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

Chapter 10 - A Little Crazy.

You brushed the sweat off your forehead as you continued to wipe down the table. You pressed the towel down into the polished wood, your mind not entirely focused on your current task.

You thought about Arthur. You thought about his face when you declined his offer. He didn't frown, he didn't scowl, he just... stared at you. He stared at you for a little longer than anyone else would, just like he did when you first spoke to him.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now."
He blinked a few times when you said that. The flutter of his eyelashes told you all you needed to know - he was confused, and more than a little hurt. His eyebrows flicked upwards for a moment, it couldn't have been more than half a second before they slowly began to lower again. He was embarrassed, and surprised?  Was he expecting you to say yes? Were you giving him the wrong impression?

"Oh."
You could tell at that point that he just wanted to leave.

Your hand instinctively went to your chest at that memory, clutching your blouse in your fingers. Would things be different between you two now? You certainly hoped not.

"Jesus, are you power-wiping those tables or something?"

Owen stood against the kitchen doorway, holding a few dirty plates. You looked at him, then down at the table you were cleaning. You hadn't even realized how hard you'd been wiping them down, leaving them sparkling like diamonds.

"Guess I'm stronger than I thought," you chuckled.

"Well save your strength," he responded. "You might need it on your way home."

You raised your eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Owen scoffed, before taking a remote off the bar counter and switching on one of the TV's.
"Check this out."

He flipped to a news channel, showing live feed of a protest in front of Wayne Hall.

"They're getting worse and worse," he sighed. "You haven't heard anything about them?"

You shook your head, your eyes stuck on the screen. "I mean when I moved here I heard there was some controversy about the new Mayor. But, I didn't know it got this bad..."

He walked over to you, handing you something wrapped in a napkin. "Here, you might need this more than me. Being a girl and everything, I mean."

You gave him a puzzled expression as you took the item from his hand. It was small, but it was heavy.
"What is it?"

"Open it."

You squinted at him before turning to the object again. You carefully unfolded the napkin, sharply inhaling once it was revealed to you:

It was a practically new, shining pocket knife.

You quickly wrapped it up in the napkin again, baffled that Owen would even think of giving it to you.

"What... Owen I don't even know how to use one of these. And this looks new, I can't just take this from you."

Owen rolled his eyes, heading back to the kitchen.
"Just take it, you never know when you might need it."

After leaving Pogo's, you quickly learned why Owen wanted you to have the knife.

Seconds after stepping out the door, a man wearing a ski mask ran past you, shoving you roughly into a wall as he went. You grunted as your back hit the bricks, shocked by the unexpected contact.

What the...

You looked in the direction he ran, where a large group of people were beginning to gather around something. You squinted at the soon-to-be mob, realizing the object they were surrounding was a limo.