Harleen entered the therapy room with a distant mind, her thoughts far away from Arkham, but the sight of the Joker sitting in the middle of the floor, no chains, and a big grin on his face soon brought her back to reality. A smile formed on her lips, she could almost picture how his arms would have been spread out to the sides as to say: "Look at meee" if it hadn't been for the straitjacket he was still wearing.
"Good morning!" she said, as she made her way over to him.
"Hey, doc!" The Joker replied as he got up, rather awkwardly do to the straitjacket, and casually laid himself down on the couch.
Harleen sat herself down in her armchair and crossed her legs. She smiled warmly at him, it was good to see him being able to actually move.
"So," she started, leaning back. "How have you been doing?" "A lot better since getting the chains off, that's for sure!" He said with a big smile.
She smiled brightly at him "I'm glad to hear that!" She said joyfully and shifted in her seat. "Have you been eating well?" She said, then looked away for a while. "Or well, that wasn't really what I wanted to... would you mind doing some ink-tests tomorrow?" She asked nervously. She hated asking him, since she liked it a lot more when they could just talk as friends, but doctor Bartholomew had requested she would do some with the Joker as well, even though he had just done it himself during his last session. He had said something about wanting to compare results.
"Well, yesterday I had lobster, and the day before that a huge turkey dinner." He said and winked at her. She raised an eyebrow at him, while holding back a little giggle.
"But yes, sure, we can play the ink-smudge game. Seems to be all the rage nowadays!" He said and laughed. She nodded at him. "Thank you." she looked at him for a while in silence, then bit herself in the lip. It sometimes felt a little awkward just sitting there asking questions, like a forced friendship.
"Do you wanna play a card game as we speak? I hear that's what people usually do, when they... hang?" She finally asked. It could be interesting to see how the Joker would react to either winning or losing a game... and he might be more willing to actually tell her something. He didn't really respond well to therapy-like settings.
"A card game?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. She nodded and took out a deck of cards from her purse, showing it to him. "But they wouldn't let me bring any jokers." The Joker didn't look amused. He didn't look surprised, either. He sat up and said:" So, do you want me to deal with my mouth, or...?" He raised his arms as much as the straitjacket would allow. Harleen giggled a little as she got up.
"It would seem like an unfair advantage." She was right in front of him, her hands sliding around him. "But I think I'll play fair this once." the jacket clicked as the Joker's arms where freed.
"Much better!" The joker said, rolling his shoulders. He stood up next to Harleen and stretched his arms over his head. "You have no idea how cramped those things get!" He said, looking Harleen straight in the eye. He moved closer to her, keeping eye contact, until he was less than an inch from her face. She could feel his breath on her lips. In one move the Joker took the cards from Harleen's hand and sat back down. Harleen absent-mindedly touched her lips, where she had felts his warmth a moment before, as she followed the cards with her eyes. Part of her wanted him to come back, so she could feel him again, maybe even feel his lips touch hers. There was something deeply attractive about him, something she couldn't explain. He was so handsome and interesting and... wait. What was she doing? He was not handsome, he was a killer... okay, maybe he was a little handsome, but he was still a killer none the less.
She cleared her throat. "SO!" she said a little loudly "W-what do you want to play?"
"Well, that's up to you, whatever you want! Except Go Fish, Penguin always want to play that!" The Joker said and winked at Harleen. A small giggle escaped her lips. "How about 31?" She asked. "Well, I usually play that with Eddie, he so likes to think he's smarter than anyone, but it's been a while since he's been around, so yeah, sure!" The Joker said, and started dealing.
Harleen smiled as she took her cards. "Do you play a lot with the other inmates?" She asked interested, as she looked at her own cards. Three 10s, she couldn't really use that for a whole lot.
"Who starts?" she added. "Well, I used to. But that was before the whole incident with the-..." He stopped himself and cleared his throat. " You go first."
She pulled a card from the deck and replaced it with one of the 10s from a different house. "Before what?" she asked, looking down at her cards. "Well, let's just say that someone can get a little testy if they lose, and someone else reeealy doesn't like being called a cheater!" He replied and drew a card. "Oh?" She said as she drew another card. She decided not to ask any further questions unless he brought it up again himself. She peeked at him over the edge of her cards. The Joker drew a card and smiled to himself. She watched his little smile, the way the corners peaked innocently upwards.
She drew again and sighed at the card.
"What's it like? You know... being one of the high-profiles here? Do other inmates even care that much?" She asked, trying to sound casual, but she suspected she had sounded more excited. She had always wondered how the inmates treated each other, but she still hadn't gotten permission to study their breaks in the common-room. The Joker smiled deviously.
