♗ IC CONTACT

[waiting]

"You've reached Bradbury. I'm out, so leave a message if you need me."

Comments

[viced]

Motherfucker, I haven't even said anything!

[waiting]

There isn't a City-wide emergency, you have to have a personal assistant help you pick out Christmas gifts, and I can't think of any other reason you'd have to call me.

[viced]

[ A beat. ]

Fine. What the fuck do teenagers like these days?

[waiting]

You drew Terry?

[viced]

There are other fucking teenagers in City Hall, dickhead.

[waiting]

You know Larsa better than I do, and I got Max, so. Process of elimination, unless you got Damian.

[viced]

Motherfucker.

[ A beat. ]

Well?

[waiting]

What's your budget?

[viced]

I need to set one? I don't fucking know, not anything too expensive, I guess. That'd just be fucking weird.

[waiting]

Just making sure you weren't planning to buy him a new phone or something.

[ His voice is thoughtful, though. ]

Get a good pair of headphones. Every teenager listens to music. Or you could get him a cheap tablet or something else to play games on.

Or you could always just give him a gift certificate so he can buy what he wants.

[viced]

Yeah, but a gift certificate either means everyone's going to want me next year, or be really fucking disappointed.

Headphones, though...

[waiting]

It's not like they can rig it so you get them on purpose. [ Then again, it's City Hall, anything is possible. ]

It's the safest option I can think of.

[viced]

Yeah.

[ A PAUSE. ]

Hey, thanks.

[waiting]

[ Wow why was that pause IN CAPS. He grunts, sounding amused. ]

Anytime. Don't yell at me if he hates it, though.

[viced]

It'll be your fault.

[waiting]

[ He makes a small, indignant noise. ]

Why do I always have to be your fall guy?

Take some goddamn responsibility, asshole.

[viced]

[ He pauses, before chiming in, indignant: ]

You aren't always my fucking fall guy! I'd rather you be the muscle.

[waiting]

[ He snorts. ]

I know. Shit, I didn't think you kept me around because I was good-lookin'.

[viced]

Oh, fuck no!

[ GET OUT. ]

[waiting]

[ He just laughs, because riling Mitch up is always a good time, and not something he's had a chance to do recently. In typical Bradbury fashion, it's quiet rather than full-blown laughter, and when it finally tapers off, the silence is a little thoughtful. ]

So what do you want for Christmas? Aside from world peace, or whatever.

[viced]

Me? I don't fucking know, invent a way for me to get coffee intravenously.

[waiting]

I'm not enabling you.

[ Or at least not any more than he already had. ]

[viced]

It's not enabling when it's not an unhealthy addiction!

[ Mitch, honey, no... ]

[waiting]

Don't you have someone else to be your coffee bitch?

[viced]

I have a lot of coffee bitches, but that doesn't mean cutting out the job entirely wouldn't be a good idea.

Or at least, I could divert interns to something else.