Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 27, 2021 12:13:49 GMT -5
Nico frowned a little bit, eyes narrowing at that. Not here? Why not? He was sure there were plenty of recording devices in the cell he was in, so what was the point of going somewhere else? He didn’t exactly want to be paraded in front of others at the police station, even if he felt like Kelsier probably wouldn’t do that intentionally. One kind thing didn’t make someone a good person. He didn’t trust Kelsier. He didn’t have a single reason to trust him, to believe that going to a different room could be a good thing. But so far… so far, Kelsier had treated him with as much dignity as he could. Except when he’d tackled him. Nico’s skin prickled at the memory of that, but he pushed the feeling off. Instead of answering directly, Nico just gave a small nod, waiting for Kelsier to turn around and lead the way. If he were honest… he was surprised he hadn’t been cuffed. He wasn’t going to mention it in case Kelsier actually decided to take him up on it, but… it was just… he knew he hadn’t technically done anything wrong, but he had tried to run. Wouldn’t Kelsier be trying something to prevent him from doing it again?
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 27, 2021 13:23:59 GMT -5
They technically could do it there, Kelsier knew, but there were a few reasons why not. One, he didn’t want the kid to start associating this room with any negative memories...or any more than necessary, anyway. Two, there were protocols, and he might not be allowed to do the questioning if he didn’t follow them. A threat which happened to be very necessary, in his case, since he didn’t follow the rules if he could help it. He wasn’t about to risk getting taken off the case for a stupid thing like hating rules with a burning passion. He headed out, letting the kid walk behind him. It was a police station, he wasn’t going to get away by running, and Kelsier highly doubted he would even try. He hadn’t bolted again after the first time. It seemed he’d accepted that wasn’t going to work. He tried to lead them in the least busy route possible, though they did get a couple of glances that couldn’t be avoided. Kelsier merely returned them with a smile, taking the attention as best he could, before they made it to the questioning room and he stepped inside, moving to let Nico in too.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 27, 2021 13:34:56 GMT -5
Nico followed, hyper aware of the way people were looking at him. He knew it wasn’t anything against him, but he also knew he wasn’t supposed to be here. How many times did kids come here who didn’t want to say anything about where they were from? Who would rather freeze than go back home? Not very many. Nico breathed out, trying to ignore them and just follow behind Kelsier. The room didn’t seem too far away, at least. The nice thing about being alone in the cell was that it had given him some time to try to think of an escape plan. He knew it would have to be foolproof to work, that being in the middle of the police station limited his options severely. But escaping was technically a possibility, and if he was thinking about how to do that, he wasn’t thinking about being forced to go home. Even if it was impossible, he was more than grateful for the distraction it provided. His gaze caught on Kelsier’s, and he forced himself through the door, eying the chair he was surely meant to sit on. He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to give in, didn’t want to… to be facing this at all.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 27, 2021 13:45:59 GMT -5
Kelsier didn’t mind the stares, but he wasn’t the kid he was taking through here. He suspected they bothered him a lot more, though he didn’t know for sure of course. He couldn’t know that, not unless he was actually told as much. He dipped his head a little as the kid stepped in after him, and he closed the door behind them as gently as possible. He didn’t want to spook him, but he wasn’t going to let him make a break for it either, if he did plan to. He probably hadn’t just...given up, even if he didn’t intend to bolt again. He sat down across from the chair, glancing at the kid as he did, his expression cheerful. “Just some questions,” he assured him, not saying anything about the face that he hadn’t sat down. “I suspect you know some of what I’m going to say already. But we both know I have to ask anyway. So...what’s your name?”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 27, 2021 13:51:37 GMT -5
Nico’s eyes narrowed a little bit as Kelsier sat down, grateful that he hadn’t been ordered to sit down as well. He may not have been planning on bolting, but he felt a little bit safer standing, like if he needed to he could take the situation into his own hands. He knew that was wishful thinking. He knew it was unrealistic, but… but having a little bit of control felt better than having no control at all. Defying Kelsier by standing up was that little bit of control. Questions. Yes, he had suspected as much. Things he hadn’t told Kelsier when he’d found him, and things that he really wasn’t planning on telling him now. Or ever. He bit his lip, trying to decide if it was better to lie or to not answer. With lies, he’d have to keep them all straight and make sure that none of them could be connected with the truth. And there were probably legal ramifications for dishonesty. He glanced at Kelsier, arms crossing over his chest as he remained stubbornly silent.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 27, 2021 14:00:00 GMT -5
