Outside Room 304

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty walks up to the door and knocks quietly.

Comments

[chasingangela]

Angela walks unsteadily toward the door, leavin Rory seated on her bed. "Oh. Hi," she says, inanely. "We were just talking."

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty waves at Rory politely, but his attention is on Angela.

"I'd like to talk to you if I could."

[chasingangela]

Angela nods, nervously fiddles with her hair.

When she was crying, she had imagined what she would do. The names she'd call him. The special pleasure she'd feel in shoving him against the opposite wall, as hard as she could.

But now ... he was there, and Rory had made a good point .... and her insides were all aflutter again.

She gathers herself. "Talking might be good."

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty looks at Angela. It's obvious she's been crying.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's actually not a topic you bring up when you meet people."

[chasingangela]

Angela sniffles again, biting her lower lip. She almost manages a genuine smile. "Your dates would probably be, like, really interesting if you did."

"I don't care so much that you didn't immediately tell me. It's like Principal Connor always says, the past is the past here. It's more the idea of dating someone who used to kill people for a job. I feel guilty about mousetraps, you know?"

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty nods.

"I understand, but really that's all it is. A job. I don't think a person can truly be defined by an occupation. It's something I did. It's not necessarily who I am."

[chasingangela]

Angela chokes out an incredulous laugh. "No. Working in Dunkin' Donuts, that's just a job. Even if you'd sold drugs, I might be able to say okay, he needed money, blah blah blah. Taking human lives for money ... that says something about who you are."

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty winces at the comment.

"Yeah... but that's not me. I don't think that's who I am."

Marty swallows nervously.

"Do you?"

[chasingangela]

Angela hugs herself and steps back, opening the door to her room. "Come in. We should sit down."

She considers his question as they arrange themselves -- her cross-legged on the bed, him stiff in her desk chair.

"I think ... I don't know yet. I don't, like, feel like you would hurt me, but -" she breaks off and looks straight into Marty's eyes. "You tell me; what would it take for you to kill someone again?"

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

The image of the dossier package down in his dorm room flashes in Marty's mind. He shakes his head and sighs.

"First, I'd never hurt you." he says matter of factly. "Never."

He fidgets in the chair.

"I have to be honest. I came here on a job. My client has a target for someone in this school and they wanted me to infiltrate the student body."

[chasingangela]

Angela's eyes widen. "I thought you said you weren't with your ... client any more."

"Are you going to, um, do it?"

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty looks down at the floor.

"I don't know if I can. Not now."

Marty takes a heavy breath.

"But if I don't do it... there are consequences."

[chasingangela]

"Consequences," Angela says, calm. "You mean, worse consequences than the consequences of someone being dead."

She thinks for a long time before she speaks again.

"So the people who hired you ... you can't just return their down payment or whatever." I cannot believe I am sitting her at school, discussing the business of arranging a hit, she thinks.

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty nods.

"They'll hire someone else to take the target and then probably me."

*Please don't ask me how I know this.*

[chasingangela]

Angela nods. "I see," she says, her voice quiet and hollow.

"Marty -- if you want a friend, I'm here. I'll always be here, unless you, you know, kill someone. But this is ... " she wrings her hands in her lap. "I don't know what to say."

"Maybe you should just leave and we can talk about it tomorrow in study hall."

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty tries to hide the hurt look on his face, but fails utterly.

"Right. Tomorrow."

He gets up and heads for the door.

[chasingangela]

"Tomorrow," Angela says. She knows that after he's gone, she'll think of 500 things to say. Suggestions. Questions. Plotting.

But now, all she wants to do is sleep, and hope the next day is better.

"You'll get some sleep, right?," she calls awkwardly at Marty's back.

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty turns and gives her a haunting look.

"Yeah."

He fidgets nervously.

"I'll give it a shot. You get some rest too."

[chasingangela]

Angela nods, smiles a tiny bit. "I will. Goodnight."

[OOC: "Don't give it a shot! Don't shoot anybody!"]

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty sees the corners of her mouth turn up and it lightens his load of concern just a little.

"Goodnight."

Marty hesitates a second more at the door but turns and heads back to his room.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory looks up at the guy she assumes must be Marty. She manages a smile, and a little wave. "Hi," she says quietly.

She gets up. "Um, I think I'm going to go," she says to Angela. "I'm next door if you need me," she says, shooting a glance at Marty, "and, um, remember what I said," she adds, touching Angela's arm briefly.

[chasingangela]

Angela smiles at her friend. "Thank you," she mouths, as Rory leaves the room.

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

"I apologize if I was interrupting."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no..." Rory says. "I mean, you did, but this is more important," she stutters. "Nice meeting you," she adds, smiling quickly as she exited past them.