In Love With A Good Man

Chapter 6: Green Eyes

Casey stopped by his house to change out of his shirt and tie. He had just come back from his job interview at the bank, the one that June had set him up for. He was pretty sure that it had gone well, but there was no way to really tell.

Since the rest of his day was free, he changed out of his interview clothes and into something casual. He opened up the middle drawer of his dresser where he kept his camera equipment. He lifted up the camera, still in its case, and wrapped the strap around his neck.

He drove over to the park in the center of Gotham's east side. With his camera in hand and melancholy music playing in his earbuds, he aimlessly meandered through the park. Whenever something caught his eye, he would stop and snap a picture of it:

A tree with an odd shape. An airplane flying off in the distance behind a horizon of skyscrapers. A ladybug on a flower.

Bored with these basic things, Casey started to make his way towards a nearby forest of trees within the park. As he started to walk inside, he held his camera to his face and started looking up towards the thickening canopy of green leaves and interwoven branches.

He completely missed the 'No Trespassing' sign right by him.

A flicker of light caught his eye. He saw a big spider web linked between two trees, with its weaver staying very still close to the middle. Right away, Casey took a step towards it and got down one knee, looking for an interesting angle to snap a picture of the spider.

As he was engrossed in getting the right shot, a single vine silently crept towards him. It wrapped around his right ankle carefully. As Casey started to feel something slithering on his foot, he turned back to look at what it was. But before he could see it, it tightened its grip and started to pull him.

All at once, he was yanked and dragged across the floor. He shouted out in shock and fear, trying to cling to anything he could. His fingers would sink into the soft dirt only to be pulled right back out by whatever force was pulling him deeper into the forest.

Finally, the vine let go of his ankle. Casey turned onto his back only to be greeted face to face by a roaring plant monster. He screamed in fear and turned around, scrambling up to his feet. As he got up, he nearly ran right into another one, forcing him to back up.

Casey looked all around him and realized he was surrounded by these fearsome things. They all croaked and growled hungrily as they leaned towards him. Casey looked all around him, looking for some gap where he could make a desperate escape attempt.

"Stop!" A voice shouted. All at once, the plant monsters immediately ceased what they were doing and backed away from Casey. He removed his earbuds and looked for the source of the voice.

He watched as a woman in green clothing with long red hair was lowered down slowly from vines extending out from the ground. Casey took a cautious step back as her feet touched the ground.

"What have I told you about feeding on trespassers? Greedy little things. Are you trying to get us caught?" She chastised the plant monsters. They all whined in regret. Casey's eyebrows furrowed as he realized that this woman was somehow controlling these things.

"What are you?" Casey asked. Her intense green eyes fixed their gaze on him.

"You don't know me? Have you been living under a rock?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm...new." Casey answered slowly, not wanting to upset her. She could always change her mind about calling off those plant monsters.

"Clearly," She said with a roll of her eyes. Her expression then changed as she started to look at his face a little closer. "Wait a second...don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked.

"Definitely not," Casey answered quickly. "I'm pretty sure I would...remember." He said, although he was distracted by the plant monsters continuing to inch towards him.

"Keep away from him!" She held her hand up to stop them. This time they backed away and stayed away. "I'll let you know if I change my mind...hold on," She held up a finger.

She pulled her phone out from under the upper part of her outfit. She swiped it open and started to scroll through it, still holding her finger up. She glanced up at him again and nodded in confirmation.

"Yep. I thought so. You're Casey: Harley's new boyfriend."

"You know Harley?" Casey asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we're best friends," She answered with a faint chuckle. "She's never mentioned me?"

"Uh...no?" Casey answered slowly.

"Ah. Well...I'm Poison Ivy." She finally introduced herself. She fixed her glove before slowly holding her hand out for a handshake. Casey eyed her hand warily.

"Are you?"

"It's the name I go by. I'm not gonna give you a rash." She said. Casey managed an awkward chuckle as he took a step closer and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you too..."

"So what are you doing in here?" She quickly questioned him. "Don't you know you're trespassing?" She pointed out.

"I didn't...was there like a sign or something?"

"Several."

"Ah. Ha, well...I didn't see it. I guess I was too busy looking through my camera." He said, holding it up. His camera was a little beaten up from when he was being dragged, but at least nothing was broken.

"You should pay more attention. Count yourself lucky that I recognized you." She said, pointing at him and running a finger on his chest.

