plotting to unnerve her

[self_composed]

Bella finds Milliways in the moon palace instead of one of her balconies.

"Huh," she says aloud.

Then, to Alice, Libby, Elena, and Mary, and Lazarus except he autoreplies with a busy message, [Hey folks, Moonstone Palace grew a bar that I don't remember putting in, come check it out.]

Comments

[manofmyword]

He giggles.

"I'll let you figure that one out for yourself."

[self_composed]

"I can see him doing the asteroid thing," she says. "It'd be cute."

[manofmyword]

"Adorable," the Joker agrees. "I'm tempted."

[self_composed]

"How would do you it, plain old non-magical human?"

[manofmyword]

He blinks wide, excessively innocent eyes at her, an effect it is difficult to achieve with the surrounding sockets blacked out by makeup.

"Pretty please, can I have an asteroid?"

[self_composed]

"I don't have a way to get to your world and do magic there," Bella points out. "Since you're sleeping. Although now that you mention it, I would in fact be pretty comfortable stashing you on an asteroid for the rest of your life."

[manofmyword]

"I'd get bored eventually," he says. "Unless I still came here, I guess. Then I'd be juuuust fine."

[self_composed]

"There's no obvious reason why you wouldn't, unless it only happens when you sleep in certain geographical locations."

[manofmyword]

"Well, it never happened before she caught me."

[self_composed]

"That could be about the location or about any number of coincident factors," Bella shrugs.

[manofmyword]

"Maybe it's 'cause she caught me," he says, because he enjoys irony.

[self_composed]

"Maybe."

[manofmyword]

"Innnn which case, perhaps your little asteroid would do the same thing."

[self_composed]

"Quite possibly. And much safer for everyone. Because a plain old human cannot get off an asteroid without equipment or magic."

[manofmyword]

"Maybe so," he agrees placidly. "You're fun. If you put me on an asteroid will you come visit sometimes?"

[self_composed]

"I'll talk to you if I run into you in Milliways," Bella says.

She doesn't doubt that this fellow can talk most people into doing things they wouldn't normally do, even without much leverage. She thinks she's probably not one of them. But she doesn't want to be overconfident.

[manofmyword]

He grins.

"What if I say please?" he coaxes.

[self_composed]

"I'm not so hung up on the social niceties that they'll get me to do things that were not previously at least on the 'maybe' list."

[manofmyword]

"I like that about you," he confides.

[self_composed]

"It's nice to be appreciated."

[manofmyword]

"But," he admits, with a sly glance to the side and a conspiratorial lean forward, "I'm glad you can't stick me on an asteroid."

[self_composed]

"You'd get all nostalgic for the murder and for your bat-clad crush," says Bella, with sympathy that is not entirely mocking.

[manofmyword]

"Mostly for her," he says. "Don't tell me you fell for that one too; I don't like murder all by itself."

[self_composed]

"You don't? Not even a little?"

[manofmyword]

"Mm, well, that's the thing," he says, tipping his chair back on two legs and glancing up into the rafters, gesturing expressively with one hand. "It's fun, sometimes; I'm not saying it's not. And it's fun-ny. But it's not an end in itself, like... oh... sex."