The Arrival

"Ordinary I guess," Astarte said. "He can be kind of an asshole, but he tries to look out for me, so I appreciate that. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have no idea how large the boy's feet are, but regardless his behaviour so soon before the attack is suspicious," Grimm said. "It might not be him who did it, but he might know something about it."

"No, I'm an only child," Noct said, she then frowned and looked out her window, "You ever get the feeling people are talking about you?"

Jane<Oh, well, why didn't you just say that you wanted me to ignore the evidence to go interrogate some kid whom you find suspicious for not liking you? That changes everything. Listen, I don't know about you, but I have work that I have to get back to.>
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"Life is a journey of discovery. So, what about you?"
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*Aroma laughs.*

"Uh, no," Astarte said, kind of confused. "How do you mean?"

Grimm glowered, "I find him suspicious because he tried to kick the doors open a matter of hours before it was attacked. He also has a motive, as he's upset about someone- who he suspects to be me- is stalking him. As I doubt you have any other suspects, I think it would be quite reasonable to at least ask some questions, even by phone. I hope you understand I am quite upset about this incident and I would hope the police do all they can to give me justice. As they are supposed to do."

Taiyo: "I've never really thought about it. My grandmother's Catholic, so I guess that's why I thought of that first, but outside of family gatherings at her place it's never really been a thing in my family."

Sab laughed too.

--

Noct looked back, "Hm, oh, it is probably nothing." She stood up and walked to the kitchen, "Can I get you anything to drink? I've got water, apple juice, orange juice, milk, and... oh, some wine, and beer." She frowned into the fridge then mumbled, "Hm, no vodka... shame."

"Well, the self-discovery has to start somewhere. So, this--"

*She points to her burger, which she has just taken a bite of.*

"--has me thinking. If we're going to be living together, I should probably know about what you like, & don't like, to eat."
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*Laughing Lesbians.*
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*Jane folds her arms.*

Jane<As a matter of fact, we do have a suspect. There is a local homeless man with a history of mental illness & minor crimes who we think might fit the profile. He also has a tendency to rant about religious abuse during his aggressive episodes, including his previous arrests. We are working on locating him.>

Taiyo: "Not much I don't like. I don't like really spicy things or onions. Sometimes they're okay like if they're in soup or something you can't really taste them, but on a burger or pizza...bleck. And after that time in the cabin...spam. Wasn't really on the top of my list of least favorite foods, but after living off of it for so long, I think I'd rather starve than eat it. And I guess you can already figure out what my favorite food is."

{I was alone in the library when I heard someone walking. I called out, but no one answered me. As I was leaving, I heard footsteps behind me. Nothing major.}
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*They keep moving*

Cameron:<I think this is a new kind of whatever.>

Monu:<Great.>

Astarte still didn't understand what Noctis meant, and recent experiences had taught her never to think that anything was 'probably nothing'. She tried to hide her anxiety and shrugged, "I guess I could go for some milk. Just plain."

Grimm seemed to brighten up a bit, "That sounds promising. If you do question this man I would ask that you see if he knows anything about the boy Roatha. In any case, I should be going, unless there is anything you'd like to mention?"

E"I'm not sure, really. I mean, I know you've had the stew here a couple of times. So is it stew?"
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<...No. There's nothing.>
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Thiera: We're really not getting any closer to finding out who's behind that. I think we'll need to get something solid, something we can take to the police.
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*As they approach the campus, a second of the same kind of silhouette suddenly steps out from a car right in front of them.*

{Somehow I believe they will tell us we are imagining things. Anyway, could I meet up with you after your movie?}
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*They run around the car then continue on to the campus, Cameron checking to see if it is following*

Taiyo: "Well, it is really good, but no...Oranges. What about you? Do you have any favorites?"

"Probably spaghetti. I love Italian, and meat, particularly beef."
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Thiera: Sure. It's ending soon.
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*They trip over the curve. When Tirea comes to, she can hardly see, & her face feels like it's on fire. When Cameron comes to, he loses his balance after his fist connects with her face, & falls over. The bruising is pretty extensive, & her eyes are almost swollen shut.*

Taiyo: "I guess that's why you usually get a burger when we come here."

*Cameron stumbles to his feet and together with Monu they help Tirea up*

Tirea:<I can't see...>

*Monu picks up Tirea and starts running again, this time being more careful about not tripping on stuff. Cameron follows*
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{Alright, see you in a few.}

*Eve hangs up then heads over to the movie theater*

*This is when they notice, as I apparently didn't specify it earlier, that they are back in the house, at the base of the stairs, & everything appears normal. Aside from the fact that Cameron was beating the shit out of Tirea when they came to.*
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"I'm just in a burger kind of mood, I guess."

Taiyo: "Okay. What do you want to do after?"

Noct raised her eyebrow to wanting milk, but when the oven dinged that the cake was ready she decided that milk wasn't such a bad idea. She put on some oven mitts, put the cake on the stove top to cool, then poured two glasses of milk. Before making her way back she sent Aroma a message reading, "Cake is done."

Putting away her phone, Noct grabbed the two glasses and headed back to the couch. "Just give it a few minutes to cool, then icing," Noct said, handing Astarte her milk, "Then we can dig in."

--

Sab's laughter died down and she mellowed into a quiet happiness, laying back on her bed with a smile.

"Thanks for your time," Grimm said before heading out and heading to the hardware store.

"Excellent," Astarte said, accepting the milk. "Thanks."

OOC: The immortal question--which bed did they do it on?

"Noct says the cake is done."
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*The hardware store features concrete floors & walls, & rows upon rows of metal shelves filled with tools & shit.*
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*After the movie, Thiera emerges from the bathroom to rejoin Nero & Roatha. Mortal, Gabe, & Senthose walk past. The 2 groups may or may not notice each other.*
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"We could buy some food? Avoid the Saturday morning grocery store rush."

Taiyo: "All right."

*Eve presumably arrived and comes over*

<Good afternoon.>
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*Tirea pushes Cameron off*

Tirea:<What the fuck?>

Cameron:<I'm sorry!>

Monu:<We need to alert everyone.>

*Cameron dials Astarte, Monu dials Hector, and Tirea calls Mimiru*

Astarte furrowed her brow when she felt her phone vibrating and fished it out of her pocket. She gave a quiet little 'sorry' to Noctis and took the call, "Hello?"

At home, Hector answered his phone, "Hello?"

Grimm bought himself a sheet of plywood large enough to cover the shattered window as well as a lot of strong tape.

*Cameron probably sounds really freaked out*

{Astarte? Thank god, I thought I've never see you again. We were, well, attacked by the shadow man, but it wasn't the same as last time.}
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{We were just attacked by the shadow man, but we all escaped. Can you alert everyone who you can contact?}