chapter 2: What Oswald Needs (Fish's POV)
Fish was sitting across from Oswald at the makeshift dining table as they ate grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. She couldn't help but realize how depressed he was as he sat there slowly stirring his soup. He hadn't eaten a bite since he recovered and he didn't sleep well because of night terrors. How could she cheer him up? She knew that he missed Edward more than he missed Gotham and nothing she did could make him smile, not anymore. He was making her depressed.
"Oswald, darling, why don't you eat just a little soup and half the grilled cheese sandwich. You can dip it in the soup if you want.", she suggested to no avail.
"I'm not hungry, Ms. Mooney. Can I go paint now?", His voice was low and soft and unbearably sad.
"Take the grilled cheese with you for later, please darling.", she sighed knowing that she couldn't force him to eat when he wants to just mourn in his own way.
She watched him leave taking the sandwich with him like he was told. She sighed again and let the spoon slide down in her bowl of soup and leaned back in her chair. Hugo was standing quietly at the entrance of the doorway polishing his glasses on his fleece sweater before returning them to his face.
"Why not bring back to Gotham, Fish? It's what he needs. To go home. He'd at least cope better.",Hugo suggested like the Psychiatrist he was.
"He doesn't need Gotham, he needs to see and be with the one he loves. Quite frankly he needs Edward to make him feel better.", she voiced her opinion.
"Edward is IN Gotham, Fish. The issue is timing. It's not time yet.", he agreed.
They went to the main hub and slowly approached Oswald, who was busy painting question marks on an umbrella that was purple surrounded by blackness. Oswald was very talented for someone who never painted before. He was softly humming to himself and to the tone of a soft melodramatic tune that he always played to keep him from breaking down and ruining his masterpiece.
"Oswald darling, may we have a word a moment?", she softly cooed.
"What for? Am I in trouble for not eating again?", he was nervous and his sad eyes turned their melancholy gaze towards her and Hugo.
"No, honey, you aren't in trouble for anything, but stop me If I'm wrong, I think what would cheer you up would be seeing Edward Nygma again and maybe visiting Gotham.", she started slowly and softly as to not upset him
"D-do you have a set date or is it a "when I am ready" mode?", he said towards Hugo mostly.
"W-well I was hoping that not rushing the return to Gotham and not rushing meeting Edward would help steel you against whatever might happen in that time period.", Hugo explained his thoughts slowly and softly also in order not to upset him.
"I do miss Gotham. I don't know about seeing Ed again. It would be soothing to see that he was alright though. Oh, I don't know."A tear glided down his pale cheek from his left icy-blue eye as he glanced at the painting that he was working on at the present.
Fish sighed knowing that Oswald was conflicted with so many emotions and thoughts that he couldn't possibly make a decision anytime soon. She stroked his spiky, raven black hair and hugged him to her breast just as her shoulders started to shudder and tears glistened her cheeks. She held them in for so long that crying was a welcome relief from the crumbling of her heart as her reserve softened and her laugh lines deepened making her seem older than she actually was.
Was this what it was like to be his mother? Was Gertrude this stressed and torn about her little boy? God only knows now. She let her fingers form into a soft fist in Oswald's hair as she stood there hugging his frail, shuddering frame. His tears and trembling breath gently tickled the exposed flesh of her neck and chest bones.
A Few Hours Later:
Fish was sitting on her bed in her room in a lightweight baby blue suit pajama set and feet bare. She was reading a romantic tragedy about a couple were destined for each other but irreparably separated by pure circumstance. She dog-eared the book and placed it on her nightstand and was about to turn off the lamplight when a shadow in the doorway caught her eye. She looked up to see who it was and found that it was Oswald. He was in his navy blue suit pajamas and his hair was standing on end. He rubbed his eyes and blinked repeatedly.
"F-fish, I-I had a nightmare. is it alright if I spend the night with you?", he sounded like a young child talking to his mother after waking up frightened and in need of comfort.
"Of, course Oswald, you can spend the night in here, it's alright. Are the nightmares getting worse?", she probed concerned because it had been weeks since he was in her room.
"N-no, I just don't want to alone. I miss him terribly.", he began to cry and sniffle. His shoulders shuddered as he wiped his eyes.
"Come here sweetie.", she motioned to the bed and then to him with outstretched arms. Slowly he came to the bed and curled next to her and she wrapped her arms around him and soothed and cooed him to sleep.
She gently pulled the blanket over his shoulders and tucked him in and watched him sleep until sleep took her to the land of haunted dreams and regrets of a life that seemingly passed them both by in seconds instead of years. In that moment was when she learned how much she really loved Oswald, her little penguin.