Slipping Into Entropy - Part 43 - NSFW

[razothredfire]

Picking out the other pieces in the box and setting them on the bed, Joker grappled and tried to get himself out of the chair. The whole contraption wobbled dangerously in response. Levering himself up again, he managed to get upright for a few brief seconds before losing his balance, falling forward with a crash.

It took Bruce a long time to get out of the shower. He came back out into the bedroom with only a towel around his waist to find the Joker frustrated and all over the floor. The box of clothes was strewn out in front of him as though it had erupted in his lap. Bruce moved quickly to his side, helping him roll over and hoping he hadn't twisted anything serious in the fall.

Nothing had gotten hurt but the man's pride, grimacing in embarrassment and anger as Bruce helped him up. "If this is what I'm going to have to deal with for weeks, I just might murder someone. If I could even get in reach," he muttered, wrapping arms around the taller man as he was lifted to a seat back on the bed.

"Try it on me, and you're going to fail miserably." Bruce had a mental image in mind when he said that, and it looked more funny than it ought to have. Perhaps his mind was grasping at straws to lighten his mood. He picked clothes of the floor and set them down on the bed, then climbed up onto it himself behind the miserable Joker. Deftly, his fingers undid the bulky hospital gown until the man would be able to pull it off without reaching behind himself.

Stripping the uncomfortable fabric off, he tossed in away. The new bandages were much more obvious without the gown obscuring them, the strip around his torso expanded while patches of gauze went up and down both arms. The back of his neck had new stitches where doctors had repaired his self-inflicted knife wounds. "You know I wouldn't try it on you, Bat. Not unless you wanted to try asphyxiation again," he added, reaching out to touch Bruce's still-damp hair.

"Yeah well, you'll have to catch me first." Bruce picked up some of the clothes like they were the oddest thing he'd seen in days, which definitely wasn't true. "Need help with this?" His eyes glanced up at the other man while his head was still tilted downward.

Joker's eyes went distant for a moment, his hands stilling before he tilted sideways. Burying his face against Bruce's chest and wrapping arms around him, a shiver visibly ran up his spine. Drops of warm dampness began to hit bared skin almost immediately.

Bruce gave a heaving sigh and gave him a one armed embrace in return. Fist clenched, his arm curled around the back of the Joker's neck, underneath his hair. He supposed it provided a certain amount of cover, and that must have felt nice. Nice enough for the Joker to give in to it. It struck him then that he couldn't imagine what kind of fear this man must be going through, for someone who'd spent his life on the run. For someone who depended on his body, and that alone, to get him here to there safely. Having that taken away from him must be terrifying.

He passed a few moments in silence, grief and fear and other emotions bleeding out of him. There were so many unfamiliar things that he didn't know how to deal with. He was unused to the physical helplessness, of being unable to move. The dependence on another being was also alien, at least in a positive light, and whatever tie he'd felt towards the man before now had been strengthened several times over from recent events.

Bruce was still finding that whole aspect of it awkward, and he was sure he would be for some time to come, but, awkward as it may be, it wasn't as though he were incapable of helping. And all things considered, he was much calmer now that he had the other man back and he wouldn't be going anywhere soon. And.....that little part inside of him, that little monster that had been going over his head recently, seemed to have died down a bit. Retreating back to where it had come from. Perhaps.....this responsibility would be good for him.

When he finally released his death grip on the other man, Joker looked more than a little awkward himself, caught somewhere between the frightened child and the confused adult. Shooting a questioning look at Bruce, his gaze quickly fell to the floor, uncertain of what to say or do. "...no one's ever come back for me before. Nothing... like this."

All Bruce did was nod. He'd suspected as much. The Joker had never really liked anyone enough before to...well, connect with them. Not to the point where they'd want to come back for him. There were a few people out there, like Thomas Schiff, who probably idolized this mad clown, but Bruce was pretty sure that's not what the Joker meant. "I wonder why."

Joker's jaw clenched, the man hunching in on himself. "...if you feel that way, why bother coming back for me at all? Nobody gave a damn when I was younger, and they certainly wouldn't now. Even after I got out, got away. People are just monsters looking for one more way to use anyone and anything else to their advantage. I just learned to jump the gun before they had a chance to shoot."

"Well then, I'm going to use you up happily," Bruce whispered at the Joker's side, stretching his neck to nuzzle an ear between green hair and a hunched shoulder. "And if that means I have to come back for you and help you dress once in a while, then so be it."

