Harley Quinn. Actual Dr Harleen Quinzel. This was so cool. He loved her comics, her whole deal. And now here she was. He loved this fictional thing. He’d been all excited to meet her even before the obvious had occurred to him. The question he could only ask of her. The one only she might know the answer to.
How.
How had a shrink fallen for her patient like that? What had he done?
The Joker was everything Kai wasn’t. Kai didn’t do what he did for the sake of chaos. He was selfish, he wanted what he wanted and sometimes that was to watch people suffer for what they’d done to him. Sometimes it was just a person that was between him and the people he wanted to suffer.
He waited at the bar. He’d buy her a drink but wanted to ask what she wanted first. He figured if nothing else he’d make another friend.
Harley was excited to meet up with Kai. He seemed the type of guy Harley liked to have around, specially here since she was stuck here without Mister J. No. She shouldn’t be missing him. He didn’t treat her right and he deserved to be without her for a long time. That would serve him right. Shaking those thoughts off her mind, she made her way to the Dive.
She walked in and looked around, looking for Kai. When she spotted him at the bar, she made her way toward him with a happy trot to her walk.
“You must be Kai,” the blonde said with a smile.
She was pretty much what he’d expected, unnaturally pale, radiating danger but oh so fun to be around. He knew people would be worried that they were talking but they couldn’t take talking away from him. They already had his magic, and he wasn’t hurting anyone. Not even his sister or the woman that locked him away from the world.
“And you must be Harley.” he replied with a smile of his own. He could be a charmer when he needed to and he needed to. It had come to him in a rush, that maybe it was some way the clown had acted, something he said just something that hadn’t made it to the comics because by the comics it had no logic to it.
“Let me buy you a drink, call it a welcome.” he told her, nodding to the bar man. “And then we can sit and have a good talk, sound good?”
She had to admit Kai was very cute. And had something that made him like her almost immediately, and it wasn’t just the sociopath thing - though that helped. She would always be drawn to people like that in her life. Normal people with no issues were just… boring. Nothing to poke at. Harley didn’t like that, nor did Dr. Harleen Quinzel.
“Aw, thank you, Kai,” she said with a wide smile. She caught the barman’s attention and ordered her drink, some fancy cocktail with lots of colors. She had no idea if it’d taste good, but she liked the colors. “Sounds perfect, Kai. You’re a sweetheart.”
He approved of the cocktail. He ordered something similar, gin based and amazing. “They found links between gin and psychopathy. I mean, I don’t know, it could be crap, but also, I’ve always liked gin. And yet, more of a sociopath, so they say.”
Kai grinned, leading the way toward a booth.
He was a sweetheart. He really was. “You know, not enough people get that about me. I really am a sweetheart but it’s all ooh you murdered your family. That said, I have people who see past all that, they’re pretty cool.”
He didn’t want to just jump into the question but god he was nervous. Stupidly so. It was so dumb, she’d know what he needed to know.
“How’re you finding the place?” he tried first, he’d settle in to the bigger questions.
“They have? I’ll have to read that. It sounds very interesting.” Despite being crazy Harley Quinn, Dr. Harleen Quinzel was still there somewhere, and she liked to keep learning and know more about the mind. Half of the books she read were medical articles, while the other half were romance novels Harley found incredibly interesting.
She grabbed her drink and followed him to the booth.
“People always focus on the murders and never on the good things you do,” she said, rolling her eyes. “They’re like ‘Oh, you killed Robin’ but they never say anything nice about how we helped the crime scene in Gotham. People need to learn to never judge people for the actions without knowing them first,” she said.
“Good,” she replied. “I mean, I’ve only been here for a couple of hours, but this place seems nice. Except for the stupid anklet I have to wear, but it’s better than a nano-bomb in your neck,” she chuckled.
There was the shrink. Still wanting to know about what went on in the profession. Shrinks were just kind of hot to him apparently.
“Oh that, oh so much that. I even tried to help the people that hated me and all that forgiveness people talked about? There was none for me. I was just their bad guy, so convenient just to blame me. They didn’t need to think that way.”
And ugh, she’d gotten the anklet too. Well, he supposed that was obvious.
“Play nice and you’ll get rid of it. I haven’t and I’ve been here ages. They took my magic. They basically cut a part of me out and they’ll never give it back because they think I’ll hurt someone. I would kick SO MUCH COS ASS if I had my magic. Like, I’m mega powerful you have NO idea.”
He really would. But it would never happen. And talking about it sucked.
“Nano Bomb does seem worse though, do something naughty and boom?! That sucks.”
He was fascinated by her. He couldn’t help it. And suspected it was mutual. But fascinated as he was…
“So...you fell for a patient. Pretty famously. There’s...a shrink here that…”
Ugh.
“Do I need to spell it out? Because it gets all feelsy and it’s embarrassing.”
“The fact that you tried says a lot. People should’ve seen that,” she said. People could be so rude sometimes, so unforgiving. “But you know what? It’s their loss if they can’t see what a nice guy you are. I mean, I can totally tell you are and we’ve just met.” And she was being honest about it. She liked him. She seemed like the kind of guy she wanted to have around for a long time. A nice good friend.
She laughed a little. “Oh honey, I haven’t played nice in ages,” she chuckled softly. “Your magic? You’re like Harry Potter?” she asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. It sucked that they took away her magic, because she would’ve so asked him to do tricks for her.
