"Oh sure, I'll just go and tell that psycho to stop stabbing me in future, yeah? Ask him nicely if he'd stop trying to hurt me, a guy who's caused millions in damage and killed a few people. Get real. If he hates me, he's gonna come back and try to finish the job-- but I ain't gettin' stabbed again, I promise 'ya. And hey, it ain't like I was trying to fake this. It really fucking scared me, dude! I was bleeding a tonne, it hurt like a bitch-- I just wanted you to come and help 'cos you're literally all I got right now. I ain't in contact with my folks, I don't have any real friends who know about me being the skeleton guy. You're it, really. It's fucking sad, but it's also kinda sweet," he admitted quietly, flopping down onto the other's bed and gratefully accepting the warmth of just being laid beside him. As nice as it was having a heated, passionate makeout session, he was equally as happy to just lay next to him and share a kiss every now and then. It was a sign he genuinely liked him, because he wouldn't be happy doing something like this with just anyone.
 
"It's nice knowing that you're so dependent on me," Skyler admitted, before carefully moving to wrap a careful arm around the other's hip, if only to press close and rest his head in the crook of Brandon's neck.

"Hey, I'll make sure no one stabs you from now on, okay? We should... We should do heists together from now on, as to avoid getting hurt. Not all dressed up, necessarily, just... one of us being on the scene."
 
"But why couldn't we be dressed up and do it together? Like, that'd be awesome. I've told you that I think it would be fun to let the media and everyone realise we're dating or whatever. It'd freak 'em out and it'd mean we could pull off these heists as, like, a duo," he admitted, having already set his sights of pulling off his next bank robbery with the other at his side, rather than having to do it alone. He would if he had to, but it'd be a hell of a lot more exciting to be able to do it with Skyler-- and it was clearly more practical, now there was some idiot out there who could, somehow, deal Brandon a lot of pain.
 
"I want to ease in, not all at once. Besides, if he thinks only one of us is on the scene, he'll think it'll be easier to kill one of us. We can essentially bait this guy into thinking that we're far more defenseless than we are, y'know?" He explained, as he absently entwined their legs and just took in the close embrace for a moment. Despite being a popular person, and often having people think fondly of him, he had only had a few relationships, and they were often cut short by his mother. That was the one thing that was great about being away at college - as long as he was giving his mother money, he could do whatever he wanted.

"Do you think you'll be up for something tomorrow night? Or tonight, even? I don't know if he'd be as daring as to try and get you again, but worst comes to worst, we'd still be getting some cash, yeah? If you really want me to go in my whole get-up, then I will, I just think it would make us seem more vulnerable, if it was just one of us in the media tonight."
 
"...If that's best, let's do that-- but you should let me go in my gear. He's targeted me once, he'll probably want to finish the job, y'know? Then come out to the world as the hero that got rid of me, it's all predictable, y'know? Obviously I ain't gonna die anytime soon. We can totally go tonight, I'll be alright by then. We'll, I dunno... I'll obviously lure him in and then we'll just sort him out, yeah? See, this is why I need you. You're good at this planning stuff, ain't 'ya?" He grinned, already reaping the benefits of having paired up with Skyler. His way of strategic thinking and organisation was antithetical to Brandon's preferred choice of spontaneity, but that was clearly a good thing right now. If it was up to Brandon, he'd get stabbed in his other kidney and end up bleeding out properly this time.
 
"I thought I was boring?" He countered, pulling away briefly to just take in the other. "It's good to know that you realize that just running into a situation will get you fucking stabbed." He laughed, and dared to carefully hold the other's face. "You can be mighty dense, you know that, right? I mean, I think I deserve an apology. You poked fun at me for studying, and keeping myself neat, and look! None of my money has been stolen, and I haven't been critically injured. Funny, huh?"
 
