Android's Dungeon, 11/26

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah opened the store a little early and not in the best of moods. The files she'd looked up at the police station the day before had proved interesting reading, but they were fighting for space in her head with an email Casey had sent about his plans for Thanksgiving with Chuck and his sister. It was positively cheery, by Casey standards, which was disturbing in itself.

It looked like things in L.A. were chugging along perfectly well without her, and that nagged at her as much as she wished it wouldn't.

She set that aside and bent her head over a file of Marvel invoices. She was at the store; she would try to do one job at a time.

The shop was open.

[OOC: OCD-free as per usual! Edit; All other visitors before Loki.]

Comments

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

Since his player Loki was bored just sitting around the lobby, he actually set off into town, pushing open an unfamiliar door and being greeted by a nerd's wet dream.

In this instance, he meant the comic books. The person behind the counter wasn't too bad, either.

"You look like a perfect fucking fit for this place," he said, browsing one of the aisles idly.

[No notifications, LJ sucks, SP totes okay.]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah smiled a little in spite of herself. She'd been halfway watching Loki since he came in. Nothing had come up yesterday in the systems the police station had access to. She'd halfway expected that given she only had a nickname for him, but it still meant she couldn't prove her theory either way.

And right now, he was a customer, and distractions were good things.

"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or disturbed that you think that."

[OOC: Yay, SP, boo LJ.]

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Take your pick," he said, glancing up at her while leafing through a comic book. "I think a lot of things, though. That's just one of my many thoughts. I had no idea I was living in the same building as a comic book geek."

He dropped the comic back down and walked closer to the counter.

"You got action figures of your own?"

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"No, but I'm starting to think they're a safer investment than my IRA," Sarah informed him. She still couldn't get over Momoko spazzing about the things. "Do you?"

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Fuck no," he said and rolled his eyes. "I gave those up when I took the training wheels off my bike. More important things to attend to."

He grinned easily, stopped to look at another comic book.

"I prefer to make investments in other things," he said absently. "I'm a picky kinda guy."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"I gave up Barbies about then," Sarah noted, just for the record (and the sake of her pride). "Picky's not a bad way to be when money is on the line."

She leaned forward, curious what comic he was looking at.

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Money, right, of course," he said just because he was an asshole sometimes. Noticing her glance, he tilted it towards her, showing off the pages of some generic superhero comic.

"Barbies, huh?" He laughed and flipped the comic shut, dropping it down. "What'd you move onto after Barbies?"

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"I think it's illegal to be a girl in America and not be into Barbies," Sarah protested. "And I moved on to, um, the clarinet, acting, knives. Typical stuff. You?"

Yes, she liked slipping the mention of knives in there.

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

The mention of knives got a small smirk but nothing more.

"Tricky question," he said thoughtfully, "since I moved onto a wide range of things. Multi-talented kind of guy. You should see me with a spatula."

And other items.

"I was never bored, I can tell you that."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"It's like that song," Sarah said with a tiny shrug. "If you aren't boring, you usually aren't bored." You might be in danger of getting your head blown off, but that was a separate and preferable issue.

"I'm impressed cooking's among your talents. I really, really don't."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Never said what I did with the spatula," he pointed out with a small grin. Spatulas were handy in a pinch. "I've got an oven and a recipe book but I mostly use that for a fucking coaster and shit. Pizza. Best way to fucking go."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah had never needed to resort to a spatula, and part of her brain was dedicated to seeing how that would work. Sharpen one edge into a shiv, probably, and a long time ago it would have even disturbed her that she went there so quickly. "So what do you and your spatula get up to?"

"And I think I could find my oven if you gave me time, maybe even turn it on," she said. "That's about it. I am a big fan of take-out."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

He just let his smirk serve as an answer to that question. No need to give out too many details. She could make her guesses.

"So am I," he agreed. "Though, I can sometimes pop something in the fucking microwave thing and cook it without burning the shit. That's rare though. I get bored easily, wander off and come back to something burnt to a black crisp. And then I have to clean it. Piece of crap."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah was pretty sure he was teasing her with that smirk, and it made her wonder what his guesses about her might be. She shouldn't have mentioned knives.

"I can manage a Lean Cuisine," Sarah conceded with a shrug. "How long you have to cook them for is right on the box. It's not as good as pizza, but sometimes you can even pretend you're eating healthy."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Fuck healthy, life's too short," he said and waved a hand. Not that he cared about that. Stupid fact of his...life. Whatever. "Besides, those portions are so fucking small, it's like a snack. Eat one and you're just craving something else a few minutes later."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"You just need to get your stomach used to it," Sarah claimed. Of course, she'd pretty much wanted a snack for the last decade. "But you're right, life is short."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"For a lot of people," he said, adding another little smirk which he couldn't help. One day, he'd learn. Today was not that day.

"Don't you get bored in this place?" Loki asked after a brief moment of silence. "Doesn't seem like a place where people would flock to and entertain you."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

She smirked back, for the hell of it.

"It depends," she said vaguely, meaning yes. "It's a lot quieter than L.A., but I can keep myself busy. I think I'd be more bored doing your job."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"You just gotta know how to entertain yourself," Loki said, waving a hand. "Last job was a lot more exciting, a lot more people oriented but a little more hazardous to my fucking health."

Which was mostly true.

