don't start with me

S A M M Y T O L B E R T HUNTER WEAPONS EXPERT - 31 - Never I repeat: NEVER let someone define who you are and what you're meant to do YOU DECIDE owned by ELYSIUMRP

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Kaden breathed out a laugh, “We always have it to fall back on.” At this point, she almost would have preferred it. In their glory days those who caused them pain suffered and they did whatever they could to protect the ones they loved. If all these weapon-hungry maniacs just left it all to the professionals everything would be so much better. Of course. That was what happened when the government and a bunch of regular joes with no respect for the culture got involved with things.

“And that’s a promise I’ll keep,” he gave a curt nod with his head. Sammy gathered up the papers he’d taken out, returning them to their place in his binder. Whatever decision they came to, they’d have a way to rectify it if they didn’t like it. “After this, we’ll get back to the jet and make it to Philly by eight. I made us reservations, and hopefully it’s to celebrate.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Kaden groaned, his words surprisingly a welcome shift from the more serious emotional conversation, “Don’t you start talking like him.” She reached for her drink, the water doing nothing to quench the thirst of anxiety in her throat. Nothing would, but if they did nothing now that anxiety would only grow and fester years down the line when their kids went out into a dangerous world on the daily instead. “Remember back in the day when shooting stuff could solve all our problems?” Kaden stood, smoothing out the fabric of her top. She couldn’t say it, but he knew. Sometimes she kind of missed those days.

“My literal worst nightmare.” Which he wasn’t lying about. They were quite the opposites, yet he saw eye to eye with the man. Respected him even. Something his mother let him forget about with the snide comments she made. “It could still be like that, you just forget we play by the rules now.” Rules that were created by others and they were trying to fix to fit them – as it should be. “Don’t tempt me.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“I know you do.” Her usually stiff expression momentarily melted into the soft smile she rarely ever showed in public, “And they love you too.” Sammy and Jack were her only cousins. The Kingsman family in general had been small and now with the reduction of deaths they were nearing down on very few of them left. At least the girls knew that every member of their New York family would die protecting them if that’s what it came to. “Things always fuckin’ suck before they get better. Things will get better. We’ll make sure they get better.”

He was completely aware her children loved him. Her saying it truly did put a stake through the heart. Affirmations of that level of appreciation made him secretly content with his life. “Well, as Kyle would say, fertilizer is shit and shit makes grass grow.” Completely raunchy and held no class, but it was true. “We got this, Kay.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

One of the only things that propelled her forward day in and day out was the hope that one day, perhaps a decade or so from now, this would have all been worth it. They would no longer be under the same pressure of scrutiny and their children would be able to live in a world that didn’t loathe them solely because of how they’d been born. Kaden knew it was a long shot. Ten years was nothing compared to the length of modern history, but she needed to retain the hope with the sludge they trudged through on the daily, “At least we’re both on the same page.”

“Why do you think I chose you for the fun?” Sammy gave her a warm smile. This was for her kids. Eventually, if Tarryn and him transgressed into more, then they would be even more his family than before. “Look, you know I love your kids, right?” As if he had to say it – which he never did – but that came with the territory. Hunters didn’t do lovey-dovey things. Appreciation, sure, and homages paid to one another, but love? “We’re doin’ this primarily for them, but also, I just really don’t like people usin’ my shit without my consent.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“And I can’t blame them.” Sometimes Kaden felt sorry for herself with the chaos of confusion her life had become. At first a hunter, now married to a werewolf–and an alpha at that–it had been far from easy, but it hadn’t been easy for really anyone who’d been involved with the supernatural world since Rhett had done what he did. If she could have gone back in time and changed it, Kaden would have in an instant. “It doesn’t help that it’s the twenty-first century. Everyone has an opinion and everyone loves to post it wherever they can.”

“I hate opinions.” The majority of everyone irritated him at this point. The amount of unnecessary comments that infiltrated the social media he was forced to have for publicity purposes. Either way, he hated that everything was political to the degree it was now. “People can go shove ‘em up their asses, but,” he tapped at the coffee cup. “We’re not here for public opinion. We’re here to establish it with them and public opinion is their job.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“Based on what I’ve been seeing the past few years, I’m starting to think we’ve moved past hunting in general.” Like usual, the masses had ruined something that had once been a sacred art. They had no respect for the customs or history of what hunting entailed. Adding the government into the mix had only made the mess even worse. “But I know that’s just me feeling reactive instead of searching for an actual solution.”

