We Should Talk

## Mob Boss Peggy04/12/2019

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March 3 Saturday night

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Saturday night, and there were many things weighing on Andy's mind. Not the same things as last week, although those things were rolling around in there as well. It was always something different. Andy wondered if this was how a parent felt; always worrying about the others and rushing around to make sure that everyone had everything they needed. He had been pulled in all directions within the last few days and there was indeed more than enough for him to think about.
He looked down at his phone at Mr. Greene's message that the ladies' uniforms were ready, as well as the armor, as well as the repairs on the others' uniforms. The 'ladies' had been a fixture in his mind recently - not just recently - all of the time, in fact.
Since Thursday night, Andy couldn't stop thinking about Marceline. She was the only one, out of everyone that he hadn't been able to speak to after her mission. In speaking to Elijah, Andy's worries were dampened just a little bit. After two days of not hearing from her, Andy wondered if it would've been right, or if it was his responsibility to reach out to her first. He wanted to give her time. The last thing Andy wanted to do was make Marceline feel uncomfortably pressured... but at the same time, he *was* their leader. If there was anyone that was supposed to care and *supposed* to reach out, it was him.

Since Friday night, Andy had been pondering sending her a message. Something safe and kind. Then, never ended up doing it. He had it in his mind that she would contact him, she would do so of her own accord as the responsible, independent adult woman that he knew she was.

Now, he was dressed and ready to leave the house. He was dressed in clothes that prior to today, he wasn't aware that he had in his closet. Since it was all fireproof from head to toe, Andy didn't even dream of complaining. He wore some well-fitting pants and yellow - a color he wouldn't have been caught wearing before someone had ransacked his closet. A warm jacket would keep the cold at bay, hopefully. Andy slipped a beanie onto his head and grabbed his empty backpack in preparation to leave for Eaux Claires.

## birdman | Valentine04/12/2019

Valentine woke up suffocating. The smoke was thick, and absolutely overwhelming. He'd only experienced this once before, arriving on the scene of Kyle's old apartment building. It terrified him.
He was standing up, and clothed- no sign of having been in bed at all, really- and had a hood over his head. Though the crowd around him seemed to be rushing, he was the only one standing still. Completely motionless, he took in the scene. Where... where was he?
He'd never been here before, marble tiled floors leading to the front entrance of something. It was too smoky and too loud to really piece it together, and the shouting of police and riot teams certainly didn't help either. Oh, god, this wasn't fun at all. He could barely breathe. The crowd rushing at him made it incredibly difficult to hear or feel what was happening- the ground was trembling, just slightly, most likely from the thundering footsteps of everyone rushing out. That many people- this must've been a stadium, or something of the like.

The prompting of a voice over a loudspeaker finally clued him in. "*Attention shoppers,*" a soothing female voice began, seemingly unfazed by the commotion. "*This is an order of emergency evacuation. Please locate your nearest emergency exit, and note that tenth street is currently closed to the public.*" That was more than he needed, of course. He'd lived with Cody a block south of the City Centre Mall, and tenth street had been slammed almost every day. He'd found the *where*, but he hadn't found the *what*.
He began to push forward, over the crowd. It was becoming smokier as he finally found his way inside, seemingly completely alone. It was scary, he had to admit, being lost in a crowd by himself- but he was masked, and he knew how well he'd done last time, too. He could do this. Valentine pushed forward.
Inside the mall was... more or less, how he remembered it to be. High glass ceilings let in filtered warm spots of what he could assume was light, but it’d been spotted out by the thick smoke, which currently had no source. He could smell a mixture of fountain water and bath bombs, underneath it all. People had begun to filter out, leaving him more or less alone, for just a moment.

Two gunshots broke his focus. They whizzed past him, clearly not aimed at him, but he ducked aside nonetheless. He must have hit his head, or something of the like, because... something new happened.
He couldn’t figure it out. Something had appeared, for lack of a better word, in front of him. It wasn’t anything he was able to rationalize, except for the stark contrast between the two parts. It was long, as far as he was aware, with a smaller section at the top, different than the rest. What the hell was this?
Without much time allotted at all for Valentine to figure out what was happening, *whatever* that’d been had disappeared in an instant, the world returning to normal again. His chest was rising and falling too quickly for his own good, scrambling up against a fountain’s wall as he regrouped with himself, too preoccupied to notice the presence of an entire person in front of him. Their voice was close- too close- and he’d gasped when they spoke.

*”Watch your champions fall,”* the man’s voice said.
Valentine woke up suffocating. In his own bed, eyes flying open, the rest of his body still. He laid still for a moment, breathing quiet gulps of the fresh, cold air breezing in from outside Andy’s house. He’d never witnessed anything like that before, not in that level of detail. He needed to tell Andy.

## Rose | Rhett | Marci04/12/2019

Marceline watched the sky change in hue, taking particular interest in the setting sun as it vanished among the trees. A mug of warm tea cupped between her hands as she seemed to be lost in her own little world. Anyone would have thought that perhaps she was enjoying this moment of bliss but her mind’s thoughts were anything but. A constant loop of self-doubt and growing annoyance. Her head had remained crammed full of ideas revolving around her mission and how poorly she had conducted herself. The main focus being a mismatch of questions asking herself why she’d done the things she had.

