AIM log [Closed/Complete]
WHO: the Joker and Greed
WHAT: the Joker finds himself a safehouse
WHERE: the Devil's Nest
WHEN: Sunday night
Greed leaned heavily on his bar countertop staring down at the last glass he was cleaning up with a ragged cloth. Tomorrow was gonna be the day when he'd be getting in his new... decor. Pool tables and a few TVs. Perfect. It would bring in even more customers that way, right? Greed sighed and placed the last glass in the cupboard. His bar was completely closed, the lights up the stairwell shut off, darkness looming. He didn't mind the dim lighting. It was a clue to those who walked about up above ground that it was closed. Greed hopped over the edge of his counter and landed on his feet. Finally, time to fucking relax. Have a nice smoke or two. This was gonna be a good night for some alone time, he thought as he leaned against the counter, running his hand through his own hair tiredly.
Oh, this was fun. This was wonderful. This was going to be better than he'd ever imagined. One little video and a couple of threats, and people were already beginning to play along. They were targeting each other. They were dragging in the innocents. They were hunting down him.
The Joker snickered to himself as he let himself into the back of this...Devil's Nest. Nice name. Very nice. His shoulders shook with barely contained amusement as he wandered vaguely inside. Run by a monster and it was called the Devil's Nest. A powerful monster, one completely with teeth and eyes and a scary scary face. The Joker hummed to himself merrily, then began to skip. He wondered if this Greedy Greedy person had any feathers. Or maybe he laid eggs. That brought forth a short bark of laughter.
He liked this lighting, it was nice and dark and creepy. Someone was leaning against the counter out in the main room--he assumed it was Greed, because he didn't know who else would be here after lights out, but he wasn't sure, he'd never met the guy, and he really didn't want anyone cutting his fun short just yet. He tilted his head to the side as he approached, raising the USP in his hand crookedly to point at the back of the man's head. The silencer would ensure that no one else in the place was alerted, and the extended clip would ensure had the chance to steal the upper hand from him. A snort escaped him, and then a high-pitched snicker as he tried to stay silent and focused on his task at the same time.
"You don't look very greedy."
Greed was almost considering to hit the hay, before he heard the snort. He stiffened at the snicker and felt his whole body stiffen up in surprise, inhaling sharply through his nostrils. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end but his shoulders slowly slumped, his muscles in his shoulders relaxing.
The laugh. It was familiar from the tape. Everyone knew that laugh well by now. He sighed deeply and grinned widely. He could shoot. But he'd only get a bullet right back at him, since it would bounce off his shield and back at the shooter or elsewhere even. He crossed his arms smoothly and looked over his shoulder at him, from over the edge of his sunglasses, his smile widening slightly.
"I can be when I wanna be."
A grin split the Joker's face and he turned the gun sideways, cocking his head the other way. "You're much bigger than you looked on my little screen. Got milk?"
Greed turned to face him, to let that gun's silencer rest right between his eyes. He rested against it quite comfortably as he raised his eyebrows high on his forehead. Resting a hand on the counter as he spoke, "Nah, I'm more of an alcoholic drinker. Not into that milk shit."
Not easily afraid then, oh, that was good. Very good. The Joker liked that. He grinned, pleased with himself for sniffing out the dregs of this city so quickly. Nicely done, he had to admit. Very nice.
But there was still this little matter of loyalty to work out between them. Bother.
He frowned a little, looking thoughtful as he wet his mouth. "Now," he began conversationally, "I know your brother. I know him really well. I like him. He's a very, very likable guy. But you--see. You."
He paused to shift his weight to the other foot, leaning in closer to this monster of a man to get a better look. There was a certain fear in most people's eyes when he did that, a certain disgust, a certain uncertainty. He smiled. A certain uncertainty. Yes, that was it. He wanted to see if this Greed had it.
"You see, I don't know you," he continued in a warning tone, and gave the man a pointed look. "So. Tell me who you are."
Greed stared at him with a small frown. Trust was something he could understand. But he trusted his brother that quickly? Greed closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head before he tapped the side of the man's gun which was pointed at his head.