Kelsier wasn’t upset with him for standing, and he could guess well enough why he would want to. He had very little autonomy right now, it wasn’t really surprising that he wanted to keep what he could get of it. In his position, Kelsier would have pro been doing the exact same thing, realistically. Or maybe he’d have gotten a lot more stabby by now. Who knew. “Okay,” he said simply after a long moment as the kid didn’t answer. “How long have you been by yourself?” He was hoping to hit on a question the kid felt like he could answer, even if he knew he’d probably decided to just say nothing. Which, honestly, was likely the smartest thing he could do if he wanted to sabotage Kelsier’s investigation. He didn’t have to like it, did he? “Can you tell me how old you are?” He added, keeping his voice soft and steady. He wasn’t going to push that, but it would be good to know.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 27, 2021 14:13:26 GMT -5
Nico hesitated, eyes narrowing a bit more as Kelsier asked his questions. He could see where he was going with each of them. With a name, it would be easy enough to find Hades. With how long he had been missing, Kelsier would know exactly when to look for a missing person’s file. With his age, he would know what to look for on a missing person’s file. Fortunately, Nico highly doubted that Hades had filed a missing person’s file for him, so that wasn’t… a huge issue. If he had… it would be easy enough to find him based on his face, and Kelsier hadn’t done that yet… so he couldn’t give his age, because that would limit the pool too much, but he could reveal how long he had been alone. “A little over five months,” Nico murmured, lifting his gaze to meet Kelsier’s for a long moment. He didn’t know if answering something was a point in his favor, or if this was about to get much harder. He didn’t want Kelsier to get fired, though. He didn’t want someone less kind to take over for him. So he had to at least give him something.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 27, 2021 14:25:54 GMT -5
Kelsier dipped his head a little at the answer, noting which ones the kid answered and which ones he didn’t. He didn’t know why, yet, but that was more to go on than the actual answer was. He wondered how far ahead he’d thought, whether he knew how dangerous this game was. Not that Kelsier saw it as a game, but he knew certain people who met have thought of it that way. He didn’t tend to get along with those sorts of people. “Have you been in that building the whole time?” He asked after a moment. He was careful to keep his voice steady and calm, unperturbed by the ones that weren’t getting answered just yet. He didn’t know if they would or not, but he hoped eventually...well, he didn’t hope that they’d just close the case, he hoped they’d be able to figure out what had happened and solve it so the kid didn’t feel like he needed to hide anymore.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 27, 2021 14:35:42 GMT -5
Nico’s eyes narrowed a little bit, eyes searching Kelsier’s. He didn’t think of this as a game. He didn’t know that people did, actually. Games had a winner and a loser. The difference was the loser of a game wasn’t usually sentenced to the worst thing they could think of. He frowned a little bit, trying to see what Kelsier thought of the information he was giving. Trying to see if it was helping Kelsier figure anything out. I fit was… then he would have to be a little bit more careful about what he said. He didn’t want to give Kelsier anything that could help. “No,” he replied honestly, lifting his gaze to meet Kelsier’s, if only for a fraction of a second. He didn’t know what Kelsier could use that information for. It wasn’t like he had left any clues about where he was before the building. And he hadn’t talked to anyone about where he was staying. Perhaps Kelsier was just trying to lull him into a false sense of security. If he was, it wasn’t working. Nico wasn’t going to be tricked into answering anything important. Not that he thought Kelsier cunning enough for that, but first impressions could easily be wrong.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 27, 2021 15:11:31 GMT -5
Kelsier wasn’t playing this as a game. Games weren’t life and death, and though he didn’t know for sure that that’s what this was, he did have a pretty good idea that that’s how the kid saw it. He met his eyes, his expression still calm and cheerful. They were both trying so hard to elude each other...he’d much prefer to work with him, not against him. He was pretty sure it could be done, if the kid would let him help, but then, he didn’t really know what had happened. He couldn’t tell for sure that he was helping because the kid wouldn’t tell him what would help. Still. He could understand why that was. He leaned back a little, giving a small nod at the answer. “Where were you before?” He asked, even though he was pretty sure that wouldn’t be a question he’d be willing to answer. He still had to try, didn’t he? He was getting information, slowly but surely. Not much, not nearly enough, but...information nonetheless. And it was much better than nothing at all.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 27, 2021 15:50:49 GMT -5
