"Wow!" (Y/n) exclaimed softly, as she returned from upstairs, her eyes falling on the now cleanish face of the clown, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had declared her amazement at the fact that this Arthur really was quite handsome.

"W-w-what?" Arthur asked nervously as he picked up all the makeup covered tissues, desperately looking around for a wastepaper basket to dispose his rubbish into.

"Sorry....... its just nice to see that I was right about you being handsome under all that thick makeup." (Y/n) explained, coughing uncomfortably as Arthur stared at her in slight shock. He wasn't used to having people describe him as handsome, he'd been called funny looking, and on the odd occasion he had even been described as ugly, so to have a beautiful woman call him handsome was not what you would call the norm.

"Thank you, but really I'm not; I think I'm the ugliest person I know." Arthur sighed, looking down at the floor, anxiously tying to conceal his glowing red cheeks.

"There you go with that self-deprecation thing again; have you never heard of the phrase 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'? Well in this case, I am the beholder, and I happen to think that you are quite beautiful." (Y/n) stated, smiling softly as she walked over to stand in front of him, taking Arthur's chin in the palm of her hand and raising his head so that their eyes met.

"Unless you work with a bunch of ridiculously handsome people, then I think that you are doing yourself a great disservice, and I also think we are going to have to work on your self esteem issues, Arthur." (Y/n) told him, as she brushed some of his sweat soaked hair back over his head.

"Now, these are the best clothes I could find, they may be a little big for you, but they are better than those things you have on. I want you to go upstairs to my apartment and take a nice shower, I've left out a towel for you and you can use anything you need. Once you're done, come back down and I'll have some iced tea waiting." (Y/n) said, handing Arthur a plain T-shirt and a light pair of trackpants, as she pushed him towards the stairs.

Arthur made his way up the flight of steps before pushing on the door and entering the neat and tidy apartment above the store; he couldn't help but let his eyes wander to the walls and shelves of the living space, there seemed to be objects from all over the world meticulously placed all over the room; African and Asian masks hung like hunters trophies from the walls, while a multitude of items were placed on every last little bit of space; normally it would seem cluttered, but in this case everything was placed so that it seemed to have a purpose, and was meant to be there.

As he moved further into the apartment, he noticed the pictures in frames that dotted the coffee table; all seemed to be of a younger version of the woman he had just met with an older couple, and she seemed so happy as she sat on horseback or fished in the photographs; but one important thing he did notice was that there was no sign of a man's presence in the home, the clothes that she had given him were definitely for a male, but there was nothing else that would suggest the presence of anyone other than (Y/n), a fact that Arthur found strangely pleasing.

Dragging himself into the shower, the cool water soothing his overheated form, Arthur couldn't help but smile slightly; even though he did not know (Y/n), it felt nice to have someone care about his wellbeing, even if it was a beautiful stranger. At first he felt as though she was slightly bossy, pulling and pushing him around, but now he could see that as the old lady had said, it was a kind heart that merely wanted the best for another human being, a trait that was very rare in Gotham.

Reluctantly he stepped out of the water, wrapping himself in the big fluffy dark blue towel that she had left for him; it was strange, but he liked the smell, it was the thing that he had noticed about her after her eyes and smile, the wonderful smell of jasmine and honeysuckle that had drifted through the air and caressed his senses like a lovers fingers gently stroking his skin, it was a smell that he already loved, a smell that he wanted to continue to love.

                                                                   >>------------------------------<<

"Now, don't you look better." (Y/n) said with a soft smile, as Arthur appeared from upstairs, the T-shirt she had given him swamping him a little, as he pulled the cord in the pants as tight as he could.

"Take a seat, and I'll bring the iced tea." (Y/n) called out, as she disappeared into her store, the sound of a pile of tumbling books causing Arthur to jump a little.

"Are you ok?" Arthur asked, as (Y/n) pushed her way back through the curtain, smiling despite the large bang from the store.

"Oh yes, it happens all the time; I run out of room and end up making leaning towers of books, but unlike the tower in Pisa, my leaning towers have a tendency of falling over." (Y/n) chuckled, as she placed a tray on the table, a large jug and two glasses filled with a light brown, frosted liquid.

