#bergen_county

"Or just have him call from that phone. Use up her data, not yours."

"Yeah..."

"Do you think he'd understand that? If not, I can show you how to swap them, but that's a different kinda underhandedness. He's shown he can be sneaky himself." A little sullen, a little impressed.

"Hm."

"I mean, I could pull rank... I'd rather not."

"But if it's his special phone for Calanthe, and the other one is for his friends..."

"Or if you wanted to simplify things, just use a different card. She'd figure out pretty quick that she can't track the info, but no swapping and no trickery. You get to be the bigger person, and you trolls are good at that."

Furrow.

"And you're sure that this wasn't just a gift? Like I said, it could be lazy. These settings are all standard, and putting it on her account means it's paid for and no need to worry about data limits, plans, etc. If she's as rich as you said, maybe she just wanted to buy his affection with a shiny toy and doesn't care about the cost."

He doesn't seem like he buys that, but still offers it up.

"Occams razor and all that."

"No..."

"No, I don't trust it. I don't trust her."

"I mean, I'm a dumb blunt troll, but..."

"Well, the way I see it, you have three options. I can copy over the contacts if you want to a new card to use on that watch. And let her know from the start that you're on to her. Or try tricking her for a while with multiple phones, but you'd need to either hide that from the kid, or explain and hope he doesn't blab. Or fence this phone and just give him a burner to call people with, and avoid the whole issue - but you gotta answer to puppy-dog eyes."

Tapping his paperclip thoughtfully. "If you trick her for a while with multiple sims, she'll figure it out - unless she's REALLY DUMB- and try something sneakier next time. Or maybe quit being sneaky and be direct. Which could be worse. But she might do that anyways when she doesn't get what she wants. Sidhe minds are weird, I can't say I get where she's going, but I know what -I- would think."

"But I mean, you're the one who got saddled with the squire who came with baggage. Your call."

"And you may be blunt, but you're not dumb." He flicks the paperclip at her. "But there's a bit of power in being underestimated, too. I would know." A wry smile.

"So - I know, you'd say ditch this."

"But, like... like, I know how it is to be promised something, and then have it taken away. I really want him to have this."

He nods.

"I don't think I could keep up with the sim switching, really. Can I set her up as a blocked contact, though - like, need the nanny code to unlock her?"

He takes a few minutes to look at this online. "Probably could have someone write a custom app for that, but I don't see that as a feature. You can have the carrier block it, like some people block 900 numbers from their kids phones, but that blocks it entirely. Maybe take the number out, and just dial it for him when he wants to call her, and then erase the log. Or make him swear not to call her or something."

"It can be done." A shrug.

"Mmph. Okay."

"I hope I helped. Or at least didn't complicate shit more."

"You helped, yeah."

"Connor's a good kid with a shitty family."

"Maybe just program in allowed numbers, and tell him not to call her without permission. OR answer the phone if SHE calls." He holds up a finger. "Loophole there, gotta plug that up."

"If it helps, I can show you how to see the phone data. Even deleted calls and texts have records. If you worry he's going to try to weasel around instructions."

"I wouldn't have thought so, but I wouldn't have thought he'd do other things either."

"I... I think he'd mean well, and try... but.."

"Remind me to never get knighted."

"Can do."

"Though, like, what if you got funky black death-knight armor?"

He snorts. "Unless it's mech-armor, I probably wouldn't be able to move in it. Too heavy."

"Yeah, rogues need light stuff, and wizards are just screwed."

"Hey, is there a rogue-wizard multiclass?"

He grins. "IS there?" And reaches for a heavy-looking tome with 70's looking art on the cover. "Let us consult the Lore..."

Snerk.

"You want me to close this back up?" Gesturing to the watch-phone. "Guts are clean, and you saw how I popped the sim."

She nods.

"Burner phone is... what... $40, $50?'

"Blank sim cards are like $5, pay-as-you-go phones are cheap or free with a plan, but you'll have to pay for the plan. Or link him onto your plan - or tell the Chief to pay for it, he's her ward, right? Probably like 30 bucks a month for limited data. Maybe cheaper if you shop around."

"Does she even HAVE a smart phone? Maybe get a family plan there. Uh, group plan. Maybe that's a better phrasing."

"She doesn't, I don't think. Siv has a phone?"

"Well. If she doesn't HAVE one." Which seems to baffle Symon. "It must be on purpose. Maybe she doesn't WANT people calling her up. I guess I get that."

"Maybe?"

"Chief likes to be old fashioned."

"There's being old fashioned, and there's being an extinct luddite... but I guess if that works for her."

"Seems to." She nods.

He carefully replaces the cover on the smart watch, closing it back up good as new.