Nico saw no world in which Kelsier would help, even if he found out what would help. Because Nico knew he wouldn’t fit in well with the foster system. He knew he wanted to avoid it as much as possible. And he knew that even if he were placed in the foster system, he’d have to go back home to Hades as soon as they figured out who his father was. Because Hades had legal claim to him, and there was no proof that would get Nico emancipated from him or… however it worked. He decided not to mention it at all. Five years. Five years until he was eighteen, and everything would be alright. He just had to survive that long. He looked up at Kelsier, watching him carefully as he asked his next question. It wasn’t one Nico could answer. Or maybe it just wasn’t’ one he wanted to answer. There was a difference. Technically, telling Kelsier where he had been couldn’t hurt anything. But there were people who had been kind, who had given him a place to spend the night, who had made sure he was fed… he didn’t want to get them in trouble. And he didn’t know what sort of information they might have remembered about him. Information that they could easily give up to the police.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 3, 2021 12:44:37 GMT -5
Kelsier had no idea what might help here. He was trying to figure it out, though. He was trying to weasel it out of the kid, he was trying to figure it out without having to. He was depending on himself, because he worked best alone and he didn’t have a partner, but he knew that this case wasn’t his in any way that mattered. It could be plucked from his fingers if someone decided he wasn’t doing it well enough. He breathed out, closing his eyes for a moment before he looked at the kid again, expression patient. “How long did you plan to stay there?” He asked after a moment, still calm. He was doing his best to help, but he knew that wasn’t how the boy was seeing it. He didn’t know which questions he could answer and which ones he couldn’t, but he could use the ones he didn’t answer as easily as the ones he could. You could tell a lot a about someone by what they didn’t say. He leaned back, considering the boy. He didn’t like having to do this, but he didn’t regret it. This was as necessary as tackling him had been, and nearly as unpleasant, he suspected.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 3, 2021 17:24:46 GMT -5
In Nico’s eyes, this was much, much better than being tackled. He didn’t like being touched. It made him anxious and unsteady, and Kelsier was much, much larger than he was. If it had been a fight, Nico knew he would have died just seconds later. But it wasn’t a fight… his life was just over a different way. At least here he had a modicum of control over the situation. He couldn’t escape, but he could control how he moved and what he said. He wasn’t constrained as he had been when Kelsier had tackled him. Though… he wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to handcuff him after that particular stunt. There was no proof that he wasn’t going to try to do it again. “Until I turned fifteen,” Nico replied, breathing out as he looked at Kelsier. That was information, information that could be used to track him, but he knew there were a lot of people in the world who were under fifteen. He probably looked younger than he was anyway, given the malnutrition. And for all Kelsier knew, he was going to be fifteen in a week, not almost two years. “Then I was going to get a job and start saving up enough to move into a place legitimately.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 12, 2021 15:43:32 GMT -5
Kelsier hadn’t actually expected that to be a question the kid was willing to answer. He didn’t react, but he did notice it. He couldn’t give the kid the space he wanted. It just wasn’t possible. He couldn’t pretend he hadn’t tackled him, he couldn’t act like he had the last word here, even if he wanted to. He hated having to reply on someone else for the go ahead on something like this. Or anything else, to be fair. He had no plans to handcuff the kid. Okay, so he’d made a run for it. Would Kelsier have really done anything differently in the same situation? He still didn’t deserve to be handcuffed...he was a kid, he was scared, and he had enough to deal with at the moment. Kel was going to stand by that, even if someone did suggest it. “When is your birthday?” He asked, deciding to push it a little. He didn’t expect the kid - he needed something to call him, ‘the kid’ was getting really old - to answer him, but he hadn’t expected it before, either. Maybe he’d be surprised a second time. He wished he knew what had happened to him. If he knew that, maybe he’d know how to help make it right. But he didn’t have any idea, and he just had to make do with what he had for the time being, which meant dealing with this like a detective.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 13, 2021 1:58:10 GMT -5
