001 ☾ tick tick boom

[betamax]

[SPAM]

[He wakes up in bed with a mouth full of ash, or at least that's how it tastes and a splitting headache like the vodka he'd been mixing his punch with finally caught up to him. But Scott said that didn't work for them, that they couldn't get drunk, let alone hungover, and anyway it wouldn't explain the taste in his mouth.

Slowly, it comes to him. The pulsating sound in the back of his head, the feeling of being drunk even when he shouldn't have been. Getting dragged somewhere, blurry, dizzying shapes passing by, looming. Hard, cold metal at his back, and then getting doused in kerosene, the shadowy figure with the booming voice asking him questions, and once everything caught up, he bolted out of bed. Lunged for the door, jerked at the handle a few times before finally just pushing. It gave way easily as panic rose, as the rest of sense memory returned; the buzzing in his head, the harsh smell coating his skin, the inside of his nose, the blurry image of cops standing over them, and he could feel himself losing it, claws pushing out of his fingertips, the growl building in his chest, but he didn't care.

They tried to kill him. It wasn't new but he was sick of it, sick of getting hurt, sick of being afraid, but he wasn't the only one who'd gotten hurt because of him this time. Scott, Malia, he needed to find them, needed to make sure they were okay, like the shadow-man had said they would be, and the howl that clawed its way from his throat as he stepped into the hallway, as he scampered down the hallway in search of familiar scents, desperate and plaintive like it had been when he was stuck in the well, was all instinct.

Help. Pack. Where are you.]


[PUBLIC -- Video]

[Later, after he's had a chance to calm down, after everything's broadened out, dulled into something he can process, something less intense, he retreats to his room. He remembers now, more clearly. He washes the gasoline off, scrubs and scrubs until he can't smell it anymore, trashes the clothes and finds the phone that isn't his, sorts through the functions before getting it set up.

Not that he has any clue what to say.

He looks more than a little lost. Looks entirely too young to be on the ship at all, but he can't do anything about that now, and judging by the determined set of his jaw he doesn't seem to think it should matter too much. He chews his lip absently, takes a breath.

Okay. He can do this. No sweat. Never mind that he's already made an impression in exactly the way he didn't want to.]

Hey. So you got stars here. That's...cool, I guess?

[Yeah nobody mind the kid who was running around as the wolf boy earlier. He's fine. You didn't see that, right?]

Comments

[no_tell_belle]

[Okay then, he genuinely seems to be not jerking her around.]

You asked which one I was. I'm not sure what 'one' refers to, unless you mean warden or inmate. In that case, I'm a warden.

[betamax]

Yeah. That's what I meant. What else would I ask, I mean...I'm not gonna ask if you're a dude or a chick, that's rude, and anyway you're wearing makeup and you've got. You know.

[He gestures vaguely at his chest and tries not to get too embarrassed about it. Not a conversation he ever envisioned having.]

...I am too. By the way. ...warden, not. You know.

[no_tell_belle]

Yes, that would be rude. [And yes, she definitely has 'you know.' Rather large ones at that so points to Liam for picking up on the clues.

She has to bite her tongue to avoid making any other pointed comments. He's just a kid for Christ's sake, and he's not responsible for her recent crappy experiences. Still, he's treading on thin ice whether he knows it or not.]

A warden? Really? How old are you, son?

[betamax]

[They're hard to miss. Especially for a teenage boy firmly in the part of life where girls are deemed pretty okay because of things like that.]

Yeah. Really. I'm fifteen.

[Yes, he gets a little defensive when she asks how old he is. He's already starting to second guess the choice, he doesn't need anybody else doubting him.]

[no_tell_belle]

[Jesus, he's even younger than Joey...which is a good reminder that like Joey, Liam is still a bit unfinished. She needs to be patient with him.]

Why did you decide to come here? You ought to be at home, playing hooky and and chasing girls, or boys, and sneaking out at night to go for joyrides and stealing the booze from your parents' liquor cabinet.

[Yes, her teenage memories aren't exactly Norman Rockwellish but those particular memories are some of the better ones.]

[betamax]

Hey, I play hooky and sneak out at night and steal alchol from my parents. Just because I'm HERE doesn't mean I don't.

[More defensiveness. Like he's used to having to try to justify himself, or at least standing out as Different.]

It's complicated.

[Not really, but he doesn't know how to explain it to somebody who's not one of them. It sounds crazy to anybody else.]

[no_tell_belle]

[If he'd told her that life back home isn't fun and his world is horrible and dangerous and no damn good, she'd easily understand why he's on the barge. Now that he's told her no, he'd been doing 'normal' teenage things, well, that makes her very curious as to why he'd given it up.]

Life's choices usually are, though I find they're often not as complicated as we think they are. Once you've weighed the pros and cons, the right choice is usually pretty obvious. And for most boys your age, the obvious choice would be to stay home.

[betamax]

I got my reasons, you know? But it sounds crazy.

[He watches her warily, trying to gauge, then plunges ahead on impulse.]

