drear | i try but i get overwhelmed

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i try but i get overwhelmed

[ Loading money into offshore accounts may not be strictly illegal, but embezzling money from various investors and selling user information certainly is. Noiz wrapped all that information up into a presentation with sources and citations, eye-searingly bright green text, and dropped it off in a drive at the IT office. They'll understand it best.

They'll also have access to the tech itself. Noiz leaves an address he can be contacted at, as long as the message comes through sanitized and untainted, and waits until he gets a text. ]

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[ Scott's attention flicks from server to drive to the kid, expression nothing short of skeptical and highly unsure, but he leans against the server tower rack, arms crossing over his chest as he considers both implied offer and the clarification. ]

Of course you're not just taking information. Information's useless in a vacuum.

[ He huffs, a soft, frustrated sound but the idea of choice, even if just the illusion of it, is appealing enough. ]

I thought I was already being useful letting you in tonight. But okay, I'm listening.

[ At least he knows that. Information comes from somewhere and it has to go somewhere, to mean anything. ]

I wrote this so it'll run without any input. [ A short jerk of his head at the drive. ] But it'll work better with maintenance. Generate more profit from the mining. If you're good, I'll give you a cut.

[ So it's not any sort of revenge or even justice, just Noiz, making the most of an opportunity. And though he's offering it to Scott, too, he makes no mention of the other parts—the surveillance parts—that are even less moral. ]

A cut. So you're the middleman. An entrepreneur. I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

[ And it's not really an answer. ]

And you're working for a corporation that defrauds everyone they're supposed to be protecting, so.

[ He tilts his head at Scott, very slightly, eyes narrowed. ]

What's one more crime on your resume?

And by the time I figured that out I was too deep in to do anything about it. I'm not some superspy James Bond Swordfish hacker. I'm just a guy who's decent with computers.

[ He drags fingers through his hair, rubs at the back of his neck. ]

Helping them's a crime. Helping you's a crime, not like I've really got anywhere to go here.

So?

[ Then why not go in the direction where there's more money? ]

Think about it. [ He shrugs slightly, finishing his installation and straightening up. ] I'll even think about cutting you a better deal.

Now you want to make friends.

[ He'll take the offer, because he's not an idiot, but that doesn't mean he's not going to question it along the way. ]

[ Friends, not so much. But people who are mutually beneficial to each other, yeah. Noiz stands with his arms at his sides, not fidgeting or hesitating. ]

Maybe, if you're a good friend. [ But more on that later. Noiz has his things set up and his work cut out for him. ] We'll meet somewhere else next time. Set up an account for payments to go to.

Uh huh. Right.

[ He sounds, and looks, doubtful, but that's okay. Once he's had a couple days to process maybe he'll feel better. Or not. Who the hell knows. ]

Great. You know how to find me, obviously.

[ The uncertainty is only to be expected, but for Noiz bulldozing other people's protests is par for the course. He picks his things up and gives Scott a long, considering look before heading for the exit. ]

Yeah. I do.

[ And because Noiz knows how to find him he sends him an address and time through the same encrypted channel. It's a bar, and a time in the evening. ]

you ready for this date?

[ It's not really a place he would have expected the next meeting, but there's no argument to be made at the moment. Scott finds he'd been hoping for the reply more than he's entirely comfortable admitting to, but then his life's not all that exciting. It's the little things, even if they're likely to get him into a hell of a lot of trouble if he gets found out, and if trouble gets packaged like Noiz...there could probably be worse fates. ]

as ready as I'm going to be. we're not knocking over a bar this time, are we?

[ It's a joke. Please don't make him knock over a bar too. ]

not my type of excitement.

[ Not that he cares about drinking either, but it's all for the sake of convenience. For the transaction.

But the joking around, that's not for business. ]

unless you're paying.

how about I pay and we don't do more crimes at the bar

[ Like it's an actual date. Right. ]

you drive a hard bargain.
how about you pay and we'll see where things go, because i don't make promises i can't keep.

yeah, I can live with that

[ It's a deal. Or a date. Mostly a deal, still, to Noiz, and he's dressed just the same as he usually is when he arrives at the bar right on time. The main difference is that he isn't carrying anything. ]

Hey. [ He tilts his head slightly at the bar. ] Order.

[ Straight to the point as usual. ]

[ Scott dresses up a little, not because he really thinks it's a date, but it's nice to pretend this is actually a normal meet-up. So he takes a seat at the bar next to Noiz, offers a friendly smile, and okay, so the first greeting is a little awkward, but he's heard worse. ]

So we're going that way, okay. Hi, yes sir. Uh, Jack and coke. Please.

[ The bar he'd picked is one out of the way and not trendy enough to attract customers looking for entertainment. That way he can know that most people are here to mind their own business. The drinks are made quickly, and the bartender doesn't try to talk to them.

Noiz leans his elbow on the bar and instead gets down to business—with a question that sounds more like he wants to catch up. ]

Anything going on at work?

[ He knows better than to assume the question is as benign as it sounds. But he accepts the drink with another smile and appropriate thanks, and shrugs. ]

Same as usual, everything's running smoothly for once.

You're working hard, huh?

[ Noiz puts his long fingers against the side of his glass, holding it loosely. ]

Nothing's changed since my visit?

Usually.

[ He shrugs, and takes a sip from his glass before tapping it absently. Sure, the place isn't especially full, and it's got that kind of feel that everyone would just as soon mind their own business. It's probably safe enough to talk about it in more specific terms, but he still feels weird about it. So he looks around the place before answering, probably shiftier than he should but he's still new at this. ]

Everything's working the way it's supposed to, and I'm still okay with the extra workload, now I've had some time to think about it.

[ One more step towards Noiz's goals. Scott's agreeable, surprisingly so with all things considered, and with that settled Noiz takes a drink from his glass. His eyelids lower slightly at the burn of alcohol. ]

Good. [ He slides partially off of his seat to better stick his feet between Scott's and get into his space. Their business arrangement settled, he's here to play. ] So we're friends now.

[ He's honestly not sure if it was the right answer or not, but it seems to at least be an acceptable one, so he'll take that for the moment.

Granted, the shift in the seat next to him catches him off-guard. He'd been expecting more of a business-type of relationship, and here's a guy pushing into his space and okay, so he's not really mad about it. The guy's hot, in a If-Lisbeth-Salander-Was-A-Guy kind of way, so he's more than a little worried about what might happen to his dick if he makes a wrong move, but it's not really as big a concern as it probably should be. So he clears his throat and tries not to think about it too hard, instead taking another sip of his drink to buy some time while he tries to come up with something smart to say.

He predictably comes up empty. ]

Yeah, I guess we are. So. Hi.

[ Noiz can definitely see that drink for what it is (stalling), but this time, just this once, he doesn't call him on it. ]

So we should get to know each other. [ He slides his foot along Scott's shoe, somewhat gracelessly since he doesn't have the sensory feedback. He hasn't, ever, except for his tongue, and it's only because he's grown up with the fact that he doesn't have more problems day-to-day.

His personality and ability to talk to people, though, that can't be helped. ]

I already know where you live. You don't know a lot of people here, do you?

[ Scott practically jumps in his seat at the brush of a foot against his shoe; it might be a graceless gesture but it's still a plenty deliberate gesture, one that doesn't have a whole lot of varied meanings. He takes another sip because there's no way this is happening right now. ]

Wow. Um, here, specifically? No, it's not really my usual speed.

You know where I live? I feel like I shouldn't be surprised, but still. Wow.

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