oneshots

Arthur Fleck x Harleen Quinzel

What if Arthur wasn't alone on the bus that day, what if a bubbly, energetic, and charming blonde just happened to be there? Maybe Arthur could find his someone that truly *sees* and helps him?*inspired by the bus scene from the 2019 Joker movie*

Light rain poured over Gotham City as Arthur Fleck made his way onto the crowded bus, keeping his head down along the way.

His makeup washed off, costume and props were all shoved into a big shopping bag slung over his shoulder. Some white greasepaint still smudged on the sides of his face.

He finds an empty seat in the back of the bus.

Before the bus manages to pull off as an energetic female bounces her way up to the doors. "Hey, wait for me" her accent had a slight Brooklyn twinge.

She grins at the driver before boarding the bus and sitting in the only seat she could find in the packed vehicle.

Dropping down into the seat next to Arthur, she gives him a coy smile but says nothing. The dark-haired man struggled to keep eye contact with the pretty woman as a painful nervous laugh settled in his chest.

He side-eyed her blonde hair with interest as she suddenly blew a bubble with bright pin bubblegum making Arthur jump when it popped. She hummed to herself as she continued to pop her gum.

When she turned to glance at him, he quickly looked forward, seeing a little boy sitting on his knees staring back at him. His mother's facing forward, but even from behind, you can tell she's was annoyed.

Maybe it was from all the bubble pops.

Feeling a little self-conscious, Arthur gets back into his character, Carnival the clown. Smiling with humor, he covers his face with his hands and starts playing the peek-a-boo game with him.

The boy stares back at him for a moment then giggles, as does the pretty blonde woman beside him. A flare of pride lit up in him; he was making two people laugh, and that was more than he'd ever done.

Feeling elated, he continued on with his clown act, not only to make the boy laugh but to impress the woman next to him.

The young boy's mother quickly pivots back to face Arthur with a face of agitation. "Can you please stop bothering my kid?"

Arthur looks at her in shock. He wasn't bothering the boy; he just wanted to make him smile. "I wasn't bothering him, I was--"

The woman glares at him, interrupting his ramble with a tsk "Just stop." she turns herself back around does the same to her son while Arthur coughs and clears his throat.

The woman next to him glared at the back of the mother's head with contempt across her features.

Suddenly Arthur begins to laugh loudly. He covers his mouth, trying to hide it, but he can't. Shaking his head, the laughter pauses for a moment, but then it comes on stronger.

Everyone on the bus is staring, even the pretty woman. That only makes the painful laughter worse.

The mother turns back with an annoyed glare" You think that's funny?".

Arthur quickly shakes his head no, but he can't stop laughing. He reaches in his pocket, accidentally knocking into the blonde in his haste, and pulls out a small card as his laughter begins to turn into retching.

He hands it to the woman and notices how the blonde leans forward slightly to read over her shoulder. 'Forgive my laughter. I have a condition (more on back).'

The back of the card has a bunch of information in small writing 'It's a medical condition causing sudden, frequent, uncontrollable laughter that doesn't match how you feel. It can happen in people with a brain injury or certain neurological conditions.'

She doesn't read it though, she just shakes her head, annoyed, and throws the card on the ground as Arthur laughs harder now with tears running down his face.

"Hey lady," the mother turns to the woman with a less displeased expression as she did with Arthur, "I believe the card said to 'please return' not throw on the floor."

The mother huffs but doesn't move until the blonde leans into her face with a hiss. "Pick it up" hearing the dangerous tone, the mother does as she's told, "Now give it back."

Arthur's laughter had begun to lessen as he watched on.

"Not to me!" The women's Brooklyn accent came out thicker as she yelled when the card was offered to her, "It's his card, give it to him" the card was quickly thrust back at Arthur, who took it silently. "How rude!".

Not wanting to attract any more attention to himself, he pulls his jacket up to cover his mouth, trying to muffle the laughter. Feeling a gaze on him, he met the woman's bright blue eyes. " Thank you, I'm Arthur."

The woman thrust out a hand happily and gave him a sly wink. "Gotta say I like ya laugh Artie, the name's Harleen Quinzel, but you can call me Harley; everyone does."