There were these people trying to kill my friends and me. They almost did. And then this guy shows up and says he can fix everything...

[He shrugs.]

Wouldn't you?

[no_tell_belle]

[Pfft she's been eating crazy for breakfast since coming aboard. And his story--the bare bones of it at least--doesn't sound all that crazy in comparison.]

Sounds like a very reasonable decision under the circumstances. But may I ask why someone is trying to kill a bunch of high school students?

[betamax]

I was pretty messed up when he asked. I wouldn't really say it was a reasonable decision but it was the best one I had at the time, yeah.

[He shifts uncomfortably in his seat when she asks the next question, because it's harder to answer and he doesn't have Scott here feeding him the right ones. But he knows he can't just tell the whole truth, there's no way she'll believe it, he's pretty sure.]

Uh. Well it's not just kids, some adults are on it too. But. There's a list? Like a hit list. I don't know why, there just is.

[no_tell_belle]

[She does think it's a very odd story but odd doesn't mean untrue. She's willing to accept it as true until proven otherwise.]

You must have some idea why. Or who, possibly? [Liam's almost too young for some of the typical reasons for a contract killing, and he doesn't strike her as a gang member.] Do you have the kinds of enemies that would actually put a hit on you?

[betamax]

It was a couple cops who tried to do it this time. But it's different people. Anybody can collect the reward if they can prove they did it. I don't know who put the list together though.

[He shakes his head.]

Not really. I mean...there are people who probably want me dead but they wouldn't put a list out to do it.

[no_tell_belle]

[Venus doesn't react too strongly to the idea that cops might've been involved. After all, cops can go bad, too, and they'd had more than a few in Charming who operated as much on the wrong side of the law as on the right side.

Hits are nothing she hasn't encountered either, though fortunately never first hand. They're usually more direct than this sounds however, personal grudges or even business scores to be settled.]

So what you're saying is there's some sort of bounty on your heads? And anyone can collect?

I assume your deal with the Admiral then is to get that bounty removed...?

[betamax]

[...he didn't just make a mistake telling her right. Oh god he hopes not. There's a moment where he looks like he thinks he might have, a kind of tension and wariness in his expression as he tries to gauge.]

Yeah, something like that.

[no_tell_belle]

[She shakes her head slightly at his sudden bout of misgiving, smiling.]

Relax, honey--we're just having a bit of conversation. It's none of my business why you're here, I know that. I'm just interested in people's stories, and on this damn boat, nearly everyone's got a story.

[betamax]

Okay. What's yours?

[It seems easier than explaining his any further, than letting her have the opportunity to try to get it out of him. Maybe it's wouldn't be so bad, maybe she would be understanding, maybe she wouldn't think he was a crazy person, but it seems smarter not to say anything else about it right now. Damage control.]

[no_tell_belle]

[She just laughs. Of all the people on the barge and all the stories, hers is perhaps the least interesting...to anyone but her.]

There's not much to tell. I'm from a smallish town in California called Charming. I have no superpowers or magic or secret ninja warrior skills. I'm just an ordinary woman who was offered the opportunity to come here and maybe do some good. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I was given the chance.... [She looks away for a second, thinking. Then she shrugs.] I have theories but that's as far as it goes.

[betamax]

You have to have a reason you said yes though. He offered you something if you said yes, right?

[no_tell_belle]

Yes. [She nods.] My son. I tried to keep him from the negative influences in my life--not always successfully--but my deal with the Admiral will help me make sure his life is easier, better.

[betamax]

Easier doesn't always mean better, and better doesn't always mean easier.

[Yes, he knows after he says it that she probably already knows that, being an adult and everything. He chews his lip for a moment, sheepish, then smiles.]

But...good. I hope you get it.

[no_tell_belle]

Different then. And trust me, his life has already been less...complicated than my own. [She does indeed understand what he's saying. She has to aim for easier and better, though. She has to do what she can to make Joey's life better to make up for not being the parent he deserved.]

Thank you, I hope so as well. I realize it's doesn't sound as important as stopping a hit man but it's important to me.

[betamax]

[Yeah there's really no way to respond to her kid's life being less complicated than hers that doesn't sound kind of terrible, so he just kind of nods.]

Well that's what parents do, right? Try to make things better for their kids. Even if it kind of messes up their own plans sometimes.

[Yup. He knows how that goes. Might even look a little bit guilty even if he tries not to.]

[no_tell_belle]

That's the way it's supposed to work. [She smiles, though it's bittersweet. Supposed to work and does work can be miles apart, something she knows all too well.]

What about your parents? Are they trying to make things better for you?

[betamax]

[He nods again, although this time he doesn't raise his head after.]

Yeah, they've been trying a lot.

[no_tell_belle]

Good, that's as it should be. [She assumes he feels guilty for some trouble he's caused his parents, but that's as it should be as well. Children caused their parents endless worry. If they didn't, either there was something wrong with the child or something wrong with the parent.]

I take it they aren't able to help with the murder thing however? Or have you not told them?