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[exterminatory]

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@namedroppings

[exterminatory]

[ from here: ]

Don't really keep up with the latest gossip rags. That's where the cool kids get their rumors, right?

[namedroppings]

Some of my social class do tend to take their word as gospel, yes.

[exterminatory]

But you're above all that nonsense, yeah? Really put the upper in upper crust.

Raccoon's in lofty company, and he don't even know it.

[namedroppings]

Yes, well, we can't exactly blame the raccoon community for not subscribing to International Sophisticate.

@faithfulskeptic

[exterminatory]

Alright

[ Ten-ish minutes later he sends her his address, quickly followed by: ]

Don't try the big doors on lower level. Take the fire escape stairs up to the red door, I'll let you in

[faithfulskeptic]

[ There was a time when she'd be bothered by this, but after years of tagging along with her partner to see the Gunmen she's unfazed by the prospect of homebrew security systems and other booby traps.

So she does as directed, dressed in a carefully nondescript sweatshirt and jeans, a hefty first aid kit tucked into a backpack. No big deal, just some casual off-the-clock surgery. She knocks on the door. ]

[exterminatory]

[ His place is basically an old warehouse converted to an apartment, the kind of real estate you still don't come by easy in the city, unless you Know A Guy. The loft on the upper floor contains a bedroom and utility sinks, but other than that it's as industrial and sprawling as the lower level. And he uses it for projects just as often. The ten minutes it took him to prepare the big steel worktable in the center room might not seem like very long. But considering how well-ordered he had all his shit beforehand, it's a sign of just how uncharacteristically slow Fet's moving.

He's quick enough to open the door though, waiting by it like he's been. By the overhead light it's clear he's tried to clean up his face, if only at the old man's insistence. Setrakian was the "friend" he'd had Scully dial earlier, and the pawnbroker had done a fair job getting Vasiliy settled and home in one piece. But he's no doctor, no gentle nursemaid either. Once he'd seen Fet wasn't about to bleed out (and heard him insist the same, for the tenth freakin' time, Jesus) Setrakian's main concern was for the evidence he'd managed to procure.

Which is where Scully comes in, Fet hopes. Just like he's hoping to dispense with the actual doctoring. That table'll be better put to use for what he worked his ass off to get; and this degree of readiness -- combined with an unyielding, stubborn barred-offness that wouldn't look out of place on the big doors downstairs -- shows every bit in his expression. ]

Come on in. [ He steps back stiffly, instead of sweeping an arm out with mock gentlemanliness like he might at any other time. The fresh long-sleeved Henley he's pulled on hides the worst of it, but he's feeling it, no goddamn hiding that. ]

@veryfond

[exterminatory]

( from here: )

[ Fet has a lot of Thoughts about her being stressed out like this, and if asked he'd have a tough time mincing words on the subject. But as it is, and especially over texts, it's simple enough just to take a goddamn breath and then reply: ]

That sucks.

Anything I can do to help?

[veryfond]

You help me out a lot just by being here.

[ He's probably the best non-Oberyn friend she's ever had. And making out on the balcony only made things better, lbr. ]

Come over tonight?

[exterminatory]

[ When she says that kinda shit he never really knows how to respond. Not because he doesn't like it, but because he's aware that even as a basically decent friend

who was ready to swear devotion to her, like a cartoon bogatyr, before the kiss

he's in way over his head.

His answer, though? Still easy. ]

You got it. Even bring ya some snacks. Any special requests?

@acaseofyou

[exterminatory]

( from here: )

[ It's weird, 'cause as much as they've chatted about it he can't actually recall having heard her sing. He never has made it out to one of her gigs, and though she's got a pleasant-enough speaking voice, he knows that isn't necessarily a reliable indicator for what someone's capable of in song. Mele Kalikimaka is a funny little tune, jaunty and silly while still packing oomph on the sway. Birdie's about five seconds into the first refrain before he decides she's captured it nicely (and he probably started grinning a couple secs before). ]

Not bad. Might've even had me crooning along

[acaseofyou]

[ Timing is a poor excuse, but it's an excuse nonetheless. The other excuses she can't quite give involve not wanting to invite him to a bar full of people that may or may not try to eat him a little. A voice message works for the moment, even if it can't carry the other more special aspects of what she can do with her voice. ]

Oh yeah? You gonna let me listen?

[exterminatory]

[ Blissfully unaware of certain excuses, Fet leaves the last message unread while he cleans up at home. By the time he's freshly showered (and goddamn straight there was singing involved), her inquiry gets a snort laugh, as full-throated as if she were there in the room. ]

Maybe in person, if you're lucky.

Ya feelin lucky?

@allmytroubles

[exterminatory]

I'm an only, so idrk? But I can imagine. Was close with my ma for a while. Diff dynamic for sure

So what you doin out and about when you got parentless ducks at home?

