infomodder | IC contact [Mask or Menace]

[Well now, that's not a difficult one to handle at all.]

You know how to run a cash register? You ever feel like you gotta earn something, you can work a few hours at the shop. I'd be fine with that.

[The good old-fashioned way, like he said earlier.

With free bubbly waters and Gunther hanging out, of course.]

Hm. Good point. Beards confuse them sometimes. It's messy.

[ Just leaving that last one there. Not saying if they think it's food or a cat or a something to love, mostly because experiments had thus far proven inconclusive. But she isn't going to count this a win until he's the one that says exactly where he's planning on spending the night. It's just too easy if she does it, and where's the fun in easy. ]

Better come up with a back-up, I guess, smart guy.

Ran into us might be more accurate.

[Maybe that's just her pride talking, but she doesn't want to say that Lydia caught her.]

She talked me outta it. Didn't want to kill anyone in front of a kid.

[Not that Lydia is entirely a kid, but she is to someone who's as old as Kara is.]

[Wait. Wait. Is this—beards confuse them, no explanation, could be fact or just bullshit. Some dogs are confused by what appears to be nothing, a bit of clothing on a person or having a hair color that reminds them of someone else, but that's not the case here, is it. This is...he thinks he gets it, and the smile that he manages is not bitter, strained, or fake.]

Ideally, April, the floor would be the back-up. My first choice actually involves sharing your bed. [Enough? No, wait.] Provided you find that agreeable, of course.

[Still smiling like a normal, healthy, happy person, what is this nonsense.]

[More accurate has him nodding, looking down, face hidden for it as toes a moss-covered rock over for a tangible excuse to keep it just that. Yes, make it obvious he knows she can handle herself but give a pinch to the pride, being caught—well done, Will.

It takes a moment before he asks, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.]

Why's her being a kid matter so much?

[He's unfortunately well-acquainted with children who kill. Kids killing kids isn't something he's been able to avoid in his work. His own views on childhood and how society treats children can be a warped, screaming mess at the best of times. But this isn't judgment (oh you thinking kids aren't as fucked up as adults)—it's genuine curiosity, nothing negative in it.]

Killing isn't pretty. Don't wanna fuck up some kid if I can avoid it.

[It's not that she doesn't think kids aren't fucked up either, it's just that she doesn't want to contribute to it or cause it in any way. Because for all her talk about not caring, for all her talk about having no morals, she does have something of a heart.]

[ A smile that doesn't get laughed at, that's what. Instead she grins back for a full second. Before ducking her head a little, hair falling slightly forward again to partially cover one eye. Emotions. Human emotions. She can only stare directly so long, even if her smile stays.]

We'll find out when you're here, I guess.

[April's free to stare, more than free—he's used to it, knows if he goes back home he'll have to get even more used to it, pacing behind bars and watching people sit in a chair far enough away that no matter how good a reach he has, he can't get them. Only there won't be any smiles, not like this. He's just going to appreciate it while he can, however brief, and keep that somewhat goofy smile on his face.]

I'll be sure to be on my best behavior, then.

[And take a shower.

And maybe shave.

Maybe.]

[Idly, his fingers drum at the side of the glass. Perhaps he should step in or say something once his dog flops over in what mud he's found, but nothing comes out in the bearded monster's direction.]

I imagine what you consider a kid has changed over the course of time. [Will's probably a kid to her, but according to societal norms, he's definitely not. The age of adulthood has changed throughout time, varies from culture to culture, so the idea of saying aren't we all kids to you? is a little ruder than he can bring himself to be. Disrespectful. Telling her how to feel.] What's it now, 21 and under?

[ Don't go to heroic lengths for her, Will. She's not even planning on going to the fancy assembly this month, no point in prettying up. ]

So when'll you be here? I need to know when to ditch work.

[Heroism on part of the shaving razor, maybe.]

Shop closes at six. I can make my way over Fridays after that. [But that is not proactive and does not in any way show that he's more interested in April than just as a weekend buddy.] Or twenty minutes. I could be there in twenty minutes.

[He shrugs, trying not to look or sound desperate. He's not, but he's also not got anything to do and if April doesn't either, why the hell stay around doing absolutely nothing? Bader can bathe herself, she doesn't need the special in-depth scrubs every night, he can spoil someone else, his corpse wolf roommate will understand.]

[ There's just the tinniest bit of surprise, he had started this leg of the conversation with the new people thing and all. But the lack of anything to do had been the reason she'd called. Boredom clawing at her skull, and Will's number high on the speed dial list, and god she approves of the direct route over all the normal people dancing around and setting dates and thinking too far ahead. So there's not even a moment of hesitation before the reply. ]

Bring food.

[Score. Score. A thousand scores. He looks at Gunther a second, and then:]

We'll be right there.

