#sef insert

ok so my si is a Scientist (what kind of scientist? Doesn’t matter) who joins Libra (maybe they have some kind of expertise on beyondians idk that’s what id want to study if an interdimensional hole opened up in New York City). and finds themself a part of the Gang <3 they end up as roommates with Leo (rent ain’t cheap) and they’re besties. also very close with Zed and, unfortunately, zapp. Good friends with chain but chain also has no patience for them when they start having feelings for zapp. Which. Fair. Gardens with Klaus on the weekend and he’s teaching them prosfair. They wanna be closer with Steven but he’s a tough nut to crack. They’ll get there.

Obviously super into all the beyondian shit, spends more time on the supernatural side of town than anywhere else.

When they join they immediately think zapp is cute. But then he opens his mouth. They’re a nice person though so they’re still honestly probably nicer to him than anyone else in his life. He also thinks they’re hot and is constantly hitting on them, especially at work, because he loves that he can get a rise out of them and make them blush, even if they always turn him down. Then they start putting things together as to. Y’know. Why he’s Like That and despite everything they can’t help liking him. (And hey, with a lot of very careful positive reinforcement, he even gets a *little* bit better. Mostly only when they’re alone though. As soon as there’s an audience he’s back to posturing and avoiding sincerity like the plague.)

I’ve said it before but I hc zapp as demiromantic (and of course my si is demisexual). he’ll have sex with anyone but romance isnt even on his radar (until ☝️ he meets someone who actually likes him for him and is incapable of being anything but 100% earnest and sincere and forces him to Feel Things.) so when he Does start to have feelings he predictably doesn’t handle it Great. All my si relationships have a mandated months long mutual pining period, but this one’s longer than usual. It takes some Time to sort things out between them.

The rest of the team watches it all happen like a train wreck. They all regularly ask my si “are you Sure though.” And while they get where they’re all coming from, they do stick up for him (sometimes, at least. Sometimes there’s really no defending him. But he does get a little better over time!!)

All in all, I hesitate to say i can fix him, but. I can at least make him a Little Better. Don’t try this at home folks.

And they have lots of crazy adventures and it’s all very sexy and fun <33

And doodles.

She was better than Harley...at least.

It had been a concept that had taken him some time to come to term with. With Alexys’ help, it rang true in the back of his mind that the woman known as Harley Quinn was less than an ideal partner for him in an amalgamation of ways. Together they had gotten so much done, they had helped him to discover just who he was meant to be, and he could never truly hate her for that reason alone. Without Harley, he was not the Joker. He never would have been. Now, however, he was the Joker without her at his side. He was the Joker with a different woman to support him, her hugs warmer than the sharp words exchanged between him and the previous one. Harley was like burning a candle on both ends, constant progress but never any true love. Alexys was like a bonfire, steady and bright and overall warmer than the simple stick of wax could ever provide.

Sometimes it was true that he wondered what life would be like had he chosen to stay with Harley rather than Alexys. If they had separated or not met before Harley had completely taken control over his life...Alexys often said that he shouldn’t think about those things, of course. That he should let her die in the past so that his mind and heart could truly move forward. He wished that he could take that advice from her, truly he did, but abuse was a powerful thing. It hurt both ends, but, certainly one more than the other. There was that one heavy and sick part of him that seemed to want to cling to the past like a spider to a web. LIke a fly trapped in that spider web, waiting in fear for its possible death...but not knowing if the spider was even there.

The night had started with this thought in his mind for no other reason than it was there. Alexys had done her best to shoo it away with kisses and words of encouragement, of course, as the two of them dressed for their planned date to a well-known local casino (a gathering place for some of Gotham’s more famous crime syndicates, but, of course that little detail was besides the point) for no other reason than one of the floors of it had an amazing arcade. They walked into the area, hand in hand, while eyes lingered carefully on their backs but never at their fronts. John’s flash of eyes and eerie grin was enough to make most divert their attention away from him. As his fame grew from being the Joker, so did their fear. It was kind of nice.

Nice up until they saw her.

John had stopped walking once he had recognized her. The diamonds painted neatly on her eyes were a beacon of remembrance for him. Memories flashed blue and black and red like the uneven ombre of her hair as she laughed with another group of villains, the mallet she loved to carry resting on the ground as she used it’s handle as a crutch to lean on casually. Hips jutting out, she as usual made her outfit look stunning. Guilt flooded his stomach in the fact that he dared think of her like that still. Attractive. Pretty. Out of his league.

She always made sure that he knew that last one.

Alexys furrowed her brow as he stopped, hand squeezing his own as she prepared to ask him just what was wrong, but, the words died on her lips as she followed his gaze. Her eyes settled on the same woman he was staring at. Her own body tensed up, hair bristling on end as she stared down the woman who had not yet seen them. Alexys had met Harley only once. It only took that one time for her to see just what she was doing to John. Never having confronted her, however, she had simply taken to gently guiding the man away from the other woman as best as she could without making either of them feel too guilty over the whole, complicated situation. It was a busy and tactile movement to get away from abusers and, Alexys promised, she had done her best.

