on the flip side

“My neurochemistry course requires a lab partner. I…. do not know how…ah, successful this will be.” He was dreadful at speaking to people he had not already known. He stuttered upon his words even if he was completely convinced of what he had been doing. 

"It'll be fine. Just try not to let 'em hold you back, I guess. Have you found somebody already or still looking?" he asked, genuinely interested. He'd like to see what sort of person Jervis would deem easy enough to put up with.

He lifted his beer up to his lips once more, taking a drink and allowing his mind to register what was being said by a couple not too far from them. Once he’d realized Harvey had spoken he actually looked back at the man, shaking his head. “Simply observing. My mind does wander… ” he was quiet for another few moments before he actually connected to conversation, eyes snapping away from who he’d been watching and back to his friend. “How has the semester been treating you, classes well?” It seemed a random topic jump, but by now Harvey should be used to how Jervis’ brain worked. 

"Yeah, it hasn't been too bad. Still not too good at math, but I'm doing alright." he said, taking little notice of the change in subject. "What about you? You're probably having no trouble at all, right?" he asked with a smile. Harvey had always wished he was half as smart as Jervis, whose intelligence he'd always sort of admired.

The man he sat at the small bar table with could honestly be considered his only true friend. They had known each other for so many years a this point, that he no longer remembered when they first began talking. Only that they had and from that found a sort of kinship. As much as someone like Jervis forms bonds. His hands shook just a bit less when they spoke, and his words were far more certain. The person on the other side of the table had their issues too, and the knowledge of that made their conversations less…. shielded.. than when he spoke with others. There was an honesty to shared madness.  Raising his drink to his lips, Jervis continued to scan the bar and its inhabitants suspiciously. “This place…is somewhere you frequent, then?” There was a moment of silence as he listened to the existent noise level in the bar. “Considerably more…. populated than what I would typically choose.” 

"So, did you wanna talk about anything, or should I just shut it and let you get drunk?" he asked with an awkward grin. He never knew what to say, or if he should say anything, when Jervis was in a mood. He was certainly his oldest and probably his best friend, but being socially inept, and not even knowing how to handle himself when he was in a bad way, it was difficult for him to know what to do in situations like these. It never stopped him from trying, though.

"Both, I guess. Anything with any kind of dual theme to it. Those are both good examples." he said with a nod. 

Turning her attention back to Harvey, she frowned, taking a moment to think. “I’m not sure yet, maybe research? Or working for a tech firm?” she answered hesitantly. “I’ve still got a few years to figure it out, thankfully.”

Realizing the conversation had turned a little boring, he decided to change the subject. "So, do you know a lot of people on campus yet? I know that's kinda hard, at first." It wasn't much better, but it beat sitting in awkward silence.

“You’re welcome”, she replied gently. Fishing around for a topic, she asked, “So, what made you want to get into law?” 

There was a slight release of a breath as he didn’t push the question. Good. How exactly do you explain to someone that you’re a third generation magician anyway? Not to mention the fact that you’re kinda world famous and lots of people are convinced you’re a murderer? Yea. Easier just to not mention it.  “Great,” she moved to place her books into one of the drawers in the filing cabinet next to the desk, grabbing a ring of keys off of it and locking the unit. “We can just go to that place down the street, if that’s ok? I don’t live too far from there, and I walked to campus today.” Reaching behind the door to grab her purse, she would wait until he was ready to go before locking the door to the office behind them and directing him out of the building.  “So, what do you do when  not planning to save Gotham from it’s criminal underbelly, hm?” 

"Well, I like a lot of old TV shows. And I'm kinda interested in obscure mythology, too, particularly the stuff about duality. It's kind of a... hobby, I guess." he said, wondering if he should be mentioning that at all. It was more of a bizarre obsession, but he wasn't about to admit that now.

“Yeah, it’s nice, thanks,” she replied, smiling back at him. God, she was smiling a lot. He probably thought she was some sort of lunatic. Kitty had to laugh at Harvey’s self-deprecation. “I don’t know you very well, but something tells me that nothing about Harvey Dent is average”, she asserted.

“Oh! It’s, um, computer science. I think I might add a language minor at some point. What about you?” she asked, congratulating herself on sounding semi-normal. 

“Wow, you must be pretty smart, huh? I’m just a political science major; I’m gonna go to law school after this, with any luck.”

“Aww, thanks,” she blushed. “It just comes easily to me, I don’t know why. And psshh, poli sci and law school? You must be pretty smart yourself,” Kitty teased. 

"Some people are just gifted like that, I guess. It's great that you can do something you're good at and that you like." he smiled. "Nah, I'm average, I guess." he said, finding it hard to accept the compliment. He was pretty insecure about his intelligence, among other things.

“So, how about you? You have any plans for the future?” he asked. He was genuinely interested in her answer; Zee was a brilliant and talented woman, it was easy to see after only a few minutes of knowing her. Not to mention how beautiful she was.

"Yeah, I drink. That sounds like a great idea, actually." he said, trying to put her at ease. He wouldn't admit it, and he didn't necessarily like making anyone uncomfortable, but he really enjoyed having that effect on people. 

“Oh! It’s, um, computer science. I think I might add a language minor at some point. What about you?” she asked, congratulating herself on sounding semi-normal. 

"Wow, you must be pretty smart, huh? I'm just a political science major; I'm gonna go to law school after this, with any luck."

“And anything’s good with me, as long as it’s the original,” she grinned. Kitty had grown up watching all the old 60s sci-fi shows with her dad, so it felt like coming home again to see them now. 

"So, I don't think I ever asked what your major is." he said, trying to get to know her a little better so they wouldn't just be sitting there awkwardly staring at the screen.