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]