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

[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."

[self_composed]

"He'd rather be dead than on the asteroid unless the asteroid still afforded him chances to visit Milliways," Bella says. "I asked. If this ever happens, I will put him on an asteroid, wait for him to nap a few times and see if he can get here or not, and if he can't, I will either kill him or, if I can't stomach it, be there while he does it himself so he doesn't have to die alone. There's no point in being cruel. That won't help protect anyone."

[edgeofyourseat]

Well, now Roberta is looking unsettled again.

And Alice... Alice is slowly falling asleep in the Joker's arms.

[self_composed]

Bella calms down somewhat as Alice falls asleep. There is a limit to how much psychological shit the Joker can pull on a sleeping Alice. She's pretty sure that talking to sleeping people doesn't tend to do worse than maybe influence what dreams they're having, and two can play at that game if she sees any dreams she doesn't like flitting across her vision. Non-psychological behavior might squick her but she doesn't think it'll do Alice prolonged harm.

"Something wrong?" Bella asks Roberta. "I guess eighteen-year-old girls don't routinely announce their willingness to kill terrorists?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"They usually don't, no," she says, with an attempt at a smile; it rings a little more false than usual.



Upstairs, Alice is dozing, half-aware of his surroundings and mostly not thinking about anything much. In a half-aware dreamy way, he kind of wishes Bella were there, perhaps because in his half-aware dreamy state he doesn't have to consider her (probably quite low) level of desire to add to this cuddlepile.

[self_composed]

"More of them should," Bella says. "Admittedly, I don't know how old the bat lady he's sweet on might be, but she had the chance and didn't take it and anyone he kills after he gets out of the asylum is a predictable result of that choice. He's been trying to get her to kill him the entire time, and he isn't doing it by mocking her ancestry or something, either, he's not innocently radioactive, he goes around murdering people."

Bella doesn't want to be in that room. She might consider it anyway, if it were physical rather than mental damage that had her concerned - because her window into the events in the room is Alice's mind and it's falling asleep. But she's pretty confident that any random physical damage can happen to Alice and he will still come home with her good as new.

[edgeofyourseat]

Roberta looks... withdrawn.

"Maybe fewer people should consider murder a solution to their problems."

[self_composed]

"If he were innocently radioactive - hell, if he didn't have a blatant, admitted deathwish - then I'd be much less cavalier about it," Bella assures her. "He is a special case. I haven't ever actually killed anyone. I don't know if I could if I were not backed into a corner about it, and I have enough magic that I probably never will be."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Don't," Roberta advises. Which is odd advice to give, for the kind of person she claims to be.



Alice rubs his face sleepily against the Joker's chest.

[manofmyword]

He giggles and strokes Alice's hair.

"Better, sweetie?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"Mhmmm."

[self_composed]

"My current plans don't include it," Bella says. "You have... stronger opinions on this subject than I expect random businesspeople who golf to have. Military background?" she guesses. "Maybe?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"I'm... afraid of making our conversation uncomfortably personal again," says Roberta.

[self_composed]

"I will be really impressed with you if you do anything more discomfiting than what I'm using you to distract me from," Bella says.

[edgeofyourseat]

"My parents were shot in front of me by a mugger when I was eight," Roberta says flatly.

[self_composed]

"I'm sorry," says Bella. "That's awful."

[edgeofyourseat]

"So you can see why I'd be not so keen on killing people in general."

[self_composed]

"No," Bella says. "I mean, yes, that's a possible reaction to that experience, but it's not the only one. You could have turned into some pro-death-penalty tough-on-crime reactionary."

[edgeofyourseat]

Upstairs, Alice snuggles up and kisses the scar at the corner of the Joker's mouth.

"Where'd you get 'em?" he wonders.

[manofmyword]

"Lemme show you," he suggests, producing a knife from somewhere. It is a little bit amazing how good the Joker is at coming up with knives.

[self_composed]

Well. Even in the unlikely event Alice decides to keep creepy duplicate scars by suppressing his regen, his present when they get home will get rid of them, Bella has that on good authority.

[edgeofyourseat]

"The boyfriend again?" guesses Roberta.

Alice, meanwhile, is experiencing the sudden and obvious understanding that of course the Joker gave them to himself. He laughs.

[self_composed]

"Alice asked about the..." Bella traces the scar locations on her own cheeks. "The Joker has offered to show him. The scars won't keep even if Alice lets them form to begin with, but... yeah." Pause. "Alice, who I guess would probably know, thinks the Joker gave himself said scars."