01. un: hound - [Voice]

[cantilevers]

[He was still learning this whole earpiece device, so excuse him for it turning on and there sound like someone was fiddling with the setting. Where was his far more technologically inclined smart kid to help him? Ah well, he did realize it was on sooner than later thankfully.]

Uh... sorry? [Chagrin tone.] I was curious about an idea, since I still consider myself fairly new to this situation. Here's hoping you all with entertain me here:

What does a sense of community mean or feel like to you?

[A beat of a pause.]

Is it friends and family? Is it gathering places and camaraderie? How about a sense of people uniting for a specific purpose in mind? Everyone here has their own agendas and their own interests, and, with no overt crime present at the moment, it's curious to me how we could build a sense of community around these parts.

Comments

[jinxs]

i see.

good luck with your kids, vander.

[cantilevers]

Well I only have one kid here, and she's pissy with me. Teenagers, am I right?

[jinxs]

don't treat me like a kid.

(right. teenagers, RIGHT.)

[cantilevers]

Alright. Would you like to discuss your anger towards me as adults?

[jinxs]

do i need to spell it out for you? again?

[cantilevers]

I was hoping we could discuss a resolution.

[jinxs]

what resolution even VANDER
i asked you two to do one thing. one
ONE.

then you run off to a new perfect little family
with little perfect alive kids
and i look away for one second
one. just one

you two EXHAUST me

[cantilevers]

I did what I could for the mission.

And now I have a perfect alive kid here. What do you need from me, Jinx?

[jinxs]

no thanks to you.

[cantilevers]

Who helped you so I can thank them then?

[jinxs]

you know who did.

i dont buy it for a second. did what you had to do for the mission
right. snitching is for the mission
playing house was for the mission

just

fuck off vander don't come near me again

[cantilevers]

No. I'll see you in 5 minutes.

[Vander needed the extra time to find his boots and put them on before he headed out and tracked his way down the apartment complex to Jinx's place. It didn't take him long, and if she wanted to storm at him, he would prefer it to be done in person. He wasn't one to air his dirty laundry in public as much as he could avoid it.

So, he arrived and knocked on the door. And he would continue to knock until she opened the door, or he would stay there until she returned from where she had been.]

TO THE INBOX IDEK

[zauneyete]

She told you to stay away.

Don't disrespect her wishes.

let's assume this is inbox now

[cantilevers]

She told you not to fight me.

Maybe you should have respected her wishes too.

[zauneyete]

I haven't started any fights.

She understands if I'm forced into the position.

To which you have done a great deal of goading. Are you going to play innocent?

[cantilevers]

Oh so the knife through my arm was a friendly play on your behalf when we were sitting having a relatively innocent conversation?

You're such a Chem-punk. Stop trying to drive a wedge between my daughter and I.

[zauneyete]

Were we? If I recall, you were threatening me. Oh, you used nice words, of course. You always do.

I'm not the fool who lets them pass me by like the rest of them.

So stay away from my daughter when she asks you to.

[cantilevers]

Was I? You were engaged in the usual illegal activities rather than doing anything helpful that might save our world.

Make me, otherwise, go pound a sump.

[zauneyete]

I was giving the people tools to advocate for themselves. Or would you prefer they don't even get a taste of what it's like to not be crushed under the boot?

Oh, don't worry, I already know your answer.

She has asked you. I have told you. Next, it will be Sevika.

[jinxs]

(and in that extra time, it means she jumped off the window, gun in hand, to figure out what she wanted to do. thankfully, a goody-two-shoes got to her first, and that means her finger is not in the trigger when she's back. in fact, she looks like she's been... exercising?

it took her a while, but eventually, she walks through the corridor to vander, sits next to her door and sighs.)

Someone saved your bacon today. I'm mad at you, but... I'm not shooting you, so we can count that as a win.

[cantilevers]

[There was no answer, not for a long while. Vander knocked a few times and listened at the door then he stepped aside and leaned his back on the wall next to her apartment door. He was left waiting awhile, but that was not surprising in the least. He decided to give her a few hours and if he couldn't find her then he'd give her the space she desired and try again another day.

By the time she made an appearance, he was smoking in the hallway (no rules said he couldn't technically), mind elsewhere. Yet, he came back when she slipped out and moved to lean on the door. He took a drag from his cigarette, watching her from the corner of his eye.]

Ah well, that seems a constant state these days. [He didn't need anyone to save him. It was clear he was on his own, adrift at a far further back timeline.] Can we have a discussion about why you're angry with me or should I come back another time?

[jinxs]

Have you ever heard of something called 'parkour'? It's just living in Zaun. Get from point 'A' to point 'B' by using whatever structure is in your way so you go more or less straight down a path. Do you believe in other universes, that's for fun, not a fissure-feature? That's crazy.

(stalling she is, because it is easier than to get to the core of it so quickly. not too long ago she was full of energy, so much so that she felt the electricity of rage moving her limbs other than herself - right now, it's not like that.

she doesn't have enough of it. so, instead, there's a sigh that is long and resentful instead.)

You looked happy.

[cantilevers]

Most cities are not built like ours, I expect. Everything is open and spaced. It makes sense that mode of travel isn't that common.

[He knew she was stalling, and he didn't mind. He could take the hint that the topic that seemed to have brought him here in the first place was one she wasn't ready to discuss. He took a drag on his cigarette and continued to watch her, assessing her mood and also if she currently was carrying a weapon she might decide to employ.

He issued a low grunt of acknowledgement to her statement. Vander had spent a lifetime building a front of appearing happy; it was easier to make deals with a smile than a sneer even in the undercity. Threats with a smile tended to have more effect.]

Just because I wear the expression doesn't mean I am.

[jinxs]

Looked pretty happy to me anyway. All giddy, with breathing, non-broken kids, a whole family that can pull you around, get in fights with you, have you tell them your bar stories, all the stuff I didn't get to have because you shoved off.

(which, deep down she knows he is not at fault, but she's never been great at separating these things - action and result. she took him from her, silco took him from her, singed most likely took him from her.

and yet, just the thought he would prefer to be elsewhere was too painful to bear. to act out feels natural, like her instinct and grounding, as if impulsivity moved her forward.)

I don't care who started that fight, either. I am done telling you two to stop, but if it costs us Runeterra?

[cantilevers]

Is it the family that's the problem, or that I 'shoved off' as you say?

[Vander didn't consider his interaction with that family to be giddy by any means; she likely didn't remember what giddy could be. He'd been a lot more reserved when he had taken Vi and Powder in, deeply affected by the losses of the bridge revolution. She had been very young when he'd been at pique giddiness.

Perhaps the idea of being replaced was less of the issue and more the fact that he had died in the first place. Except he hadn't right?

He sighed between his lips, breathing out tendrils of smoke.]

I can't lose Runeterra either. I have to protect it, for you, for Vi. My time there is over, but I can do whatever is necessary here to see you and your sister can live out your lives.