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[tactical_alert]

Reed. Leave a message.

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[tactical_alert]

They are.

[Why is he just holding it. Why isn't York eating it. Is it an offer? Does he think he doesn't have enough pineapple on his slice? Malcolm plucks it out of York's hand. Well if he's not going to eat it...he puts it on his next bite of pizza. There. Problem solved.]

[goddamngrenades]

Anything you want to know about me that you already don't?

[tactical_alert]

Your family. Er, blood family, that is.

[goddamngrenades]

Not much to tell. Mom and Dad both worked a lot. As soon as it was safe to leave me at home after school to handle myself they kind of did. Dad was an engineer and mom took care of logistics for some part of the military, I can't remember.

[tactical_alert]

Did you get along?

[goddamngrenades]

For the most part, yeah. They were just busy. War was on, all that. Made sure I went to class, study up, joined the army. Murray's belong in the army, apparently. Proudest moment they ever had was when I was selected for the project.

...I never really got in touch with them again after. They probably thought I was KIA or something. Not that they'd be wrong.

[tactical_alert]

You were busy. You were all busy. They would've understood.

[goddamngrenades]

Mom introduced me to encryption. Something she was working on when I was bored at home as a kid. Told me how it worked and went back to trying to crack it- I had no idea what it was. I thought it was a game so I fiddled. Took me a week, but I cracked it.

After that it was something we had in common. Dad would talk about how this or that was built or how the code was designed and mom would get me more to try and crack. Got real good at it too.

To them being picked as the sole infiltration expert for a top secret project was awesome. And for a long time I thought it was too. [ He shrugs. ] They make it out okay, I"m pretty sure. That's enough for me.

[tactical_alert]

Good. That's good. Sounds like a good family life, all things considered.

[goddamngrenades]

It was. I got no complaints. It wasn't much but when we had time for each other? Things were good.

[tactical_alert]

Did you ever want to do anything else but be in the military?

[goddamngrenades]

Maybe go into engineering like dad, build the shit the military used but my scores weren't ever anything high enough to get me into those kinds of schools and they needed boots on the ground ASAP. It seemed like the thing to do.

[tactical_alert]

Really? It sounds like you were more than a little brilliant, though.

[goddamngrenades]

Classes are boring. Sit down, read a book, write a paper. [ He shrugs. ] I'm better at practical application, you know?

[tactical_alert]

So you're not the booksmart type. Still, you should've been able to be an engineer. And, also, [he adds with a little ribbing] engineering for the military is still working for the military.

[goddamngrenades]

True enough. [ He cracks a smile, leaning back into the sofa. This is nice. He's glad Malcolm's trying, that he's comfortable. Probably better they're doing it like this than a fancy restaurant. ] Last slice is yours.

[tactical_alert]

Don't mind if I do. [Look at those calories he'll have to go to the gym for later. Worth it.] Maybe you could be an engineer here.

[goddamngrenades]

What, and miss all the fun? [ It's a little late in the game for him to swap specialties. He's a soldier now. That's not going to change. Sitting back and building while other people go get shot isn't how he could do things. ] Nah.

[tactical_alert]

No? Well, it still might be a good idea to take on the appearance of a more legitimate job.

[goddamngrenades]

You don't like dating a black market arms and security dealer? I would've thought you'd find it kinda hot.

[tactical_alert]

[He feels like he should have some sort of witty comeback for that, but he's got nothing. Which part of it is hanging him up, the dating part? The 'thought you'd find the shady underground totally hot' part? Maybe he should full disclosure on himself and XXX.]

Was that a joke, or do you actually think that?

[goddamngrenades]

You're still not sure about the 'dating a guy' thing, so I'm not assuming you have a particular kind of guy you'd find attractive based on their profession. [ He shrugs. ] It was a joke, babe.

[tactical_alert]

Oh. Well, I mean, you were a bit weird about where I was about XXX when we had that conversation; I thought maybe you had an...impression.

[goddamngrenades]

It was the 'man' thing less the serial killer thing.



Unless there was an actual THING that happened, really. Did a thing happen?

[tactical_alert]

Maybe. Once. I didn't know they were a man until things happened. A thing. A single thing. Once.

[He pulls away from York's hold, feeling disgusted with himself. But it's out there now.]