[open] wheel of morality turn turn turn

[flamberge]

Who: Karl Aurion & you!
When: 2/20
Where: Several places
What: A guy just learned his dead kid is not quite so dead and goes through a lot of emotions.

a. at locke city high school

[Today just happens to be one of those days, the kind where your mind can't stop over-thinking things. It hadn't started out this way for Karl, oh no. Upon arriving at school, the man looks oddly happy. How happy? Happy to the point he's practically humming and skipping. This happiness impacted him to the point that he forgot to wear a turtleneck and now displays some several-day-old hickies for all the world to see. When this realization hits, it gets shrugged off. Little annoyances can't get to him on a day like today because his precious son is ALIVE!!

This happiness gets shared with his first and second period classes in the form of last night's homework being extra credit and a free study session instead of a test today (needless to say a good chunk of the class was freaked by this oddly good mood). It's toward the end of second period that his mood suddenly begins to plummet due to the following train of thought: Lloyd is alive! He didn't die all those years ago when Karl tried to expose the force!! ...Like he's doing now. While still part of that corrupt force. Yup.

By the time second period ends, that happiness has become absent-minded worry. Every bad possibility about this whole mess receives at least some in-depth thought. One downside to thinking is that it leads to a lack of awareness about surroundings. Walking into something, nearly falling down the stairs, walking into his own door after believing it had been open and bumping into various people: every one of those happens to Karl.

All the rest of his classes get to witness this extremely out of it Mr. Locke, who still gives extra credit for the homework cause, hey, fairness. An attempt at teaching results in messing up on some very basic fact and that's when Karl opts to give the rest of the classes a study period, too, during which he tries to grade stuff only to either chew on a pencil or accidentally snap it. Simply put, the guy is just completely out of it for the rest of the school day.]

b. at the police station

[The absent-mindedness not only continues upon arriving at part 2 of today's work day, but actually gets worse. Being around other officers brings up thoughts of what if they found out Lloyd is alive? What if they know? What if they know and find out about him gathering up all the dirt again? What if they try to kill his son again to shut him up again? 

More pencil chewing ensures while trying to do paperwork. Anyone stumbling in on Karl would not only see the poor pencil suffering at his hand, but him running a hand through his hair constantly. At one point, a really loud crash and maybe some foreign swear words fill the station air. Mr. Deputy Superintendent went to get some of the craptastic office coffee, became lost in thought and, once again, walked into a closed door thinking it'd been left open, with the bonus perk of spilling hot coffee all over himself. What a wonderful day today is. Really.]

c. at the mall

[It must be an odd sight, seeing a 6'1" guy walking through the mall with hickies on his neck and a large coffee stain visible on the bit of shirt poking out through his jacket who keeps bumping into people and runs into a trashcan at some point. Any odd looks are either lost on or ignored by Karl. Too much is on his mind to give a damn right now. The coffee incident effectively destroyed one of the last nice shirts in his wardrobe. Unappealing as shopping for clothes tonight might be, best to do it now and get it out of the way before all the rest of his clothes end up spontaneously combusting. Judging by how today's going, it could happen.

Lady Luck smiles down on this wretched soul during the actual shopping. By sheer luck, the right sizes of shirts are grabbed and no one is at the check out line. Maybe a mannequin or two got bumped into, but otherwise it's nothing but smooth sailing. The trouble begins upon walking out of the store and getting back into severely intense thinking about Lloyd and everything associated with the kid.

A sigh escapes him as he decides to just sit down to collect his thoughts and avoid any further collisions. A bench gets picked at random and he plops his bum right down on it... only to sit on half-eaten nachos. Karl appears about as happy as one would expect. Maybe, just maybe, this a sign that he's over-thinking things. ]

Comments

[lightsoflife]

[Definitely not what she was expecting there.]

Parental? How so?

[flamberge]

I require some advice, advice best provided from one parent to another.

[One parent to another. This line ought to imply well enough that Karl himself is the other parent.]

[lightsoflife]

[Naomi doesn't fail to miss the meaning there, and she raises an eyebrow. This sounds like something warranting a little more privacy.]

Maybe we should find someplace else to have this talk.

[flamberge]

[If nothing else, that succeeded in making her curious. Karl nods at the suggestion. Privacy is not a bad idea.]

My car isn't parked too far from here.

[Outside the nearest exit, actually. How close he had been to avoiding soiling his clothes. So so very close.]