"Customer service gets fucking tiring."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"You're convincing me you were a secret agent in your last job," Sarah accused lightly, just to see what he would say. "But customer service is always about entertaining yourself and not shooting the annoying people."

Unless they deserved it, but that was more a problem she had in L.A.

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"You really think there's anything secret about me?" he asked. If only she knew. "Like I have the concentration to be secret and stealthy. That shit's for those who can focus on thing for more than ten seconds."

He grinned, shrugged.

"I prefer the quick jobs, myself. Wham bam thank you ma'am."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"I'm pretty sure your parents didn't name you Loki," Sarah pointed out mildly. Granted, hers hadn't named her Sarah, either. "So that's at least one secret."

"Secret agent was nicer than my other guess."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Have you seen the shit that parents are naming their kids these days?" Loki asked, grinning at her statement. "Loki's pretty damn normal. I could be fucking Scandinavian. Heritage is a funny thing. And didn't I tell you what I did in my last job? I could have sworn I did."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"You could be Scandinavian," Sarah agreed, because what the hell, it was a theory. "I went to high school with a guy named Kjeld. Loki's a gift compared to that."

"And no, you did not. You just like hinting." Which really did not speak well of the witness protection program.

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"I'd change my name to Loki if I was named fucking Kjeld," he said, laughing. "So, I hinted. Maybe I do keep secrets. What's your guess?"

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"I think you're either a hit man in witness protection, or you really want people to think you are," Sarah returned, tone light and hand going subtly to her gun just in case. "And also that if I'm right, you probably give the marshalls in charge of you fits."

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't that make me dangerous?" Loki asked, only moving to lean against one of the racks holding up the comic books.

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

And suddenly this wasn't cute, and the humor dropped out of Sarah's tone. "It probably would."

She wasn't afraid, though.

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"But, you know, who's to say you're even right?" Loki said, shrugging easily. "I've been listening to myself and all these hints, as you call them, could point to a lot of goddamn things. Not just the one you went to."

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"You're right," Sarah had to acknowledge. "Maybe you're the kind of cleaner that washes windows. Maybe you're an accountant and you just like screwing with people. Maybe a lot of things."

She really did not think she was wrong. "It's not like I can prove anything, anyhow."

NFB, no peeking!

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"I don't do windows. And I hate fucking suits. No accountants. Cleaners have many meanings," he said because it just felt like the right thing to say. "But really, you're the secret agent, you should be able to find these things out, right?"

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah took a second to just be astonished, oh, shit going through her head and her stomach sick. She'd been sloppy, and this was what happened to sloppy agents.

If they were lucky. Unlucky was worse.

Then she just glared. "Did you go through my fucking apartment when I was out?"

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"Oh, please, I have no fucking use to do that," he said and rolled his eyes. "Besides, I'm not a peeping fucking Tom. I don't need to go through your apartment, Agent Walker. You asked me if I was one, I just asked you and you just confirmed it. What if I was just taking a fucking guess?"

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah wanted to kick things. She wanted to cry. She badly wanted to shoot Loki.

She did none of these things. She waited a moment and swallowed, made herself be calm.

"I didn't confirm anything," she said. "I asked a question. You have to admit, it's a pretty weird guess for either of us to make."

There was a calculated pause. "Maybe we both just want things to be more interesting than they are."

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

He started to point out that her vehement reaction had pretty much confirmed what she was. Not that he needed the question but he thought it considerate to ask.

"Interesting is better than boring, after all," he said, smiling as he stood up and stuck both hands into the pockets of his coat. "That's probably it."

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

She had all but confirmed it, but the fig leaf of technicalities was all Sarah had to grab for. "Probably," she said, voice still a little shaky. "Much more entertaining than being a landlord and a comics store manager. I might have been reading too much of this stuff."

She still thought she was right, and she decided to get a stronger lock box to keep anything interesting in. Moving would just seem excessive.

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"I can forget this happened if you can," he offered magnanimously. "I mean, after all, I'm not a bad guy."

Really.

"And we do live in the same place. I'm not planning on spreading any fucking rumors and I'd appreciate the same consideration."

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"I think," Sarah said, taking a moment to weigh her options and words carefully, "there's nothing to forget. Sometimes people get strange ideas. I don't need to share mine with anyone, and I'm glad you feel the same way."

She smiled, weakly, as she spoke.

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"I agree," he said after a moment of silence. "I mean it. I'm not going to tell anyone that. I'm a lot of things but a fucking snitch isn't one of them."

He stepped forward, withdrew one of his hands and offered it to her. "I promise."

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah was a professional snitch, but she could still rationalize leaving Loki out of her reports. For one, he most likely wasn't from her world; for another, even if her guess was right (and it hadn't escaped her that he didn't exactly deny it) it was out of her jurisdiction. She'd keep an eye on him and let it go at that.

"Same here," she said, taking the hand and shaking it. "And happy Thanksgiving, Loki."

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[flipped-god-off.livejournal.com]

"You too," he said, smiling widely before turning and heading out the door.

Re: NFB, no peeking!

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sarah watched him go with a tiny smile of her own on her face. As soon as he was gone, she buried her face in her hands, counted to 100, then went and locked the store, turning the OPEN sign to CLOSED.

Then she went into the back room and threw a knife at her office wall again and again, until she had stabbed the shit out of the drywall. Violence was her therapy.