"Just like Envy, I'm a monster, you could say."
He smiled as a black substance covered his hand, from under his leather wrist bands. Fingertips no longer ran along the surface of the gun. Claws scraped against it. Greed's eyes widened as his hand suddenly gripped around the gun. It was like a piece of putty in his hand. The metal bent to the shape of his grip, taking in the grooves and bumps.
"I'm not to be underestimated. And if you cross me well, you get my point." he chuckled as he looked down at the deformed gun in his hand.
Joker's eyes widened in surprise as the man shifted forms right in front of him. Now that was something he'd never seen before. He liked it. It was new. Different. Fun>
Then he felt his gun bend in his hand, and he pulled it back in confusion. There was a grip-mark squeezed into the metal. A very big grip-mark. He frowned and poked at one of the grooves to make sure it wasn't as putty-like as it looked, then shook it near his ear to see where the bullet had gone. There was no rattle. Still in the chamber, then. Shrugging, he licked at his lip and let the clip fall free, tucking it into his breast pocket before tossing the useless hunk of metal off to the side.
It skittered across the floor explosion-less. Damn. He gave Greed an annoyed look.
"You could have asked first, you know. I liked that gun."
"Guns are so cheap lately," he said with a wave of his hand before he grinned again, chuckling, "And besides, if you were to shoot me, well, it wouldn't penetrate this." Greed motioned to the carbon covered hand that had just crushed the gun.
The carbon soon crawled back down his hand, disappearing under the safety of his leather wrist bands. He stood up straight and leaned back against the counter top, tilting his head towards the Joker. "So, what did you need, Joker?"
"It's the thought that counts," the Joker pointed out, but it was clear this guy didn't mean him any immediate harm and he had managed to save the clip, so he put it behind him.
Though he made a mental note to test the impenetrable bullet thing later. That sounded potentially fun.
"Need?" he echoed, regarding Greed in confusion. He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing. I need for nothing, this city is doing all my work for me. But," he added brightly, smiling again, "I would like a room."
Greed quirked a brow at that. This guy. He was somethin' else. But then again, The Devil's Nest was meant for people like the both of them. Monsters. Freaks. Outcasts. The bar owner pushed his lower back off the edge of the bar and walked past the face painted man, towards the dark hallway in the back of the bar.
"You willing to pay, clown?" he asked as he stuffed a hand in his own leather pocket, pulling out a key. "Or are you gonna pay me with the possession of the city?" Envy had mentioned something of that sort to him over his phone. This was also another reason why he wasn't as surprised as any other person, to see the Joker at his doorstep.
The Joker watched Greed move around him with a curious expression on his face. When he spoke, though, it deepened into contemplation.
Interesting. Envy had been easy to get to, he delighted in the same chaotic destruction that the Joker was after. His brother, though, had seemed more reserved. Less explosive. More concerned about what he would get out of the situation than what the situation could get from his presence.
He'd come in expecting to pay him for his silence, but if he was interested in something else...
A slow grin crept across the Joker's face. "Possession?"
Greed nodded and glanced over his shoulder at him. He stared at him as if he'd know the answer to his one word question. "Uh, yeah. Envy said 'we'd own the city'. Or at least that's what it said on his text."
He motioned with his hand for him to follow, a key in his hand jingling as he lifted it up and opened the room farthest down the hall and to the right. He unlocked it and popped open the door. "If you promise me that, then you can stay for free." he said as he pushed open the door with a hand, looking back at him with a smirk.
The Joker brushed past him and stepped thoughtfully into the proffered room. Not bad, not bad. He moved along the wall, nodding in approval, and finally stopped at the opposite end to turn and look back at Greed again.
He'd take it. There were too many bad, bad people after him to ignore a potential safehouse when he found one.
But he wanted to make it very clear what he was after so that there were no...hard feelings later.
"The mafia will crumble," he said like he was agreeing with him. "They're barely holding themselves upright the way it is. The...Commission is useless, they're more full of thugs than the streets. You can take what you want from the chaos, but I'll own this city. You work for me, you guarantee that no one else will."
