~Speak in tongues, I don't even recognize your face, mirror on the wall; tell me all the ways to stay away. (...) Dig a hole, fireworks exploding in my hands, if I could paint the sky, would all the stars be shining a bloody red? ~
"Black out days", Phantogram.
Jack walked out the apartment jiggling around, erasing the few last traces of Harley's lipstick still heavily marked after a long shower; pure frenzy ran through his system, there were few things in the world that got him so truly blissful. It was hard to remember when had been the last time he was actually excited about something… Simple, normal, good guy things rarely gave him satisfaction for more than five minutes.
Oh, but before that, there were the good old days… it all had begun with Are you bored, boy? Ha, ok, he had to give it to Sally, he had been lost in the world and reality back then and he learnt about the finest things in life with the worst of exemplars. Yes, the Valestra bros. did business and everything, but they lacked passion, creativity, glee for their role! Ah, men blinded by the power of money, they wasted such delicious moments for something as meaningless as paper and metal!
Lucky him, he saw the greater picture, bringing the justice… say, honor among thieves was most absolutely an art, art as a way of transmitting the most intense emotions from artist to public, and there was nothing in the world that Jack Napier loved more than a nice, big smile. Like the ones he used to carve on his human canvas after a job, those gave him a pleasure hard to put into words, after leaving his signature on the corpses he laughed until his cheeks burnt in tension and his voice came out in a hoarsely matter. Perhaps that was the reason as to why his former colleagues would be afraid of him, his face constricted in a tense, insane smirk after taking a life with his own bare, filthy hands; with some kind of angel of death complex…
So why the actual fuck had he ever stopped being a hitman?! This was his fate, his higher calling, and he was incredibly talented! A Mozart for dirty work, he would say. Each death he planned with such care and precision that the result didn't come up as mere payback murder, oh no, they were his masterpieces! Again he saw the image of the coward, bald plum with lung cancer inside his mind, always ruining the fun! Yes he was the boss and whatever shit he wanted to be taken as, yes Brooklyn hadn't been their territory and they had to keep low profile; but was he stupid enough not to finish the job and leave witnesses?! YES! He had fucking been, that was when he knew the student had overtook the master and he had to fly solo from then on… if it hadn't been for his pumpkin pie's sapphire stare and the hard bite of curiosity, he would've been writing a whole different story!
Nevertheless, things always felt into their rightful place; He'd said it and she'd confirmed it! Some say you always find your way back home, he could've never imagined she'd be the indirect cause! After she'd attempted to shape him into the perfect Mr. Right, to shape them into the perfect couple. Poor little sweetheart of his, but she had to worry about nothing! Soon all of their hard work would show its results!
And also thanks to Bruce Wayne, who's counting of his infinite fortune kept him awake not only one, but two nights in a row! Although he could swear that the lights of the penthouse hadn't been on when he was locking his own home's door, he was like a fifty year old mother that waited up for his failed grown up son to show up after a night on the bar, he had to get himself a life!
Heavens knew Jack was getting his back…
"Ok, and easy one, doc… and remember that the answers are always thon the most obvious places! Riddle me this: what belongs to you, but is used by others?" said Nygma, frankly surprised by his new psychiatrist's cleverness, there was not a soul out of his stablished social circle that ever understood his riddles, meaning clinically sane soul; but Doctor Quinzel did have potential… she wasn't like any other just out of college, fame and fortune seeking doctor; she'd showed and wowed him and everybody else for the past month she'd been working in the asylum, she didn't ask the typical questions, she didn't give the typical answers…
"…hum, I gotta' few ideas but… I doubt they're all audience responses, a little too personal don't cha' think?" she blushed and they chuckled together; how she enjoyed the connection with her patients! But no, more than a professional relationship… she thought of the people in Arkham, both personal and interns, as close friends. She loved every second, but she had her particular favorite moment of the working day…
"You're really something else, Harley… I seriously wonder how you don't see it sometimes!" he raised an eyebrow to her as he grinned, with the gleam of his high expectations on his entertained stare; she narrowed her own eyes and the lightbulb turned on inside her head.
