_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     that ain’t your  problem.    cases like this,   you know,   it ain’t rocket science    —    i worked bigger shitstorms at county.     ’       but as much as he’s loath to admit it,   she’s right.    people don’t talk to cops.    particularly not the kind of people he has to track down,   names or no names.    having a fully - functional bullshit detector doesn’t make it any less of a hassle when somebody gives him the runaround.    it gets old  fast.       ‘     you think them motherfuckers are gonna let a kid grill ‘em for intel ?    you start askin’ too many questions,   what d’you think’s gonna happen ?     ’}

_{❛     yeah,  so ?    bet yo’ ass will still take  weeks  t’ get the answers i could get in two days.     ❜     providing her head is in it and not up on  cloud nine  next to poochie.    she hasn’t been this sober since finding out the truth about kallie and the pied piper.    thinks that  maybe,  maybe if she has something to do with herself,  temptation  won’t come calling.    maybe she won’t feel so uncomfortable in her own goddamn skin,  itching to get out of it.     ❛     didn’t say a damn thing about  me  doin’ all the  dirty work.    i still got people who owe me favours,  ‘n they know better than t’ lie     –––––     but hey,  if you don’t  trust  me,  then i’ll take my  intel  to someone else who’ll pass it along ‘n who knows what’ll happen  then.    ball’s in yo’ court,  playa.     ❜}

_{PERILOUSPOTION.}

^{fingers find the hem of her shirt,  wiggling the fabric a ‘lil.  ‘ niiiice.  but no. i … do NOT think i could pull that off.  i mean,  you look HOT as fuck.  but me ? .. nah. ‘  she brings her shirt up then,  exposing her bare stomach.  ‘ i was thinking more .. you know .. this. ‘  her eyes lower to her bellybutton,  before slowly rising;  meeting the other’s gaze once more.  ‘ wanna stick a needle in me ? ‘}

_{she almost feels a little too  raw,  like a part of her had been exposed.    hadn’t anticipated the conversation to take a turn like that and wants to  slam  on the brakes.     (    doesn’t respond well to  flattery  because she never receives it and wouldn’t care for it even if she did.    )    being  looked at  makes her stomach  somersault,  and the bared midriff that’s been revealed doesn’t do the  heat  searing the nape of her neck any  favours.     ❛     ain’t you like seventeen or somethin’ ?    don’t’cha got someone your own age t’ be  flashin’ your shit  to ?   damn.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{when it comes down to it,   he probably couldn’t shut her out now if he’d  wanted  to.    he doesn’t.    making no move to get past her,   it’s less annoyance and more a disinclination to let go of  choice  in any capacity ;   he can’t stop her from sniffing around,   and  that’s  what bothers him.    she’s too hard - headed for that.    too smart for her own good,   sometimes.       ‘     alright.    so gimme a name ‘n i’ll follow up on it.     ’}

_{too  hard - headed,  yes.     smart ?    up for debate.    she’s fifteen and still governed by  emotion,  too often acting out on  impulse  rather than thinking things through.    still has a lot to learn.    but this is one of those times where her street - smarts outweigh his.    she scoffs,  light and airy and less out of derision than you might expect.     ❛     p’ft.    you know better’n that.    it don’t  work  that way,  bugs.    them triflin’ - ass motherfuckers ain’t gonna tell the cops jack,  ‘n even if they  did,  they’d steer you  sour.    loan - sharks hate  competition.    they’ll say anything t’ get competitors off the streets ‘cause that’s more  profit  for them,  you feel me ?    they’ll be runnin’ circles ‘round your crusty ass.     ❜}

_{PERILOUSPOTION.}

^{@junkyardteen}

^{‘ i like it. ‘  a pause,  her head tilting;  eyes clearly staring at the silver that’s piercing the other’s brow.  ‘ do it yourself ? ‘}

_{❛     huh ?    oh.     ❜     a pause.    she takes to compliments similar to anything else.    with extreme caution and an air of mistrust.     (     it’s nothing  personal.     )     ❛     with a sewing needle,  yeah.    why ?    you  want  one  …  ?     ❜}

mattyddario:

bullet  &  holder :  parallels.

