Work Text:
He sat on a small wooden chair in front of a small makeshift desk next to his bed. He looked down at the desk and admired all things on it: small piece of red cloth that lay neatly folded on the edge of the desk, a piece of sandpaper and one of his favorite set of throwing knives. He’d meant to use them in yesterday night’s show but had foolishly forgotten to sharpen them. He ended up using a set he didn’t much care for. Tonight, however, he was determined to clean them up and use them as soon as possible.
He unfolded their beautiful leather holder and counted them. 10 small daggers with a small ruby positioned in the handle of every single one, all resting individually in small pockets. He was happy to see they were all there or he would have been very upset. He took the first one and began to sharpen it with the sandpaper, he deduced that it wouldn’t hurt to do it anyway. After a few quick strokes with the sandpaper across the surface of the blade he took the piece of cloth and cleaned the surface of any unwanted particles on the blade. He looked it again and how perfectly it shined in the candlelight, the red ruby glowing as if it were a crimson drop of blood on a white sheet of paper.
He repeated the exact same procedure three more times, cleaning three more daggers and seemingly falling in love more and more with them with each new one that he cleaned. It was at this time he heard a cacophony somewhere close outside his tent. He sighed. He could very well imagine what it was about and he hoped that he wasn’t right. Could he be back, he thought. He hoped not. Even if he was, he refused to go outside and greet him. Of course, if asked, he’d say that he simply couldn’t go out because his daggers needed his attention more than anything right now. He would get away with it, too. That he knew for sure. So far, though, no one was bothering him and he was happy about it. He could hear Beast laughing outside and he took a moment to enjoy her laughter. He thought it was adorable, even though most people found it to be a bit loud for a lady.
He tried to focus again on his previous work, but the thought of them possibly having fun without him kept nagging at him. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. Try as he might he couldn’t deny it to himself despite being able to hide it perfectly in front of others. Yes, indeed, the thought that he was back and was not bring currently visited made him feel all sorts of emotions. Anger, jealously, hurt, hate, passion. Those were just a small fraction of all of them. He shook his head furiously. He would not give in to such behavior. It was not like him and it never would be. He would not let it.
He pushed a lock of brown hair behind his ear and focused on the rest of the daggers. He’d rather enjoy their company anyway. He huffed as if he had just declared a very important statement. He’d made up his mind.
As he put the last dagger down he sighed in relief and dabbed at his forehead with the red piece of cloth he’d use for the last time tonight to get rid of the small beads of sweat that had formed from the hard work and effort he had put into cleaning his possesions. He looked at the candle to find it half burned away already. Just how much time had passed since he started? An hour perhaps? Most likely, he thought. He then listened closely to find that the loud symphony of voices and shouts had disappeared and given way to the beautiful sounds of the night. He could hear crickets and a slight breeze blowing by from time to time. He closed his eyes, relaxed and listened for a bit. It sounded so peaceful, so peaceful that he almost wished he never heard a roaring crowd in his life again. Of course there was no way that would happen, but one could wish.
Then a strange noise occurred. He didn’t need to turn around to know what it was. The curtains guarding the entrance to his tent were being moved. Whoever it was that was disturbing his peace this late at night was being quite rude. And he thought he already knew who it was as well. He wouldn’t turn round, though, no. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of such an action. He simply turned, put the last dagger in its place and neatly folded the leather holder and proceeded to put it away for tomorrow’s practice. He didn’t even spare him a glance.
On the other side of the tent, the man who had come by for a visit made a slight ,fake sad face and closed the curtains behind him. He quickly smiled after that, though. It wasn’t every day he saw Dagger mad at him, nor was it every day he saw him being so tidy.
The blond boy sat back down on his chair to put away the rest of his belongings . He wouldn’t want to lose them, after all.
“I didn’t see you when I came back, so I thought I’d pay you a visit.” The ginger-haired man said, with an obvious smile in his voice.
“And it didn’t occur to you that I may not have been there on purpose?” The younger boy questioned, still not looking at him.
“Oh, it did, but you know how I am, don’t you? I like to greet all my friends when I’m back.” He smiled, hoping to be looked at while causally walking up to the desk.
“What about saying your goodbyes to them before you leave?” Dagger scoffed with small traces of anger in his voice.
