Apartment Above Needful Things; Tuesday Late Morning

[totalwildcard]

Harley had spent most of the weekend on the mainland. Not just Baltimore, either - she'd taken the kid out on a little road trip. Yanno, for life lessons! Most of them criminal, of course, but that was sort of how their mentorship worked, so someone else could handle the boring stuff. Anyway, they'd had fun!

So much of it, in fact, that Harley had only landed back on the island late on Monday evening. Technically probably Tuesday? Which meant that after she'd passed out and slept her fill, the day was already well on its way. She rolled groggily out of bed, shambled her way into the living room --

And groaned when she saw the glitter bomb still waiting on the coffee table, and not downstairs attached to the front door ready to explode on Frenchie if he showed up again this week. Whether he'd already shown up or not, Harley was not in a state to go set it up now.

She shuffled around some more, in search of her phone, which she found discarded on the kitchen counter. No calls, no messages apart from Cass informing her she'd ordered breakfast delivery on Harley's account. Harley looked at the phone for a long moment more anyway, tapping her thumb against the side of it in thought. Groggy, still sleepy, not yet caffeinated thought.

And pulled up a number she'd had for a while but never actually texted before.

(Successfully, anyway. There was that time on her birthday.)

You awake yet?

(expecting one but can be open for other stuff as well!)

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

"Why you did the silk thing," Marc said. "Wasn't some childhood dream or something."

[totalwildcard]

"Well, prison silks certainly weren't," Harley agreed. "But I was a gymnast before I got there, so it wasn't outta thin air, either. I just had... more time, in there. Lots and lots. Endlessly."

Her face looked like that part was leaving a sour taste in her mouth.

[hasaknightjob]

If she'd been talking to Steven he would've noticed the matching aerial and thin air. But this was Marc so not so much.

"You're out," Marc said. "We'll try to keep you that way."

[totalwildcard]

Just look at that stupid softening in her face again, though.

"'We'?"

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm guessing you don't want to go back," Marc said.

He knew what she'd meant. Shut up.

[totalwildcard]

Harley snorted, but also smiled in a way that was a little more obvious. And looked like she was about to make fun of him.

Which she was.

"Ya really gotta work on your evasive maneuvers, sweetie, that one doesn't even track."

[hasaknightjob]

"Points for trying?" Marc asked. Mainly to see her reaction.

[totalwildcard]

Deeply amused, and a little snort-y.

"None. You didn't even distract me, and I am notoriously easy to get off whatever track I'm on!"

[hasaknightjob]

"So I don't want you in prison," Marc said. "That's a surprise?"

[totalwildcard]

"No, but you said we."

Don't make her explain the difference.

[hasaknightjob]

"How's that different?" Marc asked. Because Harley wasn't the only one who could do that.

[totalwildcard]

"Because," Harley said, with great confidence, like that should be enough of an answer.

Or like she'd expected to be able to just barrel on, starting from that word. Because she ended up halting and almost visibly groping around for more in her head.

"You could just passively not want me to go back," she said. Yanno, eventually, getting back to her grin as the gears turned. "But 'we'll try' is active, it's participating.'

[hasaknightjob]

Marc suspected the we had something to do with it but fuck if he was going to point it out.

"Yeah, active," is what he said instead. "Active I'm good at."

[totalwildcard]

"And I don't got many people who wanna stand beside me against anything," Harley added, and okay, there was the spirit of the 'we' again. "Of course I'm gonna notice that."

[hasaknightjob]

"You got me," Marc said. Ignore the squeeze of her hand when he said that. This was purely a tactical conversation.

[totalwildcard]

Harley was going to both ignore it and give him a squeeze back, how was that?

"You gonna fight the Gotham PD for me?" she teased. "Keep my pretty ass away from jail?"

[hasaknightjob]

"With," Marc said. "You're a tough broad. You don't need for."

[totalwildcard]

Harley preened just a little bit in response to that.

Also that made this next bit not at all serious: "Technically it can be either 'for' or 'with' if, say, you've got your own handful of idiots and I've got mine..."

[hasaknightjob]

"You're fighting my idiots now?" Marc asked. "Is that it?"

[totalwildcard]

"Might be!" Harley replied, with a very weak attempt at playing coy.

Even before she giggled.

[hasaknightjob]

"What's so funny?" Marc asked.

Look, he got thrown by implications of not dealing with his problems by himself.

[totalwildcard]

You know, it was a more complicated question than it probably should have been? Judging by how Harley paused upon hearing it, her head tilting like she was a curious puppy.

"Nothing?" she hazarded. "Or, well, that I said 'maybe' when I mean 'yeah', and I just tried to be cute about it?"

In part as a defense mechanism.

Which the laugh was not actually a part of.

[hasaknightjob]

"Got it," Marc said. He looked at their hands together, turning them back and forth as he studied the contrast.

"Cool."

[totalwildcard]

Harley's gaze was briefly drawn with his to their hands, but then it returned to his face again, and studied that.

"Cool," she echoed.

[hasaknightjob]

"You're a good fighter," Marc said. Deliberately and obviously understating things. "I guess you can join sometimes."