disclaimer: I don't own It...or any DC characters...
I don't know why but this took forever to write. I think I confused myself writing and had to stop and rethink many times...I hope I made it clear...
Anyway this is where the whole idea of the joker even comes into play...foreshadowing? hee hee hee
Also thanks to all who have recently favorited this story! It makes me so happy and really gives me that extra push to get out of writers block :)
As always, reviews are welcomed.
A couple months had passed and Jack was slowly introducing Harley to his lifestyle. She was hesitant at first, but Harley eventually gave in. She was enthralled in every aspect of Jack.
Little did Harley know, Jack liked to paint. Or that was what he said to Harley before showing her his work. He took her hand, guiding her down a grassy path on a hillside that led to a railroad. He put his arm around her shoulder as they walked on the train tracks. Harley saw a concrete bridge peeking through the trees.
"Where are we going?" She asked, looking over at Jack.
"A special place." He said, looking forward, a smug grin on his face. Harley wanted to know more but figured that was all she was getting.
"I found this place a little over a year ago." He said, still looking straight ahead. "No one but me knows about it." Harley felt butterflies fluttering around inside her. "Except you now." Jack smiled down at Harley, giving her lips a quick peck.
Slowly, they approached the underside of the bridge. She could make out something on the walls underneath the bridge. On closer inspection she saw large-scale murals spanning across the wall that supported the bridge. Purple, green, black, white, and red were splashed against the walls, making a modern mixture of color. In some areas a phrase was painted on the wall. Sometimes a single word. She read some of the words: Strange, Damaged, Madness, Laughter, Smile…
In some areas he had painted the word HA over and over.
"Wow." Harley said, taking it all in. Jack stood back, his hands in his pockets, watching Harley. She walked up to the wall, placing her fingers on the painted concrete. She dragged her fingertips across the wall. It was cold and smelled harshly of paint.
"This is amazing." Harley said quietly. She had reached the edge of the wall and dropped her hand. She saw something silver in the bushes and looked over at Jack.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the silver.
"Oh. Yeah." He walked over and moved twigs and leaves aside to reveal silver buckets of paint and dirty brushes. "Want to paint something?" He asked holding up a brush. Harley raised an eyebrow.
"Now?"
"Why not?" he said and handed her the brush. She looked at the dark hairs of the paintbrush for a minute. She never really tried painting. She had planned on taking art before her mother passed but afterwards, she saw no use for the hobby.
Harley opened the lid to a can, dipping the brush in the creamy paint. She stood next to the wall, brush inches from the concrete. What do I even paint?
She only had one thing on her mind. So that's what she painted. It took her several minutes and several exchanges of colors but when she was done she stood back next to Jack.
"What is that?" he asked, his mouth in a huge grin. Harley blushed and bit her lip nervously. "Is…is that a clown?" Jack asked, squinting as if to see it better.
"No! It's supposed to be you but you don't have that many colors…" she said trailing off. She had used white for the skin. The eyes were big and black, like the black holes that captivate her. She didn't realize until now that they were disproportional. The mouth was red, of course, but she had wanted to make him smiling, since that's what he did so often. Instead of a smile, a crooked, elongated mess took its place. She didn't know what color to use for his hair, so she settled on green. Curly green paint strokes made it seem more childish to Harley. Now that he mentioned it, it did look a little clownish.
Jack stared for a long time until he burst into laughter.
"I'm sorry. I'm really bad at this." Harley said frowning. Jack looked at Harley surprised.
"Are you kidding? It's perfect!" He said, continuing to laugh. Harley stared at Jack for a moment. She tried to figure out why it was so perfect. All she saw was a very bad attempt at a portrait.
"It's a clown. A jester. A joker!" He nearly yelled between laughs. His laughing made Harley smile but she raised an eyebrow at him anyway.
"Are you saying you're a clown now?" she asked, jokingly.
"Exactly!" he yelled. Harley burst into laughter. She had no clue what was going through his mind but his laughter and sudden realization of something Harley didn't understand just made her laugh.
Jack embraced Harley suddenly, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"You are a genius, Harley." Jack said, his eyes twinkling. Harley felt the butterflies in her stomach going insane.
"Please explain to me why I'm a genius." Harley said, her arms finding their way around his neck. Jack's face turned serious for a second as he thought.
"You see, when I was very young, back when…when my father was still around, he once forced me to watch that clown movie. The one with the sharp teeth, It I think it was called. It scared me shitless. I was deathly afraid of clowns for forever. When my father left the picture I vowed to never be stopped by fear. Why? Because every time I saw my mom get hit, or every time I got hit, I wanted to fight back. I wanted to hit him back. I wanted to…" he stopped, looking past Harley for a moment. "Anyway, I eventually learned to get over every fear I had, clowns being one of the worst. I made myself watch that movie until it didn't bother me anymore. But the more I watched a clown, the more I learned that life was just a big joke and all I had to do was laugh. Laughter always made fear disappear. So now I laugh."
Harley thought about this for endless minutes. It explained why Jack loved to laugh so much, but also showed how he was so brave and never thought twice about anything.
She couldn't really tell, but he was changing Harley. He was slowly egging her out of her shell. The more time Harley spent with Jack, the more she opened up. She wasn't afraid to talk anymore. Best of all, she was laughing again. Maybe even more than before her mother died.
"So I guess you're my little joker now?" Harley said, a little smile forming. Jack grinned.
"I like the sound of that." He grinned and they shared a laugh. "Now come here." He said pulling her closer, greedily kissing her lips. Harley melted once more as she did every time he kissed her.
note: if you haven't seen the movie or read the book, one of the main themes of It is getting over your fears. It was intentional that the whole idea of getting over his fears was also a major factor in the movie/book. Not a coincidence. hee hee