Nico knew that was the next logical question, even if he didn’t like it. Answering one question meant that there would be other questions Kelsier wanted answered. Questions that were building on the small bits of information that Nico was willing to share. Would it really be an issue to tell Kelsier his birth date? It would narrow down the pool of people he could be by a lot… it didn’t seem like it was worth the risk. A birth date was information Kelsier could actually use. Finding out that Nico was under fifteen was next to useless. Nico was willing to bet he had assumed that much already. “My birthday,” Nico mused, as though legitimately considering whether or not he was going to answer. “It happened at some point within the past 365 days,” he said after a moment, something almost like amusement sparkling in his gaze. It was a dark look, like he didn’t quite think it was funny but he wanted to mess with Kelsier anyway. Questions like that… well, how could Kelsier think he was going to be willing to answer that? Nico’s gaze drifted down to the table and he stared for several long seconds, waiting for Kelsier to get mad at him for his response. It had been flippant, and it had been rude. If it had been Hades on the other side of the table, the conversation wouldn’t have been pretty. But Kelsier actually seemed… nice. Other than the whole tackling bit. Still, nice wasn’t a personality trait in Nico’s eyes. It was just a costume you could slip into or out of to further your goals.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 15, 2021 16:34:06 GMT -5
Kelsier hadn’t expected the kid to answer. It eas a specific question, and he didn’t seem to want to answer those sorts of things, not that Kel could blame him, of course. He wouldn’t answer in that position, either. He still had to ask, though. He had to do his job, even if a part of him thought he could get a lot more information out of the kid without all this authority behind him. Authority that, really, wasn’t helping very much. One eyebrow quirked up as the kid spoke, and he smiled, no hint of malice to the expression. “That does narrow it down quite a bit,” he agreed cheerfully. “I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d tell me that much,” His eyes sparked with humor, and he leaned back lightly. “At least tell me whether it’s today. For cake related reasons.” He wasn’t mad. Or even upset. He hadn’t expected the kid to answer, and the kid has answered in his own way. If anything, Kelsier was pleased with the response. He liked the kid, he decided, thought that wouldn’t help him here. It didn’t matter. He would do his job either way. Or maybe it did matter. Maybe he could do his job that much better if he knew the kid.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 15, 2021 16:42:21 GMT -5
Nico’s brows raised, surprised that Kelsier had taken the tongue in cheek answer in good humor. He knew that others would have gotten upset with him for being a smartass, but it was the truth. Kelsier had asked for an answer, he had given him an answer. It just… wasn’t a very helpful answer. In truth, he didn’t know what day it was. He knew it wasn’t in the winter, so it couldn’t be his birthday, but he had no idea if it was September, October, or even November. If he had to bet, he would have said early October. He was quite possibly wrong. He should have kept track of the days, but he hadn’t. He wanted to ask, but he didn’t know if he wanted to deal with Kelsier reading into the question. Maybe he could sneak a peek at a newspaper or something. “It’s not today,” Nico said after a moment, eyes narrowing just a little bit. Somehow, he didn’t put it past Kelsier to actually get cake. He seemed like the kind of person who would do that, even if his job would frown on it. He had made good on the McDonald’s, at least. “Although,” he allowed, hugging his arms close to his chest, “You must know that if it were today, I wouldn’t tell you.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 16, 2021 16:58:43 GMT -5
Kelsier dipped his head. He believed it wasn’t today, even if the kid was right, he wouldn’t have told Kelsier if it was. He mostly believed the kid because he didn’t think it was very likely to be today, but that aside, he wanted to trust him. He wanted to believe him. This was a fairly innocent way of doing that. Plus, there was always the chance that being believed by default would make him less likely to lie. Which was far from a given, but Kel didn’t have a lot to work off of. “Too bad, I like cake,” He replied simply, smiling cheerily at the kid. “And yes, I expect you’re right about that, but then, would you have told me you wouldn’t have told me, if you wouldn’t have told me? Or would you have not told me if you really wouldn’t have told me?” This, a small, exasperatedly affectionate voice in the back of his head reminded him, is precisely why your coworkers hate your guts. She wasn’t wrong.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 16, 2021 18:48:06 GMT -5
