teddy hadn’t gotten to his laundry in god only knows how long. busy days at arkham...god, he just couldn’t keep up half the time. he went down to the basement of his apartment building. he thought, part midnight, he’d be alone and it’d be quiet, he could be down there alone and do some work in silence and he was surprise to see someone else down there. he neighbor, a young woman whose name he had only met once, whose name he had forgotten. he said nothing to her as she looked up, just nodded as he set his clothes basket down on a chair a couple seats away from her’s.  “hi,” he said quietly. “you’re, um...” “diana,” she respond, her voice held a heavy accent, voice hushed, eyebrows furrowed, eyes focused on a cockroach crawling across the floor. “don’t they pay someone to exterminate the little beasts?”  teddy laughed softly as he began to load his dirtied clothes into the washer. “yes, but they don’t do a particularly good job. during the summer months, i still get ants in my apartment. you don’t pay for quality on this side of gotham.” “then what do you pay for?” “not sure,” he shrugged, putting three quarters in the machine, pushing them in and watching it begin to spin. “i didn’t grow up here. i grew up in the, uh, richer side.” “really? how’d you’d end up here then?” the woman’s eyes didn’t move form the cochroach. she was focused. her voice didn’t waver either. her eyebrows stayed hitched.  “i moved out of my father’s home into dorm room for college. he payed, of course, i always had a fund set up. he cared enough for that,” he said as he sat down, two seats away from her. “got married a few years after that, moved in with her. we lived in a nice place, we bother made good money. she came from a wealthy family herself and she was a doctor.” “was?” “camilla died three years ago.” teddy bowed his head. this wasn’t a conversation he was expecting to have. he looked over at the file he brought down with him, laying next to the laundry basket. he supposed he wouldn’t be reading about his new patient until he got back to his apartment building or until the missus was done with her clothes.  “i’m sorry to hear that,” she looked over at him, prying her eyes away from the cockroach. voice softened now. “any children?” “no,” almost. “no children.” “i was about to say...i don’t hear much from your apartment. besides that cat. it meows when you’re not there.” teddy smiled a little. “really? a lot?” “oh yeah. wakes me up sometimes.” she turned her head back to the cockroach but it had scurried along. her eyebrow returned to it’s normal position. “i like to think of it as my alarm clock. what’s it’s name?” “angel. i got her not long after my wife died. a, uh, colleague recommended i get a pet to, uh, help me cope with the trauma of being alone.” “sounds reasonable. are you a doctor or something?”

“psychiatrist at arkham asylum.” “that must be...interesting.” “never a dull moment,” he chuckled.  “ever run into batman?” he quirked a brow and looked over at her. he narrowed his eyes and looked closely at her. something did seem familiar about her but he couldn’t quite place it. “uh...no. not yet. though, i’m sure it’s only a matter of time.” “what about any of his notorious villains?” “like the joker?” “yes.” “i’ve never worked personally with any of them but i’ve met some of them, yes.” “interesting...” a small smirk appeared on diana’s face as she stood up, the dryer ceasing it’s vibration. she checked to see if her clothes were dry before taking them out and putting them in her basket, “it’s been nice talking to you, uh...” she turned to him, giving him, giving him a small smile.  “theodore...uh, teddy. my friends call me teddy,” if i had friends. he stood up, putting out his hand.  diana shook his hand, her smile widening. “i’ll see you around, teddy.”

“yes. i’ll see you, diana.”