"Yeah, but I bet you don't have fun doing it. You're still way too sensible and it can't be much fun, y'know? I go out and I always have fun. It's fun fucking with the media too, y'know? I dunno, it's why I do all this. You do it for the cash to give to your mother, I do it for the fun and the thrill and all that. I need to seriously teach 'ya how to let loose," he commented, more to himself as a reminder to take Skyler out and have a proper night of spontaneous fun, doing whatever came into their head rather than plan it all out beforehand. Planning had its benefits, he knew that now, but it didn't mean he wanted to go planning out everything. He still valued spontaneity and letting loose.
 
"I'll let you 'teach me to have fun', I guess," he snorted, before deciding to roll to move on top of the other. Locking his eyes with the other, he couldn't help but offer a cocky grin. "I'm just an utter bore, that's why you like me, right? You like me because I don't like to have any fun. It's not like I've intentionally fucked with the media myself, and intentionally laughed at them. I just hop in and hop out. Dude, the only times I do that is if, say, the place is on fire, so I don't suffocate to death."
 
"...I am sorry about that, by the way. Setting banks on fire with you inside. I won't do that when we go on heists together, at least not 'til you're, like, out of the building. I don't wanna lose my boyfriend to an asthma attack," he laughed, silently holding back the groan that had threatened to escape at the other clambering on top. He could handle the weight easily, but it did put pressure on his side and his back, both of which sported nasty looking bruises and still plagued him badly.
 
"I thought about it, though, y'know? I thought about how it wouldn't matter if I died. I mean, my mother would, I guess. She would no longer have thousands added to her bank account each month. Other than that, there's really no one who would be utterly destroyed by me dying. You, I guess, but would you really? You can find any other guy to fall for you - you're pretty fucking handsome, Brandon." He explained quietly, though his words held no real emotion. Critically eyeing the other for some response, he let out a sigh.

"I really like you, Brandon, and I promise to keep that bastard from hurting you again, okay?"
 
"I am pretty fucking hot, aren't I? You are too, you know? We're a good couple-- and I'd totally be distraught if you, like, died. You're the only guy I'm ever going to be able to be myself around, it's really sad. I won't ever tell anyone who I really am, what I do. They'll freak out and refuse to see me. You get it, obviously. God, be more confident! I like 'ya a whole bunch, we're a super cute couple. What's there to honestly worry about?" He grinned, offering up another quick kiss in the hope that would be enough to at least cheer the other up and stop the insecure ramblings. He didn't think there was any reason to be down and depressed at the moment, even with some knife-wielding hero out there apparently looking to kill him.
 
Accepting the kiss gratefully, he deepened by leaning in closer and just letting the quiet moment make itself known. Before it could get too intense, he jolted up from his cellphone buzzing, only to grimace bitterly.

"... Hold on, I gotta text my mom." He explained flatly, his brow raised in clear annoyance. "For fuck's sake, this woman is a cunt. She thinks she's clever, raising the price every fucking month. I owe her 10,000 now."
 
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"...She's a fucking bitch, I'm not gonna hold back on that. Just... give her the cash-- I'll lend you it if you need it, y'know. I just-- we're in this together now, right? What's mine is yours, I guess, so... pay her off. You sure you don't want me to, like, scare her a little bit or somethin'? Not kill her or even hurt her that badly, but scare her into stopping being such a greedy bitch? I dunno, I don't like this whole thing, it ain't right. What mother blackmails her fuckin' son?" He ranted, resting his hands behind his head while watching the other from the side. His disbelief was mostly because he was trying to think of his own mother doing such a thing, and he really couldn't imagine that. For all he'd done, his mother was still incredibly loving and caring - she didn't go to the police despite having worked out what her son was doing, for instance.
 
"One that didn't want to be a mother, I guess," he replied simply, before getting to his feet to wander to the computer. Nearly all of his transactions were through PayPal, in comparison to Brandon's sloppy 'leave literal bags of money everywhere' strategy. It was neat, it was easy, and he didn't have to deal with any of his mother's bitching if it was late.

"Look, it isn't a big deal. I make enough money, I... I'm fine, you know? It's just emotionally grating, if anything," he grumbled bitterly. "There's nothing I'd rather do than punch her square in the face, but it's whatever."
 
