Owner	Pose
Terry O'Neil	There is a couch. There always has to be a couch, when you are talking about your feelings. It doesn't matter if it's one of those fancy couches psychoanalists have in their offices, or if it's April's hyena-victimized couch. "A-choo!" Terry is sensitive to Hyena hair in his human form. Who knew? In any case, the red-headed human has stretched out on the couch, legs propped up on the arm-rest, and is staring up at the ceiling. He's taking a breather from bringing supplies to the people fortified up in Grand Central Station, and covering what's going on. So, of course, that means it's time for therapy. Of sorts. "Harl..." he says, glancing at the ceiling, "Do we ever really know why we do ... what we do?"
Harley Quinn	There is a couch. It may or may not have a turkey on it. Is it schrodinger's turkey? Well, in this case it's not around, but it's clucks are heard from a nearby room. As for the Hyenas? They are lazily lying on the ground now that their FAVORITE couch is being used by Terry. So unfair... One yawns, showing it's big teeth at Terry before going back to sleep once again.. And Harley? She is sitting on a chair across from Terry in this mini-skirt, blouse, even glasses. She looks so professional! It's also how she 'looked' before the whole transformation into Harley Quinn. Because she used to be a great psychologist but then she took an arrow to the --- Well, you get the picture. She has been silent so far, uncharacteristically so, listening to what Terry may have to say. When the question comes though? She purses her lips together, "Depends. Our brains are real easy about finding justification for all the stuff we do, no matter how ludicrous it may feel like the next day." a shrug. "But I feel you awhe askin' about somethin' else and not how justifiable it is ta go and eat that tablet of Hershey's that April thinks I don't know about. Is this about your choice of bein' a hero?" she asks.
Terry O'Neil	"... wait, what tablet of Hershey's?" the redhead peers, looking around the room for any telltale signs of disturbed furniture that might indicate the location of a chocolatey cache. Focus, Terry. He rests his hands across his stomach. He's wearing his usual Daily Planet Ground Troops uniform: slacks, button-up shirt, press lanyard. "Sorta. Or maybe choice I made after becoming one." "Like... let's say that you know there might be answers to certain things if you look at something. But then you decide /not/ to look? But then it all comes back to bite you in the ass when those answers would have come real handy."
Harley Quinn	A cheshire smile appears on Harley's expression, "The kind that can be shared later." Oh yes, Harley has plans for that tablet. Poor April won't know what hit her! Or in this case her cache of chocolate. She listens further to what Terry speaks of and her brows furrow, "So ya sayin' ya made a choice and in the end it wasn't the right one?" she opens her arms to the side. "I mean, I am the Queen of those kind of choices. It's easy to say another choice would be better AFTER whatever consequences are done. That usually comes with regret and self-doubt. It's a terrible combination for someone in your line o' woik, Terry." she frowns a touch. "Do you want to be more specific on what happened though? I might be lacking some context heah."
Terry O'Neil	"Oh... yeah, I guess I kinda just /rippted/ the context out of that one, didn't I?" He taps his foot against the arm rest. "So... I've told you about what my deal is. Dad was the Cheshire Cat. I inherited the whole shebang when I was born, 'cause he was erased from existence. But the Cheshire side didn't really manifest until two years ago. That came with... memories." "I got into this whole journalism thing because I liked solving mysteries and finding out the truth. Heck, I came to Metropolis looking for the truth about my old man. You'd /think/ that, when I got everything I had been looking for... I decided /not/ to take it. I could've known why my dad left Wonderland and came here. And yet."
Harley Quinn	"Uh-uh, mmmhmmm." Harley nods along as Terry speaks about his da, the cheshire cat. She knows this. But she also leans forward, resting her chin on her upturned hand. "Memories of him." she affirms, continuing to think about the whole thing, lips jerked to the side. "And yet you chose not to. If those reasons were not present in the memories there *must* be reason for it. Is that what you thought? Or why did you choose not to unveil the truth?" Her tone is one of curiosity now. She isn't truly sure on why it happened, but she wants Terry to open up about it. Maybe he will find insights about his own choices too! "What were you afraid of?"
Terry O'Neil	Terry frowns. "I dunno... you know, I was kind of- after the shock wore off, I mean, but I was over the moon at the fact that I had powers. And that I could actually do stuff with the Titans instead of writing things down about stuff /they/ did." "I guess... I was afraid that if I rocked the boat, something might change. I mean... there's a lot of reasons why my dad would've left Wonderland. And I was afraid of finding out in case the reason..."
Harley Quinn	Harley Quinn says, "You weah happy with the status quo. With what you had. Theah's no crime in that. Lots o' people fail ta look to what they have, to value it. Instead they only look to the next thing, to the next mystery. They awhe unable ta live in the moment." A shrug, "Theah's no right answer to what is better." Harley listens to those last words and nods slowly, "In case the reason he left was somethin' that would make you disappointed in him. Is that it?" she asks softly, one hand reaching to brush idly over Bud's head. "Because you nevah met him, and you want him to be perfect.""
