Second Life | Joker x Anomaly! Reader

Chapter 2: Family to Remember

"There ye' are. Why don't ye' try that on. It's one of the only outfits we'ave that can fit those big wings of your's." Joker kindly ushered the unnamed bird lady to a small blue and white-striped tent. He was trying to get her clothed after her initial warm bath. She looked at him with confusion as she awkwardly held the article of lightly colored clothing. "Uh... ye' can't just walk around all stark like that." his face darkened. He tried to act on at least some level of politeness in front of the very nude female in front of him. Despite his encouraging words and hints at dressing, one thing was clear when she still didn't understand. "They never dressed ya did they.... Beast!"

...

"Okay, hold still." The black haired female who came to assist in dressing the newcomer ordered calmly. Beast, who she assumed, was one of the 'first stringers' that Joker mentioned briefly about upon her arrival. Beast snugly tied off the thin lacy corset strings of the outfit that Joker picked out prior. "So, can you spare us your name sweetheart?" Beast asked her. Silence followed her initial request. "Come on, surely you know a lick of English." The animal tamer raised her voice. The girl just peeked her head around shyly. She seemed anxious about something. Beast softened her slightly agitated gaze. "Hey now, you've got no reason to be afraid of us. You understand me don't you?" After a few seconds, Beast noticed a slight nod. At this, her lips pulled into a soft smile. "I'm sure you've been through bloody hell and back, so you don't have to speak right now if it makes you uncomfortable."

Beast finished her ministrations, but continued to scan the avian's body. "Oh dear, how awful." She reached out to lightly touch one of the girl's wings. She noticed how utterly ruined and manged they had become. Where rich, black plumes of elegant feathers should neatly layer each other, scraggly remains of remaining down and ragged primaries remain. You could clearly see infection in the skin of her large appendages, as well as large spaces of raw dermis. The bony bases of the flight limbs had been rubbed so raw they glisten with angry red irritation. The same story can be told for her wrists and ankles. "It's truly a case of neglect. You have much recovery to do, love." Beast stared at the damage sympathetically.

Along with the damage to her wings, her (color) hair was visibly mangled and had long since grown past her knees. "How about I do something about this mop before I take you to dinner." Beast suggested.

...

She sat at a long wooden surface with a full plate of steaming food in front of her. The drive to attack and devour it all was visibly killing her, yet she refrained from doing so. She didn't want them to think her as an animal. Instead, she lifted her fork and shakily brought every bite to her face as slowly as possible. "Why is she eating like that? Look how much she's shaking!" "Shut it Peter!" The burn of their eyes on her made her stop moving. "See, now look at what ya did! I swear-" "Hey now, can ye' all calm yourselves? There be no reason to be fightin' like this in front of our new addition like this." Joker placated the two short acrobats and turned his head to smile warmly at the said new addition. "Please excuse them love, they get a little short tempered from time to time, I hope ye' don't mind." He laughed nervously. She remained silent, but proceeded to look at her food again. She was so hungry that she couldn't stop the drool that pooled in her mouth from dripping over.

"Hey." her head jolted up to stare at the person in front of her. She was soft-spoken, but stared sternly at the hungry mutant. It was Doll. "No one judges anyone here. Go on and eat like you mean it." Her eyes fluttered wider. She couldn't express what the weight of those words held, but she knew what effect they had on her at that moment. Safety and just a little more trust embraced her heart. From somewhere deep inside her memories, she recalled such a familiar feeling from long ago, yet she knew that she'd never felt these emotions until today. These people made her feel things that people otherwise couldn't, and it frightens her. Yet, it also makes her feel like this was how it always was.

A family, yes, that's the word she was looking for.

She turned her head to stare at the family that all sat with her at the table. They all stared at her with encouraging looks. Beast, Doll, Peter, Wendy, Jumbo at the other end, Dagger, and... him. The incessant nag in her mind wouldn't stop at the memory of his smile. Especially the one he was giving her presently. "You can do it." He mouthed. Those words from him were the final push. She trusted these people and she knew she could.

She dropped the fork.

She grabbed a large leg of turkey by the bone, then stared at it for a mere moment before savagely taking a ginormous chunk of cooked flesh into her mouth. The juices from the meat ran down her arm as she ripped the leg apart and moved on to her next food item. It was the most frantic display of desperation she ever performed. Soon, only pitiful remains of bones and residue from the potato mash remained on her platter. Her breathing was erratic with having lungs deprived of precious air in favor of delicious food. At the realization of her outburst, she slumped over and put her head in her hands and screamed in despair.

"Woah! H-hey!" "Oh no, poor thing!"

There were rushed footsteps approaching her. Her chest convulsed with strained sobs. It wasn't until this moment that she was ever able to let out her frustration openly to the world. It felt satisfying to her to cry so violently. They embraced her from all sides while someone put a firm hand on her back to rub it in smooth, gentle circles.

After a couple of minutes, her lungs couldn't take the work of screaming anymore. Her wails turned into airy sobs. She could taste the saltiness of her tears that finally traveled their way to her open mouth. "There there, just breathe, dear." Joker's voice pushed its way to her heart and she let her tensed shoulders relax and her breathing to return to a normal pace. "You're safe here." "Yeah, you're part of out family now. And don't you forget it." Beast and Dagger added at the end of her hysteria.

"I... don't have a name." her voice was barely above a whisper, but the troupe around her gasped at the new voice. "What was that again, dear?" Joker questioned, now wearing a cheerful grin on his features. She turned completely around and the group around her moved away a few inches to give her room. Staring directly into his eyes, she repeated herself. "I have no name."

Joker seemed taken aback by her clear English, but quickly recovered. "Well then, how's about we give you one then? So you can officially be a part of the family." He bent over to stare directly into her eyes and examined her closely before reeling back. "How about... Dove."