Discussing a Problem Who: Devin and Justin Where: Eatzy's When: afternoon
Devin was not exactly a ray of sunshine as he worked in the kitchen of the diner. Nothing like finding out that vampires and werewolves were real and that just about everyone he knew was keeping secrets from him. That was how it seemed to him right then, anyway, in his state of pissed-off hurt feelings. He was already planning out in his mind what he was going to say to Charlie when he got home, how he was going to twist the verbal knife, make his uncle sorry for treating him like some dumb kid who wouldn’t be able to understand anything. Yes, that might be a dick move, but Devin didn’t care. He was just that irritated.
He was chopping vegetables for salads, and he’d be lucky if he didn’t chop his own damn fingers off. Muttering under his breath, Devin dumped a cutting board full of diced cucumber into a large plastic tub.
Justin had spent the morning with a friend of his cleaning up the mess left behind in Zania's home. It had taken them awhile, given how much blood there was, but they made quick work of it. When he left, he stopped by to talk to a couple of people for information, but everyone seemed to be in the dark about what was going on. There had also been fires, and by late morning, it was confirmed that around eight people or so were missing, including Zania's roommate.
He fully intended to join one of the search parties - or shift and go it alone - but he stopped by the diner first. Now that they were back open, he needed to make sure things were running smoothly if he intended on being out most of the day. Justin walked in through the front door, noting the amount of customers before wandering back into the kitchen. He caught sight of Devin just as he was dumping the cucumbers into the bucket, heard the mutter under his breath, thanks to his enhanced hearing. The kid wasn't happy. "Sure you should be handling a knife?" Justin asked, since Devin's black mood was rather obvious from the scowl on his face.
“It needs to be done,” Devin said, his tone a bit short. Hopefully not enough for Justin to get irritated with him, because he was aware the guy was his boss, but it was still there. His gaze was both miffed and curious as he looked at the other man. Werewolf. What is my life. How are werewolves and vampires even a thing? He felt like he was in a bad made-for-TV movie, but there it was. Realizing that he was staring, Devin jerked his eyes back down to the counter and reached for some tomatoes.
Justin wasn't irritated, but he was aware that Devin was pissed off about something. Especially with the way the guy stared at him before going back to his work. "So what's the problem?" Justin asked, pausing by the narrow hall that would lead to his office. ""Work related, or personal?" Because personal meant Justin could probably back off and go get his shit done. Work related meant Justin would have to deal with it, unless the personal issue was with Justin. He just hoped Devin would just tell him what was up and not beat around the bush the way a woman might.
"What isn't the problem?" Devin muttered, beginning to cut the stems off the tomatoes in preparation for peeling them. He huffed out a sigh, shook hair out of his eyes and contemplated Justin's next question. "Uh... mostly personal, I guess. Kind of both though." That wasn't a very informative answer, so he decided to elaborate. "'Member that text your sister sent last night about getting shot and werewolves and needing blood? She sent it to me, too." That should give Justin at least an inkling of what was going on in his brain.
It finally dawned on Justin what Devin was getting at. Devin hadn't known about vampires and werewolves. He wondered if Zania told Devin about Justin being a werewolf. He was guessing she had, if Devin's problem was 'kind of both' work and personal. Justin studied Devin silently for a moment before lifting a brow. "All right," he began slowly, "so I guess now you're reeling a bit from finding out mythical creatures exist?"
Devin wasn’t much of a ‘sharing his feelings’ sort of guy. He tended to glower and keep anything of significance inside. It actually said quite a lot that he was coming out with anything at all right now. “That,” he said, chopping and hating the squelchy feel of tomato juice between his fingers, “and realizing that my uncle the policeman has to know about all of it too and hasn’t said a damn word.” He wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, but he was more hurt than he was angry. Anger was just easier to express and deal with. How could Charlie let him find out about this shit randomly, from someone else who’d thought that Devin would already know?
He and Devin probably had more in common than they both realized because Justin wasn't a feelings kind of guy either. He generally preferred keeping to himself, or at least not delving into things that could be classified as too personal. His sister was usually the only one he felt comfortable enough to do that with, and even then it was iffy. Justin wasn't entirely sure how to respond, because he knew it would probably irritate Devin further. "You sure Charlie knows?" Justin asked instead. Serge knew, obviously, but Justin didn't think that meant the entire force within the dome was 'in the know' so to speak.
