paintitrainbows | what comes up when rain comes down?

[for a moment, Oswald looks as surprised as Meroni does that Edward, who has until now been quite silent, speaks up.]

"Who're--"

[but Oswald holds up a hand, and Meroni's mouth snaps shut, not out of respect in any way, but out of sheer affront. Not that Oswald pays him any mind; his attention is on Edward]

Of course. Go ahead.

Well, I- I was just wondering, really...

[Edward isn't looking at Oswald, right now, looking at Maroni instead and... Despite his clear nervousness, there's an odd look in his eye.]

Do you know how many fusion cores there are on Pandora?

[...Isn't that a random thing to ask, all of a sudden.]

[Oswald frowns a bit, at that, as does Meroni. But....Edward's got some kind of look in his eye. And Oswald is suddenly very intrigued to see where he's going with this. He turns his head to look at Meroni again, who just looks incredibly confused.

Oswald arches an eyebrow]

Well, Don Meroni?

[Meroni jerks a bit, as if startled, glancing between Oswald and Edward]

"Uh....no?"

[Edward's looking back at his data pad again, scrolling through some things.]

Well, the exact count is a little hard to pin down, sometimes. It is Pandora, after all. But there are at least one hundred and sixty three, scattered across the planet, if all the manifestos are to be believed. They were quite popular with the companies that brought in the initial settlers, you see, and they brought over quite a few. These days all their buildings have been taken over, of course, so you can find them in... oh, bandit HQs, Hyperion settlements...

And... no less than two right underneath your biggest warehouse.

[He looks up again. A little more confidently, this time. And with a pleasantly curious tone...]

Did you know that?

[it takes Oswald a moment to follow this--but when Edward reveals that bit, his eyes widen just slightly. And his attention is wholly on Edward, rapt.

Meroni, on the other hand, still looks confused as to why they're discussing this, though that's quickly slipping into annoyance]

"No. So?"

Well, the thing about all of this, of course, is that the technology is dreadfully outdated. I mean, no offense to the old Dahl technicians or anything, but their idea of security... it's somewhat of a joke.

Even with just this it's practically child's play to get through and... Well.

[Edward tilts his head a little.]

I trust you at least know what happens when a fusion core overloads and blows up?

[Everyone knows that one.]

It would seem like a bit of a shame to lose that warehouse. It seems rather important, from where I'm standing, but...

[Oswald barely keeps himself from grinning outright. Instead, he manages to keep it to a slow smirk, though he's delighted by all of this. Not just the clear upper hand Edward is handing him, but even moreso, the delight of seeing Edward claim the upper hand against a nincompoop like Meroni.

Meroni, however, doesn't quite seem convinced yet.]

"You're lyin'. There ain't a fushion core under my warehouse, and even if there was, you couldn't do anythin' to it."

...Yes, I suppose that's a valid assumption. It would be a little hard for someone to locate one of those remotely and set it off.

Fair enough.

[It almost seems like Edward is backing off, admitting this. He's a little quiet again.

Then he taps two things on his data pad, almost as if bored.]

[The next thing that happens is the sound of an explosion, not so far off. Visible on top of a nearby mountain. Quite the spectacle.

Edward doesn't even glance at it.]

[Nor does he blink as he looks ahead.]

...I'm sure I have no idea where to even begin with something like that.

[Oh.

Oh that....that's something. That is really, really something.

And it takes all of Oswald's willpower to keep from acting as he wants to, aside from the pleased smile he now turns on Meroni, who, for all his tanned skin, is fairly pale.]

....well. I would consider that a point well-made.

[Oswald sits back in his chair, humming a bit in thought]

I believe our original deal still stands, then. Doesn't it, Don Meroni?

[at that, Meroni's attention jerks away from Edward and to Oswald, and there's a long, tense moment where he grinds his teeth....before finally admitting:]

"...yeah. Yeah, we gotta deal. That'll be...fine."

