Of all the things Ed or Riddler have shared with Oswald, this is possibly some of the most vital in terms of crystallised importance. He has a lot of theories about Ed and his alter ego, but it had taken Oswald some time to figure out whether Riddler was just a shift in mood or a full-blown additional personality. It's still not entirely clear, but the two are distinct enough parts of Ed that even when signaled as two separate things Oswald is convinced he can still see the joining seams between them.
Hell, he even feels an involuntary spark of defensiveness for Ed when Riddler calls him dumb. Ed isn't dumb, not by a long shot. At a time not too far from what Oswald knows, that is what he finds hardest to grapple with--what happens to Ed. It's why he reaches beyond when the time comes.
But now, they're close enough to the man that sparked something new and unique in Oswald that he has to actively choke his own impulse to be protective.
He swills those impending words around his mouth and swallows, just in time for the second part of Riddler's assessment to arrive. It reminds Oswald of the face he wore earlier, vaguely predatory and threatening, outlined in something sexual and terrifying. The face of Riddler that he been shaped by this place that chilled Oswald to be bone. He feels that again here and the significance of those words. He doesn't take it as nothing, not by a long-shot, but he'll be damned if he'll let Riddler see another glimpse of the fear Oswald feels about the power structures of this world. Real or not.
"Despite all the things we did, all the codes that were bend and broken and lost, all the extremes we went to... Gotham has its limits." He doesn't meet Riddler's eye as he speakers, instead staring out over the expanse of the Down starting to come into view from the elevator. "That is what you're saying, isn't it?"
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Hell, he even feels an involuntary spark of defensiveness for Ed when Riddler calls him dumb. Ed isn't dumb, not by a long shot. At a time not too far from what Oswald knows, that is what he finds hardest to grapple with--what happens to Ed. It's why he reaches beyond when the time comes.
But now, they're close enough to the man that sparked something new and unique in Oswald that he has to actively choke his own impulse to be protective.
He swills those impending words around his mouth and swallows, just in time for the second part of Riddler's assessment to arrive. It reminds Oswald of the face he wore earlier, vaguely predatory and threatening, outlined in something sexual and terrifying. The face of Riddler that he been shaped by this place that chilled Oswald to be bone. He feels that again here and the significance of those words. He doesn't take it as nothing, not by a long-shot, but he'll be damned if he'll let Riddler see another glimpse of the fear Oswald feels about the power structures of this world. Real or not.
"Despite all the things we did, all the codes that were bend and broken and lost, all the extremes we went to... Gotham has its limits." He doesn't meet Riddler's eye as he speakers, instead staring out over the expanse of the Down starting to come into view from the elevator. "That is what you're saying, isn't it?"