Enough For Me (batjokes)

Attempting Rehab

"I'd like to go home, please." Joker smiled nicely at Bruce.
"No can do, Joker." Bruce said coolly, pouring himself a glass of water from the fridge. "Now that Batman has you here, isn't it better to just keep you off of the streets causing havoc?"

"Um.. no. See, I have a little brother and a big sister, and I need to get back to them as soon as I can." Joker said.
Bruce's eyes widened.
"You have family??"
"They're the closest thing to it." Joker said. "Maybe not biological, but they're still mine and I am theirs, so it would be fantastic," he clapped his hands together, "if you would kindly release me into the wild."

Bruce sipped from his glass.
"I see, but we still can't do that. I'm sorry." He said, placing the glass on the counter. "While you're here and before Batman comes back from fixing up the Batmobile, do you want to get to learn about each other more? I feel like it would be a good idea for you to maybe have a decent friend."

"You're below decent." Joker said.

"And you need help. Talking about yourself to other people is a strategy that therapists use." Bruce explained. "That's part of why Batman decided to take you here, it's a good place to do some rehab."

"He thinks he can rehabilitate me?" Echoed Joker. He rolled his eyes. "Actually, the Bat is crazier than me."
Alfred looked at Bruce out of the corner of his eye. Bruce sighed.
"Well, let's try it. Come on, we can go to the Zen."

Bruce began walking upstairs, and Joker followed him. Bruce went down a long corridor until he turned left into a room at the end of the hall.
Inside was a dark, cozy room, with star decorations on the ceiling, and beanbags, along with deep green LED lights that lined the walls.

"Cozy." Mumbled Joker.
"Yes, sit down." Bruce sat down in a blue beanbag, and Joker plopped down in a red one next to him.
"Here." Bruce handed him a purple fidget spinner.
Joker hesitantly took it.

"Is this a bomb?" He asked, spinning it around.
"No, why would I blow up anyone, especially in my own house?" Laughed Bruce. "It's a fidget. You play with it."
The Joker spun it around over and over again. Bruce eventually cleared his throat.

"So, I want to know about something before we start." Bruce said. "What happened to your parents?"

Joker spun the fidget faster.
"What parents?" He said.

"Well, the people that took care of you as a child. The adults in your life." Bruce said, hesitating. He grabbed some clay out of a bin and began molding it into a bat-shape, before quickly rolling it back up once he saw Joker staring.

"I'm not just going to tell you, what the fuck." Joker said, balancing his fidget on on of his fingers and spinning it on that.
"Fine, I'll go first." Bruce said. "My parents were murdered in an alleyway when I was a kid."

Joker laughed.
"Why'd you say it so casually?"
"This is kinda a sensitive topic, can you try not to laugh?" Bruce asked.
"I am trying." Joker said, keeping a straight face.
"Sure. Anyway, it's your turn. What happened to your's?" Bruce asked.

"My mom was never around. She died when I was little, so.." Joker said. He grinned again. "Plot twist time, my dad killed her."
Bruce was momentarily taken aback.
"I-um..." he stuttered. "Did you see it... happen?"

"Of course!" Joker smiled. "It was really interesting. He used a butcher knife and then he carved a smile on her fa-"
"Oh my gosh." Bruce said. It looked like something had clicked inside of his brain, like the wheels were spinning.

"A-are you okay?" Bruce asked, turning to Joker, but Joker didn't meet his eye at all.
"I'm fine." He said, immediately defensive.
"Continue." Bruce said, pulling back.

"No." Joker turned his attention to Bruce's clay. "I like your play-dough, can I have it?"

Bruce handed it over without a second thought.

"I'm not trying to push, yeah, but... did your father.. put the smile on..you?"
Bruce asked. Joker bit the inside of his lip.

"My father has done a lot of things to me." Joker finally said. "And none of it is your concern, so stay out."
Bruce let out a breath.
"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't say sorry to me." The Joker snapped, his happy facade slipping.
"Alright, fine. I think that's enough rehab for one day, yeah? I'll go get you a room and some extra clothes." Bruce stood up, and quickly left the Zen.

Joker sat there, positively scowling at the fidget spinner as it spun on his index finger.