nero-deluca:
The words are optimistic enough, and just as much proof that itās not a sport she can claim any real investment in. Itās almost funny, the kind of thing that might summon a laugh if he werenāt still sitting so on edge next to her. Which is humorous in its own right, because even with that leather coat around her frame she doesnāt come off as much of a threat. Different circumstances he might even appreciate the attention, but rampant paranoia was a hard thing to shed, that persistent thought that sheās here with a purpose.
One that assuredly had nothing to do with the game on the screen, and he doesnāt hesitate to call her on it. āYou donāt know much about hockey, do you?ā Down by two might as well have been a death sentence. If there was always some, stray chance that the Devils could still pull it off, it wasnāt one he put any real faith in. There wasnāt much that fell under that category anyway. Himself. His power. Anything else was too unreliable.
He keeps his silence for a long moment, even after the question comes, even knowing thereās little point at drawing a line on it. His name isnāt the worst thing she could learn about him, but thereās that strange feeling like theyāre playing a game, and he doesnāt want to lose this one too.
āNero,ā he finally settles on. Absent anything else, because last names just made people easier to track down again. As it was, he didnāt know if he wanted to be tracked down the first time. And the next words she offers solidifies that itās something he absolutely should be concerned about. Maybe not a cop, but heās not sure this is better. Or what she could be looking for, because there are already a thousand possibilities racing through his head.
He bites, more annoyed with himself for not tamping down that curiosity and telling her flat out that he doesnāt know anything about anything. Itās far from the truth, but itās the truth heād prefer to have out there. If it werenāt for that quiet suspicion that she wonāt be the first to stand up and walk away from this conversation, heād have said it already.
āWhat kind of information?ā
Sports had never really drawn her attention, much preferring to spend her time either outside exploring her surroundings or inside using books to attempt to quench her curiosity, occasionally the two aligned themselves and those had always been her favourite days. Screens had never really been her focus although she doubted that she would have found anything to complain about should she had been able to watch a match of something live. There was some passing interest paid to the national team in some sports but hockey wasnāt something that she could even blag being a casual watcher of.Ā
A sheepish smile tugs at her lips, a rare break in her confidence even if it was a strategic one hoping that it might make him that little bit more sympathetic towards her. Still, the words she speaks are dry unable to stop herself from allowing a little bit of dry humour to tinge her tone. āThat obvious, huh?ā A loose strand of hair is tucked behind her ear, gaze lifting to the screen once more.Ā āStill, keeping my fingers crossed canāt do much harm.ā
Silence wasnāt something all that unusual to her when she was more than a little used to spending most of her days in her own company - she supposed that came with the territory of being both the girl with the obsession and the girl who sees things that donāt exist. But the silence that they sat in as she waited to see whether he would even answer her first question was an uncomfortable if only because she had a feeling that he could be more than a little useful.
But then he does speak and itās more than enough, even with no surname given the brunette figures it to be distinctive enough that she might be able to track him down should she have any more questions for him than those he would be prepared to answer today. A pleased smile takes over her features and she does her best to make sure itās not too triumphant. āA pleasure to meet you, Nero.ā
Taking a breath she prepared her speech, careful not to sound too enthusiastic about it when her passion had been known to intimidate other at times. āThereās been a few disappearances downtown and somehow the MO just doesnāt quite match up with something that makes sense. The police seem to have given up trying to solve them but I just canāt help but feel as though thereās something more to them that everyone is missing.ā
āIs that something you know anything about? Or rather if you did something youād be prepared to talk to me about?ā