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"...I mean, my mother ain't an angel either, y'know? She once punched a woman in the face 'cos she found the chick flirting with my Dad. She's pretty badass, in her own motherly kinda way, I guess. You'd like her. She's into the whole planning, schedule kind of thing-- and I guess I'm thankful she doesn't emotionally manipulate me. Look, your mother... If I ever meet her, I'm gonna probably break her nose, just keep that in mind. She sounds like a right bitch," he shrugged, resting his hands behind his head and, from the bed, watched the other with a slight frown now playing on his lips, which was not how he wanted things to be right now. He wanted to relax and chill out, not get all depressed about the inadequacies of Skyler's bitchy mother.

"Hey, tell me about yourself. I don't know that much about 'ya. Like, were you the outsider kid at school? I totally was. It ain't easy fitting in when you know you're different, y'know? My Mum homeschooled me 'cos she got afraid I'd, like, burn the school down or somethin'. It was kinda boring, just having a few pigs and a few sheep to hang out with all day on the farm."
 
"I think it sounds cute," he replied honestly as he typed away at the laptop. "Look, there isn't much to know about me, okay? I'm a pretty boring person. My mom took me out of school for a bit when I freaked out and showed my powers, then plopped me back in. She offered the whole idea of being a villain when word got out, said it would make us rich, and... I guess it worked. I dunno, the whole situation was pretty fucked up looking back at it," he grumbled, before reaching for a bottle of water he had set on the desk hours prior.

"Do you know how much I would love to be able to live somewhere like a farm? Carefree and shit? Nah, I lived like our house was a hospital. Super sterile, super stiff. My mother never cared for me, so... I kept to myself, okay? I mean, I pretended to have friends, but I didn't."
 
"Like I said, you could totally come stay with me and do the whole thing of meeting my folks if 'ya want. I mean, I can introduce you as a pal, or my boyfriend-- I mean, my parents are pretty nice, but they're probably fucking outraged with me, so I'm gonna have to do some serious grovelling to, like, win them back around-- but it's a pretty cute farm, I guess," he shrugged to himself, feeling a tad awkward admitting to how nice his homelife had been in comparison to the other's. He had loving parents, a nice home and a pretty stable childhood with parents who accepted his powers and actively tried to set him on the right path, and not into using his powers like... well, like he had done for the last two years.

"...Ugh, look, can we go out in, like, an hour? I ain't able to relax knowing there's a fucking jerk out there who could, y'know, actually kill me. It ain't relaxing."
 
Growing silent for a moment in contemplation, he peaked up once being brought away from his deep thinking, only to instinctively smile it off. It wasn't until college that he realized just how fucked up his childhood was, and that realization had only caused him to hate his mother more. Sinking further into his chair, he did eventually let out a heavy sigh before pushing up to his feet.

"Let's go, then. Do we have to get all dressed up? I'm wondering why he hates you so much, and not me? Maybe I have an obsessed fan~" he teased, before rummaging to tug out the outfit carefully. "That would be nice."
 
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"Or he hasn't had a chance to stab you yet, don't get so cocky. I mean, I dunno why anyone would wanna hurt us, we ain't that bad," shrugged Brandon as he shimmied back into his black clothing quietly, before leaning in close to the mirror to gel and hairspray his hair. He didn't give a shit about the clothes he wore, but he did pay attention to his hair... even if none of it was really noticeable once he pulled his mask on.

Throwing said mask in the empty backpack he kept on when he was in this get-up, he also reached for a camouflage bomber jacket to wear over the outfit, if only to avoid suspicion until they found a bank or some downtown antiques store to rob. "I mean... he can't just be out for me, that'd be fucking annoying."
 
He watched as the other got into his getup, his eyes admittedly wandering a tad. He brought his attention back to his own outfit, dropping his clothes properly to tug on his well-fitted suit on, and even went as far as to neatly adjust a bow tie before shoving the blank mask into his own disposable bag. Tugging on his varsity jacket, he offered a smile.

"Let's go, then. Start some havoc and whatnot. Maybe we'll stab this guy, give him a taste of his own medicine. I don't have magic healing powers, so... be aware."