The Punchline (Moose X Unbound)

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She dismissed the guards and came in on her own and the Joker raised his eyebrows. After last time he thought she'd ask for extra, but then again, he hadn't even tried coming after her... He rolled the thought around in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to the idea of attacking her just to make her fear him. It didn't strike him as fun at all.

She asked where he got the pie, "I alluded to the idea that I might... Visit the family of the guard outside my cell next time I get out. His wife bakes the best pies, and he's shared a slice or two with me when he was first stationed outside my cell in the hope that it would prevent me from killing me the next time I escaped. It worked because I know Batman always puts me back here and I wanted more pie next time that happened. I decided to see what would happen if I pushed. I hoped for a slice of pie the next day, but he's been bringing in whole pies for me the whole week. They keep him in front of my cell in the mornings pretty much for the same reason you're back here." He covered his mouth for a chuckle, wiping the flakes of crust that came off his lips on his pants.

"So, you can say I enjoyed my week more than you enjoyed yours, and I'm the one locked in here. Tell me doctor, does meeting a legend make his absence unbearable?" He teased.
 
"That's an... Interesting, way of obtaining what you want." Harleen said, realising just how far the jokers reputation and influence got him. But obviously, after having witnessed last weeks display, she knew he had the ability to back up the claims personally. He was impressive, much more so than any of the brutes she had been dealing with during the weak. None of them could break from the or confinments any where near as easily as The Joker could.

Unbearable... That would probably be the most ideal word to describe the past week with. But, it was not one she would use right now. She knew that she still needed to maintain at least a shred of control in this meeting, more so that the guards wouldn't storm in and drag her out, than anything else. "It definitely puts a new perspective on things." She chuckled. She would have done almost anything to get to see him again earlier in the week, but managed to restrain herself until today.

Harley looked to the small table, where a jug of coffee and a few cups rested. She poured herself one, letting the hot drink wash over her lips gently. "How long have you been in Arkham this time?" She asked him casually, continuing to sip her drink.
 
He chuckled as she tried phrasing that in a kind way, "Well, usually I kill to get what I want, and that's good for most things, but not things that you have to get repeatedly from the person you would end up killing. I kill to frustrate batman, I kill to get the resources to frustrate batman, and I kill just for the fun of it. But good baking recipes tend to die with the person who makes them as they subconciously do things that aren't on the recipe." He put a piece of pie into his mouth, watching her as she processed his own question.

He blinked as she gave him the conservative answer, recognizing the forced attitude. He smiled at the thought, continuing to chew.

She asked how long he'd been in Arkham, "About six months now. The current Bat brat had his birthday recently... I'm thinking of going to give them a visit when I get out." He said with a grin, "Six months is a long time from him in between parties with uncle Joker. But then again... I haven't played with Nightwing since he became Nightwing..." He pondered, "Who do you think I should start on when I get out this time?"
 
Harleen pondered over the Jokers predicament for a moment. It was confusing, hearing about the various accomplices of batman that you rarely heard of on the news. "If it were me, I'd go for whichever one bothers you first." She answered as she finished her coffee, placing the empty cup back to the table. She wondered what would happen when the Joker escaped, mainly to him, but also as to what would happen to herself. Whenever one of his therapists survive, they were usually treated with cauction, almost more like an inmate than a staff member; since it was so odd for one to survive.

"When do you plan on getting out of here?" She asked, in a bit more of a hushed voice, just in case any of the guards outside were attempting to eavesdrop. She may have... Forgotten, to wear the hidden mic that she usually wore in sessions to give evidence to the warden. She had heard of the jokers infamous Arkham breakouts, but had never witnessed one first hand before. If the tales were to be believed, they were horrifying... Or glorious, depending on your mindset.
 
The Joker pondered her recommendation, "The new Blunder bothers me more, but I feel like playing with the old one would be good practice... But then again... If my batman dies, he could make a new batman, he has the potential, and killing the old man might be the thing to put him over the edge." The Joker chuckled and then escalated to cackling. Once he calmed down he finished up the rest of the pie and set the tin on the floor.

The Joker shrugged when she asked when he would be leaving, "As soon as I make a new friend. I'd like that to happen by April first because that would be oh so fitting, the Joker escaping here with a new friend. Best Aprils Fools day prank... Then, hopefully pants Batman before the day is out." He shrugged again, "Gotta do something to the Bat." he laughed lightly before crossing his legs at the knee.
 