"Oh, my name! You got me there, Eddie… good one…" he laughed even harder, she must've looked like a teen in heat in front of him, but she couldn't really help it! Lunch was just a minute away, and all that she could think of was seeing Pammie… also known as Red by the nickname she had successfully granted her, something simple but with much heart to it; Doc Isley had caught her admiring the strong shade of her silky locks with blind devotion, shed told her how she adored the color in all of its presentations, her colleague had been touched by it and it stayed. The clock marked the end of her session and she wasted no time in gathering her openly small noted and standing up. "Okie dokie, I think we, or rather I have made much progress today! Ya' keep workin' on those riddles; I'll be waitin' for them until Tuesday!"
"No worries, blondie, those are… opposite to your case, the only thing I think of…" he winked at her playfully; she rolled her eyes and put the chair back on its place.
"Then stick to yer thing and leave the rest tah' me, nosy! See ya', Eddie" she swayed all the way outside and waved to him from the window when the door closed behind her.
"I honestly don't know how you do it, doc… you've tamed devils in here!" Aaron, the assigned guard for her mid-morning session, congratulated her.
"Do things with love and you'll never make a mistake, Mr. Cash… they're my people, and this is my place! If I hadn't come here to make a change Doctor Arkham would've thrown me out to the streets already, and I'm not joking… he literally said so when he met me!" she tended to speak a lot when she was excited… but for Mr. Cash that was only on lunchtime, so he seized those moments to speak to her.
"If only you could always be around, those maniacs would do much less harm…" Harley had to turn around and give him a reprimanding glare.
"No maniacs and no meanies around here… just people, if you treat them like that, so they'll treat you" and she picked up the pace, in fact increased it, she didn't want to be late!
She bounced more than walking towards the cafeteria, her smile wide as reply of the greetings from her coworkers, staff and patients; and her heart jumped inside when she saw a bundle of ginger hair high in a ponytail, first in line to get their food as every day. Harley tiptoed to her from behind and instructed Dr. Leland, who stood beside her, not to tell her what was coming.
"Guess who?" she put her hands against her glasses, and she'd surely get mad about the fog she'd create.
"The annoying blonde rookie who follows me around, again." She laughed at her back and Pamela turned around to give her a big kiss on the cheek, which she returned with same delight. "Good afternoon, peanut. But if you leave your handprints on my glasses I won't hesitate to try to clone you…"
"Aw, I wish I had a you fer only me too!" the redhead rolled her eyes at her and let her hold her close.
"I don't mean to interrupt this lovely scene but I'm in a rush, girls." they let Joan go first with glee "I'm glad you kicked off this quick, anyways, anyone who'd look at you both would say you've known each other for a long time…"
"That's the thing with love, friendships and any display of affection, Joanie; it doesn't have any logical sense to it! It can make ya' believe whutevah' and you'll nevah' say the opposite" they headed towards their everyday table, pretty apart from everyone else's ; Pamela said their colleagues talked too loud and wouldn't let her focus on their own conversation which was the one thing she cared about at lunchtime.
"Well, I leave you two to enjoy your nonsense; some of us have got work to do. See you around" Doctor Leland parted with a friendly grin.
"We're in a good mood today, aren't we?" the redhead wiped the lens moods raising an eyebrow to her. "Let me guess, Puddin' came home late last night but as he adores his new job so much, he humped you until morning again, am I wrong? At least this time you did something with the eye bags, little miss Subtleness"
"You're in fact wrong, mah' friend. And that was only once! ... Just look around, Red! I've got an amazing job, my patients are so kind and open with me, this city never gets me bored because there's always goin' on and I've got great coworkers… And the most wonderful girl buddy of all, you're just the scarlet cherry to mah' joy pie!" they entwined their fingers together. She was in such a pool of blissfulness, she had comprehended so rapidly that Pammie would be the one and only and best of best friends for life, and she'd set her mind to keep her like that… forever.
"Oh, stop it, you're going to make me puke on an empty stomach…" so they got down to what they were supposed to be doing "But actually I should keep an empty stomach, I think I've put some weight on…" Harley almost choked on her food.
"First, shut tha' fuck up, you're gorgeous as evah'! Second, if ya' skip meals you'd only put more weight on if you were on that case. And third, how come? Any reason to be eating more? You've been goin' out with someone to fancy restaurants? Fallin' in love, maybe? Ya' know what they say about that… that makes me wonder if I've gotten bigger on the last six years… thank ya' fer puttin' that on mah head!" Pamela laughed along.
