to the victor's besties go the spoils

[friendsfordinner]

Who: Cornelius Hickey & ota!
What: June catch-all + distributing presents
When: throughout June
Where: Milton

Content Warnings: n/a, will edit as needed

Comments

[desperate_times_right]

“A hundred? Holy shit. All locals?” Or is there another town of interlopers out there?

[friendsfordinner]

"All locals," Hickey nods. "If there was anybody like us, they didn't talk openly about it."

[desperate_times_right]

“Friendlier than the last batch we encountered, I assume?” Either that or Hickey killed them all and they all happened to drop travel shampoo like video game bosses.

[friendsfordinner]

"They didn't immediately start trying to kill us if that's what you ask," Hickey laughs, with a little shrug. It's not that hard to be friendlier than the Forest Talkers. But thankfully, these people were.

"A couple of them could prove useful. There was a priest," which ew, gross, "but the woman who owned the pub was good for gossip. Her boy and I went beach-combing."

[desperate_times_right]

A priest. Chloe rolls her eyes. That mandatory Christmas mass had been more than enough Christianity for her, thank you very much.

“Hard to believe there are families down there. There were kids in the Forest Talkers, but it wasn't really the same. How’s the gossip?”

[friendsfordinner]

"Not as messy as ours," Hickey admits. There's a pause before he muses, "There's a cannery down there. Something happened there—I was warned off of investigating it."

Chloe should absolutely not be surprised when Hickey admits, "I kind of want to get a bigger group and go back there to see what happened."

[desperate_times_right]

“Oh, I heard about that,” Chloe says thoughtfully. “When I was sorting the newspapers at the library, I saw an article about job cuts at the cannery. Sounded like a lot of people in Milton worked there. Maybe there was a strike, or even a riot.”

Who knows what might have happened once the people in Milton were driven to kill each other?

“I’d love to check it out, if you can stand to wait until we get a bit of real night first.”

[friendsfordinner]

"Course I can wait," Hickey says, with a nod. "Doubt I'll be going back there any time soon anyway. Trip's nice and easy, but it is long. I'll want to stay at home for the next few weeks."

Hickey doesn't realize he says that until he's out of his mouth: he wants to stay home. He hasn't really ever thought of anything as home—to say something like that without realizing it has taken him by surprise a bit. But after a brief flash of surprise on his face, his expression settles into acceptance.

Yeah. This is home. Weird enough to think it, but it is.

[desperate_times_right]

Chloe snickers. “And to think, Billy was annoyed with me for suggesting you guys would get boring once you got married.”

[friendsfordinner]

"Fuck you, I'm never boring," said with a grin. This is absolutely Hickey just giving Chloe shit for the sake of giving her shit, there's no trace of malice in his words.

"You should be nice to the man who gave you shampoo."

[desperate_times_right]

Chloe laughs. “Too late, you already handed it over.”

[friendsfordinner]

"Yeah, cause unlike you, I'm nice," grins the man who isn't nice and they both know it.

Hickey shrugs a little before continuing, "Dunno how much of anything there will be left en route to Silverpoint a few months from now. You know some people were talking about burying the bodies? Waste of effort if you ask me."