Re: Briar's Apartment; Reece and Briar
Bubbling anger dissolved into amusement, face twisting from a threatening scowl to a grin between one beat and the next after his explanation so fast it should have given her whiplash.
His obvious discomfort and knowledge of his own defensiveness amused her and settled any fears she had. She spun the baton in her hand before shoving it through her back belt loops that were already loose and frayed so she could easily have it in hand if she needed it. It looked a tad silly but id did the job so what the hell.
"Hello Reece," The boy was taller than her by a good bit, but if she let that phase her every time it happened then she would be quaking in her boots every day, "My parents were being assholes, but nice try at recovery." She grinned at him before reaching out to his hand.
Briar had a good grip years of showing cops, murderers, and men who didn't think a woman could fix shit she couldn't be pushed around and a grip built from doing manual labor. It was something she was proud of at least, "I was threatened the other day and told not to do business around here, so I'm wary of people listening to things like whipper snappers looking for fun paraphernalia." Cat was right, the boy was disarming and adorable, and she was going to enjoy giving him shit for it.
There was a twinge at the edge of her senses suddenly, that had been creeping up on her since his approach that was too persistent for her to ignore. Not unlike a rumble of thunder or a change in air pressure. Metal. Refined and advanced mechanical things. Her eyes narrowed at Reece and leaned in, invading his personal space nonchalantly and peering into his eyes, her own lighting up when she saw what she was looking for. An entirely different grin lit up her face as she held up his arm still in her grip, twisting it around to poke at it, "What's this now, what shinies did she send my way?"