Joker sighed, sound both relieved and unhappy all at once, leaning against Bruce once more. He licked his lips once, not quite sure where to go from there. "...I owe you one, Bat. At least." Another sigh, one that quickly turned into a wry chuckle. "I don't know what you're going to do when the painkillers wear off, though. It's going to be torture, wanting to do so many things and not being able to," he laughed, one hand drifting to the edge of the tower encircling Bruce's waist.

Bruce closed his eyes. His first thought had been "tell me about it", but after a second he realized he really didn't care all that much. This man was alive, and that was what he really wanted. "I'll get you some more painkillers." Then with a smirk, he added, "And make sure you don't strain yourself."

That changed his expression for the better, losing some of that uncertainty and gaining an edge of playful mischief. "Oh? And how are you going to accomplish that, Bat? Tying me down like those idiots at the hospital?"

"Well, there's that....." Bruce practically purred into his ear, "I think you'd like it. But you may have to get used to something a little different in the meantime." With a fluid motion he hooked an arm across the Joker's chest, between bandages as best he could, and brought him backward down onto the bed. Bruce stretched out beside him, an arm propping up his head lazily. He knew it wouldn't be long before things would soon be going to hell again, but at least he'd managed to get the Joker out of the proverbial frying pan.

Watching him with that hungry, worshipful look again, Joker's hands moved of their own accord, one stroking through Bruce's hair while the other tried to slip beneath the white cotton around his waist. "Different, hmm? I don't know. I'm fairly set in my ways. Do you think I'd be able to try something new?" He grinned at the taller man, the jibe subtle but softer than it could have been.

"I think you've been doing that a lot lately," Bruce answered honestly. It was hard not to see that after nearly losing him. It.....kind of brought things into perspective. Finally, he was relaxing. The tension released across his body and it felt really good just to lay there, looking at the Joker again, with the backdrop of the city behind him. Just as it should be.

His faint smile sparked into something malicious as he managed to reach lower, fingers tracing down the small of his lover's back while his green eyes glittered. "It's difficult, but nothing I can't handle so far. Came close a couple of times, but no cigar."

Bruce shifted up languidly, so that those fingers could get better access. "I think the stuffed animals were a good distraction," he said with a curve to his lips. That was one image he wasn't going to be able to get rid of for a long time.

"Mmm. I think you just might understand how good it feels to get your rage out," he murmured, briefly touching Bruce's lips to his own before trailing down to his neck, his hand tracing little whorls on curved, warm skin. "I just was disappointed I didn't get to set anything on fire..."

Tilting his head back with a sigh, Bruce bared his neck to the Joker. He was stretching, rolling his shoulders, and soaking up the traces of the man's hands just like the warm sunlight casting through the windows. "Mmmhhmn," was all he could manage at the moment.

Grinning at the responses he was getting, he ran his tongue from the base of the man's neck to his ear, chuckling softly. "...are my eyes deceiving me, or did someone miss me while I was gone?" It was fascinating to watch the play of light on Bruce's skin as his muscles slid and rippled beneath the surface.

"Yeah. ........I did," Bruce said with a lick of his lips. He didn't really want to think about that though. All he wanted to think about was how good it was to have him back. The shock of it was still there, dulled a little, but there. "I should have found you sooner." Before he'd needed to. A part of him still couldn't believe he hadn't been too late.

"Better late then never," Joker countered with a growl, pulling him closer and biting at the pulseline in his neck. Another wave of frustration passed through him that he couldn't even move his legs, much less wrap them around the other man. "Don't do anything to tick me off this time. I think I'd make an even more tempting target rolling around in a wheelchair if I ran away again."

"Hmm, then don't run away again." It came from somewhere deep in Bruce's throat. The Joker had ticked him off, too, but....he really wanted him back. Since he'd wound up in the hospital, Bruce had been thinking a lot about his tracker, and a few new ideas had crossed his mind. He'd save that for another day. Right now, all he wanted was to be here. One of his hands ran up the Joker's hip, ghosting over bandages in search of exposed skin.

The skinnier man arched into the touch once Bruce finally found bare flesh instead of gauze, humming in pleasure. "...you're doing a good job of convincing me. By all means, continue," he giggled, still a little muddled from all the solutions poured into his veins earlier that day.