He leaned his shoulder against the doorway and picked at the dirt under his nails with his shark-like teeth. Greed stopped though, looking up at him over his glasses. Slipping off his glasses, and into his vest pocket, he cleared his throat. Take whatever he wanted from the chaos. But then that drew away frown owning the whole fucking city.
Yet again. The small sacrifices. He had to consider that. Greed could get more than he had now by teaming up with this psychotic lunatic.
Greed shrugged his shoulders with a smile, staring at him with his violet eyes, his pupils like small slits in the dim light. "You've got yourself a worker then."
The Joker grinned. Perfect. He crossed the room again, reaching up, up--up--to loop an arm companionably around Greed's shoulder.
"Now you know," he pointed out, tugging him out of the room again, "there are a lot of very angry people out there with a lot of very tempting money. If that's what you're after just tell me; I can top it. But if you're in it for the fun--" he paused to wet his mouth "--for the pandemonium! Then you're in the right place. No one delivers like I do."
Greed flinched at the friendly gesture of him on his shoulder. But he followed, despite the vein pulsing in his forehead in anger. Sometimes he just hated making these fucking sacrifices. Grin a bear it.
"Trust me. That's all you need to do." Greed said confidently as he followed him out of the room and back into the bar's main room. "I don't stab other people in the back, as long as they're willing to pull their own weight." He waved a finger in the air, as if scolding any of Joker's thoughts, if there were any, of betrayal. "And it's not like they can get anything out of me. I'm the Ultimate Shield. Nothing can break me."
The Joker's grin widened. He hadn't missed the flinch, but that was hardly new. It was how people reacted after that flinch that he was really interested in. And Greed was passing with flying colors.
"Nothing?" he clarified, interested. "What are you made of, adamantite?"
Greed tilted his head and bent his head down low to slip from under his arm to take a few steps in deeper into the bar. He slipped off his vest and placed it on the counter to expose more of the black 'shirt' underneath. It was the same substance that covered his hand just minutes before. He reached over the bar's counter and slipped his hand inside a drawer, pulling out a gun. It wasn't for his use. It was one of the many things he confiscated from troubled bar patrons.
"Nah. Carbon." He tossed him the gun and tapped two fingers over his heart. "Shoot. Right here."
In a flash the Joker had turned the gun over in his hands, raised it, and emptied the clip. He laughed as the bullets were reflected back at him, ducking as a paticularly close zinging sound rang out close to his head.
He didn't lower the pistol until the trigger began clicking, and then he cranked his arm back and threw the gun at Greed's chest as hard as he could. It too fell uselessly to the floor without leaving so much as a dent. He clasped his hands in front of him and cackled, bouncing excitedly.
"I want one, I want one!"
Greed sighed and watched as the gun hit his chest and fall to the ground. He didn't know if this guy was childish or just insane. Both probably. Yeah that was it. He kicked the gun to the side. Not a scratch was left on the man's chest. Greed frowned tightly though and snarled slightly.
"Hey. I didn't say use all the fucking bullets! Now there's fucking bullet holes in my walls." He looked around at the dark holes in the bar's walls. That was gonna cost him extra. Fuck.
"If you want one, well too bad. You're not a fucked up science experiment."
So that was it. The Joker had suspected. It was probably true for all the superhumans he'd managed to employ.
He laughed at Greed's statement, raising his hands and wriggling his fingers at the look on his face. "Ooh, scary," he taunted. He knew the man could probably crush him into a tiny little ball and throw him out the window if he wanted. The funny thing was that he didn't.
"How do you know I'm not?" he asked with a fresh grin. A small knife appeared in his hand suddenly and he raised it to point at Greed, tilting his head to the side to regard him thoughtfully. "Do you wanna know how I got these scars?"
Greed's eyes focused on the blade, a bored expression on his face. A knife? Really? He had his own experience of knives being turned on him. This was no different, except for the person holding the weapon. He was one of a kind. He settled himself on a barstool, resting his elbow on the counter and his chin in his hand, still facing the Joker.
"Sure. Why not? I've got all the time in the world."
