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Kidnapping someone is officially the most boring thing ever.
Scale isn’t sure why they couldn’t just pick a random person and off them. He didn’t see the point in ‘picking out’ someone, at least not in the way Cole seems to be going about it. He’d targeted specific people if they seemed weak or had a high bounty on their heads or were just particularly annoying but Scale had never had a true idea of what he wanted his targets to be like. A person was a person at the end of the day; they all bled the same way.
Perhaps his lack of understanding is exactly why the Organization of Assassins wanted him to work with and learn from a serial killer in the first place.
Though Scale didn’t see how he could learn much of anything from Cole. The bastard was annoying and frankly an amateur who left clues absolutely fucking everywhere. Scale didn’t know if he was stupid or just arrogant but it sure was annoying when he had to double-check everything to make sure they didn’t get caught. Cole never thanked him for his actions either. In fact, the guy always seemed annoyed with him. He talked down to Scale and spoke as if he was infinitely more knowledgeable. It was like he viewed Scale as nothing but a stupid child who didn’t know anything despite the fact Scale was only a year younger and had a significantly higher kill count.
When he’d pointed that out though Cole had only rolled his eyes and said, “you can kill as many people as you want but it doesn’t make you better than me. The difference between us is our motivations. Unlike you, I don’t kill just because I can. That's what makes me so much more mature than you.”
Scale hadn’t known how to refute that.
At the moment they were sitting at a public park about an hour away from Cole’s house. It was late afternoon now but they’d arrived early in the morning, Scale being dragged out of bed and to the park with little to no explanation from his supposed ‘teacher.’ When they’d finally sat down in the gazebo on top of a hill, Cole had directed his attention down to the rest of the park. From where they were sitting they could see practically the entire place.
“You’re going to pick a target,” Cole had finally explained, “but since you’ll just pick a random person, I’ll help you. Just people watch, I’ll tell you when you’ve picked someone.”
Scale had argued that it’d hardly be ‘picking’ if he wasn’t actually choosing but Cole had just rolled his eyes and said in that annoying drone of his, “you’ll understand once it happens.” Which wasn’t an explanation at all but Scale couldn’t really argue with Cole, the Order would be upset with him if he truly managed to piss the older off.
People watching was truly horrible though. They’d been sitting at the gazebo for hours, staring down at families and college students and generally a wide variety of people but according to Cole’s silence Scale had yet to ‘pick’ someone. At some point, he’d tried staring at random people for longer just to see if that’d count but Cole stayed as quiet as ever, and eventually Scale had given it up.
“What am I even supposed to be doing?” Scale grumbled eventually, running his hands down his face with a groan. He was tired and hungry and irritated, a dangerous combination when you were a skilled assassin. “I could have killed over a dozen people by now!”
“You’re so short-sighted,” Cole said with a sigh, gray eyes rolling yet again. They were comparable to boulders rolling down a mountain at this point. “The point of killing isn’t just to off a random person, that's just mindlessly taking life. Have you seriously never considered who you were killing or why?”
Scale wanted to argue that he had, that his motivations were just less specific and ridiculous in comparison to Cole’s. As he thought about it though he came to the realization that not only did he not know Cole’s motivations but… his own were far from something to be proud of.
Scale killed because it’s what he’s always known. Because the Order told him to and paid him in kind. He’d never paused to see who his target was or why he was being ordered to kill them, it had never even occurred to him to do so.
In the end… he was doing nothing but following orders.
“Despite what the police say everyone has a ‘signature’ when it comes to killing,” Cole’s words brought Scale out of his own head and for once Scale found that he actually wanted to listen to the older, “there's a way they prefer to do it and a reason they kill someone. An emotion that motivates them to kill and if made to feel that emotion again would likely lead them to kill again. You need to find your signature, that's what I’m here to help you with. That begins with finding your type.”
“Type? Like… for dating?”
Cole shrugs, face and actions indifferent as always despite the subject matter. It was the type of apathy that Scale had needed to learn over time but it seemed to come to Cole naturally. “It can be. For me, I prefer people I think would cause a lot of attention. I enjoy seeing the police scramble to solve the ‘mystery.’ Something tells me your taste will be very different from my own, though.”
Scale finds himself nodding, “the people who pull a lot of attention are always the worst. An assassin kills and then leaves. I can’t do that if I’m being pulled in and questioned.”
“You’ll want someone that no one will miss then,” Cole says, his lips twitching into a smirk. It’s a look Scale has seen a few times but never in response to something he’s said. It feels… nice, though he’s not sure why. “That's a good start. So you’ll want to ignore families and kids then since those tend to bring in a lot of media and concern. The next question would be what your preferred age range is.”
Mulling it over, Scale frowned. They’d already rooted out children and families which tended to be people from age twenty-five to forty. That left him with elderly people and young adults around his own age. “Killing old people isn’t exactly ‘epic’ so… people around my age, I guess?”
Cole hummed, eyes now scanning over the park again. “You’re always going on about wanting things to be ‘epic.’ Do you prefer a challenge then? Someone who fights you instead of just giving in?”
“I guess? It makes my job more interesting. No one likes a battle that ends in seconds.”
“And there’s your motivation,” Cole says, the words coming out as if he’s revealing something truly shocking and incredible. “Personally I find it a bit childish but I suppose everyone has their own goals. Either way, now we just need to find you a target. Someone who will give you a challenge and then won’t cause you fuss once you ‘defeat’ them. How about… them?”
Scale follows Cole’s gaze to find a guy sitting under a tree with a book. Instantly he can tell they’re the brooding type, dressed in dark colors and buckles with bright teal streaks running through their hair. They looked to be about his age and Scale knew enough about the ‘gothic’ types to know that they tended to have family problems and ruder personalities. Essentially, the guy met all his criteria.
Without saying anything, Cole seemed to know that the guy was a winner. Standing up he gestured for Scale to do the same. “I see we’ve got ourselves a target. Let me handle the kidnapping though, will you? I’m far better with people than you and I’d hate for us to lose your first target.”
And there was the asshole Scale despised so much.