Why So Serious? (Usagi)

[The Joker]

No Netflix? He fumbled the remote in his hand with idle frustration, smashing buttons and channel surfing through stations that provided grotesque images and noise of Japanese culture; Japanese culture being the key word, or words. Because quite simply put, the Joker was in Japan. His business was purely pleasure of course, though the lack of function with the television gave him none. It was time to move on from the television. He never really enjoyed it much anyway but he was hoping to catch an episode of Big Bang Theory only for the aspirations of hearing it in a different language. That never happened.

His exploring eyes spun over the neat apartment. This wasn’t his apartment after all so he’d need to get a sense of his surroundings and what better place to start than the bedroom where the magic happened. And not magic in that sense, he had no interest in that, he was more curious of this particular persons abilities; abilities that belonged to Tsukino Usagi.

He pushed open the bedroom door and walked in as calm as someone whom had been there a million times before. He retracted any statements made subconsciously about this apartment being neat. The tidy arrangements of the living room were deceiving, a trick to anyone who looked beyond and got a glimpse of her sleeping quarters. He guided his way through an obstacle of clothes and shoes before finally reaching his long journeys destination to the bathroom. It was here that his intentions became mischievous, unleashing a bag tucked inside his coat and emptying the contents into the bathtub. An angry and tempted to strike boa restrictor dropped into the tub and the Joker pulled the curtain closed. It was a bit of a childish prank, even for him, but he couldn’t help but smirk in delight to the reaction that may soon come whenever Stinky Smelly Usagi needed to be undone.

But he wasn’t here for gags, well, unless he strangled her, but nonetheless trickery was not his intentions for being here. He wanted a meet and greet. And finally soon enough, his ears caught the distinct sound of the doorknob on the front door of the apartment jiggling. She wouldn’t need a key to get in; he left it unlocked for her. He quickly stumbled through the mess of the room and sprang into the living room to meet the probably surprised Tsukino.

[Tsukino Usagi]

Dr. Tanaka had come back today, and this meant that everyone had it a bit easier. As a result, Emi had somehow managed to convince Usagi to go out with her after work. As such, she was a little late in getting home that evening. After the exciting evening she had just had, the blond was looking forward to taking a nice, hot shower and then curling up on her sofa with the remote for a bit of television before she went to bed. That wasn't too much to ask for, right? As it was the weekend, it was doubtful that there would be anything worthwhile on, but Usa figured she could probably find some ridiculous drama with which to occupy herself. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans for her evening.

The first thing she noticed was that the door was unlocked. Odd, she thought. Usagi distinctly remembered locking her door (and double-checking it to be sure) before leaving for work this morning. Well, alright. Kami knew that this wasn't the first time she had come home to find that she had somehow forgotten to lock it. Still, she couldn't help feeling a bit unnerved. Of course, she wasn't going to get any answers if she just stood around in the hall like a lunatic. No, the first order of business would be checking the place to see that nothing had been stolen ... or worse. Come to think of it, she did remember hearing something about a string of break-ins going around. Just the thought caused her to shiver. How terrible, to come home and find one's things all messed up!

After a few calming breaths, she pushed the door open and entered the apartment, her gaze immediately sweeping around the room. The second thing she noticed was the man (if he could be called that?) standing in the middle of her living room. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but to come home and find a man in full costume in the middle of her sitting room? That was hardly something she was used to. It wasn't as though she was a recluse, but the majority of the friends she had made in the years following everything with Galaxia were women. Yes, sometimes she did have dates or acquaintances over, but this was different. "Konbanwa," she greeted, though she wasn't entirely sure why she was greeting this person.

As an afterthought, she added the English translation, in case he wasn't up on his Japanese. "Good evening." That said, she fought the urge to back toward the door, even as her hand went instinctively to her cellphone tucked away in her pocket.

[The Joker]

The ruby red stretched its swollen torn mouth in delight; delight that she had finally shown and delight that she didn’t make an instant U-turn and was even willing to greet him, politely too may one add, and even in two different languages! He liked polite, well he didn’t hate it, but it was definitely better than oh my God who are you and what are you doing in my house? His eyes caught her eager hand clawing its way into a pocket; a pocket that a cell phone probably occupied and a cell phone that could probably occupy police. He thought it seemed highly inappropriate for her to reach for any foreign objects just yet; after all they had just only met, let’s give a clown a chance here.

The clown kept a relaxed posture, slinking over to the clock hung on the living room wall, turning his back to the home owner like she never existed and studying the clock like some fine piece of art. It all seemed normal, regular, casual; casual like when he first broke in and explored the whereabouts of Usagi Land. He was enchanted by the clocks approaching time and well, why else would somebody stare at a clock?

He then turned back to face her as if she had just entered all over again and as if a hand was creeping towards her pocket all over again. The raccoon eyes fell off the clock and it’s ticking of annoyance became a thing of the past. His eyes had better things to look at for the mean time and those better things were standing just a few feet away from him… Usagi Doll, the Blonde Princess, Soft Bright Floating Feather, Bun-Bun, the-the.. oh, he wasn’t very good with nicknames. His own nick should make that apparent, especially considering his quote on quote jokes were as about amusing as a six year olds. But there she was and there he was and there his hand was grabbing hers?

”Usagi,” A glove covered hand grabbed hers and a rather impulsive firm handshake took place, something just as impulsive as the cold careless smile that soon came after. ”So nice,” The brief pause gave him time to epitomize and let niiiceee slither off the Joker Tongue, ”… to meet you.”