“It’s been a while since I had birthday cake,” Nico admitted uncomfortably. It wasn’t much, but even information that small could technically be used against him. At least it might give Kelsier an idea of why he ran away, though the lack of birthday cake was only the tip of the iceberg. His shoulders hunched forward as he looked at Kelsier, brow raising a little bit as he began to twist words around. It was… difficult to follow, but Nico thought he understood what Kelsier was saying. “I guess you’ll never know,” he replied after a moment, absentmindedly picking at a cuticle. “You’ll just… get yourself all twisted up in knots trying to decipher any answer I could give to that so…” he shrugged, staring at a hole in the knee of his jeans. “I guess the point is that it’s not my birthday, so no cake.” He gave a small shrug, trying to act nonchalant. He didn’t feel very nonchalant. He didn’t know what he had already given away… he just hoped that what he kept to himself would make it more difficult to track down Hades.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 18, 2021 14:57:28 GMT -5
Kelsier noticed the information, but he didn’t point it out or call attention to it. The kid had to know it was a risk to speak at all, but he was doing it anyway. Did that mean some part of him wanted to go home? Was he able to give hints but not the full truth? Why? He didn’t know the full story. He didn’t actually even know a partial story, he just knew that the kid was trying not to help, probably. Or he couldn’t help. This was why Kelsier wished he could be honest, but he didn’t push it, it wasn’t fair to him to push it. “Fair enough,” he replied, nodding. This felt like a decent place to leave off on the questions, for the moment...he didn’t want to overwhelm the kid any more than he had to. “Do you have any questions for me?” He asked, searching the kid’s eyes. “Seems only fair to ask that. Since you didn’t want to come here in the first place.” He didn’t think his superiors were going to be very happy with that question, but it really did seem fair to him.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 19, 2021 0:23:58 GMT -5
Nico was mostly talking because he thought he would be in worse trouble if he just stayed silent. He wasn’t giving enough to get him back home. Home… well, the place he was supposed to call home was a worse place than death, if Nico were honest with himself. He didn’t want to go back. He would rather starve. He would rather freeze. Surely Kelsier had to understand that...? He had found Nico in an attic, living off of what little he could scrounge up for himself. Did he really think that a kid from a loving family would do that? Nico tensed, waiting for another question. Something else he couldn’t answer. Something else he could get in trouble for only half answering. What he heard instead… well, that was a surprise. “Any?” Nico asked suspiciously, brows knitting together. He had a lot of questions, but most of them weren’t really appropriate to ask. Some would likely be incriminating, even if Nico hadn’t technically done anything wrong. “I guess… are you recording this?” There were things he wanted to ask Kelsier that he didn’t want anyone else hearing. Things like why was Kelsier willing to risk his job to be kind? The last thing Nico wanted was to get Kelsier fired. At the very least, he seemed nice, which was better than Nico had expected from a detective.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 22, 2021 11:44:16 GMT -5
“Any,” Kelsier confirmed, spreading his arms. “I won’t get upset, even if your question is why I’m so annoying. Which is a freebie, but the way. And the answer is because I was once told to never change, and I took it to heart.” He wasn’t meaning to be as irritating as he was probably being. Or...maybe he was. It was hard to say for sure. He did think the kid probably didn’t want to go home, wherever home was. He knew he couldn’t jump to conclusions just yet, but it seemed like a pretty safe bet to him, so he didn’t mind doing the tiny leap that came with it. If the kid didn’t want to go home, that would make this that much harder...if only because there was probably a reason for that. He didn’t want to out the kid back in a bad situation, but how could he do his job without finding his family? He couldn’t. Maybe if the kid was willing to share what was happening at home, but if he didn’t...there wasn’t much Kel could do, not yet. If he found the kid’s family, he would do his best to check them out first. There wasn’t a lot he could do there either, though. He couldn’t tell who was a good guardian jusr by looking at them. He couldn’t tell from their face if they were fit to care for a child. It seemed the kid himself was Kel’s best clue, but he couldn’t use that clue without more information… “Recording?” He repeated, hesitating. Then he glanced at the camera. “Yes. We have to, to make sure I’m not being a dlck or anything. Legal purposes. And there might be someone watching or listening to us now, too.” Which meant he was going to get in trouble for swearing in front of the kid, wasn’t it?