“C’mon,” Devin said, devoting all his attention to the precise dicing of the tomatoes he was working on. He frowned a little, wondering why it was so much easier to talk when he wasn’t making eye contact. “He’s lived here forever, and he’s at the station just about every day, even when he’s supposed to have a day off. You know he knows.” Devin would have staked his life on his uncle knowing the score; that was how strongly he felt about it. Devin also felt like a loser to be going on and on about this, but it was a shock. “So basically I don’t care what you are as long as you have no plans to bite me, or whatever,” he said with a blitheness he didn’t really feel.
In Justin’s mind, all of this weird shit had only just started to happen. He didn’t think werewolves and vampires had been prevalent for as long as Charlie lived there. The dome had only recently been locked, and the wolves and weird ass bats had never happened before. But that didn’t seem to matter much at the moment. Justin cocked a brow, unsure as to whether he felt amused or irritated. “Well, I’d given biting you some thought, but decided to keep my teeth to myself for awhile. Don’t think you have anything to worry about right now.”
Devin snapped his head up immediately and said, "You didn't." After a few seconds, he realized Justin was joking and snorted laughter, shaking his head. "I have a lot to worry about," he corrected him. "Just not that." He got back to chopping tomatoes and asked, "So what's it like being a werewolf? Can you totally turn into an animal or is it just scary eyes and claws and pointed ears? Do you have enhanced senses and shit?" They all seemed like valid questions to him.
Justin tilted his head, his expression incredulous until Devin caught onto the joke, which thankfully didn’t take long. Then he shrugged, unsure as to how much he actually wanted to talk about in regards to his werewolfism. “I’m not sure about scary eyes and claws… can’t see myself when I shift, and no one’s told me. But yeah, enhanced senses… sort of my first tip off.” He paused, then his lips quirked into a wry grin. “I can hear your heart beating right now.”
Devin had slowed down on the chopping, which hopefully meant that he wouldn’t cut a finger off. He could use all the help he could get, and chopped off appendages weren’t that useful. “Does it sound like I’m pissed off? Because I’m pissed off,” he said. He was, kind of, but not as much as he had been. At least Justin hadn’t tried to feed him a line of bull. He could absolutely respect that.
"I guess. If that's what a pissed off heart beat sounds like," Justin said. He thought of his own reaction to Zania being a vampire. Disbelief at first... it was still hard to accept, and he was a fucking werewolf for Christ's sake. But he supposed in a way he understood where Devin was coming from. "I'm not one for doling out advice... but you ought to talk to Charlie before you get super pissed. Find out what he knows, and why he kept it from you. Otherwise you're just stewing and butchering poor, innocent vegetables."
“They need to be butchered,” Devin protested. “Because, you know, salads.” Yeah, that made a lot of sense. He shook tomato juice off his fingers and scraped the tomatoes into the appropriate bowl. “Yeah, I’m gonna talk to him soon as we’re both home.” Said talk would probably not go well, given Devin’s temper, but that went without saying.
"Okay, not butchered... I'll rephrase and use the word massacred instead," Justin said dryly, watching as Devin slid the tomatoes into the bowl. The kid really liked to argue, he'd noted. Charlie probably had his hands full most of the time. "Good plan, though. Try not to get worked up over it while you're here... don't need you lopping off a finger because you're angry." He thumbed over his shoulder toward the hall leading to his office. "Got things to do. I'll be leaving in about twenty minutes, so if you need anything, let me know."
“I’m good, I’m good,” Devin said. He actually did feel less homicidal at the moment. Maybe he could just turn it off until he was home and confronting his uncle. “I’ll just be here, chopping. No finger bits included.” There probably wasn’t anything he’d need from his boss; Devin’s current plan was to finish prepping and get ready to cook when the dinner crowd started coming in. It might be bigger than usual since Eatzy’s had been closed.
"Good." He studied Devin for only a moment more before turning to head back to his office. He needed to move as quickly as he could to get back out and help Zania look for her friends. But he certainly didn't envy Charlie, or the conversation he was bound to have when Devin got home. But maybe the sooner people knew about the potential danger living in the dome, the better.