013. action. closed.

[strikeraid]

Who: Skyler (strikeraid), Harper (duette), mmmaybe Dallen (decelerate), Chuck (swissarmyjesus), and Danny (gogoghostpowers)
When: Today, 02/17, around 4 pm; then today, 02/17, later in the evening; then tomorrow, 02/18, right after school.
Where: In order: Somewhere in the Business District, then somewhere in the Dead District, then like... at school or something I'M GONNA ROLL WITH IT
What: Someone tries to kill him (by accident), he tracks down a certain Key, he tries to kill someone (on purpose).

[ Someone is having a very busy Monday and Tuesday. Let us count the ways. ]

[ closed to Harper (for now!) ]

[ After a long, hard day of school, followed directly by a few hours of scrubbing dicks off the wall, Skyler is almost done with his day. Except he isn't, of course; he still has Blood Key shit to do today and he isn't about to give Helene no for an answer. He does need to make a stop at home, though, and the last buses have already left, so here he is, makin his way downtown cutting through a quieter part of the Business District on his way home. He is not expecting to meet anyone, and he isn't trying to catch anyone's eye. All he wants to do is get home. Seriously.

Nothing in his life ever happens that smoothly, unfortunately! ]

[ / closed to Harper ]

[ closed to Chuck ]

[ After weeks of searching, he thinks he's got the right guy. He's been looking for a new guy, he knows, someone who's been on the ball and stayed in fairly good standing with his fellow Keys. He's even friendly, which is weird enough among the Keys, but so far it appears he's been doing nothing but making himself friends with his timely warnings. Things have probably been pretty cozy for him.

Well, that's enough complimentary bullshit. After all, his fellow Keys did end up leading right towards him in a roundabout way, traveling backward from contact to contact until he reached the right cell, and then the right people within the cell. He follows the alley between the two abandoned buildings down, the other teen's back coming into view. This is the third person from the group he's questioned, and he's got the line of questions down to an art.

He walks towards the guy. He doesn't know his name, so he just calls out to him in a low, gruff voice, a part of his Key disguise. ]

Hey, you. Got a minute?

[ / closed to Chuck ]

[ closed to Danny ]

[ Skyler is stalking Danny after school on Tuesday. I repeat, he is taking his books and jamming them all in his locker, then sitting at the door he knows Danny uses to leave the school, waiting for him to come by. Suspicious? Maybe, but he's pretty sure Danny isn't expecting what's coming next. WHAT DO ]

[ / closed to Danny ]

Comments

[strikeraid]

[ ... Really. Skyler just aims a flat look at him, retracts the blade, and tosses it over. ]

I changed the blade before I got here. Just stick your thumb and give it back. [ YA BIG WEENIE. ]

[swissarmyjesus]

[Eh, good enough.

He catches the knife and releases the blade. Chuck hesitates for a moment, but then presses the edge up against his thumb until it draws blood. Then he hands the knife back, holding it out with the blade pointed towards Skyler.]

Alright, you obviously know how this is supposed to work. I've got a bloody thumb--what now?

[strikeraid]

[ ... What a newbie. Skyler shakes his head, taking the knife back, sliding the blade out a little farther, and slicing into his own thumb. Phew. Okay. He pulls the blade back in and pockets the knife, watching the trickle of blood travel into his palm and smearing it a little with his other hand. He sticks his bloody hand out to shake. ]

We shake on it. You tell me what you want, I tell you what I want. We agree not to fuck each other up. We tell each other what we'll do if one of us does fuck it up. [ See? No big deal. ]

[swissarmyjesus]

[He looks down at Skyler's hand and considers his words carefully before taking the open gesture with his own bloody hand.]

Alright, then I'll start. Here's what I want--being kept in the loop for everything. And I mean both Key stuff and network stuff--everything. Neither of these comes with an owner's manual, and I have a hard time figuring out which things go with which gig. I don't want to screw it up again if I can avoid it.

[strikeraid]

[ Skyler inclines his head. He can help him with that, if anything; he's been around longer than Helene and he has the best odds out of all three of them of keeping all of this straight. God help them. ]

Anything else?

[swissarmyjesus]

...Actually, yeah.

You watch my back, I watch yours. That way, no one runs into trouble.

[or at least, they shouldn't in theory.]

[strikeraid]

[ ... A small smile appears on Skyler's face for the first time. ]

We're all in the same boat, right?

[swissarmyjesus]

[Chuck returns the smile with one of his own. He can't help it, he appreciates seeing something of a positive relationship coming out of this.]

Yeah. The same superpowered, network-hating, cop-avoiding Blood Key boat.

TELL ME IF THIS IS TOO MUCH

[strikeraid]

I hear that. [ Smile, smile. ] My turn.

[ He's going to squeeze Chuck's hand tightly and yank Chuck towards him, bringing up his other arm and catching him under the chin with his wrist, his feet driving them both towards the wall, aiming to pin him by the neck. He's not smiling anymore! ]

NOPE WE GOOD

[swissarmyjesus]

[He isn't expecting it. Chuck tries to react, but Skyler has the upper hand with forethought here, so he can't stop Skyler from driving him up against the wall or bringing his arm up against his neck. Still, he manages to move fast enough to plant his free hand on Skyler's chest by the time his back is to the wall, ready to push the boy off.]

Hey! What gives? I thought we were making a pact here!