seven : a scary conversation [AUDIO]

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley sighs a little, then sounds mostly disappointed. Those paying close attention can probably tell it masks a level of anger.]

Seriously? Is no one talking about the whole people getting murdered thing?

[ooc: Action for Superman is in first thread]

[100% Trek encrypted to: Clark]
[There's the longest pause before she speaks, extremely quiet and definitely scared.]

So I, uh.. was dead.

[100% Trek encrypted to: Lois]
[Her voice is mostly level when she messages Lois, but clearly hiding something less neutral.]

I know you and Clark tell each other everything, so whatever. I need some time off from the radio.

[100% Trek encrypted to: Bruce Banner]
You need to see something. Can you come over later?

[100% Trek encrypted to: Dick Grayson (comics)]
You know, you never actually told me who your family members are.

[100% Trek encrypted to: Jason Todd]
Tell me you're not too busy for a drink.

[100% Trek encrypted to: Maxwell Lord]
[There's a pause, then Hayley sounds more pleasant.]
Hey.

[100% Trek encrypted to: Chekov]
Will you help teach me how to encrypt things? I want to learn.

[100% Trek encrypted to: Loki]
What makes a soul any different from just like, memories and neurons and whatever?

[100% Trek encrypted to: Jor-El] - (added a short while later)
You have all the same powers Superman does, right?

[100% Trek encrypted to: Bruce Wayne] - (added a short while later)
I'm sorry, about work. I just need a few more days off and then I'll come back. Please?

[Assume she hasn't shown up the last week or so.]

[100% Trek encrypted to: Sabriel] - (added a short while later)
I want to learn magic.

Comments

[andaway]

[He takes the fork, all his attention focused on watching her expression shift. With people like Hayley, so used to keeping things to themselves and showing only what they need to show he has to be careful- he knows he can't just trust her words, just like she doesn't just take what he says at a face value.

So the little shifts on her body language are all he has.]

Would you rather have me ignore the elephant in the room and pretend nothing had happened?

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley is exhausted as much emotionally as physically and controlling her emotions is much harder, but it's easier to mask the pain with a sarcastic grin when he gives her such an easy opening. She points the fork at him in a vague gesture. To someone that knows her as well as Clark does, the obviously exaggerated nonchalance is a sign of just how deeply felt her pain is.]

If I said yes, would you actually do it?

[andaway]

I would try.

[He knows saying simply 'yes' would be a) a blatant lie b) not something Hayley would buy for him, so he gives her the next best thing. He's really good at pretending people's flaws aren't there when he doesn't want to see them, but he is not as good at ignoring people's problems even when they want him to.

He takes a bite of the pie, not because he's hungry (he never really is), but to do something with his hands.]

Do you want me to?

[everylittlegirl]

[Unexpected. Hayley's eyes narrow on him for a moment, very clearly judging his answer, before she gives a shrug and drops her gaze to the pie before them. She follows his lead. Or tries, idly poking at the pie without actually eating it. Then she's looking up to him again, still creating a small pile of carnage on her end of the dessert.]

I don't care. [A pause. She sighs and sets her fork down.]

Someone murdered me, I was upset, I spent some time alone, now I'm trying to make sure someone does something about it, and.. life goes on, you know? If you want to help me find them, great. If not, then.. no, I don't really want to talk about it.

[andaway]

[He keeps on taking little bites of his portions of the pie. Hayley might have lost her appetite, but Clark tends to eat when he's feeling anxious.

Hayley isn't the kind of interactions with little girls he's used to- where he would usually simply make things better by the simple act of appearing with a smile and generally listening to them talk would make things better. Instead it looks like he's managed to do the opposite.

So he tries something else.]

Not only do I want to help you find them, Hayley- I won't rest until we've found them. It make take some time, we don't really have a trail to follow, but don't think for a single moment I'm not going to make them pay for what they did.

What they did to you.

I'M SORRY. I JUST WANT TO TAG YOU ALL THE TIME.

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley finally pulls a small piece of apple onto her fork and then shoves it in her mouth. It's barely a bite, but at least it's something. A step in the right direction; the story of her life. His words again surprise her slightly and so she takes another small bite to bide her time, watching him.]

Everyone's so eager to do everything for me.. Help me find them, Clark, but then let me figure out what to do with them. The other guy who died and me. [She shifts in her chair and returns to stabbing idly at the pie.] I have people to keep an eye on me and protect me and do whatever I want to do for me when we find him. Maybe you could just.. help out and.. be here or whatever.

what are you apologizing for silly goose xD

[andaway]

[To let her figure out what to do with them. For some reason the choice o wording strikes him as a little odd, but he isn't really sure why. As a writer he sometimes latches onto little things like that a bit too much.]

I'm here. And I will help out in any way I can.

