Two Weeks Into Quarantine (Cafeteria)

[sndwurks]

And Billy responds by pushing the checker marked as a pawn to the last of Henry's ranks, and slides it off the board. He glances over at his lost pieces, tracking down the one for his departed Queen, and replaces it with a grin. He glances towards Kelsey, and the grin fades.

"Yeah," says Billy simply. "I've... had a couple cases where a kid's gone off. Parents don't want to call the police because... well... We're Aquinaki. You call the cops over a missing kid, and the Feds suddenly want to get involved, and it becomes huge and... well... no one wants that. So they hire me to figure out if they were taken, or if they just left. If they did both. Which usually means going through a kid's Facebook, email, cellphone if I can..."

He trails off there, and gives a shrug.

"You never know what's going to be important. And when it comes to finding a child? You come across some pretty terrible things."

[Owle Isohos]

Kelsey nods. "I can imagine. I remember the shit we used to do to each other back in elementary school...you combine that with the anonymity of the internet, and I'm glad I've never had to see what happens."

She looks up at Billy. "You get them back?"

[sndwurks]

"Not all of them," says Billy with a guarded tone, letting the words hang in the air over the chess board like an ugly fog. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "But some, yeah. Usually... it's just a kid running away. It's tough, you know? And people run. People always run. Kids are no different in that. It's just my job to find them. I can't make them go back if they don't want to. That's my line."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry moves his King out of the newly crowned Queen by moving one space diagonal.

"And that is a curse we own. The people say they want the truth without knowing how much it will hurt. So because we have a troublesome bit of humanity left, we give them a truth. Just enough to get through without them blowing their heads off. We get the fun part of knowing all about the truth in the matter." Henry said, his tone taking a dark turn.

[sndwurks]

"And that's why I don't work divorce cases, if I don't have to," says Billy simply. He moves his restored Queen diagonally back, taking one of Henry's pawns. He thinks about what he just said, and laughs once. He glances up at Henry. "Weird how when you see how thin the rules really are, it becomes more important to set your own, huh?"

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry moved his retreating king further afield one diagonal space.

"You ain't just whistling Dixie. I have no idea what your moral compass is, folks." Henry said looking at the trio around him. "All I can go by is what I have seen you do. So far, none of you or them put the knife to my back. I would ask you all where your beliefs lie. Problem is I'm not a mind reader. And there is no better way to sour a relationship than by getting on a high horse demanding answers. Especially since my high horse called in sick with hoof and mouth so..." Henry could not help slip a quip in, "Point is, I trust you people enough to know how to handle yourselves. I ain't about to ask anyone to follow my footsteps either. The best I can hope for most days is that we can agree on certain moral topics and leave the rest up to the angels and hangmen on our shoulders."

[sndwurks]

Swinging his knight back to his first rank at the side of his king, Billy announces a simple "Check."

He glances up from the board to Henry, and smiles with a bit of wry humor.

"And I don't stab people in the back. I shoot them. Trust me, it's a lot easier, and gives you space to run away when you miss." Pause. "Or it only pisses them off."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry brings his King one space forward.

"Just a warning: If I happen to see you about to jump head first into some kind of stupid: I claim the right to try to hold you back and say 'No don't do that. You'll just make him angry." Henry said with an easy smile.

[sndwurks]

"And when I don't listen and do it anyways, you'll be fully in your rights to lean back, laugh, and say you told me so," says Billy with a bit of smirk. He pushes his rook back to his second rank, in line with Henry's king and announces another simple "Check."

[Henry Gondorf]

"Sorry, I only laugh at others when I know they will be around to hear it. I rather not watch as people fall on their sword without being sure they deserved it." Henry said. He moved his king one diagonal space forward to the left.