revmeup | call me out

Malcolm shakes his head. "No, it was good. It needed to be done." He doesn't regret it, even if it had triggered a panic attack in him. That's just how it is sometimes after he visits his father.

"Your laugh was just... maniacal sounding, though it was probably just me. I was already upset after he suggested he I needed his approval to date you."

It's honestly stupid. Martin probably can't do anything to them, but he still has a mental hold over Malcolm after all this time.

"We don't need his approval for jack shit."

She wants to pull him into her arms and hold him the rest of the day, but she doesn't want to overwhelm him. Especially when she worries she was part of what set him off.

"Were you ... scared of me?"

He furrows his brow. "Not... exactly. It was just kind of shocking after dealing with my father." Malcolm looks up at her. "When I heard you laugh like that, for some reason it made me think of when you used to be with Joker."

Not that he really knew her then, but that crazy laugh had to be related to that time in her life. Even if he wasn't afraid of her, it was still chilling.

She sighs when she thinks of her time with the Joker, and it's not entirely regretful. "He did make me laugh like that," she murmurs, almost to herself. There had been good times. Well, good for them. Not for anyone caught in their storm.

"I didn't stop being that person. I'm...trying. To be less..." She stops and furrows her brow, chews on her lip. It's hard to explain, and maybe not the time.

Malcolm squeezes her hand. He knows she had some good times with him. She wouldn't have stayed with him if it was all bad.

"I know." He nods. "You're trying very hard. I don't fault you for your past, Harley." His eyes turn up towards her then. "It's okay."

Harley smooths his hair back with her free hand and presses her lips to his temple. It's not as okay as he says, and she could be trying harder, but that's not the conversation they need to be having right now.

"Do you want me to grab your pills?"

"Yeah." He hates having to take them when he gets like this, but at least when Harley's around, it's more bearable. While he loves being strong for her and being her protector, he knows he doesn't need to be that to her all the time. He can show vulnerability around her and she won't love him less.

After she gets his pills and he takes one, he sighs and pulls her in close again, tucking her head under his chin. "Thanks. For today."

Harley wraps her arms around him and rubs his back. She's happy to be held by him anytime, even when he needs to be the one comforted.

"Sure, I'll sass your dad anytime you want, no prob. I'm real good at it." Martin has set up quite a comfortable routine for himself. It's high time somebody inconvenienced him.

She's more comforting than she gives herself credit for. Malcolm can't help but think that she's always been that way, even if she insists that she's not a nice person.

"You are really good at it," he agrees with a small smile. "I think he likes you though."

"Everybody likes me," she asserts despite all evidence to the contrary. Universally liked people have not had nearly so many attempts on their lives, but she tends to figure if she survived then they didn't really mean it.

"Probably the next time he tries to talk to me," and there will be a next time. Martin is too clever to be avoided forever. "He'll have some bullshit speech ready about what could have been if he'd been my patient instead of the Joker. I get that one a lot. It's super boring." Narcissists tend to love the idea of having someone find them so irresistibly amazing that they can't help but follow their every whim like a loyal dog. She's been sent a lot of "fan" letters.

"I'd say we're about equal when it comes to likability," Malcolm answers, meaning that both of them are an acquired taste. Their strangeness is part of what keeps them together.

He gives her a slight raise of an eyebrow. "If that's his way of hitting on you, then I'll stab him myself. Again." Malcolm can be a little possessive when it comes to the beautiful woman in his lap, especially where his father is concerned. That nightmare had sickened him. He'd rather die than see Harley with his father.

Harley raises her brows and her lips quirk into a little smile. "I probably shouldn't think that's one of the hottest things you've said to me, huh?" She kisses the corner of his mouth and rubs the back of his neck.

"It's got nothing to do with me, just stroking their own egos. Nothing to worry about."

"You're allowed to think it's hot," he says. "I understand why." And while he still doesn't think he has it in him to kill, if his father tried to do anything to Harley Malcolm would definitely hurt him. Even if she can protect herself, he still feels protective towards the woman he loves.

"As long as that's the only thing he's stroking," Malcolm murmurs, turning his head to nuzzle her cheek. "You're mine."

"Yours," she practically purrs in answer. Her arms slip around him and her fingers grip the back of his jacket. "Nobody else's, just for you."

"That's right," he whispers. "All mine."

Malcolm holds her close, feeling her heart beat against his chest. His fingers stroke through her hair. "I love you," Malcolm tells her. He never thought he could love someone as much as he loves her.

"I love you, too." She kisses him sweetly. "We don't have any plans for the rest of the day. Do you want to try and make up on some of that lost sleep?"

"I probably ought to," he says with a sigh. "You know, I think I've been getting more sleep since you started sharing a bed with me."

Correlation may not be causation though, at least not directly. Malcolm thinks Harley is the reason he's getting more sleep and having less nightmares. He hasn't ever been this happy before in his life and it's having a positive influence on him.

"Yep, 'cuz I've been drugging you." She smirks and drops another kiss on the end of his nose before getting off his lap. She pulls him up with her and pushes his jacket off his shoulders. "I'll cuddle with you until you fall asleep."

"Sedatives don't work on me," he says with a smile. If he could dope himself into having dreamless sleep, he'd have done it a long time ago.

Malcolm goes along with her and lets her start to undress him. "That sounds like a fantastic idea."

Harley leads him to bed and then keeps gently fussing over him, leaning down to help him take off his shoes and helping him get comfortable before lying down next to him.

"How are you doing now? Less shaky?"

He nods, blushing a little as she takes off his shoes and helps get him ready for a nap. Malcolm used to dread naps, but with improvements with his sleep, naps aren't so bad now.

Since she seems so keen on taking care of him, he hands her his cuffs to put on him. Harley is probably the only other person he trusts to put them on him and subsequently see him in what he considers to be a vulnerable state.

"I'm trying not to think about him any more for now," he tells her.

"Good," she says as she fastens the restraints around his wrists. "He's not worth thinking about." She kisses his forehead, cheek, nose, before finally landing on his lips and settling in to cuddle him until he relaxes. "Can I do anything for you?"

He's tempted to jokingly ask for a blow job, but he knows Harley might actually give him one and he's honestly pretty tired. Malcolm brushes her hair back and shakes his head.

"Just cuddle with me," he says, pressing another kiss to her lips. Right now, that would be just as nice as any kind of sexual activity. "Oh, and wake me up if Gil calls." Malcolm doesn't want to miss a murder.

"Your wish is my command," she teases, although she really would do anything he asked of her. She tucks herself against his side with her head on his shoulder, and rubs slow circles on his chest.

"I'll remember that," he murmurs as he closes his eyes. Fortunately for Harley, he would never ask her to do anything she wasn't okay with.

Her touch and presence are soothing to him and it's not long until he drifts off to sleep. Fortunately this time, it stays dreamless.

call me out

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject