Behind The Smiles.

Chapter 13.

"Thank you, Harl." Joker still wheezed and smiled, then leaned his head back and looked to the blonde and Bud. "You think we should take the kids with us in three days?" The clown prince felt the need to itch his arm again but suppressed his urge and instead, bit his lip before running both of his hands through his emerald green hair.
The harlequin turned to her paramour, tilting her head some. "Depends, where are we going?" She asked a bit dazed. Where the hell could they go in three days if Joker insisted he only had two or so left on in this god forsaken earth? She tried not to overthink it as Bud pounced up on her, nearly knocking her to the ground. "I love ya, really do, but take it easy, ya big furball!" She giggled out, Bud continuing to berate her with kisses. Harley struggled to get him off her.  Joker eyed the pair, inhaling deeply.
"Out to drop some fun, of course." He noticed the slight confusion behind Harley's baby blue orbs. "And you know doctors... They claim I only have two days left, but who truly knows? That's part of what makes life a comedy, my dear." He said whilst flashing a bright smile. "I don't trust the bastards, if I'm going to be honest with you. Though, the pain killers seem to be making me highly optimistic about the whole thing... liquid luck in a bottle!" The green haired man giggled, his lips twitching some. "I wish the effects lasted more than mere hour. Maybe Murphy has some new news about the scientist for that. I hope so for their sake."
The smile on Joker's mouth was enough to reassure Harley... at least, for a little while. She turned back to the playful hyena seeing that he still wanted to play. "That's good to hear, puddin'." She said somewhat out of breath. She began wrestling with Bud. "But going back to that other thing- ow!" Harley was interrupted by some light nipping. She shoved his head away for a moment. "They clearly need to get out of the house. Besides, what would they do without us?" She asked, holding him in a headlock. Harley wishes she had his energy levels right now. You know how productive she could be with all that high voltage chaos? A gal can dream.
"You said the kids can fetch things, yes?" Joker asked. You could practically see the gears turning in his head. "They could bring us weapons, bullets, the works when we go out... that way, we don't have to look like a couple of jackasses with our large loads." The psycho turned to from one hyena to the other. "But certainly nothing that would put my sweet babies in danger, eh?" As joker grinned, Lou immediately joined his side. He jumped onto the clown's lap and covered him in slobbery smooches. "You're not wrong about the cabin fever, though..."Harley giggled about all of her favourite boys getting along. "Yeah.. Bud needs a little more work than Lou, but they're getting better at it." Bud snickered at the bombshell, nuzzling his head into her side. She snuggled the baby, laughing as he licked her. "He likes the sound o'that! When did they last come along?" Harley asked the deranged one.
Joker gave a short shrug. "Two months or something, I don't really know." He sighed, scratching Lou's chin. "I wish I didn't feel so goddamn awful so we wouldn't have to sit and do nothing all evening... Remember when we used to run around, dropping one bomb after another at the streets as Batman chased us?" He chuckled stroking Lou's neck. "Good times..." Joker's eyes dart to Bud before reverting back to Lou. Harley nodded as she rubbed Bud's belly. "Those were the days.." She giggled. "You'll get better, sweetie. You've got this far already... Once ya do, we can go back to playing with Batsy just like we used to." She said, smiling up at Joker with those sapphire eyes.  Joker sighed some at that last statement.
"Yeah, the thing is that the damn formula just mutates my cells so my body can't come up with a defence. So I should really take that cure." He scratched the inside of Lou's ears with a bored expression. "But there won't be anything to look forward to in life if he's gone, it'll be pointless..." Joker itched at his forearm once more. "I'll simply have to wait until Rocco and the boys update me with what they've all gathered... I pray to god the doctors aren't right." He whispered the last sentence to himself, practically having to rip himself away from digging into his arm any further. Harley sighed as she listened to Joker's woes. It beat her up knowing she was partially to blame for it. "I wish you both could just split the little bitch... I know that wouldn't work though, too convenient." Her smile started to droop into a half frown. "What'd the science guy say anyways?" She was curious, but she mostly wanted to change the topic. Can't blame her.
"Well, I told Murphy to check on Lex if he's not too busy with fly boy, Strange, and Freeze... They're the only ones with half a brain I trust enough to work out the formula for the cure." Once again, he could feel blood rushing from his mouth but he felt way too lazy- and also very weak- to stand up. He licked the crimson fluid off his lips instead. "If it all goes to plan, I'll receive an answer in a day or two."
Harley nodded some. "Freeze owes me for savin' his ass back in Arkham." She said with a faint chuckle.
"This isn't about who owes who a favour!" Joker shook his head. "This is about who wants to help me the most. That's the thing with villains... You never know which ones are the douches and which ones are the real douches." Joker giggled to himself as he scratched Lou's head. Lou returned the affection with a few kisses. Harley nodded in agreement. "Couldn't agree more with that, puddin'." She picked up a chew toy and began playing fetch with Bud to hopefully improve his skills some. "Talk to Scaredy-Crow any?" She asked referring to Crane.
"No... Though skilled in chemistry, it's really only on adrenaline or fear inducing substances. Completely useless when it comes to medicinal compounds." Jokers eyes gazed from Lou to Harley, admiring her for a few moments. The blood seemed to rush faster through out his body, even trying to creep from his nose. "First thing I hope will stop is all this damn internal bleeding. Annoying the hell out of me..." Furthermore, it's life threatening. He thought to himself for a moment. "Care to tell me a joke?"