Lusty Joker x Reader
tw job interview, fire, popcorn, shopping. word count: basically 2k
requested by @omegaflowey18 !! thank you for your patience mwah
You dug through your closet, trying to find your most professional outfit. You had a huge job interview lined up tomorrow afternoon. Not exactly your dream career, but definitely something that would help you get there. None of your clothes seemed up to par, but you figured you had to have something in here that would suffice. A few nice shirts and dress pants had been tossed haphazardly around your room, some on your bed, some on your office chair.
Just as you begin to match up tops with bottoms, the blaring of the fire alarm disrupts you. After letting out a groan, you peek your head out of your room. The stove wasn’t on fire, that was good, and you couldn’t smell any smoke. Nothing seems out of the ordinary in your apartment. Maybe it’s just a drill. You gather your keys and make your way outside. As you do, sirens ring out in the distance. That’s a little concerning…
Upon reaching the ground floor, you see other tenants vacating the building, chatting to each other. You overhear the discussion; apparently there really was a fire in one of the fourth floor apartments. You step onto the grass and gaze up at the building, blocking the sun with your hand. Sure enough, dark smoke was rolling out of one of the apartment windows. Panic begins to overtake you, and you look away from the scene.
Some time had passed, and the fire had been contained. The cause was determined as an electrical fire. Fortunately, no-one was harmed. Unfortunately, this meant that none of the tenants could return to their rooms, as all the wiring in the building had to be checked.
You place your palms on your forehead as you pace back and forth. Why today of all days? The most important day of your career so far? Before you worried about that, you needed to find housing for the next 24 hours. There was only one person you could think of.
You dial his number and hold your phone up to your ear. It barely rang once before you heard his familiar voice through the speaker.
“Hello, my dear!” Lusty spoke in a sing-song tone. “What a pleasant surprise to hear from you!”
“Hi Lusty.” You say, smiling at his greeting. “Listen, I need to ask for a favor.”
“Ooh, a favor? What could it be?”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, and you can totally say no,” You glance over your shoulder towards the apartment building, “Could I crash at your place for the night? There was–”
“Yes!” He eagerly cut you off. “What time will you be over?”
A half-hour goes by before you arrive at Lusty’s doorstep. You ring the doorbell and wait about two seconds before it swings open.
Lusty appears in the doorway, a large grin on his face. “Hi.” He says.
You laugh at his expression, stepping into the apartment. “Hi.”
You take your shoes off and set them in their usual spot before getting comfortable in your usual spot on the couch. You sigh, rubbing your eyes. “Thank you for letting me come over.”
Lusty was in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of water. “Anytime. Why did you need to vacate in the first place?”
You relayed the fate that befelled the fourth floor apartment. “I know it’s selfish, but I’m really upset. My interview is tomorrow... My clothes are going to smell like smoke. I probably won’t even be able to make it into my apartment before tomorrow afternoon, what am I supposed to do?”
Lusty walks over to the couch and hands you a glass, frowning at you. “Why don’t we go shopping?”
You take a sip of the water, something you desperately needed. “I don’t know... I really don’t have the money right now…”
“I’ll pay.” He says, taking a seat and crossing his legs. “It’ll be fun. We haven’t gone out in so long.”
“No.” You shake your head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to!” He insists, leaning towards you. “Come on, come on.” He says, raising his pitch with each word and clasping his hands together.
You can’t help but laugh at his display. “Alright, fine.”
He grins and stands up, setting his water on the coffee table. “Okay! Let’s go!”
You couldn’t argue with that…
Shopping with Lusty was always a little unpredictable. He would always choose the most random shops and buy the most random things and put them in the most random places in his house. An “Outhouse” sign that hung above the stairs to the basement, a creepy Santa figurine hiding in his medicine cabinet, and a large goose statue that sat in the corner of the living room that he sometimes adorned with little hats. Anytime you questioned his purchases, his response was always the same. “It’s a statement piece.”
Today was different, though. He holds the door open for you as you enter a small clothing shop. There was quiet music playing, and the store was mostly empty aside from a few customers near the dressing rooms.
Lusty beelines for the office wear, plucking shirts off the racks in a somewhat frantic manner.
“Hey, relax!” You say as you hurry over to him. “I only need one outfit.”
“Well, sure.” He continues stacking shirts over his arm. “But we have to find the best one. How can we do that if you don’t try them all?” He looks at you. “Hmm?”