*Why* had she acted so rashly? *Why* had she picked up the gun? And *why* had she accepted death without a second thought? She knew the answers but didn’t want to admit to any of them. *”Such dark thoughts for such a pretty face.”* She recalled her ex telling her once upon a time. *Ha*. Her breathing slowed as she pictured the look of disdain she’d likely receive from Torchlight. How upset was he going to be with her? She wondered before realizing something else. Did Andy even know the full story? What all had Elijah told their leader? The sudden awareness that Andy may not have known everything soothed her temporarily. Surely he’d want her input on the situation, after all, she hadn’t given him a report after staying busy for the couple days since the potential bomb incident.
Now was as good a time as any, she finally decided. Turning her crystal eyes from the slowly shifting sky as the sun had disappeared among the trees leaving a canvas of pinks and purples in its wake. Breaking a hand away from the mug, she fastened it against the woolen shawl and pulled the fabric closer over her shoulders. Again lifting her beverage to her lips, Marci took a long swallow before easing up from her seat. The shawl being removed as she headed indoors for a quick change of clothing.(edited)

Nothing too flashy like she usually wore. Instead, a simple pair of dark, tight-fitting jeans and a rather baggy grey tee she’d found at the back of her dresser. She finished off the look with a silk scarf and matching coat. Make-up was minimal, as well. A quick touchup of foundation and some concealer to hide the fact she’d barely slept a wink.
Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, the woman paused to frown at the untidiness of it all. This wasn’t her usual self but it was all she could handle at the moment. A sigh left her as she prepared to depart to Andy’s house. Waiting around just long enough to pull her wavy ebony locks up into a messy, yet fashionable, bun. All done.
The car ride was uneventful as Marceline navigated her way to Headquarters and finally arrived an hour or so after sundown. Stepping from her vehicle and walking up to the front door, she tried the handle knowing it would be unlocked and pushed it open only to find herself face to face with Andy himself. Forcing a smile at first, she completed her entrance with a ‘hey, babe’ and closed the door shut behind her. That’s about the time she noticed him seemingly preparing to leave. “Goin’ somewhere?” She asked with a hint of puzzlement.
“If you’re busy, I can always come back later.” Offering a more sincere look, she waved a hand up and down in front of him. “I wouldn’t’ve thought it but yellow doesn’t look so bad on ya, babe.” A small, cheery smirk stuck around this time as she kept herself from shrugging off the coat ontop her shoulders, waiting to hear whether he’d be sticking around or not.(edited)

April 13, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy04/13/2019

Andy had only just slipped the backpack over his shoulder when the door suddenly opened, causing his eyes to shift in alarm toward whoever had opened it.
"Marceline." He breathed. He let his nerves settle at her smile. Andy didn't know why people coming in suddenly always caused him to jump. One would've thought he would've been used to it by now.
There were few that could have walked through that door that Andy wanted to see more. Her light-hearted remark, whether it was genuine or not, made him to shuffle and smile sheepishly. He was just glad that they were still cool. Even though there was no reason for them to not be.
"I'm going to Mr. Greene's to pick up some stuff." Andy paused while he made a very split decision, just staring for the shortest moment at the tall woman standing in front of him. "...Do you want to come with me?"

## Rose | Rhett | Marci04/13/2019

Marci wasn’t opposed to the invitation in the least. If anything, this sounded much better than sitting on the sofa and trying to ignore the walls closing in. “Sure thing, babe.” She piped up with a grin then spun on her heel turning to the front door and pulling it open for their exit.
She glanced over her shoulder at him with a curious glint as the backpack came into view. “Are you set on walking the distance or would you rather be my ride along?” It made no difference to her considering the plain white sneakers she’d slid on instead of her usual heels, so the decision was solely his own.
“Sorry ‘bout the other day,” she began her brief apology while stepping out the house and onto the porch facing out to the road, her car sitting by the curb. “I was plannin’ to come by sooner...car or walk?” She repeated her question after another moment.

April 14, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy04/14/2019

Andy let Marceline lead him out of the house and he lingered behind to lock the door. He didn't acknowledge her apology just yet. It was best to ease into a heavy conversation if it was, infact, heavy. Whatever it was, Andy didn't want to push the issue.
"I was going to take Finch's car. But... I've been putting a lot of miles on it lately. I'll spot you the money for gas. Driving beats taking the subway."
Andy turned and met Marceline at her car with a small smile, placing himself at the passenger side. "I'm serious, I'm really working on getting us some real transportation! I just haven't... Had time."

April 15, 2019

## Rose | Rhett | Marci04/15/2019

It was of little surprise that Andy had chosen not to immediately indulge in her apology although it still hung there as Marceline walked to her car, Andy trailing behind. “I’m sure he doesn’t mind, right?” She smiled and rolled her eyes gently at his willingness to pay her back. “Don’t mention it, babe.”

When they’d both gotten into the vehicle, she put the key in the ignition and fired it up. “You have a lot on your plate...let me help?” She suggested while pulling from the curb and heading in the direction of the Lune d’or Condos. “That’s what you made Eli and me captains for, right? To help lighten your load so use us.” Her eyes occasionally glanced from the road ahead to the man in her passenger seat.

April 16, 2019

## Mob Boss Peggy04/16/2019

Andy felt really silly for having to keep bumming rides off of people. He had only suddenly been in need of his own transportation. Before all of this, he was perfectly content with taking the subway or walking everywhere. Sitting in the car with Marceline made him feel like he didn't want to be doing this again. Getting himself (and the team) some suitable transportation rocketed to the top of his list of things to do.
He looked to his side at Marceline and only met her passing gaze whenever she looked at him from the road. How could he put this...? Andy didn't want to come out and say, 'You kind of ghosted me, so I'm not sure if I can rely on you,' because he didn't *really* feel that way. Andy found it hard to choose words that accurately described how he felt.
"Yeah, um..." He began, not being entirely successful in completing his thought. "I know you haven't, um... Been available the last couple days... So I didn't feel like it was right to ask anything of you. I suppose we have things that we need to talk about."