Arkham! Joker x OC

Chapter 5. Well That was Easy

      Once they sat down at a table, Emerson sighed heavily. Joker gave her a look that showed he understood their frustration. 

      "I know it must feel terrible, but just remember, they're not gonna do anything with me around. Plus, I'm just tons of fun to be around, right?" He made an attempt to cheer her up. 

      "Oh, yes, what would I do without you? You always keep things interesting," she  joked, cracking a soft smile. She looked into his acid green eyes once more before straightening up, realizing that she had subconsciously been leaning forward. 

      "Anyway, in all seriousness, I'm not very hungry but I would like to get some kind of appetizer. I'll buy it myself of course. I know you'll pay me handsomely tonight so I don't mind spending a bit now," she picked up the menu and began looking it over. He raised an eyebrow.

      "Well, if you want to buy something yourself, I won't stop you, but don't start acting entitled just because you're getting paid well later! I really wouldn't mind buying you a drink or something if you wanted," he offered kindly. Emerson's eyes widened in surprise.

      "I appreciate that. While I don't drink alcohol, Sprite would be nice to keep me alert," she commented.

      "Well, that sounds just fine with me. I'll get it for you. However, I am curious, why don't you drink? Was it a drunk partner cheating, past addiction, or a-" she interrupted him before he got too personal with his question. If he kept on, he might've named what happened and her face would've told everything. She always had been cursed with a very expressive face.

      "I really don't feel comfortable talking about that with you, to be honest. I have my reasons and I don't care if others drink around me so long as they're respectful. That's all you need to know. Anyway, thanks for agreeing to buy me soda." Suddenly, a waiter appeared at their table and asked what they wanted to drink. 

      "We'll have a Sprite and whatever whiskey you got, neat," the Joker told the young man, who immediately left to go get those. Just as Emerson was about to thank him and make a remark about his bold choice of drink at 2AM, both Penguin and Two-Face came over to the table. 

      "So I was just talking to Two-Face about a business deal, and I was thinking you'd probably want to have a part in it too," Cobblepot informed with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 

      "Yeah, it's a real good one. Mind if we pull up some chairs?" Two-Face chimed in, barely even giving Emerson a glance. She were actually thankful for that. She shot Joker a brief look that silently communicated please don't let them sit by me. 

      "Sure, I'd love to hear about it. I'll just sit over here by my companion, Emerson, and you guys can sit right in front of us." He moved his chair next to her, per her inaudible request. 

      "Thanks," she whispered as Two-Face and Cobblepot got settled on the other side of the table. 

      "Don't mention it," Joker muttered back. The guys began talking. 

      Soon the drinks came but he only took a few sips as he listened to the other two. Emerson, however, was practically guzzling down her Sprite and looking at the menu, since she didn't really have anything else to do. That was until she got a devilish idea. She had to fight to keep a smirk off her face as she got up and went to Scarecrow, who by now was no longer talking to the Riddler. She pretended to look around like she was afraid of getting caught as she walked over to him. She  put on a fake bubbly personality and decided to start flirting with him. His soothing voice certainly contrasted his scary appearance as he flirted back. She briefly put a hand on his shoulder, acting frisky. However, what she was really doing was stealing one of his small fear gas canisters. Apparently, he was completely clueless to it though, because he asked her to sit down with him. She pretended to be crestfallen when she said she should probably go back to Joker before he noticed what she was doing. When he stopped looking though, she actually went over to Bane, intending to replace one of his extra Titan canisters with the fear gas that she just acquired. She struck up a conversation with him as well, disguising the trading of containers as just casual, friendly touch. She scurried back to her table to take a few sips and make sure no one got suspicious. It seemed the guys didn't notice that she had been absent. Not too long after, she got up and went over to Scarecrow again. Once again, she spoke to him with a coy smile and subtly touched him again, putting the Titan container where his fear gas used to be. He was none the wiser of what she had just done when she walked away with a wink. 

      By the time Emerson sat back at the table next to Joker, Two-Face and Penguin were gone. 

      "So how did the business deal chat go? I've had the most fun time stealing and switching things around. They're going to hate each other when they figure out that their stuff's missing and with someone else they thought was their associate," she asked and explained, voice low. 

      "Well, that's good. Turns out Ozzy over there was trying to cheat me and Two-Face into a deal that would basically only benefit him. He has a way with words and plenty of empty promises, but I saw through it. I think he tricked Harvey though," the Joker responded quietly. 

      "I see, well, I think I'm finally gonna ask for my appetizer now. Whenever I see the waiter again, I guess," she stated, looking around for the young guy who had served their drinks. 

     "Oh, no need! He already came by and I told him to just get pretzel sticks for us. I saw you eyeing them on the menu. I think once we eat though, we should get out of here since the job is done and we don't want to get blamed for it when they realize what happened," he told her and she thanked him. Soon after, their food came. The two ate in blissful silence. This really was so much easier than anticipated.