[That's all she wrote, murder and bed-sharing propositioning and everything in between. No more talk, time to show that he means it.

It won't take him much time at all to throw some clothes in a duffel bag, the numerous pill bottles he has (that might take some explaining, huh), Gunther's leash, doggie treats (Ace might like them, he wagers, they're expensive and fattening and Gunther eats them like children eat candy if he can) the very basics. What will take extra time is picking up food, because while he can bring a bag of fresh fish (and it's happening), he's not sure what April likes.

So when he shows up, it'll be with a pizza, with a bag of ambiguously Asian take-out, and another bag of tacos. If she asks, it's for the roommates, it's to spread it, it's because he doesn't live there and he's bringing offerings. Because people have feelings, and people like being fed physically as much as Will might be hiding a need for the entire house not to stare at him like he doesn't belong. Everyone likes the guy who brings food without charge—look at Lecter.

But secretly, yes, he's going to be analyzing what April goes for first to work with every time after. He gets data, the roommates have something to munch on, and no one really has to be any the wiser.

HE IS SUCH A JEENUS]

Depends where you come from.

[A child in the United States might not be the same as a child in a country in Africa.]

Tend to go by that; where I am. It's how they're raised, what they've learned, how they deal with the world.

[Most of the time she probably doesn't come across as very smart or thoughtful, but there are some things that she can be a bit more aware of. To her, there's no definite age for what a child is, but it's still something quantifiable.]

I can learn. For something like that, I should be able to, if I've learned how to operate things like laptops and hovercycles.

[ #modern technologies

This is easy to accept, too; direct labor exchange. Learn one more skill to handle taking the bait. Or something like that, anyway. ]

Works for me. Just give me a head's up of when you're free and want to, and we can go from there.

[When she's free. When she wants to.

Will doesn't need to be repaid, but if this makes her feel better, he's fine with it. More than fine. Maybe he'll even leave her alone, if she feels comfortable enough. Leave her alone and come back with something to eat, maybe. Something he paid for. Something he doesn't even think about until he sets it down in front of her and realizes.

Welp.]

[He follows that, especially here. Here where there's...]

I was busy trying to survive high school at the same age some of the kids here were in big organizations, living behind Walls in fear of the world beyond it. Or going past them to keep them standing.

[Or breaking them down, apparently. Will's not saying any names, didn't see Kara talk to the Titan kiddos, but he knows things happen privately as much as they do publicly. He shrugs, pulls a face.]

I'd take the locker vandalism over that any day. Difficult to know that here, isn't it? Who's a kid but more mature than most adults. We're all from such different places, it's...little overwhelming.

[Or maybe that's his empathy problem speaking.]

Can be.

[Difficult to know it here, she means. Or maybe she means it can be overwhelming, but she doesn't have the same empathy problem that Will does.]

Usually doesn't take too long to make a guess. But I'm good at picking out soldiers.

[Since they're on the topic of the Titan kiddos.]

[ It'll be a balancing act to get to that point of 'free' next to "willing." Want has both very little and very much to do with it. Wanting to give back because accepting without earning isn't how she works. It's why she avoids the "gifts" given to imPorts, why she turns them down or downplays involvement, simply to not have more to hold herself accountable to in the end.

Why what she does make hers matters, and why she's willing to let it go, too; Minako's theft is more troubling for what it says than for the loss of clothing. Annie doesn't care about clothing in the end. It's the message... that's the insult.

And Annie is able to be insulted, unfortunately. ]

I will.

[He gets the insult behind the theft, more than leaves him comfortable, and doesn't want to end up in those same waters. Granted, nothing he's done that could be taken as insulting was done on purpose, not like that. Bubbly waters, shirts, providing her a place or two to stop by if she ever felt like it, those were purposeful, but not with the purpose to change her. Not a demand, an invitation.

Just like how he'd reel in a fish.

There is a joke he's holding back on. You will? No, I'm Will. Maybe another day.]

I'll look forward to it.

[Free child slave labor? Not that. Not that at all.]

[The Titan kiddos are sure all right with Will.]

Comes with the territory of being you, doesn't it?

[He might not be well-versed in many religions or systems of beliefs, might not have studied mythology much at all, but he can use Google, or its equivalent in this universe. He can use the library. He can get curious and wonder what shield maiden really means outside of what media portrays, the weird armor on the chest that leaves the legs completely bare, teenage boy masturbatory fantasy shield maidens.

There's still on judgment, simple hints of curiosity. The territory of someone's nature is a crapshoot, can be a mess, but it's what he deals with as much as what he has to deal with on a daily basis.]

I'm puppy sitting and I have a few coumadin argh yellow hot

Sorry I had to catch him jumping up on my laps like ing myst hens

ing myst hens huh Sounds about right. What's the questions?

That was supposed to be licking my hands.

Anyway, it's the clothing thing.

IC contact [Mask or Menace]

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