"Hey, Red," a high pitched voice, sprinkled with a surprisingly cheery Brooklyn accent, echoed through the Arkham recreation room. Almost immediately, a bubbling blonde woman in her late twenties came bouncing inside, making a beeline to the couch where her redheaded friend sat. The small number of people in the room took notice, some leered at her, and others looked away in fear. By contrast, the woman lying about comfortably was more interested in the magazine she was currently reading for the tenth time.
Reaching the couch, the blonde leaned over, placing her elbows on the armrest closest to her best friend. A bright, toothy grin made its way across her face, like a ten year old with a secret that she was just dying to tell.
"Guess what," she said, barely able to contain her excitement.
"You drew another picture of the Joker in art therapy?" Her companion ventured to guess, she was used to the wacky and overzealous nature of her friend. Then again, what would anyone expect from a woman that went by Harley Quinn?
"Yes... But that's not the news," Harley was a bit disheartened by her Ivy's nonchalant manner; it was cutting into the suspense she was trying to create. But only a very little bit.
"There's gonna be a new girl!" Harley squealed in delight. Finally, another gal pal to talk with. Sure, she loved Red to death, but she just wasn't as fun to talk to when they were locked up. She spent most of her time bored and figuring a way out to get back to her little plants. Sure Harley didn't like this place any more than the last inmate, but it was no use moping about it.
"In our block?"
"Yes!"
Pamela Isley, know more infamously as Poison Ivy, wasn't quite as thrill with the idea.
It had been a long time since anyone new actually came to Arkham, let alone another woman. There was no telling what she would be like. Who knows, maybe the doctors didn't screw up this time and ended up institutionalizing an actually deranged lunatic this time. Heaven knows they didn't need another one after the Joker.
"She arrived last night," a deadpan voice interrupted their conversation. Turning to their left, they found two men playing chess on a table against the wall. One was a tall, thin man, with sharp angular features and auburn hair, the other a shorter man, with a softer, kinder, face sported a dirty blonde mop on his head. The Scarecrow and Mad Hatter, respectively. Neither was looking up from their game.
"I overheard that Dr. Leland will be working with her," the Hatter, Jervis Tetch, commented, enjoying a little chat during the game, it could get very boring sitting in silence all the time.
"So, we'll be seein' her in group therapy huh?" Harley was getting really interested in this new woman. She, Ivy, Professor Crane, and Hatter all had group therapy with Dr. Leland.
It was actually the doctor who had suggested this particular grouping. Harley and Ivy had formed a bond that allowed them to talk freely in front of one another making a group therapy session with them very easy. The men, having a similar bond, and showing no animosity or connection to the women like some of the other inmates, were a perfect addition to the group.
It made them wonder how Leland would insert the new case into the previously established group dynamic.
"More than likely, yes, but, from what I've heard, she hasn't been properly diagnosed." Jonathan Crane, a professor of psychology himself, never hesitated in pointing out Arkham's incompetency. Of course, being the Scarecrow did put a dent in his credibility somewhat.
"What is it that she did to be locked in this dreadful place?" Jervis wondered aloud, the chess game thoroughly forgotten by now.
"She stabbed a woman and burned through most of the Gotham Theater," another voice injected itself to the discussion, belonging to none other than Edward Nigma, the Riddler. He looked up from the book he was reading to see the confused looks directed toward him on his loveseat.
"Am I the only one who gets the paper?" He asked, amused at their lack of information. There was a television in the rec room after all; it not that difficult to just turn on the local news. But of course most people didn't care as much as he did about being well informed.
"Yes, you are the only one who gets the paper" Crane shot back, noticing his condescending grin, "and that's because you threw a tantrum after not being able to do the daily crossword."
Riddler frowned at that accusation, but chose to change the subject, "Well, I don't know about you, but I think staying away from this woman is our best option."
"Are our lives really so boring that we've resorted to gossip?" Ivy asked, honestly annoyed at how much time they had spent talking about this.
"Yup"
"Pretty much"
"As far as I can tell"
"Yes"
"Great," She sighed.
"Ya think they'll let her come to the rec room today? I really want to meet her," Harley bubbled. It was hard for her to contain so much excitement, and the gossip was just making her more and more anxious to meet this mysterious woman.
Ivy turned to her and scoffed, "Do you think the doctors at Arkham would be stupid enough to let a new inmate in here on their first day?"
"You'd be surprised," Crane interjected, "They let Jervis have his hat, and that only feeds his dependency on it, and I've managed to sneak some fear gas by them multiple times before."