"If that's the case I don't really bother, heavens know I like something with meat on the bones…" she took a sip of her bottle water, winking to her.
"But ya' a vegetarian, Red…" she reminded her.
"And you're the only exception to my rule" they continued to chuckle, and Harley had to cover her blushing cheeks with her palms, she adored the kind of jokes only they could understand and be mature enough to do, as in any strong friendship happened "But no, really, wanna' go hit the gym with me? We could go tomorrow morning…"
"Only if we go to brunch after…" she bit her fork in attempts of looking adorable and batted her eyelashes to her.
"Clever, lose all the calories to get them back on one meal"
"Ah c'mon! I get cranky when I don't eat! And ya' know exactly what I like, I considered marryin' ya' the first time ya' ordered lunch fer me!" her eyes were almost teary, such a drama queen, but she knew she couldn't resist to her whims.
"Okay, fine, you spoiled brat! But we'll wake up at dawn and I want no more complains during the workout, you heard me?" point for the blonde, obviously.
"Loud and clear! Lemme' write it down on my schedule, set up the alarm and shit…" and when she opened the calendar on her cellphone was when she remembered. "Oh, fuck… it's already weekend, isn't it?"
"Well, duh, smarty-pants; I doubt anyone else but Arkham would enjoy watching us doing Pilates during work hours…" Harley grimaced.
"Gee, Red, I'm really sorry but I can't… ya' know, as our free time doesn't match anymore, Jack and I stay in all Saturday and Sunday, they're the only times of tha' week we can spend together'… at least until he has to go work at night" she was really upset she had to cancel their date.
"Oh my God, Harley, you literally live with the guy! I doubt one day apart would kill your relationship… It's the same thing every time, we have a great plan, we're excited about it, then your boyfriend pops out of nowhere and it's the end of it. You've been fooling me around for one whole month!" the tension of her pretty factions confirmed for her that she was not at all pleased.
"'kay, don't get all jelly on me… I'll talk to him about it, I'm sure he'll understand, it's not like I'm doin' anything wrong anyways… but whut kinda' school girl am I? Asking permission to tha' boyfriend to go out with friends, and not goin' out but workin' out instead and then brunch!"
"You see how ridiculous it sounds now, thank the Lord I ever came into your life!" she raised her hands up to the ceiling, making Harley laugh at her over reactive reply.
"I thank him every day fer that… I really hope Puddin' doesn't get mad at me though, or you'll have tah' stand up fer me…"she played with her friend's hand, expecting to pacify her. She had begun to question if her whole life had truly revolved around Jack somehow for all the time they'd known each other… if it was true, none of them had other people to see, or things to do that didn't involve their relationship or the things they wanted to do with each other; sure, it wasn't such a normal aspect of their life, but she couldn't think of it as something wrong…
"You'll end up going nuts if you don't get out of that apartment, and I'll do what it's needed to do so; does this girl look like she's afraid of something… or doesn't always get what she wants?" her determination always made Harley drool all over herself, fortunately she had learned to keep track on their talks… as she allowed herself to get lost on her eyes from time to time.
"I'd nevuh' challenge yer abilities, Red… I know you'd bring tha' whole world to its knees" and she was no different from anyone else who'd ever crossed roads with Pamela Isley.
"Don't feel guilty then, it's only natural…" she beamed to her, and the blonde lost all food appetite. Of course, their friendship had evolved with the speed of lightning, she had gladly and willingly become the metal to Pammie's magnet; it sometimes puzzled her, some other feelings she got like anxious attacks, and then she'd go back home as if nothing had happened, and it was all about her Puddin' again. She didn't put much head into it, whatever her thing with her was, she was enjoying it!
However it did pain her the fact she couldn't make equal time for both of them; sure she and Red worked together and everything but they only shared an hour of the eight they spent there; and at least Jack and her got to spend together… most of the night, sometimes… and they did have the weekends! What really concerned her though was that the never ending cycle of dissatisfaction would continue to be a tag for her relationships; she did felt whole the time she was with Pamela, and all she wanted was to prolong that feeling.
