Work Text:
The morning sun shined through the thin curtains of your small apartment, alarm clock blaring at 8:00 on the dot. You reluctantly got up from your warm sheets, shut off your alarm clock started stretching your limbs, wincing a little from the bruises across your body gained from last nights bank robbery.
Looking on the floor where you had hastily thrown off your thug uniform in order to collapse in bed as fast as possible the previous night, you started recalling what happened the night before. you were on guard duty, tasked with making sure nobody got in or out of the building with a classic tommy gun in hand while your boss and their security guards got the cash. You and two of your coworkers were slacking off, playing a game of go fish with a busted deck of cards on an old crate when Batman came swooping into the middle of your game from a grappling hook! thankfully, you were able to get out of the resulting brawl with only a couple nasty bruises, though your boss gave you and your coworkers a very... stern talking too after Joker crashed the robbery, allowing your gang to sneak out while the bat and the clown fought once more.
After that little tour down memory lane you stood up, rubbing your eyes and sluggishly walking out of your bedroom and into the kitchen. turning on the kettle and putting a slice of bread into the toaster, you opened up one of the cupboards to grab a container of tea bags that had been covered in Alice in Wonderland stickers, with a note reading: "To my dear friend: this brew should hopefully help put the pep in your step in the mornings! :) -Hatter"
You sighed and blushed a little as you looked at the tin in your hand.
You had met Jervis a couple of months ago, as your boss was temporarily working with him on a heist you had forgotten the details of by now. He was such a weird, funny little guy, you couldn't NOT try to befriend him! He always cheers you up when you're sad, makes you laugh at his silly rhymes and sings along to your favorite songs with you, its no wonder you had gotten a big fat crush on him! just thinking about the cute little giggles he made at your jokes, his beautiful green eyes and his adorable smile was making your heart rac-!
DING!
...that was the kettle.
As you grabbed your favorite mug from the cupboard and started making your tea the way your like it, you still couldn't stop your mind from thinking about your dear hatter.
Gaining his trust had been quite the task at first, mostly shutting down or ignoring your attempts at friendship. You couldn't really blame him for being apprehensive, you had heard rumors that his past partnerships did more harm then good to his already admittedly fragile mental state, that and you've had your own sour experiences with friendship in the past, you've definitely felt the same way about companionship as he did once upon a time.
Once he warmed up though it was like a dream come true! willing to talk and be around you at all times, just as eager as you were to be with him.
Just as you finished up that last thought you heard the toast pop.
you grabbed out your spread of choice and started spreading it over the toast as you thought about visiting him today... you don't have work today after all and you're sure it'd be fine if you visited him out of the blue, even though he's usually the one who invites you over for tea parties (usually via letters written using appropriately themed Alice in Wonderland stationary)
"It'll be fine... right?" you said to yourself as you finally plated up your breakfast and sat down, taking a quick sip of tea. Turns out Jervis was right, this stuff is pretty energizing!
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Outside of Hatter's house, you paced back and forth between the steps and the door to the house with a bag slung over your shoulders as you tried (and failed) to build up enough courage to knock on the door...
You had never really invited yourself over to another persons house without notice before, and it was nerve wracking! You started mumbling to yourself as you walked "What if he's busy and I interrupt him on something important, or what if he doesn't want to hang out and he turns me away and it makes everything awkward! or worse, he decides he doesn't wanna be my friend anymore because I'm being too clingy! Besides, if he did want me over he would have invited me over by now. I should probably just go..." having successfully psyched yourself out of the visit you turned around, ready to stumble your way back home, until you heard a large creak from the door.
"Is that you, dear?" You turned you head to see Jervis, slightly peeking out from the door, only for him to gasp and fully slam the door open once he confirmed it was you. Jervis ran towards you as you crouched down, bringing each other into an embrace. After a couple of seconds, Jervis leaned back and spoke "It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited, but I am still happy to see you nevertheless" With a smile. You giggled a little and said "I'm glad, I hope I didn't interrupt anything..." averting your eyes away from him and scratching your neck awkwardly. "Nonsense dear, you've only made my day a little brighter" Jervis said fondly as you looked back at him, taking in his beautiful eyes, his signature hat, his vibrant hair, his big ol' bowt-
Wait.
Where's his bowtie?
OH GOD WHERE ARE HIS CLOTHES????
You jumped back with a little 'eep!' as you covered your blushing face with your hands and yelled "Jervis!"
He looked down at himself, slightly confused as if he had forgotten he was naked (because he did) and chuckled at your flustered reaction. "My apologies dear, I was so excited I forgot myself!" he said as he quickly opened the door and ran inside, coming back out in a couple seconds with a large blue quilt wrapped around his body "I must admit, I forgot how flustered you get over my nudity" he remarked, moving your arms to uncover your face so you could see he was some what decent (at least by his standards)
You sighed, still blushing a little "I don't know why you always gotta be naked... it always puts me on edge" averting your eyes from him again. "Puurrfect. When you're not on edge, you're taking up too much space!" Jervis replied. "Oh, quoting Madness Returns now are we?" you said as you quirked your eyebrow. Jervis chuckled again as he said "Indeed I am dear. Now, would you care to join me for tea inside?" he opened the door for you, like the gentleman he was. You thanked him and stood up, walking inside with Jervis following suit.
