High Frequency

File-Slash Romeo

Jeremy swore he felt whiplash from the words, each syllable causing the air to hiss. For someone with a room so messy, someone so obviously introverted, they sure did seem to enjoy being loud. Too loud. Any louder, and Jeremy would worry that Mr. Early-Bird's neighbors would get concerned and call the cops, especially since this 'Mell' guy sure didn't seem intent on doing it. He was still sprawled out motionless on the floor like a beached tarantula, which was almost comical. Almost. The whole waiting-for-my-arrest thing kind of threw Jeremy off. Especially with all the- well- waiting. Still, he figured the fuzz would get there at some point. He had a feeling he wasn't gonna be able to smooth talk his way out of this.

Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"I- uh." He began, and it was already clear that Jeremy was off to a lovely start. He was faltering, seconds away from a sputter, and realizing he really should've looked more into those top-ten pickup line lists on Pinterest. Being a hacker didn't offer many social situations, especially when you had other people in your network already handling the ones that it did. Not to mention he was naturally introverted, a high-school dropout, and again- currently standing in some random fucking dude's apartment, specifically the one of who he just burglarized.

Jeremy eventually figured he could just start small, and offer up some minuscule explanation for his whereabouts. Maybe even sift in a thoughtful nudge of guilt to show he wasn't here on purpose, even though he totally was? Yeah, yeah, that'd work! And if worst comes to worst, well. Brooke's advice rung through his head. He could always knock him out, right?

Jeremy gave Michael Mell another glance, making a calculated note after about two seconds flat. Mr. Early-Bird was about twice as big as him, huggable as a teddy bear, and evidently capable of giving Jeremy a beatdown if worst came to worst. Yeah, probably not. Small talk it was.

"I'm Jeremy," he introduced, his voice cracking at about six different points. It would've been impressive, if sounding like a dying rat was something to be proud of. Which, as far as Jeremy was aware of, it wasn't. He stared at Mell expectantly, as if this was all perfectly logical, and nothing was wrong. It also crossed Jeremy that he could've given Michael a fake name, which would've been a whole lot smarter than not. He was in the middle of silently reprimanding himself, when suddenly Michael responded. Again, it was in that terrifying blast of a voice, managing to unnerve Jeremy ever more with each passing second.

"Okay, Jeremy- that's one thing down! Uh- now for the second thing! Um." Mell yapped out, swatting an arm in Jeremy's general direction. He paused for just a moment, and Heere wondered if it was because he'd temporarily forgotten what that 'second thing' actually was. He was also starting to become curious as to who would even want this guy's password manager. "Ah! I got it! What the absolute fucking fuck are you doing in my home?" He finally went on, jabbing an accusatory index to Jeremy's forehead, his gaze narrowing to slitted daggers.

"Oh-! That's a funny story, actually," Jeremy returned idiotically, waggling a palm to dismiss Michael's obvious suspicion. He didn't expect it to work, and he was unsurprisingly correct. No amount of profuse fanning would redirect the heavy air of tension and awkwardness fogged between them. But again, as per usual, it wasn't like Jeremy couldn't try. "Well- uh- ah.. You see, um, I was just.." He went on, before drawing a blank at potentially the worst moment possible.

What was his excuse, again? He had a couple, didn't he? Where'd they go? Jesus. Jeremy knew his unbridled stage fright was going to bite him in the ass one day. He just really, really wished it didn't have to be today. "Uh." He blabbered, all while this Mell guy was giving him that 'go on, I'm waiting' look, the one that Jeremy had thought only disappointed dads and teachers knew how to pull off. Once again, he stands corrected.