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

[self_composed]

[My regen is good enough to deal with a few bullets through the head. You didn't copy mine. Is yours that good?] Bella asks urgently. She's probably making faces Roberta might want explained. [Sorry if I'm breaking the mood, but I want to take you home alive when you're done.]

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice declines to answer her, because he doesn't know and right now he doesn't care to.

[manofmyword]

A flash of a grin stretches his scars for a moment. "Maaaaaaaybe," he singsongs.

And then, "So having your guts blown out doesn't scare you any. How about here?" He drags the gun slowly up Alice's chest.

[self_composed]

Well. If he doesn't want to know then he has no grounds to complain if she makes it that good right now. She leaves his other unique features. If he gets a bullet in the brain it'll hurt like dying to grow it back. But no actual dying will be involved.

[edgeofyourseat]

He shudders, increasingly terrified and liking it that way.

[manofmyword]

The muzzle of the gun comes to rest under Alice's chin. The Joker kisses him softly.

"That scares you," he murmurs.

[edgeofyourseat]

Breathlessly: "Yeah."

[self_composed]

He still likes it. As long as he still likes it this is just her being squeamish. Bella grits her teeth and forces down a sip of milkshake. It's melting. A triangle can fix that.

"I am going to feel much better when I get him home," she mutters.

[edgeofyourseat]

Roberta looks concerned. "Are you sure he's okay? Are you okay?"

[manofmyword]

"I'd do it," he says, his breath warm on Alice's lips. "You know that, don't you? I would."

[self_composed]

"There is a gun pointed at my boyfriend. He will survive getting shot and he's having fun with it. That doesn't mean I love it," Bella explains tightly. "I am glad I have a my-boyfriend instead of the alt, in my world."

[edgeofyourseat]

Roberta looks appalled.



"I know," he says. His voice catches a little. All of a sudden it's too much, the pressure against the softness of his throat, the fear and uncertainty and everything he was loving a minute ago.

[self_composed]

[You can leave,] Bella tells Alice urgently. [You can teleport downstairs and we can go home.]

[manofmyword]

She isn't the only one who's noticed, though.

The Joker clicks the safety on and tosses the gun off the bed, reaching for a blanket in the same movement and wrapping them both in it.

"Shhhh-hhh," he soothes. "I gotcha, baby."

[edgeofyourseat]

He curls up and buries his face against the Joker's chest and cries.

Words are utterly beyond him, but perhaps Bella will be able to deduce from context that he does not want to go anywhere.

[self_composed]

Okay. That's better. Bella calms down. For the moment.

(But she does not let up that read for a second.)

"I'm sorry, I might not be very good company for the next unknown period of time," she tells Roberta apologetically. "I can just conjure a book if you'd rather go talk to somebody else."

[edgeofyourseat]

It's good, it's good, he wants to be here. It's not safe, but it's something else. He's going to be hurt and scared and suffer in all kinds of ways, but eventually, he'll be okay. He believes that. He will be okay.



"No, but now I'm worried," says Roberta, frowning. "Tell me more about this... alternate."

[self_composed]

"My boyfriend's name is Alice, but the alternate's significantly older and he told me he's going by 'Joker'," says Bella, rubbing at one of her eyes. "He's locked up in an asylum right now, which he claims he can escape at will and only hasn't because he likes his shrink, but Milliways lets him in in his dreams since he got put away even though he never came here before. He told me that he gets kicked out of here if he does anything too 'unfriendly', but I'm not sure where the line is or - actually - whether that's true, so I buffed Alice's regeneration just now." She shrugs. "What else do you want to know? He has a twisted sense of humor and a crush on a lady who dresses up like a bat for some reason and if I ever find myself in his world I'm going to strand him on a habitable asteroid or kill him because he is dangerous and he would never give up trying to get around any other measures to make him safe."

[edgeofyourseat]

"The Joker is—dangerous," Roberta says, looking like she wishes she could come up with a stronger word. "You need to get your boyfriend away from him."

[self_composed]

"My boyfriend can teleport," Bella says. "There was one moment where he wasn't having fun anymore but the Joker backed off, that time. I don't think he'd appreciate being yanked down here. It hasn't gotten bad enough that I'd do it anyway. My boyfriend can take -" she laughs softly - "a lot."

[edgeofyourseat]

All of a sudden Roberta is looking significantly more grim.

"The Joker doesn't just hurt people," she says. "He... twists them. Even good people."

[self_composed]

"I am reading Alice's mind. I am monitoring the situation," Bella says, chewing on her lip but shifting nervously. "So you've got one where you're from?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yes. He videotaped himself torturing someone and sent the video to the media. It was horrible."



Meanwhile, Alice is still crying, and the Joker is still comforting him.

He's kind of in love.

[self_composed]

"I don't doubt it," Bella says. "Hence the asteroid-or-death thing. If I ever encounter him out of Milliways and can do that sort of thing."

[edgeofyourseat]

"...I'm.. not sure death is really the answer, either," says Roberta. "Although if you plan on whisking him away to an asteroid, don't let me stop you."