“Because hunting has been the same since they were created and only changed recently. It’s expected that we don’t know how to deal when we’re the first dealing with it.” Hence why his father allowed him to take the reigns. He’d put in his time, as did his mother. Now they simply accommodated to him to fix the mess. “You notice how most of the tenured seniors stepped down. They don’t want to deal with it.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Her dad would have found her to be so weak. Kaden herself knew she’d become weak when it came to the plight of hunters and how her heart had so severely softened. “You wouldn’t want to do it by kills,” she replied, flipping through the pages of information and statistics she’d been handed, “Certain people will make shoddy kills in hopes that it’ll slide by and promote them faster.” 

She made a valid point. It wasn’t like how it used to be, unfortunately. Trustworthy hunting. “At what would define a ‘valid kill’ or it’ll circle us back to potential murdering of non-supes.” There were a lot of politics that went into this discussion that were beyond just him and her. “Regardless, we got a chance. We go with it.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Kaden flipped to the sixth page. She looked over the figures, and then she continued to stare at the figures as she got lost in her own mind. “It’s so gross to see what illegitimate hunting’s become,” she sighed with a shake of her head. Gone were the days where they were self-regulated, where hunters who were reckless or caused trouble were held accountable for their actions. Things had been so much better for supernaturals and humans before the reveal as far as she was concerned. “I mean… remember how many years we trained? Now anyone can just pick up a gun and go shoot at things just like that.” It didn’t matter if that went against the regulations. Everyone wanted to feel like their own kind of hero. They weren’t. They only caused chaos.

Sammy nodded, knowing full well what it took actual hunters to do before they were allowed on their first hunt. “Which is exactly why we have to enforce tiers of hunters. Either certified training with actual hunters, or by tenure, or by kills. Simple. And by kills, I mean actual kills of supes that are purposefully violent and a harm to society.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“I mean, that’s what I prefer to do too,” she reminded, “But we both know I’ll come across as callous while you come across as assertive and well-informed.” Kaden had grown to know it well. Hell, she’d dealt with the same things since Andrew and herself had led the Kingsman name. Even if they did the same exact thing, the judgement upon her as a woman always remained far stricter than what he’d received. “Especially with that whole wing of people.”

“Then let’s think real quick. What’s something both sides like and then both sides dislike.” Sammy slid over one of the folders he’d brought with graphs and statistics. Numbers his brother had curated for their use. “Obviously gun control isn’t one of them, but innocent children are. How do we protect innocent children? We limit the access to specific weapons or the state will require specific guidelines to be followed. We don’t tell ‘em it’s control, it’s modification. There, look on the sixth page. It’s cases of supposed ‘hunters’ that ended up harming humans, not supes.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Kaden glanced towards her cousin once more, a singular shake of her head meant not to deny, but rather to rid herself of any anxious thoughts. “He’s better at appealing to people than I am,” or at least he had been since the whole scary Davidson werewolf thing had taken the media by storm, “Basically I just need to try to not appear like a total bitch…. My words. Not his.”

He smiled, remaining gracious as she talked down on herself. “State facts, not emotions is what I prefer to do.” Though both could be expressed together, the more statistics he expressed, the less someone could attack him personally. Either way, it would be a win or delayed win for them. He was fine with that if it led them to what would be beneficial for their family.

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“I’m just not used to being the one who has to appeal to the emotional side,” she replied with a half-smile, phone up to her ear for her quick conversation with Kyle. Kaden had always brought logic into the forefront of speeches or encouragements back in the Kingsman heyday. Emotion was far from her strong suit, even if people expected her to be the more emotional side to the person Kyle portrayed. “Yeah, love you too. Bye.” She ended the call, fingers drumming against her screen once she’d set it down, “He’s fine with it.” Albeit while silently mildly worried about her safety as always. Nothing had changed on that front in years.

