Beautiful Disaster

A sigh competed with a groan, contending over which should escape past Ava’s lips first, though, neither really won, and she ended up with somewhat of a strangled splutter. Stabbing viciously at the buttons on the remote control with her thumb, she decided this had to be the most bored anyone had ever been in the entire existence of the human race. Kat and Noah were ‘out’, this non-enigmatic code she was pretty sure was an enigma for fucking, like rabbits. And the Joker, well, if he wasn’t around, then she couldn’t find or summon him, it was his job to be invisible.

As though on cue, a clatter sounding in the hallway made her immediately forget her boredom as she froze in her seat, her neck craned, trying to see out of the open door, her heart beat racing so she could feel her pulse in her brain. Another crash sounded and she scrambled to her feet, this had to be the clumsiest murderer in the world. As she tiptoed to the door leading out into the hallway, no one other than the Joker fell into her, almost knocking her to the floor. He wheezed, giggled and stumbled as he reached out for the back of the couch.

Relief and alarm clashed together, generating an emotion Ava couldn’t even begin to describe, but it was intoxicating, everything was when it came to him. Finally, the Joker had returned to her, but there was something very wrong with him. He hunched over the back of the couch and stared down at the cushions as his laughter subsided into panting. His eyes franticly scanning the length of the couch, anything to prevent him from looking up at Ava.

Ava decided to speak, for fear of being suspended in curiosity forever.

“You okay?” She ventured to ask, already knowing the answer, but she didn’t know where else to start, this wasn’t really a situation you found chucked upon you every day.

A tiny girlish chuckle erupted from the Joker, before he turned his gaze upon her, his expression dark as he bent his head low and looked at her through his eyebrows.

“Do I look okay? DoIlookokay?!” He barked, forcing himself to stand, he grabbed at the material of her tank top and pulled her towards him, he sucked in air through his teeth and closed his eyes as though tasting her scent, before licking his lips.

Her breathing remained steady and shallow as she dared herself to look him in the eye and absorb his terrifyingly penetrating stare as though he was drinking her soul through her eyes, but he couldn’t hold her in his gaze, he struggled to keep her in focus at all. His face contorted into a mixture of pain and confusion as Ava observed, utterly helpless.

Thick, red blood trickled down his cheek, and that’s when she noticed the gash on his head, just above his temple, disappearing into his hairline. He wiped the blood away in frustration and loosened his hold on Ava before slumping wearily against the back of the couch.

“Fucking hell! What happened?”

“It’s fine, really,” he grumbled quietly, his eyes darting from her to check her expression then back to his shoes before folding his arms over his heaving chest.

“You’re bleeding somewhere under the category of profusely and can just about stand up. J, sit. Down.”

“I said. I’m. Fine,” he spat.

“For fuck’s sake, fine,” she huffed, placing her hands on her hips, only able to watch him with caution.

“Whoopsy!” The Joker chortled as deep red, almost black, blood trickled from his wound and landed on the carpet with a meaty splat.

“You need cleaning up,” Ava said, making a decision and stepping behind the counter in the kitchen to fetch the first aid kit. She could feel the Joker’s eyes watching her as she strained to reach it from the top shelf, she felt them slip down her body to her stomach as her shirt rode up over her belly button.

“Now you’ve had a nice eyeful, will you please sit down,” Ava insisted, pulling a chair from under the breakfast table and scraping it across the lino of the kitchen area.

He looked darkly from her to the chair before rolling his eyes and complying, throwing himself into it like a child who was just told there would be no candy before dinner.

“You gonna tell me what happened?” She asked, parting his hair to dab at the wound, not being particularly careful, she knew pain wasn’t a major concern of his.

“No.”

“Jeez.”

Silence fell over them as she set to work, freshening the wound and pulling out chunks of already drying blood from his hair, not that it really mattered, the amount of other things he had accumulated in it over the years. He unflinchingly sat and took the invasion, staring at nothing in particular, not really used to, or even wanting someone to take care of him. However, he had ended up here all the same.

As Ava dabbed at the part of the wound poking out of his hairline and the trickles of blood it had left behind, the makeup he wore dissolved into the wipes, she paused for a moment and looked at him, he continued to sit perfectly sill, except for the rise and fall of his chest and the occasional blink. Deciding he probably wasn’t angry with her, she made a broader stroke than she needed to with the wipe, clearing parts of his brow of the already smeared white paint. Immediately, his hand clamped around her wrist and she was met with a malevolent glare, she held his stare defiantly for some time before she saw the cogs of his mind finish turning and the tiniest of nods jolt his head, his fingers loosened from around her wrist. She took this as permission to continue.

