(Untitled)

[thanoodles]

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[eparpillement]

[She doesn't like leaving Temple on his own in the motel, but it's safer there than taking him out with her. She heads down to the nearest bar and starts asking if anyone has seen this girl.]

[deontological]

[ Ethan's seated at the bar, perched on a stool with an untouched drink by his hand. Old habits die hard and while he's never been too fond of alcohol, he's always known that sometimes people came to places like this for more than just a drink or a fun time. He turns his head slightly and picks up on some young woman asking about a missing person.

He casually takes a drink and tunes in, subtly turning his body to absorb more of the words that leave her mouth, curious to hear her story. ]

[eparpillement]

[Jenni doesn't drink at all, not anymore. She's been by herself for a long time, and what little money she had all went to taking care of her brother. Before they'd left town, it had been bills and food. Not much has changed, just added in motels and bus fare.

She moves through the room determinedly,]

Her name's Taylor, [She's explaining to a group of leering young men. They're not really listening to her, and she knows it, sneers back at them,] Maybe she punched one of you guys in the face or something.

[They don't think she's funny and tell her to fuck off. Frustrated she moves on, group by group, until she finally sits down next to him at the bar.

She sets the picture down, easy to see. Slim girl with messy black hair, cigarette drooping from her lower lip. 'Stop taking pictures already, J!']

Have you ever seen her around here?

[deontological]

[ he watches with detachment as she makes her way through the bar, stopping at every cluster or small grouping of people for questioning while waving around a picture. He can tell by her body movements that she's still determined--the disappearance couldn't have been too long ago then, he rationalizes--and she seems to be batting away the persistent disappointment and failure of not finding her friend with enough success. ]

Taylor, huh? He puts his drink down when she comes to sit down next to him and he gives the picture a customary glance. Young, pretty, smoker, and a spirit of rebellion are the qualities that scream up at him when he takes a look and he cant help but think she's the perfect type of women his killer back home used to hand-select.

"His killer." The secretary back at the office was right, maybe he was spending too much time on this case. He shakes his head, picking up the photo gingerly to give it a better glance for her comfort. He's already picked up all the information the picture has to offer but the urgency in

[eparpillement]

[Jenni goes stiff when he takes that tone with her, when he suggests she file a report. She takes her picture back a bit too hastily, tucking it into her shirt.]

No. I haven't.

[She's wary now, examining him closely because she does not like cops, and if he is one, she needs to end this conversation.]

[deontological]

[ Her body language is basically shrieking at him at this point and he quickly draws one of two conclusions. Either she's got a bad experience with authority figures (most likely with them treating her unfairly or unjustly) or she's got something to hide. He makes a quick decision and decides to play it safe for the time being.

She might have something interesting to offer him.

Besides, he can understand her suspicions. As of late he had also been on the fence about the intentions of local law enforcement. It was hard to tread past sensitive issues when people kept shouting that things were black and white, especially when Ethan knew that moral ambiguity was a seriously contagious disease these days. He contemplates playing up a more friendlier persona but judging by her present wariness, that might be pushing it a bit. He opts for a more serious approach. ]

Don't trust them on things like this?

[ the question is light, accompanied with a small quirk of the brow before he turns away for a second to take a sip of his drink. Not

[eparpillement]

[She's never had good experiences with the law. She's a slum girl, been robbing convenience stores and picking pockets since she was eleven. There was no choice about that in Land's End with seven little brothers and a dead beat mother. The cops were always the enemy.

And they wanted Taylor back in Land's End for a murder trial. Jenni knows, because they'd come to talk to her, wanted to know where she'd gone, but Jenni hadn't known then, and she doesn't know now. Just knows that when they came to take her for questioning, they saw all of her grubby little brothers, her dead beat mom, their tiny apartment, and had social services take her family away from her.

She'd have been alone if Temple hadn't run away and come back to her. And now they're going to find Taylor.]

She's been gone a long time.

[That's true. It's been years. If the cops couldn't find her, she wasn't going to go asking them for help.]

[deontological]

[ He cant help but note that she doesn't seem particular too keen on keeping her face void of any emotion so he notes down what he can see with his own eyes; the possible twitch of the fingers, the positioning of the shoulders or the arms, and the places where her gaze settles. He wonders how much she'll share. ]

Friend or family?

[eparpillement]

[Her eyes narrow at him. They were the same thing in Land's End, true friends were few and far between, and Taylor had taken better care of her than her mother ever had.]

Does that matter?

[deontological]

[ Another touchy issue. Holding a conversation with her was proving similar to walking on a landmine. Still, he assented, arching his shoulders just the slightest for a calculated shrug. ]

...I suppose not.

[eparpillement]

[Touchy was an understatement. Taylor had come to ask her to go with her. She hadn't been able to then, had the boys to look after. They were gone now and Jenni needed to put a family back together, or she was going to crack.]

Thanks anyway.

[Maybe muttered bitterly, but not completely without manners. She gives him another wary look as she gets up, tugging her jacket in around her. She glances around the bar again but... There wasn't anything for her. It's disappointing, but there's an eight year old boy alone in a sleazy motel room waiting for her to come home.]

[deontological]

[ There it was again, that tone in her voice. Is that what it sounded like to be so emotionally invested in somebody? When she had asked if it mattered whether it was friend or family who was missing, he wasn't lying when he answered that it didn't matter. He had neither of these things anymore, and so the value of them as individual elements was a foreign idea. All that really mattered to him now was his case, everything else was just a distraction

[eparpillement]

[She gives him a confused look as he rises, it only grows more distinct at what it says. She's incredulous that he means that, but she would have to pretend to be dumber than she is to really make herself go with that theory.

She hugs her arms a little tighter around her middle, gives a begrudging,]

Thank you.

[Earnestness begets itself in good people. She turns her eyes down, yes full of emotions and investments, and heads out into yet another big city night.]