Arthur Fleck and Joker Imagines

A little inspiration - Part 3

(Y/n) stood outside the entrance to Ha-Ha's. Try as she might, she couldn't help but think that she had lost her mind. Arthur had told her that the place would be full of clowns, and that maybe given her dislike for the gaudy costumes, and painted faces, it would be better for her to wait outside for him to join her; but (Y/n) had insisted, stating that she would be fine and that her coulrophobia wasn't as bad as all that. Now though, as she stood before the door, all her previous bravado had left her, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread creeping up from the pit of her stomach and take a tight grip of her throat.

"Get a grip (Y/n). This is ridiculous. You aren't a child anymore, and they are all just men like Arthur. And Arthur is lovely." (Y/n) chastised herself as she placed her hand on the door, slowly turning the handle, and letting the ingress slowly creep open.

"Just men in makeup. Just men in makeup." (Y/n) repeated over and over, the mantra going around and around in her mind as she looked up at the steep staircase that seemed to lead to nowhere. A horrible feeling of dread filling her as she placed her foot on the first step.

"But John Wayne Gacy was only a man that dressed up as a clown and look what happened there." (Y/n) whispered to herself, as she remembered the antics of the old serial killer and his alter ego "Pogo the Clown". (Y/n) quickly removing her foot from the step and turning back towards the door, her heart pound violently in the chest, as a fine film of sweat formed on her brow.

"Can I help you?" A voice asked, from behind her. (Y/n) spinning around to see a little man standing on the steps looking down at her.

"Jesus H Christ! You scared the crap out of me!" (Y/n) exclaimed, as her hand clutched at her chest, her heart threatening to break through her ribcage as the little man chuckled.

"Sorry...........I er, I'm...........I'm here to see Carnival. I..... I mean Arthur, er.........Arthur Fleck." (Y/n) tried to explain. Her words seeming to escape her lips, before she could think about what she was saying.

"Oh, you must be the writer. Arthur told me all about you. My name's Gary, it's nice to meet you." Gary said, as he held out his hand for (Y/n) to shake.

"Er, yeah. My name is (Y/n). It's very nice to meet you too." (Y/n) replied, as she wiped her damp hand on her pants before taking the little man's hand.

"Arthur is just getting ready. You can come upstairs and wait if you like." Gary offered, his brows furrowing slightly as he saw her look up at the staircase, the woman biting nervously at her lips as she contemplated whether to take the man up on his offer.

"Is everything alright?" Gary asked, as he jumped down a few streps so that he could stand a little closer to (Y/n).

"Yeah....... I....... it's just that. I suppose that there are lots of people up there dressed like clowns, aren't there? Of course, there are, that's a stupid question. That's what you guys do, that's what Arthur does. That's why I am here, because of Carnival, because of Arthur. To get a new story I mean........." (Y/n) babbled on, half talking to Gary, and half talking to herself.

"Er, (Y/n). You wouldn't happen to be afraid of clowns, would you?" Gary enquired, the little man stifling a laugh as (Y/n) nodded nervously.

"Boy, are you in the wrong place. Look, why don't you go and wait outside, and I'll tell Arthur what happened. He'll be with you as soon as he's ready." Gary told (Y/n), resting his hand on her arm reassuringly, as he opened the door for her and let her outside.

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"Arthur. There is a very beautiful, yet very anxious woman waiting outside for you." Gary chuckled, as he watched Arthur pull on his costume. The taller man adjusting his wig as he looked out of the window, his eyes falling on (Y/n) who was moving from one foot to another, looking at the building as she waited for Arthur to appear.

"Oh. She.... she said that she would come up here. I hope that she's alright." Arthur said quietly, waving out of the window, as (Y/n) finally caught sight of him.

"Oh yeah, she's fine. She's just got a bad case of coulrophobia. This place must be her worst nightmare, I swear to god that I thought she was going to pass out at the bottom of the stairs. The poor woman turned a colour that I am sure is really unnatural, so I told her to wait outside for you." Gary informed Arthur, as he pulled up a chair and climbed onto it so that he could look out of the window and down onto (Y/n).

"I must admit, she's definitely a looker. She must like you a lot if she's willing to face her fears just to get close to you. I mean............." Gary began, only to find himself cut off midsentence by a shocked Arthur.

"No, no.......we just met. She's the aunt of that little girl I told you about from the hospital. She just wants to watch me so that she can come up with some new ideas for a book or something. We aren't, well, we don't know one another......and she wouldn't be interested in me anyway. Would she?" Arthur asked, mulling over the possibilities himself as both men looked out of the window. The pair watching as (Y/n) rummaged through the bag that was slung across her shoulders. The now slightly less agitated woman, making sure that her notebook and pens were all in place.

"Yeah, you might very well be the inspiration for a new book; but I saw her downstairs, and given how bad she seemed to be affected by just the thought of having to come up those stairs and see a bunch of clowns, I would say that if she is willing to even look at you sideways, there is more to it than a book." Gary chuckled, as Arthur sat down on the bench in front of his locker and thought about their first meeting in the hospital.

Lily had said that (Y/n) didn't like clowns, and indeed she herself had explained the reason for that dislike; but from what he could remember, she had seemed quite happy as she had sung and clapped along with the others while he danced around the ward. She had seemed more than comfortable when he had sat on the hospital bed next to her, when they had looked into each other's eyes. So maybe, maybe there could actually be a little behind what Gary was saying. Maybe there could actually grow to be something between them, and this unexpected notion filled Arthur with a strange mixture of fear, happiness, and optimism that he had never felt before.

"May I suggest that you don't leave her waiting out there for too long. Because if one of the guys goes out there in full costume, she is likely to be off like a shot." Gary chuckled, as he climbed down from the chair, and watched with a smile as Arthur bolted for the door.

"Go get her, pal. Go get her." Gary whispered to himself. Smiling as he watched his friend disappear from the locker room in a blur of colour.