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[right][b]Interactions:[/b] Vin [@Fernstone] Destiny [@Evil Ghost Note]
[code]Thursday November 24th, The Hollow Tap[/code][/right][hr]

Paloma flashed Vin a guilty grin after they called her out for trying to teach their new ward to get others to do the dirty work for her. She stood back up to feign innocence, pointing out with a “now listen here” finger that drooped and wilted as Vin hard rejected the idea of co-parenting. Paloma put on a playful performance in which she was hurt by Vin’s chastistation. She slackened her jaw and dramatically swooned backwards in a mock shock that became real as the little girl interjected that she wanted to make war, not cookies.  Paloma pressed her hand to her heart, covering up the imagined wound from where the kid had buried her blade. Ouch!

She felt a tug on her sleeve come from one of her little Keebler elves. She turned to see a ratty little punk with missing front teeth hold up their absolute abomination of a cookie with the kind of pride that only a child could hold for something that would only ever be defined, and this is put as politely as possible, as utter shit trash. How they’d manage to make the icing that color and consistency was baffling before Paloma realized it wasn’t icing but mashed potatoes. She was also pretty certain that turkeys didn’t have a beak between their legs. 

[color=springgreen]“Wow. That’s pretty…”[/color] Dumb. Deviant. Dogshit. [color=springgreen]“...unique! Let me help you with the next one.”[/color]

Paloma squeezed herself onto the bench amongst the kids, grabbed a cookie, and began to show the kids step-by-step how to not ruin all of the work she had already put into the treats before bumming them off on a bunch of untrained, unpaid, and underage laborers. Yet even the slight pull of the Samaritan was not enough to keep the attention of the youths whose heads kept drifting towards Vin as they set a training date with Destiny, not wanting to miss out on any drops of wisdom when it came to dropping some bully trying to steal their bikes. 

Truth be told, Paloma couldn’t help but listen in as well, her instructions becoming mumbled as she tried to scoop up the Vin lore. She’d seen enough–things she would never unsee, despite pretending as if she had seen nothing–to no longer warrant everything up to just tough talk. Hell, she’d seen enough that a good part of her wanted to pull the kid aside once Vin was out of earshot and tell them to buzz off for her own safety. But Paloma also saw something as Vin shifted the talk from beating up people bigger than yourself to making sure that the kid was eating right. It was enough “proof” to allow Paloma to carry on with her wishful thinking when it came to Vin and their more, ahem, concerning qualities. 

She smiled softly at her secretly sweet stooge with a look that bordered on admiration that was soon backhanded off of her face by an unflattering, unaffectionate nickname.  

[color=springgreen]“Loudmouth!?”[/color] echoed Paloma, who had merely intended to mouth the words but was seemingly incapable of even doing that quietly. A wave of giggles passed around the cookie circle and brought productivity to a halt as the gaggle of kids began a chorus of [i]Loudmouth, Loudmouth[/i]. It broke Paloma, who was no longer able to pretend that she was peeved, as she chuckled at herself. 

[color=757566]“ I ate yesterday. That’s enough,”[/color] said Destiny.

Paloma stopped laughing. She didn’t need the Samaritan inside of her to feel a swell of indignation. Eating yesterday most certainly was not enough given how late in the day it was now, especially for a growing kid. She jumped out of her bench seat and rushed towards Destiney, leaving the children caught with a case of the sillies to stir themselves back to work. Along the way, Paloma threw a dirty, accusatory look around the Hollow Tap, a spray-and-pray method in an attempt to shame non-present caretakers. She swooped down to Destiny’s height, looking as if she was going to smother the girl with an inescapable hug, but pulled short and reached out to give the girl a reassuring squeeze on her bony shoulder instead. 

[color=springgreen]“Oh, sweetie, that’s not nearly enough,”[/color] said Paloma, trying to hide her anger by drowning it in sugar. [color=springgreen]“Besides, it’s Thanksgiving. Even if you aren’t hungry, the whole point of the holiday is to eat until you feel sick and then you eat some more. Vin’s gotta pretend to work, but I can go through the line with you, Destiny. The only thing I’ve eaten today was icing. In fact, I’m starting to feel a little weak. I might need [i]you[/i] to help [i]me[/i] through the line.[i] Oooh, my head. Sooo hungry…[/i]”[/color]

Paloma covered her face as she pretended to massage a migraine, using her other hand to shoo away a random lady who had overheard Paloma’s bellyaching and had started to fish around in her purse for some ibuprofen. Still shielding her face from Destiny and groaning in hunger, she flashed another coded message at Vin through a series of blinks that she was certain would be interpreted fully and clearly until she realized a flaw in her plan. She dropped her hand and raised an eyebrow at Destiny. 

[color=springgreen]“Destiny, where are your parents?”[/color] asked Paloma, who suddenly seemed to have recovered from her hunger-based agony. Even still, her stomach tightened. [color=springgreen]“It’s just that Vin should probably meet them before training you. Just so that there wouldn’t be any problems, y’know? I'm sure they'd appreciate a preview of the lesson plan.”[/color]

Couldn’t sic her minion on those abusive fucks who starved their own kid without knowing where they were. 

[color=springgreen]“Isn’t that right, tiger?”[/color]