Room 405, Thursday Afternoon

[fly_so_serious]

So, it was their week off from school, which meant Joker had spent most of it holed up inside the flight shed, trying to beak Anakin's records

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[nobloodymessiah]

Eleanor hadn't seen much of Joker, since his birthday party (well ... since later that night, after his birthday party) but she'd assumed he was in the flight shed, obsessing over his teacher's records again.

But now, she had something she needed to discuss with him, and it was going to be perilous trying to ask this question without letting on what she really happened to be after. She'd try her best.

"Hey," she said, rapping on the open door with her knuckles and smiling. "Did someone finally throw you out of that flight shed?"

[nobloodymessiah]

"If you come with, you'll do the piloting," she laughed. "Or else you'll sit there and complain about how I'm doing it. No deal."

[fly_so_serious]

"Well, sure, but since when is that a reason not to have me along?"

She was trying too hard. She didn't want him to go with her. Why would she not want him to go with her? It wasn't like she had anywhere to go in a sub that she'd want to hide from him...

Shit. He had a guess.

"What's down there?"

[nobloodymessiah]

Bloody hell, she was doing this wrong. She froze for a half-second, trying to figure out how best to respond to that.

"Down where?" she asked, trying for innocent confusion. Was that too much? It might be too much. She should catch on. "Joker. You don't seriously think I'd go back there."

[fly_so_serious]

Had he made a blind leap into stupidity, or was she trying to play him? Joker's gut said door number 2.

"I don't know," he answered, watching her face carefully. "What's down there that's worth going back for?"

[nobloodymessiah]

"Nothing down there is worth going back for," Eleanor said firmly. "I didn't realize you'd be so averse to me piloting a sub. Forget I asked. I can look up a sim myself, and take someone else joyriding just to spite you."

It was still trying far too hard. She didn't know how to keep it light. She was messing all of it up. She shouldn't have asked in the first place. Dammit.

"You should buy me dinner," she announced. Maybe he'd let her change the subject.

[fly_so_serious]

"Yeah, okay, sounds good," Joker answered. Dinner would be nice, and might help the conversation along. "And you should let me pilot the sub, when you go."

[nobloodymessiah]

"That ruins the fun," she said airily. "I want to do it myself, not sit there bored while you make cooing noises at a dashboard."

Was he buying it? If so, why did she feel a pang of guilt?

"You don't actually have to buy me dinner," she added. "That was a joke. You're usually better at spotting them."

[fly_so_serious]

"Nah, I just like buying you dinner," Joker told her.

"Seriously, though, cut the crap. What could possibly be important enough for you to swipe Barry's sub and..." He facepalmed. "Did Barry just happen to build a sub, or did you ask him to?"

[nobloodymessiah]

"I haven't swiped anybody's sub," Eleanor said, giving Joker a very dry look. "Do you generally ask Barry to build you large motor vehicles? I don't think a sub would be at the top of my list."

She was going to fold her arms and stare at the floor and so help her, not fidget. Mostly.

[fly_so_serious]

"Yeah, not unless you've got a reason to need one," Joker pointed out. "Seriously, just level with me. I'm here to help."

[nobloodymessiah]

"I don't want your help," Eleanor replied. "I figured that much ought to be clear, by now. I don't want you anywhere near this."

[fly_so_serious]

"Yeah, and I'm not letting you go alone. We seem to be at a bit of an impasse, here, and one of us isn't going to get what they want."

Joker dropped his voice to a fake whisper. "HINT: It's you."

[nobloodymessiah]

"You aren't 'letting' me do anything," Eleanor snapped. "I'm sorry. Did you want to come along to Rapture? You could see some of the beautiful sights. All of the dead bodies are lovely this time of year. And then you could be murdered by splicers. It sounds like the perfect vacation."

[fly_so_serious]

"Well, I'm not going to be leaving the sub," Joker told her. "I'm not a complete moron, here. But you can't possibly go down just by yourself -- if you leave the sub alone and unguarded, it's gonna get stolen."

[nobloodymessiah]

"You aren't coming at all," Eleanor said. "The sub can be stolen just as easily with you on it. Only there will be bits of dead pilot strewn about the cockpit when they take off with it."