_{CRAVESFREEDOM.}

                ^{❛  it is sick.  ❜  he takes note on her pun ( whether she meant to make one or not ),  ❛  but seriously, with everything that’s going on around here & — what happened to you, i think the less DEATH we talk about the better, even if that means crippling my number of conversation topics.  ❜  he shakes his head, letting out a weak laugh  ;  though shame does not manifest in him easily, he finds himself feeling more meek towards his QUIRKY, if not unnatural interest in serial killers, & the horror genre in general,  ❛  so, why don’t you throw a fact at me?  ❜}

_{she bristles.    becomes cold,  distant.    doesn’t appreciate being  reminded  of the night that turned her whole world inside out,  until she remembers:  he experienced the same trauma.    but that doesn’t make her feel  better.    it almost makes her feel worse,  somehow,  knowing that the lakewood six have been suffering at the hands of piper shaw’s masked accomplice.    gaze dips,  then levels,  shoulders rolling out a fair bit of tension.     ❛     a’ight     –––––     but i’m gonna be comin’ after your ass if someone ever puts a  gun  t’ my head ‘n asks me how a  prairie dog  whoops up on a ground squirrel,  ‘cause guess what ?    homegirl ain’t gonna have the answer.     ❜     she’s fortunate to have enough  animal trivia  on hand to keep them here a while.     ❛     octopuses have three hearts ?    ‘n their tentacles are sentient,  ‘cause over half their  neurons  are there,  so the octopus can be,  like,  goin’ about its business ‘n their arms are just doin’ whatever else.    they  literally  got a mind of their own.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{it’s been a while since she busted out the nickname,   and there’s a fleeting few seconds where things are as they should be.    got him under my thumb.    he rounds the corner to where his car is parked,   keys in hand,   narrowly avoiding a  collision  because she won’t quit circling.       ‘     you ain’t on the payroll no more,   li’l man.    don’t want you gettin’ involved in this shit.     ’       didn’t work out so well the last time.       ‘     i don’t  know  what kinda debt.    homeboy didn’t seem like the gamblin’ type    —    loan - sharking,   maybe.     ’}

_{after everything that’s happened,  from their last argument to finding out lyric and twitch had  abandoned  her,  she doesn’t think she has the strength to cope with someone else shutting her out.    not without  losing herself  somewhere down the line,  for the second time.     ❛     ain’t your choice t’  make  though,  is it ?     ❜     both arms secured across her chest,  back leant against the driver’s door.    she looks up,  half - expectant to be met with mild irritation.    even annoyance.     ❛     i might know a guy who knows a guy who can maybe help you out.    well,  not you,  but the case.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{JUNKYARDTEEN.}

_{safe.    what is  ‘ safe ’ ?    used to think it was just having a roof over your head at night,  or someplace warm to lay your head when the bitter winter chill sinks into your bones and starves your lungs of oxygen.    (    it gets so  cold  in seattle.    )    she thought having a tight knit group of friends and knowing how to pick your battles,  knowing when to back down and when not to,  would keep her  safe.    that a strong right hook and a loud  voice  would ward off danger.    and if not,  she could at least  scare them off.    she used to be good at that.    ‘ safe ’  used to be street - smart.}

_{her perspective has changed.    she doesn’t feel  safe  very often.    in her dreams,  she’s being hunted.    the recurring nightmares of being trapped and caged like a wild animal are getting worse.    she always wakes up  feral,  with the taste of blood  souring  on her tongue.}    

_{the  outside world  isn’t much better.    and yet,  bullet would still choose living on the streets to the white picket american dream home.    it’s who she is.    ❛     i don’t go lookin’ for trouble.    you ain’t gotta worry ‘bout that.     ❜     but she’ll find it    (    because hanging around  poochie  is bound to attract worse company.    )}

