[ THE CALL ]

[verty_events]

The inhabitants of the Temple were all assembled in the Dining Hall. It was a large room with high ceilings, warmed by the fire in the fireplace opposite the main entrance and several smaller braziers scattered between the tables. The three large tables, normally set side by side, had been pushed against the walls to clear a space at the center of

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[justalilnuts]

Harley wasn't sure what the hell had just happened, because one second Bat Bimbo had been holding her and then managed to drop her into the pit of broken flooring at what used to be Arkham. The drop, however, was far less impressive than she'd expected and her scream cut off less than fifteen feet later as Harley impacted the ground.

"Owwie," she whimpers, gripping her side as she moves to regain her feet.

"Oh," she manages, staring around the room with wide eyes ... "Mama's not in Arkham anymore." It was more than apparent that she wasn't in the abandoned asylum any longer, the room clean and pristine. People were running around screaming, the general sounds of chaos in the air and in that Harley found some respite.

She glances around at the strange assortment of people, ducking slightly at the random gunfire and then .. she begins to laugh.

"Sounds like ~home~," she practically sings, eyes moving from one thing to another in rapid succession. And then she spies a BIG FUCKING ROBOT a short distance away and her eyes widen. She

[kissorkeepher]

The pie flies out of Ned's hands as he tumbles backwards, landing on his rear. He fumbles to catch his creation, but there's no hope. The baked good flops to the nicely polished floor, blueberry filling splatting everywhich way.

Ned's face falls in disappointment before he looks, hurt and confused, at the--...clown that just bumped into him?

The pie maker tilts his head, wondering if he inexplicably passed out in his kitchen and this is all a very uncomfortable dream. "E--excuse me?" he manages to choke out from his spot on the floor, as if he were the one that ran into her.

[justalilnuts]

Harley has no hope of finding her balance as she hits Ned and the pair go over onto the ground, the pie toppling off in a different direction. Harley lets out a soft 'oof' as she flops onto the ground, watching with wide eyes as the pie hits the ground with a rather final squish.

"Huh .. never would'a seen that punchline.." Because who ever expected the falling pie to hit the ground? No, they were supposed to be cream filled and hit squarely in the face. She moves to sit on her knees, gaze flitting to the rather attractive man that she crashed into.

He is staring forlornly at the ruined pie before turning his gaze to her and she smiles sheepishly. "Ooopsie? Heh .." She rubs the back of her neck and then shrugs, "Sorry about that, bubs .. I .. ahh .. didn't see ya or yer .. pie .."

A moments pause and she glances around the room and then back at him, one brow canting. "Ya some kinda baker or somethin'?"

[kissorkeepher]

Ned's confusion only heightens with the rising action around him. Which... he doesn't seem to notice so much as his smooshed pie and the clown.

"I'm a pie maker," he answers easily, and swiftly moves on to the matter at hand. "Where am I? And why are you a clown?"

[justalilnuts]

Harley blinks several times at his reply and then her lips curl into a smile, not at all bothered by his question or the chaos around them. Sure the robot thingy ma-whatsit had startled her, but whatevs!

"Well, pie man," she responds brightly, moving to sit cross legged as she looks at him. "Cause I'm a clown! It's my shtick, ya see .. My names Harley Quinn an' I'm a harlequin .. Ya get me? My Puddin' came up with it."

And doesn't she seem proud of it!

[kissorkeepher]

Well... okay. Ned squints a little, but responds, all the same, "Fair enough."

Things seem to be picking up with gunshots and a little bit of hostility in places, so Ned decides now is as good a time as any to get up off the floor. He decides the pie is done for and starts climbing to his feet, brushing probably-nonexistent dirt from his pants. Always the gentleman, he also offers a hand to the clown.

"Uhm, Harley? Was it? Why am I here? And where is here? Am I dreaming?"

[justalilnuts]

Harley smiles at him and then watches as he gets back up to his feet, her gaze following him up up up. He brushes himself off and then she blinks as he offers her a hand up, unused to such chivalry.

"Thanks, pie-man," she says with genuine pleasure and accepts his hand up, practically springing to her feet with his hand up. She brushes herself off, just as unnecessarily as Ned himself did.

At his question she looks around the room at the greatly assorted gathering, which mostly appears to be settling down; although there are certainly still some raised voices.

"I ain't got no clue, pie-man," she says lightly, smile still in place as she turns to look at him again. "We're sharin' the same dream, you an' I, if that's the case .. I was on my way ta bein' a Harley pancake before I showed up here .."