Bruce ducked in closer, licking and grazing his teeth up a collar bone while his hand splayed out on the Joker's back. He traced the man's spine, from shoulder blades to tailbone and then back up again. The bandages were annoying, at best.

Tilting his head to give the hero greater access, he kept one hand twined around locks of dark hair as the other pulled the towel away, blindly reaching. Immediately finding what he sought, Joker smirked and smoothed a thumb over the tip, sliding his fingertips over the sensitive ridges before beginning to stroke in earnest.

"Mmmmmmhn." Bruce inhaled and moaned practically in one breath. His hands were getting a similar idea as they swept down a very mangled body, across old scars, new scratches, and a vast amount of gauze to suddenly come into contact with incredibly soft, silky skin. He could feel the blood rush beneath that skin as his fingers ran along it, hardening with his touch. He was teasing at first, intentionally not matching the Joker's pace only to throw him off.

Frowning slightly, licking his lips, Joker tried to buck his hips against Bruce's hand before figuring out that that probably was not the best idea; he sank back against the pillows with a moan as his body protested the movement, but the sharp pains only hardened his flesh that much more quickly. His hand tightened its grasp in Bruce's hair, encouraging him.

It was interesting how that brought a smile to Bruce's lips. It was like watching the Joker forget himself, and then unexpectedly find a whole new way of discovering himself again. He hardened in return, watching the wince of pain melt into pleasure across that painted face. His grip tightened, and finally he started matching the rhythm.

His breath left in a rush as fingers suddenly closed around him with increasing pressure, matching him stroke for stroke. It became increasingly difficult to concentrate on keeping up with Bruce, his fingers loosening as he paused every now and again as he forgot himself in electric waves. Joker's eyes slitted open, fixing again on the powerful movements of the knight's shoulders as his hand moved, captivated by the sheer physical power that was hinted at by his frame.

Slowly, carefully....rather curiously....Bruce pressed himself up against the Joker, curling a leg around the other man's, unable to avoid the sharp metal sticks and bolts sticking out of the brace and cast. It brought them closer together, and a long, low moan escaped his open mouth.

The man's eyes rolled back in his head, panting as even the gentle pressure sent little bolts of pain through him - pain that just blossomed into desire and made him even hungrier. His expression said as much, as if his body's reaction hadn't already made things perfectly clear, and Joker clung to him like he feared Bruce would suddenly disappear on him.

Bruce responded by practically wrapping himself around the other man. He was still careful not to apply too much pressure anywhere besides the slick hardness sliding through his hand, but was draped all over him nevertheless. Their pace increased noticeably. His eyes skittered down between them, soaking up the image they made from head to toe. It was quite a contrast.

Joker was completely helpless before Bruce, both physically and otherwise - or at least, as helpless as someone so unpredictable could ever be. His reactions to every touch seemed to be augmented, though whether that was from the added pain of his injuries or the psychological effect of what he and Bruce had been through together was anyone's guess.

Adding a little twist on the end of every stroke now, Bruce dove in and kissed the Joker sloppily, hungrily. A strange kind of possessiveness, mixed with the previous anxiety still not completely shed, with a heavy dash of lust and curiosity composed a reaction within Bruce that was gradually taking him over. The Joker suddenly had all these.....new buttons on him that Bruce was unexpectedly pressing, and just the sight of it was intoxicating. Unexpectedly so. Like one of those things you just couldn't look away from.

Completely overwhelmed now, all coherent thought shoved out of his mind, Joker didn't even try to keep up and return the touches. Everything was reducted to the tactile and his unique connection to this man - a connection that he still didn't fully understand. All he could do was try to keep breathing, yield completely, and try not to pass out from the sheer intensity.

With a growl, Bruce took them both into his hand and took over for the Joker completely. His free arm wrapped itself underneath the man's waist, pulling them chest to chest. Now they were moving as one, undulating with the pace Bruce set. It was quickly growing frantic, hurried. The metal that scraped against his shins and thighs wasn't cold anymore, and quite frankly he didn't care if the Joker never wore clothes again. He already was a sight to behold, soft skin interrupted everywhere.

