tampered | (no subject)

When; Thursday 20 August
Rating; R for swearing
Characters; Eddie Blake [

lastpunchline] and Mindy Macready [

neverplays]
Summary; Eddie just went out for a drink. Little did he know someone was lurking in the shadows.
Log;

Eddie doesn't go out much anymore; there's enough to do at home. Watch the Network, smoke, drink, all that can be done from the solitary confines of his second floor apartment.

Look once you've been thrown out a window once, you tend to take precautions.

At any rate, this night is unusual. He makes his way down the alleys to his favorite dive; a seedy place that serves good burgers and better beer, and lets him smoke inside. His kind of joint. A tribute to the American Way, or some shit like that.

Usually the Comedian is always on his guard - in a City where Adrian Veidt lives, there's no such thing as a day where he can just relax. Today, though, with all the passive aggressive notes on the Network, he figures everyone is too much of a pussy to actually come out and do anything.

Well he would be mostly right.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She orders a burger and a strawberry milkshake. Hey, he offered the invitation, and in this situation taking full advantage of his offer was the smart thing to do.

"That's impossible. People can't teleport and don't tell me you believe blue aliens exist," she argues. Combating the illogical with logic was a dead end and she knows it. It's just ironic how the one little girl who didn't believe in fairy tales, magic, and technicolor unicorns is now facing something just as impossible. She hesitates slightly before speaking again, caught on the last option on his list. "I'm not dead. It can't be that."

She couldn't be.

Eddie grins and flick ash away from the head of his cigar. "Blue aliens? No, I'm not stupid." Actually he hasn't met any aliens, and though he'd like to think that Doc was one, he knows better. After all, he remembers seeing pictures of Doc before the accident.

"You're not dead. You've got a pulse," he says. Clearly the kid's worried about it. "And there's a ton of fucking weird shit that happens here. So you might want to get the word impossible out of your head right now or you're going to be one sad sorry bitch before the end of the week."

They bring the drinks and Eddie takes a sip of his beer. "You're not stupid, kid, so think it through. Where do you think you are? Disneyland?"

Taking a sip of her own milkshake, she paints a nice picture of a kid who missed Halloween by half a year. Good thing know one gives damn in this joint, or in this entire City.

"So we're in a magical City full of idiots from other worlds. How the fuck do we get out, then?" Mindy doesn't ask as so much demand an answer. Illogical or not, there had to be an exit somewhere. "Every city has an exit."

Every City except an impossible city. While she doesn't go as far to accept it as truth, Mindy will accept Eddie's explanation as a stand-in until she finds something that fits. She'll be searching forever.

Eddie doesn't care what she looks like, really. He's had dinner with uglier masks. At least she doesn't smell like a dog took a crap on her.

"We don't get out, kid." He pauses. "That's not right either. The only way out is the way you came in. One day you'll be walking down the street or sitting on the crapper or you'll be killed, and bam, you're back in your world, no harm, no foul. I hear not even a second passes but fuck if I know if that's true." He takes another drink of his beer.

"There's a guide that explains all this, I can give you my old copy. Not like I need the thing anymore."

"You mean, we have to sit around for chance," she replies incredulously. Even if it didn't make sense, if that was the truth of this place then what could she do? It made less sense to sit around and question why when there were plans to be made. To figure out how she would temporarily make her home here. Secondly, to scout out the town and its residents. Who knew if there could be more people out there like Eddie, more people who she couldn't fight hand-to-hand and win.

First things first: weapons.

"Know where I can buy cartridges around here, Comedian?" Mindy says it as if she's discussing the weather. "Then you can give your guide."

She takes a bite out of her bigger, all the while, still ruminating on preparations.

Eddie sizes her up, then thinks, well, what the hell. It'll be good for a laugh, anyway, and the Comedian hasn't had many of those lately. "I buy my weapons off a dealer in the underground. But people won't deal with a kid, here, you'll need someone to run interference." He slides one of his three pistols across the table to her. "That'll do you for now. Not like you have the money until your first welfare check comes in anyway."

He takes a bite of his burger. He may have just given the girl a gun but the Comedian knows exactly how to disarm someone who is sitting at point blank range. That, and he's not exactly worried she'll shoot him. The kid needs a contact, and right now he's all she's got.

"You'd be better off going by your civilian ID until we can figure out what do do with you, kid, but that's just a suggestion."

Just handing someone a weapon, a relative stranger in this case, requires at least the smallest degree of trust. Mindy notes this as she accepts the pistol, turning it in her palm to judge both weight and model. Nothing she hadn't used before. Her misstep of meeting Eddie has somehow turned into good fortune.

"All right. This is great," she grins, happy to have a loaded weapon once again in her possession. "Thanks."

That's right, Mindy's already planning for Eddie to be her middle man if need be. Next on her list is her other weapon of choice; it's just the matter of money, but for now the pistol would do.

"I plan to. Can't go around as Hit-Girl all the time. " Which means that she would inevitably have to reveal herself to Eddie. Not here where other patrons of the restaurant could take a peek. "I came here like this. Not like I could change." Another sip of the shake, another bite of her burger. She's not asking to borrow money from him, not at all. (Maybe.)

He looks her over. He doesn't know any girls her age in the City - he doesn't usually pay attention to kids, so there's no one that he could get clothes off. Being a kid here must suck, Eddie thinks. "Sure thing," he says, polishing off his burger and taking drinks of his beer. What to do with this kid? Take her home? He has an extra room, it's not like he can't afford it.

But why the hell would he? He doesn't even like most kids, although this one is a smartass and a punk, which gives her points in his book, and she's not afraid.

And maybe seeing Laurie around is making him realize shit. Shit he doesn't like to realize. And Faith leaving didn't help.

"Okay kid, here's the deal. You can come home with me tonight, sleep on my couch, and tomorrow we'll get you set up with clothes and all the shit a girl like you needs to be a girl like you, and all the shit a mask needs to be a mask. You live with me until your dad or someone else shows up. Or I take you to the Welcome Center, and you pretend it was Halloween in your world at the door. Up to you." He takes a drink of his beer. "Either way, I'll help you out."

"I can take care of myself," she replies, rather pointedly. It's the same stance she took with Kick-Ass, her automatic rise to defense when it comes to her own independence. But Mindy knows in this City, at least for tonight, she needs somewhere to collect herself. Somewhere safe that didn't sound like an orphanage. Somewhere she could lessen her defenses at least for a short while. It had been one hell of a day.

"But I'll come with you tonight. It's late, and I like you." She flashes another grin at that, finally slipping the gun away and setting off to finish her burger. Mindy had thought she would be come home to an empty apartment tonight.

Funny how things work out.

Eddie smirks. Smart kid. He figures she can take care of herself; after all, she did manage to hold her own and against anyone else she probably would have done some serious damage. "All right, kid," he says, once she's done. "Tonight, we'll see were it goes from here."

He takes his final swig of beer. "Eddie Blake, by the way. If you call me Mr. Blake I'll break your nose."

"I wasn't planning on it, dumbass," she laughs. Don't think Mindy is gong to give up the chance to be a cocky little brat.

It's after he takes his last swig that she stands up, offering a glove hand across the table. They were on the same side, so it seemed.

"Mindy. Mindy Macready."

He gives her hand a firm shake. Good job, Blake, his head tells him. You made a deal with a five year old. It makes him grin, the skin twisting over his scar. He stands up, and nods to the door. "Let's go then."

He ditches a few stupidly colored coins on the table, and leads her home.