rogueinladysclothing | Lovesick fools often do foolish things [Tagging Majima and Harley]

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Lovesick fools often do foolish things [Tagging Majima and Harley]

For all the things Amelia was bad at in her life, one thing she could count on was a sense of something not being right. And the current situation with Harley? It had definitely reached that point.

Everything that had followed their Valentine's evening in together didn't make sense. Amelia had sent several text messages to Harley to see how she was doing and to ask if she might see her over the days that followed. Most of the time, she received nothing but silence in response. After a while, though, she got text messages of random words or letters, and the occasional video of a darkness with sniffing and whining sounds that reminded her very much of a dog.

Amelia's been on such a high lately from all of the wonderful things she's been feeling with Harley that this sudden drop off after promises of wanting her around set off the rogue's anxiety. Did she do something wrong? Was it awkward for her to leave at the end of their night in, instead of crashing at Harley's place? She'd had an appointment the following morning that she needed to keep, so going back to the inn had made sense. Was it wrong of her to want that kind of space? Did Harley want something more for her?

Was she doing everything wrong?

The last straw in trying to decide what to do next came in the form of a video message that sounded like the dog answering Harley's phone was chewing on it. It was time to see if the only other person who was as involved with Harley as her knew what was happening. Unfortunately for the rogue, Majima knew as little as she did. Rather than try to work it out with him, she asked him to meet her at Harley's place, to see if they couldn't get the other woman to open the door and let them in.

When Majima finally arrives at the door to Harley's apartment, Amelia's wearing a hole in the floor with her pacing. She turns to him the second he steps through the portal, her hands clenching into loose fists at her sides so she doesn't pick at the embroidery on her fine clothes.

"She won't answer the door. I've called and knocked dozens of times. What do we do?"

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Her frown deepens as Harley speaks. "It's no one's fault if I'm hurt but my own," she says quickly. "If I put my life on the line, only I can answer for what comes of my actions."

It's not a comforting statement, but it's the truth. Harley shouldn't feel like it's her fault if something were to happen to Amelia in her pursuit of Joker. The rogue knows full well that she's the only one who can be held responsible for what she does, no matter how terribly that may end for her.

"But unless you're all right with this, I won't make a single move on him." She looks over at Majima and nods before looking back at Harley. "Neither of us will do something you're uncomfortable with."

Majima visibly bristles, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "Don't ya go takin' responsibility for whatever messed-up shit this fuckin' creep pulls. That's all on him, Harley." He gives her a squeeze for emphasis then returns Amelia's look.

"Like I said, I ain't gonna go lookin' for trouble, but the minute he starts shit, you better believe all bets are off."

Harley is honestly fighting the depression instincts that are threatening to overcome her. She still feels so scared that she had disappointed Majima and Amelia. That she should just 'flip that switch' in her head, smile a fake smile, and agree with their desires.

It would be so easy to allow her triggers to take control.

But Harley wants to be strong for these two wonderful people.

She reaches up to kiss Majima's lips softly. Then leans over to also kiss Amelia. They are so wonderful to be protective of her.

"We can find other trouble to get into... together." She manages a weak smile. But it is a real smile. Nothing faked here.

That kiss easily takes the fight out of Amelia - and distracts her from any remaining hurt feelings. She lets her eyes fall closed and exhales a soft breath, trying (and mostly failing) to compose herself before she speaks again.

"I'm good at trouble. Name your poison and I can find it for us."

Majima is still a put off, even with the placating kiss -- one only half-returned this time. It's not his place to say how other people should deal with their trauma, but he's concerned by the lack of fight in Harley. Where was all that spirit he saw in Gotham? Losing that doesn't sit well with him.

Either way, not much to be done right now. He grudgingly goes along with the new train of thought. "Yeah, yeah. You wanna get outta yer little hidey hole here? Ya ain't been out but for work, huh?"

It is a good thing that Majima has that silent concern. Harley is still a little in the 'victim' stage of healing from her trauma.

She needs their support to get back to Survivor. And then Thriver.

"It would be good for me to get out of the apartment for a little bit." Harley nods. She smiles a little at Majima. "Yes. I have been to work. I have not been very social to the rest of the staff."

"You've been hurting. No one can blame you for that." She nuzzles Harley's cheek gently then pulls back just enough to offer a wry smile. "Let's find something to do that will make it easier to be around people for you, then. We can rough some people up, break a few things, go hide in plain sight somewhere - like at a club or something like that. Anything at all, you simply have to name it."

