AN: Not new. Moved. Old.
Well, no one ever said that Gotham was clean. Their new flat-slightly nicer than most, since there's two incomes-is, well…ew.
Jonathan Crane can practically smell the roaches that he's sure inhabit this place. Sure enough, one skitters out from the bathroom. Kitty shrieks and all but clambers up his shoulders. Scarecrow wishes she was in front instead of in back. Jonathan wishes she'd get down. He's not exactly a professional wrestler.
It's cold in here. Gotham doesn't have nice weather, either. His lungs never did recuperate from that last bout of pneumonia, and he resigns himself to a very unpleasant cold and flu season.
The roach comes towards them and he drops his books on it. There's a crunch. Kitty finally gets down but sticks close, tensed to climb again. He sighs. Yeah. It's going to take a while to get used to this place.
A job promotion has allowed them to move. Kitty provides the new owners with a sticky note about the roach problem.
The new flat is roach free and in a slightly better part of town. Although, really, any part of town is better than the Narrows. Arkham is in the narrows and as such, that area is dangerous. The security is good, but not always good enough.
This new place smells better-more bleach than roach-and there's more room. They decide on a new TV set-the old one is absolutely horrible.
The only problem with this place is the bat population. Bats adore the city, and the air is a bit better here, so they love it. Jonathan hates bats. They remind him too much of crows.
There's insects outside the window their first night and they bring the bats. Kitty shuts the drapes and comes up with a distraction for him. Scarecrow approves of the distraction.
Their final flat is the nicest of the nice. Being employed at Arkham isn't exactly a desirable job, so the pay is good. They have to have some incentive, Jonathan supposes.
The bats are still bad here, but the pollution is not and besides, the police take good care of this neighborhood. Several prominent mob members live in it.
This is nicer than his room in Georgia. The furniture is white-a stark contrast to the stained, chipped pieces he had there-and the mirrors reflect what sunlight they get. Kitty's put up some pictures to perk it up, mostly pictures of European landmarks, and the walls are a light blue. Nothing here reminds him of home, and for that he is grateful.
The rest of the flat is a wide, open space decorated primarily with bookshelves. An old record player sits against the far wall. They found it in a thrift shop and three weekends later, had gotten it to work.
Yes. This one is good. Hopefully they can stay here for a long time.
THE END