A Talk That Isn't So Much Wanted As It Is Needed [Closed to Cooper]

[knowntohisfriends]

[Make no mistake about it: the Artful Dodger is not a grass. People's business is their own matter an' it ain't for him to go stickin' his nose into it, causin' all sorts of problems what he ain't even got a right to. But then there's the stuff that's sort of his business, if only in a very loosely connected way. Or because of who it involves.]

[Nancy should be out - he's gotten good at keepin' to her schedule - an' it's Cooper he's wanting to see anyway. Doesn't stop the feeling of bein' a no-good peach from making his stomach sink as he raps on the door, shoving his hands into his pockets as he waits]

[He had to do this. Stuff was bein' said, and he needed to get in there first.]

[Nancy wouldn't see it that way, but he'd deal. Hopefully]

Comments

[knowntohisfriends]

Dodger kept his ground.

"You had to know. If I didn't tell ya, it woulda come from Fagin," he insisted. "Ol' Crook's gonna use it, an' I couldn't let him."

[emotioneater]

"Brilliant. So glad you decided to do this well needed civil service." The sarcasm was running fast and strong with this one right now. Cooper had worked himself up into a right good temper. "Now get out before I snap your neck."

Cooper wasn't joking. If Dodger didn't leave in the next five seconds, Cooper was going to make the changeling regret it.

[knowntohisfriends]

He knew Cooper wasn't joking. It's just that it had not been the first time he'd had that particular threat thrown at him. It was one of Sikes' favourites.

"Better me than him," Dodger said, stepping back towards the door and throwin' a sarcastic bow in the vampire's direction. "An' be glad it were me. Fagin opens his mouth, you lose all you worked for." He paused only briefly at the doorway. "... Don't lose the rag wiv her, alright. Nance ain't had any more control of this than anyone gets around the crook."

[emotioneater]

Cooper didn't answer the boy. It was all he could do wait until the door was shut to throw something hard and breakable at it, watching the vase shatter into a million pieces with some rage-filled satisfaction.

Oh, he desperately wanted to wring someone's neck, mainly Dodger or this mangy wolf Bill's. But he and Nancy were going to have a serious talk when she got home. That was clear enough.