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 22, 2021 16:50:30 GMT -5
Nico wasn’t sure he considered Kelsier annoying. Okay, so he wasn’t not annoying, but he wasn’t the most annoying person Nico had ever met. Frankly, Nico was a little bit more concerned about the fact that Kelsier was going to send him home than he was about whether or not Kelsier was annoying. Besides, he had asked questions, but he hadn’t pressed Nico hard about any of them. That would have been far more annoying than anything he had done. Nico didn’t have the heart to tell the detective he wasn’t annoying, though. He seemed to take pride in it. “Okay,” he said after a moment, trying to keep his tone calmer and more even than he felt. This was a delicate situation. In theory, what he asked could reveal more about him than his answers to Kelsier’s questions ever could. It would be safer just to stay silent, not to ask anything, but it was tempting… “What do you usually use this room for?” Nico asked suddenly, eyes wide as he raised them to meet Kelsier’s. “I mean… it just doesn’t really seem like an interrogation room. But the only interrogation rooms I’ve ever seen were on TV and they tried to make them look as clinical and intimidating as possible. This room looks like… I dunno. You could put a coffee pot over there and it would be pretty homely.” So that wasn’t the question he had really wanted to ask, but it was all he was willing to (for now) as long as there were people monitoring him. “I don’t believe you,” he added bluntly, eyes narrowing. “I mean that they’re monitoring you for being an asshole. I think it probably has a lot more to do with me. They could figure out if I’m lying by looking back at the footage, right? Are they telling you what to say if they’re monitoring us right now? Who is ‘they’ anyway?” While he wasn’t quite comfortable, suspicion combined with the invitation to ask question caused them to pour forth. Nico scarcely seemed like was stopping for breath.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jun 27, 2021 17:34:15 GMT -5
The thing was, Kelsier was probably either irritating on his own, or the fact that he was convinced he was irritating would actually be the irritating part. Or maybe he was just used to being called annoying and he took pride in it so as to steal it back. But that wasn’t important. The kid was important. Kelsier...well, he wasn’t really a very selfless person. But the kid needed someone. Kel was willing to try and be that someone, even if neither of them knew that that would entail. Chances were, the kid didn’t know what he needed, either. Oh, he undoubtedly had a reason to keep quiet, but whether that was the best option was another story. Kelsier felt he could probably do more if he had more information, but there wasn’t much chance of convincing the kid of that, not without some time. He glanced around as the kid asked his question, one eyebrow raising a little. “Oh, it’s for questioning,” he replied, looking back. “Which isn’t really the same as interrogating. And it’s pretty different from what’s on TV, I guess. Believe it or not, I don’t really watch a lot of TV. I don’t have much context.” The questions were coming now. He was learning more about the kid this way than he could have with his own questions, really. What, when, how, the boy asked his questions were important. One eyebrow raised as the boy raised his challenge. He was already getting braver, it seemed. He was figuring out that Kel wasn’t going to blow up at him. That was good. “They actually are monitoring me,” he noted mildly. “But yes, that’s one the only thing. It’ll be looking over the footage myself, later. And it’s just a good idea to have proof on hand that we did this. Believe it or not, it has as much to do with me as it does you.” He shook his head a little. “No one’s telling me what to say. That happens, but not all the time,” he explained patiently. “And they’re just my coworkers. And maybe my bosses, plural. Though, probably not them unless they think it’s necessary to keep a closer eye on this case.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jun 27, 2021 23:07:40 GMT -5
