he trailed after her, hands tucked into the pocket of the oversized hoodie he wore, advertising cybernetics for the local tech company. (he got the hoodie from zan)
when they reached her room, he looked around with a raised eyebrow.
"impressive."
Impressive was…one way to describe the mess.
It was large, yes, but so was everything in his house, thanks to all of the big personalities and shameless hoarders (Tess being one of them). To the right was her queen-sized bed piled high with pillows and blankets; two bedside tables sat on either side with some random stuff thrown onto them. Her desk was in a corner and also cluttered with random knick-knacks and papers. A stand opposite her bed held the TV and remotes, the only surface devoid of disorder. Her dresser was next to the stand. It had a mirror hanging above it and old makeup sitting on top, as well as some discarded knives. Her closet door was on the other side of the TV stand.
nik crossed his arms in front of him, turning and angling his head at tessa.
"impressive knife collection, but all of my back problems have been cured just by looking at that bed. ultimate high life, ey?"
((sorry if my replies are a bit short, i've got a headache))
((I have'ta go to sleep anyway, so you're all good))
Tessa tossed a sheepish smile his way. "I may or may not've swiped Cin's credit card to pay for the majority of this. Snacks are under the bed, next to the box of booze. I'm gonna change into something comfy and not sweaty." And with that, she left him to his own devices as she strode into her closet, not locking it despite a lock being there.
((goodnight!))
nik smiled weakly back, and watched as she retreated to her closet. when she had shut the door, he let out a rattling breath. jesus. christ.
he ended up perched on the edge of her bed, terrified of messing anything up. he knew from prior experience that she most likely wouldn't care if he properly sat on her bed, but his heart was still pounding. maybe its from the coffee this morning, but he was especially anxious today.
Tessa quickly changed into an oversized sweatshirt and shorts, then headed on back out. She saw Nik perched on the very edge and sighed, not even bothering this time to make him relax.
She crawled onto her bed, tossing pillows out of her way, until she was behind and slightly off to the side if Nik. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her chin rested on his one shoulder, though she didn't lean on him fully.
he looked up when she came out, relieved that he wouldn't be left with his thoughts, but jumped when she threw her arms around him.
he played the surprise off, leaning back into her touch.
"Thought you looked in need of a hug," she said, glancing up at Nik's face for any sign of discomfort or just him wanting her off. She added a weak smirk as she said, "And I'm a leech that hangs off of my friends."
"lucky me." nik turned around in her embrace, twisting to lightly return it. "the gay scientist that i mentioned a while back absolutely hates hugs, so this is fun."
She snorted, then slipped back away from him, breaking the embrace, and proceeded to grab some blankets and pillows to make herself a comfy nest. "You mentioned interviews," she said, reminding him why he was here in the first place. She piled up some pillows, then draped a fuzzy white blanket over them, occasionally leaning into the nest to see if it was comfortable enough, and made adjustments accordingly.
"i did. i have them on my phone, but if you've got a way to get them on the tv, then feel free to do so." he offered his phone to her, pushing back his hair with his other hand.
"they're also on youtube. go wild."
"I'm not exactly the best techno-geek, but I can play youtube videos on my TV," she said, grabbing his phone and sliding off her bed to head over to the TV. She turned it on and connected Nik's phone to it, then pulled up Youtube and put on one of the interviews that she saw. Thankfully all of them had already been placed in a "Kilroy Interviews" playlist so she wouldn't have to hunt for them every time.
Once that was all done, she hopped back up on the bed and curled up into her nest, handing Nik his phone back.
"thanks."
the interview opened with kilroy sitting rather uncomfortably on a stool, looking like he had been cramped into the tiny news station.
the traditional intro played, and the interviewer greeted the screen. after all the formalities had been spun out, they got to talking.
"so, cian, according to many sources all across the internet, you've actually been reduced to an apartment?"
"well, uh- i prefer not to disclose that informatio-"
"and as we've gone over in earlier interviews, this was all started by a collage of photos and notes presented to this very news station by our favorite source, amory smith. what are your feelings on that?"
nik snorted. "i'm flattered."
cian composed himself. "i'm sure they could have been faked. any facilities under my name are clean and humane, and that's my final word on it."
"Lies," Tessa hissed, though she didn't look all that ruffled. Seeing Cian had caused a flash of anger in her eyes, the dead look she used to have briefly flickering over her face for a split second, but it was gone just as quickly as if it hadn't even existed. She then rose a brow when she turned over Cian's wording.
"'Could have' suggests that there's a possibility of the photos being real, and thus suggests that the photos are of a lab belonging to him."
"you're right. it gets better, though. i'd like to meet whoever this interviewer is. they're sassy, i like it."
"you say they 'could have,' mr. kilroy. a more solid answer would have been "i'm sure they are faked.", but whatever. do you believe that these were taken elsewhere and incorrectly linked to you? because that'd be a pretty solid cover story."
cian sputtered, grasping at straws.
"of course they arent real! all you have to do to fake a picture like that is rub mud and red dye on your floor and rip open a doll! why would they accuse me in the first place?"
"uh, mr. kilroy, i think the reason amory tried to sniff you out is because you make medicine. none of your products claim to be tested humanely. and where would someone legally get rusty medical syringes?"