Dazed eyes meeting Bruce's intense brown, their gazes locked as the bigger man rushed them both towards the brink. There was something indescribable about the feeling not only of a larger, stronger hand entrusted with the most delicate and sensitive of places, but being pressed likewise against their own. It was erotic, but with its own sense of closeness and trust. Joker clenched his teeth as another ripple of feeling tore up his spine, releasing his breath in a low moan as he resisted passing out from all the stimulation.

Bruce could see the sweat gathering at the Joker's temples and feel it at his own. The other man's eyes had practically crossed and his bottom lip was hanging just so. Bruce couldn't help biting it, swiping his tongue across the scar and then taking it into his mouth. Their mingling body heat was all pooling into Bruce's hand, like they were feeding off each other and it was getting stronger by the second. He wouldn't be able to take much more of it, but at the same time, he didn't want it to stop either. It was all he could do to restrain himself from rolling the Joker onto his back and pressing him down into the bed. Absolute....delicious.....frustration.

Eventually things had to reach a breaking point. Joker's pants for breath halted sharply, followed by a cry as his entire frame tensed, just tinting the release with another layer of pain. His eyes squeezed shut as the climax hit him in wave after wave, each reinforcing the next, the slender man finally sighed and went limp in Bruce's arms. The balance of sensations had proven too overwhelming, and Joker blacked out with one last shudder.

It was exactly what Bruce had been waiting for. The sudden extra slickness between them, and the Joker's body jumping against him, Bruce came hard a second later. Ohh, god did he love riding through that at the same time. His neck arched back and he let the Joker rock into him as nothing but pleasure washed through his system. It wasn't until he recovered, enough to pull his head down at least and relax his grip a little, milking every last drop out of the release, that he noticed the other man's limp state was actual unconsciousness. Extricating his limbs from the Joker's as carefully as when he'd put them there in the first place, he ran a hand, albeit somewhat sticky, over the side of the Joker's face, making sure that he was alright.

The man stirred slightly at the contact, slowly opening his eyes as his nervous system recovered. The smile that touched his mouth when his gaze finally fixed upon Bruce couldn't be more smugly satisfied if he tried. "...well, you certainly know how to throw a guy a welcome home party. Maybe this 'invalid' thing won't be so bad after all."

Bruce was......utterly transfixed. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever expect to find himself in this situation, and like it. "Jeeesus," was all he could put together at the moment, with a long exhale. This was going to take some getting used to. Did he have any buttons the Joker didn't wind up uncovering, intentionally or otherwise? He flopped back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Then turned to run his hands over the man's skin again.

Shivering at the touch, his grin still firmly in place, Joker scooted sideways to get as close as possible to the other man, raising one hand to touch the back of Bruce's as it glided over him. "Hmmm? What was that, Bat? Something wrong? Or are you just surprised that your 'type' ended up not being a blond trophy wife, but something stranger?"

That got a small chuckle. "I never expected I had a type." But since the Joker had plopped himself into Bruce's lap, he'd sort of had to, well, lessen the restraint on himself. It was... not completely surprising, he had known a lot of it was there, but.....it was at least surprising that he could allow himself to be like this. He couldn't take his hands off of the Joker's thighs. After such a rush, his skin felt that good just to touch. He propped himself up on an elbow, suddenly wanting to explore everywhere.

The smaller man looked completely relaxed, lacking even that watchful tenseness that had never quite left his body before. It was one more barrier that had been destroyed, a new sense of trust filling the empty space. "I see. And what are your thoughts, now that you've found it?" he asked, grin still pulling at the twisted edges of his mouth. "I dare say the rest of elite society will frown upon your rejection of their rich and empty-headed beauties for a scarred lunatic of a man."

Bruce paused in the process of his tongue to one of those scars and swallowed, obviously thinking about it. "Mmm. It would be less of a scandal if you were just a man." His eyes tracked the path of the scar lower toward the Joker's belly. It was an older one, the new ones were all bandaged - deep ones, anyways.

"True. You can't very well take me to your fancy dinner parties and expect me to swim instead of sink." Following Bruce's curious gaze, the corner of his mouth twitched upward before he took a larger hand in his own, setting it over the marked flesh. "Go ahead and do whatever you want, Bat."

He traced all the way down to its end, somewhere at the tip of the Joker's hipbone. He found them all over the man's body, but kept moving downward over his stomach, hips, thighs...... Inspecting his legs with more consideration than the sole goal of preserving his life and not breaking them completely in half, was......interesting. "When this heals, we're going to have to get somebody to take it off." Which would be a long way down the road, but.....was worth thinking about now. "I can take most of the pieces apart....." His voice was soft, but unusually clinical, like he'd lost himself in thought, or on another planet. "But the bolts that go through the bone will need to be taken out surgically. Or at least, with more supplies than what I have."