She arched an eyebrow when he mentioned him. “You wanna know about Mister J?” she asked. She wasn’t mad, though. She figured if she was as famous as Kai said she was, that meant The Joker was too.
He absolutely was a nice guy. And he really did like her. Especially if the not playing nice thing was true. That just made her more fun.
“Not about him. I don’t care about him, you’re like, way to good for him. But there’s...her name’s Claire and she was assigned to me when I first got here, and then we were put in an apartment together till a few months ago. And for a few weeks we believed we were...well, getting close. We kissed. Nearly kissed another time too. And, I guess...I like her. But she’s very clear that she won’t go there, even though I know she wants to. On some level.”
He didn’t know why he was babbling so he turned the topic back to magic.
“Harry Potter but no wand. And I can steal other people's magic. It’s great but apparently really really hurts. I’d do some now, if I could.”
The fact that Kai didn’t want to know about The Joker and said she was too good for him almost made her pull him into a hug if it weren’t sitting opposite each other. That was a very sweet thing to say. And she totally agree. She was too good for him, which is why she was very happy she was away from him right now. That stubborn green-haired guy needed to think about his actions and how they affected her.
“So you wanna know how I fell for him? What did he do to get me, right?” she guessed it was what he wanted to know by his rambling, which was really cute.
“That’s pretty amazing,” she said when he talked about the magic. But I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” She was starting to care about him, which was a very good sign.
That was entirely what he wanted to know.
But god, he’d made himself look so dumb. He’d told Claire he’d back off, and he had. He wasn’t that guy, he hated that guy. But maybe if he knew why Harley had fallen for a psychopath then maybe he’d understand Claire more.
“Yeah. Basically that. I mean, she’s still my shrink which is probably like, super bad. But if they take her away it’d be so much worse. And I’d like more. I’d like her to admit she likes me back but I know she won’t. I know she’s too good to let herself. But you did. You let yourself, and much as he sucks, and he does btw. You fell for him. I want to know how because, I guess I want to know if I have a shot there?”
Oh.
“No no, it’s hurts them not me. It feels awesome when I siphon magic off someone. It’s like the worlds best drug.”
God, he was the sweetest thing ever, he really was. And he was trusting her with such an intimate thing. That touched Harley.
“Well, I really don’t know how to explain how I fell for him. I mean, he was just so charming and caring in our sessions, always asking me how my day was and all that,” she began to explain. And as she did her heart ached a little bit remembering those memories. Those were such good memories she had of him. “He let me try to help him, but in the end he was the one who helped me, who set me free...” she stared into space for a moment, thinking of the oath he made her take before she let herself fall into the toxic vat. “Sorry, lost track of thought for a moment,” she chuckled, coming back to reality.
“Oh, good. Then you can go ahead and do all the magic tricks you want as long as your pretty face doesn’t get hurt,” she said with a smile.
“But I’m charming and caring.” he said with a sigh. “I mean I think I am. People are kind of split on that. I’m not sure where Claire falls. I think she thinks I’m charming but probably thinks it’s a sign of danger or whatever. And I want to let her help me, I do. But it feels like no matter what I do or say, they’ll never let me have my magic. So why let her help me if that’ll never happen. But I like her enough to keep letting her try.”
He had sort of lost track himself. But she was thinking about the clown. He knew that. Thinking about how much she’d loved him. All that set her free stuff was just weird.
“You’re still better off. Okay? Hell, Claire is probably better off…” he said, trailing off and wondering what had possessed him to say that.
“You think I got a shot? At all?”
“Don’t say that,” she said, reaching out to pat his arm lightly. “You deserve someone just like the next person, and if you think Claire is that someone for you, you should fight for it.” Honestly, how could Claire not fall for this guy? He was a total catch!
“I don’t know Claire, so I don’t know if she feels for you the same things I felt for Mister J when I was in Arkham, but tell her how you feel. I know you don’t like feelings, but sometimes saying what one feels is the only way to get what you want,” she suggested.
“I can try and see if I can find out how she feels for you, if you want. I mean, this place is making me see a shrink every week so maybe I could ask for her and find out,” Harley offered. Anything for him.
It was good advice but too late in a way.
“She knows. I mean, she has to. I wasn’t subtle. I know I don’t always get other people’s emotions but I think on some level she likes me right back. But if you’re being made to see someone, make it her. She’s all kinds of amazing. I swear. But if you’d do that for me. I’d really really appreciate it. I’d owe you.” he told her.
He’d definitely made a friend out of this. And that was kind of amazing. Harley wasn’t entirely what he’d expected, she was miles better.”
“You’re the best. You really really are.But be all shrinky about it. Katherine, I’m sleeping with her but she’s entirely into me, anyway, she brought me up to Claire and Claire had her transferred to someone else.”
“You owe me nothing, sweetie,” she said with a wave of her hand and a smile. “That’s what friends are for.” And she could easily tell they were friends already. Good friends. She felt so comfortable with him, like she could be herself and not get judged, which was a very nice feeling.
“I’ll be the shrinkiest shrink you’ll have ever seen in your life, don’t worry,” she said with a wink.
She grabbed her drink. “I feel like we should drink for us and this amazing friendship.”
“Best friends.” he said feeling for all the world like some ridiculous teenage girl in a magazine. But he really did like her. And she got him like no one else, not even Kathy really.
“To us then.” he said, lifting his glass to clink with hers.