“What’s the difference between questioning and interrogating?” Nico asked, crossing his arms as he looked across at Kelsier. “It seems to me the two are pretty indistinguishable. You ask questions in both, and in both you’re trying to figure out something about the person you’re talking to.” Nico had a feeling that most of the time, it wasn’t so much about what the person said as it was about how they said it, and when they chose to say it. He had a feeling Kelsier was getting a pretty good read on him now based on the questions he was asking and the things he was choosing to comment on. That was fine. He didn’t actually care if Kelsier knew who he was as a person. He was pretty boring, all things considered. What mattered was that Kelsier couldn’t figure out a name, and that he couldn’t connect Nico with Hades. Nico was learning a little bit about Kelsier, too, based on the way he was responding. He couldn’t be certain he was telling the truth, but he seemed to think himself quite amusing. Nico would never have said it out loud, but he was inclined to agree. Kelsier was interesting, and he would be fun to talk to if Nico’s life wasn’t on the line in this conversation. Kelsier was simultaneously arrogant and self-deprecating, funny and earnest. Nico almost couldn’t believe he was real. Nico had a feeling that if they were monitoring Kelsier, it was just one of many reasons they were watching what was going on in the room. Kelsier wasn’t the one who may have committed crimes. Nico easily could be convicted for shoplifting, if there security cameras at any of the places he had stolen from. If any of them had managed to catch Nico. But Kelsier had thankfully made it clear that Nico didn’t have to worry about that. Hopefully, Nico thought, Kelsier was telling the truth. “How do they decide what situations they have to tell you what to say?” Nico asked, eyes narrowing. He was curious how this all worked, but he was trying to disguise his curiosity as suspicion. It wasn’t terribly difficult. He was suspicious of Kelsier and everyone else around him.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 3, 2021 0:06:44 GMT -5
“Questioning is friendlier,” Kelsier explained easily, leaning back. “Less negativity to it. This is questioning, because we’re not enemies, and we both want the same thing. For you to be safe.” Which probably meant a lot more when he wasn’t actively trying to make something happen that wasn’t at all safe for the kid. Though in his defense, he didn’t know that. He was getting a lot more information than he’d feared he might. The kid was good at evading, but he wasn’t a liar, so the things he did say were the truth. That meant Kelsier didn’t have the added worry of the kid lying to him to throw him off. Of course, he could have been wrong, but he didn’t think he was. He was confident he at least didn’t like to lie, and if he did, it would be out of desperation. He wished they could have met under better circumstances. He liked the kid so far. He was determined, and he hadn’t given up, even when he was cold and alone on the streets. It was impressive, for a kid his age especially, to be able to make it alone. And he had, for probably a while too. “Well,” he considered, expression thoughtful. “It would probably be if they wanted to say something specific to you, but they wanted you to talk to the same person you already knew. So they’d just control the conversation from the outside, make sure they were the ones actually having it. I’d just be a speaker then. To be honest, I don’t like it when that happens. I’d rather talk to you myself.” Honesty seemed like the best route to him. If he wanted the kid to end up trusting him, he’d need to be trustworthy first. Not lying to the kid’s face was a good way to start, and he didn’t see any harm in explaining it.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 3, 2021 0:19:27 GMT -5
Nico frowned, tilting his head a little bit as he listened to Kelsier’s explanation. He was having a hard time telling if Kelsier was a liar. It seemed possible he was, but he didn’t know for sure. It was difficult to tell, if only because he very clearly wanted to be seen as genuine. There wasn’t much Kelsier could have lied about so far, at least. His explanation could be a lie, though… Nico bit his lip, looking up at Kelsier as he tried to discern where, exactly, the man was trying to steer him. “If you were being told what to say, would you tell? I mean… if they ever want to tell me something specific but are too cowardly to come say it to my face?” Nico didn’t think he would have liked to hear bad news from Kelsier any better than he would have wanted to hear it from a stranger. Kelsier was just… a face he was somewhat familiar with. A face he should have hated for ruining his chances of having his own life, but one he couldn’t because of the fact he was being kind when he very clearly didn’t need to be. “Sorry,” he said after a moment, though he didn’t sound very sorry. He did think it was cowardly to use someone else to say your own words. It meant that you didn’t think you could have the desired reaction, so you were passing on the responsibility to someone else. It made the words lose their weight, in Nico’s opinion. At least in this situation. He frowned a little bit, crossing his arms as he stared intently at the table. “We may want the same thing,” he began slowly, biting the inside of his lip as he did so. “But you don’t understand anything. And you clearly think I’m not capable of making decisions for myself and for my own safety. You think you know better than me.”