Yet, somehow, she had found her way back to them. Alexys tightened her grip on John’s now shaking hand, giving it a gentle tug as she leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

“Come on, let’s just go somewhere else. We can see a movie instead? That arcade down the street a few blocks has a DDR machine.” She enticed John with as much as she could, promising him that they didn’t have to stay in the area if the sight of Harley made him too uncomfortable. Promising that, if they had to, they would be able to leave and forget the sight. John didn’t respond, however, and simply kept staring. He was hesitant, and it was natural. Part of him wanted to say something to her, but, the other part knew Alexys was right. He swallowed, the motion thick and difficult as he opened his mouth to respond, but, closed it quickly when Harley’s head raised itself up to lock eyes with them. She had felt herself being watched and, upon noticing the two, her own eyes narrowed and a dangerous smirk broke itself across her lips.

“Fuck.” Alexys cursed as the other woman excused herself from the group she had been entertaining and swayed up to them both, the bump in her hips a little too excited to be a casual meet and greet with old acquaintances.

There was no time to avert the situation nor was there a chance to hurry and leave, for the crowds of people surrounding them were too thick to properly push through. Harley’s gaze was like a hawk on them as she approached them both, hands on hips and head tilted to the side as she looked the both of them up and down. John averted his gaze unsurely, but Alexys held the other woman’s with a clear look of repressed anger as her firsts clenched at her side and the hand holding John’s tightened sharply and possessively around his own.

“Well, well, well,” Harley spoke with sarcastic delight as she finally acknowledged their presence fully, “Look what the cat dragged in! A funny guy and his little homewrecker. Fancy seeing you here, Mistah J~.”

John’s eyes narrowed dangerously, both at the way she spoke his past nickname and the way she referred to Alexys. Alexys bristled for the opposite reasons. Her mere existence was a strain on John’s psyche and she knew it, the hostility radiating from the shorter female was practically wave-like in its contingency. The very sight of her glare made Harley’s smile grow wide with amusement as she reached out, purposefully stroking John’s other arm with her own in a feathery and light touch that made him shudder.

“We were enjoying a night out,” Alexys spoke through gritted teeth, “Together.”

“And you can’t enjoy it still with me around? Why, I’m all up and upset about that!” Harley rolled her eyes with a laugh at the both of them, leaning again on her mallet as she hummed a light tune to herself that made John’s mouth twitch into a line. Harley’s eyes held his gaze for a moment, deep and unsettling, before she spoke again with a low, darker tone in her voice:

“You can’t tell me you’re not happy to see magain, John, can you?”

It was Alexys who broke the silence that followed, putting her smaller body between her boyfriend and his ex with a fire in her eyes that made them glow a darker, more stormy color than they had ever managed to become. Her teeth gritted together so tight she felt like her jaw was going to burst as she let go of John’s hand so that her fists could clench up at her sides. Both Harley and John’s eyes widened as she pushed herself forward, getting into Harley’s space with a finger jabbed right at her chest.

“He can’t, but I can,” Alexys snarled out with teeth bared for a fight, “He ISN’T happy to see you. Neither of us are. You know why? Because you’re a manipulative, stuck up ASSHOLE who used him for what he was rather than loving him for WHO he was. This man is one of the brightest, funniest, and sweetest people I’ve met in my LIFE and the fact that you, someone he loved and trusted, fucked him over how you did because you saw him as  TOOL? That-” Alexys jabbed her finger hard on Harley’s body as she glared sharply, teeth gritted, “THAT pisses me off.”

Harley stared at Alexys, eyes wide in shock for a few moments before her brows furrowed into anger. It triggered something in John through his shock at the defense, a hand reaching out to touch his girlfriend’s shoulder.

“A-Alexys-”

She turned her head, catching his pleading look, before taking a deep breath and glaring at Harley one last time, her hand rising up to show her a middle finger before gripping John’s hand and tugging him through the crowd, disappearing away from the line of muttered and snarky curses Harley threw at them behind their backs.

They moved. They didn’t stop moving until Alexys had gotten them out of the building and ran down the street. John didn’t say anything to stop her until they were about a couple of blocks away, to which he dug his feet into the floor and called her name once more. A few more tries. Finally a shout and, at last, Alexys’ feet stopped. Her breath drew itself out, hot and ragged and slow as she tried to keep her breathing under control.

“Are you alri-”

“Do you hate me? For that?”

John reeled back in shock, eyes widening as she faced him. Tears warmed her eyes and fell down her face, brows furrowed in remaining anger as she bared her teeth and looked away to try and control the shaking of her muscles.

“I’m sorry,” She choked out breathily, “I got angry and...I know it’s ugly when I’m angry but! She treated you so bad and said such awful things and wanted to take you from me again and I just-”

John reached out, hands touching at her face and wiping away the tears that fell down. Alexys felt her eyes widen as she stared at him, his own gaze soft and smile bright on his lips as it always was before leaning down to kiss her. She accepted it, admiring the sweet taste he had while he took in her salty taste of tears and anger, as if trying to take it out of her and put it into himself instead. When he pulled away, he made sure his head rested on hers.

“Don’t ever think I’d hate you for anything like that,” John laughed, “It was...kind of cool how you stood up for me, really. I like it a lot...I like you a lot, way more than her. I promise.”

Alexys sighed in response, her hand touching his and her eyes shutting to allow the rest of the angered tears to pass through her body. She didn’t always have to be happy, she realized, because even if she wasn’t…