"We'll worry about that when it comes to it. Perhaps find another couple of doctors to threaten at gunpoint. That will certainly give the good Commissioner a fit, if he isn't having one already," Joker chuckled, just imagining the look on Gordon's face when he came to and realized he'd been had.

"Gordon.......is already furious....." Bruce replied, inspecting a bolt. Eventually he brought himself back up to eye level with the Joker. "You shouldn't try to move too much. No more winding up on the floor. Or you'll break this....even more." He gestured vaguely to the contraption around the Joker's legs.

"Well then. Can I expect you'll be waiting on me hand and foot? Catering to my every whim and desire?" Joker laughed. "...or should I drive Ol' Freddy up the wall? I'm sure he's just dying for some quality bonding time with me."

Bruce snorted, coming back to reality. "Whatever you need, you'll have to ask from me." He didn't think Alfred.....well, however Alfred took it, Bruce just couldn't see that turning out well. He stretched his neck and shoulders, then sat up. "I don't suppose you're ready for some lunch, then?"

"Very. Glad to hear you're still remembering I'm human and need all the same things," he teased, smacking Bruce playfully on the ribs, knowing he couldn't retaliate. "...I don't suppose you're going to help me get something on and then get back into the chair? Or are you just going to carry me out into the kitchen like this?"

Bruce smirked. "I'm almost tempted to." But he climbed off the bed and, with a wet towel from the bathroom, came back to clean them both off. Once the man decided what he wanted to wear, Bruce let him take care of the shirt, while he tugged a pair of pants inch by inch over the leg casts. They were just barely large enough to fit all the way around the metal harness.

Joker looked them over, raising an eyebrow. "...good thing you took generous measurements, I guess. How do I look?" An impish grin was plastered across his face, and he would have twirled in place to show everything off had he not known he would have just fallen on his face again. "Dashing? Classy?"

"You look........like David Bowie got dressed in the dark," Bruce admitted with a bit of a cringe and a bit of amusement. He dragged the chair back to the foot of the bed, and offered the Joker an arm, helping him back into it. Once he was settled, Bruce pushed him down the long halls toward the kitchen.

Laughing quietly to himself as they made their way towards lunch, he glanced over his shoulder at Bruce. "Better David Bowie than an emo kid, however spendy the threads. Does it bother you?" he asked with a grin. "Just imagine the fun we could have if you ever did take me out for a night on the town."

Bruce was glad he wouldn't have to think about that for some time, and so smiled contentedly to himself as the entered the kitchen. He dug around the vast refrigerator. Unfortunately most of the food they had needed to be prepared, as Alfred was accustomed to doing. "You want anything in particular?"

"I don't really care. I learned not to be particular early on and it's never quite left me. I don't even mind if you don't want to heat it." Joker shrugged, watching Bruce and smiling as he enjoyed the view. "I never really bothered learning how to cook and often didn't have the luxury of time or materials."

"I noticed," was all the reaction he got out of Bruce, who pulled a giant pizza from the freezer. He didn't think Alfred put that there, but it sure looked appealing. He threw it into the oven, got drinks, and then sat down at the table between himself and the Joker. This....was nice. His mind wandered back to Gordon, and back to Maroni, every now and again, but he could ignore it.

Joker stared into his glass, mulling over his chaotic thoughts in silence. Now that he had time and the mental capacity to really look back at what had happened he had no idea how to broach the subject with the other man. "...so, Bat, now that I'm stuck not moving all the time and you still don't want your butler by me, what do you suggest I do? I'm going to end up bored out of my mind."

Bruce sighed. Since the not so little argument between the three of them, he did at least have a greater amount of faith that the Joker could restrain himself from hurting Alfred. And.....he did know the older man could hold his ground, even though he wouldn't be at all pleased about looking after the Joker. Alone. It was likely that he would even refuse. He seemed to have a hard enough time even looking at Bruce now. But on the other hand......he would trust the Joker with Alfred ten times more than he would trust him with someone he didn't know. That could be dangerous. "Guess I'll be missing a few more meetings than usual, which is already saying something. But, when I have to go, I'll make sure Alfred gets you whatever you need."

