Jðkêr//Är†hµr x RêåÐêr ïmågïñê§ & ðñê-§hð†§

• Crazy For You (pt.1)

Arthur found himself for the first time ever having to suppress a genuine laugh. Which was certainly a novel experience.
Dana on the other hand wasn't laughing. Far from it. Her expression was one of bemused irritation.

"For your information I happen to like my name, (y/n)."

"Good for you. But can't you just bend the rules for once? What harm can it do?"

"Quite a lot as it happens. To indulge you on this occasion wouldn't be constructive to your treatment."

"There's nothing wrong with me!" (y/n) argued defiantly, though her tone still remained surprisingly pleasant.

"(y/n) you've been diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder. That's hardly nothing. Now, let's move on shall we? We've already wasted enough time."

Huffing loudly, (y/n) flopped back down into her chair, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

Arthur felt sad for her. He didn't see why it mattered so much. It was only a name after all. Being hospitalised was bad enough. Having the doctors strip you of your identity was even worse. Without that you just became another number. Another wacko in a straight jacket. Another statistic.

Becoming so lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear Dana addressing him.
It was only once Harleen -- yes, he decided to refer to her by the name she was most comfortable with -- turned to her left, and stared straight at him.

Without intending to he started slightly, sitting up with a jolt. He couldn't believe she was looking his way. Looking directly at him.
Instantly flustered, he straightened in his chair, attempting to rearrange his slumped posture.

Her eyes flicked back towards Dana and he instinctively followed her gaze, noticing then that the harassed teacher was awaiting a response from him.

"And you are?" She rotated her hand encouragingly, and Arthur felt himself internally shrivelling. The heat of his embarrassment threatening to reduce his already frail body to a withered husk.

"A-Arthur." He stammered, in a low voice, mumbling into his chest as he bowed his head in shame. "My name's Arthur."

He didn't hear her response, as his eyes skittered nervously back to Harleen, and he almost toppled right out of his seat when he found that she was looking at him again.

And then it happened...

She winked at him.

It came as such a shock, a sudden burst of laughter tore from his chest, catching him completely off guard.
Clamping a hand over his mouth, he tried in vain to stifle it. To stop it. But controlling these anxious outbursts had always been impossible, and this is what he'd been fearing.

Having to introduce himself to a bunch of strangers reminded him of being back in school, when he would silently pray for the teacher to not single him out to read in front of the rest of the class. And the only thing worse than reading in front of them, was laughing in front of them.
Even now he could still remember the humiliation. How they hadn't understood that he suffered from a neurological condition.

Hell, he hadn't even understood it himself. For many years as a child he'd believed that God must've hated him, to inflict him with a disorder that made him laugh when really he wanted to cry.
The bullying had been relentless and his teachers did little to prevent it. Instead they turned a blind eye, or rather a deaf ear, when the bullies had cruelly nicknamed him 'Happy'.