Might as well make this guy feel comfortable. Make him feel at home, and just listen.
"It was the butler in the parlor with the knife!" the Joker howled, cracking up. He hadn't gotten to use that one before. Most people shied away from him when he offered to share.
He chuckled to himself, tucking his knife back into the breastpocket of his coat and withdrawing a small playing card. His number had been printed beneath the picture on the face. Humming softly to himself, he approached Greed and set the card down on the counter beside him. Today was going well. Carbon, hmm. He'd have to look into that.
"Here's my card," he explained, glancing up at Greed. He shook his finger warningly. "Now I don't give it out to many people, so if a bunch of telemarketers find me tomorrow, I'll know which address to give them. Just...call me if anything...unexpected happens. The way things are going several things should."
Greed snatched up the card and stared down at his number, smiling fondly at the card before he slipped it into his pocket, slipping back on his vest before he handed him the key to his new room. He had one other key for that room. Two keys per room. That way he could keep the doors locked when people went out and forgot to lock the doors.
"Alright alright. I get the point. Here's the key to your room. Don't fucking lose it, I only have two keys for your room. I keep the other one. And don't worry your little head off. If something comes up, I'll give a call."
Nodding, the Joker slipped the keys into his coat and gave a huffy sigh as he glanced once more around the place. "I don't suppose I get a free drink for my patronage, do I."
The sin frowned. He slipped past him and walked behind the counter. He bent down and snatched a beer from the mini fridge. Pulling it out, he watched the ice fall off the bottom of it before he slammed the bottle down on the counter top with his left hand, his red tattoo bright and visible now, without the black carbon covering it.
"There. Free of charge." he muttered before he lifted his hand up to the top of the bottle, snapping the cap off with his bare hand. "Drink up." He slid it towards him.
The Joker's face lit up. It seemed this Greed guy would do anything he asked, as long as it wasn't too much trouble, and as long as he thought he was getting something out of it later. That was good. He could make use of that.
"On the go!" he announced, and swept the bottle off the counter to take with him. He had somewhere to go when the mafiosi began to really track him down this week, and that was the important thing here.
WHAT: the Joker finds himself a safehouse
WHERE: the Devil's Nest
WHEN: Sunday night
Greed leaned heavily on his bar countertop staring down at the last glass he was cleaning up with a ragged cloth. Tomorrow was gonna be the day when he'd be getting in his new... decor. Pool tables and a few TVs. Perfect. It would bring in even more customers that way, right? Greed sighed and placed the last glass in the cupboard. His bar was completely closed, the lights up the stairwell shut off, darkness looming. He didn't mind the dim lighting. It was a clue to those who walked about up above ground that it was closed. Greed hopped over the edge of his counter and landed on his feet. Finally, time to fucking relax. Have a nice smoke or two. This was gonna be a good night for some alone time, he thought as he leaned against the counter, running his hand through his own hair tiredly.
Oh, this was fun. This was wonderful. This was going to be better than he'd ever imagined. One little video and a couple of threats, and people were already beginning to play along. They were targeting each other. They were dragging in the innocents. They were hunting down him.
The Joker snickered to himself as he let himself into the back of this...Devil's Nest. Nice name. Very nice. His shoulders shook with barely contained amusement as he wandered vaguely inside. Run by a monster and it was called the Devil's Nest. A powerful monster, one completely with teeth and eyes and a scary scary face. The Joker hummed to himself merrily, then began to skip. He wondered if this Greedy Greedy person had any feathers. Or maybe he laid eggs. That brought forth a short bark of laughter.
He liked this lighting, it was nice and dark and creepy. Someone was leaning against the counter out in the main room--he assumed it was Greed, because he didn't know who else would be here after lights out, but he wasn't sure, he'd never met the guy, and he really didn't want anyone cutting his fun short just yet. He tilted his head to the side as he approached, raising the USP in his hand crookedly to point at the back of the man's head. The silencer would ensure that no one else in the place was alerted, and the extended clip would ensure had the chance to steal the upper hand from him. A snort escaped him, and then a high-pitched snicker as he tried to stay silent and focused on his task at the same time.