She felt… so safe loved and accepted with her, almost without trying; she was the pet that wanted to stick to its owner because it couldn't find something more pure and real that said affection. Jack would totally understand, and even might be happy for her! That she'd gotten to build up something as great as what she had with her new friend…
Which were again the hardest stains to get off of clothes? Ah, sure, red wine, grass, coffee, gum, which he had discovered only by Harley's enthusiastic chewing, and everyone's favorite… blood, after two hours of restless scrubbing, because such smudges had to be hand washed, he'd finally been able to get them cleaned, dried and back on their place, like a perfect house husband!
He hadn't had those house chores issues when he was with the gang, he could show the remains of his masterpieces with pride; nevertheless, he'd learned to do his own laundry and sometimes even washed a thing or two for Harley, she was glad and asked no questions, just the way it had to be. Being back to his hometown felt a lot better once he got back to his thing, he even started to get along with Pengers! They together had arranged his work hours so it didn't seem too suspicious to his girlfriend, they were taking baby steps with the thingy with Valestra; good results demanded much effort. But then there were some big schemes that could never be timed like the one that had been set up for tomorrow, Jack told Oswald to trust in his charm and brain, he'd find a way to tell her… just like he'd find a wash away crimson red, dried stains from more than eight different clothing items and Harley's incredibly delicate, and provocative lacy panties!
"Don't shoot; the love of yer life's coming in!" a voice sounded with the door's cracking on the background.
"False! Ice cream doesn't speak or walk or have the keys to my home!" he walked out of the bedroom to bang right to her chest with his imaginary gun, the victim held a hand to her aching heart while she laughed.
"And neither will ya' if you dare say again ya' love sugar more than me!" she climbed onto him and got his face covered in red as usual, so it'd be like it had been since he'd started working, they'd be rolling in bed for an hour, and hour and a half maybe then he'd rush to the Lounge to get some other kind of passion on. Or so his mind foresaw, until she got back on her feet with a sigh, leaving his boyfriend's lips all pulled out, and something a little more worrying than plain disorientation growing strong and tall in him. She walked past him to the bedroom.
"Are you sick?" he followed her from behind like a duckling following mother duck, she was changing clothes!
"Nope, just a little tired, thanks fer asking, though" she merely kissed his cheek and then left him alone again to go to the bathroom.
"Lady Days then?" he tried to get some logical sense to her attitude of that evening.
"Uh no… is this interrogatory part of a new routine? It's creepy, Pud-pud. " she giggled from the closed door.
"Then what the fuck are you doing and why's it not me?!" he exclaimed, Harley appeared again with a mix of confusion and uneasiness glowing on her pretty face, he noticed she had tiny something climbing up her throat and the only thing preventing it from coming out was her sense of will and clenched jaw.
"Hum, I needed tah' tell ya' something'…" she stood in front of him like a child being reprimanded by her father; he crossed his arms to his chest.
"You forgot to take the pill…" he anticipated her response, just when everything was starting to make sense!
"God, no! Don't cha' even think 'bout that! You're anxious today, aren't you?" her posture relaxed after that, his on the opposite contracted. She made it unnoticeable as she pushed him sat on the bed and placed her own body on his lap "I… have a meetin' tomorrow; I don't know how long it'll take but… I'll try to make it home after lunch…" holy synchrony of heavens! How could everything work so perfectly for him?!
"Don't you worry your working head with those things, I'll be busy tomorrow too, you go and break your back for the sake of us, okay?" he pinched her cheeks and gave a peck on her nose, she smiled for him; alright… perhaps he did love her as much as he loved sugar.
"Right a' roonie, and you'll have me all tied up to the bed on Sunday, I swear!" she snuggled against him, laying him over the blankets. Her ear over his chest and her hand on her own, being caught on their matching beating, her favorite melody, she smiled with the tenderness of their moment. Jack relaxed and covered her slim frame with one arm, the other under his head, he sighed in delight.
It was almost impossible not to believe what was going on was the manifestation of fate on his life, if everything resolved itself just like that, if it all fell like puzzle pieces so uncomplicatedly. He wasn't stupid, thought, and he knew that there'd be a day when the bubble would pop and the soap would fall on both of their eyes; he saw it coming, he had to, he was the older one! But then he remembered the promise he'd made her six years ago, when she was an unwritten page of his story, when he'd told her all that she'd need to know to make it through. They had advantage over other common earthlings, and this was that their life was theirs alone; so they'd be the drivers of their decisions and consequences…Therefore, there was nothing to be scared about.
