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Jonathan sat in his usual place in front of the chess board, chin atop his hands as he listened to Edward speak animatedly in front of him. They were in the Arkham recreation room doing one of the very few things that minds like theirs found acceptable to do. Though Jonathan tolerated the company of Edward Nygma, today was not one of those days. Jonathan was uninterested in whatever the puzzle master was saying. Jonatan briefly heard things about the Bat not being able to solve his next Riddle and that the Joker wished he was on his level and so on. Edward seemed to finally notice Jonathan's face as he asked, “Jonathan? Are you even listening to me?” Jonathan had to stifle a smirk at seeing the Riddler frustrated as he simply responded, “You bore me Edward.” The utter look of disbelief made Jonathan crackle inwardly. “What was that, Crane?” Jonathan repeated, “You bore me Edward. At least today you do, more than usual.” Edward’s face flashed red before he composed himself and said, “If that’s the way you think of me then I shall take myself elsewhere!” He left with a huff leaving Jonathan amused and alone. Jonathan didn’t mind the loneliness or silence, it gave him room to think. He pondered over how he could escape and how eventually Edward would crawl back to him and perhaps the Bat would be taken care of. As he let his mind wander he picked up the king chess piece inspecting the detailing. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man, perhaps around five feet in height, enter surrounded by guards. The guards then took their leave leaving the new man to stand eyeing the room. Jonathan went back to his chess piece, uninterested in the man until, “E-excuse me?” ‘How fascinating,’ Thought Jonathan as he got to look fully at the man. He was fair in skin, light freckles, big bright blue eyes, wavy blonde hair, and a slight overbite. What stood out the most was the proud paper tophat that sat upon his head. He stood wringing his hands together, a nervous tick Jonathan deduced. “Yes?” Jonathan replied smoothly. The man cast his head down before he said, “‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’" Jonathan let himself smirk, ‘how curious.’ “‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.’" He said in a teasing matter. The man's eyes widened in recognition but made no effort to speak back. “Sit. If you’d like we can play a game.” The man took his seat quickly keeping his gaze down upon the board. Jonathan placed the king piece back in its place as he asked, “I trust you’ve played before?” The man nodded, briefly looking into his eyes. Jonathan made his first move prompting the man to make his. “So,” Jonathan started, “what’s your name?” The man paused briefly as he replied, “Jervis Tetch.”Jonathan made a humming sound as he continued his moves. “So, Jervis Tetch, do you have any fears?” The man, Jervis, looked up fully at that. “Fears?” He repeated softly. “Yes. Fear fascinates me, mister Tetch. If handled right it can be controlled. Controlling those fears could lead to ultimate power. Now, what is it that you fear, Jervis Tetch?” Jervis pauses and makes a face of ponder, holding his knight in his hand as he decides to say, “‘But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.’” Jonathan responded in kind as he took Jervis’s knight, "’Oh, you can’t help that, we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’" Jervis introduced his queen to the frontlines, "’How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.’” Jonathan smirked, "’You must be, or you wouldn’t have come here.’” Jervis, after removing Jonathan’s bishop, cast his eyes down sadly, his hat tilting too. “Oh, but madness is such a lonely thing, isn’t it?” Jonathan pondered that as he said, “Sometimes, my dear Tetch, it is more beneficial to be alone than to be hurt.” Jervis sat in silence as Jonathan removed his queen. “I don’t think that’s necessarily true, mister-” “Doctor. Doctor Crane.” Jonathan corrected, his tone firm. “And how do you mean?” Jervis looked taken slightly aback by the intensity but he pressed on, “‘O-one of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.’” Jonathan paused as he finally fully looked at the man in front of him, who was wringing his hands again. Jonathan leaned back in his chair in contemplation before saying, “Then what will you have left?” Jervis looked into Jonathan's eyes for the first time as he replied, “‘My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.’” Jonathan felt a slight shift as he took in Jervis’s words. There was something in this man that fascinated him. Sure, Edward is also fascinating when he isn’t blabbering nonsense, but Jervis is…different. Jonathan looked down at the board as he realized Jervis had him in checkmate. “Not bad.” Jonathan praised softly. “Perhaps, if you’d like, we can play again tomorrow?” A small smile grazed Jervis’s lips as he responded, “‘Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!’" Jonathan gave his own small smile as he confessed, “You are a curious creature, mister Tetch. I don’t know what it is about you but you…intrigue me.” A faint red hue tinted Jervis’s cheeks as he said, “‘Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you.’” And that is exactly what they did.