[allmytroubles]

We didn't know any english when we got here and kids are assholes so we had to squad up against the bullies so now we're just Like That

Physical therapy which is def an activity you want to do hungover but last night me did not think ahead clearly

[exterminatory]

Kids are assholes. [ there's definitely a sage nod ]

Need anything after? A ride, an IV drip. Snacks for your temporary avian children

@morganjayfinnigan

[exterminatory]

( from here: )

Ha. I was thinking more veteran of preparatory winter Home Depot visits, but good to know. Keep a plow for my truck so I don't gotta wait for DSNY to come around, though I'm pretty handy with a shovel too. Which I don't have in common with my pops, at all.

You ever go sledding?

[morganjayfinnigan]

Fair enough, but yeap, I'm a pretty frequent visitor to Home Depot, especially around the holiday season.

I do only ride a motorcycle, which is terribly cold in winter, yes, but I survive. A plow for that would be interesting to try though.

Whenever there's enough snow in the area yeah. Otherwise I stick to ice skating.

[exterminatory]

Please tell me you stand in front of the snowblowers grimly muttering to yourself 'but it just won't be strong enough for what's coming' while fellow shoppers nervously edge by.

When I was little [ relatively ] I used to think American kids all had these candy colored toboggans with like, badass racing stripes or some shit. Then I got over here and it wasn't like that but by then I was kinda too cool for school when it came to sledding anyhow.

What sort of bike you got?

@acaseofyou

[exterminatory]

One Christmas-adjacent night when she wakes, there'll be a box outside Birdie's apartment door. In the box are three items:

A top hat, not blue like Jiminy's but otherwise legit, vintage black silk with a squire brim and a single, absolutely fucking frozen flower tucked into the band;

A pair of snow pants in her estimated size, well-made but objectively hideous, let's say this pattern but maybe various uncomplimentary shades of barf-chartreuse;

And a note bearing Fet's private-school-pretty handwriting.

There's more but you gotta come get it in person. Text when ready.

Hat optional, snow pants not nec but I'd bundle up.

[acaseofyou]

The best part about winter is the longer nights, and waking up at a time where she can grab her gifts from in front of her door before an unscrupulous neighbor snags them right off her step.

It's not too long after sunset that she texts.

I'm absolutely wearing these pants AND the hat.
Where am I headed?

[exterminatory]

It's possible he was so psyched for this gift-giving shit, he didn't even consider unscrupulous neighbors. (It's also possible he personally threatened every Villager in a fifty block radius with imaginative reprisals, in the event Birdie's box went missing. The world may never know.)

He texts back in a snap: Drop ya a pin. And when it comes, a few minutes later, it's apparently just... some random intersection in Gowanus??

She'll find his truck parked at the corner, running so it stays warm. Though he's standing next to it in only his usual jeans and jacket; Vasiliy runs warm all the time, as she well knows.

@veryfond

[exterminatory]

( from here! )

I did. Tell you about it later, if you want.

[ Like when they're not texting, and how the fuck are they TEXTING when the force of his want alone should be able to manifest her beside him, right here right now?! But it's also alright, it's ridiculous but it works. He cradles his phone in his big gentled hands, he laughs and grins at the screen until his swollen nose hurts, until his stupid cheeky cheeks stretch like they might split. ]

Already got an all star roster, the four of us. And now we're gonna add one more. [ So pumped he's not even side-eyeing an earnest organized sports analogy, THIS IS HAPPENING. ]

When you getting home? Do you need anything, there anything I can do for you here? [ a beat: ] You OK on your own? Should I come pick you up?

[ He hits send, then winces, to his credit, almost as fast. ] Recall on those last 2. I will not be crazy about this. [ HA. ]

I'll just be here, waiting on that hug

[veryfond]

Oh, that will most certainly be a part of our conversation. [ They have a lot to talk about. She's still a little worried (she just hadn't expected him to pass out!) but god, he's happy about it and that wipes most of her unease away. ]

We can finally have a full baseball team!
Or is it basketball? You know how bad I am at sports stuff.

[ Her vision blurs, and she hurriedly raises a hand to brush away a stray tear. She can remember the last time she felt this raw, this open, and this overjoyed (hint: it was after another "big-time first") and how gentle Fet had been with her, how he'd looked at her like she was something precious, how he'd held her-

Why the hell are they doing this over text? ]

I'll be back in like half an hour. The kids are going to stay longer. [ She's basically coming up with this plan on the fly, but big emotional discussions are easier without the possibility of kids interrupting.

(And her idea to tell him once they were asleep, um, didn't go as planned.) ]

I don't need you to do anything except get ready for some good cuddling.



And trust that I can still drive. 😉

[exterminatory]

Actually it's more like pickleball, which has an odd number of players on each team. And you can pull the skipper out of the hamper anytime you need an extra pickle dribbler on the field

[ what ]

Sounds like a plan. See you soon 🫶

[ Despite the goofiness, he's still seriously floored, awed and on cloud fucking nine, all at once. While he waits Vas has a few bites of breakfast, though he's way too jazzed to eat anything like his usual portion: a shocker in and of itself, for sure. He hangs around the kitchen anyway, slicing up some fresh fruit—

🔲 11:23 AM best fruit during pregnancy
🔲 11:24 AM best fruit first trimester
🔲 11:28 AM first trimester folic acid vitamin c requirements

—then needlessly tidying, both ears perked towards the front door. ]