thecapitol | It could be her head wasn't screwed on just right.

Who: Harley Quinn and You
When: Before the Space Arena
What: Harley needs a little Christmas, right this very minute
Where: moping about the tribute towers
Warnings: It's Harley so be on your guard.

Of all the little Jewish girls growing up on Gotham, Harley had often prided herself on loving Christmas more then anyone else. She was always in Holiday plays though her school years and once her criminal career had gotten started she made sure that even her crimes had a level of festivity to them.

But as the Capitol began gearing up for another flashy, flamboyant and overblown celebration of the season...she just couldn't find it in her heart to get excited. She remembered fondly the year when she and Ivy had kidnapped Bruce Wayne for Christmas. Ivy had used her pheromones to make him their slave for the night and they'd used him to go on a shopping spree. It was great until they almost accidentally killed him by knocking him in an elevator shaft. ...of course they had been planning on killing him anyway but that was when Batman arrived and ruined their fun. There was no Batman here though. And all his little birds who had shown up had been promptly killed never to be seen again.

Harley felt a longing for her home when normally she was able to squash it down with laughter. Those close to Harley might notice the girl becoming more subdued as they drew closer to December. By December first she was hardly wearing her scandalous, trashy or flamboyant clothes and was lounging around in more subdued and plain boring outfits. Even in the training hall when she showed up for her daily routine she'd exchanged her shamelessly short shorts and tanktop for a much more modest track suit. And she was drinking more, which usually had her laughing too loud, or shouting, or sobbing. If regular Harley had no problem sharing her emotions, drunken Harley was extra noisy about it.

Spending her day alternating between laying around the District Nine common area, half heartedly training, drinking at the bar or laying stretched out on a sofa in the Tribute Tower Common area, Harley was clearly doing her best impression of an angst riddled teenager in a grown woman's body. And perhaps most worrying of all was she hadn't spontaneously broken anything in a whole two weeks.

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A soft smile curled at the corner of Harley's lip. It wasn't her manic grin or anything close to chaotic, but it was a start.

"Yeah alright. If there's one thing I can't stand it's to see a trained killer beg. We'll go do some Holiday junk and see if that helps me shake this gloomy grinch off my gams."

Silently she assigned herself bonus points for alliteration.

"And let's be fair." She added with a hiccup. "I was sad before I started the drinking just made me numb."

"Only you would call what I'm doing begging you evil bitch." Mindy punched her in the arm, grinning.

"Good. I can only stand you looking like a gloomy shit for so long. If the drink made you numb, clearly its anti-Harley juice. You're at your best when you're moving around. What do you wanna do first?"

"I wanna drink more." She declared but turned and stood up all the same.

It was standing up that did it to her. She felt the world shift underfoot and suddenly everything was tilted to one side. The drink was hitting her all at once.

"You're in charge of this operation. Lead me oh great christmas...leader...led." She hiccuped again and giggled enjoying the sound.

"What's first on the agenda?"

"Unless its some kinda caffeinated alcohol drink, you're better off saying no, Harls. Can't have you getting all sluggish on me."

Of course, seeing her stumble like that did make her snicker a little bit.

"I say we get a cart and start decorating while singing as loud as when can."

Harley didn't even bother waiting for the cart and burst out into song, as loud and off key as she possibly could.

"JINGLE BELLS, BATMAN SMELLS
ROBIN LAID AN EGG!
THE BATMOBILE LOST A WHEEL
AND PUDDIN' GOT AWAY!"

The Patrons were startled by the sudden burst of noise but most of them just rolled their eyes when they saw who it was. Harley leant heavily on Mindy for support as they staggered out of the bar into the common area of the tower.

Damn. Supporting someone she could carry was one thing, but it was always awkward when that person was much taller than you.

She lumbered into the halls with Harley at her side, laughing lightly. So she wasn't drunk like her fried: she'd still have a good time.

"I've stopped drinking," she said to Harley. "Just don't like it as much anymore."

"Good!" She barked out in a shout. "It stunts your growth. An' you're too young anyway. Girl like you should be like...into boy bands and movies about supernatural monster boys and...and super spies! And homicidal maniacs. And ancient weapons. A laser beams! A radio theater! And elves! And wallets with chains on them. And elaborate body modification that can ruin your chances at gainful employment in the future. And designer cupcakes!"

At least Harley seemed aware that Mindy was struggling to keep her propped up and seemed to make and effort to right herself again, only to over correct and stumble into a pillar wrapped in tinsel.

"Boy bands? Supernatural monster boys? Are you trying to set me up again? You're scaring me, Harls. Not that I mind all that other stuff...wait, radio theater?"

Why was that the thing that sounded weird to you and nothing else, Mindy.

"Oh, whoa." Mindy steered the woman away from the pillar. "I think the drink's making you go straight for the shiny stuff. Watch it. Last thing we wanna do is have you go to one of their moles."

"Moles?" Harley sniffled and began wrapping herself in the tinsel which required her to circle around the pillar unwinding the colorful shiny decoration.

"I miss my mallet!" She whined. "I'm not allowed to have one anymore because it's a security risk." By the time she'd finished a long drawn out groan of sorrow she was bundled up in glittery gold tinsel.

"Yeah, stooges," Mindy said, "cannon fodder. Whatever you wanna call them, you know what I mean. People loyal to the big bad."

She was careful NOT to say that the big bad was the Capitol. Never knew who would be listening in, after all.

"What the hell are you gonna do with a mallet, Harley?" Mindy asked, looking dubious. "You know that the Capitol would never allow rats that big to run around here. Nice, uh, new fake fur stole, I guess?"

"I'll whack a mole of course!" She declared and tried to shake her fists only to find she'd tied her arms to her sides with the stolen christmas decor.

Shrugging her shoulders she set off at a run, jumping on one of the sofas and springing over the back of it apparently making for the door to the city.

"Nice use of words there," Mindy said, hardly believing she set herself up for that pun. That was tossed aside though, when Harley suddenly decided she was going to take off in a sprint.

"Wait for me Harley!" She called, trying to catch up with the woman. "Christ!"

It could be her head wasn't screwed on just right.

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