( David is gonna regret telling him he's from Manchester. to use the hulking block of brooding boxer as proof the tiny teenage girl is avoiding murdering you is probably against the spirit of this tenuous partnership. oh well. too late!! David can regret it all he wants. if Steve goes momma bear on something once, that's it, too late. he's invested now. can you mom friend a fully grown man? well they're gonna find out.

he hauls the heavy switch down, the first light glowing like a tired, mocking red eye. Steve ignores it. he both does and doesn't remember that he's done this dozen, hundreds of times before. he can tell how many seconds the gate is from open just by the jarring klaxon it makes as the electronics slowly whirr to life. ) I'm from Indiana. ( a huff of a tired laugh. ) It's cool if you don't know where that is, I don't have a clue where Manchester is, either. ( across the pond is about all he can guess. is that a part of London? a completely different city? he's got no clue. and there's probably not gonna be a geography test on where all the lost souls the Entity dragged into endless murder trials from, so Steve isn't too worried he doesn't know where Manchester is. )