“ I have a new game. Do you wanna hear about it? “ A bright grin formed across her lips, “ It’s called ‘Count the Counts’“. 

“Hmmm...” Rory smiled. “It sounds like it could, uh, be interesting. As long as uh, a certain Count doesn’t find out...”

They leaned over and whispered, worried. “You know who I mean, right?”

        ‘you’ve got to be fu– you people really know how to RUIN a perfectly good office, don’t you?’ there was a sigh of sorts as he peered around his study, noting the signs that someone was there that clearly wasn’t supposed to. he’d though this sort of thing would have been OVER and done with, but fires often had a way of escalating from a tiny ember to a forest fire in a matter of seconds.

        rolling his neck with a crack, the volunteer moved towards his desk and withdrew a pen, twisting off the top to reveal a dart or two. ‘come out already, you’re not FOOLING anyone.’

“If I come out... from where I’m hiding, I mean, will you maybe, uh, be fooled enough to let me go?” There was a muffled voice nearby, probably from under the very same desk. Yes, very likely, considering the question was followed by the sound of someone who had no right to try to fit their large frame under a regular sized desk smacking some limb against the desk and yelping an “ow”. 

“I mean, like, to be fair, you definitely were not supposed to be back yet.”

Incomprehensible

((Starter call for @henchpersonofindeterminatemorals, who liked this post: Starter Call!))

Kit stared, her eyes wide, her mouth partially open. She stood still, but her body was tense and ready to spring into action at a moments notice. Her chest rose and fell with slightly labored breaths. Her hair was frazzled, and there was a bruise above her left eyebrow, slowly growing. Kit didn’t seem to even notice any of this- her eyes were locked onto the person in front of her with all of the intensity of a hawk, or perhaps a schoolteacher. 

“I don’t understand.” She finally said, words slow and hard. “Why?”  

“I mean it’s like…. obvious, like, isn’t it?” Rory’s arms shielded their stomach from any further blows, their eyes slightly watery. 

“I’m in uh, a lot of trouble. For uh, letting you go before. So like, I’d really appreciate it if you’d like, cooperate with me.” They spoke lamely, unemotionally. This wasn’t something they wanted to do, but they were supposed to capture Kit Snicket, and they were supposed to bring her to Olaf… 

Not that they had been good about doing what they were supposed to do, but now their life was apparently on the line. 

“…please?” 

Kit stood up straight and crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow. “You can’t seriously expect me to go along with what is, technically, a kidnapping just because you said please. This isn’t a friendly favor. And while you might be largely harmless, Olaf is not. So you’re in trouble- you brought it on yourself by the company you keep.” In a moment’s pause, the words seemed a little harsh. She was a volunteer, was she not? Meant to help others. “If you wanted to turn over a new leaf I could help you. But I’m not walking into the hands of my enemy just because you asked nicely.” 

“Well, like... can’t you just escape later? I don’t think...” They gulped, trying to find their words. They were never as wordy as they wanted to be if they had time to think about what to say, they much preferred to be blunt and in the moment, but that wouldn’t work here. 

“I don’t think we can get out of this. Whether I can kidnap you or, like, not.”

“We uh, both know just how dedicated the boss- er, Olaf can be when he wants to find someone.” They shook their head, their eyes watering more. 

“So if you want to uh, run, or... kidnap me instead, I guess I can’t do much to stop you. He’ll find us both.”

Incomprehensible

((Starter call for @henchpersonofindeterminatemorals, who liked this post: Starter Call!))

Kit stared, her eyes wide, her mouth partially open. She stood still, but her body was tense and ready to spring into action at a moments notice. Her chest rose and fell with slightly labored breaths. Her hair was frazzled, and there was a bruise above her left eyebrow, slowly growing. Kit didn’t seem to even notice any of this- her eyes were locked onto the person in front of her with all of the intensity of a hawk, or perhaps a schoolteacher. 

“I don’t understand.” She finally said, words slow and hard. “Why?”  

“I mean it’s like.... obvious, like, isn’t it?” Rory’s arms shielded their stomach from any further blows, their eyes slightly watery. 

“I’m in uh, a lot of trouble. For uh, letting you go before. So like, I’d really appreciate it if you’d like, cooperate with me.” They spoke lamely, unemotionally. This wasn’t something they wanted to do, but they were supposed to capture Kit Snicket, and they were supposed to bring her to Olaf... 

Not that they had been good about doing what they were supposed to do, but now their life was apparently on the line. 

“...please?” 

Rory’s face split into a wide grin. “Like I uh, was just checking in on you. It’s like... been awhile.”

“Run into any like, other Counts lately?” 

((Henchperson-ler))

((What if I made a VFD Onceler. Who would still interact with me.)