"Wait up, now I remember why I stopped coming here! Who the hell thinks of the news as work out motivation?! I makes me want to drop one of those giant weights over my neck and end my sad existence in this sorry world!" Harley wondered how Pamela could talk so unaffectedly while being on the static bicycle, sure it had been a good idea to come, and she was in an embarrassingly weak shape! And more embarrassing was the fact that her friend looked so hot while being sweaty and she must've resembled a soggy homeless puppy out on the rain!
"Well… everyone … is always pendin'… when it comes tah' Harvey Dent…" she replied huskily while looking to the TV screen of the room, a big even with the Mayor of Gotham was being covered at that time. The redhead protested in disgust.
"I think we're done for today, his fucking dumbass face will stick to my head and I won't be able to focus!" she seized to move, carefully wiping off her glowing olive skin with the towel on her shoulders. The blonde appreciated the gesture both for allowing herself to get some rest and for letting her observe her delicate features and movements. "Talking about things that bring the spirit down, nothing worse than an ex-boyfriend whose enormous, selfish ego got him to the one of the highest ranks of society, you can tell of fucked up people's standards are... a nice face doesn't make you a nice person, should I know!" her friend felt a hard stab right above the ribcage, the kind of blow that pushes all the air out of your lungs, Pamela got off the machine and headed to the dressing room, as Harley weakly followed her pace.
"You dated Harvey Dent?! My gawd', Red! He's like… tha' second hottest catch in Gotham after mah' landlord!" Harley exclaimed with her face against the locker, hiding her disappointment while gathering her things. Each time another chapter of the amazing adventures of Pamela Isley unveiled she sank deeper; seriously considering that she seemed so small next to her…
"Don't be so shocked, Harl, guys with full pockets have empty hearts. And I dated him when he was nobody and even then he was a bigheaded asshole, I can't think what he must've become now that he has a significant percentage of the population wrapped around his finger… only a terrible, unsuspected happening could prevent him from becoming Mayor, but I'll leave that to the hands of holy destiny…" she turned around to see that Red had lost most of her clothing and now curled her long ponytail with her hands.
Her baby blue's widened at the sight of her well defined curves, her round shoulders, the tempting silky skin of her neck, the softness of her arms and fingers with which she had only dreamed about, the well-defined valley between her full breasts, her toned, firm stomach, hips that created such a perfect hourglass figure, followed by long, strong thighs and legs. Her posture made her look like Botticelli's Venus out of the canvas; the blonde was definitely drooling right now, her heart rate increased to the point in which its heavy beating could've made her deaf if she had been paying attention to it and not worshipping her friend with mind, eyes and soul.
"Okay… I'll go first then, such a cutie, timid around girls even…" she couldn't bring herself to answer; Pammie seemed to dance with the wind instead of simply walking to the showers. And she cursed her luck! They were those kinds of showers, like the ones inmates had in prisons, no division between one another and no protection against the stare of curious perverts… like herself.
Alright, it was time to stop being weird and look the other way, her head advised her, but she kept her glare locked to the newly exposed skin of her, and the heavenly image it made with the touch of running water; her chest exploded right there, her legs became jelly and she was only seeing her from behind. God forbid that she'd turned around; she couldn't know what would happen to her pour, febrile self if she did…
Her day had been enough of an emotional rollercoaster; she'd been sweating bullets even before getting to the gym, trying a hundred options of exercise clothing and asking Jack for an honest opinion if she looked well enough; getting him to laugh to breathlessness for her concern with her looks when she knew forehandedly that she'd end up making a mess of herself. But she didn't know how much of a mess really.
" I don't mean to rush you but I tend to finish the hot water so you better come in quickly…" she was forced to turn away when the redhead spun to give her the eye, she had done it on purpose and she could say. Her boyfriend always told her that her stare burnt; impossible to go unnoticed, but it was just her thing to get hypnotized by something so beautiful. And it had been long since she'd added a new definition of beautiful to her dictionary. The blonde melted down on the bench more than sitting.
