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[abrightboy]

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[abrightboy]

“Lately, yeah. Well. Lately before here,” he quickly amends.

[conning]

Neal stays quiet for long enough to annoy himself with the obvious sentimentality involved in what he wants to ask.

"How is it? New York?" He says it like he's asking after a friend. "For you, I mean."

[abrightboy]

“Well, I’m rich there and most people don’t know who I actually am, so it’s great for me,” he replies in blunt honesty before pausing, then asking “Have you been there?”

[conning]

"Off and on." He manages to keep his tone light. "On for a few years before ending up in Paris again."

[abrightboy]

“Which do you like better?” Malcolm asks softly.

[conning]

"Paris has the Musée d'Orsay, the Paris Modern Art Museum, Rodin's museum, the Louvre. I'm doing some consultation work for the lattermost."

He smiles faintly. "Spent my first winter in a while there. The Hôtel de Ville is even more beautiful at night than I remember it, with the snow and the skating rink out front. Sainte-Chapelle..."

The smile turns a little dreamy. "There is nothing in the world like standing in that cathedral in front of fifty foot stained glass windows, knowing that their maker, the cathedral's builder, everything about who King Louis IX commissioned is completely unknown."

[abrightboy]

“Paris certainly has a lot more history than New York. It sounds romantic, the way you describe it. Even more than its reputation. Is… do you have someone waiting for you there?” he asks carefully.

Maybe Neal just wants a friend. Maybe what Malcolm thought was flirting was just the way he talks.

[conning]

He makes a soft sound that isn’t quite a laugh. “Amis-amants. Nothing serious. I’m mostly there for the history, the art, and the work. There’s plenty of places that want to consult someone with my skill set, not just museums. How about you? Anyone back in New York?”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm laughs. That’s funny.

“I have a parakeet named ‘Sunshine’ that probably misses me.” He pauses a moment. “Do the places that consult you know you used to be a thief?”

[conning]

“That’s why they want me,” he says, amused. “No one can stop a thief like a thief. I got some consultation requests from R&D at a few tech firms and security companies while I was… in the states, but I couldn’t take them at the time.”

[abrightboy]

“The FBI kept you busy, huh? I have some long work days too. Crime never sleeps or… something like that,” he acknowledges.

[conning]

“You could say that.” It’s not wrong. Neal straightens a little, bracing his free hand against the railing.

“I didn’t mind the hours when the cases were interesting, but my agreement with them saw me doing a lot of day-to-day mundanities like mortgage fraud too.”

[abrightboy]

“Is that why you left it to go to France?” he asks. It would make sense that he’s want to be able to choose what he works on.

[conning]

“That was a part of it. Not the overwhelming reason, but one of them.” He considers his further answer. “The FBI kept demanding more without making it worth my while, too.”

[abrightboy]

“Yeah, they do that. Everyone is a tool to be used,” he agrees. “Until they’re used up.”

[conning]

Neal makes a noise that isn’t really amusement.

“I realized that about half-way through a contract I couldn’t break. They got close, with me. Fortunately I have a very thorough lawyer.”

He smiles faintly at the thought of Mozzie, thinking about how much he would love this whole situation. A whole new world of conspiracy theories to explore.

[abrightboy]

“I’m glad you got out in time,” Malcolm tells him. “Even if… you subsequently ended up here. Not that. I’m not glad about that. It’s just. A bit of a double edged sword.”

[conning]

“I had a leisurely year in France before this. I’ll live.”

Then hopefully go home. He’ll make it, if that’s an impossibility, he can adapt, but he held out some hope he’d get to see his people again.

A pause. “Is it better or worse for you? Given what happened with your dad.”

[abrightboy]

“Being here? …I’d like to know if he survived, but… a close friend of mine from home is here. And I think overall it’s healthier for me that I can’t see him and he can’t call me. So I guess…. net positive, yeah.”

There’s a knife in his bedside table, though, reminding him of what he did.

[conning]

“That’s good.” A light laugh. “Comparatively speaking, anyway. I’m sure there are plenty here who don’t feel that way. We got lucky, I guess.”

[abrightboy]

“In a way, yeah.” He pauses. “I was worried you were calling to cancel,” he confesses.

[conning]

Neal goes quiet for a moment in surprise, pleased at the same time and marking that as another thing to watch.

“When I’ve got such interesting company to look forward to? Definitely not.”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm swallows. Does he mean that? Maybe it’s just a nice thing to say.

“I’m glad. That. You’re still going to come. I… wanted to call but. I thought. I mean. I didn’t want to bother you when you were going to be coming by in a few days.”

[conning]

“It’s no bother. The only time I wouldn’t be able to answer is if I’m getting eaten by a werewolf or in the middle of extracurriculars.”

Theft. Sex. Things like that…

“…Are werewolves actually a thing here? Maybe I should take that back.”

[abrightboy]

“There have been some mysterious maulings in Dogtown,” Malcolm points out. “Can’t rule it out.” He pauses. “Do you think… “ He trails off and huffs a laugh at himself. “Nevermind. I don’t know what I’m…” He picks at a piece of lint that isn’t there on the blanket by his knee. “Are you going to go to the job fair?”