Joker frowned. “Oh, come now, don’t be like this.” He faked a whine. “I am tired, yet I endured everyone just to be able to come and talk to you in peace.” He said, in a normal voice which was something Dagger did not often hear. He was so used to the constant happy voice of his. Though most of the time he was just faking it, he wasn’t happy at all. He’d grown so accustomed to that sugar-coated voice that it made poor Dagger sick.
“Is there something to be said?” Dagger questioned looking forward with a bored expression on his face.
“Clearly. ” The pierrot moved his hand toward the boy’s face and with a single finger turned the boy’s face to him. The blond boy was a bit startled at first but then that expression disappeared and one of slight pain graced his facial features.
“I am sorry I left in such a hurry, but I had no choice. A problem came up and I had to take care of it as fast as possible.” Joker explained without breaking eye contact.
“Really? Because it seems you had just enough time to tell Beast.” Dagger half-snapped back at him and rose a bit from his chair .
“Well I had to tell someone, otherwise you guys would think I ran away or even worse- died.” Joker half laughed at Dagger’s childish jealousy. It wasn’t some horrific form of jealousy and it wasn’t a quality Dagger even possessed. He seemed more like a kid who refused to give up his toy because he loved it so much. He laughed mentally at the image.
Dagger stood up and straightened his posture. “Whatever.” He said dismissively while rolling his eyes. “I forgive yo-”
“And to make up for what I have done, or rather have not done-!”
Snap.
Dagger hears Joker snap the fingers on his left hand and instinctively turned his head to the noise. He saw nothing and in the matter of seconds he turned his head back around only to have his cheek poked with something cold and metal. Instincts kicked in and he closed his eyes immediately before he could register what was it that was poking at his face . When his body didn’t register any pain he opened his eyes to something so beautiful it was breathtaking.
It was a dagger. A real one, not the kind you could throw for entertainment. He took a second to observe it. It was obviously and old vintage dagger. The handle was made to look like two leaves and a vine in between with a small sphere that held in place a Fleur-de-lis. Dagger dragged his green eyes down to the blade to find the blade being no thicker than 2cm and no longer than 15cm, but his eyes stopped at the marvelous engraving on the front of the blade. C’est la vie, it read. Dagger quickly remembered once someone had told him that it translated to “That is life.” He looked at Joker in utter disbelief. Where could he have possibly gotten it? And for what purpose?
Joker noticed his friend being awfully quiet. “For someone who is receiving a present, you aren’t the one to say “thank you”, huh?” Joker mused.
“F-… Why?” Poor boy still couldn’t wrap his head around it.
“To apologise for leaving you without mentioning anything. ” He said, his voice husky and low, so that only Dagger could hear him. Dagger looked into the other one’s eyes for a long time before grabbing his hand and pulling it downward. Dagger’s grip was somewhat strong and yet feeble at the same time. He buried his face in Jokers chest.
“Don’t do that to me again.” He cried out lowly despite his best efforts to cover his weak voice.
“I won’t, but if I do,” He trailed off and Dagger looked upward so he could meet the taller man’s gaze, hopeful that Joker wouldn’t say something that would hurt him more than he could handle.
“C’est la vie.” Joker finished his sentence and kissed Dagger. A soft yet stern kiss that spoke more than words would ever be able to. He wrapped his hands around the other boy’s torso, for he wanted nothing more than to feel his small form under the palm of his hands. Dagger broke the kiss seemingly breathless, but he pressed his forehead to the other’s lips.
“For a clown, you really do suck at making people feel better.” Dagger gave him a dull look. But he was glad that Joker was now here with him. So much was obvious for the two of them.
“I have to go now.” He said with a sweet voice. As he turned to leave Dagger hugged him from behind and squeezed him tightly.
“Hey, now!” He laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Now go to bed. It will be a long, busy day tomorrow.” He ruffled Dagger’s light blonde hair and exited the tent.
And there Dagger stood, battling so many emotions once again. He had questions and sadly only one person could answer them and that person had left the tent just as swiftly as he came in. Dagger returned to the desk and looked down at his brand new dagger.
“C’est a vie, huh? Haha, I guess it is.” He smiled, blew out the candle and headed to bed.