forum what're you in for, love? (closed, o/o with @Dances_with_Shadows)

Started June 28, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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"really? how so?" he tucked his legs up under him, idly tracing the rim of his wineglass with one hand while propped on the other.

Tessa shrugged and took another sip, stalling. "I wasn't… I'm not a good person right now, but I was way worse a long time ago. What I considered 'fun' usually consisted of chasing someone down right before the kill, or just pretty much playing with my prey. I was a weapon for hire, an 'untamable beast that needs to be leashed,' as one of the bosses oh so fondly said about me when I killed one of his men."

"but that's not true anymore. you let me gather evidence to ruin kilroy's reputation. even if it is a bit cruel to him to turn the public against him before his death, but," he glanced up to look her in the eye. "you let the weaker one pick what they needed off of him before you went in for the kill. it's unconventional, but it's… certainly a form of kindness." he held eye contact for a few seconds after, but dropped his gaze after a moment.

She dropped her gaze as well and shrugged again as she nursed her wine, swirling it around while she listened to him. "Maybe, but that's after a lot of work and some really, really stubborn people." She huffed a laugh that wasn't entirely amused. "That bastard deserves to suffer like how we suffered at his hand. It might not be the same, but at least it's something."

"yeah. and hey, it's proof that the work paid off." he finished off the glass, contemplating if he should pour another or not for a second, before turning his attention back to tessa.

"he'll suffer. i'll make sure of it. for you, and also for jake. he was my older support when i first got kicked onto the streets, and was always there when i went to see him after finding a new place to live. until he wasn't. i figure that's where he went."

he decided to pour another glass.

"when we get out of here, i'll start on the report. might even gather all my patience up and go to the actual news station. i don't usually go, they're all idiots, but it'd get this even more publicity. what about that?"

"I'm sorry, about Jake," she said, genuinely meaning it as she downed her glass unceremoniously. The conversation was getting depressing, and alcohol was a good way to make that better. She set the glass off to the side, not wanting to drink too much tonight before they even got their food. "I just want the sonovabitch to pay. Do whatever you think you need to do to ruin him before I do what I do best."

She paused, chewing her lip for a few silent seconds and cooling off her anger, before meeting his gaze and saying, "Thank you, for helping me with this. You don't have to."

"it's alright, we weren't really friends. you can't have friends in this pit of hell. just more motivation to take him down." he mimicked her, downing his and setting the glass in front of him.

"don't worry about it."

((timeskip to when they get out? not sure what else they'd talk abt))

((sure))

Tessa tipped her head back, eyes closed, and stretched, arms raised over her head. "Ahhh. Food always makes things better." She smiled idly to herself, then dropped her arms and opened her eyes, reaching into her jacket. Her fingers brushed over the notebook.

"you can say that again. well, i'll see you later, love. i've got a reputation to kill." he offered his hand to her in a handshake.

"happy to work with you"

"You too." She offered a small smile as she took his hand. She made a point to try and find out where Connor was. They might be able to team up yet again to take down the other people like Kilroy.

he smiled back, lingering for just a second before turning tail and breaking into a sprint. he stopped abruptly before a building, but quickly scaled a booth and leaped to catch onto some exterior stairs that covered said building.

he disappeared into a door to the left, and started heading home.

Tessa raised a brow, then did a private two-finger salute with a soft smile before turning on her heel and heading back towards the street rat area. She had a hunch that she'd find him somewhere there or at least a whisper of his whereabouts.

a couple hours later, nik laid back against the sleeping bag shoved into the corner of the small room. it was done. all of the evidence and pictures were together, the writing was in it's final draft, and he just needed to take it to the station. so he did, stopping on the way to print everything out and grab a folder to store it in.

he labeled "CIAN KILROY'S LAB" in large letters, and quietly slid across the counter of the station.

the next morning, it ended up on the neon district news.

Tessa lounged on the couch in her living room, quietly watching the news with a private smirk of satisfaction. Pretty soon, he'd be ripped apart by the media and anyone who sees it, and then her revenge would be 80% complete. Only when he was on the streets, broken and afraid like the ones that he loved to torment…

Only then would she make her move. Until then, she would wait quietly.

nik bounced on his heels as he stood before the ivy-covered building. all he really needed to do was set the note down and book it, but he stood in silence instead.

he wanted to see tessa, really, but there was still a lot of work to be done. so he dropped the folded paper, knocked firmly on the door three times, spun on his heel and retreated to a new hide he found. it was a quiet, shaded ledge up through an abandoned apartment building.

Tessa perked her head up when she heard someone knocking on the door. She tilted her head after a lapse of silence, then got up and answered the door hesitantly.

No one was there, but when she happened to look down, she saw a folded piece of paper on the ground. She crouched and picked it up, unfolding it without bothering to stand up.

the note was in near chicken scratch, supposed to be a form of cursive but written hastily. it read

as you might know, it's started. you won't see me for a few days because i'll be keeping it under control until he's completely ruined. you can help, though.

