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[hellshot]

username: GraveMistake

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[hellshot]

'Give' you something to do?

Like it's my job to keep you entertained?

Like it's my responsibility to make sure you stay out of trouble?

Don't make me laugh, Jaime.

[smokedout]

dodger.

let me earn it then. make a deal with me.
whatever makes me worth your time.

[hellshot]

'Worth my time'.

Peculiar wording there. You care to explain it?

[smokedout]

it means what it means.

[hellshot]

Let me rephrase, then.

What it means to you and what it means here are two different things right now.

For me, it means you're being vague and expecting me to read your mind. Tell me what it means for you.

[smokedout]

[There's a very long pause here. In fact, it takes him an hour of erasing and rewriting before he settles on wording that won't sacrifice his pride.]

i just want to make a deal. it's a simple one.

i'll do whatever you want me to do. i don't care what. not gonna say what i've done for previous deals, but seriously. no limit.

in exchange i want you to keep me around. i've got nothing else going for me in this city except you anyway. all i want's some incentive from someone i can respect.

[hellshot]

[This is... a weird request. Honestly. He can't say he's ever met someone so quick to offer... subservience.]

And what do you get out of this sort of deal?

I hardly believe you want this just for 'some incentive from someone you can respect'.

Deals usually have a two-way gain, Dodger.

[smokedout]

who says i don't gain something from serving you.

what i'm offering is payment for putting up with me, isn't that worth giving me the benefit of the doubt a second?

[His responses continue to be slow and deliberate, because boy is he uncomfortable having to explain his logic. It makes him almost miss being forced into submission against his will - in retrospect that's so much easier than asking for it.]

[hellshot]

I'm a mercenary and a monster.

I don't give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Be you an ally or a foe.

Looks like you still haven't gotten that clue about me.

[smokedout]

which makes you smart, sure.

even though i doubt the monster part. you seem pretty decent from where i'm standing... appearance and behavior.

what do i have to do to get you to trust me, then?

[hellshot]

First of all, you have no idea what I actually look like.
Second of all, you have no idea what I am.

You might have some sort of appreciation for what I do and how I act, and that's fine.

But if you think for a second that causing unwarranted trouble and getting yourself pinpointed as an unstable, untrustworthy bastard is something I can respect?

You're on a long, hard cliffside path towards getting anything from me.

[smokedout]

didn't take you for the bashful type, boss, just take the compliment.

look, i'm honest about what i am. i'm a fucked up guy with bad habits i don't feel like changing. at least you know what to expect from me, yeah?

i'm not expecting to get you to like me overnight. just wanted to point out that's the overall goal here.

[hellshot]

It don't got a damn thing about being bashful.
I'm being realistic. There's a reason why I wear a mask.[Because he's pretty damn sure of himself in thinking what's under it is far scarier.]

Actions have consequences. Words and conduct have backlash.

I know what to expect of you, but on the same thin line you should know what to expect in return.

[smokedout]

so you think i just can't handle what you look like?

no one's hurt me yet. so i'm still doing better than i did back home. you're welcome to change that if you think it's worth it, but i haven't done any real harm yet either.

[hellshot]

You?

You think not wanting to show my face has anything to do with sparing your feelings, or anyone elses'?

And we'll see. 'Yet' just means you've managed to avoid trouble thus far.

Time will tell, for all things.

[smokedout]

hey, they don't call me dodger for nothing.

i made a name for myself back home, dodging trouble. i'm untouchable.

but i can always let you land a few hits if you want.

[Wink.]

1/2

[hellshot]

[In the history of embarrassing texts he's ever read, this is about an 8.]

2/2

[hellshot]

Keep thinking yourself untouchable and that's when you'll fall on your ass the hardest.

Take it from a man who did the same shit.

[smokedout]

17 years without incident seems like a decent excuse for being cocky.

[Guess who's lying about everything. There have been at least five major incidents and he's apparently planning to pretend none of them happen.

His next text doesn't come until June 26th.]

hey. you didn't take that prep boy pansy version of me seriously, did you?

[hellshot]

[Sounds a little too much like himself. He hadn't gotten into 'trouble' until he joined the military at 19, after all. Not that he feels the need to say that to the other, letting that conversation die where it was.

It's when he gets the next text from Dodger, far later, that he feels a headache coming on. He was hoping he didn't have to deal with this shit, but here they are.]

That was a fucked up week full of fucked up things.

There's a lot of shit I'm still not clear on, what 'Kingsley' said? Even less so.

[smokedout]

don't. mention that name. jamison kingsley is dead.

let's just forget that whole thing happened. listen i know you flipped your shit when i asked about sombra, but do you know anything about amelie lacroix?

uses the wrong icon constantly

[hellshot]

If you say so. I've got my doubts about some things after that fucking catastrophe.

[But as for Dodger's second pry--he's honestly not as protective over his thoughts on Widowmaker as he is with Sombra--especially due to the fact that she's here, and he could just ask her himself.]

Of course I do. She's one of my associates from back home. I'm aware she's here. Have you not spoken with her yourself?

pffftt

[smokedout]

i thought i said to forget about it.

[Good job, Dodger. This is how you'll fix Reaper's opinion of you.]

sure, i've met her, but i was asking what YOU knew about her. what her skills are, anything i should avoid bringing up, if her husband's dead, that sort of shit.

[i give up.]

[hellshot]

[Yes, he did say forget about it--but it was exactly that kind of avoidance that makes you seem suspicious. Or maybe he's just embarrassed about confessing and doesn't want to talk about it.

Reaper gives a small snort.]

I'll forget about it about as quickly as you do. You're not the only one who showed sides of yourself you tried to bury, idiot.

[And as for ABOUT Amelie... he stares at the rest of dodger's text, annoyed. Maybe he'd just made a lucky guess with that 'dead husband' bit, as it was too on the head, but... it wasn't as if he was going to discuss Gerard with anyone. He hadn't even talked to Widow about that yet, so...]

Don't bring up past relationships. Don't bother her with petty questions that get too personal.
And always keep in mind that if you irritate her, she can easily kill you from about 200 meters away.

[smokedout]

[Damn, those are all of his pastimes.]

doesn't seem to stop most people from pissing me off. but i guess she's got the attitude for it.

[And she's not the one who starts fights.]

you didn't answer me about her husband. that's important.