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 5, 2021 23:14:44 GMT -5
Kelsies was...not much of a liar. He didn’t see the need for it. He could lie if he wanted to. He was actually pretty good at it, all things considered, but he didn’t usually choose to. It wasn’t that necessary, for him. But he did understand why anyone else might. He couldn’t hold it against the kid if he chose to. He considered the question carefully. It wasn’t like it was impossible that he’d be ordered not to tell, at some point, that his questions were no longer his own. That he was being used. It wasn’t impossible that his superiors could make him do something he’d rather not do, rebellious tendencies regardless. He cracked a smile at the wording. He happened to agree with it. It was cowardly to use someone without just doing it yourself. “I’d tell, unless I was ordered not to,” he decided, resting his hands on the table. He tapped his index finger, as though absentmindedly trying to remember a tune, or, perhaps, actually giving one. It was hard to tell, but he didn’t look at his hand. He stopped a moment later, leaving his hands on the table. The kid was right, in a way. Kelsier was doing this because he didn’t believe he could take care of himself on his own. He didn’t believe he would have survived much longer. “You were in an abandoned building with no heating system,” he pointed out mildly. “It’s not so much that I know better. It’s that you’re in trouble, and I’m in a position to help.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 5, 2021 23:53:44 GMT -5
Nico’s eyes narrowed just a little bit as he caught sight of Kelsier tapping something on the table. It seemed… important. It seemed deliberate, in the way that almost all of Kelsier’s motions seemed to be. Perhaps he wasn’t doing it on purpose. Perhaps Nico was just reading into it. The thing was, he would rather read into it and be wrong than miss something that the detective was trying to tell him. He glanced up from Kelsier’s tapping, meeting his gaze after a long moment. He didn’t think it wise to mention the tapping. For now, he would just observe. He did, however, do his best to memorize the pattern. “They might order you not to,” Nico said after a moment, the realization dawning on him. It made sense. They could probably tell that Nico was fairly suspicious by nature, so he might not believe anything Kelsier said if Kelsier told him he was being told to say things. They were probably right, in that case. If they didn’t have the guts to say whatever it was to Nico’s face, then he wasn’t going to listen to them. He hoped they wouldn’t order Kelsier not to tell… Nico bit his lip, trying to shake the thought away. “I had a plan,” he retorted softly, lifting a leg up to rest on the chair. “I wasn’t just going to stay there through winter. And… and it was nice in summer. It was a reprieve from the heat.” Nico didn’t want to admit that Kelsier had a point. He didn’t want to admit that in many ways, Kelsier had saved his life. He didn’t know for sure if he would have survived there. He didn’t know if he would have been able to make it all the way through a winter. But doing it on his own on the streets sounded a lot easier than doing it contending with whatever punishment Hades had planned when he found out that Nico had been caught and they were about to be exposed.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 20, 2021 11:06:19 GMT -5
Kelsier wasn’t sure whether his (clever) idea would actually work, but he hoped it would. He wanted to help the kid, but he didn’t want to actually get fired. He was aware that he was pushing things…he was always pushing things, to be fair. But he couldn’t just turn his back on a scared kid. He couldn’t. He met the kid’s gaze. He hoped…he hoped it would be enough. If it wasn’t, he would just have to figure out something else. “They might,” he agreed quietly. He was tempted to tell him that he might also get taken off the case if he wasn’t careful, but he didn’t want to freak the kid out anymore then he already was, so he decided to let that go for the present. He would get back to it if it seemed likely. “What was your plan?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at the kid. “Where were you going to go? I don’t know that there are a lot of shelters around here.” He wished he knew how to fix this, but the truth was that he had no idea. If the kid didn’t talk, he didn’t have much to go off of. What was he supposed to do here? He would figure out where the kid belonged, first. He didn’t want to push the kid into a bad situation, of course, but what else was he supposed to do here? He couldn’t exactly just let him go live on the streets again, no matter how tempting it was to let him do what he wanted to do.
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