#jokewithstrings

"Y'know, I could have used a guy like you back in the day."

     When he was trying to get a quick bag for his family, when he'd been making big plans with little to his name. A man that could duplicate himself would have made them easy and quick. Hell he could use him right now for inventory, what a useful talent to have lucky prick.

"So what's wrong with 'er?' His chin jerked in the direction of the car, grabbing the usual fixes to set on the table. "Rattling in a way you don't like? Or were you lookin' to upgrade 'er a bit? I got some ideas that would work really good with that model.'

@billyandhismultiples' been invited to tourney

copied from monk script 𓆩🗡𓆪 @billyandhismultiples

       He  was  late.  Which  was  not  ideal,  but  it  was  a  heist.  You  didn't  have  to  really  show  up  on  time  to  be  the  getaway.  …  Actually  no,  wait,  you  definitely  were  supposed  to,  but  it  was  just  a  minute  or  so  which  couldn't  have  hurt  that  much.  It'd  been  such  a  long  time  since  he'd  put  on  the  suit.  It  still  fit!  That  was  not  the  problem,  but  the  straps  used  to  secure  the  kite  to  his  back  hadn't  been  oiled  properly  in  an  age. 

       But  he'd  gotten  out  of  the  habit,  and  slept  in  late.  There'd  been  an  engine  that  just  refused  to  go  back  together  the  way  it  should  with  only  two  hands.  Which  meant  he'd  slept  in  and  had  to  rush  an  oiling  the  harness,  other  than  that  it  was  working  fine.  Now  it  was  just  finding  the  right  alley,  near  the  right  bank,  and  then  find  Billy.  Then  they  could  go  find  Thomas  and  hit  up  that  new  spot  that  just  opened  up  with  the  money  Billy  got. 

       Not  that  it  was  out  of  their  price  range,  but  it  would  be  nice  to  have  a  little  extra  pocket  money.  Per  Billy.  And  the  garage  did  need  a  new  hydraulic  press  because  the  old  one  wheezed,  pretty  sure  it  wasn't  meant  to  do  that.  Per  Vance.  And  having  a  family  night  out  with  the  kid  that  neither  of  them  could  really  return  was  important  for  bonding.  Per  himself.  And  maybe  it  was  also  because  he  just  missed  the  rush  of  it,  the  adrenaline  pumping  as  you  tried  to  get  in  and  get  out  before  the  cops  showed  up.  Or  the  Bat. 

       He  really  hoped  the  Bat  wouldn't  show  up  on  their  first  heist  together,  that'd  really  put  a  damper  on  doing  it  again.  Finding  the  alley  finally  and  landing  on  the  roof  above  was  a  relief,  it  meant  they  were  one  step  closer  to  this  going  smoother.  Smoothly.  It  was  going  to  go  smoothly,  tapping  the  button  over  his  chest,  feeling  a  wash  of  comfort  as  the  mechanics  shifted  against  his  back  retracting  the  kite.  Another  familiar  thing,  god  but  he  missed  it. 

"Hey,  Billy!  Sorry  I'm  la-'

       Watching  the  man's  body  jerk,  the  sentence  fell  flat  from  the  way  his  jaw  fell  open.  Had  a  bullet  ricocheted  all  the  way  over  here?  And  where  were  the  others?  Stuck  in  place  as  he  watched  Billy  shiver,  not  good,  really  bad.  It  felt  like  his  heart  was  going  to  burst  out  of  his  chest,  remembering  the  way  his  wife's  breath  had  rattled  while  she  cursed  him.  …  Little  Chuck.  He  didn't  want  to  do  this  again,  this  had  been  a  terrible  idea,  there  was  a  reason  why  he  hadn't  wanted  to  do  this!

"This  is  very  far  from  fine,  Billy.' 

