Outside Room 405, Thursday Evening
Eleanor
Eleanor had insisted on taking Joker's name from the list. Granted, they had -- possibly broken up, the last time they had spoken, but that hadn't been him talking. And even if it had been, so what? She loved him. She certainly didn't bloody want him to die. She was sure that she could get through to him, make him see reason.
Probably. Maybe. She had to hope. She was going to take a deep breath and squeeze her eyes shut and knock.
She never prayed, but she did, now; not to any outside deity, but someone who ought to still be lingering within her.
Father. Help me.
If Joker didn't respond, she would knock again. And if he didn't respond then, she'd rip the door down.
Joker
The knock echoed through the universe, impacting somehow on Joker's consciousness. He roused himself, trying to wake up, to remember where he was, and what he was doing.
Right -- he was already awake. His eyes were even open He was sitting on his bed, still. He didn't feel the compulsion to go protect Mr. Gaunt anymore, so that was good. Because fuck that guy. (He didn't really mean that.) (Yes, he did.) The necklace was in his hand, instead of around his neck. Right, that was right. He'd throw the damn thing away, run and tell everyone that Mr. Gaunt was behind the island being sick, and they'd have this whole thing over and done with by dinner time. ... Or by morning, maybe? He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting here. An hour or two, probably. It felt like more.
..Oh, right, there was a knock or something he should be pretending to care about. "Go away!" he called.
Eleanor
"It's me," Eleanor called. She left off exactly who 'me' was at this point in time. She wasn't sure, either. "Joker, I know you don't -- want to see me but I have to talk to you. It's important."
She hesitated only a moment before adding, "I'll break the door if I have to."
Really, she'd teleport in, first, but that didn't sound nearly as threatening. Though it hardly sounding threatening anyway, with how quavery her voice was.
Joker
Joker sighed. She probably wanted him to get rid of the necklace. He was going to, he just hadn't yet. But maybe it was time. Or he could talk her into a few more minutes. "Yeah, okay. Come in."
Eleanor
He was conscious, and he was letting her in. That was progress.
Eleanor was going to walk in cautiously, and try not to gape at how pale Joker looked. She reached over to flip the lightswitch on -- had he just been sitting here, in the near-dark?
"So," she said softly, and then she noticed him holding the necklace out. "So you already know why I'm here."
Joker
It had been mid-day when he took the necklace off. He hadn't needed the light on. ...When had it gotten dark?
Joker nodded, slowly. "Yeah. I mean, hey, the mindwhammy trying to make me go protect him? Fuck that." He needed to pause for a moment, to gather his thoughts, and gather the energy to speak again. "...Looks like someone already let ya know, huh? I was gonna tell people. I just needed to say goodbye for a few minutes, first."
Eleanor
"Someone let us know," she said, softly. A few minutes? He didn't mean ...
"Joker, what ... day do you think it is?"
Joker
Joker... didn't understand the question. He looked up from the necklace to try to find meaning in her eyes, and only then really realized how dark it was, how tired and hungry he was... "It's.. I don't know. Maybe it's been more than a few minutes. That's okay."
Eleanor
"A couple of days," she admitted. "The necklace -- it's poisoning you. Literally. He's trying to kill you, and a few more days, he might even succeed."
Joker
Joker gave her a wan smile. "Yeah, I know. I, um... I just need a minute. I'm fine. Don't worry, Babe, I got this. See? Total clarity. Curse broken."
Eleanor
Eleanor nodded, waiting, before allowing herself a deep sigh.
"You look awful," she said. "Like you haven't eaten, and you smell like perhaps you haven't bathed, either. You're pretending this isn't a big deal, and you're making a joke out of it, like you always do, but I'm bloody scared right now. All right?"
Joker
"No, I ate yester... Oh, wow, I mean, Monday... I, uh..." Joker didn't finish the sentence, and instead stared at the necklace in his hands for a little longer. "...I have to let go of it now, don't I?"
Eleanor
"You do," she said. All right. This was not the time for her to be scared. This was the time for her to pull it all together and grab him, and yank him out of this muddle before he drowned in it.
"It's supposed to be what you want most. Isn't it? What he sells you. But it isn't. There's something you want more, and we both know it."
Please, let him at least be curious about something that wasn't this room.
Joker
Joker gave her a blank look. "There is?" He'd been trying for so long to push the necklace away -- or to NOT push the necklace away -- that everything else seemed far away and unimportant.
His brow furrowed, and he eventually came up with "Well, it did kind of get between us, didn't it." He let the chain slide through his fingers a little, but didn't let go.
Eleanor
"Not me," she said, softly, and that hurt, to realize it. "Something you've loved for longer than a year. Joker, if he really wanted to trap you, he should have given you a spaceship."
Joker
Joker blinked, and then his lips curved up in a wry smile. He sighed, and he suddenly felt so tired, more tired than he could ever remember feeling. "Nah," he replied. "A spaceship, I'm gonna earn myself." The necklace slid a little further, and then fell through his fingers to the floor.
