(no subject)

[tntandgasoline]

Players: interlude_adieu, devilishkurumi
Subject: Harvey Dent, the Joker
Table: A
Prompt: Cry
Log or Thread?: Log
Heads up! Thar be smut in these thar woods! AKA, you should know that this log contains sexual stuff and so you need to be careful reading it. And stuff.


It didn't really strike the Joker as surprising that most of his time inside this God-forsaken hideout was spent in the kitchen. His room was for important things; the kitchen... for not so important things. At the moment, he found himself hunched over a chopping board, stabbing a little ineffectually at various vegetables. He couldn't stop sniffling, and it was more than once that he had to rub at his face with the back of his arm, shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. His arm had splotches of black and white greasepaint all over it.

Comments

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Harvey took off his belt, his roommate's voice rather suddenly at his back, mixed with the laughter of several on their floor. Belts don't count, they're accessories. You don't get this strip poker thing do you? He tossed it to the side and enjoyed the clatter of metal drowning the quip's echo out.

The drunk comment made his fingers tighten around his fork, a pause and flare of anger at nothing in particular. He didn't want to think about it. "Why me?" He asked, about the struggle, about that night and everything he wanted to forget but didn't as some traitorous part of him held on. He asked the same question to the Bat just before the vigilante cheated death- cheated what was fair. Why her- but he knew that. Rachel Dawes was expendable. He stabbed at the chicken, just barely processing the clown's awkward reception of the compliment, just like the water after Crane's gassing. Like human kindness alluded him.

[tntandgasoline]

"Why you?" Oh, he always counted the belt - made the game last longer, more interesting. "Because -"

Now, how to answer. He took another bite and chewed, thoughtfully, mulling over his options. "...Because it's you, Harvey." That would do. "The Bat isn't as good as you were - you were the shining pinnacle. And now, you're another beautiful example." He gestured with his fork, "Shows just how far the pedestal you fell off of drops you."

Maybe he should have just responded that he believed in Harvey Dent, but that would have been cliche.

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Harvey didn't move to his clothes, sitting back and watching the Joker closely. Why you. He couldn't articulate the question- why the clown, why did everything he said make sense, was this part of a plan, to have Harvey here? But there were no plans here because that wasn't the right word. Structure maybe, flimsy and malleable but chaos was a different breed.

"What about your 'pedestal'?" He didn't bother saying Chicago, the clown knew by now. "What did you fall from?"

[tntandgasoline]

He sighed and undid his shirt, gesturing at Harvey. "Not answering that - what makes you think I fell from anything? Maybe I just grew into it."

He looked Harvey over blandly before smiling wide. "I think you should take off your pants."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Harvey unbuttoned his shirt without missing a beat, an irate look as he did so. "I'd hate to see what you were before then." He tossed the shirt to the side, surprisingly still apathetic to this all. Part of him wondered where this was leading and part of him knew where it led. He didn't stop.

He paused- he needed something the Joker wouldn't answer, to prove he wasn't just a puppet on strings. He could pull back just as hard, he knew things about this man just like the mad man knew of him. The idea could make him nauseous but instead it made him focused.

He nearly smiled. "What's your name?"He asked, taking a forkful of the chicken. "Not your gimmick."

[tntandgasoline]

The Joker glared at Harvey and then shifted in his seat, raising his legs to sit cross-legged precariously on the rickety chair. "Not fair." He pulled off one sock, then the other - great day to go without shoes. "You knew I wouldn't answer that."

He knew he was pouting like a petulant child but he wasn't going to stop, glaring at Harvey in annoyance.

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Harvey smirked despite himself, something a little too natural and good natured for his liking. His fingers brushed over the coin in his pocket and the sharp feeling quelled.

"I was willing to take the chance." He answered in a sharp, wry tone. He stared past a moment before speaking, gaze still distant. "What about your first girl?" If he had ever felt love, if it even was a woman.

