The world's against you, so you think or maybe wish it was

[easyopentabs]

 WHO: Rue and Dr. Harleen Quinzel.
WHERE: NoHOPE outpatient services.
WHEN: Friday morning-ish.
WARNINGS: These two are the poster ladies for unhealthy relationships. I'm sure something will come up.
SUMMARY: Rue, at the behest of her case worker, goes to her first session with her new therapist. Who is, in case you missed it, Harley Quinn.
FORMAT:

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[ridi_arlecchino]

Someone else also did not want to be here. It was a Friday, for goodness sake. Didn't the administration know that crazy likes to take a day off every once in awhile? Harley certainly did. And her crazy had planned a romantic getaway this weekend.

The doctor's head was therefore somewhere in the clouds, floating amongst tiny hearts and whoopie cushions, as she entered the waiting area. Clipboard in hand, she barely looked up from it while she gestured for Rue to follow he back down a hallway to her office. She thought that she might as well get it over with.

Harley started to hum ever so slightly to herself as they made it to her door. She continued to pay as little attention to Rue as possible until she came to her desk. There, she took her seat and righted a lopsided Beanie Baby before putting down her clipboard and finally addressing her patient.

"So, Ruth, how are we doing today?"

[easyopentabs]

She looked up briefly at the doctor.

"It's Rue," she said, noting the toy on her desk. She was probably someone trained to deal with children, she thought. Which was just wonderful news for her. "And I'm fine."

[ridi_arlecchino]

"Me too! Personally, I'm just here for the ambiance. That, and I get paid by the hour. Which isn't up yet."

She leaned back in her chair. "So, we can go through this whole long process where you tell me about your father and your childhood or we can skip to why you're really here."

[easyopentabs]

Rue blinked. Somehow, she was expecting this woman to be more like her case worker, overly concerned, treating her like a child. Somehow, this honesty was refreshing.

"As you may have guessed, my father isn't here," she said, her tone suggesting she would say no more than that. "The woman in there merely misinterpreted a few incidents at school and came to be under the impression I was 'emotionally vulnerable.'"

[ridi_arlecchino]

"Why don't you tell me what happened and then we can make with the psycho-babble?" Harley offered, picking up a pen and notepad off of her desk.

[easyopentabs]

Sighing, Rue began with her tale, trying very hard to make it seem like these incidents were of no importance to her at all.

"A few months ago, I lost control of myself and kissed my dance partner during rehearsal. It was a matter of being lost in the acting only, of course, but his close friend so misinterpreted it that I was forced to leave the auditorium in tears."

This was not even half the truth of what happened, but really, did the woman need to know that she had dated Mytho before?

[ridi_arlecchino]

Harley scribbled hearts and smiley-faces in her notebook as Rue spoke, holding it at a concealing angle. "Are you sure it was just the acting? Last time I checked it doesn't take tongue to tango."

[easyopentabs]

Here Rue grew just a bit uncomfortable, and felt obligated to admit a little of the truth.

"We had just recently broken up, but really, that only served as something that encouraged our acting further. We were playing lovers, and had been before, so it wasn't that unusual that one of us got ahead of ourselves."

[ridi_arlecchino]

"Sounds to me like maybe you're wantin' to be lovers again," she said quite bluntly. Her pen wrote out both 'Mrs. Harley Joker' and 'Dr. Mrs. Harley Joker' in order to see which one looked better on paper. She was at least 50% sure she was still talking about Rue.

[easyopentabs]

Rue looked up at the doctor, growing irritable.

"And what if I do? We were a good couple, everyone said so. Things just became... complex, and then he didn't want to see me anymore. If I was allowed another chance, everything would turn out fine, I'm sure of it."

She doubted every single thing she said, but somehow, dancing with him had forced her old longing to the surface, and made her forget why she left.

[ridi_arlecchino]

"If you do, then it's 'complex, schmomplex!'. There's nothin' wrong in doing everything you can to get that second chance. Or even fifteenth chance, as the case may be."

Again, she was about halfway sure she wasn't speaking about herself.

[easyopentabs]

"But he won't give it to me!" Rue snapped, talking less to Quinzel and more to herself. "Even after that, he said he wouldn't come back. That we'd only hurt each other again." She paused for a moment, in consideration. Was he right? Would it all end up the same way, yet again?

"But, even if you hurt each other, if you're in love, you'll get through it, right?"

That was the lesson of all the classic ballet she knew of, of Swan Lake, Giselle, and La Bayadere. And even if they were only stories, they had to have some element of truth in them.

[ridi_arlecchino]

Rue's tone actually caught Harley's attention for a moment. She looked up, putting the top of her pen to her mouth.

"Right," she said, with earnest conviction. "Love makes all the hurt worth it in the end."

[easyopentabs]

At that, Rue almost smiled, a fresh bud of fragile hope forming in her chest. For the first time in a long while, she felt optimistic about things. Mytho still loved her, all was not lost. And she could get him back, she was certain.

"You know," she admitted, suddenly looking down. "You're not as stupid as I thought you'd be. I actually feel a bit better now."

[ridi_arlecchino]

Harley had to smile, herself. "That's what I keep tryin' to tell people!"