However, Pammie had allowed her to look; she was almost inviting her, like her womanly accents called her name and created the impression of pull her fingers to contact. A metal, she was a silly piece of fragile metal and she was the most gorgeous, tough magnet and Harley found herself dying to go past the resistance, as she now had a vision of what was past the point of no return, she'd seen the ground that would welcome her fall and her body, her heart craved to put an end to her misery. The things she'd though understood and controlled burnt away with the sudden realization, her own self burnt, because Pamela was the kind of woman to bring seas of men to their deaths…
Pamela had been, and still was someone so different, she'd held her arms open for her from the first second and she continued to make a home for her in her own damn self; Harley had never had many friends, neither girls or boys, and nothing could compare to Red's suffocating warmth, fierce protectiveness, calming and tenuous affection… nothing could compare to the gift of life the sight of her was giving off.
Just then, Harley could wake up from her black out, of the haunting of a mysterious inexplicable dejavu. She hadn't been thinking of Red as a friend only, as a best friend only, she had become so much more, it couldn't have been a simple friendship... A friend? No, it would bring her to pieces if they were friends alone! Of course it wasn't, she'd just been pathetically disguising it as such, because of the yearning, anguish to see her, to hear her, to be someone for her, not when her vane compliments took her to cloud nine, not when she felt a slave to the whole unknown part of her she'd met so freely and the ardor it provoked in her to devote with her own. How much more stupid could she be?
Ah, but exclusivity was indeed the reason of her irresponsibility, she'd only ever felt those things for her Puddin', she'd only ever wanted to be owned by him in every possible human way, and now… now what the hell was she doing now literally crying to become hers? That if she wasn't already hers.
Holy God in heaven, she'd totally fallen for her!
How had that happened? How didn't she notice? How didn't she stop it before it was too late?! Fuck, fuck, she'd end up killing herself anyways… it couldn't be right, how could she ever let her know, how would Red ever accept someone as dull as her? No, there was a not a freaking way… it wasn't right of course. What had gotten into her?
"Oh my God, Peanut, what's wrong?" she didn't notice when she'd finished her bath, wrapped the reason of Harley's torment in a towel and rushed to kneel in front of her, and hold her cheeks with the glorious softness of her palms, she caressed her ruined French braid and Harley's hands went to keep her wrists on place, getting a little peace from the touch she'd lust after for what felt as a lifetime.
"I'm sorry, Red… I'm so, so sorry… I didn't mean to…"she sobbed in disgrace, she'd become a death weight on someone as wonderful as her, just like the stupid little brat she'd always been. To hell with age, with all of the things she'd lived over the years, to all of the lessons she'd learned through tears… she was so easy to amaze yet, so easy to build up and destroy to anyone's desire. She was nothing, nothing!
"Sweetie, it's okay, don't make such a fuss! I was playing with you, it's alright…" she chuckled, unbelieving of her reaction, she sat next to her and held Harley close, rocking her to soothing that she couldn't know would never come. "I should be the one apologizing, it seems like I'm always walking a step ahead of you… playing with your head I'm cruel, I know! I'm sorry, baby, I won't do it again if it makes you this uncomfortable" she felt her lips placing a kiss on her forehead. She giggled at the irony and nonsense of her own self, her heart jumped with joy but the rest of her body felt so beaten.
"Don't worry, I'm used ta' a dark sense of humor… It just takes a while for me to… get the joke; I'm a cry-baby at this age! Even after all" she wiped away her tears and looked up to her, smiling in content… not getting the same expression back though. "But I do like it, ya' said it, I literally live with a comedian…"
"Yeah, I know… but…. Oh, but Harley, if you were mine, you wouldn't have to try so hard always…" her fingers continued to run through her hair, Harley gave it a thought, and it sounded wonderful, almost idyllic. But if she wanted to get to it, to live and survive it, she'd have to lean so many things still; things Jack couldn't teach her, for this was a distinct way of loving.
A way she hadn't even imagined that existed, for she had never loved anybody else…
To be continued…
Dreamer.
Okay, everyone! So this is my first look to Harley and Ivy's relationship, I plan to work on Jack and Bruce's on the next chapter, I hope you liked it! It did warm my heart a little, and don't worry if Harley's thoughts are a little too cruel with herself now she'll evolve through the chapters of course! Hehe, please tell me what you thought!