[tntandgasoline]

It was there that Joker really paused - going utterly still, something he usually didn't consider a possible response but there it was. He tried to figure out if he should risk it - could he even remember?

"What about her?" he finally asked, putting his feet back on the ground and picking at his food, suddenly not too hungry. "She was just that." With pretty dark hair and dark eyes and pale skin, bulimic near the end and - "Nothing important. Cute, long black hair, bean-pole, kind of."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

"Did you love her?" He asked, again not moving to his clothing, though this time because the answer was hardly sufficient. The fact there was an answer though, that he had something of a normal life, even if the relationship was warped in some way, was more surprising that his set features let on.

[tntandgasoline]

No. Yes. What's love, anyway? Why did it matter?

He licked his lips and undid his belt, dropping it on the center of the table, even if it was sort of an affirmation in itself. "Take off your pants for the last question."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

He didn't answer or he couldn't answer- Harvey glanced at the belt. Wasn't that interesting.

He took off his socks instead, on his last piece of clothing now. It was less about winning then it was, this new line of questions fascinated Harvey. He half expected the clown to be pulling his chain but the way he answered and didn't answer- it was telling.

"What ended it?" He asked, watching the Joker intently.

[tntandgasoline]

He grunted.

"Have to be more specific, Harvey. Don't know what you're talking about, otherwise." He did, but that was beside the point - had to drag it out, make it last. He didn't like being evenly matched with Harvey, who was a stupid fuck who asked questions that he knew the answers to - the fact that he couldn't answer. It was irritating and this was a game he started. He should win by rights.

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

"Can't answer?" Harvey asked, brow raising. In the end if Harvey 'won' he still lost, but even that moment of false victory was worth the taste. It had been tails, and that was all.

"Why did you leave her, why did she leave you? Did she die- did you kill her?" He sat back. "Stop avoiding the question."

[tntandgasoline]

"Not avoiding. And that's more than one question."

The Joker wasn't one to admit it but he was a sore loser and he didn't want to have to deal with the pouting aftermath. He picked at his food and then grabbed the chicken with his hand, gnawing at it for a moment before shrugging.

"I left her." It was the truth but it wasn't enough, he knew Harvey well enough. "She's alive and healthy, married with two-point-five kids and pretty sure I'm dead. Your pants, Harvey."

Ugh, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. But a win was a win, and he had to face it - Harvey looked better naked than he did. Heh.

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Harvey watched him a moment before standing, seemingly accepting it as the right answer. At least now this whim of his was over. There wasn't anything left Harvey could could use pay for answers any longer.

"You loved her." He commented as he undid his pants, clinging to the small victory within his defeat. "Or whatever you were then did." He pulled of his pants and tossed them with the rest of his ensemble, looking Joker in the eye.

[tntandgasoline]

The Joker's eyes rolled upward at the comment and the lack of flair with his defeat - a half-defeat, really. Well, he wasn't one to deny himself the view of a trophy; his eyes roamed over Harvey idly, picking imperfections, small places where he was more fat than muscle, the way his scarring made it look like a dog got a hold of an action figure.

"Maybe, maybe not. I still have my pants, Harv - wanna test your luck? See if you can get even?" He sat back, legs splayed to either side of the table, arms thrown over the back of the chair. "Or you could just stand there for me without trying.."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Without trying- Harvey's good eye narrowed but he said nothing. He wasn't sure what it meant if the clown did answer, if he even wanted to know, but the damn look on his face. Harvey glanced at the coin now lying on the table, the clean etch of liberty personified staring off into the distance. His eyes returned to the Joker.

"Why did you leave that life?" Why become a monster rather than live that white picket life. Harvey had been wrenched from it, Crane had poisoned himself, why this man?

