#anywhere

Duff raises a brow, "Are you really going to bitch to me about a woman maybe playing hard to get? or even saying no ? Me? " A snort

"No, senor I just.." A deep breath he looks to both adults, "I don't know how to ask. Do I bring flowers or what?"

A shrug. "Can't hurt. Ask her out first. Like, starter date. A movie. The fuck do I care?"

"I.. a movie. It's dark in movies. You don't have to make too much eye contact."

Then a thought hits her...and a frown...and...she's fishing for her wallet. "Tell you what, kid. Way back in the way back, a guy done give friend of mine pair of tickets to a concert for his saining. Friend invited me to go. Jus' a couple decades later, I'm havin' th' fucker's kid, go figger. Anyway...here's dough for movie tickets. What you do with it? Up to you."

"Si? you are sure? "

"Take it, afore I fuckin' think twice 'bout it." She waves the bills in his face.

He takes it, "Gracious, senorita" Technically it's Senora but he's not about to make her feel old

"Yeah. Don't fuck it up, kid."

He shakes his head "There will be no fucking .. fucking up. I meant fucking up. THere will.. well neither I'am sure, it's just a movie..." BLOOD red, "Ah, Senor Duff? May I.."

"Scoot," Duff says "Looks like you finished."

A smirk, watching the kid go.

And off he goes

"Not that I'll tell anyone, TWeak, but it's nice how you look after your apprentice. "

"Mmph. She useless when she distracted an' mopey." She nods after the boy. "He know he your grandkid?"

"What?" He startles, "how damn old do you think I am? "

She rolls her eyes. "I known 'em to age slow, sometimes. You sayin' I wrong? You his pops, then?"

A frown, "You're a dangerous minded woman. But let's just say that he's a cousin and leave it so eh? Don't tell anyone. I don't want my enemies becoming his enemies."

"Mmph. Not sure keepin' him this close be the right answer, but that be on you. You a'ight with all that?" She gestures after the boy who is leaving dust clouds in his wake as he runs to the hold.

"What could I do? Turning him away would have made folks suspicious in a different way" A shrug

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I mean, you a'ight with him an' th' Greasemonkey?"

"mmph. I'l lgive him 'the talk'. They're both very young. But si, Beltaine is coming up. If not then to romance, when?"

"Yeah...an' he was prolly gonna drive you crazy with mopin' if he din't ask."

"oh sweet dreaming, he never stops. It's a tattoo parlor, clean it up too much and folks think it's a beauty saloon"

"Yeahhh...so...seems like I done you a bit of a favor, huh?"

Mutters, "Plus, I'm out thirty bucks."

A dubious pause, "What do you want, Tweak?"

"Need a volunteer to test some gear. Won't work on me, an' Crawley being a li'l bitch 'bout it."

"Test gear? I don't know. One thing about Necropsis, the little bastard is a survivor. What's it do, strap a rocket to my crotch?"

"Nah, man, yer crotch got nothin' t' do with it. An' I'm tellin' you, this thing work? It gonna pay off big. See, it gonna free up women from havin' all the burden of nursin'...an' hell, single dads? They gonna LOVE this shit!"

"Oh? Payoff mm? Go on." Interested

A brief hesitation, then. "Yeah. So...this here be it..." She fishes an item with straps and suction cups from a cargo pocket. "So what you gonna do, you jus' take off yer shirt, I show you how it works."

"I beg your pardon?" He says, "Exactly what is this thing supposed to do? on my chest?"

"Well...it's...a thing for helpin' mothers with feedin' duties. For guys to help..." A sigh. "Fuck, man, you gonna be a pussy, too?"

He tilts his horned head, "What. does. it. do?"

She scowls. "Fine. This here be th' Moob Motiv8R. Turns man boobs into feedin' stations, so baby get to fuckin' bond wit' both parents. TELL me this ain' a market niche what need fillin'!"

"Maybe the market niche needs filling? But you know what doesn't need filling? My 'moobs'. Sorry, Tweak, not enough money in the world"

She frowns. "Wimp." Then a thought, and she gets a wily look. "In that case...you got anybody owe you a favor, they c'n pay it off wit' testin' this?"

"I..." A pause, "Actually. I might."

"Yeah?" She tries to play it cool, but wasn't actually sure that was going to work.

"What do I get for hooking you up and swapping a debt?"

An eyebrow, and she juts a thumb over her shoulder. "You already got one non-moping shop kid."

"Yeah, I know, and if that hadn't been done before we started bargaining it might mean something. Try again"

"Hmph." She thinks. "I send Greasemonkey over here to clean out any junk you got stacked up around or out back?"

"A nice start..how about 10 percent of all profits you make from the sales of this device if it takes off?"

She considers that...and shrugs. "Seven, I'm thinkin'."

A pause, "Bueno. I can have him here in five days"

A bit of a grin. "Thought so. Yer lookin' forward to this."

"As long as it's not ME? It's hilarious"

"I shoulda charged you admission to the show."