"I ran out of tea, so I had to go see Miss Mary, she makes the best iced tea in Gotham anyway, so you are in for a treat." (Y/n) said, passing Arthur a glass as the two sat down at the table.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you come over and help me, why do you care?" Arthur asked hesitantly, he didn't want to sound rude, he appreciated everything she had done, but he was just intrigued as to why a complete stranger would want to help.

"Can't someone just do something nice for you, do you always think that there is an ulterior motive to someone's actions?" (Y/n) asked, as she placed her hand on Arthur's, his eyes shooting up to meet hers.

"Well, this is Gotham." Arthur chuckled uncomfortably, as he took a drink of the sweet tea.

"I suppose you are right about that, not many people here do something for nothing; but if you want to know why I helped you, its because I've been watching you over the last few days, and every day, in some way you have made me smile, and I don't seem to do to much of that these days, so all this is a thank you for making me happy." (Y/n) told him, as she chinked her glass against his.

"W-w-why aren't you happy, I mean you seem like such a confident and happy person, from what I've seen that is." Arthur asked, hoping that his question didn't seem too nosey.

"Oh, you know, I've been on my own for the last couple of years, and life can be very lonely; to cut a very long and boring story short, I had a boyfriend that I thought loved me, but it worked out he didn't, I kicked his ass out and instead of opening up my heart again, I've buried myself in my store under an ever growing pile of books. Like you I wear a mask, you wear the makeup to cover your sadness and loneliness and I cover mine in old books and an air of confidence." (Y/n) explained, looking at a slightly shocked Arthur; when he was dressed as Carnival he always thought that he concealed that part of his life well, but here was this woman who seemed to be able to see through him as well as he could see through a pane of glass.

"It's ok Arthur, I don't think most people would see it, I think it takes a person that feels the same to notice it in another; you hide it well, just not well enough." (Y/n) chuckled, as she smiled over at Arthur, whom she was sure hadn't stopped blushing since she met him.

"What a pair we make, a clown and a bookworm, both of whom hide from the world. You know, if you like, we could hide from the world together......... I mean, I don't know about you, but I could probably count the number of real friends that I have on the fingers of one hand, so why don't you and I get to know one another, and maybe we might end up not being so lonely." (Y/n) said hesitantly, smiling when she saw Arthur smiling back.

"I......I think that sounds like a nice idea, I don't mind the thought of being lonely with someone else, especially if that someone is you." Arthur replied quietly as the two new friends smiled at one another.

"Well then Arthur, a toast to the two most lonely people in Gotham together at last." (Y/n) said, raising her glass in a salute, as if commemorating some great occurrence.

"Now if we are to get to know one another, the best place to start is always the beginning, so start there and tell me everything about you, leaving out not a single boring detail, and I will do the same for you." (Y/n) chuckled, as she placed her elbow on the table and her head in her hand as she waited for him to begin.

                                                                  >>------------------------------<<

As Arthur walked down to sidewalk on his way home, the first rays of a new morning breaking through the dark cloud he couldn't help but smile; he and (Y/n) had been talking all day and all night, he had eaten another big plate of Miss Mary's food, the southern staples being some of the best things that he had ever consumed, and he couldn't believe that the pendulum of fate seemed to have swung in his favour for once.

He had found himself telling (Y/n) everything, it was as though he was confessing his sins to a priest, but instead of penance he had received nothing but care and understanding; there had been no judgement, no laughter at his expense, just the warmth of another lonely heart.

As he had told (Y/n) everything, she had done the same; he found out about her grandparent ranch, and how they had brought her up, about how she had travelled the world before settling down to devote herself to something she loved, and about the sack of crap boyfriend that she had kicked out; but most of all he found out that underneath it all they had things in common, and he felt he had finally found someone that could see past all his issues, to the real man beneath.

As he had left the small store, (Y/n) had kissed him on the cheek, telling him to go home and try and get some sleep; but as soon as he woke up he could come back and they could spend more time together, an offer that Arthur had every intention of taking up, and as he made his way into his dark apartment, for once it didn't seem so dark.