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Post by Paroxysm on Jul 16, 2016 10:52:10 GMT -5
Noah Kuttler is a single father to Wendy and Marvin. They live in a small house where the entryway consists of both the living room and kitchen. To the left is the kitchen, which holds a small table for the family to eat at, and on the right is a small couch and television. There is a shaded and closed door in the living room, which leads to the sun room that Noah has turned into a work space. It is now filled to the brim with fancy ass technology. A hallway past the kitchen leads to a few small bedrooms and bathroom for the family. Noah has consistently been able to get enough work to no longer worry about the necessities for his kids, but now that he has started a new method of work, he is expecting that they might soon have some extra spending cash.
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Post by Paroxysm on Jul 16, 2016 12:09:10 GMT -5
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The other man visibly paled when the door opened to Amelio's knock. "A-Amelio," began Noah's voice, letting the door swing open wider. "I can explain." "Good," Amelio answered, crossing his arms. "That's why I'm here." "Do you-- No, wait. Here, come in," Noah stepped aside, clutching at the door. Amelio could already tell he was beyond nervous, though he supposed Noah had a right to be. It was still unsettling, however. He and Gabriel had known Noah for quite some time, and had never seen him this distraught. Amelio wondered if it was the attack that had left him like this, or something else. Noah led him over to a small kitchen area, mumbling apologies about the mess as he pulled a chair out for Amelio. "Um.. Do you want anything to drink? I could--" "No," Amelio interrupted him. "I don't have long. I came on my lunch break so Gabriel wouldn't worry." Noah looked baffled. "I could.. make lunch?" "No," Amelio repeated. "I came here so that you would tell me exactly why my partner was attacked for being around you, Noah." Noah grimaced, sighed, and looked at his phone for several seconds before sitting across from Amelio. His eyes did not leave the phone. "Is he okay?" "He was attacked," Amelio snapped. "Of course he's not okay!" Noah put the phone down, his eyes following it and refusing to look at Amelio. "..Right." "What the hella У೦o○೦o○o is going on, Noah?" "I.. don't know," Noah answered. Amelio scowled immediately. He hadn't even asked for specifics and Noah's words weren't matching with Gabriel's. "Don't lie to me. Tían said the woman was after you." "Well," Noah started, his voice already sharp, "then Gabriel should have told you why." His fingers shook as they slid his phone in front of his gaze. "I'd rather you simply tell me if I'm being arrested, instead of dancing around it." "What- Nobody said anything about that!" Amelio snapped again. Did Noah think he was the type to arrest anyone without explanation? Did he think-- Of course, Amelio had stuck around through Jaide's leadership.. he had been a part of a regime that did just that. He realized with a shock of guilt that Noah must have known that this whole time, given what Gabriel had learned about his past. "It's how it works, isn't it?" Noah questioned, his voice cold but scared, and confirming Amelio's worries. "If you have ties to the Mob, you're arrested or shot. Jaide made sure that message got to us loud and clear." "So it's true?" Amelio asked in astonishment for how quickly Noah admitted to it. Noah, the quiet single father who they had shared meals with more than a few times, who sometimes had stayed up for far too late trading tech secrets with Tían.. Here he was, about to admit to once being a part of the Mob. "..Yes," Noah sighed, clutching at the phone again. His leg had started bouncing too, but his voice became much more clear. "I worked with Falcone." "But... why? And why would you be attacked now?" "For money and protection, what else?" Noah asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He grimaced again, and continued with "I lived in their territory and.. It was really hard to get a job without a degree back then, especially with my illness. The kind of work I have now just didn't exist. I thought that..." Noah trailed off, finally looking away from his phone, but certainly not at Amelio. This irritated Amelio even more. "You thought, what, crime was better than nothing?" he retorted. "Yes," Noah agreed quietly. "I'm not cut out for grunt work, so I thought I would have it easier. I thought that if I could do just enough to pay for medication I could get a real job. I owed it to the children. I couldn't risk leaving them all alone just because I can't control my damn thoughts." Amelio groaned audibly, grasping at his head in irritation. "That is the most backwards, dumbest decision I've ever heard." "I don't need you to tell me that." Amelio scolwed again and asked, "So now? What exactly is your job now?" Noah's jaw seemed to clench, but he said, "Network security. It's easier now that I can work from home." "And just what does that job entail?" "I'm hired to find faults in organizational security systems so that they can be fixed." Amelio sighed, unable to figure out what to do with this information. By all the rules, he should be arresting