his first laugh || arthur fleck x reader

chp 3 - uncertainty and plans

It had been a week since the midnight encounter with the Joker, or Arthur. The news had nothing on him, he just disappeared off the surface of the Earth. I know I wasn't supposed to care, but deep inside, I just wished he would come back.

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I sat on my bed, stranded alone in my cell as I watched the ventilation blast out that freezing air. Suddenly, I heard a loud bang on the metal door. As I was startled, I got up in annoyance and stood at the door, waiting for one of those vicious guards to drag me out like how they impolitely do everyday and toss me into the recreational area or to my therapy sessions. Surprisingly, the guard who entered wasn't as buff or rude as the usual ones.

It was a thin man, holding the door open as gave me an awkward smile. Although it was a nice gesture, it confused me. I slowly walked out as I squinted my eyes at him suspiciously. As his glance landed on me, he began to shake nervously.

"Y-you ha-have a vi-visitor," he stuttered fearfully as he began to shiver and sweat until his uniform was soaked. I nodded and walked away from him. As I made my way to the visit lounge area, many thoughts began to wander my head; I'd never had a visitor before and most of my relatives were dead. Don't get me started on friends.

As I opened the heavy metal door, I slowly entered, nervously chewing on my bottom lip as suspense got the best of me. To my surprise, I saw someone unfamiliar. The room was awfully cold and there was only a metal table and two chairs, nothing between us. I slowly sat down as confusion started to beat me. There sat a man was wearing a thick brown coat, sunglasses and a hat.

"I don't think I know you..." I chuckled nervously as I backed away from the man. A soft laugh, more like a scoff, escaped his lips as he looked up at me. Slowly, he began to take off his hat and sunglasses, revealing himself as an ordinary man, but for some reason I felt like I knew him from somewhere. It was that vibe. I raised my eyebrow at him as my speech broke into stutters. He could tell I still wasn't sure who he was. That was until my glance landed on his eyes.

Those blue eyes.

It was like I fell deep into them all over again. All.. over again. Then it finally hit me. Those eyes.

"...Jok- Arthur," I murmured as my mouth hanged slightly open. My lips unintentionally curled into a smile as a cloud of embarrassment began to fog around me. I could feel my cheeks burning red, causing him to laugh hysterically as I flustered. He stood up and walked towards me with a big grin plastered across his face.

"I have news," he winked as he giggled in excitement. I couldn't help but smile at his kiddish commotion as he squirmed. A part of me was a little excited, god hoping it was something that had me involved. Suddenly, he pulled me into a tight hug, shaking me around and then carrying me up. "I'm getting you out of here."

As those words entered my ears, I felt a wave of strong mixture of emotions over me, just cleansing all the hateful grudges I had kept for so long. My vision was clearer than it had ever been. My hearing had been stronger than before. Then paranoia began to knock me down.

He's joking.

He's the Joker, he'd never do that.

He's just messing with your head.

He'll never help you.

Pros of having this paranoia by my side was that it sort of kept me grounded, it pulled me to reality because life isn't a fairy tale where the man would love you forever.

I sighed as I gazed into his bright blue eyes, thinking deeply. Gazing into his eyes, I felt pain and anxiety. I glanced at his desperation to be happy, yet he had a smile on his face like he was the happiest man on Earth. It completely hit me why men like him even terrorise in the first place. But why did he want me?

"Arthur.." I hesitated. I wanted to say it, but I was afraid it would drive him away. He turned at me with a small smile plastered across his face, like a little boy. "Why do you want me? You barely know me and.. I'm "insane", aren't I?"

His little smile slowly faded away as his lips curled into a frown, wincing at what I had said. He looked away from me as he pulled me closer. He softly uttered something under his breath, but I couldn't hear it. At instance, I was shaking. Anxiety crawled deep under my skin but I tried my best to stay calm. But then again, I was an asylum.

"I want you because you're.. you," he spoke softly as he pulled me closer. Our eyes met as he gently caressed my cheek, gazing into my e/c eyes. I gave him a smile, but I was still unsure. Did he mean "me" as in the pain in the ass I am and he wanted a challenge in his life or as in.. a murderer for the aesthetic? I was confused, and apparently in denial as someone would want me for myself. He began to continue as he gradually leaned in.

"You're beautiful and smart, we've only known each other a couple hours and a few days but I just want to know more about you," he continued as his voice got deeper the closer his face got to mine, "and you're so.. open-minded, you don't expect so much and the shit you've gone through but you still can pull yourself together, especially how that paranoia get to you."

I could feel my heart breaking and literally mend itself together as he said every single word. As our lips touched, he dived in and pulled me into this deep, sensational kiss. Slowly, we pulled away for air, but all I wanted to do was to hold him forever.

A guard suddenly bursted in, yelling that our time was up. Arthur held me still, not letting go one bit, though he heard the guard loud and clear. The guard repeated what he had said, but through the middle, he gave up with a sigh and went out, leaving us with our indefinite time together.

"Tomorrow," he whispered in my ears, then pulling away as he walked up to the door. My shivering breath echoed the room as we both stood distant in silence, but my crave for being close to him started to eat me up inside. "Your life is about to change tomorrow," he chuckled, winking before leaving the room.

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A/N
Ay y'all I'm sorry for updating my stories in inconstancy cus I've been busy with stuff though I try to make time to write these chapters. And also, I'm sorry for the kinda short chapters, sometimes I just get so bothered with how grammatical incorrect the sentences are that I just get so frustrated with liFe hahah but hey, writing these stories are the highlight of my days because I love the support I get from y'all and I appreciate how y'all read and VOTE my stories, which is really the greatest thing anyone could do for me so thank you so much. And uh, I'll try to update earlier and gOoodbYyeeee, see ya later, alligators :D