"
A smirk spread across his lips then "Aside from that most people who work here turn nocturnal, just don't eat the cafeteria food. Trust me on that." He nodded, as if completely amused by this now
"Alright." She nodded with a slight giggle, a smile still there on her face "Anything else?"
"Not much really, unless you have something you want to tell me." He glanced to the far-left for a moment before looking back at her
She shook her head once "Nope." Madeline then glanced over to the far-right before slowly looking back "But I am really excited about my new job though, I'm sure it'll be fun." She giggled nervously
"Ah, that's nice." He nodded then there was a slight noise behind him, and he glanced back over his shoulder, sighing but then smiled again "Dr. Arkham, how wonderful of you to join us. I was just showing Madeline around before she starts her new job today."
"Well, that's awfully nice of you to do. But, it seems that they need you in intensive care, one of your patients is asking for you as he scares the nurses."
Steele nodded, looking back at Madeline "Excuse me." Then he quickly walked over to the two doors and left the room, the doors shutting behind him as he was then out of view
Dr. Arkham looked over at Madeline then with a small amused smile "Are you excited about your new job here at Arkham?" He asked then
She nodded, that smile still in place of course "Yes, I'm very excited about it." She heard him chuckle then, almost laughing and nodded once
"That's good then." He looked at his clip-board that was in his left hand before looking back at her, his grin still set upon his lips "Because the Joker is first on your list today."
Her smile slowly faded then as she looked at him in confusion and worry "What?" She squeaked out then