Spam for Harvey

[velocette]

[It had been an okay weekend, overall. He's not a fan of the ocean, and LA had changed dramatically from the last time he'd been there. But the bikes handled the same. He hadn't heard a thing in over a day, which wasn't unusual, but some sounds trickled back in by the time he got back to the Barge.

It wasn't until he got to his cabin and found Plato's Republic sitting open that he remembered Harvey. He grabbed a notebook and a pencil, a pack of cigarettes and his lighter, and headed over to his inmate's cabin.]

Comments

[halftheman]

[ Harvey was back in his cabin; he'd unpacked his bag, put away his new clothes, broken out the bottom of his wardrobe a bit, one plank, to put his new guns and ammo under, along with their holster. He felt better about having them there, a waiting safety. Just a pair of semi-automatic .22 pistols; his obsession showed, but a well placed .22 would kill a man just as well as a shoddily placed 9mm... and Harvey was very good at placing his shots. ]

[ He had returned to his desk to read when he heard the Boy at his door. He got up, putting his book down (this one on Deaf Culture in America) and opened the door. ]

See you made it back, Warden.

[velocette]

[At home, during these deaf spells, he had gone into his own mind. Hardly anyone could communicate with him when he was hearing; when he was deaf, no one dared try. There was no such thing as hearing aids for people as poor as he was. There were no surgeries to repair the damage, there was no sign language.

But here he's a Warden, and his inmate is in a precarious position. He can't just wander off on his own for weeks on end. So he holds up the notebook, with what he's written so far:

Hi. How'd you like LA?]

[halftheman]

[ The newness of it all confused Harv; he was used to people who couldn't communicate clearly because of madness, because of language barrier with tongue and teeth in play, but-- not this. He look a pen (expensive, bought recently) from his pocket, and uncapped it, and wrote back; ]

[ It was a little too sunny. Don't care for the heat. But it was a city. Good to get off the boat. ]

[ Sure, Two-Face kept him mostly isolated from his fellow barge crew, but that was to be expected. It's what Two-Face did. But he turned some of it to his advantage. ]

[velocette]

Good. Thought you could use a break.

[He had considered keeping Harvey on the Barge, extending the house arrest that far...but it had seemed excessive. As a rule, he bucks against confinement, and it doesn't sit right with him to inflict it on someone else unless it's for safety.]

Can't hear anything. Never tried to 'talk' to someone when this happens. Feeling patient today?

[Because Harvey will need to be, while he figures out how to relate to another person when he's feeling this cut off.]

[halftheman]

[ Better. Have idea. ]

[ It should be increasingly obvious when Harvey's in control; he's not compassionate, per se, but he applies himself to problems with a sharper mind instead of rage. He's not a fool, nor is he stupid. He's taken on the gangster's posture and posing, but in the end, he doesn't really need it when he's feeling... close to himself, further from his other self. ]

[ His double got most of the run of port; letting Harvey 'rest', stay isolated, down. He might not remember a great deal of port, but he does remember this. Books. A small box, with a portable DVD player. Sign language lessons. Enough for both. ]

[ He just puts them at the edge of his desk, his own stack is elsewere; his battered bookshelves are less empty now. Harvey was always a cooperative inmate. He tried, back in the day. Hoped. ]

[ These days, he doesn't put much stock in redemption, but he can at least make the failure a little easier to bear on his warden. ]

[velocette]

[He honestly had no idea what Harvey had in mind. And when he sees, it takes him a moment to register; and then a hundred thoughts rush through, theoretical and emotional both, overwhelming him and keeping him still and expressionless.

Then he smiles.]

From port?

[halftheman]

[ Harvey nods; he takes the box with the portable DVD player, opens it up up-- in the back of a couple of books are DVDs, and those he slides in, shows him step by step, how to operate, to follow along. There's no subtitle, though-- just soundless, graceful hands. ]

[ Then he wrote out: Not too old to learn a new trick or two..]

[velocette]

[He's an extremely fast learner, maybe in part because of how intently he can focus on a single thing at a time. He pauses only to write out:]

How many do you know already?

[halftheman]

[ He writes A few letters. Big hands, thick fingers. Better for triggers than pretty letters and signs. ]

[ More in library. Plus place to watch vids, read books. There's plenty to watch, and learn. ]

[velocette]

[He studies a bit, practicing the letters up to 'E', and then he looks up at Harvey and gestures for him to try. If they're going to be signing together, he wants to get used to how Harvey's big trigger-capable fingers handle the signs.]

[halftheman]

[ A is easy, it's a fist. B has some curl, is't as flat as it could be. C isn't so bad. D has his finger pointing a bit forward, but it's not so bad. E is harder to flatten out. ]

[ Old dogs, new tricks. It'll take time. ]

[velocette]

[It's literally learning a new language. The way the books and DVD's show is the correct way, but Harvey is the one he'll be communicating with, and so he watches his inmate work, memorizing the way he forms the letters.

He's a very, very quick study.]

[halftheman]

[ His hands aren't deft. Slow, thick fingered, broad-palmed; at forty-six age is starting to have their way; use in combat and with guns haven't exactly limited him, but it hasn't really expanded his dexterity, either. ]

[ He compares to the book, corrects himself, until eventually he's dragging his chairs over and propping up books to compare, point, gesture -- until he can at least get out his name with halting care. ]

[velocette]

[The Boy smiles, more pleased to recognize Harvey's signing than he is to have memorized how to fingerspell.

He signs, and then writes: you're a quick learner.]

[halftheman]

[ He scrawls back, hands sore after the new gymnastics they've been through: Didn't make DA at 26 on my good looks. ]

[ A bittersweet joke. ]

[velocette]

[The Boy's eyes sparkle a little. He rarely laughs out loud, but it's very clear in his expressions.

Bet you had a lot of jealous opponents though.]

[halftheman]

[ Harvey dims; his meteoric rise (and fall) as DA is--- not a good memory. So he just shrugs, and leaves it at that, closing the door on the story for now. ]

[velocette]

[If he'd been in a talkative mood, he could have pressed on even with Harvey's obvious discomfort. But he's happy, and focused on a new task, and so he lets it go. In a few moments he's forgotten all about the mention of Harvey's old life.]

There's one thing I wish we had on board here that we don't.

[halftheman]

What? If its imporant, ask the Admiral?

[velocette]

Motorcycle. Room to ride it. I could probably get one from him, but there's too many walls, it'd just be a carousel ride.

[halftheman]

Off road in the CES. But that's all you got. Sorry, Boy. It's a boat in space.

[velocette]

What's going to happen, d'you think, if we go back to your world sometime for a Port?

[halftheman]

A lot of stupid people will get shot.

[velocette]

Yeah but what would you do? You ever get homesick?

[halftheman]

Not homesick. No. Not for that shithole.

If it were port? I don't know I'd even get off the boat.

[velocette]

[That's surprising, although not because he ever thought Harvey liked Gotham.]

What makes a good port, then? Not somewhere familiar?

[halftheman]

[ Gotham is that abusive spouse you can't help but go back to but the love's been out of the relationship a very, very long time. ]

L.A. wasn't bad. There was enough to keep us both busy.

[velocette]

[He's glad, actually, that Harvey kept busy.]

Yeah? That seems like quite a feat; your interests are probably pretty different.

[halftheman]

You could say that.

[ Two-Face doesn't have interests outside of pain and rage and occasionally self-gratification, especially if it's Harvey's expense. ]

[velocette]

You make any good bets?

[halftheman]

Made a few. Some cashed out, some didn't.

[velocette]

What would you barter with back home in our Barge?

[halftheman]

Got nothing of value, now. Money's meaningless.