it is not love.

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[weisswiederschnee-blog]

The urge to backtalk him is so strong that she must bite her cheek for a brief moment before she can bring herself to speak collectedly. 

        "—-I’m…sorry. I’ve been getting things done the best I can            but I’ve had other things I’ve needed to do;            like handling the line outside the Business Office                                         in your absence.”

[ivemadesacrifices]

                             "I would advise you not to take that tone with me, Miss Snow." 

                             "You know full well that I had more important matters to attend                               to, matters that only I was able to resolve."  What those matters were, of course, was left up in the air, and the way he set his mouth in a thin line made it clear that he had no intention of discussing the issue further.                               "-- Now. If you'd be so kind as to fill me in on what undoubtedly                             exciting things have been brought to your attention while I was away."

[ivemadesacrifices]

    hello darkness my old friend 

[weisswiederschnee-blog]

+ ivemadesacrifices

[weisswiederschnee-blog]

“…Yes, Mr. Crane?”

[ivemadesacrifices]

       "-- Miss Snow."  His gravelly voice is cold, accusing -- almost unforgiving.

        "Remind me: what was it that you were supposed to have taken care of?            I didn't think it was too much to ask for                        -- one teeny, tiny little task, really --                                     and yet, I arrive today to find that it's not done.            I can only wonder what sort of flimsy excuse you're going to offer this time."

[feedinglungs]

     ❝ —- I don’t like your t o n e … Is that the way to talk to a lady, Icabod? ❞

[ Certainly, the guy had trouble with controlling his behavior, this was no secret. Yet she loved using it as a little pressure method to keep him quiet, letting him believe that one wrong word could cause him to lose his head. She chuckled softly before taking a seat on Cranes precious deputy major stool. ]

      ❝ —- You know why I’m here, hon. How ‘bout it?

                           Crooked man’s gettin’ i m p a t i e n t, y’know.❞

[ivemadesacrifices]

[ The expression her words evoked on his behalf was almost comical -- an instant shift between slight annoyance and nauseated shock, followed by a bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. Thin fingers fumbled amongst themselves as he glanced away. ] "Y-yes, I-- I know. But you must understand -- transferring large sums of money is not an easy task, especially when the entire city's eyes and ears are trained on you.  He'll receive his money; I promise you that. I just... I need a decent plan."

[ivemadesacrifices]

[[ #( lET'S GO KILL CRANE HA HAH ) ]]

[feedinglungs]

   [ Oh, there was it, that quick change of attitude once the little, old man saw her. Always good for a laugher, this Crane. ]

   ” — Yeah, y’know. The usual stuff,               coming right from the boss himself. "

   [ He better know that this would mean clear talk. And he wouldn’t want to have any of his underlings within this very room when Bloody Mary wanted to t a l k. ]

     ” — Mind cleaning the room a lil’?               Or having trouble to control that little crowd of yours. “

[ivemadesacrifices]

[ Oh god. Oh Christ. This wasn't going to go well.          He could feel it in his poor, tired bones. It took only a minute to usher everyone out of the room,          despite protests from some of the more opinionated individuals. ] "There. You have a rapt audience.        Now -- what do you want?"

[triptramputee]

Wow, Crane should get an award for saying the exact words Gren did not want to hear, and the exact words that pissed him off further. Curling his lip back in a snarl-like move, he spat, “Civil? You want me to be civil to your damn lapdog? Don’t you fucking say I deserved this!”

He moved to the side, showing Crane his sleeve, rolled up against his shoulder because there was nothing to place inside it anymore. And he was expected to be civil to a monster like that. Yeah, right.

"I didn’t ask for it, and I didn’t instigate him. You started this whole thing when you ignored us when we reported Lily missing. We heard nothing about it for fucking weeks, and then she turns up dead!” A search party, someone who cared about her - anything could have saved her life.

[ivemadesacrifices]

His eyes immediately darted away from what remained of the amputated limb, a nauseating lump rising in his throat. A few seconds of silence settled over the office as Crane attempted to regain some control over the trembling that threatened to consume his body.  "You'd do well to remember, Grendel, that you are far from the only Fable in this city -- and letters are opened and their contents addressed in the order in which they're received."

Spindly fingers gestured to a massive stack of papers on the right-hand side of his desk, akin to the skyscrapers outside with the way they loomed over the opened letters laying atop the desk's surface. It was a rather lame attempt at covering his ass, but truth be told, there wasn't much to cover. 

[triptramputee]

Gren didn’t want to hear any of this shit, nor did he have the patience to just sit here and watch the pathetic wiry man whimper at every slight loud noise. The intimidation attempt was working too well, he’d say; it was too easy, getting Crane to be scared - the guy was afraid of everything. He couldn’t force him to talk, but he wasn’t sweet-talking the creep, either. Gren wasn’t sure what would work on Crane, to be honest.

But he was still pissed off, especially when he mentioned the lapdog. “Speaking with Bigby. Yeah, okay…” Narrowing his eyes, Gren slammed his fist once more on the desk, his lips curling into a snarl. “And I’ll get my other fuckin’ arm ripped off, of course! Because that’s the fucking sheriff’s solution to every goddamn problem in this city!”