It's a good game to play, hiding in plain sight, even if there's little point to it when played alone. With company, though, Amelia thinks it could be worth while. Hiding three people is more challenging than one, after all.

"There's plenty of opportunities for a group such as us, both in the Nexus or on either of your worlds. If something sounds fun to you, we can find a way to make it happen." Between three enterprising people like themselves? There's no way they won't find something fun and distracting to cheer Harley up.

"Eh, let's avoid my world for a bit. Besides, you were already there for work." And Majima's in enough hot water as it is without being caught goofing off with a couple of ladies.

There's always his other favorite way to blow off steam: "Maybe we can find a karaoke joint or somethin'. The Nexus is big enough there's not much risk of embarrassin' yerself in front'a people ya know."

"I would be good for karaoke." Harley smiles. Truth be told, she doesn't think that she would be at her best for roughing anyone up tonight.

"Will you help me pick out a sparkly dress, Goro?" She trails her fingers down his side.

"Karaoke?" Her magical ring doesn't give her a translation. It must be a borrowed word from another language? Her lips pull into a thin line as she shifts Harley into Majima's arms.

"Do I need to change before we do this? What are we even doing with this... karaoke that could be embarrassing?"

Majima looks momentarily taken-aback my Amelia's lack of familiarity, then remembers Nexus. Of course. Not everyone has the same cultural touchstones.

"Karaoke? Right." He scratches the back of his head. "So, uh, back in Japan, lotsa bars have these machines full'a songs and screens that show you the lyrics. Ya pick out a song, and do yer best to sing it. Pretty simple."

His response to Harley's invitation is to draw her out of the kitchen. He calls back to Amelia, "If ya got a good set of pipes on ya, or you've had enough to drink, ya won't be embarrassed at all!"

"You don't have to change for karaoke, Amelia. But I do have some dresses with full sleeves, if you want to look through my closet."

Harley has a wide assortment of outfits, dresses and even costumes in her closet. The outfits range from modest, to professional, to sexy, and to downright slutty. There will be a lot for Majima to choose from.

"And we can do each other's hair." Harley likes styling Amelia's hair. She opens the vanity with her colored extensions. A wide variety of options there, besides the pink and blue that are her traditional colors.

"I'll just stay in what I have on," she calls up to the loft. "It'll give us more time to work on our hair." Smooth way of ducking out of that, Amelia. Really. The awkwardness of that transition wasn't noticeable at all!

She'll content herself with brushing out her hair with her fingers and debating how to style Harley's hair while she waits in the living room. Two people are more than capable of choosing an outfit for one of them on their own.

Majima browses through her closet, flicking clothes hangers back and forth -- occasionally pausing and shooting Harley a raised eyebrow-look at some of her wardrobe choices. As he moves down the line, he pulls out several options and hooks them sideways on the rod. He seems surprisingly comfortable with this task.

"How about this one?" After some final deliberation, he's settled on a sassy, red bodycon number. Sparkly, of course. "Always a fan of red."

"Red is my favorite color." Harley takes the dress from him with a bright smile. "And I have a lipstick that matches."

Harley has no qualms about changing in front of Majima. She slides the dress on, and then turns so that he can zip up the dress for her. It might be an excuse to have his hands touch her again. She feels safe in his embrace.

After she is dressed, she finds some sparkly red extensions for her hair, and heads downstairs so that Amelia can help her with her hair.

Already, just being in the dress is bringing back some of that color in her face. She doesn't like as pale. And her smiles are becoming more frequent.

Amelia can't help the bright smile that pulls across her face at seeing Harley dressed up so nicely. The smile doesn't hurt either.

"You look wonderful," she says, taking a seat on the couch and offering the spot next to her to Harley. "Now, let me try something with your hair to make it extra special for our night out..."

She doesn't go for anything too fancy, simply a style that she has practice with from her world. Braids like these are easy when the person she's doing them for isn't a squirming preteen. When she's done, Amelia tucks in a few loose strands of hair and then smiles at Harley.

"There. Your look is complete. Take a look and let me know what you think? I have a few others I could try if you'd like."

Majima follows Harley downstairs, rolling down his shirtsleeves and re-buttoning the cuffs. He pulls his jacket back on and sinks into a chair. While he watches the braiding through a fuzzy eye, he pulls a cigarette from his pocket and spins it between his fingers. He doesn't bother lighting it -- not out of courtesy so much as a lack of obvious ash trays.

When Amelia declares that she's done, he leans forward in his seat to get a better look. He slaps his knee and declares, "Amelia. We fucked up. We made her look too beautiful. Now we're gonna look like a couple'a total slobs next to this goddess."