Her heart thundered so hard in her chest at this point, she was sure he could hear it and her hand trembled dramatically as she wiped the paint from his brow and temples, revealing a smooth, bronzed forehead, spattered with light freckles and only the faintest frown lines. Impressed so far, she smiled assuredly, though it was only for her own benefit, as he returned to his exceptionally entertaining pass time of staring into nowhere. Slowly, she drew the wipe across his nose, also freckled, curving in just the right place but otherwise straight, surprising, considering the amount of times he’d probably had it broken for him.

She worked at the sensitive skin around his eyes next, he closed them without her even having to utter the word, she mused at the way his long eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks, as she removed the thick, black disguise. When she finished he captured the wall in his deadly stare once again, Ava gazed at his semi-revealed face, also surprised to find how gentle his eyes were.

Again, she paused, just his mouth and chin left, where his scars lay. He jerked his head slightly with what she assumed was a nod, painstakingly, she set to work again, erasing the makeup from his remarkably healthy, sun-kissed skin. She ran a fresh, damp wipe over the pink scars, his philtrum and shaven chin. Then stepped back to admire her handiwork, for the first time, he was naked before her. She placed the first aid box on the counter and covered her mouth with her hand, he was beautiful. Inside and out, she thought.

For the first time, he tilted his head to look at her and offered her a weak, almost guilty smile. She bent over so their eyes were level, forcing tears not to come to her eyes, it was hard to believe it was the same person, but she knew not to cry, especially in the Joker’s presence. He didn’t take to criers all that much.

Her eyes combed his face, the way he did to her the day they first met, after some time he tried to turn away. He didn’t expose his face often, not even to himself.

“Don’t,” Ava whispered. “You - you’re perfect,” she smiled.

He looked to his knees then back into her gaze and shook his head.

“No, no I’m not. I’m no-t,” he enunciated.

Ava shook her head, but didn’t argue aloud, this is the longest amount of time she’d ever seen him keep his temper and she wasn’t about to ruin it. Her head spun and throbbed as she leant in to kiss him, he jolted his head back, her eyes pooled with confusion for a moment but it was forgotten as his melted into a gentle lust and he pressed his lips to hers.

The world lurched and time felt as though it had stopped, slowed down and sped up all at once as his tongue slid into her mouth, grazing against hers, before flicking out to caress her bottom lip. He had never been so gentle. She briefly considered whether he had discovered he was dying or something as his tongue tenderly duelled with hers, he barely even struggled to control the kiss and as his breathing became deeper, it was comforting, not terrifying, not arousing. It was no longer a warning to all involved that what happened to them in the next few moments was beyond all control. He was no longer a seething, raging predator, no longer a roaring flame ready to engulf all in its path. He was just a man now.

She peered into his eyes for the hatred she fed off, the wickedness that spoke to her soul and made her feel more alive than ever. But, all she saw was Jack Napier, no one else, nothing, just, Jack and to be honest, it frightened her more than he ever had before.

He cocked his head as they shared a small smile and pulled her into his lap by the belt loop of her jeans and kissed her again, exploring her mouth with his tongue, his hands sliding from her waist, up into her hair as she moaned softly into his lips. She bought her hands to rest on his strong chest as he pulled away again, his hands dropping to cup her ass as she straddled him.

She stroked his face, her fingertips running over his smooth, olive skin, brushing his smatterings of freckles, over his lumpy scars. He continued to smile into her eyes, a shy, secretive smile. She planted a warm kiss on each side of his mouth.

“Do they hurt?”

He shook his head and placed a hand of either of her thighs, massaging them with his thumbs.

“Jack, are you okay?” She repeated.

“Just dandy, toots,” he snorted, shoving her out of his lap to the floor as he rose to his feet, clutching his throbbing head as he did so. Ava groaned as she landed on a bruise he had given her only days before, her mind racing to keep up with his changing personality.

“Look it, uh, thank you?” He offered, gesturing and squinting a little, not sure whether it was the right thing to say. “I gotta go. Stuff to do, y’know? “

“Let me just put something on that,” Ava said, accepting the moment had gone and pointing to his wound as she got to her feet.

“If I have to tell you I’m fine, ever again. I promise, you won’t live to finish the sentence you’re saying,” he snarled, before spinning on his heal. “Not many people get to see…me. I wouldn’t ruin it. Really? It‘s not a great idea, or a good idea even, don‘t even consider it as an idea,” she heard him call as the front door shut behind him.

Ava ran her fingers through her hair, shook her head and smiled, where had he been all her life?