Remembering the Dead

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley Quinn is seated on a large rock in the Nexus today. She seems to already to be in the Halloween spirit, as the colorful young woman is dressed as a circus ringmaster. But despite her colorful costume, her usual energetic spirit seems to be missing today.

She has a bouquet of flowers in her hand. And takes one of the flowers, then slowly removes the petals of the flower one-by-one, scattering them underneath her.

"This year is going to be the first time that I am not in Arkham, during a death-a-versary. And I am not really sure what I should do?" She bites her bottom lip for a moment. "How do you remember those who are gone, without letting the memories overwhelm you?"

Comments

[sweetcandygirl]

"But you are still a gentleman to the ladies. That is rare, honey."

She shakes her head. "No. Joker can do that all on his own, without a potion. You hurt him, and he just laughs. Then he hurts you..."

[lastravagerstanding]

"Nah. I wouldn't get the door or nuthin'. Jus' won't make comments 'bout yer body." He'll happily grope, but only if someone gropes first.

"Sounds a bit like Cap'n."

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley usually has no problems with groping first. But it seems to her that Kraglin still needs to heal from his loss first.

"Your Captain hurt you?" She frowned slightly. "Like... more than emotionally?"

[lastravagerstanding]

"Me? Nah, not really. Not more'n usual f'r Ravagers." Punch ups happened sometimes. And he'd done a couple of stints in the brig while they found their equilibrium with each other as Captain and First Mate. "But other people? Sure. If it were just funny he'd laugh and hit back. If he got fucked off, that was when he'd whistle."

[sweetcandygirl]

"I'm glad to hear that there wasn't something more... harmful." She has a lost look for a moment. And just takes comfort in leaning into him.

"A whistle? Huh?"

[lastravagerstanding]

"Nah. Yondu was a good Cap'n. Only killed crew what deserved it."

Tullk's furious, horrified face, staring out through the airlock. Stupid bastard's should've laid low and waited for a chance to strike.

"Yeah. Had this Yaka arrow, could whistle like an angel and make it fly and dance. Ain't no one escape the arrow."

[sweetcandygirl]

"You miss him a lot, huh?" Harley stares up at him. "Tell me more about him."

[lastravagerstanding]

Kraglin resolutely doesn't cry, because Cap'n would've yelled at him about sentiment and kicked his shins for crying over him.

"Dunno what t' say. He was the Cap'n, even when he did dumb shit like keep Petey instead of handin' him over and not punch him in the face when he stole that damn M-Ship of his, an' collected them dumb, cute trinkets 'a his."

[sweetcandygirl]

She reaches up to run her fingers against the side of his head.

"He sounds like he liked the simple things in life."

[lastravagerstanding]

He twitches at the touch, unfamiliar for so many reasons, not least because of the new implant and the lack of soft touches among Ravagers. "Yeah. Guess so. Don't really b'come a Ravager 'cause you got phee-lo-sof-ee-cal outlooks."

You do it because you want money and you're desperate. You stay because you enjoy it more than anything else you've found.

[sweetcandygirl]

She draws back her hand after noticing that twitch at her touch. Harley doesn't want to overstep her boundaries right now. She likes him after all.

"Sounds like it is more like the same reasons one gets on the Suicide Squad."

[lastravagerstanding]

"Pro'bly. Name like that. Weren't no future on Hrax, not f'r me. When Cap'n offered me t' join, I joined. Space seemed better 'n minin' and starvin'."

Presumably, Suicide Squad was suicide missions, not just people dedicated to killing themselves. "So y'r squad got all the shit dangerous missions?"

[sweetcandygirl]

"The most dangerous. The ones where it didn't matter if we came back alive, or came back successful... because they thought us insignificant."

[lastravagerstanding]

He nods along to that. He knows that. He knows the feeling, the understanding that coming back is purely optional and your death might just be preferred.

"Get anythin' good f'r it?"

[sweetcandygirl]

"Time off our prison sentence." Harley shrugs. "And I got a Cappuccino machine the last time."

[lastravagerstanding]

"Dunno what that is but it sure sounds fancy." A cap-pu-chee-no machine.

[sweetcandygirl]

"It is like really, really, really good coffee. With whipped cream."

She beams at him. "Do you want one?"

[lastravagerstanding]

"Coffee." The word isn't familiar, but it could just be a different word for something he knows. "Hell, sure. Sounds good."

Free food is always good.

"Want another of them sweets? I stole a bunch off'a this jerk in white kept threatenin' to have his death soldiers shoot me."

[sweetcandygirl]

"How about we go to an actual pub, eat, drink and be merry?" Harley jumps off her perch with the idea. And holds out her hand to him again.

"We can save the sweets for dessert."

[lastravagerstanding]

"... Y' payin'?" Ravagers always worry about that sort of thing first.

[sweetcandygirl]

"Of course honey." She beams at him again.

[lastravagerstanding]

"Definitely!" Someone else is paying, any Ravager is in. One like Kraglin, who has been informed he must be hosting a tapeworm with the amount of eats without putting on weight, will take any food going at any point.

[sweetcandygirl]

She takes his arm in hers, and leads her to the Nexus pub that she frequents. That she has been to more than three times now. She even has a booth set aside where she sits with her new-found friend.

"Feel free to order anything ya' like." She hands him a menu.

[lastravagerstanding]

Kraglin walks fairly steadily... which involves a certain amount of sway not entirely related to the brain surgery. He gives the place a once over as they come in, checking out the exits and then folding into the booth and collapsing.

"Um..." he takes the menu and squints at it. "I 'unno what most'a this is."

[sweetcandygirl]

"Oh!" Harley looks at him for a moment. Then decides on an order, that she thinks he would enjoy.

When the waitress comes, she orders two large Porterhouse steaks, both medium rare. With onion rings. And a strawberry milkshake for her, while she orders him a Cappuccino, a neat Scotch, and a glass of orange juice.

"There... that is settled."