her_imperial_radiance | delicious bubbly

Elspeth is glad that Milliways likes her, because she likes it. Jacob at her side and a glass of this nice golden stuff in her hand (she's tried the other synthetics; they're nice for an occasional change, but only humans care about dietary variety that much and this one is her favorite) and hubbub from a hundred worlds around her: lovely. A lovely break from work that keeps no one waiting, that doesn't even throw off her sleep cycle because her sleep cycle cares about the sun. (It throws off Jake's, a little, but his is more flexible than hers.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

pythbox

Mary is already chewing contemplatively on her lip as they approach the group.

"Okay," she says. "Negotiate away, I'll tell you what's going to work out."

From:

luminous_regnant

"Well," says Golden to the Joker, "what would you be inclined to do, with mint powers and a mated vampire and the run of Aurum - less Ireland, because frankly I don't think Siobhan is going to tolerate you anywhere within her territory."

From:

manofmyword

"Wander around," he says, shrugging. "Get into trouble, but probably not the kind you care about."

From:

pythbox

"Sounds about right," volunteers Mary. "With some variance." She explores a little more. "Depending largely on the terms you work out, but I don't have enough good guesses about those to pin it down further."

From:

luminous_regnant

"How much do either of you know about what kind of trouble I care about?" inquires Golden.

From:

pythbox

"The bulk of probability says this guy is not going to do anything that disrupts your life significantly or makes you express a reaction more negative than exasperation or nervousness," says Mary. "With mint powers and a mated vampire and the run of Aurum." She checks something. "Actually, if you don't give him mint powers, he's much likelier to cause trouble. By a factor of more than ten; my numbers aren't exact."

From:

self_composed

"...Seriously?"

From:

luminous_regnant

"That's extremely counterintuitive," says Golden.

From:

manofmyword

"Not really," says the Joker. "Makes perfect sense to me."

From:

luminous_regnant

"Perhaps you could elaborate."

From:

manofmyword

He thinks about it for a few seconds.

Then he says, "The harder it is to cause trouble, the more fun it is. So the easier it is to cause trouble..." He spreads his hands.

From:

luminous_regnant

"And yet the trouble you could cause if the mood struck is correspondingly more significant, if you have not only coins but also unrestricted ability to use them," she says. "At that point I can no longer decide you're a net liability and straightforwardly send Razi to kill you - hypothetically, Nathan. At that point I can't stash you in the hiding place - which might be a terrible idea anyway, if the way you're describing the situation is accurate."

From:

manofmyword

"I don't do things I don't want to do," the Joker explains patiently. "And I don't want to throw big magic around to cause trouble. No interest at all."

From:

luminous_regnant

Golden looks at Mary.

From:

pythbox

"I'm not a lie detector," she says. "I can tell you he's really unlikely to do that, but I can't tell you what would make him do that unless somebody suggests a possible cause and I check."

From:

luminous_regnant

"I suppose Alice - my sister, not him," she clarifies with a gesture at Stella's Alice, "could potentially help, but she can't do anything here, this place makes her dizzy..."

From:

self_composed

"This is all looking like a much happier ending than I'd anticipated. Previously my best idea for a more humane solution to Gotham's little problem looked like 'maybe send him home with Angela to wander around on that continent full of Edori'," Stella comments.

From:

manofmyword

The Joker wrinkles his nose.

"I'd much rather go home with him," he says, tipping his head at Nathan. "As a mint." He grins. "Embrace the retired life."

From:

luminous_regnant

Nathan very, very carefully presses his lips to the top of the Joker's head.

"The actual priority here is not and has never been what you'd rather except insofar as that interacts with the priority of not having you murdering people," Golden says. "What you'd rather only matters within a given level of probability of mayhem happening."

(Me first, me first, not my Afton, she's thinking, but this is not something she chooses to share.)

"I care what he'd rather," Nathan says. "I thought you cared what I'd rather, Your Majesty, or am I just your timer after all this time?"

"Anyone mated to a wild card is a wild card, Nathan, you know that, you helped me when Zafrina mated. I care what you'd rather, but if I can't expect you to be putting mayhem-reduction first anymore -"

"I think," says Nathan, "that if you could trust me to do that - that if Edward'd tell you to trust me to do that - then that'd make him safer - so you can."

"Only if the Joker lets you escort him around," Golden says, "instead of ditching you."

From:

manofmyword

The Joker bestows a radiant smile on Mary.

"Here's a possible cause for you," he says. "People trying to control me."

From:

pythbox

Mary makes a disquieted noise.

From:

manofmyword

"So this is how I think it should work," he says. "If you really don't want me causing trouble. Don't make rules. Don't threaten me. Don't spy on me every minute to make sure I'm behaving myself. Don't make it hard for me to cause trouble, or I'll want to. Just let me know what you'd rather, and leave me alone. And I'll play nice as long as I don't have to go too far out of my way to do it."