       Said  by  a  man  whose  knees  had  turned  to  water  at  the  first  stammer,  stumbling  towards  the  man  and  half  collapsing  next  to  him.  He  was  going  to  have  to  steal  a  car,  hard  enough  flying  with  a  conscious  person,  let  alone  an  injured  one.  But  first  he  needed  to  get  Billy  away  from  here,  hands  hooking  under  the  man's  arms  and  tugging.  Get  him  up,  over  the  shoulder,  there  wasn't  any  blood  but  he  still  couldn't  understand  what  was  happening.  It  might  have  been  a  clone?  Did  a  clone  die  and  he  was  dealing  with  the  backlash?

"Shit.  What  are  we  going  to  tell  Thomas?'

@billyandhismultiples sent a raven: “i don’t want to rest in peace, i’d rather be the ghost that annoys you” [Thomas Charles Brown]

       For  a  brief  moment,  Chuck  is  genuinely  concerned  that  Billy  is  hurt.  It  was  possible  to  get  him  to  a  hospital,  but  then  again  if  it  was  a  gunshot  wound  that  meant  the  cops  would  be  called.  Not  ideal,  at  all.  Especially  because  that  would  mean  the  robbery  they'd  just  pulled  off  successfully  would  no  longer  be  successful,  it'd  be  an  absolute  shitshow. 

       But  after  a  third,  even  a  fourth,  quick  lookover  he  can't  see  blood  anywhere.  Not  on  Billy,  and  not  on  the  pavement.  The  only  thing  he  could  see  wrong  with  him  is  the  way  he's  breathing  heavy  enough  he's  sure  the  cops  are  going  to  hear  it.  How  they'd  managed  to  actually  show  up  while  the  two  of  them  had  been  sorting  through  the  till  and  lockboxes  was  beyond  him.  Had  to  be  on  the  take  to  a  family  that  had  interest  in  the  pawn  shop,  lightly  punching  Billy's  shoulder  as  he  returned  his  attention  to  the  bag  he'd  been  carrying. 

"You  do  that  enough  now.' 

       There's  too  much  relief  in  his  voice  to  sound  as  irritated  as  he'd  meant  it  to,  rocking  back  on  his  heels  to  land  on  his  backside  with  a  grunt.  Some  of  this  stuff  was  fancy.  …  Real  fancy. 

"Hey,  Billy?  Which  family  runs  this  neighborhood  again?'

Hand blindly patting along the frame of the car, Charles finally took a breath when he found the wrench. Needed to stop doing that, holding his breath while he looked for things. Needed to stop holding his breath on a lot of things actually…

“I tell you about that girl I’ve been seeing, Vance?’ He wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get an answer, his hired hand wasn’t that big on small talk anyway. “I think I might have stumbled into some luck.’

Fallen head first into it actually, right over heels with the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. Lady he should say, there were very few things about her that were girlish.

“She’s real bossy too, but not in a bad way. More in a “Charlie I told you take care of yourself or I will.” kind of way. And it’s a nice, like really nice, even though I know she means it like a threat.’ The wrench slipped and his knuckles banged into a metal edge making him curse. “Y’know how you say men who let their old ladies drag them by the short hairs deserve to get their asses kicked? Well jokes on you, she’s the one who might beat me up. Verbally, cuz she likes me. Like likes likes me which feels kind of… weird. Especially after… you know… what happened.’

The fact that he hadn’t gotten an oil rag shoved in his mouth, or an empty canister was a sign that Vance was in a good mood. Must’ve had a girl over last night, was it that shoppe girl that stared at him all moon eyed? He’d need to warn her against it.

“I got drunk the other night and didn’t make it back to my apartment til morning.’ It had been closer to two in the afternoon actually, but he’d only been awake for an hour. “And she raised hell. …I think literally, shadows don’t normally move like that and my light did nothing til I got her calmed down. ….. …… I think she might be an actual witch. Vance? Vance, you mix up with a lot of women. Did you ever snag a witch? How’d you know… … Vance am I dating an actual witch? I thought she just kind of… I don’t know vibed. It’s not a bad thing, but wow… What do you think?’

@hcrctic sent a raven: “eavesdrop” ;) /x\

so the two of them "dating" and people just what do you see in him or how did you land her and it's just a smokescreen because his apartment is now full of hanging plants, and there's that one really pesky vine that keeps creeping into his bed to wrap about his arm or leg when Pam isn't there.