Enough For Me (batjokes)

Happy Face

A day had passed since Oswald left Wayne Manor. Joker was lying in his bed, eyes closed but he was conscious.  He flipped onto his side, nesting in the bedcovers like how his best friend would sleep in his nest back in the iceberg.
Man, it was comfortable.

Four days left and then Joker could leave.

He peeped through the covers and glanced at the window. It was probably noon by now. Damn he slept in.

Joker's head hurt slightly, he guessed it was because he hadn't been eating for the past days. He got up from his bed and changed into one of Bruce's pink shirts and a pair of gray sweatpants that was left for him.

After Joker shook out his curls, he looked at the pillow and realized his makeup had come off on it.
"Oops." He grabbed the pillow and shoved it under the blankets, hoping Bruce wouldn't see the stains.

Then Bruce tapped on the door and peeked inside.
"Morning. You slept in." He said to Joker.
"I know." The Joker commented.
"Did you use the makeup wipes? I see you're not wearing your... signature look today."

"Erm.." Joker glanced at the makeup wipes on the vanity. He'd forgotten that they existed. "Yeah, I used them."

"Are you hungry?" Bruce asked, glancing Joker up and down. Joker painfully shook his head and kept the smile on his face.
"I'm fine, thanks Bruce."

"Are you sure?" Bruce said, opening the door all the way.
"Yep!" Joker grinned, even adding a convincing giggle in.
Bruce turned away. "Come on then, we're going to the Zen."

Joker followed him into the hall. The two of them went upstairs and into the Zen. Bruce told Joker that would go get Batman so they could begin therapy.

The Joker sat down on a beanbag. He saw the fidget spinner from last time laying on the table and picked it back up.
As he spun it on his finger, he tried to count the times that it spun around.
Batman came in fifteen minutes later.

"Joker." He said gruffly.
"Why are you so late? There's stuff I would rather be doing." Joker said, spinning the fidget faster.
"I had technical difficulties." Batman said, and placed a hand on Joker's leg as he sat on the beanbag across from him.

Joker began to get a little nervous, and he hastily shoved Batman's hand off of his thigh. The Bat didn't even flinch.
"I can't get over how different you look without the makeup, Joker." Batman said, astonished. "You look like a kid."

"People need to stop saying that." Joker hissed, his facade slipping again. Batman stopped talking. "Four days left, let's get this over with."

Batman said nothing for a couple moments, just thinking to himself.
"Were you born in Gotham?"

"Yeah." Joker said. "But then we left. Y'know about the traveling circuses."

"How long were you here after your birth before you left to go to another city, if you were in the circus?" Batman asked.
"Not even a full two days, then we went to Kansas. We always went there around my birthday." Joker said.
"Okay." Batman said. "When is your birthday?"
"It's in the Spring." Joker said, tossing the fidget spinner up in the air and catching it.

"My birthday is in Winter." The Bat shared.
"That's kind of cool, I wish mine was in the winter." Joker mumbled. "Winter people are so mysterious."
Batman chuckled.
"You're not very mysterious."
"Yeah, I know." Joker said.

"Tell me about your mom." Batman said gently, trying to coax it out of Joker.
"She wasn't nice." Joker said simply. "That's all."
"Did she beat you?"
"Well duh- every day!" Joker laughed. "It hurt like a fucker. Y'know, every time you beat me up, it gives me the best memories."

Batman said nothing and began to bounce his leg up and down.
"And your dad? What happened there?"

"He was an ass too. He liked to drink." Joker said. He paused thoughtfully.
"I came back from helping some of the workers put the nets from the acrobats away, and I finished walking their little son, Dick Grayson, back to his tent. My dad had some of his friends over, and they had a lot of fun with me that night."

A painful grin crossed Joker's face, and he gritted his teeth hard to keep the tears from rising up in his eyes.
Batman was staring at him the entire time, watching his eyes glaze over momentarily before they snapped back, his pupils dilated.

"That's all." Joker giggled. "Then my dad killed my mom and I watched him carve a smile on her face. And then he asked me "why so serious, J-"
Joker stopped talking, realizing he almost said his dead name out loud.
His voice broke off, and he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. He looked at the table, and dropped the fidget spinner onto the rug.

He glanced back at the Bat, who was staring at him with his eyebrows furrowed.
Joker smiled.
"I don't like talking about it."

He turned his head away from Batman, realizing that he was unable to control his flow of tears anymore.
They dripped down his face as Joker cried without showing it. He doubted Batman could even tell he was upset.

Or maybe he was just giving him space. Who cared.

Joker accidentally sniffled and his hands started shaking. He gave up trying to hide from Batman and just buried his face in his hands, pulling on his hair as his tears tricked down his face.

He felt Batman's strong arms wrap around his shoulders and pull him close until Joker was basically laying on Batman's chest. Any other time he would've blushed, but just the thought of his father made him so angry and upset.

Joker put one of his arms across his eyes, so Batman couldn't see him cry. He was used to just hiding it, especially in front of Oswald and Harley.

The Bat said nothing, he just held the Joker and let him cry in his arms.
It took Joker three minutes before he was even able to take his arm off of his eyes.
"It's okay, he can't hurt you here." Batman whispered in Joker's ear.

"I killed him." Joker choked out, swiping his eyes furiously. "I killed him."
Batman didn't say anything else. Joker turned around and hugged Batman's neck tightly. The Bat placed a hand on the back of Joker's head and used the other arm to hold him as he cried.

"We won't talk about it again." Batman told him. Joker buried his face in Batman's shoulder and did everything he could do that the Bat wasn't able to see his face.

"I-I'm sorry." Joker's breath hitched. "Boys don't cry."
"You can cry, Joker. You're safe with me." Batman told him softly.

"Have you ever seen Star Wars?" Batman asked after a moment. Joker nodded yes. "You know that part where Kylo Ren says 'let the past die'?"
"Yeah.." Joker said, quivering from crying so hard.
"Well, let it die. Kill it, if you have to." Batman said.

"I hate Kylo Ren." Joker smirked, wiping his nose.
"Oh." The Bat grumbled. Joker slightly smiled.
"I know what you mean." He said, his voice raspy.

"Gosh, I hate you." Batman sighed, and held Joker tighter.
"Hate is a strong word, Batman, are you sure you mean it?" Joker asked, picking at his fingernails behind the Bat's head.

"I mean it." Batman whispered.
Joker smiled through the pain and heartache that was killing him inside.

"I hate you too."

What's up, readers :)
how are y'all? This chapter took me a hot minute because I was blanking while trying to write it lol- writers block is my worst enemy.
Anyways hope you liked it! Next chapter will be out soon.

yours, ellie ✨