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[cantilevers]

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[cantilevers]

Jinx that's... that's an impossible list. I cared for everyone in the Lanes. I had work buddies from the mines. I could list their names, but I'm not certain you'd know them all.

[Vander was a social person, he liked having friends or at least acquaintances. The list would be long.]

[jinxs]

(oh, yeah. vander was popular as hell. it's no wonder he has a statue and everything.)

Who do I know, from that time? Sevika, Silco, the stupid Chembarons, Ekko, that idiot, good for nothing Marcus, and... Vi, but I told you that last part, and the first two, you can ask yourself.

[cantilevers]

I expect the Chembarons have changed heads since I was around. [He did pause to think.] Babine, Jericho, Howard, Gert, Huck... [It should be obvious he's ticking people off on his fingers because the list goes on and on and on of business owners, regulars to the bar, street gang kids. If she doesn't interrupt him, he'll be at it for a few minutes straight.]

[jinxs]

(she's just listening - does she even know these people? maybe she does, probably so, but not enough to make an impression on her. damn, he was popular. she can say she knows like, 5 people, tops, that she is around.)

Nope, none of those.

[cantilevers]

As in none of them are alive or you don't know who any of them are?

[jinxs]

No idea who these people are, Vander. Or I don't remember, I don't go out a whole lot. Really live to work, you know? Super workaholic, that's me.

Also, get here. I'm tired at not looking at your face. This thing is annoying.

[cantilevers]

So the list you do know is actually the people you already listed out to me.

[That was... well, he supposed he was going to assume most of them were alive and just miserable or at least living afraid under Silco's rulership.]

Are you asking me to your apartment?

[Please do NOT ask him to figure out video function, Jinx. He managed text to voice, but it's asking a lot for another jump in format.]

[jinxs]

... Yeah, pretty much, though Ekko and I are definitely not friends anymore.

(to say the very least.)

Yeah, just come. Ugh, apartment, I hate this place. Miss my place. It was great. Had all my shit in it, was up and high, and now I'm like a jailed bird in this style-less room. I hate it.

[cantilevers]

What are you and Ekko now then?

[They had always seemed to get along. Ekko fit right in with his little horde of kids anyway.

At the offer, he was doubtful.]

Are you sure that won't cause problems for you if I do?

[jinxs]

... Great question.

(now? now, now? she hasn't seen him in a good while, not since he broke the hell out of her nose. he probably hates her even more, considering the explosion attempt.)

Enemies. He hates my guts.

(and he also made her life so damn difficult.)

I'm never in trouble, Vander.

[cantilevers]

Hmmm, I'm not sure I believe that, but you've seen him more recently than I have.

[He squinted and yeah he might be bringing himself to feet, but that reply was... oh Janna, this was the parenting style was it?]

You know that's problematic, right? You're not expecting 'unexpected' company today?

[He had no idea how often Silco came around to Jinx's place. If he was found there, he knew it would land him in trouble but as long as it was him and not Jinx, well, he'd risk it. He made his way down to her room and knocked on the door.]

[jinxs]

(she only gets 'unexpected company' when she's up to some shit, and lately, she hasn't been, so, it's fine, on all sides.

her room has been decorated the only way she knows how, grafitti and several dooddles, the smell of paint and crayon stuck to the walls, and she's doing some more monkeys and names to the wall when she hears the knock.)

Yeah, yeah. Get in.

[cantilevers]

[Vander slowly opened the door and peered inside. The room looked similar to his own in that it was sparse, but she had clearly started some decorating. He walked in a moment after, promptly shutting the door so that there was limited opportunity for someone to view him entering the place. They both knew who.

He walked further inside, examining all the doodles on the walls. She had a particular art style he noted, different and matured since she had been scribbling in a book at the Drop.]

I hate how white everything is in these places.

[jinxs]

Don't like here either. Lacks style, lacks everything. Eery, like they're watching us through the walls. Hope they don't like monkeys.

(but he gets an invitation, a gentle pat to the bed next to her, and a crayon that she picks right after to give him. it's easier to talk if she can focus on something else.)

[cantilevers]

[In the city of iron and glass, white was not a colour that was easily found. Everything had a film of grime or grit on it. This amount of constant white was an eyesore, and even now, he wasn't used to it despite having lived in the apartments since leaving the Kiramman mansion.

He slowly made his way over to the bed at her offer, awkwardly sitting on the edge of it like it might buckle under his weight. His bed was considerably larger, actually able to accommodate his height and width. That was a rare thing.]