"That still leaves the question of what to do," Joker sighed, eyes flickering to the view of the city below before turning his gaze back to Bruce. "I can only read and play cards for so long." As much money as Bruce had, he seemed to pour most of it into keeping up appearances and funding Batman's endeavors. There were no signs of movies, games, or other sorts of entertainment in the apartment as far as he had seen.

"What do you....normally do with your time?" It had never really occurred to Bruce to wonder that before. Sure he'd wondered where the Joker slept, where ran his operations, how long it would take him to gain support, plan a heist, move from one location to another..... But he'd never really wondered what the Joker liked to do in his free time, that didn't involve somebody else's pain. Bruce himself didn't have much free time. He was usually at the office, studying cases, working with Alfred or Lucius, out as Batman, or....networking. And if he didn't have any of that to do, he'd always had some kind of project going somewhere. Something to build. He raised an eyebrow in thought.

"Play with people. Or something things. Plan and do things to make those plans happen. Explore places no one is allowed to go or that they haven't seen." He smiled wryly, avoiding Bruce's gaze for a moment. "You've cut down on my... available hobbies. People were always the most fun to toy with. You don't even seem to have any movies or games around. I used to sneak into places to watch things..."

That got him a look from Bruce. "Well, there's not many people around here for you to spy on. But if you want to see a movie, get a game, I can easily have them delivered." After a few moments he got up to check on the pizza.

"....you looked at me as if that was a strange thing to do. Why?" he asked, watching Bruce crack open the oven door to peer inside. "I didn't have the benefit of being raised with any sort of knowledge, not like you or anyone else. Even as much as I could talk or read and understand it, it was... different. I didn't get to this point until I had lived outside for many years."

"You make it sound so innocent," Bruce commented, pulling out the pizza with a towel wrapped around his hand and dropping it on the stovetop. He glanced back to the Joker. "Granted, I bet it would have been......if it wasn't associated with my knowledge of what you've done to people later in life." He backed off from that topic though, finding a knife and slicing up the steaming pizza. "Which I'm not sure I want to hear about right now."

Joker shrugged, his eyes following the movements of the knife. "I simply learned most of what I know through careful observations, or years of puzzling through things trying to figure out how they worked. It would be, I imagine, a bit like being born a different species, then watching and mimicking the other creatures that you find because there are no more like you. One born among the wolves suddenly trying to figure out why in the hell English tea parties have so many rules of etiquette and attempting to blend in."

"Well," Bruce brought the tray of pizza with him as he sat down across from the Joker, "if we ever make contact with aliens from another world, I hope they turn out to be nothing like you." His lips turned upward, trying to hide his amusement by not meeting the Joker's eyes.

"Hah. Very funny, Bat. In all seriousness, however, despite my feelings about humanity, they'd probably go about it in the same way. Things that are broadcast are very easy to pick up and listen or watch." He took a slice as Bruce set the tray down between them.

They ate in silence for a while, but it wasn't a strained one. Bruce didn't want to be anywhere else, not Wayne Tower, not out fighting crime, not working on a project. For once he just soaked up the sensation of being 'here', without thinking about anything else. He didn't often have this.

Joker, too, was quiet, but more from the newness of everything. Besides having someone to care for, someone who cared about him, eating with another person was awkward, even when away from the public eye. He'd never really consumed anything near any of his henchmen or any acquaintances, partially from discomfort and partially for fear of poisoning, a fear that was well-founded. There was no need to be so wary when dropping in on someone unexpectedly, but in a familiar setting? He'd seen a number of henchmen go down by touching food or drink that had been meant for him.

Being a little burnt around the edges was as far as their lunch came to being poisonous. When they finished, Bruce put away the empty tray and glasses, and wheeled his guest into the long unused entertainment room. It contained a large theater system, without any movies, speakers placed around the room, a leather couch, and a few other recreational items that looked like they'd never been touched. "So, what is it you're interested in watching?" Bruce asked as he fell into the couch.

Joker shrugged, looking around the room and wondering where he kept everything. "I like a lot of things. I'd ask what some of your favorites might be, but given your tastes in other things I'm not so sure I want to know," he teased. "I've watched a lot of things: action, horror, comedy... shows about how things work." A glint entered his eyes, and he leaned forward. "What do you think I'd like, hmm? What would you pick out for me?"

