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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((what is the source,,,))

he turned slightly to tessa, giving her a questioning look.

"bets? seems like a lot of money being passed around."

((this cute little rescue kitten my mom brought home one day. Skin and bones, fleas, dirty, missing fur. She's taking up half my chair and using me as a pillow while looking up at me with these adorable green eyes. Her flea collar is the source of the lemon smell, even tho it's supposed to smell like spice))

Tessa sighed, keeping her head on his shoulder for, what she told herself, keeping up appearances. "Yeah… I'm a lost cause, and they know it. I'm slightly offended so many bet against me finding someone to put up with this mess." She gestured to herself.

"hah, jokes on them. all you did was find someone that's an equal amount of messy to cancel you out." he reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, giving her a crooked half-smile.

"where do you think we'll go, love? any suggestions?"

She returned his crooked smile with one of her own as she looked up at him. Damn, how did she manage to find someone like Nik? And it wasn't even a matter of him liking her. It was simply him being there for her like he was now.

"Not at the moment, but I'm sure we can come up with something."

"i'm sure we can." he glanced at demitri and cinthia, wondering if they should have the "what activity" talk right now, or just drop it until after dinner.

he never expected this to happen. to have someone who would seek him out to just be together, and openly invite him inside into better conditions with no payment required, even if it was just for a night.

although, where did connor go?

((fuck, i forgot about the dude. thankfully, he's a night owl, so I'm using that as an excuse for his absence))

"Probably best if we leave them be for now," Tessa said, catching where his eyes had strayed, "From the looks of it, they're likely going to go with us. Drop the subject for the sake of their sanity thanks to all of the nagging people here, then bring it up some other time."

She didn't seem to be concerned about Connor's lack of an appearance as she lifted her head from Nik's shoulder and finished eating.

"alright, sounds good." he followed her example and started back on the food. if tess hadn't brought the guy up, he must be fine.

She set some food off to the side for Connor, mostly out of habit than anything when he was around. When they were younger, they would save part of any rations they got for the other so neither one of them went completely hungry.

nik sighed, looking at the two shirts in his arms. he had requested to go home to change before the interview, and was now deliberating over if he should be That Bitch and show up in a suit, or just dress neatly.

i say 'a suit' like i have multiple and not just one that i performed many illegal activities to get. real funny, dude.

he grimaced as he looked at it. it seemed appropriate, definitely, but he worried about tessa wondering how he managed to get this.

or maybe he'd just piss kilroy off and go full casual. what the fuck is going on here.

Tessa threw open her closet and searched through what she had. Because of Cinthia and her work in the mafia, she had a surprising amount of money for a former street rat—though she still ran around like one. Interviews had never been a thing she needed to get ready for, so she was at an impasse as to what to wear.

"You know what? Something that shows my scars. That'll rile the crowd up real nice," she decided, then started looking around for what she could possibly wear that would be both classy-ish but exposing enough to reveal the damage Kilroy and his ilk did.

"okay, fuck this."

he knocked briskly on tessa's door about 30 minutes later, white button up and slim grey pants on. but of course, he rolled up the sleeves and threw on a cheap ass choker zen had bought for him 3 years ago. to add gay flair, you know.

he waited outside, mentally preparing himself.

Tess, in usual Tessa fashion, had to be as extravagant as possible while making her statement. She had on a showy dress of white and gold, exposing the more important scar along her abdomen. She stumbled over to the door as she struggled to pull up the straps of her shoes, the 3-inch heels clicking with each wobbly step. She managed to open the door with one hand while bent over and swearing at the straps.

"Hi."

nik's eyebrows shot into his hairline, giving her a mostly-surprised and also slightly concerned look.

"uh… you alright there, tess?"

"Oh yeah, fine," she chirped, leaning against the doorframe as she attempted to use both hands to pull up the straps. "Just having a grand ol' time with these works of the devil. You're looking quite nice. Loving the flair."

"thank you, it's from claire's. the context is that my scientist friend thinks he's funny. nice dress, by the way. looks good on you."

he stood and waited for her to adjust, twining his hands in front.

"Thank you. I needed a fancy way to shove it in Kilroy's face. What better way than expose this beaut?" She gestured to her midriff, then finally tugged up the straps of her shoes and looked to Nik with her hands on her hips. "Connor will be down in a bit. He's pickier than I am—and tired. Night owl."

"i bet he'll love that. nobody would give themself a scar like that just to blame him for something." he glanced at her shoes, and then back to the dress, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"you sure you don't want to bring a change of clothes?"

She rose a brow and crossed her arms. "I mean, I never said I wasn't. I'm gonna borrow some of Connor's clothes for after. They're nice and comfy. And I'm definitely going barefoot afterwards."

"ah, fair. anyway, we're showing up later than kilroy. alex will be keeping him occupied for about 10 minutes, we'll get there, and turn on the camera, get this whole mess started. as i've mentioned before, try to refrain from killing him, but now that i've put some more thought into it, you can probably do whatever. we'll just cut out the most graphic of it. feel free to come up with a signal to teach to connor and i, if it gets to be too much i'll cut it off. sound good?"

he leaned back, trying to visualize how this hot mess would go. it would fluster kilroy, certainly, but he didn't know if cian would just cover his ass with lies and expensive lawyers again. whatever happens, at least the iconic duo get to share their stories.

Tessa nodded and held up a thumbs up for added effect. "Works for me. Mind if the signal is something in a different language? It's not super noticeable and can be played off as us getting details straight without putting it on air first." She looked over her shoulder when Connor came up behind her.

He hung a bag on her shoulder without ceremony as he leaned on the doorframe, just behind Tessa and on the other side of the door. "What're we chatting about? Beware, I just downed, like, three cups of coffee."

nik nodded to tessa, and turned when connor spoke.

"we're working out a signal for if being with kilroy again gets to be too much. i'll cut it off immediately if either of you say it."

"Sweet. Shall we do cazzo? Tess's favorite word?" Connor looked down at Tessa, who rolled her eyes but had an amused smile on her face.

"sounds good. now, shall we?" nik turned to tessa, bowing slightly and offering an arm. he knew they should probably go now, to have time to talk to alex beforehand.

"We shall," Tessa said, hooking her arm around Nik's offered one with a dazzling smile. Connor smiled and rolled his eyes taking up a spot behind them.

when they got to the station, he led the pair inside quickly and went to the counter to receive his "hey, amory." from the woman sitting there.

"who've you got with you?" she leaned back in her chair, giving tessa and connor a once-over.

"keep it eye level, you horny fuck. they're theresa hunt and her friend connor. they'll be with me in the interview in 15. is alex here?"

"you're no fun, smith. alex is here, yeah. i'll yell for em." she took a deep breath, giving a loud "ALEX! your pals are here, amigo!"

Both Tess and Connor smirked at the women when she gave them both a once-over, catching the look and letting their matching arrogance slip through just a bit.

Connor blinked and tapped his ear after the woman shouted. "You've got quite the set of lungs on you," he commented with a hint of admiration, nudging Tessa with an elbow. "Almost as loud as this loud-mouth." Tessa scowled at him and flicked his head, earning a whiny protest from him.

she smiled, nodding slightly. "thanks, man. hey, i'm lauren, by the way. you can call me laurie."

nik looked unamused.

"if you call her laurie, she'll start flirting with you. learned that lesson the hard way. but!" nik looked towards a door to the back, catching it just as alex emerged.

"if it isn't the single best reporter i've seen since myself! welcome home, alex. these are the friends i told ya about!"

alex looked mildly spooked, but nodded in greeting,