Harley gives a really bright smile at the compliment. And smiles up at Amelia, grateful for her support.

"But you are my slobs." She teases lightly. "And I would not change either of you for the world."

"We're only slobs in comparison, Majima," Amelia chides in a teasing tone. "I think we do well on our own, and that our beautiful lady would agree." She throws a wink at Harley as she gets to her feet and helps the other woman to hers. Of course they all look wonderful. There's no way any of them would let themselves go like that.

"But if you're so eager for disapproval from the rest of the Nexus, we should head out. I'm sure they'd be happy to provide it if you ask nicely." Her smile is sweet as she looks over at Majima, but her eyes are full of deviousness. Why, yes, she does love lightening the mood with teasing, why do you ask?

Majima quickly asks his PINpoint assistant for the top-rated karaoke bar in the Nexus. She returns with a place called the "Cantata Cantina" that claims to be charmingly cheap and dive-y (Five-dollar Margarita happy hour?), while also boasting one of the biggest multiversal song catalogs any Nexus-goer could hope to find.

"Well, this slob is ready to get a stiff drink or two and sing his fuckin' heart out," Majima says decisively as he rises from his seat and extends a hand. "Ready, Harley-chan?"

"More than ready." She feels refreshed, and ready to sing a few songs. Harley takes Majima's offered hand, and leans into him with a smile.

She already has a few songs on her mind.

And is just looking forward to hitting the stage tonight.

Amelia reaches for Harley's free hand, taking up her place on the woman's left as they make their way out of the apartment and down toward the karaoke bar. It's a little frightening, trying something new in such a spontaneous way, but she's ready for it. Or as ready as she can be, anyway.

The bar is as much of a dive as Majima's PINpoint promised it would be. It's dark, a little claustrophobic, and filled with a decent crowd. The rogue is off-put by the sheer volume of people and how close they all have to be given the space constraints, which is most of why she tries to keep so close to Harley and Majima. At least they're familiar and being packed in next to them isn't so hard.

"So... drinks first?" she asks with a nervous smile. "I'll buy the first round."

At one point, the bar had some semi-Hispanic trappings, but has since been suffused with the usual melange of Nexus cultures as ownership and staff likely changed over the years.

A small, festively-lit stage is shoved in the back. Currently, a woman with demon horns and a whole glam rock vibe is belting out "One Way or Another" by Blondie. A dizzying montage of seemingly unrelated stock videos is projected behind her and she scarcely needs to refer to the lyrics holographically projected in the air.

It's a far cry from the hole-in-the-wall karaoke bars Majima is used to, but the fancier tech and the energy of the half-drunken crowd definitely doesn't disappoint.

After taking in the surroundings, his attention lands back on Harley and Amelia. The rogue has the right idea. She definitely looks like she could use something to loosen up. "Yeah. Good thinkin'. We gotta queue up, anyway. This place is hoppin'."

Majima hails the bartender, places his drink order, and asks about the song catalog. She wordlessly points to a flat, glowing console adjacent to the bar. While he waits for his drink, he scrolls through the impossibly vast library, humming and rocking on his heels to the current song.

He elbows Harley, remembering the first conversation they had months ago. "Oi, they've got Whitney Houston. And some Britany!"

Harley wraps her arm around Amelia's waist, hoping to provide some comfort to the overwhelmed rogue. She loves the whole setting of the bar. The crowd excites her... just in the same way that a full house at Sunshine Club does.

And she loves the fancier tech that is offered to them.

When Majima remembers their first conversation... she beams at him. It is still a little surreal to think that they only met just months ago. That her life has changed so much since arriving in the Nexus.

"How about Meghan Trainor. I could so sing 'All About That Bass' right now."

Edited 2018-03-02 13:14 (UTC)

Amelia sticks close to Harley as they look over the song list, sipping at the ginger ale she ordered as the pages scroll by. It's quite the impressive list, but the surprising thing to her is how many titles she knows. She hadn't realized how many songs she'd heard while wandering about the Nexus over the last few years. It doesn't help her pick one for herself, but she's happy to see how this works before she attempts anything.

When Harley chooses her selection, Amelia smiles brightly at the woman. "Let's get you signed up, then. I can't wait to hear you sing."

The rogue waives down the bartender, asking about how to sign up for a slot to sing. The woman points again to the console, specifically a bright green checkbox next to each of the song titles. When checked, the box brings up a message asking for a name and how soon the person wants to sing. Once all that's selected, the screen offers a "Congratulations! You're up in # of songs!" message with a kitschy confetti visual.

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