"Full names aren't necessary, as you're not getting mine," Cinthia said, glancing down at Nik's hands and not making a move towards him. "And I don't do handshakes or any…" She wiggled her fingers thoughtfully, "Any sort of physical contact."
"It's a touchy subject," Tessa said with an impish grin. Cinthia rolled her eyes.
"that's fair, i used to hate touching as well." he shook his hands and tucked them back on his lap.
Cinthia easily moved on, eyes on Tessa as she spoke. "No breaking shit, no setting things on fire, no bringing the law down on me, no dragging dead bodies through the house, no press, no Mafia men besides the ones I know, no hiding a kidnapped person here, no murders happening here, no stashing loot here—"
Tessa flapped her hand irritably. "Yeah yeah yeah. I've heard the same spiel before."
"I'm not babysitting anyone else, so anything he does," Cin pointed to Nik, "is on you to either fix or deal with."
Tess just grinned and did a two-finger salute. "Aye aye, captain."
nik rolled his eyes playfully, crossing his arms.
"bold of you to assume i'd do anything wrong, i'm an absolute angel i'll have you know." he pointedly left out the fact that he has recently gotten arrested, caught things on fire, and broken multiple objects while falling off a ledge.
"Anyone voluntarily hanging around that psycho isn't an angelic, law-abiding citizen," Cinthia said, then lifted a hand in farewell and took the stairs two at a time, heading upstairs where Demitri went.
Tessa stuck her tongue out at Cinthia's retreating back. "Rude."
nik unleashed an almost venomous smile, tucking his legs up under him.
"i never said law-abiding, considering we recently broke into a government facility, but alright cinthia. go off." he said, mostly to tessa. he knew cinthia was already gone, and was mostly just trying to make tessa smile.
Cinthia, just before she ducked out of view, flipped them both off. Tessa cackled, both from Nik's words and her friend's action. "This should be fun," she said, grinning. Her eyes were alight with mirth as she looked over at Nik.
nik's expression brightened from borderline evil to a dopey grin, looking back at her and winking in response. he let the moment hang for a few minutes, but eventually got up.
"well, i've got to go. it's been fun! hopefully we can meet up again sometime soon. if you don't want to text, you can probably find me in the sewer town that everybody considers off limits, yes, that one, or sitting on top of the executive apartment building. see ya!"
"Sewer is a no-go for me, so don't expect me down there," Tessa said with a wave, draping herself over the back of the couch and watching him. "See ya later, my dude. Hopefully we can cause some more chaos in the near future."
"likewise." he gave a quick salute before disappearing out the door, quickly breaking into a sprint across the city. he soon reached his destination, out of breath and damp, but he was there.
he swung down the ladder, going two rungs before simply dropping down and scrambling up the steep ramp that led to where he slept whenever he had a chance. a sleeping bag is better than pavement.
Tessa yawned and trudged upstairs, her body suddenly catching up with its exhaustion and crashing after today's events. She dimly registered Cinthia sitting at her desk with Demitri hovering over her, but ignored that small tidbit and headed into her room.
"Sweet sweet, comfortable bed, oh how I've missed you, my friend," Tessa hummed, then tipped into the bed and landed on her back, eyes closing even before the impact.
((timeskip?))
((Yeah. Any idea to when?))
((they find each other for their next act? like tessa decides she wants him around or he gets bored and tries to find her?))
((Maybe Tessa gets a lead on this one scientist that worked on her, but she needs to go to the lab where she was tortured the most? Nik can just be something to ground her while she internally freaks out and also looks around, because she has no clue what she'd need to look for?))
((yeah. he'll be on the exec roof ;)) )
((okay, lemme get it started))
About three days after parting ways, Tessa was out searching for Nik. She had gotten a lead from Diego regarding one of the scientists that had experimented on her—one Cian Kilroy, the worst of the worst. He had been the lead scientist in the biggest and deadliest lab that she was taken to, and the main cause for her dislike for doctors. During the day, the bastard was a doctor, all smiles and promises of miracles. During after-hours, however, he worked in the underground labs, experimenting on street rats for that miracle drug he promised.
Diego had found that he was in the area, working for a secret government agency interested in his knack for coming up with different drugs. That didn't sit well with her.
nik looked over the edge of the roof he was sitting on. the executive apartments, the fun-sized height of luxury. usually he's get sniped for sitting here, but most of the watch were at the current murder scene. wonder who got killed this time?
he saw a figure sprinting across his vision in front of the apartments. they looked oddly familiar, but he brushed it off. probably some politician late for a meeting. a newbie, maybe. one that didn't yet realize that running was for the poor unless it was on an air conditioned track or treadmill.
"Right, he said he'd be on top," Tessa muttered to herself as she got near the executive apartment building. She sighed and rolled her shoulders, loosening her joints before putting the envelope between her teeth and starting the climb up the building. It didn't take her long to find a quick and easy path up the side of the building, and she was on top in no time.
She grabbed the envelope again and put her free hand on her hip as she stood near the edge of the building. "Good thing you were here and not in the sewer."
he jumped, but chuckled soon after as he recognized the voice.
"good thing, yeah. what's up?" he twisted around to look at her, bumping up his hat with his knuckles so his face was visible.
She came over to him and crouched down next to him, handing him the envelope as she did so. "I got a lead, and I could use an extra eye." She jerked her chin at the envelope, trying to keep the distaste off of her tongue as she said, "Recognize the name?"
Inside the envelope was just a handwritten letter saying, "Cian Kilroy works with the government. He's making drugs for them. You know what to do." For once, it was written in English and not Italian.
nik tilted his head while reading, and then rolled his eyes and looked deadpan at the paper.
"cian kilroy is the absolute whore who keeps trying to impress me and every other young reporter with his medicine, impress them enough to get them in his bed. i always have to resist beating his ass. are we killing him or something?"
"Yes, we're killing him, but for a different reason. A personal reason." Tessa wasn't so amused as she locked her gaze on an invisible point on the horizon, jaw working. She hadn't heard much from Cian since she got out with the others, but from the sounds of it, he wasn't much different from 6 years ago.
"guess we both have motivation to kill him. where to, boss?" he looked up at her, mildly curious about her 'personal reason' but felt be shouldn't ask.
Tessa stood up and looked down at Nik, arms folded over her chest. "An old underground laboratory around where all the street rats hang out." She unfolded her arms and slipped a hand in her back pocket, fingers curling around the wires of her earbuds. She'd need them in the lab to keep her grounded somewhat, and Nik would be the other way to ground her to reality.
"ah, then i'll surely be familiar with it. maybe we'll see my cousin. hopefully not, though." he stretched out his shoulders before getting up and dusting himself off.
"so, you said he's making drugs?"
"Mmhmm," she hummed, nodding and letting go of her earbuds. "He's always made drugs, but in the underground lab I mentioned." She shrugged and looked over at Nik, face blank. "He'd take the street rats and use them as a way to test and develop his drugs. No one would miss us if we died, anyway. And a lot died because of him and his drugs."
nik's expression immediately hardened, and he jerked his chin up to look off to the side.
"i see. i have some things i need to get, then i'll meet you there, i know where you're talking about now. i've heard the stories." he sent a quick salute her way and took off, jogging to the edge of the building and searching for the place he got up.
nik found the place quickly, and seemingly dropped off the building.
Tessa didn't say anything as he got up and left, and she took a quiet moment to herself before heading back down the side of the building. She had stashed her bag of stuff by the abandoned lab, so she immediately headed over there.
Time for a trip down memory lane.