There was something about the Joker's laugh that was intoxicating to Harleen, it was just so unique and chilling. "A new friend?" She asked inquisitively. "Is there any one in particular you would want to make friends with in this place?" She asked. Part of her felt like he would say her, and that part wanted it to be her that the Joker talked about when he said he wanted a new friend. However, there was some strange voice, nagging in the back of her mind, telling her that there was no way that he would have even a bit of interest in her, just another therapist sent to fail at getting into his head.
 
She asked if he wanted to make friends with anyone in particular and he looked her over, "Well, you seem interesting and fun enough." He stood up and held out his hand for her, "What do you say, want to be friends with this old madman?" He asked with a smile and a laugh.
 
Harleen couldn't help but let a small blush creep to her face, and suddenly the room to her felt a whole lot smaller. There he was, the most notorious criminal in Gotham offering her his hand, and she was more than inclined to take it. What was wrong with her, locked in some void of attraction and fascination when it came to the Joker.

Harley found herself out stretching her hand, shaking his as he stood there. She giggled, smiling. "Yeah, I'd like that." She spoke simply, unsure of what to say as she felt the unique texture of his hand against her skin, looking up at his complex eyes. She felt like she had just made a deal with the devil.

Ans by God she liked it.
 
He looked at the blush on her face and saw that her decision had already been made for her, though he saw the confusion and confliction in her eyes. He accepted that that was going to happen and that he'd be able to iron that out over time. He would just have to be patient with her and guide her along.

He felt her accept his hand and he laughed with her giggle, accepting it all. He could feel the warmth within her, the power of her spirit, her draw to him. And it drew him to her as well, "So then, as an acquaintance and soon to be friend, what sort of things do you look for in friends?"
 
Harley adjusted herself in her seat after letting go of the joker's hand. She had felt his cool skin against her own as their hands met, and it was intoxicating. "I'm not sure..." She spoke gently now, although much more relaxed than before. She was becoming entranced in the Joker's eyes, seeming to lose herself in them as they spoke. Snapping out of it, she spoke again.

"Teach me what to look for." She said, still lost in the Joker's eyes. Her mind was racing, wanting to get lost in his gaze forever and ever, wanting the Joker to take her and show her how to live life fully. There was just something she just could not resist, and part of her wanted to just climb over the table towards him and let the two of them be closer.
 
She said she was not sure and asked him what she should look for, "Well, what I look for in friends is intelligence." He released her hand and sat back in his sofa, "Intelligence, creativity of the mind, and most of all, I want them to be fun." He said with a chuckle. He tapped his temple, "A friend needs to be able to fathom the inner workings of my head and understand them. They need to be able to make me able to appreciate their contributions to our relationship."

The Joker pressed the tips of his fingers together and stared at Harley, "My only friend thus far is Batman, everyone else thus far has come close but has missed some of those criteria. Hugo had nothing of his own to contribute, the creep, the first boy Blunder was far too innocent, the second is too rude and the girl, well, before I took her out of commission, she was doing this out of a sort of teenage rebellion phase rather than any of the good reasons."

He steepled his fingers together, "Do you think you can keep from making the same mistakes?"
 
Harley listened intently, making a mental note of what the Joker wanted from her. It seemed doable, being able to contribute to a relationship like that. She could be intelligent, or at least she thought so. After all, she had become a psychiatrist, and that wasn't easy. And plus, being a psychiatrist would help her get into his head like he wanted, and figure out what she could bring to the table.

"Yeah... Yeah, I can do that." Harley smiled, the Joker's own smile seeming to be somewhat infectious. She couldn't help but giggle more as she spoke. Her heart was fluttering as she sat there, waiting for the Joker to speak again. What would he want her to do now? Was he gonna stay longer? Or was he going to escape toady? Right now even? She really had no clue at this moment, but hoped that in the future she would be able to hopefully work out what he wanted to do.
 
The Joker tapped the armrests rhythmically after she gave her answer, chewing on his lip thoughtfully for a moment as he observed her, "April first is Wednesday." He said, "I know you don't have your microphone on you, otherwise, dismissing the guards would have been useless for privacy and you know that. You know I would know that, or at least, I hope you do." He said, becoming entranced with this beautiful woman who had a great curiosity to her. Perhaps he could have someone similar to the first boy blunder for him, perhaps he could have someone more.

"That means three days, before our next appointment." He explained, "Will you come to see me on that day?" He asked, "I'm not ending this session here, I just want to know if you'll come see me then. Before I go."
 