It's hard to tell what they like and don't like. The fact there's not currency, no obvious crime, nothing to do but wait and fill the time... [He trailed off, taking the crayon that she offered and turning it over in his hands. How many time had he lay on the floor with her just scribbling and telling her silly stories with made up voices?] It's uncomfortable.

[jinxs]

(it's the tidiness that does it for her. nothing that she was ever around was this clean, this lackluster, missing the brightness of neon blue and pink that decorate all the spaces where she can be found. it's easily irritating, and it pushes her need to fill the space to the point that, very soon, the ceiling might too be drawn on.

once he sits, she can feel the bed sink with his weight - if anything, it's entertaining, and if he breaks her bed, at least she can say it's got some personality to it now.)

... Yeah. And there's a lot of people, and I don't know what to do with that-- and the freaking robots. They're weird, too.

[cantilevers]

[The robots, yes. Vander had never been exposed to robots. Yes, they had machines, but he couldn't say that any of them were sentient or even able to speak. Speakers were as close as they could come to that, and in such a case, it required a human voice on the other side. He was curious but wary of them, but he was also confident that he could break them if they became aggressive.]

Have you taken one of the robots apart yet?

[He turned his other hand over and scrubbed the tip of the crayon across his nail.]

People I can handle just fine. [People allowed him to throw himself into a sense of normal again, to build connections, alliances, friendships all the while hiding how deeply pained he was with his previous life burning down around him. He needed a sense of normal to hold things together.]

[jinxs]

... No, not yet. I don't want MiSs AuRoRa to fail us on our school assignment of saving the damn world. I'm waiting until some idiot doesn't think of that and does it so I can look at what is left behind.

(this might be the thing she has taken the most serious in her entire life, it's this place. it exacerbates her fear of failure, surely, brings out some horrible memories and self-doubt, but she is trying. most of everything.)

[cantilevers]

Ah, so you're all in on the world-saving aspect of this still. I'm not certain everyone is, but I do want to believe everyone can be brought around. [He continued to scribble on his fingernail, scuffing it up with colour.] I'll so whatever is necessary.

[He gently moved out an elbow, nudging her in the side. Sometimes he thought she spent a bit too much time in her head.]

I'll let you know if I come across a broken down robot, save it for you.

[jinxs]

You can say you don't think Silco's gonna do it, like you know everyone else anyway.

(all so stupidly "good" — there is no way golden boy and dictator for the cause would let runeterra crumble, and well. if jinx's on board, the zaunites might be too. she just has to play her cards right.)

Like we got any choice, anyway. If it were a few weeks ago, I'd say let it all burn, bite it off, explode it into a billion tiny minuscule itsy-bitsy pieces of little nothings, but I guess I can't do that anymore.

(not when isha is a part of it. she couldn't not fight for her, it'd be suffocating; yet he is right that she spends too long in her own thoughts, her own paranoia and her own doubts. the nudge snaps her out, a groan only because it's age appropriate when your dad is being nice.)

Just follow a nerd. You met any yet?

[cantilevers]

I know Silco won't do it.

[There was no thinking about it. He knew. At least at the present time, what he had seen at the big group meeting had shown him that the other man had no intention of playing along with the apparent reason that they had been brought here. After all, Silco had Jinx here and the man was dead, so he had nothing to lose by playing along.

Vander suspected the other man might be forced on board if Jinx demanded it; he'd seen the way that Silco acted towards the bluenette at that meeting.]

No, I suppose you can't. Being responsible for another person means we no longer get to think just for ourselves anymore.

[Usually. Some parents or even friends had that instinct. It was fine. It took all types.]

Jayce is a nerd.

[jinxs]

He will, Vander. He wouldn't lie to me again.

(what was the first time? he's not telling him. there's that realization that whatever she gives either will be used against each other, against her, is she thinking this too much? thinking this too little? a growl punctuates the thought, because she doesn't want to voice it. instead, the wall is a much better focus for her brain, and that's where she goes.

it definitely makes it all harder.)

I don't like him. What part of 'give me Jinx's head' did you miss?

[cantilevers]

Alright. If you can convince him of the value of it.

[There was a story there about the lying, but Vander wisely filed the information away to inquire about at a later date. It seemed to be a sore spot for her, and he could understand that given how close the two had appeared to be with each other during the meeting.

He reached out to stroke a hand over her shoulder meant to be comforting and encouraging.]

That's valid. However, if we can't find a path together despite those kinds of demands, this is never going to work. Besides, do you know how many people have said that to me over the years? [He scratched his beard, appearing sheepish.] Of course, I did punch them or someone they were close to unconscious so... [Or worse. So, so much worse. Death was a final solution.]