"Hmm....." Bruce was deciding that maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to lie down on the couch after all. It was relaxing, too relaxing, and idling on the Joker's question made his mind wander. Back to getting him out of Gordon's hands, back to nearly losing him, back to......Maroni, rotting away in that warehouse. He didn't even know if the police had found their bodies yet. Pressing the palms of his hands over his closed eyes, he tried to remember the Joker's question.....tried to.....think of a good movie.

"Bat. Bat. Is something wrong, or is thinking really that difficult for you?" Reaching out to touch Bruce's head, Joker had no idea why he was suddenly acting like he had the world's worst migraine.

"Can't think of one." Bruce pulled his hands down from his face, letting an arm hang off the side of the couch. He looked up to the Joker's face, all smudged paint and snarled hair, because he couldn't avoid that train of thought any longer. And.......it cut, somewhere deep, really deep, to think that if he'd had the choice, he'd still have killed Maroni if it meant he'd be able to see this face, alive, again. And it occurred to him, that the Joker hadn't realized, hadn't seen, what he'd done.

Brows furrowing as Bruce stared up at him with a broken, sorrowful expression that just reeked of self-hatred, Joker ran his fingers through the other man's dark hair. "Why such a face, Batsy? Surely it's not that catastrophic to pull a blank when trying to think of something to do. It's my job to make you smile," he intoned, illustrating the point with a wide grin. "Not cry. Except I've been doing that recently, too."

He barely got a sideways glance at the last comment. "Back at the warehouse that night....." His lips had gone dry, and it seemed that the air inside him had left. "....that night.......I killed Maroni." He wasn't looking at the Joker anymore. He was looking off somewhere toward his feet.

Joker's hand stilled, and he stared at Bruce as if he'd suddenly grown two extra arms. "...you're telling me after all the trouble I went to to get you to break your One Rule, all I had to do was let someone else try to kill me?" His fingers slid down to rest against one side of the hero's face. "Why did you do it? And why are you so upset about it?" In truth, he felt somewhat giddy and a little touched to have been the indirect cause of the killing. Not that he would have ever mentioned it to Bruce.

Bruce glared at him. "I thought you were going to die." It had been a real possibility. But whether he lived or died, what they'd done to him...... Vengeance had finally taken hold. Why was he so upset about it? Upset? He couldn't.......he couldn't talk about this with the Joker. His face crumpled into an expression between pain and anger, and he pulled himself up into a sitting position on the couch.

Alarmed, Joker wheeled the chair around until he was in front of Bruce, leaning forward to touch him without another thought. "...Bat... Bruce, don't. It's over and done with, and beating yourself up about it won't change anything. You have to live in the now. Besides, even if a line has been crossed once, it doesn't mean it will be crossed again. I've broken my word when it suited me, but have just decided generally not to."

Now the Joker was met with clear confusion, bordering on disbelief. Was he trying to comfort Bruce? "Did you really just tell me to live in the now? You, who doesn't believe in anything? I can't....." It was a matter of incommensurability. He had never cared, would never be able to understand. "I could tell you what it feels like for hours, but you'll never know."

"No, you're right. I won't know. I can't feel things like you do," Joker agreed, still frowning. "If I had killed Maroni after everything he tried on me, I'd be pleased." Joker's gaze was fixed intently on Bruce's face, displeased and somewhat distressed with what he saw there. "I don't understand. But I also don't like seeing you cut yourself to pieces over it and build your own hell."

"Then.......there isn't anything you can do," Bruce said softly. He reached out and put a hand on the other man's knee. "Don't try." He gave it a light squeeze. His chest felt heavy, and he just felt......defeated. But he tried to let the man, who genuinely seemed to be worried about him, know that he was....still there, somewhere, in his own head. It was more than he'd given Alfred, all those years ago, when he'd left home.

"Like hell I won't," Joker countered with a growl, locking the wheels of the chair now that he'd figured out a bit more of how to make it work. Pushing himself up, he awkwardly flopped onto the couch beside Bruce, scooting until he ended up on the man's lap. Wrapping arms around him, the clown curled into him.

This......this Bruce could live with. Just as long as there were no words. He held on back, making sure the other man's legs settled alright, and then just held on. He leaned forward, burying his nose in a neck full of green hair, and thinking.......maybe this was the best thing the Joker could do for him.

