Tandy Bowen doesn't have to pick between (cloakndagger) wrote in repose,
Re: Billy/Tandy: the neighborhood
Tandy didn't bother with the dish-towel process. He licked his fingers clean in flagrant display of poor manners, but was on reflection, a more efficient way of achieving the same purpose - and pizza sauce was tastier than dishwater, so a combination of factors that made it an utterly rational decision. For the record, Tandy didn't bullshit often. He could, the same way he could lie or evade, practically these things were possible but he wasn't. The house, the decor, the gratitude for getting a shot at living here for less than market rates - none of this was bullshit worthy.
He didn't obviously signal awareness that Billy's fondness for his family was noted. It joined a multitude of factors, careful observation folded over character assumptions that were comfortably rooted in hypothesis. "You need Holly to advise on soundtracks," Tandy said, with the ease of sliding into ribbing a friend who wasn't there. "He probably has a list of eleven thousand possible tracks for various household moments."
But right. The comic-book store. Tandy's face wasn't hugely emotive, but the eyebrows pulled down and knitted a little. Consternation, a little disappointment. "A house-warming gift is a plant. Maybe a comic. Two hundred dollars worth of comics isn't house-warming, Billy." He was calm, he sounded calm. "I can't reciprocate that."