After-School Special

[questionauthority]

Who: The Riddler and Schuldig
What: Some long overdue catching up
Where: Mayfield High
When: Afternoon of Monday, January 23rd, 195X
Warnings: None I can think of? But knowing the two of them, the conversation could take some dark turns.

[Another day, another droning. That's how things always seem to go.

It's not a subject that the Riddler's particularly fond of, but it's one that's plaguing him nearly all day. He's seated behind his desk, fiddling with something mundane while the students of his Ethics class busy themselves with an impromptu in-class essay. Anything to try and get his mind off of...

Wait. The mind. That could be the answer he needs right now.]

Schuldig.

[He doesn't speak the name aloud. Rather, he thinks it. Truth be told, mental conversation still isn't Edward's preferred method of getting into contact with Schuldig. They've had them from time to time in the past, and every once in a while in the fall, Edward had attempted a mental prodding or two as a way of testing whether or not the so-called "Mastermind" was still droned. (Although for all he knew, Schuldig could have just been ignoring him, leading Edward to cease that sort of action altogether.)

But life isn't always convenient. Edward's in the middle of class, can't exactly step out to use the phones, and for that matter? He doesn't really trust the phones for this sort of thing. The last thing he needs is a filtered call turned to failure. Sighing lowly, Edward tries again.]

Schuldig. Are you hearing this?

Comments

[questionauthority]

What I want, Schuldig, is to expand that title of yours.

[There's a meaningful pause. Seemingly as if to allow Schuldig a chance to see all the cards in Edward's hand just before he plays them. But then, he continues.]

Don't believe me? Here's a question for you. Who in this cancerous cul-de-sac could be considered one of the most capable dealers of information? Who's proven to be quite the useful ally? Who could be considered one of Mayfield's most devious masterminds?

Aside from myself, of course.

[have_your_lives]

[Oh, Schuldig recognizes shameless flattery when he receives it. Which isn't to say that he objects in the least, even if Edward just had to slip his own conceit in at the end. It's not as though Schuldig wouldn't have done the exact same in his place, though, so he can sympathize.

He smirks.] And here I thought you didn't like questions to which the answer everyone already knows.

[questionauthority]

Consider this an exception.

[have_your_lives]

[Schuldig is, despite himself, intrigued.] So what are you proposing, anyway? I realize speaking in answers rather than questions is foreign to you, but make an effort. You always get so damned indignant when I go and find them for myself...