"You don't look very greedy."
Greed was almost considering to hit the hay, before he heard the snort. He stiffened at the snicker and felt his whole body stiffen up in surprise, inhaling sharply through his nostrils. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end but his shoulders slowly slumped, his muscles in his shoulders relaxing.
The laugh. It was familiar from the tape. Everyone knew that laugh well by now. He sighed deeply and grinned widely. He could shoot. But he'd only get a bullet right back at him, since it would bounce off his shield and back at the shooter or elsewhere even. He crossed his arms smoothly and looked over his shoulder at him, from over the edge of his sunglasses, his smile widening slightly.
"I can be when I wanna be."
A grin split the Joker's face and he turned the gun sideways, cocking his head the other way. "You're much bigger than you looked on my little screen. Got milk?"
Greed turned to face him, to let that gun's silencer rest right between his eyes. He rested against it quite comfortably as he raised his eyebrows high on his forehead. Resting a hand on the counter as he spoke, "Nah, I'm more of an alcoholic drinker. Not into that milk shit."
Not easily afraid then, oh, that was good. Very good. The Joker liked that. He grinned, pleased with himself for sniffing out the dregs of this city so quickly. Nicely done, he had to admit. Very nice.
But there was still this little matter of loyalty to work out between them. Bother.
He frowned a little, looking thoughtful as he wet his mouth. "Now," he began conversationally, "I know your brother. I know him really well. I like him. He's a very, very likable guy. But you--see. You."
He paused to shift his weight to the other foot, leaning in closer to this monster of a man to get a better look. There was a certain fear in most people's eyes when he did that, a certain disgust, a certain uncertainty. He smiled. A certain uncertainty. Yes, that was it. He wanted to see if this Greed had it.
"You see, I don't know you," he continued in a warning tone, and gave the man a pointed look. "So. Tell me who you are."
Greed stared at him with a small frown. Trust was something he could understand. But he trusted his brother that quickly? Greed closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head before he tapped the side of the man's gun which was pointed at his head.
"Just like Envy, I'm a monster, you could say."
He smiled as a black substance covered his hand, from under his leather wrist bands. Fingertips no longer ran along the surface of the gun. Claws scraped against it. Greed's eyes widened as his hand suddenly gripped around the gun. It was like a piece of putty in his hand. The metal bent to the shape of his grip, taking in the grooves and bumps.
"I'm not to be underestimated. And if you cross me well, you get my point." he chuckled as he looked down at the deformed gun in his hand.
Joker's eyes widened in surprise as the man shifted forms right in front of him. Now that was something he'd never seen before. He liked it. It was new. Different. Fun>
Then he felt his gun bend in his hand, and he pulled it back in confusion. There was a grip-mark squeezed into the metal. A very big grip-mark. He frowned and poked at one of the grooves to make sure it wasn't as putty-like as it looked, then shook it near his ear to see where the bullet had gone. There was no rattle. Still in the chamber, then. Shrugging, he licked at his lip and let the clip fall free, tucking it into his breast pocket before tossing the useless hunk of metal off to the side.
It skittered across the floor explosion-less. Damn. He gave Greed an annoyed look.
"You could have asked first, you know. I liked that gun."
"Guns are so cheap lately," he said with a wave of his hand before he grinned again, chuckling, "And besides, if you were to shoot me, well, it wouldn't penetrate this." Greed motioned to the carbon covered hand that had just crushed the gun.
The carbon soon crawled back down his hand, disappearing under the safety of his leather wrist bands. He stood up straight and leaned back against the counter top, tilting his head towards the Joker. "So, what did you need, Joker?"
"It's the thought that counts," the Joker pointed out, but it was clear this guy didn't mean him any immediate harm and he had managed to save the clip, so he put it behind him.
Though he made a mental note to test the impenetrable bullet thing later. That sounded potentially fun.
"Need?" he echoed, regarding Greed in confusion. He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing. I need for nothing, this city is doing all my work for me. But," he added brightly, smiling again, "I would like a room."