[lightsoflife]

Right, lead the way.

[So much for that shoe shopping she was considering. Ah, well.]

[flamberge]

[Lead the way he does. Shortly after they step outside and into the lot, right in the second row, sits the not overly fancy car. Just your average blue Honda Accord. With a click of a button, the car opens and Karl hops in. He waits for Naomi to get in before speaking. This moment gives him a chance to gather his thoughts. Talking with anyone about this and in full detail, bluntly put, feels odd. Other opinions, ones provided from a parent especially, feel necessary. Right, this chat needs to happen. He, for once, really requires the advice.]

[lightsoflife]

[Naomi gets in and sits down, checking out the car for a second before turning her attention to Karl. She's curious as to what this is about, but whatever it is it's certainly a serious matter.]

Well, go on.

[flamberge]

[Right. Just where to start? From the beginning feels logical so, following a deep breathe, Karl speaks. His eyes remain focused on some spot in front of him rather than the other person in the car.]

The other day, I found out that my son, who I believed dead, is alive.

[Silence follows this just to allow the information to sink in.]

[lightsoflife]

[That is a lot of information for a single sentence.

Naomi just stares at him for a moment. Thinks of Anna and herself. Oh. God, she can't even think of how Karl must be feeling right now.]

...I see. That explains your current state.

[flamberge]

[This is still the tip of the iceberg. Surprised as Naomi might be, one more thing needs to be added.]

Only partially so. The other part of it is that my present job, being a cop, and other things I'm involved with, ones which may benefit a great many people, can potentially endanger his life once more.

[lightsoflife]

[Naomi considers that and nods. She doesn't even want to think about how she'd handle that kind of situation.]

That's not an enviable position to be in.

[flamberge]

Mildly put. I just... [He gives a heavy sigh.] What would you do in this situation: continue forward despite the risks because of how many people it could benefit or stop your efforts to ensure a child's safety?

[A very heavy question, but why beat around the bush with other pointless inquiries? This is what he wanted the advice for, after all.]

[lightsoflife]

To be honest, if I were in your position I'd leave the city with him and never look back. It's not the right thing to do, but it's what I'd do.

[Naomi's thought about this more than she would like. She can't say she doesn't have doubts, but...]

Of course, if you want to do the right thing then I don't think there's an easy solution. How old is your son?

[flamberge]

Considering I'd been doing the wrong thing for a long time, doing the right thing now is the preferred choice.

[Much as dropping everything would likely ensure Lloyd's safety the most, doing so just isn't possible. Too much has gotten put towards it at this point.]

He'd be 18 going on 19.

[lightsoflife]

[Eighteen. Practically an adult. That makes things easier in one way, but how old was his son when Karl lost him? She thinks again of Anna, and she has to admire Karl for still wanting to do the right thing.]

Then making sure he knows how to defend himself is a good start. Make sure he's aware of the dangers.

[flamberge]

I've been training him in gun usage before our relationship came to light and stressed not to let anyone unnecessary know we're related.

[Despite being super happy, he still remembered to say that yesterday. Good to know euphoria didn't completely ruin his common sense.]

Even so, what if all that turns out not to be enough?

[lightsoflife]

I don't know if anything could ever be enough, to be honest. Even leaving the city has its own problems.

[Although, Karl was training his son in using a gun before he knew they were related?]

[flamberge]

No matter the choice, it'll have a downside, is that it?

[Damned if you, damned if you don't. He was afraid it'd end up being like that.]

[lightsoflife]

There are risks to everything. You're an officer, aren't you? Then you must know how easily some things can go wrong.

[Not that she likes it, either.]

[flamberge]

I do.

[All too well.]

No matter what I pick, crashing and burning can come as result. The only difference is whether it happens due to a noble choice or cowardice.

[lightsoflife]

When you put it that way, I feel rather ignoble.

[Hm.]

The risk also differs for each of those, but...yes, that is a part of it.

[flamberge]

[Silence comes from Karl's end, with him staring down in front of him rather than Naomi, before he nods and turns towards her.]

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about this.

[Chatting about everything has helped make the situation more clear. Though not more pleasant, at least he now knows where he stands.]

[lightsoflife]

No problem. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?

[She only hopes she can provide a good answer. Naomi's comfortable as a mother, but sometimes she wonders how she would compare to Anna's birth parents.]