…You’re such a fucker Herman, I can’t believe it sometimes.
I know.
You know?
Yeah.
What about me? Hm? You think about me at all?
…
Fine. Just—fine. Why don’t you give Pepper a big kiss for me, eh Manny?
“Well?”
Herman blinks, looks up from his blank report and into burning blue. The black that is smeared elegantly around Kate’s eyes makes her look vaguely cat-like.
Her smile, however, is eerily lupine.
“Uh—hm?” He splutters out lamely, eyes darting between her gaze and her opened vault suit collar. He can see a swell of breast from beneath the white of her tank top, modest but firm. “What?”
“Hah. You remind me of someone, Manny.” She gives a short bark of laughter at her own horrible joke, pinching her cigarette between her fingers as she squints on a drag. “I’m wondering, Officer, if I’m in trouble.”
“Oh.” He swallows, his blood thrumming and his heart jittering about in anxiety from this girl before him.
Herman had been in the diner refilling his coffee earlier this evening when he got the staticky report that some kids were seen acting suspiciously around the storage room door.
Usually an officer would just send Andy over to ruin the mood and force the kids to leave from fear of a malfunctioning Mr. Handy. Though it was always different after curfew, and especially since the kids seen entering the storage room had parents or relatives in the Security department.
Herman had accompanied Officers O’Brian and Park to Storage, the collar on his armor tight and hot from memories of his last visit here.
He hadn’t seen Kate much after… that encounter—she stopped coming over for dinners and study sessions after graduation. Pepper’s devastated, of course; she keeps trying to call Doc’s apartment for visits and smiles, for loud laughter and sparkling eyes. Herman stops her, of course. He doesn’t think he can handle being in the same room with Kate and Pepper.
Herman knew before he’d even entered the key-code to the Storage room that the kids must be having their own private celebration for Amata’s birthday. He could hear the old—supposedly broken—jukebox playing softly amongst laughter and scattered chatter.
Upon entering the room Herman instinctually scanned the gathering of suddenly panicked faces for Freddie’s. He wasn’t hard to find—he was making a big show of spitting out a beer in shock of seeing his father standing in the door way, the amber liquid spewing all over Peggy Wolfe’s leg beside him.
It hadn’t taken long to clear the room with Park and O’Brian to help—they barked and shooed at the fleeing kids until one girl started crying for fear of arrest.
Herman didn’t exactly approve of frightening the kids in order to lay down the law, especially not with the two Officer’s present doing the job.
In fact, Herman seemed to recall a time when Officer Park had huffed nearly half a can of the vault’s hallucinogenic of choice, air freshener, at Pepper’s sixteenth birthday party. Long time ago, but the irony is still fresh in Herman’s mind.
It was when the room was empty, save for Herman, that he heard it: a muffled giggle cut off by a choking gurgle, followed by the very distinct sound of a body hitting against the solid vault wall.
He had realized then, with sudden clarity, that he hadn’t seen Kate or Butch amongst the group of the graduated class—even when Paul Hannon and Wally Mack had been seen bolting out before the rest of the crowd.
Criminal 5a/?
What?
I’m sorry I—… I just…
…You’re such a fucker Herman, I can’t believe it sometimes.
I know.
You know?
Yeah.
What about me? Hm? You think about me at all?
…
Fine. Just—fine. Why don’t you give Pepper a big kiss for me, eh Manny?
“Well?”
Herman blinks, looks up from his blank report and into burning blue. The black that is smeared elegantly around Kate’s eyes makes her look vaguely cat-like.
Her smile, however, is eerily lupine.
“Uh—hm?” He splutters out lamely, eyes darting between her gaze and her opened vault suit collar. He can see a swell of breast from beneath the white of her tank top, modest but firm. “What?”
“Hah. You remind me of someone, Manny.” She gives a short bark of laughter at her own horrible joke, pinching her cigarette between her fingers as she squints on a drag. “I’m wondering, Officer, if I’m in trouble.”
“Oh.” He swallows, his blood thrumming and his heart jittering about in anxiety from this girl before him.
Herman had been in the diner refilling his coffee earlier this evening when he got the staticky report that some kids were seen acting suspiciously around the storage room door.
Usually an officer would just send Andy over to ruin the mood and force the kids to leave from fear of a malfunctioning Mr. Handy. Though it was always different after curfew, and especially since the kids seen entering the storage room had parents or relatives in the Security department.
Herman had accompanied Officers O’Brian and Park to Storage, the collar on his armor tight and hot from memories of his last visit here.
He hadn’t seen Kate much after… that encounter—she stopped coming over for dinners and study sessions after graduation. Pepper’s devastated, of course; she keeps trying to call Doc’s apartment for visits and smiles, for loud laughter and sparkling eyes. Herman stops her, of course. He doesn’t think he can handle being in the same room with Kate and Pepper.
Herman knew before he’d even entered the key-code to the Storage room that the kids must be having their own private celebration for Amata’s birthday. He could hear the old—supposedly broken—jukebox playing softly amongst laughter and scattered chatter.
Upon entering the room Herman instinctually scanned the gathering of suddenly panicked faces for Freddie’s. He wasn’t hard to find—he was making a big show of spitting out a beer in shock of seeing his father standing in the door way, the amber liquid spewing all over Peggy Wolfe’s leg beside him.
It hadn’t taken long to clear the room with Park and O’Brian to help—they barked and shooed at the fleeing kids until one girl started crying for fear of arrest.
Herman didn’t exactly approve of frightening the kids in order to lay down the law, especially not with the two Officer’s present doing the job.
In fact, Herman seemed to recall a time when Officer Park had huffed nearly half a can of the vault’s hallucinogenic of choice, air freshener, at Pepper’s sixteenth birthday party. Long time ago, but the irony is still fresh in Herman’s mind.
It was when the room was empty, save for Herman, that he heard it: a muffled giggle cut off by a choking gurgle, followed by the very distinct sound of a body hitting against the solid vault wall.
He had realized then, with sudden clarity, that he hadn’t seen Kate or Butch amongst the group of the graduated class—even when Paul Hannon and Wally Mack had been seen bolting out before the rest of the crowd.