Joker stroked Bruce's hair while holding onto him as best he could, his mind buzzing with the news he'd just been told. With Bruce looking elsewhere he let his mask slip just a little, his astonishment and pleasure finally showing. He didn't understand why Bat was so upset, and he didn't like that he was in obvious pain... but he couldn't help feeling pleased that the line had finally been crossed and he had been the catalyst. There was something thrilling about knowing a man who never killed had made an exception just for him.

Bruce leaned back into the couch, pulling the Joker with him and settling. His heart was sinking in his chest and he had no idea how to stop it, if he should stop it. He just......let it wash through him and over him, with the mad Joker's arms around his neck, not wanting to let go, not wanting to let him let go...... This....is where he was; this must be what he'd become now.

Sighing, the sound full of mixed pleasure and frustration at the situation, he nibbled gently at Bruce's neck as he tried to think of something. Damn man can't seem to let anything go... "Talk to me, Bat. What do you want me to do?"

"Just.....lay here with me." Just so he wouldn't have to think about it, just so he could wait for the enormity of it to wash through, and then he could think about it. If he tried now......if he tried now.....he didn't know if he could handle it.

Obeying for once, Joker was content to stay put. "It doesn't have to hurt, Bat. Just relax and let go of it. It doesn't have to touch you if you don't want it to." He had no idea how to help fix this. Bruce had been right; he couldn't comprehend what the other man was feeling, or why. It was completely alien to him and he had no knowledge of how to help.

"I can't do that, Joker. It doesn't work like that for me." Bruce's arms wound tighter around bony shoulders, staring at a haze of green curls. This wasn't going to be fixed like the other man thought it was. He could see no way out. His chest hurt, everything burned, and......he couldn't even begin to wrap his mind around until this feeling passed. He shifted, lying them both out lengthwise on the couch, and buried his face in the Joker's hair.

"Do whatever you think will work, then. I'm not going anywhere." Joker's hand continued to stroke through Bruce's hair and down one side of his face, tickling the skin slightly when his long fingernails lightly brushed the surface. "Take as long as you need." He couldn't remember ever having this patience with another human being before.

Bruce hummed into the Joker's skin. His eyes were screwed shut. They laid like that for a long time. Eventually Bruce's grip slackened, but he kept the Joker close. He was comfortable; even if he was all gangly limbs and sharp edges, he had a lot of body heat. And he was willing to be there.

It was decidedly odd to be in a position where the more powerful man, the one constantly portraying himself as invincible, was the one who was weak, clinging to him like he was going to drown. He just let the man be in silence, knowing he had nothing he could say to make things better... not even a joke to lift the Bat's spirits.

Eventually, Bruce stared up at the ceiling, his mind almost completely blank, tense muscles relaxed, the way he'd learned to calm down. The way he'd learned to let things go. His breathing came easier, and the body pressed against his was warm.

Joker gradually felt the frame underneath him loosen up, Bruce's heartbeat slowing. "Feeling better?" he murmured, his arms tightening around the hero's still form. He wondered, vaguely, if the elderly butler might know better how to fix the brooding man's dark moods.

"Hmm." Bruce rubbed his temples. Everything had dulled, and he figured that was as close as he was going to get. Maybe for a while. But it would have to do. And then, very suddenly, there was a muted buzzing sound coming from beneath the both of them. It took Bruce a second to realize what it was, and then with a bit of a shift, he reached down and pulled out his cell phone.

Joker stayed still as Bruce moved until he could reach the buzzing phone, watching with a curious look as he checked the caller id on the outside window of the device. "...who is it? I thought Lucy took care of all your company matters."

"It's him." He pressed it to his ear. "Lucius?"

"Bruce. I just saw the news." The younger man groaned in response, but it wasn't a surprise. "You might want to check it out."

"Thanks Lucius," he sighed, hanging up. He'd wanted to avoid this for as long as he could, but instead propped himself up so that he could reach the remote and turn on the television, settling back down again once he had. Familiar scenes, scenes he remembered clearly this morning, were being videotaped by the GCN reporter and his crew.

Eyes flickering between the lit screen and Bruce's face, Joker sighed and settled against him again, bracing himself; the man would probably suffer another angst attack. At least I get to see what he actually did... Part of him was extremely curious at just how far off the deep end Bruce had been pushed by his kidnapping and... discovery.