[everylittlegirl]

[It's a small slip on Hayley's part. Murder has made her sloppier than she would like to be and it doesn't get any better just because Clark's here. If anything, it makes her worse, because she's so aware of how badly she needs someone else right now.]

..Thanks.

[She gives him a faint smile and then drops her gaze to the pie, taking a forkful into her mouth.]

[andaway]

[The smile he gives her is genuine, glad she's at least forcing herself to eat. He completely understands losing her appetite about this, but her ody still needs nourishing. And that might be the Martha Kent upbringing talking.]

No one gets away with something like that, Hayley. It make take time, but a murderer always gets caught.

[everylittlegirl]

Not always.

[She says it too naturally. It could be a reference to herself, sure, but it could as easily be a nostalgic throwback to her own world and people she knew before arriving here. Because in her world, in her mind, evil people rarely get caught and punished as they should.

After another bite, she looks up at him.] Promise me, if you find him, you'll tell me before you tell anyone else. That you'll give me a chance to look him in the eye before you arrest him or whatever.

[andaway]

[He hesitates, both at her quick dismissal and her request. A lot of things can happen between now and the time they arrest the person, and he's aware of that.

But she was killed.]

I will try, yes. I promise. [Probably not the answer she was expecting and he knows that. It's still the best he can give her right now.]

[everylittlegirl]

[She looks at him, smiles, and then goes back to poking at the pie.

It's about as much as she'd expect from Clark, one so eager to talk about always being there for her while simultaneously offering no trust or commitment. It might bother her more if she wasn't confident that Tony, Sharon, or herself will find him first. And she's hoping Tony will actually tell her. The last thing their killer deserves is jail.]

[andaway]

[Clark knows something he just did was a mistake. He just can't quite figure out what it was. Or rather, he does... but he doesn't like the implications. If someone so young as her has that kind of views on criminals and murder it's no surprise that everyone who isn't from his world doesn't understand his morals. He doesn't know what to do about it.]

Do you have a lead on the murderer you haven't told me about?

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley looks up and then shakes her head, frowning. At this point, she can't remember much of anything about the murders, try as she might. It's all a dark blur.]

No. I'm hoping the other person killed does.

[andaway]

[A hum as he nods. He wonders if her blurry memory is because of the shock or the attacker knew how to stop her short term memory. Bruce has done it plenty of times. []

You don't remember a pinch of some sort on your shoulder by chance , do you?

[everylittlegirl]

[Her brow immediately furrows with clear confusion. It's the kind of question she would ask, so very pointed yet with almost no explanation. Clark isn't supposed to be like that.]

I don't really remember anything right now. Why?

[andaway]

[He realizes his mistake once it's too late, but pretending to know less about things or have less knowledge in general is actually harder than he'd thought when he begun gathering information, back at home.]

Nerves related to short time memory go through it, and the right kind of pinch can make people forget the last- [An indistinct movement of his hand.] well, it depends on the person and the pinch but more less one hour or so, two at the most. I was wondering if that's what they did to you.

[everylittlegirl]

[Hayley thinks for a moment, flinches, and then drops her gaze as her expression hardens some.]

I don't think there was a pinch.

[The memories still aren't distinct enough to make any sense of, but it's not the kind of black and gone forgetting that his pinch would suggest. There's a haze there, pieces jumbled that need putting back together with time and energy she simply doesn't possess at present.]

[andaway]

I'm sorry if it made you comfortable, it was just an idea I wanted to check.

[everylittlegirl]

No, it's- You're fine. [She takes another bite of the pie and returns to poking it after.] Why did you ask about a pinch though? Is that a superpower or something?

[andaway]

[Clark is done with his own slice, so he gently sets the dish away.]

Hardly. I meant a literal pinch, someone reaching for the nerves I told you about. You don't need a superpower at all if you know the right way to pinch- which I don't, by the way, so I couldn't really show you.

[everylittlegirl]

Oh. [She believes him because she has no reason not to. Part of her wonders if it's something he experienced himself or if he maybe knows someone who can do it. Maybe Superman can. The thought makes her uncomfortable, but she pokes her pie with the same enthusiasm.

After a beat, she looks up at him.] Why are you here right now?

[andaway]

Because I failed to protect you, so trying to make you feel better is the next best thing.

[He's being completely honest.]

[everylittlegirl]

[The fork stills and Hayley looks up at him, heart suddenly quickening with the anxiety his words bring. That he feels any obligation to protect her, whether sincere or otherwise, means that she's allowing herself to get too close to the man and it makes her nervous.]

You don't have to protect me. [The words are level, disconnected from some level of emotion.]

[andaway]

Did I say I have to? [He can tell the subject is making her uncomfortable right now. He's counting the seconds until he shooos him away with a mention to how he's not her father, or something by the sort. But now that he's started he can't really stop himself.]

You're a friend. And you were killed because I wasn't there to protect you. And I want to make things better, make up for it, but I'm not sure how.