Of Arguments and Blinking

Arguing with Harvey Dent was never easy. As he was quite the stubborn man, he never saw when it was wise to give in and drop the whole thing, for he certainly was not one to leave a challenge unmet. His lawyerly mind was also quite difficult to deal with, as it constantly battered all defenses with his sheer charisma while sneaking in a few underhanded remarks and questions that the subject had no choice but to submit to. Always sneaking in another trick he had up his sleeve, with that stupid sheer brilliance and sense that he really knew what he was talking about, and was just trying to help you, that drove the defense witnesses and suspects over the edge into confessing all he needed to hear, and thus prove his point.

Now, combined with Two-Face's anger and unhindered ferocity, he proved an even more formidable rival, while having no inhibitions of smacking his opponent around if they persisted in their unyielding resistance. His courtroom appeal and know-how, coupled with his unstoppable wrath, made him one hell of an arguer.

But Jonathan Crane knew how the mind worked, and surprisingly well at that. Even the most minute of details never evaded his eyes and ears, and he knew how to use them to his advantage. He could see the slight twitches of the facial muscles; hear the tiniest hesitations, to know when he had struck upon a chink in his subject's armor. His extensive studies in psychology had not been for nothing, and he utilized his abilities to his fullest in his debates. He could see Harvey's inner conflict, could see the struggle within his mind between calm logic and the urge to lash out with a punch or two. He could hear how infuriated Dent was becoming, and pounced with his words at opportune moments, working him to the bone as his rival tried to come up with his next move.

But he too felt himself succumbing, and he knew his weakness as he felt it. He too felt himself swept under Harvey's vocal tricks and traps, and certainly couldn't evade his smothering ocean of undiluted charisma. It was something he had never held up well against since he had first met the man, and he knew that once its effects set in, it was only a matter of time before he melted in a puddle of goo at Harvey's feet. It was a game they never won, yet could never shy away from.

So as they vied for dominance over the other's methods and maneuvers, Harvey and Jonathan argued over whether they should have eggs or toast for breakfast.

But soon, simple hunger won them over more than either one's skills in verbal jousting, and they agreed out of their mutual headaches from hunger and frustration to just compromise and have both.

As they ate in discontented silence – for both knew the competition was never over until a clear winner was decided – Jonathan cast about for another tactic. Coming up with nothing else to fight about offhand, he decided to see what Harvey's face gave him to work with, so he could plan destruction from there. Looking up to the disfigured visage (and politely ignoring the bits of eggs that were falling out his jaw on the left side of his face), he saw that Harvey had been staring at him too, most likely for the same reason. As blue eyes met electric blue, a single lid flicked over the one healthy eyeball that the ex-lawyer still possessed. He performed the action several times, to the point where Jonathan wasn't sure if it was entirely a reflexive movement or not. Perhaps he had found the meat for his next move.

"Stop that," he snapped, bringing his eyes back down to the toast on his plate.

Harvey cocked his one eyebrow that hadn't been singed away. His mouth on the right side of his face twitched up in a smirk, satisfied that he had provoked annoyance out of his partner. "Stop what?" he asked innocently.

"That…thing you do with your eye."

Harvey tilted his head to the side mockingly, batting his eyelid at a feverish pace. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said, feigning innocence while thoroughly enjoying the frustration he was causing the psychologist. "Why does my blinking bother you so much?"

Jonathan slammed his fork down. "Because," he snapped, "I can't tell if you're just blinking, or-" he cut himself off suddenly, as if quite taken aback by what he had just been about to say, and buried his embarrassing suspicion in stabbing at the mess of scrambled eggs on his plate, perhaps to scramble them further until they pleased him.

Harvey chose no retort, content to wait in silence to savor his victory at having made Jonathan Crane break his collected and professional demeanor. He was also genuinely very curious as to what he had thought his blinks had meant, and chose to coax it out with silent patience.

"…or…" Jonathan finally broke the silence some moments later, still staring holes through his scrambled eggs, "…winking seductively at me."

Harvey would have laughed, had he not known how difficult it had been for Jonathan to admit that. But he knew his companion better than that, and at first said nothing, simply eyed him across the table with a reverent interest. Ever since he had effectively lost his left eyelid in the accident, it was certainly a very understandable mistake to make; it was indeed difficult to tell if his innocuous blinking motions of his right eye – made even more frequent and vigorous perhaps to make up for what his left eye lacked in moisture – were in fact meant in a more suggestive manner or not. Especially with the history of the past few months he shared with the doctor.

Then, in an effort to ease the strained silence, he added one last remark to his partner.

"Whatever you want it to be."

Jonathan looked up in surprise, only to see Harvey's eyelid slowly sweep down, then back up again. As both men returned to their plates, Jonathan could barely suppress a grin.

In an effort to start one of the three OTHER fics I'm struggling to complete, I decided to revisit this pairing. The idea was just too cute and perfect for them for me to pass up. :)

Kind of goes to show that there's really a professionalism/respect dymanic between Harvey and Jonathan that my other three pairings don't really have as much. I think it really makes their relationship the most human of the four. Not all destined and whatnot like Bruce and Joker, not completely overbearingly fluffy/hurt-comfort like Ivy and Harley, not all coy/jealous like Selina and Talia. More like they provide a challenge and a comfort for each other that they never really knew they needed at first (c'mon, arguing for them is like violence for Bats and Joker), and while not all gushy/romantic (because that's not really their style) is always there for them. awww...xD This pairing is starting to grow on me...