revivalproject | Indictment

WHO: Absolutely everyone.
WHERE: The diner.
WHAT: A decision has to made about threats to the community.
WHEN: After an attempted murder, a chaotic rescue, and an awkward reunion. Now.
WARNINGS: Nothing yet. Mark it if something comes up because...
NOTES: Structurally, this is a mingle, so you can decide what part of this is actually important to you. What you talk about in here doesn't have to be directly Beck-related, but for details about the incident, further organizing, and if you want to determine what your characters might have done/seen/heard in the meantime, this post is still good!

[NETWORK//text @ everyone]

Come to the diner. We have to talk.
If you don't show up, I'll assume you agree with me because you're incredibly intelligent and graceful. The city of Temba thanks you for your contribution to our justice system.

This was the last thing Tony wanted to do. The diner at least felt familiar, neutral--somewhere he could be in control, without having all of the attention on him. Being able to bask in the attention would have been so much easier. As it was, that felt like he would be inviting everyone to really examine the cracks in the armor. They were here because he had already lost control.

As if that didn't already feel enough like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Tony found himself standing in a circle of seats that he had arranged, the tables pushed up against the walls, and couldn't honestly say how much that had been intentional. He raised a lip, and looked to Felwinter as though he would have any illuminating insight about productive interior design. He seemed like he wanted to be here even less than Tony did. Beck was his charge for the time being, though, and as awkward as it was to stand in his stupid chair-circle with the pair of them, Tony did appreciate having Felwinter there to keep an eye on their...problem. Even if having witnesses to his restless energy made it all the more humiliating. Felwinter couldn't sit on Beck forever just to make sure he didn't lure anyone else off the edge of a cliff, so they were all going to have to survive a little humiliation.

"I think the coffee's done," Tony declared, with absolutely no idea what state the coffee was actually in and readily moving toward the kitchen regardless. "Do you want one? I'll get you one. Do you do that sort of...?" He was still talking, and what Felwinter did or didn't eat and drink might have otherwise been something Tony pushed him about, but he was already mentally in the kitchen and trailed off as he went, flapping a hand to wave off any refusal of his offer or explanation about Felwinter's digestive situation. Maybe he would just stay in the kitchen and listen, let Beck hang himself.

Tony took a deep breath, pushing his sunglasses up his nose and squaring his shoulders, readying himself for a performance.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Columbia! Sweet! I went there like twice on tour. Not the greatest audience for me, not gonna lie. Probably would have been better with a translator. But yeah! That is amazing."

He reaches for another slice of pizza and chews on it thoughtfully.

"Huh. I am surprised there were no clowns there. Never saw one on tv either?"

And here is a pretty long pause on Bruno's end in which he regards Richie and his pizza-chewing. After that pause has passed, he raises a brow and asks, very carefully. "...t....v....?"

Congratulations, Richie. You have successfully confused this little old man.

They are literally about the same age, so watch it with the 'old'.

"You...don't know what a TV is?" Richie frowns and thinks about this a little deeper. "Okay. So two options here: either you were from like a really poor part of Columbia or a really old one. Soooo... What year do you think it is? Or was it when you left? Wait. I'll do one better: you guys got cars?"

Once Bruno opens his mouth to answer any of these questions, he quickly finds it replaced by a new one. Which doesn't really help much since he can't really answer any of them. He knows there is a world outside the mountains surrounding his home town and he knows his parents had to flee from that world and of course what happened during that escape. Based on that alone the outside world has always seemed dangerous and scary and many of his visions have only added to that impression while others plain left him confused.

He ends up biting his lip in thought while simply looking at Richie for a long while.

"...no?" But they have food. That's important, right? Do people elsewhere need cars to survive?

Richie hums at that. "If I was better at history, I would be able to guess when about you're from but I was too busy flirting with my best friend to pay attention. So I will just say you're probably like. Pre-electricity? Maybe?"

Richie shrugs and lets it go.

"TV is like a magic box that shows you entertaining shit. Don't worry about it. You're probably better off without it."

Hearing this, Bruno blinks first, then frowns in thought, mentally going over the description given.

"Wait a second-" He says after a moment. "Magic box... I built one of those! For my rats and their plays." He tries to gesture with one hand while still holding the pizza box in the other. "They- They're very talented, y'know? Always ahead of the script and all."

Richie's turn to blink, baffled.

"Your....rats? And their plays?"

"I mean, technically, they aren't mine. But they like to tick around? Guess it's because I give them food and all. Safe place to stay. And food. But they let me put them on their little stage and-" Bruno cuts himself off with a dismissive wave of his hand and a little chuckle. "You know, never mind any of that."

He casts a sheepish grin at Richie. "What's your magic box showing you?"

"Wait," Richie presses, unable to either listen or never mind anything, ever. "You put them on a little stage. And then...they do plays? For you? The rats."

Richie blinks.

"So...you're magic too, huh? Like the magical princess-talk to animal variety?"

Bruno shrugs lazily. "Well, they don't respond. Sometimes they squeak, but mostly they just eat what food you put down in front of them. The rest is- Ah... Y'know." He gives a small wave with one of his hands. "You use your imagination."

His hand drops down on his pizza box and he raises a brow at Richie. "What's.... Magical princess-talk...?"

Richie flaps a hand dismissively. "Don't worry. It's not real. Just another joke that probably wouldn't even be funny if you understood the reference. Which you don't so, it's all good my man."

He smiles at the idea of rat theater though.

"That whole thing is fun though. The rats and imagination. Creative. Couldn't get your hands on people?"

"Oh, people are.... Well. They're difficult." Bruno admits with a little wince he tries to hide behind a chuckle. Not to mention that most of his town was like- Afraid of him. "And rats are cute. They have few demands and don't really hold grudges. A-at least not for long if you have food to apologize with."

He misses his rats a little. Not the mess they tend to make or the damage they can cause with their gnawing, but their company.

Richie snorts. "Yeah. Difficult is the right word for it." He notices the wince though and figures the story was more than just what was being said. Probably for another time. "But I don't know about the rats. New York sorta gave me my fill of those things. But then again I didn't train them."

Bruno shrugs. "It's a lot less training than just- Giving them food. So they stop eating your pants. Or your hair." Which still basically comes down to training them, but shush.

"This place... Doesn't appear to have any rats, though...?"

Richie hasn't actually gone investigating too much. He just shrugs.

"Not like we'd know at home. But there's other animals. You could...uh. Maybe find something that is close and can continue the plays? Maybe they'll even work for less cheese. Come out with profit!"

There's a pause from Bruno in which he just looks at Richie, then quickly laughs, shaking his head. "Oooooh, no no no. I- It's not like I need them, y'know. No need to replace a bunch of rats. Do you even know what a mess they leave behind? A lot. More work than anything else! Sure you can talk to them and all that, but- I can just talk to you, right?"

Yes, Richie, you're a valid replacement for Bruno's rats. Lucky you.

Indictment

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