Greed quirked a brow at that. This guy. He was somethin' else. But then again, The Devil's Nest was meant for people like the both of them. Monsters. Freaks. Outcasts. The bar owner pushed his lower back off the edge of the bar and walked past the face painted man, towards the dark hallway in the back of the bar.
"You willing to pay, clown?" he asked as he stuffed a hand in his own leather pocket, pulling out a key. "Or are you gonna pay me with the possession of the city?" Envy had mentioned something of that sort to him over his phone. This was also another reason why he wasn't as surprised as any other person, to see the Joker at his doorstep.
The Joker watched Greed move around him with a curious expression on his face. When he spoke, though, it deepened into contemplation.
Interesting. Envy had been easy to get to, he delighted in the same chaotic destruction that the Joker was after. His brother, though, had seemed more reserved. Less explosive. More concerned about what he would get out of the situation than what the situation could get from his presence.
He'd come in expecting to pay him for his silence, but if he was interested in something else...
A slow grin crept across the Joker's face. "Possession?"
Greed nodded and glanced over his shoulder at him. He stared at him as if he'd know the answer to his one word question. "Uh, yeah. Envy said 'we'd own the city'. Or at least that's what it said on his text."
He motioned with his hand for him to follow, a key in his hand jingling as he lifted it up and opened the room farthest down the hall and to the right. He unlocked it and popped open the door. "If you promise me that, then you can stay for free." he said as he pushed open the door with a hand, looking back at him with a smirk.
The Joker brushed past him and stepped thoughtfully into the proffered room. Not bad, not bad. He moved along the wall, nodding in approval, and finally stopped at the opposite end to turn and look back at Greed again.
He'd take it. There were too many bad, bad people after him to ignore a potential safehouse when he found one.
But he wanted to make it very clear what he was after so that there were no...hard feelings later.
"The mafia will crumble," he said like he was agreeing with him. "They're barely holding themselves upright the way it is. The...Commission is useless, they're more full of thugs than the streets. You can take what you want from the chaos, but I'll own this city. You work for me, you guarantee that no one else will."
He leaned his shoulder against the doorway and picked at the dirt under his nails with his shark-like teeth. Greed stopped though, looking up at him over his glasses. Slipping off his glasses, and into his vest pocket, he cleared his throat. Take whatever he wanted from the chaos. But then that drew away frown owning the whole fucking city.
Yet again. The small sacrifices. He had to consider that. Greed could get more than he had now by teaming up with this psychotic lunatic.
Greed shrugged his shoulders with a smile, staring at him with his violet eyes, his pupils like small slits in the dim light. "You've got yourself a worker then."
The Joker grinned. Perfect. He crossed the room again, reaching up, up--up--to loop an arm companionably around Greed's shoulder.
"Now you know," he pointed out, tugging him out of the room again, "there are a lot of very angry people out there with a lot of very tempting money. If that's what you're after just tell me; I can top it. But if you're in it for the fun--" he paused to wet his mouth "--for the pandemonium! Then you're in the right place. No one delivers like I do."
Greed flinched at the friendly gesture of him on his shoulder. But he followed, despite the vein pulsing in his forehead in anger. Sometimes he just hated making these fucking sacrifices. Grin a bear it.
"Trust me. That's all you need to do." Greed said confidently as he followed him out of the room and back into the bar's main room. "I don't stab other people in the back, as long as they're willing to pull their own weight." He waved a finger in the air, as if scolding any of Joker's thoughts, if there were any, of betrayal. "And it's not like they can get anything out of me. I'm the Ultimate Shield. Nothing can break me."
The Joker's grin widened. He hadn't missed the flinch, but that was hardly new. It was how people reacted after that flinch that he was really interested in. And Greed was passing with flying colors.
"Nothing?" he clarified, interested. "What are you made of, adamantite?"
Greed tilted his head and bent his head down low to slip from under his arm to take a few steps in deeper into the bar. He slipped off his vest and placed it on the counter to expose more of the black 'shirt' underneath. It was the same substance that covered his hand just minutes before. He reached over the bar's counter and slipped his hand inside a drawer, pulling out a gun. It wasn't for his use. It was one of the many things he confiscated from troubled bar patrons.
