milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

[oom: canonical update]

There's a confused and very frightened young man sitting with his back against the wall on the floor near the fire.
Come give him a hug.

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It was cold in New York and Ray's dinner left him wanting to sit somewhere warm still, so he migrates in the direction of the fire. And blinks.

"Guppy?"

Guppy looks up.

"Hey."

He is trembling, and looks very shaken.

Oh, hell...

Ray sits down on a convenient patch of floor nearby.

"How bad was it this time?" he asks quietly.

Guppy takes a deep breath.

"They followed me to the identity parade, threw me against some railings and threatened to slit my throat if I said another word to the police."

His voice sounds panicky, a little breathless even.

"... Guppy, have you considered wearing a wire? I mean- I realize it's not going to be much use to you nine times out of ten, since they can't be there forever, but- have you seriously ever considered wearing or carrying a tape recorder so that you'll have evidence against them the next time they try to screw with you? Even the most indifferent police force in the free world is going to have to pay attention to someone making documented terroristic threats."

Guppy looks up at Ray, the terror showing in his eyes.

"I think that's a good idea. Except if they screw with me again, they're going in for the kill."

He tries to keep himself together but he's struggling. "Their first victim had fifty percent burns by the time they'd finished with him. They're not afraid to kill Ray."

Ray thinks about this.

"Pepper spray legal where you come from? ... no, that's not going to be much help as an area-effect deterrent, is it. And a taser's only good against one opponent at a time..."

He thinks a while more.

"I know you have the kitten to look after, but is there any chance you could lay your hands on a large breed of dog for a while? Something like an Anatolian shepherd or a Rhodesian ridgeback, that isn't particularly vicious but could hold a number of them off for a while? I mean, Rhodies were bred as lion hunters. A couple of humans who don't use guns can't be that big of a threat to a dog that does that by nature..."

Guppy thinks about this.

"Not sure about the pepper spray. If a dog bites them it'll be put down and I'll be in the dock. I could probably foster one from the animal shelter, but I'm not sure my landlord would be too keen. It took a lot of persuasion for him to let me keep the kitten. And although they haven't pulled a gun on me yet that doesn't mean they don't possess one."

"Well, I assumed they weren't using a gun because of the burns on the first guy. I kind of figured the bullet would've shown up in the reports, but you're right- we can't asume they don't have one. Is there anyone you can legally hire back home to make things easier? Any way of suing these guys to keep them busy and off your back? Restraining orders rarely mean more than 'oh, we should've seen this coming' in the states so I won't even waste your time asking about those."

"They broke the restraining order on the same afternoon they got bail. I think it's the suing part that's the problem."

He fidgets. "Several people have offered to come to Holby and look out for me from here. I declined because I was worried they might go too far and get arrested, but I think I will have to reconsider."

[ooc: Sorry, mun has to be up early tomorrow so must go to bed. Nice RPing with you. Happy to continue tomorrow but I know you don't like picking threads up the next day.]

Ray winces, and nods. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. THere's lots of stuff that's legal to buy in New York that you might not have access to."

[OOC: Sleep well!]

"Thank you." Guppy replies quietly, rubbing his arm around the shoulder.

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