|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 21:18:28 GMT
He nodded, "I'll tell you about anything that I can, as I hear it." He nodded, "Your beliefs are right. We can restore this city, and the faith of the people in the legal system. It just needs time, and people like you, dedicated to doing the job."
|
|
|
|
Post by John Constantine on Aug 25, 2013 22:29:26 GMT
As John weaved through the crowd, he passed by a server and grabbed a cheese cube, popping it in his mouth. His face fell and he sighed. "Cubed." he said, unaware that he had actually passed right by a world-class assassin in disguise. Not that he cared, of course.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 22:38:49 GMT
Jeff grinned. Good. It did look like he would gain another informant, even if he needed to pick his brain a bit to wrestle out all the important information. At least the guy noticed crucial details even if he didn't see them as such. And Jeff had to admit that his memory was pretty good. Most witnesses had a hard time noticing or remembering little bits like eye color.
His smile widened. He wasn't used to people telling him his beliefs were right. Most were on Jen's side, labeling him as the hopeless idealist or the optimistic fool.
"Thank you," he said sincerely, gratefully. He had to typically sustain his beliefs himself. He tried his hardest to give hope to others even when he was doubtful and discontented. People needed a breath of fresh optimism and hope. They needed the dreamers. He had to project that persona even when he didn't feel it. The city needed that, deserved that. But at least this person in front of him believed in Jeff's ideals. That was a great comfort.
"I'll probably take a while to examine the tapes," he slipped in. He kept his skill a secret as much as possible but the truth was he could read lips. Given all the noise at the ball it was unlikely he'd be able to hear any of the conversation but if the cameras were aimed at the lips he should be able to piece it together.
When his father was in a particularly bad mood one day he had struck Avi, Jeff's little brother down before Jeff could intervene. Jeff had been so angry at his father. He'd usually managed to steer Avi away before anything serious happened. He had screamed at his father and things just got worse and worse. End result was he was badly beaten and was effectively deaf for several months while he recovered. He could hear really loud noises but not much else. He'd gotten good at reading lips then and he'd kept up the skill. It was useful, particularly in this line of work.
He was pretty good at keeping the secret. Not even Jen was aware of his gift. His skill was more useful the fewer people knew about it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 23:03:34 GMT
"I'll get on top of those tapes as soon as we're done here tonight," Bruce assured him, "I want to get this guy taken care of."
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 23:14:12 GMT
Jeff smiled. "I can help with that. And I'd like to help with the tapes. Can I sift through them after the ball?" If someone was going to watch the tapes with him he couldn't say that someone else had read the lips. Chances were the guy's lips would be facing the camera at some point. Well hopefully Bruce or whoever else was there could keep a secret. Well, hopefully he'd let him view the tapes immediately. He did want to get a handle on this stalker before anything serious developed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 23:16:42 GMT
"If you want to," Bruce said. He had nothing to hide, and he wasn't going to deny him the chance to view them with him. That might look suspicious or something to the other man.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 23:20:58 GMT
"Thank you," he said, relieved. He was used to people fighting his requests tooth and nail. And of course if Bruce said no there was nothing he could do about it.
Jeff figured someone would be watching with him so it was best to come clean now. "I can read lips," he admitted. "Hardly anyone knows so please keep it to yourself. So I might want to rewind the tapes a couple of times and zoom in if we can't hear anything."
|
|
|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 23:27:11 GMT
Bruce nodded, "That secret is safe with me. I hope it'll help," he said. He hoped that if he could see something that the man wouldn't have said too much that would be problematic in the long run.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 23:34:36 GMT
The secret is safe with me. Everyone said that. No one said, 'Hey! I'm going to turn you in five minutes! Thanks a lot for the juicy story!'. But it couldn't be helped. Not if he wanted to make use of his skill and rewind the tapes and whatnot. And Bruce seemed helpful and trustworthy enough. He'd just have to believe him.
Jeff smiled wryly. "It's more useful than you'd expect." So his father had helped his career in that one way. Not like he'd ever thank him for that. He hoped the old man would just drop dead soon. Or at least stop leaving him irritating messages. He got too worked up with the man. He'd likely bug Jeff tomorrow too. He always felt the need to call on the day his younger brother committed suicide. Worthless trash. It was his fault Avi was pushed so far.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 23:37:17 GMT
"Oh, I imagine it's very useful," Bruce said. A skill like that could easily help in modern living and everyday life, or in the workplace. As a lawyer especially, but it would also help Bruce. He'd worked on it before, but had never been able to perfect it, sadly. He wished he was able to read lips properly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 23:43:05 GMT
"It is rather amusing when people lower their voice or mumble, trying to insult you to your face, thinking you won't understand it." He'd 'heard' all sorts of colorful descriptions of himself that way. Of course he'd always pretended that he couldn't. He simply asked them to repeat it.
And it had been useful later on with their father. He could better pick up on his moods that way and warn Avi to hide.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 23:47:15 GMT
"Oh, I can imagine that's quite entertaining," Bruce said. He'd seen it in all walks of life; in the rich, the poor. The guilty, the innocent. People, no matter their standing, who they were, they were all alike in some way.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 23:50:15 GMT
"It makes it much easier to know what people think of me," he said brightly. He chuckled. "I only regret that now I won't get to 'hear' what you really think of me," he joked.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 25, 2013 23:52:51 GMT
"Oh, I'll tell you like it is," Bruce assured him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jeffery Thompson on Aug 25, 2013 23:56:56 GMT
"I'll hold you to that. I can't stand the types that just smile and pretend to love everything about you while they're seething and housing all sorts of resentment inside. If people hate me I'd rather hear them say it to my face. Much cleaner. Much less mess."
And he definitely had no shortage of people who hated him. His lovely father being one of them. He had stopped pretending to love him as soon as he became Gotham's prosecutor. But that was fine. Someone who loved him couldn't have done the things he did. God he hoped he broke the habit and didn't call tomorrow. He just wanted to remember his little brother in peace. Maybe he'd even have a spare moment to visit his grave.
|
|
