ic Who Let The Dogs Out?

[Fox]

"If you have $2000," said Matt, who had never even seen a number that large on paperwork since some barely-remembered forms as a young child, "then you have money. And if you need pocket money, it isn't that hard to find little odd-jobs for it, if y'don't mind carrying things or stupid work. It'll never get you rich, but it's okay. And yeah, sure, fine, if you wanna go hunt for yourself, go out to the forest, kill deer or those squirrels or something. Screw the cops and guards, shooting a squirrel in a public park is just...it isn't right, Tin Man. And yeah, some of the supers are gonna look into something like that, 'cos they'll think you're crazy."

He threw up a hand in vague frustration. "So, sure, whatever. If the city crumbles and you're starving and you've got nothing, by all means, go to Liberty and put an arrow through a tree rat. Hell, at that point I'll help, 'cos I'll be hungry too. But that ain't the world we live in. So...don't."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Okay, okay," said Riley, raising his hands in surrender. One day I'm gonna be in here eating grilled venison, and then we'll see who's crazy. "And you know, man, if you need money, you're welcome to it," he said seriously. "Peyton and the other Riley are loaded with the stuff. Where I'm going, money doesn't buy zip. Maybe I can buy toys and stuff with it, but I can't take it with me." He was silent for a moment before making an unguarded admission. "And what the hell's a Tin Man?" 

[Fox]

"No," Matt responded, a bit more seriously than he intended. "Nah. I make my own way. Not big on charity, y'know? Got to at least give something back, and I've got nothing for you." He shrugged, kicking up his feet. "Besides, y'don't need it now but you might later. You'll be here a while, I guess. If nothin' else, you can buy those burgers."

He turned his head to give Riley an odd look, frowning at him over one of his companion's tails. "....the Tin Man," he insisted, with all the intonation of someone who was being forced to explain a joke. "From The Wizard of Oz. The movie? And a book, I guess, but nobody really cares about the book."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Never saw it," said Riley with a shrug. It hadn't been part of the canon at Raymond, anyway. "But OK," he said suddenly, "you wanna do the burger thing, let's do the burger thing. That place, uh, open all night?" he asked, trying to remember the phrase. "We can hit it when we're out patrolling." That was one thing that both this world and his home had in common, even if the idea of being out at night with a metahuman was a thoroughly alien concept. "I'm gonna go change," he said after a minute, reaching down to pull a pretty heavy bundle of clothes out from the drawer he'd just filled up. "If you see any clothes of mine laying around and you don't know what they are...well, you don't wanna know," he finished with a grin, turning and heading into their shared bathroom. 

[Fox]

"I thought I told you I don't need to know that stuff!" Matt called after his roommate, before rolling his eyes and flopping his head back onto the bed. "And, yeah, they're open late - they get the late-night crowd from a hospital. But seriously, patrolling? It's supposed to just be a quick burger run!"

He looked down at his dogs, who were looking at him expectantly, tails thumping. "Wh...no. Aw, no, not you too," he protested. "You go looking for trouble, you find trouble. Tin Man's gonna kill someone, and then we've gotta clean that up. I don't even wanna know what kinda messes he runs into, and he's not gonna have any arrows for the crap we find. Y'can't.....rrrrrgh."

Matt shucked his shirt, reaching behind his bed for a hidden bag and its black-and-gold contents. "Shouldn't even have this crap," he grumbled, the dogs perking up and starting to dance around the room in anticipation of a 'walk'. "Fine," he announced, pulling on what was plausibly normal clothing and tucking what wasn't into his pockets or belt. "I'm going with you for a burger and to keep you out of trouble. And no killing, Tin Man. We'll know if you do, so don't even try it."

Edited October 3, 2015 by Fox