love at first sight

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan tires out his mate and leaves him asleep in his room. He goes downstairs to see what there is to see.

Oh. She's still there.

Well. He's not going to leave. She can leave. Fuck her. He's not going anywhere.

Comments

[temporal_affairs]

"What the hell are you looking at?" he snarls. (As though he weren't staring holes through her mask a moment ago.)

[pythbox]

"What," she asks, very evenly, "is your problem with me?"

[temporal_affairs]

"He still loves you. You hate him, and he's my mate, and however much he loves me he still loves you, and you never deserved him."

[pythbox]

She scowls.

[temporal_affairs]

"I have never hated anyone as much as I hate you for that," he hisses. "I've killed people for less, I've killed people I didn't hate at all, and I wish to God I could kill you now, but it would upset him, and maybe if I'm very, very lucky, I will actually lose control of myself in a way a lie-detector can verify for him later and you won't go on existing. God, I hate you."

[pythbox]

"Your mate terrorized my city," she snaps. "He tortured a man to death on camera and sent the video to the news. He burned a witness alive. He fed a rival to his own dogs. He's sick."

[temporal_affairs]

"He wanted your fucking attention," Nathan growls. "When that was finally off the table he was perfectly happy to settle in with me. Sweet as you please. You think I would've cared if he wanted to go on doing that? I wouldn't, I can't fall out of love with him no matter what and I've certainly got my own body count just because I was thirsty, and you know what he does when he gets unconditional love and magic powers? He settles in and raises a baby and solves random acquaintances' problems with magic and has ludicrous amounts of sex! I actually want him and it kills me that you got to him first."

[pythbox]

She can't quite stop the look of disgust that passes over the visible part of her face at 'ludicrous amounts of sex'.

[temporal_affairs]

"Oh, get over yourself."

[pythbox]

She growls. Impressively, for a human.

[temporal_affairs]

He growls right back. Impressively even for a vampire. Several nearby people scurry farther away.

And he stands up, too fast for the eye to track.

[pythbox]

The Bat flinches.

Earlier today, back at home, she installed a threat-level sensor. It's been screaming about Nathan since he first laid eyes on her a few minutes ago, and it's telling her enough that when he blurs out of visibility, she assumes he is about to kill her.

She spends one of her two remaining hexes, and she is emphatic but not specific: she wants him to be in no state to cause her harm, right now.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan spends one very, very brief moment very, very hungry.

And then he cannot feel hunger, or anything else, and he's frozen, a starved statue where he was standing.

[pythbox]

The Bat eyes him nervously. Well, that took care of his threat level, all right.

She doesn't feel like sticking around to argue with Security; she gets up and heads for the door, cape sweeping behind her.

[manofmyword]

It's a few hours before the Joker wakes up. Huh; Nathan must've gone downstairs.

He gets dressed, more slowly than usual because there's nothing to hurry for. He absently tucks a few knives into his pockets. He wanders downstairs, smiling to himself.



There's Nathan, all right.

"...Sweetheart?"

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan is not capable of responding right now.

[manofmyword]

No. No, he can see that.

He spins through all the 'safe coins', trying to fix it. No, no, no, and nope.



Those aren't the only coins he has.



The Joker bites his lip. (Triangle.) Then he kisses Nathan on the cheek and teleports them both to the door, which he opens.

[Goldie-your-majesty?] he says, trying for lighthearted and not really making it all the way there. [Weeeee have a problem.]

[luminous_regnant]

[What is it?] she replies after a moment's delay.

[manofmyword]

[I went to Milliways with Nathan and while I was sleeping he turned into a statue and I can't unstick him with hexes. Could you help, please?]

[luminous_regnant]

She teleports into place without further ado. "A statue? Show me."

[manofmyword]

He steps out of the way and lets her see Nathan, still standing there just the way he was when the Joker found him, but now only about three feet from the doorway.

[luminous_regnant]

"...It looks like he starved to death. How could he possibly have starved to death?"

[manofmyword]

"I don't know," says the Joker, spreading his hands helplessly. "I was sleeping. I came downstairs and there he was. Can you fix him?"

[luminous_regnant]

Golden attempts a star.

"Star doesn't work," she says. "...The next one up can. Probably. Shell Bell got herself killed and her girlfriend was able to bring her back with one of the eight-pointed 'evils'. But with much less delay than it sounds like there may have been with Nathan."

[manofmyword]

"Then I'll make one of those," he says immediately. "I want my sweetie back."