“As he should be,” Sammy commented, though didn’t plan to divulge much more on the subject. Kaden hardly brought the Davidson name to light since it was primarily him. She deserved to exploit it in a better way, at least, in his mind he saw it as better. “Any words of wisdom from the ball and chain?”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Kaden breathed out a laugh as she reached for her phone, sparing a glance towards her cousin as she navigated to her favorites, “How long do I have before we go back out?” The conversation with Kyle wouldn’t be long, but figuring out what to say and–more importantly–how to say it in a way where things couldn’t be conveniently cropped to portray a shifted message was a lot more difficult.

Sammy looked down at his watch, then up at the wall clock. “Ten minutes?” He went and sat down at the chair he’d been sitting out, grabbing the folder of documents he’d brought along. “Also, let me know if you need me to bring up analytics of anything. I got my brother on standby.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​

Kaden held his dark gaze with her hazel one, lips pursed with her cautious line of thought before she finally let out a sigh. “They’ll destroy me no matter what I say or if I don’t say anything at all.” The people who were against them already hated her. They had no qualms against showing such hatred in full force, “I’ll need to call Kyle first so he’ll have a heads up.” That certain wing of the media mob would likely be running stories before they left the building.

Sammy held a hand out to indicate for her to proceed but said nothing. He understood, though not in the marital sense. With his long-running relationship with Tarryn, he felt the same way, though he still didn’t truly tell her about everything. “I’m not holdin’ you at gunpoint to say anything, in case he asks.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“What would you want me to say exactly?” Kaden looked towards him, past the easy distraction that her phone or a blank wall across from them could provide. Everything she did would forever be over-scrutinized with that last name Davidson–at least by now she’d vaguely adjusted to that reality. “You just know how well-crafted everything I say has to be.” At least Sammy could relate. Certain segments of the population loved to take certain phrases or comments of his out of context too.

“Why are we here?” Sammy answered her question with one of his own. Sure, he wasn’t to have a more firm hold on who got his weapons, but the primary concern was setting up success for tomorrow. For the girls. For more kids that now had targets on their heads for something they hadn’t done. “Tell ‘em what happens if just anybody gets a gun, or a bomb. Adults reap what they sow, but children? I don’t have kids, so I can’t appeal to that. You do.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

“I know, Sammy, I know,” Kaden forced a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. He knew how she felt even if she didn’t vocalize it, and he also knew why she didn’t feel wholly comfortable vocalizing everything here, “Unfortunately, you’re just one of many manufacturers, but luckily, you’re the best.”

“The best.” Ever since him and his brother created the gun that could hold the various bullets that could lead to fatality for every species, they were all anyone wanted. “Regardless, stop worryin’. We’re here, speaking facts. Only thing that could help is if you wanna say somethin’ but other than that, we’re almost done.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​:

Kaden missed the days where she could look at all of this objectively, when she had no supernaturals that she truly cared about and certainly when her family wasn’t made up of supes themselves. Her hand subconsciously went to her stomach, resting there as Sammy continued to speak. The policies that were decided now would impact their lives for years to come. The lawlessness abound recently had her often worrying for the future of her kids. “I just wish D.C. thought the same as you.”

“I promised you I’d make sure the city’s good for the girls, just try’nna uphold it.” Sammy set his coffee down, letting out a long sigh that rid his body of the lingering stress that had gathered on top of what had already knotted his shoulders up. “But, don’t worry. If anything, I’ll just make it nearly impossible for anyone to get hold of the Tolbert weapons until they do somethin’ about it. Simple.”

[sammytolbert]

kadenkingsman​

Kaden merely shrugged, her own drink long forgotten minus its residual heat–decaf never did any justice, “You have to step in to protect your brand and the people that use it. You’re not the first company to control who gets access. It’s not like you’re asking for anything obscene.” Ferrari, Hermes…. The list could go on. It seemed less judgmental and unreasonable as far as Kaden was concerned when the Tolberts manufactured weapons instead of expensive bags or cars. “It’s training and education. Like I said: not obscene. If they want to be angry, let them be angry.”

“Training, education...” he repeated what she offered. “Classification, which should’a been done a long time ago.” There were different classes of weapons that they sold. The same should go for hunters. “Only skilled hunters should have lethals. The lower ones should be able to stun, dude. I still hold to that.”