Arthur Fleck and Joker Imagines

Star Crossed Lovers - Arthur x Reader

Special thanks to the greatest writer in the English language for the inspiration for this. 😊

"Come on Arthur, you'll love it I promise." Gary said, almost pleading as he came to sit next to Arthur on the bench.

"I...... I don't know. The last time I had to have anything to do with Shakespeare was when I was at high school, we had to read Hamlet, and I hated every minute of it." Arthur protested; he wasn't really interested in accompanying the small man to watch his friend perform; but sometimes Gary could be very persuasive.

"But this is Romeo and Juliet, Arthur, possibly Shakespeare's most popular work, and it's completely different when you see it acted out. My friend (Y/n) is playing Juliet, and she asked me to come to give her some support and I said I would; I'm just trying to get you out of that damn apartment of yours, I know you don't like crowds, but everyone needs to do something different occasionally. Look, you don't have to pay for the ticket or anything else, just come and see, if you don't like it, I swear that you can leave." Gary said, smiling hopefully up at Arthur.

Arthur sighed. "Ok..... I suppose, but just promise you won't leave me on my own." Arthur said nervously, as Gary dropped down from the bench.

"Great, now get changed, the performance starts in an hour." Gary said happily, as he went to get his change of clothes.

"Just wait until you see (Y/n), Arthur; she's such a beautiful woman, and she's a great little actress. I've actually been helping her rehearse, but I seriously doubt that when the bard wrote this ultimate expression of the truth of love, he ever though of a Romeo that looked like me." Gary chuckled, as he and Arthur travelled to the theatre.

The cab drive wasn't a long one, but it was long enough for Arthur to start worrying; what if he had a moment in the theatre he thought to himself as the bright lights of the theatre district came into view. He could imagine all those eyes on him as he broke out into a fit of laughter, unable to control himself as he rushed from the venue.

"Hey Arthur, it's ok, there's nothing to worry about. Its not a big theatre so there won't be hundreds of people there, and once the play begins, no one will notice anything other than what's on the stage." Gary said, trying to reassure him, he had felt his body grow tense, and knew that the man was starting to fret.

As Arthur took his seat, he was glad to see that Gary had been right; the theatre was relatively small, and the ambiance of the auditorium was actually making him feel strangely comfortable.

He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help but listened to the people talk around him, as he pretended to look at the little book that outlined the performance and the players, that Gary had given him; most of them were talking about Gary's friend (Y/n), and about her performances in other Shakespearean plays that she had been in.

"Did you see her Katherine, in 'The taming of the shrew'? She was wonderful." One woman said, as she browsed the brochure in her hand.

"I loved her when she played a female Puck in 'A Midsummers Night's Dream,' I've even heard that she's going to work over in England with the Royal Shakespeare Company." The other woman gushed, as the lights in the theatre began to dim.

As the curtains opened, Arthur watched as a man walked out, taking a place in the middle of the stage, and addressed the audience.

"Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.