• if you can find where he lives, break a window. write something related to the lab on the wall. leave no evidence that it was you, and take a picture of the broken window from the outside and post it wherever, pretending you're an innocent passerby. it'll rile everyone up some more, and encourage them to go vandalize him.

i'll see you in a week. after about two, he should be reduced to a "temporary" apartment. in three or four, he'll be broke and scandalized. see you then!

~ amory

((sorry, working on a drawing rn))

Tessa smiled to herself and folded the note back up as she stood, nodding. "Sounds good," she murmured, then let her gaze bounce around her surroundings, as if in search of Nik. After a few seconds, though, she turned around and headed back into the house.

((its okay! i am as well))

nik pressed his lips together. it was going decently, but not quite as explosive as he had hoped. he was currently checking the progress from his phone, perched on the ledge.

oh. there was an interview.

he decided he'd ask tess if she wanted to watch it with him after the week was up. there was sure to be more coming, so it might be a fun little binge.

((do you want to timeskip? we can skip after tess vandalizes kilroy if you want to))

((Uhhh, i'm not really feeling like writing her vandalizing. You want to timeskip to when the week is over?))

She headed upstairs into her room and set the note on her desk, then threw herself into her comfy computer chair. Thanks to her momentum, the chair rolled away from her desk, but she hooked her ankle around one of the desk legs and pulled herself back to it. She turned on her laptop and put on her headphones, then set up her microphone. She didn't have any songs written to work on, but she was dying to do a cover of The Mystic.

((yep!))

nik was fucking exhausted.

controlling this and guiding it to where it needed to be took a toll on him. he didn't sleep for that week, constantly monitoring the interviews and articles, questions on social media and anything with the name 'cian kilroy' on it. he wrote up spinoff pieces asking more questions, some of them wild and some of them true.

but the week was over, and cian was out. so he cleaned himself up the best he could, pulled up the interview where cian confessed he was staying somewhere else because of the vandalism, and started out towards tessa's place.

after a while of walking, he reached it, taking a deep breath before he knocked.

nik had bags under his eyes, his hair was an attempt at looking okay, but it was still a mess. he was pale, overall looked awful.

so he knocked on the door, and waited for someone to open it.

Tessa was in the gym, so she didn't hear the knock, but Cinthia was on the living room floor with papers scattered all over the place. She got up and brushed her curls out of her face, then opened the door and was surprised to see Nik. She took in his ragged appearance and opened the door for him without a word, indicating that he was allowed in. "Just don't mess up my papers," was all she said after a moment of consideration.

She herself wasn't entirely presentable, with a loosely knitted sweater falling off of her one shoulder, worn down leggings reaching her knees, and her hair even more of a rat's nest than usual. Her feet were bare, and it was clear most of her work was being done on the living room floor. The papers themselves were a mess to look at. Her handwriting was neat, but the words were written in all sorts of different languages. Not one sentence was written in only a single language.

"aye aye. do you know where i could find tessa?" he stepped over a paper, walking just out of the ring. he didn't know what she was working on in the slightest, but didn't want to disturb it.

"Gym," Cinthia said, then gave him the directions to the room as she sat down in the middle of the ring, legs folded beneath her. Right now, she didn't look to be some sort of badass.

"thanks." he nodded to her as he turned, following the directions she gave him. when he reached the door, finding it slightly ajar, he pushed it all the way and knocked on the frame.

"hey, it's nik."

Tessa was doing a handstand on a metal beam suspended by two poles. She glanced over at Nik when she heard him and cast a worried look his way once she got a glimpse of his appearance.

"You look like shit," she helpfully pointed out.

"excuse you, i've never looked better." he laughed weakly, scrapped up lungs struggling to do their job.

"but, it's going to plan. here." he made his way over to her, standing just out of the way of her dismount. "i've got one of the many interviews pulled up. this one is specifically about how kilroy took a fucking hike and is now living somewhere significantly poorer than his original home."

Tessa jumped down, landing in a crouch before standing back up to come over to Nik's side. She would've just hung upside down to talk to him, but neither one of them seemed to be in the mood for her usual antics. "I've got a TV in my room," she said, "That way we don't disturb Cin and her paper ritual."

"sounds good. lead the way, captain." he tucked his phone back into his pocket, rubbing a hand over his face.

"a side note, my blood sugar is probably dangerously low, so if i black out don't call 911. just like… dump water on me or something."

"I got sugary snacks," she said, "And you're telling a known criminal that hates most doctors to not call 911." She then gestured for him to follow as she made her way out of the gym. Her room was, of course, upstairs with the rest of them. She always took the upstairs bedroom—the farther away from a basement, the better. She was also the one to take the bedroom with a walk-in closet, as opposed to a small one.