Noah for whatever past crimes he had been a part of. But he still felt like he knew the man in front of him, at least a little. Noah still could only speak clearly when it was about his work. He still fumbled everywhere else, checking his phone every second. And it was as Noah said: Jaide would have killed him. Left his children alone to fend for themselves. Amelio could barely stand the guilt of having watched her without doing anything. He wasn't sure he was ready to follow in her footsteps. But still, this had hurt Gabriel, and that was something he could not abide by. There had to be something he could do to protect Gabriel. "The Mobs were disbanded years ago. Why would you be attacked for it now that Jaide's gone?" he asked, realizing that he needed some sort of reason for this. Something that didn't involve Gabriel to know he would not be targeted again. However cruel and wrong it was to wish this upon Noah, he wanted this to be Noah's problem, not theirs. "The name I made for myself still gets around. I'm still approached by a lot of unsavory people. They don't.. always react well when I turn them down." "That's what this was?" "I think so. She used the old name I had in the Mob." Amelio didn't respond other than clenching his fists, and then Noah sighed in a much lighter tone. "..Wendy will be home soon." He was looking at his phone again as he kept speaking, his voice much more gentle than before. "Honestly, Amelio, I don't know if this will happen again. I.. I don't want to be a cause of grief for you. And.. I dunno, it makes sense if you just want to cut me out of your lives." Amelio visibly grimaced again, saying nothing. He wished he knew what to do. "Unless you've actually decided to arrest me. Or pick up where Commissioner Jaide left off." Amelio stood up quickly, the chair legs squealing underneath him. "I would never-!" He cut himself off, gritting his teeth. "BLESS AMERICA.. BLESS AMERICA." He stormed away and opened the front door, leaving an, "I'm going back to work," as his farewell. As Amelio drove away, he prayed for help finding a solution to all of this.
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 10, 2018 21:52:48 GMT -5
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Noah appreciated how Cate treated Wendy. She helped Wendy get excited about learning a new language, and shared new hobbies with her. An additional bonus was that Noah could often get a little extra work done while she was here. Of course, part of Noah's intentions were to keep a friend of the Tavern close in person, but Cate didn't know that. Noah also wondered just what would happen if Cate became acquainted with a certain cop and husband... just for fun of course.
With this in mind, he wandered towards the dining room, where Cate and Wendy were.
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Forgot to log in oops
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Post by Forgot to log in oops on Apr 10, 2018 21:58:18 GMT -5
"Tu as finis ce livre?" Cate was saying. She looked up as Noah came in.
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 10, 2018 21:59:25 GMT -5
Wendy responded. I don't know what the correct response is so she said something.
Noah waved as Cate looked up. "How's it going?"
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Post by |0+u$ f@ɳԍ on Apr 10, 2018 22:01:12 GMT -5
"Pretty well!" Cate said. "You've got a smart child here."
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 10, 2018 22:08:12 GMT -5
Wendy beamed at the praise and said, "Cate showed me a fantasy book that's in French!"
Noah loved hearing Wendy this happy. "You'll have to tell me what it's about sometime. Maybe translate it for me."
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Post by |0+u$ f@ɳԍ on Apr 10, 2018 22:10:11 GMT -5
Cate stage-whispered, "You've probably heard of it." She held it up. It was the first Harry Potter book.
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 10, 2018 22:33:04 GMT -5
Noah raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "Maybe just a bit. How much do you have left for today?"
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Post by |0+u$ f@ɳԍ on Apr 10, 2018 22:39:22 GMT -5
Cate checked her watch which she definitely wore. "Thirty minutes-- what's up?"
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 10, 2018 22:43:05 GMT -5
"Just had an offer for you at some point, but you go ahead and finish up. I need to start making lunch anyway," Noah answered, heading for the fridge.
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Post by |0+u$ f@ɳԍ on Apr 10, 2018 22:45:17 GMT -5
"Sure," Cate said, mildly curious. She turned back to Wendy.
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 10, 2018 22:47:37 GMT -5
They continued their lesson with Noah cooking in the background. Marvin wandered in a few times, smelling food. Wendy began explaining what she had gotten through of Harry Potter to him when they were done.
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Post by |0+u$ f@ɳԍ on Apr 11, 2018 22:01:24 GMT -5
Cate hung around to talk to Noah.
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Post by Paroxysm on Apr 12, 2018 16:06:47 GMT -5
"Thank you again," Noah told her as she came over.
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