"S-Sorry...so you're Harley's best friend?" Casey asked, changing the subject back to what was most concerning him.

"Yes," She answered with a faint smile, amused by how he was acting. "Take a look." She held her phone out to him.

Casey leaned forward and looked at the screen. He saw a picture of himself with Harley that had been sent to her. The contact ID was Harley, and the text underneath the picture read, "The new boyfriend! What do you think?" followed by a plethora of heart emojis.

That was definitely Harley.

"Holy crap." Casey said as he realized she was telling the truth.

"Yeah. She seems to like you a lot. You must be treating her nicely." She presumed, lifting his chin with her finger. Casey turned his gaze away.

"Uh yeah, I'm trying to. She's really great...but how do you know her?" Casey asked.

"We were both robbing the same bank. We just bumped into each other. One thing led to another, now here we are." Ivy answered simply. Casey's eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm sorry?" He said in confusion. Ivy shook her head; she couldn't help but laugh.

"You really don't know anything do you? What, did you just show up in Gotham and then all of a sudden hook up with Harley Quinn?" She asked sarcastically.

"Yeah...?" Casey answered slowly.

"Okay, do you know who Batman is?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's a vigilante. He's all over the newspapers." He nodded.

"Do you know who the Joker is?" She followed up.

"Yeah, he's a psycho. He's usually getting beat up by Batman on the newspapers." He answered.

"Great. Now do you know who Harley Quinn is?" Ivy asked. Casey scratched his head; now that Ivy was asking him all these questions, it was shaking loose memories of some articles that he had passively scrolled past.

"Wait...isn't she the Joker's sidekick/girlfriend? Something like that...?" He asked slowly.

Ivy didn't say anything, but she raised her eyebrow and gestured for him to continue.

"That's Harley?! No, no there's no way." Casey shook his head in denial.

"Come on Casey, look who you're talking to here. Let's not be slow." She urged him, clapping her hands at him a few times. Casey felt like he needed to sit down as he took in this news.

"My girlfriend's ex-boyfriend is a mob boss." He finally realized.

"Well...I guess mob boss is part of it. But yes." She shrugged.

"So...you're all...criminals." He continued.

"Yeah, pretty much...is that gonna be a problem?" She asked, her eyes narrowing on him.

"Well, kinda," He answered right away, not even picking up on Ivy's tone. "I'm just some guy, I don't wanna die over this! I-I'm not even..." Casey trailed off, unsure of how to even finish that sentence.

"Really? Not even a little bit? You're just...a straight-edge man?" Ivy asked doubtfully.

"Look, I just interviewed for a job as a bank teller. I'm nowhere on that level, no offense to you."

"Why would I take offense to that?" Ivy asked through her teeth, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Uh, no, I...I'm just taking in a lot of new information right now." Casey said with a breathless, humorless chuckle. Ivy's eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"Harley didn't tell you anything, did she?" She realized. Casey shook his head.

"No...I need to talk to her." He said.

"Yeah, probably. Hey, listen," Ivy took another step towards him. She rested her thumb and forefinger on either side of his jaw. "Harley's been going through a lot lately with this big break-up. She's trying to figure things out right now, you know?"

"Yeah..." Casey nodded, looking her in the eyes now.

"She seems to really like you...maybe it's a little cliche to say, but someone like you seems to be what she needs right now. I don't get it, but for once, she's actually doing well for herself. Just...see what she says." She urged.

"I... You care about her a lot, huh?"

"Of course. She's my best friend, after all." She reminded him.

"Yeah...you seem nice. I'm a little surprised. No wonder you and Harley get along." He said with a faint chuckle. Ivy removed her hand, caught off guard by how nice he was trying to be.

"Yeah...anyways, get out of here. Your smell is making my babies hungry." She dismissed him.

"Right. Yeah, I'll go. Thanks for, heheh, not letting them eat me." He said appreciatively.

"Anytime," She replied humorously. "But if you hurt my Harley, I will send them after you." She threatened.

"You won't have to worry about that." He said quickly, turning away. He glanced back at her once before hurrying off.

"Hmm." Ivy hummed to herself as she watched him leave.

She pulled her phone out again and looked at the message Harley had sent: "The new boyfriend! What do you think?" She chuckled a little to herself and shook her head as she typed up her response:

"Just met him actually. He's alright...I guess he's kind of cute."