It wasn't that flying was important than her, not really -- just more integral to who he was.
Eleanor
When the necklace hit the ground, it was like Eleanor could breathe again. Okay. She'd done it. He'd dropped it. Good. Right?
She sat down next to him, wondering if that was too close, hoping it was okay. (Was it?)
"You need to break it," she said, softly. "I'd do it if I could, but it has to be you. And then we're going to the clinic. No arguments. Okay?"
Joker
Joker sort of collapsed onto her. Now it wasn't just his bones that couldn't bear his weight; his muscles weren't doing so good with the job, either. "Okay," he said, after several deep breaths. "I'll... I'm gonna need... crutches." He looked around the room, confused, until he remembered where he'd stashed them once he didn't need them anymore. "...Closet."
Eleanor
She hated this. Hated Mr. Gaunt for giving him this promise and then ripping it away. Hated that he had locked up his crutches and now needed them to be unearthed again.
"Okay," she said, and she walked over to the closet to find them. "Your leg braces? Are they --"
Had he removed them, as well?
She hated this Mr. Gaunt. She wanted to punch a hole through his gut.
Joker
They were still by the bed, and Joker was doing his best to pull them on. "I was gonna wear them to go for a jog," he sighed.
Eleanor
Eleanor winced, and mentally added a punch through the man's head to her wish list.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I am. I know it doesn't mean anything, I know it doesn't help, but I am."
If the man were evil and selling bad things that helped Joker -- something that actually, really fixed his legs, but maybe caused more suffering elsewhere in the world -- she wouldn't have lifted a finger to make him give it back.
She sat down next to him again, patiently holding his crutches. Wishing she didn't feel like she was shackling him to their confines again.
Joker
The crutches might seem like shackles now, but for Joker they had usually represented freedom, the ability to do things by himself. He finished buckling the braces on, took the crutches, and completely failed to lift himself to his feet.
"You're not the one who needs to apologize," he told her. "I was horrible to you. I was horrible in general. I'm sorry."
Eleanor
"We don't have to talk about that now," Eleanor said quickly. It was a horrible muddle of emotions in the pit of her stomach, and too messy to fight her way through. It wasn't what was important right now.
"I can help you up, if you want," she said cautiously. "If that doesn't sound --"
Infantilizing? Insulting? He had to be exhausted, though. This would be hard on anyone.
Joker
"No, I can--" Joker began, almost instinctively. While he failed again to get to his feet.
Humbled, he gave her an apologetic look. "Please? I don't think I can do it on my own."
Eleanor
"You're sick," she said, looping an arm around his waist. "I wasn't kidding about the poison, Joker. There were stories in the library -- people withering away and dying."
Just -- so that he understood. It wasn't his condition, giving him difficulties right now.
She supported his weight, carefully, and eased him up to standing.
"It's also somehow tied to negative emotions," she said, "so if you'd like to cheer yourself up by copping a feel, that might assist you in getting better."
That was supposed to be funny.
Joker
He definitely wasn't dying -- hopefully -- but he had started withering away.
"Hey," he told Eleanor, with a bit of a leer, "we can save that for later, when it won't be so awkward. ...And, you know, creepy and weird. Right now, though..."
With the arm that wasn't wrapped around her, he put the tip of his crutch on the necklace and put as much weight as he could bear on it, grinding it into the floor tiles. Joker kept at it until he could feel his own bones about to crack, and then sighed. Bits had flecked off of the bone charm, and black mist was leaking from the abrasions, but it was still mostlye in one disappointingly large piece.
"Do the rules allow me an assist?"
Eleanor
"I can't imagine that they wouldn't," she said, thinking it over. "It's still you doing it, after all."
She was going to carefully see if she could shift her weight so that she was still holding him up, but putting more pressure on the crutch. Hopefully without hurting him any.
Joker
Joker nodded. "Don't know what I'd do without you."
He renewed his efforts, growling "Die, you fucking... fucking FUCK!" Together, they shattered the necklace with a crack.
Black smoke poured out, coalescing into a large, alien form in front of them. It was insectoid, but freakish, the unholy offspring of a spider and H. R. Geiger's twisted imagination. Joker let out a yelp, but the black form dissipated into nothingness.
Eleanor
Okay. That was that, then. It was over.
Eleanor leaned over to put her lips against Joker's cheek. "I'm proud of you," she said. "Wait. Is that -- does that sound bloody insulting?"
She was bad with words. He had to be used to it, by now.
"I can get us to the clinic," she offered. "Whenever you're ready."
It always made him a little sick, traveling via teleportation. He might need to rest up first.
Joker
Joker nuzzled against her face and took a few moments to catch his breath. And then he nearly collapsed in a heap. "Now," he decided. "I'm ready now."
(Preplayed with and coded by the fantabulous fly_so_serious. NFI, but broadcast is fine, and OOC is love.)