[ivemadesacrifices]

Oh dear god. He was yelling again.  True to his skittish nature, Crane jumped once Gren's hand came crashing down onto the desk, and while his first reaction would've been 'oh, please don't leave a mark', Grendel's volatile temper seemed like a more pressing matter at the moment.  "Gren, you-- you must understand; Bigby's temper is-- ...          -- Well, I can only think to liken it to yours, and we've seen how you two fight like children in a schoolyard at the slightest disagreement."  In retrospect, he probably should've reconsidered his words, but it was much too late now. Live and learn, as the saying went.  "Perhaps just... talk to him.        In a civil manner.              I mean no disrespect, but you do tend to, ah... instigate the other party in your interactions."

[triptramputee]

He wasted no time.

Slamming his only fist onto the fancy-looking desk, Gren glared into the spineless little man, lips drawn back in an almost feral snarl. Leaning over the mahogany piece of rich shit, the titan glared into Crane’s beady eyes. “I think you know exactly why I’m here, you piece of shit. Lily’s dead because of you fucks and I ain’t being shoved out the door anymore. I want answers. Now.”

For added emphasis, he hit the desk once more, the hollow sound echoing throughout the large room.

[ivemadesacrifices]

    "N-now, Grendel -- Sheriff Wolf is heading the investigation.              I'm merely in charge of receiving information on what he's found..."  The way he cringed and shied away from the one-armed, one-eyed man (which honestly would be rather comical in different circumstances) was almost pathetic. For someone that was supposed to be a public official, he didn't seem to exude anything even remotely 'official' when he was put under pressure. 

"-- And I have yet to receive any.          Perhaps you'd be b-better off, ah... speaking with Bigby?"

[ivemadesacrifices]

Hey, Crane. I got a fuckin' bone to pick with you.

[ Ah, Christ. This was exactly what he didn’t need tonight. With a barely-restrained sigh, Crane pinched the bridge of his beak-like nose and momentarily squeezed his eyes shut. Already, he could feel the telltale signs of a headache pounding at the back of his skull. ] "… Grendel. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

[feedinglungs]

   [ And he didn’t spotted her yet, did he? Poor Crane, all these fables in his office, yet had he no idea what was coming onto him. Only to Mary’s fun, and she watched him a while, discussing against the words of mad fables all over his head about his poor, poor work in his position.

   But, Bloody Mary didn’t had all day. There she thought she’d give little Ichabod a private visit, just how he likes it, but she wasn’t the only one. Time to get some …

                                             a t t e n t i o n. ]

     ” — Oh Craaaane ~

                      Trouble in paradise?

                               You know, it’s r u d e to let a lady wait, don’t ya’? “

[ivemadesacrifices]

[ Within a second, all the color drains from his face. Instinctively, he jolts backwards in his chair, hands pushing against the desk. ]    -- oh god, why here?             why n o w ? --  "M-Mary, I-- I assure you, I didn't see you standing there," he stammered, attempting to calm himself once more. "I-if I'd known--"  [ He merely shakes his head, giving his throat a rather nervous clearing. ] "What, ah-- what can I do for you? This really isn't an ideal time."

[titanomyrma-archive]

What a droll man! No fun to be found here, though perhaps he would be useful - only time would tell. The fair haired queen canted her head, lips spread in a thin smile before clearing her throat. ”Crane, is it? Doctor Ashford. A pleasure, I’m sure - but let’s get to business. Your pet dog has been causing a ruckus in my laboratory. A laboratory full of very expensive and potentially life-saving equipment.” Some details left out, none of it really his business - but  a broken in door was bad for business, and maybe it’d keep the wolf off her trail.

[ivemadesacrifices]

It took him only a split second to realize that she was referring to Bigby -- he often did the same, calling him a mutt or a rabid dog. Bigby, of course, was none too fond of the nicknames. "I assure you, madam, that the sheriff is far from a pet," he replied, his voice growing more strained and gravelly with each word that spilled from his thin lips. "Pets obey. Stray dogs, however, do not. I have no more control over Bigby than he clearly has over himself." He paused, taking a moment to compose himself before continuing.  "But, ah -- I'm sure that his investigation has a purpose. He doesn't often go mindlessly shoving that snout of his where it doesn't belong."

[igotreckless-deactivated2014082]

   [ In all honesty, Luke had better things to do than talk to this mountebank of a deputy major today, yet there was no going around. He and others wrote letters to Crane, letters that never got answered. And he started to wonder if this sack of flour ever laid eyes on it. ]

     ” — Well, y’know, I wouldn’t have t’ come here in the first place if the letters I’ve sent to the office would’ve been answered at least.

                Me and others asked ya’ w e e k s ago t’ send someone t’ fix the air conditioner in our unit!”

[ivemadesacrifices]

"Ahh, yes. Your letters."  [ One spindly hand gestured to a massive, rather intimidating stack of unopened letters sitting on the right-hand side of his desk, then to a mess of unfolded papers scattered around the surface before him. ]  "Unless you intend to shoulder some of the responsibility of answering the rest of these, I'd suggest waiting your turn."

[ivemadesacrifices]

"You think you're gonna get away with what you did, Crane?"

"B-Bigby! What a, uh— what a pleasant surprise…”

[ His face pales considerably, eyes widening in shock. It’s clear by his wavering tone that the surprise is, in fact, anything but pleasant. ]"N-now, Bigby; we— we’ve been over this. What I did was wrong, by any moral standards, yes, but those girls — their deaths weren't my fault."