#(LOL SHE'S SO FLIPPIN' SHOOK BY IT AND I LOVE IT AND THEM. 8'D <3)< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[red-hemlock]

Tilt goes that head, canted ever-so slightly to the right. So, there really was a lab, huh? That bit certainly stood-out to her... A veritable beacon glaring through a haze of motormouthed verbiage. Steven got her there though, she had to admit that he made some fairly reasonable points. He was, after all, just a security guard; not a detective or some cape with the know-how on gathering-up evidence. Why would he know anything about everything?

Chalk it up to her being spoiled on contractors who came prepared with outlines and schematics, needed to make the murder-plans run smooth; but River supposed she could do this part of the leg-work, too... Find this lab, see things for herself with her own two peepers.

Which all but reminded her of yet another insistent thought, lurking in her mind like needling fingertips. Her gut instinct was telling her to trust him... Steven may not have realized it, but she'd been watching him. Closely. Most everyone had a little tell to them, something subtle that spilled the proverbial beans on whether you were lying or not. This guy was irritated with her and green at this, it should've been a cake-walk to suss-out deceit. But not once throughout this little exchange was there a crack in his character, nor a waver in his commitment to have this Afton man killed and why. He had to be telling the truth.

"...No?" For a moment, consideration towards an apology was made. But a single word like a stone wall, brings all thought to a screeching crash. Eyes wide, not even that eerie mask can hide the utterly incredulous edge canting her voice to an octave higher, "Your assassin?"

What is this? Nary a spittle-drop of ink on an inch of contract, and here he was foisting demands! What dark recess did this spine suddenly rear its head from? For once in her life, River is left standing there with a fish-mouth gape. The shine on that spine is blinding, it... It shocks her. It impresses her?

"He's still human, is he not?" Quickly, River sucks in a breath. No, no. She needs to regain control of this situation, "M-Maybe you might be the naïve one, dear, or blinded a bit because you work there?" God, she can't get that 'no' out of her head though, and she's not sure how to feel about the way it makes her ears burn, "All humans make mistakes in some manner. It might be tiny, but even he has to have made one somewhere, no human is perfect."

"So." She sputters sternly or tries to, "That being said, I-I-"

"Hey, assassin-lady!"

Gagging on the rest of her sentence, River's stomach does the loop-de-loop; as the realization that their tiff made them forget about her current employers kicks in. They were coming. Not quite here yet, but by the sound of that pleased laughter, the group wasn't far at all. At this point it was a fool's-toss if Steven could manage to slink-away unnoticed; and looking behind, River puts-forth the only plan she see's viable at the moment.

'Plan G'.

"I-... Think you're going to need to squeeze into that garbage dumpster after all, dear."

"That's a relief!" he laughs, sounding less concerned than he probably should be about the entire topic.

His easy-going smile falters as she continues speaking, however.

Is she kidding him right now? She doesn't believe him? ...and that matters?

"No, uh... I wasn't aware of that. I thought you might have your limits--" like killing kids, perhaps, which is part of why he chose her, "--but for someone like him, I didn't know you needed anything other than a paycheck. The only reason I told you any of this in the first place is--"

Why had he told her? Sure, a large part of him had hoped it would help incentivize her, but that isn't the only reason. Steven's been sitting on this secret for weeks now, unable to share it with anyone else, and he had just needed to let it out. He needed someone else to know, to share in his terror, to help reassure him that he's doing the right thing.

He swallows thickly instead of finishing his sentence, frustrated by her proposal.

"It's not that easy. I-- no offense, Ms. Hemlock, but I think you're being pretty naive right now. Of course there's no proof. William's not just crazy, he's crazy powerful! Why would a guy like that leave evidence sitting around?"

How is he supposed to explain that he "just knows" he's right without bringing up the subject of his abilities? He can't go around blabbering about being a super to every person who doubts him, not when he's dangerous enough to have been kept secret from most of the other employees at AR itself. What if knowing the truth changes Hemlock's mind about leaving him alive after all of this? No one likes the thought of their privacy being breached.

"I... overheard him. Multiple times. I know I'm right about this. There's no way I can safely gather proof for you without putting both of us in danger. I mean, what am I supposed to say? 'Hey, Mr. Afton, you wouldn't mind if I took a look at your super-secret labs to make sure there aren't any dead kids in there, right?' Come on, he'd kill me before I even finished my sentence! And then he'd look into who else I might have told, and he'd find you, and-- well, I think that'd be pretty inconvenient for your operations here."

He isn't sure why her doubt has affected him so strongly. It's silly to get his feelings hurt by someone he doesn't know, but she's struck a nerve; Steven wants to be wrong. He's spent so long talking himself out of the truth, going in circles trying to reconcile the William Afton he knows and loves with the William Afton he doesn't. He's finally committed himself to taking drastic action in the name of morality, and what does he get for it? His one potential ally thinks he's a dirty liar.

"No." Bell's voice is shaky, but his expression is set in a firm, determined frown. "Here's how we're going to do things. You-- either you take the job or you don't. If you do, we save these kids and do the world a favor. If you don't, I-- I hope I can trust you to be discrete and give me the time I need to put together another plan. But I'm not going to give him the chance to find more children to kill by wasting time making my assassin feel better about killing someone. ...okay?"