fifth investigation

[stagemanagers]

[Oh, what a night.
Why'd it take so long to see the light,
Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right.
What a time, what a night.

What a night last night was! Dancing under the stars, romance, family...all the things a good school dance should stand for. Even with everyone being sick it could still, overall, be considered a hige success.

But on the subject of the sickness thats spread through the school...when people start to rouse from their dance-fuled exhaustion in the morning all the symptoms seem to be completely gone. Which should be good news but knowing what day it is.

Maybe you should leave your dorms and investigate.]

Comments

[stagemanagers]

[There's a small scrape on one of her knees. And on her hands, there's...something else?]

[mcfife]

[Carefully covers up her knees with the dress before moving onto her hands. What's on them?]

[stagemanagers]

[There's some dark stains on her fingers and hands, as well as a bit of dark fruity-looking pulp.]

[mcfife]

[...He's gonna smell that pulp.]

[stagemanagers]

[It smells like unripened tomatoes, apparently!]

[mcfife]

[Oh good, he doesn't have to lick the evidence.

But if that's all she has on her, he'll use his jacket to wipe of the rest of the pulp from her hands, tidy up any hairpins, and realign her arms so she feels more at piece.

...And remove the coins from her eyes for one last look at her.]

[stagemanagers]

[As he's cleaning her up, he'll likely notice a similar smear of dark juice at the corner of her mouth.]

[mcfife]

[...He's going to wipe that up, maybe look at inside her mouth? He's not going to kiss her, but if she ate some of this stuff, it could be a clue.]

[stagemanagers]

[Yeah, there's some dark stains in there, too. Please do not kiss her.]

[mcfife]

[Only assholes would kiss women without their permission.

As he lays her down to rest, he takes the tarp, folds it up as it had been for Mumble, and rests it under her head. This is better to look at.]

...

[He doesn't know what to say. Will she hear him? Can he even stand up? Everyone else needs him, he knows he can't stay here forever, but once he turns away, Elle will be gone forever. This isn't the kind of sadness that can go away after hitting something really hard. It chains him to the ground, daring him to turn around and losing the love of his life.]

I have a gift for you. [The concessions stand provided a never-ending stream of accessories, sweets, and books for Elle, but there was one he wouldn't dare give away while here. It's too late regardless, but-] I don't know if we will meet again, but you should have it. As a keepsake.

[He reaches into his backpack - a good place to carry just about anything, and pulls out an engagement ring. Angus nestles it into one of her hands and presses it into a loose fist, then has her other hand rest on top of it.]

I swear we will find justice for you. And- [A glance at Orpheus, the man who convinced the god of the underworld to let his wife return to the living.] Promise me that you will wait. We'll bring you back, all of you.

[brokeforgood]

[HOLY SHIT SHE REALLY KEEPS EAVESDROPPING ON SHIT SHE SHOULDNT BE SEEING.]

[mcfife]

[Looking at Farrah when he remembers he's not alone-

You good, there? Eyeing Orpheus' body.]

[brokeforgood]

… Yeah. [She glances down at Orpheus, and gives his hair one last stroke. Then she pulls the cloth back over him, and rises to her feet, wiping her hands off on her knees as she moves to Angus’ side, glancing down at Elle’s form. And then she sings.]

Promise that I won’t forget you
Someone has got to keep your memory.
Promise that I won’t forget you.
Live and let live—- and won’t let go.

[mcfife]

[He looks down at Elle one last time, and for the first time since he arrived-

reaches out to hug Farrah, both arms on her shoulders.]

[stagemanagers]

[Okay, so this is really sweet and I don't wanna break it up or anything, but someone needs to finish looking at Orpheus's body at some point, so...]

[brokeforgood]

[She hadn’t even hugged him after he helped her out of that wreck. Hadn’t allowed him to carry her, even though her ribs ached and her head was throbbing. She was selective about who she trusted with her vulnerabilities with, and fierce to everyone else.

With Angus, she’s always been quick to speak, to retort, to stand strong.

But here and now? She turns, so she can hug him too.]

[mcfife]

[He holds onto her, her supporting him, letting himself rest for once. Just wallow in grief and let nothing pull him out.

Eventually though, he gets the energy to pull himself up.]

You…you don’t have to look at the body.

[brokeforgood]

Too late.

If you wanna— check and see if I missed anything, though? I have no idea what the fuck I’m looking at or for. The bloodiest thing I dealt with was my own murder, and I didn’t get much time to look real close.

[mcfife]

[A smile cracks on his face, even if just for half a second. Farrah always knew how to lighten the mood.]

I can. It’s the least I can do for him.

…We must find Bruiser.

[brokeforgood]

We’ll find him next. I’m sure he’s hiding somewhere.

[anyway….]