One In The Same

Part 3

Warning: Above video has cursing. You have been warned.

"Alfred, what just happened?" asked Batman, lounging in an armchair while Alfred cooked lunch.

"You spent the morning practicing yoga with the Joker, sir." replied Alfred, nonchalant.

"I mean, what just happened to me?" asked Batman, but before Alfred could answer, Batman sat  up and  buried his face in his hands. "Why does everything have to be so friggin' complicated?" he moaned.

"Mater Wayne, if I may—" offered Alfred as he brought over lunch.

"What?!" snapped Batman, cutting him off.

"While Batman can not be 'friends' with the Joker,—" Alfred began.

"Why'd you do those quotes around the word friends?" stressed Batman, blushing slightly, "There's no other meaning to that word!" he exclaimed.

"—Bruce Wayne can..." finished Alfred.

"Oh. My. God. Alfred!" cried Batman "That's it! That's the solution, so I can finally d—" he stopped, embarrassed. "I mean, be friends with, the Joker." he corrected.

"Sure." said Alfred, smirking to himself. He gestured to the plate. "Are you going to eat that?"

"I'm not hungry." said Batman, heading to his room to think.

He found himself staring at some of the photos they took together, wondering what the Joker was doing right now. He looked around, realizing he has spent all day thinking. He left quickly to say hello to Barbra and Dick, who were probably home by now. Afterwards he returned to his room. The Joker was a night person, right? He opened messages and typed up a text to the Joker. His finger hovered over the send button for a second, an the hesitated. Was he really doing this? He clicked the button before he could overthink it. A second later, the Joker replied. He breathed a sigh of relief and settled into bed as he replied. They stayed up for 2 hours until they decided to go to bed, and even then, they wanted to chat more.

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That morning, after breakfast was hastily consumed, Batman sent the Joker a text asking to hang out. When he didn't respond for over an hour, Batman started panicking. What if he was to quick? Should he have waited longer? What if he had said something wrong? Suddenly, his phone went off. It was a text from the Joker accepting his invitation. Batman was on pins and needles waiting for him to arrive. When he heard the doorbell rig he swept downstairs to see the Joker, this time with a picnic basket.

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"Since you provided the food last time I figured I should at least contribute, so I made some pies." When he saw Bruce Wayne eyeing the basket skeptically, he added, "Don't worry, they're good. I'm actually a pretty good baker, if I do say so myself." He spread out a picnic blanket he had brought and sat down, patting the spot next to him for Bruce. Bruce sat down as the Joker told him all about the trials and errors that went into finding the perfect pie recipe. The Joker was so... —what's the word?— happy. Someone actually cared about what he said, about him! Other than Harley, of course, but she didn't count, she was like a sister to him. But Bruce Wayne, BRUCE WAYNE, cared about him and knew him for more than his sinister schemes and maniacal monologues. Of course, it was too early to get his hopes up. He could be wildly misinterpreting things. But if he wasn't...

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About a week later, after another outing with Bruce, the Joker was doing some late night bank robbing when he ran past the same park that he had gone to with Bruce. To his surprise, Batman slowed down to glance at it. The Joker used this to put more distance between them. It seemed peculiar to him in the moment, but he soon forgot all about it.

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It had been 3 weeks since their fateful meeting and they had taken to a pattern. Every other morning, they would go on an outing. They had gone to the park twice more, the Joker's lair once, Wayne Manor three times, and, most recently, had gone canoeing, which had ended with both of them soaking wet and shivering through laughter. Not that Batman was counting or anything. Then, every other night, sometimes more, they would spend hours texting. Batman hated to admit it, but he looked forward to their outings. Sometimes they would bring each other presents. Once the Joker brought him a locket with the Jokers picture in it, and the following outing, Batman got the Joker a matching one. He wasn't sure where the Joker was getting this stuff. He was pretty sure he was stealing it, but for once in his life, he didn't care. No thefts were reported, so they weren't things people were going to miss. Do you hear yourself?! Condoning thievery. You should be ashamed of yourself!

Valentine's Day was coming up. He felt like getting the Joker a present. Wait, what? No, you're not a couple or anything! He was conflicted. If the Joker had gotten him a present then he would feel bad if he hadn't. But if the Joker didn't get him a present but he got one for the Joker, it would be awkward. The thoughts swirled through his mind like a heavy fog, sometimes lightening or fading, but never truly disappearing. Until... Well, you can just get him a gift and only give it to him if he gives you one. The solution was so obvious, why didn't he think of it before? He had Alfred go get a purple bowtie with green edges. It was simple, yet flamboyant. Just like the Joker. As Valentines Day got closer and closer, he found himself getting nervous. Worrying about if the Joker would like the gift or not, if it was the right thing to do in the first place.