Post 33||
Post 31
Indigo Plateau||Morning "Uh- that might not be the best idea."Both Wallace and Steven turned to look at Wally, who seemed to instantly regret his statement.
"C'mon Wallace; we both know you. You having 'a word' with anyone when your tone of voice is like that kinda amounts to the verbal equivalent of evisceration And that's not gonna go over well long term. I mean, you're not the one who'll be dealing with him after your word brawl." Wallace couldn't deny the logic, especially since Wally jerked his thumb to Steven.
"That'll be him.""Wally has a point." Wallace turned an eye back to one of his oldest friends, the fact that he was little more than a whipped ghost of his former self pressing on Wallace. He should do something. Say something. He'd wanted to go off on that self-righteous bastard for years now, but...
"The sentiment is much appreciated, Wallace, but it would be better if I handled him myself. Two angry people rarely get anywhere; at least one of us has to stay calm." Wallace's lips pursed together, his anger boiling not too quietly beneath the surface.
You mean it's just better if you don't fight back because the argument's over faster. "Don't look so glum," he soothed, though it did little to quench the flames in Wallace's soul.
"It'll be settled. Lance is a good man at heart. It will be fine."He couldn't stop the sarcastic scoff that came out, but he wasn't terribly apologetic for it either.
"We've already gone over this, Steven. He might have been at one point, but now he's little more than a bully. I just..." He flexed his hands. He didn't want to hurt Steven, and outright bashing Lance in a long tirade was probably not the best way to go about it. Especially since most of his complaints were things that Steven probably wouldn't want shouted all over the cafeteria in front of his subordinates and peers. He kept his voice low and controlled, but the anger was evident.
"I'm so... tired... of... of him ruling like he's the only one capable of leading. I hate how he treats you. And it's just.. frustrating... to see this happening and being completely powerless to stop it." He let out the rest of his breath and looked back up to Steven, reaching out for his friend's hand.
"I won't do anything to put you in a place where Lance has more reason to attack you. I just want to punch him in his stupid chin is all." He gave Steven a small smile, trying to be as supportive as he could while quashing his rage.
"There now, that wasn't so bad was it? I think the hardest part will just be reading through all that nonsense. But you have me here to help you for that part." Karen scoffed. Little did Clair know it was taking all she had just to stand there leaning on the goddamn counter.
Eventually, the clerks came back with boxes -fucking
boxes- of information. Oh sweet Christ above, she was going to die today. This was how it ended.
"What the hell- You're shitting me?!" As the poor librarian shrunk back at Clair's anger, Karen let out a long, painful groan as she stared at the boxes. Yeah. She was going to puke on them and then die. Clair managed to somehow divert her ire enough to still somehow be civil.
"This is...this is a mountain of files. How many idiots live here anyway? Ugh. Fine. Come on Karen might as well find a corner where we won't be bothered and get this over with."Karen glowered at the boxes again, then deigned herself unfit to carry her own body weight much less one of those godforsaken things. Thankfully, the librarian was more than willing to aid Clair in carrying them. They took a table, where Karen immediately laid her head down against it, and Clair began. At least she was actually helping.
"We should probably start with that nerd from last night. He was the prime suspect right? Might as well see what they say about him." Oh yeah. That guy. Karen wasn't entirely sure whether or not the guy was actually capable of something like murder... after all, the video of him
finding that body was pretty hilarious in how he freaked out.
"What the hell was his name again?""Ffffff....." sputtered Karen. She didn't move her head from the table as she answered.
"Uh... Cold... Cu... Colbits? Fuck, I don't know. I think it started with a K or C or something.""H- hello! Professor Elm, here; it's g- good to see you, Clair. A- and Karen, too!" Jesus, what was happening? Karen shifted her head a little to peer at the man, unsure whether she was feeling gratitude or anger. Anger, probably.
"I overh- heard your problem and I thought maybe I could help?" Really? Karen pushed herself up and looked at the mousey man a little more directly. Maybe she could push off this load on him. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts and hangover, she forgot to voice her question.