Day 58: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

[human_sponge]

Peter's lunch meeting with Tear had gone far better than he could have even expected. It was a good thing that he wasn't the sort of person who judged by age, seeing how the girl had proved herself to be very capable despite the fact that she was only a teenager. Not that Peter would ever admit it out loud, but Tear was a lot more mature than his

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[gargantuanlaugh]

Talking with Lana was refreshing in its own way, even if she didn't altogether defend him or even sound friendly most of the time. She was still the person he respected most in this place, and that wasn't likely to change. Still, he had gotten a slightly threatening feeling from her and he wasn't sure what to make of that. It wasn't like Lana. She didn't threaten. She made promises and stuck to them. She was honest, as long as she wasn't having her arm twisted with respect to her little sister, and that was usually done by himself. So it was odd today, but maybe it was just this growing feeling of apprehension setting in. Something bad was going to happen soon, the police dog in him could smell it.

Well, Gant was determined to be the one to bring down some of that badness, and that was totally not an intentional pun on his part. Gant moved to a far corner of the Sun Room, planning to wait out for Niikura where he could also keep an eye on the door and watch for when Badd entered. He doubted the balding detective was up for

[oneman_onekill]

[from here]

Niikura paused a second before the entrance to the Sun Room to take a deep breath and clear his head. No thinking about Shiina or Mike or anyone else at all; just...focus on the matter at hand: Gant and whatever he felt like spouting today. And then he could go eat dinner and maybe even talk to Edward for the first time in forever. Oh fun.

With a little nod to himself, the teen turned and sauntered into the Sun Room at his usual casual pace, hands shoved deep into his pants pockets. He glanced around languidly, by all appearances merely looking for a--ah, there he was. Niikura's face broke into a smile that might almost be welcoming were it not for the cool disregard in his eyes.

"Hey there, Gant." He plopped down into the seat directly across from the older man and crossed his arms, mirroring the other. "Gonna cut to the chase?"

[gargantuanlaugh]

Good the see the kid hadn't kept him waiting. But Gant still wasn't smiling, not even when Shou tried to give the pretense of good relations. He was just as glad to cut to the chase as the boy, so cut to it he did.

"Didn't realize you were such good friends with Baddo," Gant began, leaning forward a bit in his seat. "I hear he's the one who gave you the information on my past, hmm, mistakes."

He blinked over his glasses at the young man, daring him to deny it. "It's only fair that I return the favor. Baddo isn't one with a completely clear conscience either."

[oneman_onekill]

"Not really friends," Niikura corrected, taking note of the nickname. It was good to know that he wasn't the only one who had to put up with these stupid pet names all the time, although...commiserating with Badd. That was pretty...damn it, he'd walked right into that one: bad. "Just acquaintances." He shrugged. "And I can't say I didn't ask, but honestly, the way things went down, I think he'd tell just about anyone 'bout your little episode if they name-dropped ya, whether they wanted to know or not

[gargantuanlaugh]

"Sounds like the dear old ex-detective, alright," Gant chuckled humorlessly. So Badd had simply gone and run his mouth without thinking of the consequences. Why was Gant not completely surprised by that little fact?

At least Niikura acted interested in learning more. Seemed he had his own reasons to think Badd was hiding something too. Well then, Gant wasn't going to let him down. "Oh, he didn't outright kill anyone. Not that I know of."

Gant paused a moment, tugging a bit at his bangs. ".... But I would have to say, his career as a vigilante didn't do much good protecting those innocent victims."

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura was about to say something about how boring that was, that he was expecting some serial killer background, but then Gant pressed on and delivered what was, he guessed, the old man's bomb.

"Really." The teen's eyebrows raised. A vigilante? Badd? Heh, he should've known! The older cop, after all, had that lone wolf attitude that resonated with his own, that idea that he could take things into his own hands. But still, his vigilante-senses (like he'd ever had those) hadn't gone off...maybe Badd had been trying to put it behind him. But for what reason?

'For what reason' was probably exactly what Gant was going to say next. "How'd ya hear about somethin' like that, huh? That kinda side job isn't exactly somethin' to be shared at the water cooler."

[gargantuanlaugh]

Heh. That had caught Showy's attention well. Now Gant just needed to make sure he spun it in a way that made Badd out into the rotten, no-good asshole he truly was. Of course, it would all be the honest truth. He wouldn't give out false information. It was like journalism. Sometimes you just had to craft a story to make it more newsworthy.

Gant himself was pretty good at setting up evidence just right to make a criminal pay for the full extent of their crimes. They didn't call Gant the Crime Computer for nothing!

"Actually, Badd supplied the answer himself." Gant smiled for the first time, as pleasantly as he could fake. "Thought this place was a fake when he first walked in. Apparently, he comes from a time after I've... paid the piper, back home..." Gant shrugged. He was alive and kicking here, so he didn't much care about sketchy what-ifs back home.

"... So! Seemed to think it wouldn't hurt to tell me anything, being that I wasn't really here in the first place." Gant rolled his eyes. Badd was such a paranoid loon

[oneman_onekill]

"Uh huh..." Niikura nodded as he listened. Messing with evidence to take down elusive criminals, huh? So far, Badd wasn't sounding too much like the rotten, no-good asshole that Gant was trying to make him out to be; actually, it kind of earned the detective some respect points. Working the system to get things done: now that was what the police were supposed to do! (Okay, tampering with crime scenes was illegal, but since when had he ever cared about the legality of actions taken in the name of justice?) None of this stupid, lazy shit where they just hauled in people who couldn't defend themselves or whom no one cared about just so they could say that they did their duty once in a while