Harley nodded as he spoke, continuing to mentally record every word he said. That would definitely become a common thing for her. "Yeah, I'll come visit you then." Harley smiled as she spoke, unable to stop feeling ecstatic and happy in her current situation. This was so thrilling, to have her strange fixation towards the Joker at least somewhat reciprocated by the man himself. She just hoped that she could fit the bill for what he was looking for.
 
The Joker nodded at that, "Good." He chuckled lightly before tilting his head to the side, "Now, to get to other matters for the meantime, getting to know each other." He began, "I like moonlit nights with tall dark companions, but you already knew that part." More chuckling, "I love to laugh, again, blatantly obvious, and I find that the best comedy in the world is a man dressing in a costume, thinking that he can fight crime with his fists and with money." He shook his head, "The rest of the League is almost as comical."

"Your turn to share, Doctor." He said, holding up his hand and gesturing at her a gentle go-on motion.
 
Harley listened intently, practically hanging off his every word. His voice was intoxicating, making her feel fluttery and alive. When she was asked to share, she wasn't entirely sure what to say. She wasn't usually one for being open and telling about herself, mainly because she wasn't sure of exactly what it was she liked, but also because she really didn't have many people to tell.

"Me? I... I like to have fun, and I like reading. Oh! I also like to have a bit of excitement every now and again, to be whisked off my feet by something, or someone." She said, trying to get at least something out. She was sure she would naturally become more open after a while. "I find all the superheroes in their fancy costumes flying around and saving the day quite funny as well, it makes me really want to get into their heads and learn what makes them do what they do."
 
The Joker smiled at her mention of reading, "Reading is a nice hobby. There isn't much else I can do here, so I often find myself reading. Recently I've been reading Bane's notes on Venom, intelligent chap, that man. He needs a bit of work, there's some chemistry that I think would help massively. But I digress." She mentioned excitement and he chuckled, "Excitement is something I have in Spades." He said, flicking his wrist and pulling a card out of his jumpsuit and tossing it to her. It was the queen of Spades.

She agreed that the heroes of the world were funny, "Well, Batman's fighting because of his p-... Bat-Angst, Superman, well, there's a reason that his nickname is boyscout. He's such an innocent fellow, untainted by the idea of grey morality and the unsureties of reality." He paused for a moment, "Tell me, who do you think Batman is?"
 
Harleen listened to what the Joker said he was reading. If she remembered correctly, she had skimmed over those works briefly, but not paying them much mind. Then, the next thing she knew, she saw a card flying through the air towards her. Reaching out a hand fairly quickly, she caught it between two fingers, turning it slowly to see the queen of spades. She couldn't help but chuckle slightly, placing the card gently down on the table.

At The Joker's question, Harley stopped to think for a moment. She hadn't put much thought into the idea before, simply attributing the masked crusader's identity to be a mystery. "It would have to be someone who had a lot of money." She spoke simply, continuing to ponder the idea. "Either that, or they are being funded by someone with a lot of money. My only guesses would be Bruce Wayne or perhaps Lex Luthor, but I really don't know."
 
The Joker shook his head, "You have to think further than that, first of all, Lex is in the wrong city, and his spiel is already taken up, he's to superman what I am to batman. Though, he isn't fine with just taking a breather in jail so he makes sure he doesn't get caught, so enough of the evidence is burned, enough high priced lawyers hired and enough judges and witnesses are bribed so that Lex is free to do business as usual." He was pleasantly surprised that she guess Brucie on her first go, but he had to lead her a bit astray in case she wasn't completely with him. His escape on Wednesday would happen no matter who she told, but Batman's identity was something he wanted to hold close to his chest.

"Batman is a rather self righteous man, don't you think? I don't think he'd be part of a company that does weapons manufacturing, much less heading it, because any research they might do, he would have to undermine for the greater good." He hoped that would be enough to throw her off, but decided to change the subject as well, "Is there anything you're interested in that you'd like to talk about?"
 
Harley was going to offer a counter argument to his most recent point about Bruce Wayne, but decided against it as he tried to switch the topic of conversation towards something else entirely. That was, strange, but it didn't ring too many alarms in her head as to if she was right or not. But, it still definitely left some slight lingering sensation that her guess had been somewhat relevant.

Harley tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she thought for a moment. There really wasn't much she wanted to talk about, having had most of her questions either already answered, and any that weren't would be answered on the day of the Joker's escape. For now, she simply wanted to get to that point. "No, not really. I think I've gathered enough insight from this session." Harleen chuckled. She prepared to leave, gathering her things. "I will see you on Wednesday." She smiled before heading towards the door, going to open it so that the guards may come and take the Joker back, for now.
 
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