originalgrilla    _{*  bugs.}

_{he doesn’t think she’s weak.    isn’t trying to  victimize,   either,   but how it must sound from where she’s standing doesn’t escape him.    (   how do you tell someone like bullet  i don’t want you to get hurt  without sounding like he thinks she might break at a moment’s notice,   no matter how far that might be from the truth ?   )       ‘     —    do what you gotta do,   bullet.    just keep me in the loop.    ‘n if you start gettin’ bad vibes,   you know,   like somethin’ ain’t right,   let me follow up on it.    s’all i ask.    you’re doin’ good,   alright ?    real good.     ’}

_{lesson learned:  cause and effect.    one of life’s many philosophies that came to fruition after persuading angie to give her a name.    that blood is on her hands.    bullet won’t make the same mistake twice.    she knows better than anyone the kind of  trouble  too much digging can get you into.    knows all about that dark place,  both metaphorical and literal.     “     yeah.    might as well hand me a badge so we can really get this case  poppin’,  huh ?     ”}

freeguilt    _{*  ravi.}

_{‘     with the exception of you,   my second cousin,   and anyone else fortunate enough to be born after 1987.     ’}

_{moving on.}

_{tweaking  is a concern if not a surprise,   considering what kind of recreational substances the good people of seattle are dabbling in these days.     ‘     right,   and   —   about that.    if you happen upon something called  lucky u,   i’d give it a wide berth.    you know,   from a medical standpoint.    i  am  a medical professional.     ’}

_{“     you’re an ME,  yo.    medical professional makes you sound a hell of a lot more  sophisticated  though,  don’t it ?    like you’re rollin’ in dough,  catchin’ them honeys.     ”}

_{but she’ll heed his warning.    drugs aren’t her scene though the company she keeps might give the wrong impression and that’s something she’s working on remedying before it gets her in  trouble.}    

_{she’s heard of lucky u.    even knows pushers.    never tried it herself and doesn’t  plan  to.    fingers crossed she sticks to her guns this time and doesn’t let a little trauma wreck her mental stability.    she’s been getting back on track,  picking up where she left off and piecing herself together again.}

_{it’s a work in progress.}

_{“     does it  look  like i’m some kinda junkie ?    y’ gotta gimme a li’l more credit,  f’ real.   ”}

adatrox    _{*  raynne.}

      the turn of her anger is swift, lifting the amicable slouch of her posture and shaping it into something else, something accusatory.  it takes a moment of held silence to reign in the grate of irritation in her voice.   ‘   you mean that dealer, bullet?  that someone?   ’

_{bullet wears her own anger like a second skin,  so she knows it when she sees it.    shoulders stiffen,  eyebrow arching as though she’s  daring  raynne to cross that line.     “     that dealer’s a friend,  yo.    ‘n you know damn well i don’t do none of that.    body’s a temple,  remember ?     ”     but she dabbles here and there,  mostly with the  weak  stuff.}

originalgrilla    _{*  bugs.}

_{‘     yo,   it ain’t  like  that.     ’       and he  knows  she knows it.       ‘     c’mon.    you ever hear me sayin’ i don’t think you can handle your shit ?    but you gotta let me do my job.    you gotta meet me halfway,   alright ?     ’}

_{“     ––––    then  prove  it.     ”     she hates being treated like she’s too fragile to hold her own.    on the street,  they think she’s weak.    she’s still in the process of proving them wrong.    never allowed herself be victimised and isn’t going to start now.     “     ain’t that what i’m doin’ ?     ”}

freeguilt    _{*  ravi.}

_{‘     …  and you haven’t the  faintest  idea what i’m talking about,   do you.     ’     latex gloves come off with a snap and he’s leaning forward a little to get a better look at the photo on her screen.     ‘     mm   —   nope,   sorry,   don’t recognize him.    my slabs are all full - up,   i’m afraid,   but if he arrives in a body bag i’ll   –––––––     ’     stop.   backpedal.   he clears his throat.     ‘     ah,   when   —   when exactly did your friend speak to him last ?     ’}

_{“     p’ft.    everyone knows the village people.     ”     she doesn’t know the village people.    figures they’re not worthy of  costuming  based on the  ‘ atrocious ’  comment.}

_{pockets the phone,  somewhat relieved until he shatters that confidence in one fell swoop.    she knows it’s just ravi being ravi,  but  death  has been taking too many of her friends lately and it leaves a sour taste in her mouth.     “     almost a week.    whatever.    he’s probably just  tweaking.     ”}

freeguilt    _{*  ravi.}

_{‘     —   i’ll have you know that all hallows’ eve is,   unironically,   the  liveliest  night on my calendar.    i once performed an autopsy on somebody dressed as one of the village people.    atrocious.    what can i do for you ?     ’}

_{“     one of the  village  people.     ”     nothing surprises her anymore after the pied piper killings,  except for maybe the corpse she’s half - expecting to  breathe  beneath that sheet.     “     i got a friend who’s got a friend that’s been off the radar for a couple days.    was wonderin’ if you sliced ‘n diced him,     ”     holding out her phone for him to see.}

originalgrilla    _{*  bugs.}

_{she’s a little  too good  at it.    that’s part of the problem.       ‘     maybe,   but  i  don’t know who i’m dealin’ with yet ‘n i don’t want you gettin’ eyeball - deep in some other  shitstorm,   you feel me ?    i gotta serve a warrant out near,   uh,   pike place.    i’ll let you know how it plays out    —    on one condition.    somewhere down the line if i tell you to back off,   you back off.    don’t fuck around.    that too much to ask ?     ’}

_{it isn’t,  but she has a penchant for not backing down even in the face of  real danger.     “    i’ve been handlin’ my shit for ages,  yo.    you ain’t gotta  tell me  when ‘n how to pick my goddamn battles.    what’s next ?    sit ?    stay ?    you gonna make me  roll over ?    i told you.    i got this.     ”}

_{“     yo,  doctor death !    how’s it hangin’ ?    you pumped for halloween ?     ”     //  @freeguilt}

originalgrilla    _{*  bugs.}

_{‘     the kinda shit that’s gonna get’cho skinny ass  beat,   son.    yo    —    look,   i said you could help out ‘cause you were gonna do it either way,   right ?    but it ain’t your job.    don’t know why you’re so  interested  anyway,   ‘cause,   believe me,   this case ain’t all that.     ’}

_{scoffs,  cocking a brow.     “     think i can’t take a couple low - rent  punks  ‘n beat their ass ‘round the block ?    what the hell d’ you take me for ?    alright,  look,  if you ain’t got anything that checks out,  then fine  ––  but if you  do,  then you  gotta  tell me.    i can help,  yo !    i’m good at it.     ”}

skintheft    _{*  cody.}

         ‘ mhm. ’  it turns around when the last button is buttoned. its focus shifts as it balls its wet shirt up and eyeballs bullet from a distance.  ‘ sure. plentya fights to git into ‘round here. cat fight, do i look like i cat fight? ’  even a cat’s bite doesn’t do damage. unless you’re a lion. maybe memphis is a lion in the scale of cat fights.  ‘ people catch those hands of yours often? ’

_{she takes another hit.     “     nope.    y’ don’t look like you fight at all.     ”     doesn’t look like the  type.    the ones who get into  street brawls  and wear their bruises like gold medals.    you know what they say about assumptions.    she looks back to cody and can’t remember a single time where she saw elliot in a button up.    figures the shirt must belong to tyrell.    or maybe she doesn’t know elliot as well as she thought if he’s wearing button ups.     “     i’ve been in a lot of fights.    bitches underestimate the little guy.     ”}