[kissorkeepher]

Ned can't think of the last time he shared a dream with someone. Probably because it's never happened. He also can't think of a time where he's been aware of dreaming while dreaming in a dream. So that would make this real, right? The bruise forming on his tailbone where he fell sure feels real...

He glances around him, then back to Harley. "Wait, why were you going to be pancaked?" Ned is a pretty stand-up guy. He would hate to hear someone was trying to squish this rather sweet-seeming clown.

[justalilnuts]

Well, then you're not alone Ned, because Harley has never done such either. She has more than her fair share of bruises beneath her costume to prove the matter, too.

her eyes flit about the room as things begin to calm down once again and lets out a soft 'hmmm?', turning back to look at him when he questions her being pancaked. She waves a hand at it, seeming to dismiss the concern while still smiling at him. Wasn't he just a sweetheart for being concerned!

"Ahh, no biggie, pie-man. Batgirl just kinda sorta dropped me to my death is all." She leans in and speaks as if conspiring, "She ain't as nice a girl as she pretends ta be, ya know?" She then straightens and gives a half-shrug, "Just yer run of the mill average day in Gotham!" She really doesn't seem at all put out by it; she's alive, after all! "Lucky fer me, I ended up here mid-fall .. who knows how deep that hole was! I didn't hurt nothing much more than my pride!"

Well, not really. It had been pretty physical before the boneheaded red-head had lost her grip on Harley

[kissorkeepher]

Barely any of that makes sense to Ned. He tried to follow, but so many of the words are lost on him that all he gets out of everything is that Harley was about to become someone whose murder Ned would probably investigate.

"Well, uhm, good thing this happened, then, I guess... Whatever this is." He realizes his rudeness and shakes his head a little, surprised at himself. "I'm Ned. By the way. You don't have to call me... pie-man." Although he sort of likes it, to be honest. Ned does like pies.

But something is starting to bother him. If this isn't a dream, it's totally real, there's a big problem; Chuck isn't in sight. Ned was just with her in the pie hole, making that pie, and now... no Chuck. A little spark of panic started in Ned while he looked over Harley's head and all around, looking for familiar tresses of long, chestnutty hair.

[justalilnuts]

Hey, that last part was really the most important part, so it's alright if that's all you got from it, Ned. She then nods in agreement, looking around for a second. "I'll agree with ya there, pie-man. I'm a peach so I can't tell ya why someone would be gunnin' for me, ya know?"

Well, okay, that last part was a complete falacy, but she was going to tell mister medium, dark and handsome that, now was she? And then she's beaming brightly at him, her baby blues alight.

"It's a pleasure ta meet ya, Ned the Pie-man! I'm Harley Quinn, but ya can stick ta just Harley if ya prefer."

Then he appears distracted and Harley follows his gaze, looking around for a second before back to him. "What's up, doc? Ya lose someone?"

[kissorkeepher]

Wow, she takes the peppy clown talk really seriously.

Ned gives the dining hall one last visual once-over and slumps a little, disappointed and very concerned. Because if Chuck isn't here, where is she?

"Sorry. A friend." Ned and Chuck don't often refer to one another as boyfriend and girlfriend. It's usually not necessary when most of the people they consort with are dead. "She should be here. I think. We were just together."

[justalilnuts]

It's what she does, Ned. It's what she does. If there's one person that takes clown business dead seriously, it's Harley. :D

"Ohhhh, yer main squeeze, huh? Yeah, my Puddin' is missin' too, but who knows .. they still might pop up, ya know? Ain't no reason ta get all blue, Ned the Pie-man! Not while ya got alive wire like me ta keep ya company!!"

There's that bright grin again. Isn't she so helpful??

[kissorkeepher]

Ned stares down at her and considers that for a moment. "...yeah, I need to find out what's going on."

He wipes his hands on his apron before holding them together behind his back. Slowly, he begins to move towards where he thinks a door may be while he talks. "I have a business to run and if I'm not there running it, bad things could happen. Bad things will probably happen. Bad things tend to happen when I am there. But I'd rather be there when they happen so I can put a stopper on them rather than be here when they happen and let them spill all over the place and make a big mess. I'm a nervous talker. This place makes me nervous."

[justalilnuts]

Harley tilts her head slightly and meets his gaze, not seeming too terribly worried about their given situation. She nods her head once and then falls into step with him. He begins to ramble and while she's paying attention to him, she's also looking around at everything surrounding them with keen interest.

Having found out that she was on a different world altogether was a bit disheartening, but that also meant there were any number of things that she could do to keep herself busy, right? AND Lisa had told her that Bats was gone, so it wasn't like she had to be worried that he'd suddenly appear and bug her or nothin'. (She really hasn't thought all of this through yet