"The sass is real," Tessa said, smiling smugly as Cian struggled to come up with a solid response to every question thrown his way. "He's not making this easy on himself. Even I'm a better actor than this pathetic waste of space." She leaned on her pillow nest and got into a comfier position, thoroughly entertained by the doctor's horrid ability to defend himself from the interviewer's valid questioning.
"are you allowed to ask this many questions?"
"well mr. kilroy, because of people like you, people who work for the news don't actually get paid a whole lot! to combat that, we're pretty much allowed to do whatever brings in more profit. and your little scandal here is benefiting seemingly everyone except you. how are you feeling about that?"
kilroy looked openly angry now.
"it's none of your business! you are here to ask me professional questions about… whatever it is you call this mess! these false accusations!"
the interviewer looked into the camera.
"these false accusations are the reason you're watching this in 720p instead of 240. tune in later for the continuation of this hot mess. cian, any final thoughts?"
cian looked on in stunned, angry silence.
"apparently not. we'll be back!"
nik smiled at the ending.
"what a fucking valid interviewer."
"I love them," Tessa agreed with a nod, then a slash of a smile overtook her lips. "Imagine if they brought me and Connor, two living and breathing pieces of evidence of these accusations, up for a little chat with Dr. Kilroy. The look on his face would be priceless."
She tilted her head and hummed, imagining if such a thing happened. She'd have no problem with confronting Cian—she couldn't speak for Connor, though. He might not be comfortable with being on live television. She shook her head and waited for the continuation.
"you know, i can probably track them down for you. it's not too hard. you willing to get to know another reporter?" he shifted so he could lean back next to her, getting more comfortable as the continuation played.
She flicked her gaze over to Nik, noting how he was getting more comfortable. That's a plus, at least. "I don't mind telling my side of the story," she said by answer. "And if he tries to shut me down, I have the scars. I'm far past being ashamed of them now."
"good on you. if you can track down connor, i can track down this interviewer. let's see this continuation."
((timeskip to them finding their respective people?))
"No promises he'll agree, though," Tessa said as she turned her head towards the TV. "It's been a while, but there's no guarantee he's recovered to the point of talking about it on live tv."
((works for me))
"that's definitely fair." nik leaned up to bump shoulders with tessa.
"glad to see you, but i have to disappear again. feel free to binge that playlist. all of the interviews with that reporter are hilarious."
he got up, giving a small salute.
Tessa smiled and returned his salute with one of her own. "See you 'round, stranger," she said, getting up as well to connect her phone to the TV and give his back. She would indeed binge the playlist, but now she'd focus on the interviewer's kind of questioning to prepare herself for a possible interview with them.
"see you 'round." he took the phone and turned out, careful to not disturb cinthia as he left.
nik exited the building, and immediately started off towards the station. he needed to ask around.
Once Tessa was done bingeing the playlist, she headed out in search of Connor. He was usually hanging out in the streets, helping the younger children as best as he could to give them a better life than he had—and Tessa as well.
Not only had they been in the labs together, but she and Connor had often found themselves in the same foster homes. It didn't take them long to figure out that they were the best at causing trouble together, and that trouble often got them both kicked out of the homes. Thankfully, their teamwork made it just a little easier to live on the streets. It also gave them an unwavering loyalty towards one another. They were each other's rock.
nik entered the station, haggard appearance spooking the desk attendant.
"amory, you look awful."
"the sky is fucking blue, genius. who's the reporter that did the kilroy interviews, and where can i find them?"
"amory, i don't think-"
"at least give me a name, or the next time they'll be here. i have more information for them. got it, pal?"
the attendant swallowed nervously. "i got it."
nik eyed them down. "you didn't say when they'll be here."
"well, uh. in about ten minutes." they pressed their fingers together on the desk, giving a spooked smile.
"great."
Tessa ducked into the part of the streets where the homeless kids lived and smacked right into a back.
"Fuck," she swore, stumbling back and glaring hatefully at the boy turning around with a surprised look on his face. The glare stayed, but all the heat behind it melted away when she recognized the sly starlight blue eyes and the wild silver-gray hair with black roots. "Hey, Con."
"Hey, Hunt." He offered a hand, and they clasped arms with matching grins. "What brings you to my humble abode?"
"You up for a chance to bring down Kilroy?"
"Hell yeah! What do I gotta do?"
nik shook his hair out of his face, and faced the interviewer.
"i look like hell, so you might not recognize me, but i'm amory smith, and i need your help. first off, what's your name?"
the reporter looked worried, ruffling their own brightly colored hair. "i'm alex?"
"great. when's your next interview with kilroy?"
"it was… going to be tomorrow."
"i have living proof that he created that dingy ass lab for human experiments, and also a chance for him to look dumb. you in?"
"living… proof?"
"theresa hunt and her… friend connor. they survived the lab. are you in?"
"i… guess so. i'd say i'm pretty good at improv."
"great! what time is the interview."
"3:00 pm."
nik moved over to lightly smack alex on the shoulder. "thanks, kid. we'll be there."
Tessa hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "I have a friend setting up an interview. We'll be with Kilroy, but we'll be tearing his rep apart. You in?"
Connor tilted his head and reached up to lightly tap his neck in time with his pulse. "I mean…I hope you know you'll be doing most of the talking, but yeah, I'm in."
Tessa grinned and gestured to the kids behind him. "Great! Finish up here and I'll let you crash at my place until we're done with this thing."