[ Really? That's what this guy's worried about? Dick raises a brow and takes that in for a second, before breathing a quiet, wry laugh. Definitely not just any civilian, not just any zookeeper who takes care of his animals. ] Isn't it a good thing that they're still alive enough to quit on you?
You've clearly never had to teach a fresh batch of grad students how to extract venom from a cranky taipan. [Carefully. You do it very, very carefully.]
Do you have any idea who those people were? [He... would really like to know, actually. Because he's not sure. They weren't Covenant, but those are hardly the only enemies his family has made. Snake cults, cryptid poachers, the occasional gung-ho violent vigilante mistaking him for a serial killer. They're all risks of operating the family business in this day and age. And people think he's crazy for working with the crocodiles.]
[ He raises a brow. He doesn't even know what a cranky taipan is. Alex takes it too easily in stride and it's raising all sorts of doubts and questions. However, his companion beats him to the big question and Dick has to consider for a second. It feels all too familiar, this game of hiding his identity while trying to pry for information.
He slowly shakes his head. ]
Felt like it was targeted. [ Truthfully, it felt like he was being targeted but he's not quite sure. ] I guess it's a risk of the job. People don't like it when they're prosecuted. [ He leans into the detective identity, gesturing at the bag on the floor. ] Honestly, it could be anyone. I'll launch an investigation into it when I get back to the station today.
[Alex had to give up competitive fencing in college, when his team had won a state championship and it got his picture in the campus paper. That had been enough to make it too much of a risk of getting the attention of his family's enemies.
This feels a little like fencing. He can see the complicated footwork going in to making this conversation look casual on both his end and Grayson's.]
At least two of them won't be in any system. They weren't human. [Alex leaves that observation hanging there without explanation to see what he does with it.]
[ Dick’s pokerface is okay at best, so when Alex mentions that part of the puzzle, his head tips up just the slightest bit before a slow nod lets the information sink in. ]
And you’re...fine with that? [ A beat and he leans forward, letting an elbow rest on his knee as he meets Alex’s gaze. He's gotta make a move here, and he doesn't know if he can trust Alex. ] Look, Alex. What’s clear is that we both know there’s a lot going on here that most people don’t see. Why would they be after you?
[Something of an understatement there, Price. Speaking of, he leans in with his elbows on the table, keeping his voice low enough for only his companion to hear. Careful thought and hesitation paint themselves in his expression for a few moments before he speaks.]
My real name is Alexander Price. [Such a giant leap from the assumed "Alex Preston." Sometimes simple changes and the simple act of going unnoticed make for the best cover.] I'm a cryptozoologist- it's something my family has been doing for generations- protecting animals and occasionally who mainstream science hasn't quite caught up to discovering, let alone understanding. We don't always go about it in ways that make us a lot of friends, for lack of a better way to put it.
[ Alexander Price. Dick’s brows tug up and of all things, he had assumed at least the name was real. A false name means much more is being hidden and the more Alex speaks, the more things start making sense. ]
I get it. It’s not easy doing something outside the norm. That’s why you mentioned Gar’s green skin, huh. [ he’s going to have to talk to gar about being more careful with keeping that hidden away. ] And why you think people would pursue you. Who are the people that usually come after you?
[And Alex is going to have to talk to Dick about the wonders of peoples need to keep their lives as normal as possible and the levels of denial they'll put to it. And then he's going to give Gar a Star Trek costume from his cousin Artie's old collection and let the kid have some goddamn fun for once.]
Usually, the Covenant of St. George. Your usual band of assholes with a cause and some thin veneer of religion slapped over it- but this wasn't them. They'd kill a cryptid before employing one. [And then they'd dissect it and... well. The less said the better about how far the Covenant goes to eradicate any form of "unnatural" life.]
So, quite frankly, I don't have the slightest clue who those people were. For all I know they were after one of our rare animals and this has nothing to do with either of us, and I'm breaking what my sister calls my family's Prime Directive for nothing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
no subject
Do you have any idea who those people were? [He... would really like to know, actually. Because he's not sure. They weren't Covenant, but those are hardly the only enemies his family has made. Snake cults, cryptid poachers, the occasional gung-ho violent vigilante mistaking him for a serial killer. They're all risks of operating the family business in this day and age. And people think he's crazy for working with the crocodiles.]
no subject
He slowly shakes his head. ]
Felt like it was targeted. [ Truthfully, it felt like he was being targeted but he's not quite sure. ] I guess it's a risk of the job. People don't like it when they're prosecuted. [ He leans into the detective identity, gesturing at the bag on the floor. ] Honestly, it could be anyone. I'll launch an investigation into it when I get back to the station today.
no subject
This feels a little like fencing. He can see the complicated footwork going in to making this conversation look casual on both his end and Grayson's.]
At least two of them won't be in any system. They weren't human. [Alex leaves that observation hanging there without explanation to see what he does with it.]
no subject
And you’re...fine with that? [ A beat and he leans forward, letting an elbow rest on his knee as he meets Alex’s gaze. He's gotta make a move here, and he doesn't know if he can trust Alex. ] Look, Alex. What’s clear is that we both know there’s a lot going on here that most people don’t see. Why would they be after you?
no subject
[Something of an understatement there, Price. Speaking of, he leans in with his elbows on the table, keeping his voice low enough for only his companion to hear. Careful thought and hesitation paint themselves in his expression for a few moments before he speaks.]
My real name is Alexander Price. [Such a giant leap from the assumed "Alex Preston." Sometimes simple changes and the simple act of going unnoticed make for the best cover.] I'm a cryptozoologist- it's something my family has been doing for generations- protecting animals and occasionally who mainstream science hasn't quite caught up to discovering, let alone understanding. We don't always go about it in ways that make us a lot of friends, for lack of a better way to put it.
no subject
I get it. It’s not easy doing something outside the norm. That’s why you mentioned Gar’s green skin, huh. [ he’s going to have to talk to gar about being more careful with keeping that hidden away. ] And why you think people would pursue you. Who are the people that usually come after you?
no subject
Usually, the Covenant of St. George. Your usual band of assholes with a cause and some thin veneer of religion slapped over it- but this wasn't them. They'd kill a cryptid before employing one. [And then they'd dissect it and... well. The less said the better about how far the Covenant goes to eradicate any form of "unnatural" life.]
So, quite frankly, I don't have the slightest clue who those people were. For all I know they were after one of our rare animals and this has nothing to do with either of us, and I'm breaking what my sister calls my family's Prime Directive for nothing.