snowblindrpg | [log] back, back again [closed]

Characters: Clayton, Luna, and SURPRISE it's everyone's favorite clown (Joker).
Location The computer store (Building 143)
Date: Evening 110
Summary: All of that crazy yesterday only to walk into more crazy.
Warnings: It's the Joker. Other warnings will be added as needed.

It feels like we've just been walking in circles, doesn't it? I don't understand this weather...

[Despite the quiet exasperation in her tone, Luna's still glad to be back out of that awfully wet snowfall, shaking off her legs as she steps through the door, trying to help Clayton in behind her. She... well, she owed him a few apologies for things she had said last night, but to do so in the middle of a snowfall never seemed to work out too well.

It's not a new sight, this old rundown place, but it kept them safe enough a couple days ago. It's a minor comfort, if any, but she still steels herself as best as she can with the feeling.]

Would you be okay with trying to make it back to the grocery tomorrow? If we can, I mean.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Clayton can't find the energy to be grateful for much of anything right now. Needless to say what the culprit is--it's been talked to death already and Clayton's miserable from it, from his own anger, from his own sulking depression, from crying so much. Maybe the best thing about getting to the abandoned computer store is that it's given them some new material to work with so he won't have to think about it so much. Or so he hopes. The weight of his tablet in his coat pocket feels like the weight of every person's judgement in Norfinbury and has been very hard to ignore.]

[He slumps in behind Luna, head down, boots dragging over the threshold, and finds his voice with a wet cough.]

Sure. [No attempts made to work with the quaint smalltalk Luna gave him. Clayton stares into the store to try and adjust to the dark, gives up, and turns to close the door behind them.] Runnin' low?

[The Joker rubs at his cold-chapped lips and thinks dark thoughts as he trudges through the snow back to the computer store.

He's gone longer than this without eating, it's true, but after the cataclysm there had been stores to loot, goons to send out and, well, he hadn't trapped in a permanently frozen wasteland.

Scavenging like this...It feels beneath him.

If he can't get that Thing to wake up soon and just destroy this entire-

The thought drops from his mind as he steps into the shop and finds people there. For a moment he entertains the the thought of slitting their throats for daring to sit on his turf while he's in a poor mood...but what fun is that?

One of them he recognizes.]

Well, if I'd known I was gonna have company I woulda put the coffee on!

[He smiles a toothy, shark-like smile.]

[She'd barely gotten a nod to Clayton, gently offering him a smile in a delicate attempt to try and get the man out of the pit he'd been trudging through all day.

And then the door opens again with that horrible rush of wind. And she hears that voice, shrill and charismatic and oh so recognizable before she turns around to see his face, and oh how the memories come rushing back. She bristles instantly, her face going pale.

Sorry, Joker, if you were expecting words, you're not getting them. She's instantly backing as far away as she can, all fear and no fight.]

[Clayton jumps--not because it's the Joker, not because Luna is visibly upset, but because the door's opened and his paranoid mind runs away from him as soon as it is. He spins, looking about as frightened as Luna does, expecting the worst--]

[--and though he basically gets it, he relaxes. Joker's been on the network and he's got quite the distinguishing face, and it hardly takes Luna making a quick path to the wall for Clayton to understand what situation they're in right now. The day's melancholy slips away as he smoothly steps between them.]

There's still time. Ain't gonna argue 'gainst a good host 'round these parts. [There's a sort of casual, almost teasing lilt to his voice. Testing the waters. Joker seems the type to appreciate a bit of banter.] Jack White, right?

That's right!

[He offers a hand to Clayton.]

Charmed.

[Then he calls out to Luna, amused at her retreating form.]

Hey, where are you going!? No hugs for an old pal! C'mon!

Please don't mock me, Jack.

[There's no bite in her words, her voice shaking as her shoulders hit the wall, her bags held close to her ankles.]

...Your head. Has it gotten any worse?

Well that blow to the noggin from the United States sure as shoot didn't help.

[A wet cough.]

Pretty sure I'm dyin'.

[He leans on Clayton.]

[Clayton takes Joker's hand, and then ends up taking the rest of him, too. He makes for a sturdy and cooperative brace.]

Ah, don't mind 'er. She's been a real wet blanket all day.

[He says, pointedly not looking at Luna. If he looked back at Luna and saw how horrified she is, how uncomfortable just being in the same room as this murderer makes her, his heart might break and he'd lose his resolve to help at all. For her sake, he keeps up the playful facade.]

Clayton Epps. We've talked, yeah? 'Bout that pesky lil' whack on the head in particular, I recall.

[The Joker's response is what she expects - all sass and retort and dramatic flair.

Clayton's, on the other hand, twists her stomach and refuses to let go.

She doesn't respond to the banter, watching Clayton guide the painted man away with a wide-eyed look of disbelief and deep, sudden hurt, clenching her bags tightly in her fingers and pressing her lips tight.]

[Joker coughs again and uses the moment as an excuse to turn his face away from Clayton. Across the room he catches Luna's eye and flashes her a cruel, knowing smile before looking back at Clayton with a dramatic frown.]

We sure did. Everyone seems to enjoy knocking me around here.

I just wanna get home, Doc...

[Welp. She catches that look long enough for it to send a shudder down her form, before she has to force her gaze away. Don't jump to conclusions, don't assume... maybe Clayton had something up his sleeve.

...Maybe.

...

Time to sink to the floor and try not to show any emotion for a good, long while.]

[He does, in a way--keep Joker occupied, keep the murderer content, keep Luna safe. Some peace and quiet away from the clown might help ease her discomfort eventually, Clayton thinks. Apart from risking an escape it's the best he has to offer. He'll think of a way to handle the rest later.]

[For the moment he leads them away, towards the other side of the small, empty shop, hand on Joker's back to both support and guide him in the right direction.]

Lord, don't I know that. [He gives Joker a sad, sympathetic smile. Part of him knows very well that this is an act--Joker didn't start acting so forward in their conversations until after Clayton offered to help, after all--but if it's an act that's rooted in those more subtle feelings he saw before, then it's an act Clayton's willing to play along with.] We'll get you there, one step at a time. Let's take a look at you first, eh? Jus' sit down, relax a bit, see if I can make things a lil' more bearable for ya.

[The Joker watches Clayton's movements out of the corner of his eye closely as they walk.]

'Kay.

But no poking me in places, I hate that.

[He pads over to the wall and slides down it to the floor. Once he's sitting the swimming sensation between his ears subsides a bit, causing him to groan and rub at his face.]

[log] back, back again [closed]

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