like a big pizza pie (open)

[tradecraftdude]

who. Marco and you!
what. Delivery boy shenanigans.
where. Zeta District.
when. Right now!
warnings. How questionable can a 13-year-old get? (Don't answer that.)

[ Moving people's food around the district for them beats hauling rubble, though Marco could do without the cheesy delivery boy uniform. However, he approaches this delivery business with all the highly directed tunnel-vision of someone who has played lots of video games and knows how to scoot all over the map in the most efficient manner. Having to fake smiles and suck up for tips wasn't the worst thing, either. ]

(OOC: I have no preference between prose or action spam, so I will reciprocate whatever you start with! Scenario options are presented below, but you're welcome to start a new top-level thread with anything else if you have something in mind.)

Comments

[tradecraftdude]

I'll be putting you down, human, if you don't get out of my way.

[ The batarian's wrench hand tenses, and it's obvious that he's getting increasingly annoyed that North was neither escalating, nor actually stepping aside. His teeth are bared and he's puffing alien breath into North's face; he's on a hair trigger, and another millimeter of provocation is probably going to launch him into brawling mode.

Marco's seen enough schoolyard tussles to smell a fight brewing, but getting chased around the jungle gym is nothing compared to this batarian growl-off. He's more worried about the one in the door at the moment; North looks pretty confident in his ability to deal with one of them, but two on one is rarely a fair fight. Against his better judgement, he's now inching closer to the edge of the rage bubble. ]

[noscope]

[there's a very brief moment of silence in which north considers his options. he can either step aside and risk marco getting seriously hurt because of an honest mistake, or he can take care of this here and now, before it has the chance to get any worse.

he sighs. he never enjoys violence when there's no need for it, but at this point, he doesn't see any other options.

north may be large, but he runs stealth missions for a reason. he's quick, and in a flash of movement he's grabbed that wrench-wielding hand and twisted it, shifting until he's holding it behind the batarian's back and he's just short of threatening to yank his shoulder out of its socket.

his voice doesn't raise in tone at all when he speaks, but the flatness of it speaks volumes.] You aren't putting anyone down. Cut your losses, and let him go.

[tradecraftdude]

[ it's not what wrenchbro expects, and squirm as he might, he can't break himself loose from north's grasp.

the one at the door is obviously the more level-headed one, and he's just there to watch his buddy's back more than anything else. he tenses when north makes his move, but relaxes again once it's clear that north isn't actually about to take him out; if batarians were capable of looking amused at the misfortune of a friend being outwrangled by a human, this one would.

there's a few moments of struggle and frustrated growling, but north's capture finally eases down a notch while giving the skulking marco the worst set of stinkeyes he's ever received. ]

Fine. But the puny one leaves here, and if he has the foolish courage to walk this street without a personal guard dog again, he's meat.

[ marco's not going to argue that one; he starts backing up again, hands up in defense. ]

Dude, you don't need to tell me that yourself. I am gone. Gone with the wind.

[noscope]

[of course it isn't what he expects, just for the simple fact that anyone that might have looked at north, seen that kind face wouldn't have thought him capable of something like this without too much provocation. it gives him the upper hand, naturally, and if he's smirking a bit at how the batarian is squirming, he dares anyone to blame him.

he hasn't liked these guys since he first got here. this .. is just a little bit of payback that he's been waiting for. and if it helps someone else, that's just par for the course.

north's hold tightens infinitesimally before he finally lets go, looking from the batarian to marco and back again, and he nods.] I'm not leaving until you're back in your shop.

[because he doesn't trust them enough to ever turn his back on them. but he thinks that goes without saying. possibly.]

[tradecraftdude]

[ a wrench gets shaken in marco's direction, but the batarian doesn't even give either of them the benefit of a last word before storming back into the shop and slamming the door. ]

So, uh. Batarians. Yeah.

[ it's about as much of a thanks as the deflated marco is capable of giving, until he remembers the bag on his back. after his brief sprint, the pizza's got to be too jostled to be presentable, even if he manages to sort out where the order was originally supposed to go. ]

Wanna get out of here and help me polish off this pie? I'm just gonna like, write it off as a loss or something. This happens enough that no one cares anymore.

[noscope]

[oh, scary batarian, shake that wrench some more and see where it gets you.

but once he's finally back in the shop and the door is closed, north turns his attention back to marco.] Yeah. Batarians. [filthy, disgusting, angry batarians.

he doesn't think he's ever going to get over how much he dislikes them.

but he rolls his shoulders in a shrug at that question, something of a small smile sliding across his mouth.] If it keeps you from getting roughed up, sure. What kind is it?

[tradecraftdude]

Bacon. Not sure what animal it's from, though. We probably don't want to know.

[ He walks until he finds a bench several blocks over, more or less out of the batarian aggro radius, and flips open the box. The pizza's pretty beat up, but Marco's not going to complain about having just granted himself a free one. ]

Dig in, dude.

[noscope]

.. I think I'm all right with just 'bacon', if you don't mind.

[because if he doesn't know what animal it had come from, he can pretend it's just an ordinary pig and eat it without much care in the world.

he takes a slice when they finally sit down, and surprisingly enough, it isn't too bad at all.]