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As Jervis led you through the house, you took note of every room you passed through. All the rooms were very spacious and messy, with various different pieces of wonderland memorabilia scattered around along side blue prints for new hypnotic devices and plans that never came to fruition. Jervis had made an effort to clean up the place a bit since you started coming over, but with such a big house and only one person to clean it he hadn't made much progress.
Jervis opened the door for you once again as you stepped into what you referred to as the 'Tea Room' as it was where you and Jervis would have tea during your visits. The room was surprisingly small, with a big round table in the center surrounded by chairs of many different shapes and sizes. windchimes and other nick-nacks hung from the ceiling, and various different tea containers and tea sets covered the shelves that sat above a small kitchenette. "I simply must apologize again dear, if I knew you were coming I would've had a tea party worthy of an un-birthday ready by now, but alas, a simple pot of tea will have to do" Jervis said, pulling up a chair for you before going over to the kitchenette to start making the tea. As you sat down you reached into your bag "No problem Hatter, I came prepared!" you pulled out a box of scones and cupcakes you had bought from a bakery on the way here "I thought it would be kinda rude to show up empty handed..." you said as you placed the box on the table and opened the lid. Jervis quickly walked over to see what you had brought "Oh bravo!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands slightly "You've truly outdone yourself, though I'll have to find a suitable hat for each of them once the tea is done... now where did I put the sugar?" he turned and walked back, searching through the cabinets while you blushing a little at his praise responded "I'm pretty sure you keep it in the top left of the second cabinet, right?" Jervis checked where you suggested and said "Right you are dear!" as he lifted up the sugar container and continued making the tea.
Only a couple a minutes later Jervis placed a tea tray on the table before sitting down in his own seat, fiddling with something in his hands you couldn't see yet. You took the cup closest to you and took a sip, your mouth watering at the delicious taste. As you placed the cup down and started reaching for a cupcake you spoke "So, how has your day be-" before being startled by Jervis softly batting your hand away from the food. "Not yet dear, our confectionery hasn't been dressed yet!" he said before placing the tiny cowboy hat he made just before onto one of the cakes "Now you can go ahead!" you chuckled a little at his antics as you took the newly adorned cupcake, took off the wrapper and had a bite.
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A little while later, you and Jervis were singing and dancing along to a cheap old radio a bit away from the table, with Jervis standing on a stool while you danced around on the floor.
You were both moving in a way that felt reminiscent of a waltz although the movements were sporadic and messy. As the song came to an end, Jervis spun you around in a way that pulled your arm just a bit too tightly, making you wince as a bruise flared up in pain for a moment. Jervis noticing this stopped in his tracks and asked "What's wrong, darling?" Jervis took a closer look at your arm and gasped a little "You've been injured! When did this happen?" he said with a bit of panic in his voice as he tried looking closer at any unclothed patches of skin to check for more bruises.
You averted your eyes and said "uh... it was last night, a job kinda went sideways after the bat showed up..." Jervis's face darkened a bit as he said "The Jabberwock did this to you?!" he looked you in the eyes as he spoke "I swear, the next time I see him I'll come galloping back with his head!" said with an intensity you had only heard when he was REALLY ticked off. It honestly kind of scared you!
"Jervis! chill out, it's just a couple bruises" you reached your hand out and held his face "Besides, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention when I should have and it was practically bound to happen at some point"
Jervis turned his head away from the fear he saw in your eyes, as his face saddened before sighing and saying "...I'm sorry dear" he looked back at you again at took your hand that was once on his cheek into his own "although I hold the opinion that your crime was not worthy of a encounter with the Jabberwock, I will apologize for making you fearful" he let go of your hand in order to hold your head the same way you did a second ago as you slightly blushed "I was just... concerned about your safety" his eyes looked in the other direction as he started blushing a little as well "You are my only friend after all" his eyes looked back "Well, besides from my hat of course!" he said with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood. The blushing on your face got worse, you knew how much those words meant.
As you both looked into each others eyes you felt the need to give him a little kiss. So you did!
You leaned your lips down so you could give him a chaste kiss on the forehead, tilting up his hat a bit in order to do so.
Your face was red as a tomato as you mentally reeled from your impulsive kiss while Jervis looked at you with so much love he was practically beaming with it. He looked as if he wanted to kiss you, but as the radio started broadcasting the music yet again he simply asked "Will you, won't you join the dance, my dear?" with cheeky little wink.
You chuckled a little and responded "how could I say no to my darling hatter?" as you started dancing once again, long into the dark Gotham night.