"Nah. Carbon." He tossed him the gun and tapped two fingers over his heart. "Shoot. Right here."
In a flash the Joker had turned the gun over in his hands, raised it, and emptied the clip. He laughed as the bullets were reflected back at him, ducking as a paticularly close zinging sound rang out close to his head.
He didn't lower the pistol until the trigger began clicking, and then he cranked his arm back and threw the gun at Greed's chest as hard as he could. It too fell uselessly to the floor without leaving so much as a dent. He clasped his hands in front of him and cackled, bouncing excitedly.
"I want one, I want one!"
Greed sighed and watched as the gun hit his chest and fall to the ground. He didn't know if this guy was childish or just insane. Both probably. Yeah that was it. He kicked the gun to the side. Not a scratch was left on the man's chest. Greed frowned tightly though and snarled slightly.
"Hey. I didn't say use all the fucking bullets! Now there's fucking bullet holes in my walls." He looked around at the dark holes in the bar's walls. That was gonna cost him extra. Fuck.
"If you want one, well too bad. You're not a fucked up science experiment."
So that was it. The Joker had suspected. It was probably true for all the superhumans he'd managed to employ.
He laughed at Greed's statement, raising his hands and wriggling his fingers at the look on his face. "Ooh, scary," he taunted. He knew the man could probably crush him into a tiny little ball and throw him out the window if he wanted. The funny thing was that he didn't.
"How do you know I'm not?" he asked with a fresh grin. A small knife appeared in his hand suddenly and he raised it to point at Greed, tilting his head to the side to regard him thoughtfully. "Do you wanna know how I got these scars?"
Greed's eyes focused on the blade, a bored expression on his face. A knife? Really? He had his own experience of knives being turned on him. This was no different, except for the person holding the weapon. He was one of a kind. He settled himself on a barstool, resting his elbow on the counter and his chin in his hand, still facing the Joker.
"Sure. Why not? I've got all the time in the world."
Might as well make this guy feel comfortable. Make him feel at home, and just listen.
"It was the butler in the parlor with the knife!" the Joker howled, cracking up. He hadn't gotten to use that one before. Most people shied away from him when he offered to share.
He chuckled to himself, tucking his knife back into the breastpocket of his coat and withdrawing a small playing card. His number had been printed beneath the picture on the face. Humming softly to himself, he approached Greed and set the card down on the counter beside him. Today was going well. Carbon, hmm. He'd have to look into that.
"Here's my card," he explained, glancing up at Greed. He shook his finger warningly. "Now I don't give it out to many people, so if a bunch of telemarketers find me tomorrow, I'll know which address to give them. Just...call me if anything...unexpected happens. The way things are going several things should."
Greed snatched up the card and stared down at his number, smiling fondly at the card before he slipped it into his pocket, slipping back on his vest before he handed him the key to his new room. He had one other key for that room. Two keys per room. That way he could keep the doors locked when people went out and forgot to lock the doors.
"Alright alright. I get the point. Here's the key to your room. Don't fucking lose it, I only have two keys for your room. I keep the other one. And don't worry your little head off. If something comes up, I'll give a call."
Nodding, the Joker slipped the keys into his coat and gave a huffy sigh as he glanced once more around the place. "I don't suppose I get a free drink for my patronage, do I."
The sin frowned. He slipped past him and walked behind the counter. He bent down and snatched a beer from the mini fridge. Pulling it out, he watched the ice fall off the bottom of it before he slammed the bottle down on the counter top with his left hand, his red tattoo bright and visible now, without the black carbon covering it.
"There. Free of charge." he muttered before he lifted his hand up to the top of the bottle, snapping the cap off with his bare hand. "Drink up." He slid it towards him.
The Joker's face lit up. It seemed this Greed guy would do anything he asked, as long as it wasn't too much trouble, and as long as he thought he was getting something out of it later. That was good. He could make use of that.
"On the go!" he announced, and swept the bottle off the counter to take with him. He had somewhere to go when the mafiosi began to really track him down this week, and that was the important thing here.