[tntandgasoline]

"The life with a bulimic girlfriend and a shitty house?" More information than he probably should have given, but it was harmless. Tidbits, really. He smiled unpleasantly at Harvey. "Because it's not real. Nine-to-five, business meetings, a dog and a yard -"

He sighed and shook his head, standing up to push Harvey toward the couch. He was answering, after all. "I already told you, Harvey, you're not the only one who's had to deal with the choice between this and that. I wouldn't have the, uh, skin grafts - but I'd be crawling out of my skin anyway." It felt - surprisingly not irritating to actually fill Harvey in more than usual.

"Sit down."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

Bulimic? Harvey silently watched him as he spoke, not quite uncomfortable in his state but certainly not pleased by it.

Maybe he was wrong, maybe he hadn't loved her. With Rachel it had been real, even if the 'American dream' life had always been a farce in this city. He wondered vaguely how similar they would be if those scars had been forced on the clown. He refused to dwell on the disturbing thought.

He followed, even sat, glancing sidelong at the table and his coin with a twitch of his fingers. When he glanced up again his gaze wasn't quite as cold. "So part of you did regret it." Destroying the past.

[tntandgasoline]

He could hear the sound of glass shattering outside, muffled through the walls but still audible, and he had to force himself not to do anything too hasty. Harvey was still asking questions - even if they weren't exactly phrased as such.

He crouched over Harvey, knees pressing into the couch on either side of Harvey without actually straddling him. He leaned in and pulled at Harvey's hair lightly, going so far as to run his tongue across a small expanse of the other's scarred scalp.

"No. I'd rather be this than whatever that would have turned out as. Able to do whatever I want without worrying about society?" His hand moved to massage Harvey's shoulder, nails digging in lightly. "Able to incite a riot because I have a pen and paper? Nothing's better."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

"Just because you can." Harvey muttered, a side comment as he watched the man move closer. His fingers twitched again but he simply lifted them as the Joker pulled at his hair, ran his tongue over the scarring. It was always a strange sensation, the man's attention to his scars, sharp but dulled by the damage.

"Everyone's looking at you." He sounded almost amused in a cracked sort of way, not all there because it wasn't funny that the clown played with people's lives at his whims. Harvey rested his hand on the Joker's side and thought of Rachel's soft curves. When he glanced up at the coal dark eyes the image was gone.

[tntandgasoline]

A shudder ran through him as Harvey put his hand on him, simply a remnant of remembering the fucker tickling him rather than something more passionate. If the fucker decided to do that again -

No, he probably wouldn't. "That's right, Harvey, everyone is looking at me. All eyes on the ringmaster." He leaned down and sucked on Harvey's earlobe, then over to bite at his jawline with sharp, short bites. "And everyone out there looked to me and said I like it and now they're out there, doing what I told them to just because they believe in me."

He giggled and dropped a hand to Harvey's chest, dragging his nails to leave red indents, "What'd they do when they believed in you? Joined a few peaceful rallies?"

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

"No." Harvey answered. The riots seemed to give the damned clown some sort of energy, the same sort of spark trailing after the mad man's nails. His head tilted at the bites and he remembered that drunken night. The nauseating feeling passed in barely a breath. "They stabbed me in the back."

His thumb pressed into some shallow scar, soft for a halting moment before his touch became violent again, as if remembering. "They don't believe in you." He said, low and harsh, lips curling just a touch as he spoke into the Joker's ear and neck. "They're terrified of you, and the minute you vanish for too long they'll pretend you were a bad dream."

[tntandgasoline]

Laughing, the Joker dropped his hand around to Harvey's back, fingers splaying out against his skin. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that doesn't happen again." After all, he'd only stab Harvey in the chest.

His mouth latched onto unburnt skin under Harvey's jaw, teething the skin as Harvey manhandled him. "Nn - then I guess I just won't go anywhere."

[thedawniscoming.livejournal.com]

"You'll just twist the knife." Harvey answered. That or rub salt in the wounds- laughing either way.

"And if the Bat does crack your skull in?" They'd all be free then. The thought passed as his fingers ran bruises up the Joker's back. His nails dug into his shoulder blades. This wasn't even a coin flip.