If You Just Listened // Arthur Fleck x Reader // SLOWBURN

Chapter 4 - Still Weird.

    "And then he apologized! After I basically accused him of stalking me!" You blurted into your phone, burying your face in your hand.
    "Oh, sweetie. It's alright," said your mother, trying to comfort you. "Did you clear up the misunderstanding?"
    "I mean, I guess..." you sighed, twisting the phone cord around your finger. "I told him it was alright, and I apologized too."
    "That's good. As long as you said you were sorry," your mom said in a slightly reprimanding tone. It kind of made you feel like a kid again. Still, calling your mom always helped in times like these.
    "And what did he say about the laughing?"

    You fiddled with the telephone cord a bit. "I dunno. He said it was a condition he had or something." You plopped down on your bed, staring at the ceiling as you tucked the phone between your ear and shoulder. "You should've seen it. It was freaky. Like... you could tell he didn't want to laugh. Like it was hurting him."

    "Hey, watch how you describe that poor man. He doesn't mean to be 'freaky' you know," she scolded.
    You chuckled, just happy to hear your mom's voice.
    "Yeah, yeah. I know."
    "So how's Gotham life? Are you getting too cool and hip for us old folks now?"
   You smiled. "Yeah, maybe a little. It's okay, when I'm rich and famous I'll give you and dad each a dollar."
    "Wow, a whole dollar," your mom said sarcastically.
You smiled. "It's the least I can do."
Your mom scoffed. "Literally."

You talked to her for a small while longer, ranting about your coworkers and your job in general. You made sure not to give her too much of an insight on the "city life," if you could even call it that. She would be heartbroken. You couldn't do that to her.

After exchanging some family gossip, you finally said your goodbyes. You placed your phone back on your night table, and stretched. This was your first day off for the week, but you didn't quite know how to spend it. You sat up, scratching your messy bed-head and taking a moment to think...

Maybe it was time to stop being so negative. Today, you decided you were going to take a walk around Gotham and see what it had to offer. Surely it couldn't all be bad.

You hopped off your bed, a new kind of energy finding itself in you. Today was a new day, and you were determined to find the good amidst your current circumstances.
You cranked up the radio and made your way to your bathroom, getting yourself ready to do some exploring.

You exhaled, watching a small cloud form from your breath. It was a chilly day, but it wasn't so bad. You began your walk down a busy street, not really knowing what you were looking for, but looking for it nevertheless.

And what you found was quite surprising.

Vendors crowded the block with food from all over the world. Yes, there was always the usual falafel and taco carts like you were used to. But Gotham had so much more. There were Turkish pastries, Polish sausages, Peruvian chicken, nearly everything you could think of. It was a crowded and disorganized street, but it had a sort of urban beauty to it.
You wandered through, stopping at every cart that interested you.

You ate:
-Cheese cakes
-Soft Japanese candy
-Greek spinach pie
-Poutine
-Fish eggs (Which were surprisingly good.)

And to top it off, you had a cup of hot chocolate from a cart run by a sweet old woman who kept calling you "honey." It was rich, and very delicious. You took a sip, and prayed your stomach would go easy on you later on.

You finally reached the end of the street, and turned at the corner. This next street was much less entertaining. It was just as crowded, but there were no vendors. Just delis and busy people. You sighed, and shrugged your shoulders.
'Hey, we can't win 'em all.'