Terry O'Neil	"... actually, I didn't. I grew up knowing nothing about him, mom would clam up. I grew up kind of resenting him, if you want the truth, Harl." He glances at Harley, "At first, I wanted to find him so I could confront him. Find out why the fuck he walked out on mom. When I found out what /actually/ happened... one of the first memories, the ones I didn't need to dig for. I was... angry. Conflicted, maybe?" He looks back at the ceiling. "He didn't know at first what having a child would entail. As mom's pregnancy started advancing, he started feeling weaker. That's when he knew what would /actually/ happen." He huffs. "And then he unilaterally decided he was just going to walk away. Like, he didn't even give my mom the /choice/ of whether she wanted to keep me or not if she knew that my being born would erase him. And that's... a violation of her autonomy. But because of it I'm alive, so I have no fucking clue how to feel about any of this. So... I didn't want him to be perfect. I was afraid , I guess, that the reasons he came up here meant... maybe, that I had an obligation? Back there."
Harley Quinn	There's a faint, understanding smile on Harley's expression. She nods slowly. "Theah awhe other ways ta look at it. Yoh father may have left because he didn't want your mother having ta choose about it. Choosin' between him and you? That's an impossible choice foh anyone, and it would break her either way. Yea, it sucks, yea, it doesn't respect her autonomy. But the world sucks, it ain't fair, and people get to do unfair choices all the time." "I have hung out with yoh mom, Terry. She can be even crazier than I. And she raised ya right. Would the same had happened if she knew she had killed your Da to have you?" she asks. "Theah ain't no perfect answers too." "But so, you chose not ta find out why he had come heah. And that info came back ta bite you now?" She inquires.
Terry O'Neil	"Yyyeaaah..." he says, half statement, half sigh. "This Wonderland stuff happening all over Metropolis. The Mad Hatter- the real one, not Tetch- has popped up. Wonderland is breaking through somehow. He's in a coma so he can't give us answers, and I have this /feeling/ that if I had only looked... I would know why this is happening now. But those memories are gone. Fractured. Degraded. And I can't help feeling I have, once again, screwed up. I guess that's what's killing me the most, Harl." He says quietly, "I feel like no matter what I do, I am never really going to be respected by my team-mates because I'm a screw-up. And this just makes me feel like maybe I'm right about that."
Harley Quinn	"Could be. Or not." Harley raises her shoulders in a shrug again, "As I told you when we started this convo self-doubt is a killa. Does it matter now? Not really, we ain't got no time machine so what we can do is deal with what's in front of us. Just imagine if we weah all perfect, how boring would that shit be?" she asks, shaking her head slowly. "And we wouldn't have to exorcise dollies, or fend off against the nightmares of my mind come ta life.. what matters is that you get through because you got people around you that help you out. Like your team." She leans forward again, resting her elbows on her knees, "Do you really think you would be on the team if you didn't have theah respect?"
Terry O'Neil	"I... am not entirely sure. Hawkeye constantly blames me for any Wonderland stuff that happens. Any amount of weirdness they can't explain is immediately 'Terry, what did you do?' And Raven constantly disses me. But you can't go by her." He sighs. "Maybe they don't respect me, Harl. Maybe I'm in the team because I'm convenient and reliable- but just because someone's reliable doesn't mean they have your respect now, doesn't it?"
Harley Quinn	"As I said, everyone's got theah faults. Raven is a shit team playah. Hawkeye is one of the most stubborn people I have met. They all got theah faults, even you. It doesn't mean jack shit wheah it comes ta being a family. And from what I have seen you guys awhe one. You *do* have a point about somethin' though. You are reliable." Harley states, continuing on the same leaned-forward position. "It's *you* they come to when things happen, because they know you will eitha know or be theah ta help solve it." she shakes her head, "I am not seein' disrespect theah, I am seein' a team that relies on you ta deal with those kind of matters. Because you awhe chaos personified!" she opens her arms to the side.
Terry O'Neil	Terry sighs. "Maybe you're right. I hadn't quite seen it that way..." the young man muses, not fully convinced, but definitely flirting with that new perspective. "Still... it'd be nice to once in a while get a Good Job or a compliment." He frowns. "Wait. Is wanting that so much a problem? Is that another issue I have?"
Harley Quinn	"Well, think on it. I don't got all the right answers eitha. My goal heah is ta make you think on stuff, offer different perspectives." Harley says with a brief nod of her head. Those last words though? They make her smirk. "O' course it is. Validation. But it ain't a problem, it's a trait." she springs up to her feet, a glance to the clock. "But .., it's gonna be somethin' we will talk on another time.." She leans in conspirationally, "Because we need ta get to that Hershey's befoouh April gets home..." another sagely nod and she goes to fetch it. And that's how April's Hershey cache got raided!