_{she doesn’t look at him right away.    too occupied scrolling through the images on her phone of lyric and twitch.    kids she used to roll with,  some of whom she hasn’t seen since shit hit the fan.    avoids the ones of kallie until she catches a glimpse of the picture she’d taken,  three days before she went missing.    she looked  happy.    chucking up that peace sign and smiling.    laughing.    bullet smiles back.}

_{vision begins to blur around the peripherals and she has to force herself to hold back,  beat down  that grief and pocket her phone.    an inhale through the nose,  gaze flitting up to meet holder’s before something catches her eye.}    

_{the ring she’d planned to give to lyric.    kallie had offered to hold onto it.    keep it safe from thieving kids at beacon.}

_{her throat suddenly feels tight and she wants to get up and leave,  pretend they’d  never  had this conversation.    she’d been doing well at keeping her emotions stunted,  refusing to let herself feel that pain out of fear it may never  stop.    but now she has to face it,  head on.    taking that ring,  knowing exactly what to do with it,  means having to  accept  that kallie is gone.    she isn’t ready for that.    not yet.}

_{❛     can you,  uh   –––   can you keep it ?    y’ know.    got somewhere t’ be ‘n i don’t wanna  lose it  or nothin’.     ❜}

_{trouble always seems to be two steps behind her,   whether she goes looking for it or not.    it circles back to that tired mantra you’ll hear cops telling each other sometimes,   after a particularly bad case    —    you can’t win ‘em all.    you can’t save everyone.    he remembers what linden said,   overheard on the open radio channel when she was in the car with pastor mike.    about going home every night and wondering if you missed something,   if you could have done more.    that’s the kind of thought process that landed her in  psych  three years ago.}

_{it’s why they’re trained not to compromise things by getting too close,   too attached,   too  emotional.    stay objective.    professional.    sympathize,   don’t empathize.}

_{don’t take it home with you.}

_{and that worked,   for a while.    he was  good  at it,   at knowing where to draw the line.    until this fucking kid managed to get under his skin and all he’d ever learned about  objectivity  went out the window.}

_{because she got hurt.    because he’d had to go home  KNOWING,   not wondering,   that he could have done more.    he could have picked up his phone.    he could have called her back.    swallowed his pride and  listened  to her.    maybe if he had,   they would have taken skinner down  alive  and seen him pay for what he’d done to those little girls.    maybe if he had,   she wouldn’t be wearing the evidence of a slashed throat for the rest of her life.}

_{don’t get too attached.}

_{well,   it’s a little  late  for that.}

_{there’s a quiet strain in her voice,   but he knows better than to ask questions.    he doesn’t  have  to.    just offers a nod,   leaving the ring where it is,   trying to convey without words that he’ll do whatever it is she needs him to do.}

_{‘     —    yeah.    it’s here when you’re ready for it.     ’}

_{he’ll hold onto it,   like he held onto her necklace.    like he carried one of kallie’s earrings with him until he could give it back to the girl’s mother.    this stuff doesn’t belong in an evidence locker ;   if kallie were  his  daughter,   that’s not what he’d want.    he’ll hold onto it as long as he has to.}

_{as long as it takes for her to make peace.}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     case of me ‘n yo’  mama  playin’ late night marco - polo.     ’       tasteless,   but he’d rather resort to bad jokes than actually address the issue at hand.    as it turns out,   making her spend twelve hours in a holding cell didn’t have quite the  scared straight  effect he’d hoped.       ‘     —    some fool dumped by the waterfront,   somethin’ about  debts  or whatever.    i got a CI on it.     ’}

_{❛     think you’re real funny,  don’t’cha bugs ?     ❜     they’re cut from the same  blood - stained  cloth.    she noticed this a long time ago.    (    he speaks her language without even trying.     )     the mention of another  informant  gives her pause for thought,  but she picks up the speed of her gait and sidesteps in front of him shortly after.     ❛     what kinda debt are we talkin’ about ?    you  replacin’  me now ?     ❜}