"Oh, they care." He said. "But, seriously," he continued, chuckling at the word, "It's just like your normal, average high school. You got the jocks, the geeks, the losers, etc. etc. There's a hierarchy. People know what tables to sit at, and where... not to sit." The Joker smiled a bit wicked and drew another card. He looked at it, then at Harleen, who was inching a little closer. The image of Arkham as a bad mean girls-movie popped into her head and she couldn't help but smile at the idea of the Joker going "You're wearing sweatpants. You can't sit with us."
"Who do you sit with?" she asked and drew a card again. "You don't strike me as the jock-type." She giggled. "Hah!" The Joker replied. "No, for the jocks, you need to look for Crock and his goon buddies. No, I prefer to sit with the brainier people. You know, Riddler, when he's not in one of his moods, and good ol' doc, Crane... When he's not in one of his moods. The Mad Hatter is okay, in small doses. Uh, and what I wouldn't give to spend a week with Lexie in here!" The Joker said and laughed.
"Lexie... Luther? The president?" She asked tilting her head to the side. "The very same!" The Joker said and threw his arms to the sides, almost showing his cards. "The big man, the biggest, even! But does he ever come to see his old friend? No, not one visit. not ONE!" The Joker said angrily and hit his fist against the table.
"Maybe he's just busy?" She asked with a nervous shrug as she drew another card. "Oh, yeah, I totally get that." The Joker said with a calm smile. "I was just knocking the table. Show your hand." The Joker waved his cards. She looked down at her own set of cards. 21. "I'd rather not..." she said with a sad smile and turned her cards over so he could see them. "At least they're all in the same house. Show me yours." she said and smiled. The Joker looked her in the eye with a confident smile, and placed his cards one at a time. 30.
"Again?" He said with a smile. Harleen returned the smile. "Again."
The Joker shuffled the cards and dealt.
"Tell me more?" Harleen asked. The Joker looked at his cards. "Well, if you're ever down, go talk to the Ventriloquist! Unless Scarface is there too... I tell you, old Arnie sure does not belong with hardened criminals!" The Joker said laughing. "When I want some fun, I always go and try to cheer up Mr. Freeze! That old popsicle just never smiles!" The Joker shook his head with a smile. "Must be hard for him..." she mumbled to herself as she looked at her cards.
"Eh," the Joker scoffed, "it's his thing, what can you do?" "Knock." Harleen said. "Knock? How would that help cheer up Frosty the snow villain?" Harleen pointed to her cards. "Ah, knock..." The Joker said. He drew another card and looked at it. "Well?" Harleen asked. The Joker's face darkened "I don't want to play anymore." The Joker said.
"Aw, come on. Please?" Harleen asked. "You can't even really lose... Only tie, really." She tried, looking at him over the edge of her cards. "I said the game is over." The Joker said through his teeth. Harleen was about to say something, but just as she opened her mouth, a playing card flew past her head. She gasped as a few strains of hairs landed on her hand, sliced off by the playingcard. She bit her lower lip, trying to keep herself calm. Her heart was pounding as she forced her eyes to lock with his. "O-okay." she said, stuttered really. She placed her cards on the table facing down. She then looked away her hand on her mouth. She was a little more shaken up than she would like him to see. She couldn't leave now either, he'd know... and besides their time wasn't up yet.
"W-what do you want to do, then?" she asked, her face still turned to the side. The Joker took the cards and turned away. "Solitaire." He mumbled. She glanced at him. "You'll have to do it in my company... you're not... really allowed to take the cards out of the room..." She said in a low voice and handed him the card he had thrown at her. Her hand was shaking a little, but she didn't notice much. The Joker sat with his back turned for a while, playing by himself.
Harleen felt her heartbeat slow down as time went by. Maybe card games wasn't such a good idea for next time.
She looked at the clock. "Our time's up, Joker..." she said, still looking at the clock. It had been a strange session, but Harleen felt she had learned quite a few things from it.
The Joker looked at her. "Well, it's been fun! It's been a long time since I had a friend to just talk with. We should do that again!" He said, then quickly gathered the cards and stood up. He slowly walked over to her and leaned in close. "Maybe I'll pop by your place the next time I get out." He said in a low voice, almost a whisper. He had the cards in his hand as he slowly reached it down her purse. He straightened up right in front of her, then suddenly kissed her cheek. Harleen blushed as she felt his lips touch her cheek. Her entire body tensed up, yet she felt a strange flutter in her stomach.
"See you next time, doc." He said with a smile and a wink. "W-wait." she said, stepping forward "Your jacket..." she pointed at his free arms, as if he wouldn't have noticed if she didn't.
He turned around and hugged himself so that she could close the straps on his back. She closed the straps with a distant mind. Had he really just kissed her cheek? Had she really allowed him to? And more importantly: had she really liked it? She opened the door for him and the guards took him from there. Wait. Had he just said he would visit her at home...? She looked at her purse. Had he taken something from it? It didn't seem like it.