"And he just said that in front of the guards over there," Edward pointed out, "this pitiful excuse for a mental institution just doesn't care."
Just as their conversation deviated to the subject of Arkham's 'fine facilities', the door to the recreation room opened, signaling a new arrival.
Almost everyone in the room, the five previously talking rogues especially, turned to see a woman led, none too gracefully, into the room by a particularly brutish looking guard. She was looking down, her short, raven-black hair just barely obscuring her face. Her arms were released from the man's grip, and she was left alone without any words of encouragement or warning.
Tilting her head up slightly, she looked around at her surroundings. Finding an unoccupied corner, she headed straight towards it, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone. She sat down curled up as if she thought that by doing that, she could block out the rest of the world. Most of the people turned back to whatever they were doing, except the rogues.
"Awww, she's shy," Harley whispered, "I'm gonna go talk to her."
"Hold it Harley; we don't know what she's capable of yet," Ivy cautioned, still wary of the slouching woman.
"It would be interesting to know the state of her mental psychosis," Crane stated. Ever the psychologist, he made it his business to know the stability of every inmate. It made it so much easier to manipulate them if the moment ever arose.
"Jonathan, I fear you'd frighten the poor woman," Jervis frowned.
"Your point?" The ex-professor grinned darkly, getting up to introduce himself to Arkham's newest chew-toy.
"I'll go with you," Riddler jumped, not taking his eyes off the woman so interested in the stone wall beside her.
"Why should you go?" Harley asked confused, wasn't he the one who said that they should stay away from her? Nigma did nothing but flash a sly grin before setting his attention back to the woman.
"I think Eddie's got the hots for her." Harley giggled to Ivy.
"That's a disturbing thought."
Currently, Eva chose to focus on the groves and holes in the stone walls of the asylum, ignoring the obvious feeling of eyes on her person. She wasn't uncomfortable with the staring itself so much at the uncertainty of their thoughts. In her mind, if she stayed out of sight, and didn't bring any attention to herself, they'd get bored with her. The last thing she wanted was any connection to Gotham's criminally insane. For now, she would find comfort in whispering to herself quietly.
"Just ignore them, just ignore them, just ignore them," she repeated hoping her chanting would ward off loons.
"Hello." Evidently it didn't.
Despite her better judgment, Eva looked up to be greeted by two men in front of her. Edward made it a point to study her face closely; she was a pretty looking woman, in his opinion. He noted the caramel brown tone of her skin, the thin shape of her upper lip compared to the full lower one, but especially, he looked at her large almond brown eyes. Jonathan on the other hand, rather than focus on the shape of her eyes, noticed the tiniest glimmer of fear in them. A visible shiver ran down her spine, delighting him.
She hesitated in greeting them back, knowing not to trust anyone here. Still, she was not about to look like a coward.
"Hi," she spoke out in a cracked just above a whisper. God, she hated sounding so weak, so pathetic, just another sniveling child.
"There is no need to be wary," Crane said, "we are some of Arkham's more… stable individuals."
"That's not reassuring," she bitterly laughed. The most normal person in an insane asylum was still crazy. So, where did that put her?
"It wasn't meant to be, it was simply a fact," Crane remarked, interested in her faux courage. She was good at presenting a confident air, but that didn't stop her from shivering slightly again.
"Forgive my companion here," Edward oh-so-casually jumped in, holding a hand out for her, "he's not very experience at talking with women."
His voice was smooth, charismatic, as it left his smirking lips. He honestly thought the woman would find him charming.
"And I'm supposing you are," Eva scoffed, finding his advances ridiculous. Who hits on a woman in an insane asylum?
"Are these two bothering you?" a sharp voice came from the other side, two women now came to see the entire ordeal. The redhead glared menacingly at the men, while the blonde made it her business to lift Eva from her position on the ground.
"Here, come with us," Ivy took a hold of her, confusing the poor woman who had no idea what was going on.
"Yeah, Arkham girls gotta stick togetha," Harley jumped up and down leading Eva to the couch where they were previously sitting.
After a few seconds of silence between the two men, Edward spoke up.
"Did they…?"
"Put the new inmate in an awkward situation involving men so as to console her later and bond as the few women of Arkham, yes," Jonathan analyzed, finding it both impressive that they somehow found a way to manipulate them and annoying that he was the one to be manipulated.
"Clever."
I hope that the inmate's interest in Eva wasn't out of character. I just thought that, seeing as female mental patients are rare, they'd want to know about her, even if it's only to use any abilities she has later. Also, most of the rogues seem to know and interact pretty well in BTAS, there'd have to be a starting point for that?