Wonderful! [Oswald beams, at that] Butch, transfer the man his money, won't you? The rest of you--[he snaps his fingers in the air, towards the Icicles he's brought along] Load all that up! And make it snappy.

[Meroni is somehow silent, still glaring daggers at both Oswald and Edward]

[Edward is already tapping away at his datapad again, back to his earlier quiet demeanor, like he didn't just do... that.

Like that wasn't really a big deal at all.]

Don Meroni. [Oswald's pleased smile widens, just a bit.] It's been a pleasure doing business with you. Until next time~

[and with that, Oswald stands, reaching out to gently brush his fingers across Edward's shoulder, the only indication he should follow, before turning and walking back to his car.]

[Edward looks up at the touch, briefly, and then just follows. He's more than ready to get out of here.]

Butch~ Finish up here and meet us back at the Citadel, won't you?

[Oswald pats Butch's arm in passing, already knowing the answer]

"You got it, boss."

[Butch glances at Edward as he passes, inclining his head again, this time with a quirk to the corner of his mouth. He reaches out and claps Edward on the shoulder, briefly, before moving forward to deal with this as Oswald climbs into the car and starts to buckle in.]

[Edward blinks a little, at that. But then he just joins Oswald in the car, once again.]

[he'll wait until Edward is buckled, as per usual, before turning on the ignition and pulling the car out of there.

At first the drive is quiet--they need to get far enough away, of course, and make sure they aren't being followed before....the car slows to a stop in the shadows of one of the rock formations and Oswald, who has been keeping a relatively pleased-slash-neutral face this entire time, pulls the parking break and turns to Edward, unable to really modulate the volume of his voice as he practically shouts]

What in the world was that?!

[Edward jumps a little at that, leaning away, clearly startled and just... blinking, wide-eyed at Oswald.]

Um. Well, I, ah--

[oh boy]

Should-- Should I not have done that.

No--you, no that was--[Oswald lets himself smile, then, practically giddy with it as he reaches out to grasp Edward's shoulder]--that was amazing! How did you even-- and the look on Meroni's face when you made one of them explode--[he releases Edward, then, so he can burst into delighted laughter, leaning back in his chair]--Oh, I wish I could have recorded that--

[and he's leaning forward again]--the way you played him, the timing--[Oswald is practically grinning, widely, riding high off the thrill of watching that]--Edward, you're brilliant!

[Edward blinks, startled again as Oswald grabs his shoulder and just sort of... staring in shock a little. Until he adjusts his glasses and composes himself again a little.]

...Oh.

[So. He made the right call, then. And then--

Then Oswald calls him brilliant and Edward doesn't quite smile, still too surprised to, but he seems to... brighten. He almost doesn't quite know what to say and he can feel his face heating up, just a little.

No one's called him that before.]

Well, I-- I just noticed an opportunity, while I was going through the nearby network, so I figured...

You figured right, that was just--[and Oswald seems to run out of words, because he just laughs again, leaning back in his seat]

--really, really fantastic. If there's ever the opportunity, you are more than welcome to do that whenever you like.

Oh, well, um... I... Noted, I suppose?

[He ducks his head a little. Enjoying the praise, but not sure... how to respond to it?]

I mean. You weren't wrong in your assessment of him.

Considering he bought that, I mean.

[..............wait]

[Oswald blinks, then, pausing at that--before his eyes go wide]

Oh--you were bluffing! [and then Oswald throws back his head and laughs again, delighted] You absolute menace!

[Now Edward's smiling, amused.]

Well, of course. I mean, he does have those fusion cores underneath his warehouse, that's true enough. But... what, they gave those a network connection? What would the point of that be? Ah, yes, just in case we ever have to send a text message to a fusion core.

Ridiculous.

But there was an abandoned remote charge up on that mountain and that's connected to a network.

So you simply set that off at the right time, and allowed Meroni to come to his own conclusions. [he's got his elbow resting on the steering wheel, chin propped on his hand, looking at Edward with unmasked delight]

Edward Nygma, you are a wonder~

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