It was very difficult to say no to him when he smiled at you like that…
After trying what felt like the entire store’s stock on, you finally decide on the winning outfit. The two of you check out and exit the store.
“I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.” You assure him, watching as he digs through the bag.
“You already did!” He replies, taking the receipt out and throwing it in a nearby trash can.
“Hey! I needed that…” You peer into the trash can, but the receipt is already long gone.
“Watching you model clothes for an hour was more than enough. What a treat!”
You shake your head and cross your arms. “Really? That’s enough for you?”
He stops walking and turns back to you, a strange look in his eyes. “Oh yes.” His tone is lower than normal, and the way he’s looking at you makes your heart leap in your chest.
“Okay.” You manage to squeak out. You should be used to his behavior by now… But it always seemed to catch you off guard.
His demeanor changes as he smiles sweetly, then holds his elbow out. You link your arm around his, and begin the walk back to his apartment.
When you arrive, Lusty sets the bag on the dining room table and begins digging around in one of his cupboards. “Movie night?” He asks, not looking at you. “I’ll get the popcorn started if you want to pick one.”
“Oh, sure!” You answer. Lusty had a large collection of DVDs that you often watched together. He swore that eventually you would get through them all, which may have been true if he didn’t keep buying more…
You browse the DVDs beneath the TV until you find one you haven’t heard of. Just by the cover, you can tell that it’s a romantic comedy from the early 2000s. You hold it up for Lusty’s approval.
Setting the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table, he reaches his arm out, taking the case from you. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen this one.” He flips it over to read the back, then pops it open and feeds it into the DVD player. He returns to his seat on the couch, and pats the seat next to him.
You join him, and snack on popcorn as the movie begins. After an hour and a half, the credits roll.
“What did you think?” You ask, glancing at Lusty for his thoughts on the movie's ending. You were met with quiet snoring, Lusty's head comfortably resting on a throw pillow. After laughing at him for falling asleep, you carefully retrieve the remote from his grasp and turn off the TV. You take one of the fleece blankets off the back of the couch and drape it over Lusty, then get some well-deserved rest yourself.
The next morning, you awake to the sizzle of waffle batter. Lusty always seemed to wake up before you. You yawn and sit up, looking into the kitchen.
He stood behind the counter with one hand on his hip, wearing his “Kiss the Cook” apron, his full attention on the waffle maker in front of him. That is, until he spots you.
“Good morning, my dear.” He says. “Sorry for falling asleep during the movie. You wore me out last night.”
You raise your eyebrows at his comment but choose to ignore it. “No problem. They got together in the end, can you believe it?”
“I can’t.” He replies. “In a rom-com? Unheard of.”
You make your way into the kitchen and sit down in your usual seat. Lusty quickly plates a waffle for you, then pours you a glass of juice and sets both on your place mat.
You eat together, chatting about nothing in particular. You look at the novelty clock hanging next to the pantry, and suddenly begin to panic again.
“My interview!” You say, standing up. “I need to start getting ready!”
You hurry to the bathroom to freshen up, retrieving your overnight back from under the sink. Lusty had kept one for you for situations just like this. It stored your toothbrush and other various toiletries. After you finish, you swing the door open, ready to hurry to the kitchen for your new clothes, but you stop. Leaning against the wall is Lusty, holding them out for you.
After taking them and shutting the door, you attempt to fight back a smile, but fail. He was so kind to you. What would you do without him? You finish changing, and step out of the bathroom once more.
Lusty is still standing there, and you see him straighten up as he sees you. For the first time in his life, he’s silent.
“Um, what do you think?” You ask, still holding onto the doorknob.
“I think,” He says, eyeing you up and down. “Well… I–” He quietly laughs, cutting himself off. “You look great.”
You shyly mumble a ‘thank you’ before he walks towards the door. You follow, pulling your shoes on. You turn to him.
“Thank you so much, seriously. For everything.” You say, facing him.
“I would do anything for you.” He replies, staring right at you. The sincerity in his voice has your heart pounding again. It seemed like an odd thing for him to say, but somehow perfectly fitting at the same time. You didn’t want to think about it too much right now.
“Well, I’ll be off then,” You open the front door.
“Oh, before you go!” He grabs your hand, stopping you right before you step through the threshold. You turn around to look at him, glancing from his eyes to his hand.
“Good luck with your interview.” He says.
You smile as you meet his eyes again. “Thank you.”
He gently lets your hand slip out of his, his touch lingering long after. After taking a deep breath, you turn around quickly and set off.
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