cactusy | IC contact for revivalproject

Can we meet? Somewhere, you choose- if you need verification that it's really me just say so.

Do I need to give you the location in code?

...not necessarily. This -should- be a secure exchange.

[He's just second-guessing himself. Already he's having second thoughts about this.]

But wherever you are, granted it isn't outside of the city, I can be there pretty quick.

The alley behind that bar.

Got it. Be right there.

[At least no one can get the jump on a flying turtle!]

[Shaw heads right out, only taking a few moments to decide whether or not to bring an energy blaster. She carries far less often here than she does at home, mostly because none of the ships' weapons are a good substitute for her compact handgun - and ultimately, today, she lands on the side of being inconspicuous. That, and not freaking Donnie out by showing up with a big gun.

She'll arrive out back behind The Deep End in a timely manner, alert for danger and on the lookout for her turtle bro.]

[True to his word, Donnie doesn't waste any time in heading over. Yes, yes, buddy system and all, but the boy's developed some major trust issues in such a short time. It says something that he still feels Shaw to be among those he believes he can still count on to be real with him.

He comes around the far end of the building, having flown directly from the place he and Leo have been living in. The rotors of his battle shell fold back in once he's closer to the ground, but he looks over his shoulder as he walks alongside the wall to where Shaw is. His overall demeanor seems a lot more uncertain than when he'd come tracking her down the last time they'd spoken.]

The hell's wrong with you?

[Is how she greets him - not angrily or in any kind of accusatory way, but he sure looks like he's having A Time^TM.]

You didn't get attacked, did you?

[It's only because it's Shaw that he doesn't take offense to that, but the questions do make him visibly deflate, his shoulders sagging in a sigh as he closes the space between them. His fingers scratch anxiously at his arm as he looks at the ground.]

No. But it was my tablet that was used towards the last one.

-- Crap.

[She frowns, leaning one of her shoulders against the wall as she studies him.]

When was it stolen?

[Donnie steps back to lean against the wall himself, folding his arms tightly against himself.]

The week before. Most likely when those two came by my place.

[There's a lot of...something packed into those two words, nothing of it pleasant.]

Okay, number one, you lost your tablet for a week and didn't tell anybody? Don't do that.

[It might have counted as a mini-lecture, if she didn't immediately move on; what Donnie did isn't actually the biggest issue here.]

Which two?

I didn't know!

[He snaps back, immediately regretting it as he presses himself back against the wall like he could somehow melt into it.]

It was replaced. A decoy. I...I have two of them, the one I got from the Agrii that I just use to get updates from their ship whenever there's movement or they receive external signals, and a tablet I got and refurbished from the spaceport that I use as my main comm now. They...they took the Agrii one, set it up to receive the updates. I never looked...

[He should have. But he's been over this how many times and it's tiring. Donnie expels another sigh.]

Stu Macher and Billy Loomis.

The guy who got stabbed and his buddy?

[ She says slowly, her brow knitting further still. ]

What else did they do when they stopped by?

Yeah, the movie-maniac.

[He huffs. Unfortunately he can't say much about Billy except for the questionable hairstyle.]

Nothing much. Stu was messing with my movie projector, asking about cameras and Billy had to use the bathroom. Supposedly.

[A distraction tactic. He'd fallen for it so completely, but then how would he have known what they were there for? The more he thinks about it, the more convenient it all seems, and it stirs up that uncomfortable feeling in his gut again.]

[ Shaw is quiet for a moment: watching him, thinking. Then: ]

I'm gonna go talk to them.

[Donnie lifts his head.]

...and then what?

Get an explanation.

I doubt that'll be simple. Stu can't even hold a straight conversation without getting distracted or jumping to a completely different subject, or he'll run some kind of movie comparisons. Don't know much about Billy though, I'd never talked to him before then.

-I don't know if they know I know either, and if they are the ones doing all this, they might just borrow someone else's tablet again, like they did with Eddie's.

[He...kind of feels bad about how that interrogation had gone down but he still believes they'd made some good points, if only Eddie had been more reasonable..!

Sighing frustratedly, Donnie shakes his head.]

I want to go with you.

[Her first instinct is to say Hell no, and even as inexpressive as she is, it shows on her face: her eyebrows jump, and she makes a face like she's just tasted something bad.]

I don't wanna get you killed.

[Donnie tenses, seeming to expect it, mildly surprised when she doesn't shoot him down completely. He frowns back at her, his own expression almost mirroring hers.]

I don't want you getting hurt or killed either. -I know you can take care of yourself, I've seen it. But...I don't want anyone else getting hurt again because of me.

Losing your tablet is a minor mistake. Killing someone is a major mistake.

[She crosses her arms over her chest, not breaking eye contact.]

I know where I'm leveling the blame here, and it's sure as hell not on you.

[As true as it is, it still stings to hear it so plainly. He tries to keep meeting her gaze, eventually failing as his eyes trail off to the side.]

Just...don't do this alone? Please.

[Shaw pauses again, thinking; she brings a hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose.]

If it is them, they're just kids; if they try anything, I can take 'em. And the weapon situation here is crap.

[She wouldn't be bringing Donnie into a firefight with a team of trained agents, is the implication here.]

But if anything happens, you stay behind me. Got it?

[Right, maybe it's not them. Donnie's not sure how much he believes that possibility, he doesn't really know what or who to believe at this point, his judgment when it comes to people is crap and he's only reluctantly acknowledged this because one of his friends got hurt because... What? He'd been too trusting? Too easy to win over by choice words?

He almost misses what Shaw implies, blinking as he runs that sentence through his head again.]

So you'll..?

[It's not something to really be happy about, it's a lousy situation all around, but something lifts from his shoulders, if just the tiniest bit.]

I'll stay out of sight. They don't have to know I'm there.

IC contact for revivalproject

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