Joker Drabbles #1
Soemthing Easy
The first time the Joker saw James, the Joker was deep in a discussion with the Penguin about blowing up a bridge. They were at the two-month-old exclusive, invitation-only villians hangout lounge and bar, The Underground.
As The Underground had grown more popular, it began to attract more dangerous place had private booths along with an open lounge area with couches. It was sleek, stylish, and the service was incredible. The villians got respect, alcohol, and a high brow atmosphere to conduct some of the most dasterdly transactions in Gotham. The manager, a man named Shadow, ran a tight ship. And unfortunately the waiter's job of providing high-quality service with a side of confidentiality, left the applicant pool a little, well, lacking. James got the job on the fly one night when they were short-staffed. Shadow had just thrown the towel at another waiter for spilling a drink all over Poison Ivy, which was not appreciated.
James was cutting back to his appartment through a back alley when a door opened and Shadow tossed the waiter out.
James stopped.
"Keep your mouth shut, boy," Shadow growled, and slammed the door.
Five seconds later the door opened again and a hand dragged James inside. "You need a job?"
One bridge wasn't much of a discussion, and Joker kept pushing the Penguin to consider something more ingenious, like blowing up all the bridges except one at exactly 3:15 am. Penguin really just wanted to pull a massive bank heist, and Joker suggested that they try something more complicated, like robbing all of Gotham's banks at the same time, not that he needed the money. In the middle of this heated conversation, the waiter came around.
They had already ordered drinks and the Joker was stretched out on a couch, hand dangling off the arm of the couch. The waiter's hand barely grazed his as James put the drink into Joker's hand out of nowhere. Then the Penguin had his and James was moving across the space, tray of drinks in one hand and quick fingers of the other handing out drinks left and right, taking the Joker's attention along with him.
He disappeared back to the bar and the Joker tried to focus on talking some fun into Penguin. He kept an eye out this time though, and when the waiter came around about ten minutes later to ask if they wanted anything else, the Joker caught his arm and stopped him.
"Vodka and Sprite," he said, eyes boring into the waiters.
"I'll have it right out for you, sir." James replied, and flashed a bright smile.
That startled the Joker. His fingers slipped and James took the Penguin's order.
Joker sat frozen for a few seconds, enchanted by his smile. People didn't tend to smile at him; they were afraid.
'Damn,' Joker thought as he watched the man move to the bar and back. He spent the rest of the evening halfheartedly listening to the Penguin try to convince him, and eventually told his fellow criminal that if he planned on getting the Joker to commit to anything, he needed to try his hand at something a little more ambitious.