A Bit of Fun

Chapter 2

"Look, kid, you ain't my shrink now!" snapped Joker. "So don't demand answers to stupid questions! I can do what I wanna, whenever I wanna! And if I've suddenly decided that sex is something I want, I don't see anything wrong in that!"

"Ok, well, if sex is all you want, you could always go out there and get it from some other girl," said Harley.

"Why would I go find some other girl when you're right here?" demanded Joker. "Why would I go through any effort when you're willing and eager and...nice-looking?"

"So you think I'm pretty?" asked Harley. "You're attracted to me?"

"Well...not right now when you got crap all over you," said Joker. "But...yeah, I guess. Physically, yeah...I'm attracted to you."

"We're good together, huh?" pressed Harley. "Physically, I mean."

"Yeah, we're...good," he agreed. "It's good. The sex, I mean...is good."

"So I guess you could say...you think I'm attractive. And you enjoy me in a way you never had any inclination of enjoying another woman before. And you enjoy our time together, which is frequent, and you don't seem eager to go out and find someone else. So I guess I'm confused as to why you don't think this is a relationship."

Joker's eyebrows narrowed. "Now look, toots, stop trying to play your little shrink mind games! What we got is a...thing! Not a relationship! We got a thing going on!"

"Oh, a thing," said Harley, nodding. "Right. Sounds to me like you're just desperately trying not to make this into a relationship. I dunno what you're so scared of, Mr. J."

"I ain't scared of nothing!" snapped Joker. "I'm the Joker, toots! I don't even know what fear is!"

"So why won't you call our thing by its proper name?" asked Harley.

"Fine!" he roared. "Fine, we're in a...relationship! A relationship in which I have all the power, and you do as I say, when I say it! And I say go back to your room and get cleaned up because you look like crap with stuff all over you!"

Harley grinned. "You want me to look pretty for you, huh, Mr. J?"

"Yeah, I don't want people thinking I got a slob for a g...a girl...a girlfr...nah, I still can't say it," he retorted, slamming the door to his room.

"Gee, Harley, you look pretty happy for someone who got such a rude awakening," commented Rocco, who found her beaming to herself as he brought her another plate.

"I am, Roc," said Harley, nodding. "Just got another baby step accomplished. When dealing with Mr. J, small victories are big victories, as I'm sure you know."

"Yeah...not really sure why you bother, though," said Rocco, slowly. "You're a sweet kid, Harley. Why wouldn't you want a nice guy who treats you right, one you wouldn't have to do baby steps with, who would just love you unconditionally as a guy should?"

"Because I don't want that kinda guy, Roc," retorted Harley. "I'm in love with Mr. J. And when you're in love with the Joker, you can't expect things to be easy. He's a complicated guy, and he doesn't have the same desires or emotions as normal people. That's what I love about him. He's unique and special."

"It's just...if it's taken him this long to even make the smallest step forward in your relationship, it's gonna take him forever to make big ones," said Rocco. "If he even does at all. You could be wasting your life on a guy who will never see you as anything more than...well...a bit of fun."

Harley shrugged. "Maybe," she agreed. "But I have faith in Mr. J. Anyway, even if he don't ever see me as anything more than that, I won't have wasted my life, because at least I'll be having fun. A lotta people waste their lives, Roc, slaving away at a job, trapped in a relationship they don't really wanna be in, doing what society wants them to do without any thought for what they as an individual actually wanna do. They spend their lives locked up, bound by the chains of sanity and expectation, and they're the ones who waste 'em. Me, as long as I'm with Mr. J, I'm gonna have a smile on my face. And that ain't a waste, Roc. That's all anyone can ask outta life – to have a little fun."

Rocco admired Harley's determination and optimism. But frankly, he couldn't understand where it came from – the Joker was not an affectionate man at the best of times. Harley kept trying to show affection to him, and it was often rejected with the cruelest mental and physical abuse. Rocco heard them together sometimes, fighting, and sometimes he'd hear Harley in pain, and sometimes he'd hear the Joker in pain. But neither of them seemed to want to break out of the abusive cycle – it seemed to Rocco that the abuse with something that both of them craved. It was a mutual thing - the way normal couples would crave affection from each other, they both craved violence. So in that way Rocco guessed Harley was right – she was different to any other woman the Joker had ever met. No other woman had ever enjoyed pain and violence as much as the boss, nor shared his bizarre sense of humor based around hurting others. Rocco had been working for the Joker for a long time, and he'd never even looked at a dame in that way before. Harley was special, and whether she was special because she shared the boss's passion for violence, or whether she actually awakened some deeper, tender feelings in him, Rocco wasn't sure.

But he was sure of one thing – Harley would never give up on the Joker. As long as it took, and as unpleasant he could be to her, she clung on. And a couple months afterward, Rocco knocked on the Joker's door to bring him his breakfast as usual, and it was opened by Harley, a sleepy, adoring smile on her face.

"Morning, Roc," she said, taking the plate from him.

"Oh...morning, Harley," said Rocco, surprised. "I...uh...was gonna bring your breakfast to your room, but...uh...guess I'll go get another plate to bring here?"

"I would, Roc," agreed Harley, beaming. "I really would."

"Harley! Stop yammering and get your worthless ass back to bed – I'm trying to sleep here!" shouted the Joker's irritated voice from inside.

Harley grinned at Rocco. "Baby steps, Roc," she murmured. "I'm coming, puddin'!" she called, shutting the door.

Rocco waited for the inevitable slap and scream, which is what always happened when Harley called Joker puddin'. But they didn't come. Rocco was truly astonished, and impressed by Harley's tenacity and influence. But then she had been a shrink, so she was obviously pretty smart, and pretty good at figuring out how people's minds worked, even a mind as crazy and messed up as the Joker's.

Rocco had sometimes considered quitting the henchguy gig – the work didn't pay hugely well for the kind of danger and harm he was constantly subjected to. But as he went to go get another plate for Harley, he found himself strangely intrigued to see how far Harley could actually push the boss, and how much the boss would actually accept this new relationship situation in his life. Nobody had ever challenged the Joker before, except Batman, but that was a different kind of challenge to Harley. Harley was revealing parts of the boss Rocco didn't even know existed – parts that could almost, in a weird kinda way, be termed loving and affectionate. So like Harley, Rocco resolved to hang around the boss just to see what happened. She was along for the ride, and so was he. However long it took.