#gonna be screaming!! bye! wish me luck for no nightmares after this

[alluralater]

playing with my hair but i’m too flustered to respond in the way my body desperately wants to. i have a hum in my throat and it is warm like those June nights where it’s almost too hot to sleep. too hot to do anything other than run my fingers over my skin and fantasize in my sleeplessness. but tonight it is you, and your touch is perfect. warmer than all the nights and burning days. however cold i was it is no longer the tale told beneath these stars. it’s a simmering need which your fingers find between my hips. drifting up and down my inner thigh, you are not the same as you were. tired earlier, yes. but now, now your lips are against mine. i can feel the tendons below my jaw pulling into this kiss. slow but becoming faster when teeth claim my bottom lip, setting the pace to be something like desperate need stretched out over endless seconds. i could lean in and kiss you, but rather i am finding that the moon like me, is half of what it could be, and waiting to be filled just the same. i would much rather allow myself to indulge in whatever feels exactly right. like me, you are a torrent of waves beneath. i can tell by the need of your fingers gripping my thigh now and pushing it away from its pair. sliding lower, closer.

i could kiss you, but we are exchanging breath between us. i could not break a moment like this, suspended. you are feeling my body and i am too beside myself with desire to even consider the pause. but the pause comes and goes in the hitch of my exhale. your fingers between my lips and so the shaky air in these inches we share, belongs to us both. my nails are pressed into the softness of your upper arm and they dig deep when you whisper in hushed half heard murmurs that i am so… so wet. the shudder rolls through me. the one that says keep going. keep going and i’ll lose myself here. the pads of your fingers are warming up the electricity coiled in my body. fuck. a whisper. a whimper. a question, if it can be answered by action of intensity. whatever i am craving, you are working toward something similar in ways i did not expect. this is soft and slow- carnal. building up the discourse between my cells. you wish to make them loud like thunder, sharp like heavy rain. fuck just- just what? your tongue is tracing the shape of my lips and i am moaning into your mouth because of it. circling my clit simultaneously like this is trouble, i can tell. but it cannot be soon enough when one digit is sinking into me. a hum while you bite your lip and watch my jaw drop as i take another, eyes dazed and unfocused. fill me, the moon. it is when you start the rocking of your wrist like the tides that i cannot form words. i cannot speak at all. sensation gripping me almost as much as the look on your face does. like we are enjoying this together, just as much. tonight it is us. tonight it is us and nothing else. let it be that. be here. my hand is dragging up your side, over your shoulder. into your hair. the sound. oh god- the fucking sound of you inside me. i can’t keep this up for long. eyes on my eyes, quicker pace in your forearm. shallow breathing beginning. i can only just barely get the words out between the noticeable nearing of the end. don’t fucking stop.

[eligaxy]

Wind

☆ℜ𝔢𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔭 : Venti x gn!Reader

☆𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 : near death experience, you’re confused asf about everything, bad writing cause i suck, spoilers for the we will be reunited quest!! And also for venti’s backstory, venti is serious for once (yes it’s a legitimate warning🤚)

☆𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢 : Some angst, some fluff? Idk bye🤨

☆𝔖𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶 : "It's okay, it's over now" he kneeled to be at your level, his arms still wrapped around you, and you didn't have the energy to fight your urge of nuzzling into him. "I'll always be here for you, wherever there is wind, remember I'm here too. You only need to ask." (2.8k words)

♪𝔑𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 : i’m an idiot simp, i did this in one sitting and half asleep, english isnt my first language BLA BLA IM SORRY FOR MY POOR WRITING BUT HAVE THIS

basically you don’t know if you can trust venti or not, head says no, heart screams yes

Also, I was listening to stormterror’s lair ost while writing it, just because its fucking amazing, you might wanna listen to it too

I’m nervous to post this?/&:! This is the second fic i’ve ever finished in my whole life

i love venti and he’s hot in his god outfit i don’t make the rules

KAY ENJOY <3

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

Saying you were exhausted would have been an understatement. After reuniting with your sibling, you had been frantically searching for clues about khaenri'ah and ways to Inazuma. With no luck, you couldn't find any traces of Dainsleif or of your twin. The ruins had been sealed and you had no idea what happened to the inverted statue or the corpse you had found there. Desperately, you clung into every little information you had, you would have turned every rock on this archon damned continent if you had to, which is what led you into those ruins near Guilli plains.

Walking along the destroyed buildings your eyes caught sight of a dandelion and you froze. You missed them so much, why couldn't they go back home with you? All you ever wanted was to be by their side why, why were they running away from you?

You remembered your travels, the moments you shared together, their protectiveness over you, the fondness in their eyes when you smiled at them. You remember the times you got hurt and healed one another with your now missing powers. You remember sleeping by their side and being grateful to the universe to let you keep your ray of sunshine everywhere with you. How ironic.

What had they meant 'once you reach the end of your journey' ? What does that even mean? Stupid twin, if they knew you were here the whole time, why hadn't they come to you? Why were they always leaving just when they were within your grasp? Why? Did they know how much you missed them and how much your heart broke when you finally saw them? Did they?

You only realized you were crying when a small gust of wind had your wet cheek react to the cold, breaking your train of thought. Wind.

The wind is everywhere, you think, free as a bird, always accompanying every citizen of this world, never truly alone. With this in mind, you resumed your exploring, slower this time.

A sigh escaped your mouth. You didn't want to admit it, but the wind did comfort you a little. Almost as if he was here. God of freedom and of the breeze, he was more a singer than a protector and you couldn't bear to think about him. Was it true? What Dain said... Did he destroy this nation? Was he the cause of the scenery that still haunted your nightmares up until 500 years later? Your brain simply couldn't accept that Venti, your Venti, you catch yourself thinking, could have made such an act of wrath. He was the epitome of freedom, why would he take the very thing he based all of his existence on from mere mortals? Barbatos simply couldn't be afraid of being overpowered, he didn't even care about power. All he wanted was freedom and happiness for his people. Surley this couldn't be right?

But then again, who were you to deny the wipe out of an entire nation? The gods did it. They were afraid that Celestia would be overthrown by the pride of humankind, the destruction of khaenri'ah by divine beings was a fact. There was no misunderstanding about this. That was the one thing you were sure of. So why did you feel like crying even more now?

The mere thought of a gentle soul such as Venti committing innocent people to an eternity of suffering didn't sit right with you. Even when his dearest friend Dvalin had turned against him, he didn't try to stop him, didn't even ask the dragon to save him. He healed and helped him, gave him a choice.

'What is freedom if demanded of you by a god?' was the same person that asked this question the same one who committed mass murder? Genocide?

Did the little wine-lover bard you had grown fond of destroy all hopes and light your kin had?

You remember that night when he freed Stanley from his burden, freed his and his friends' spirits. You had marveled at his action, in that instant he was a god, and he definitely hadn't struck you as a murderer. You remember that look of silent pain and grief in his eyes when he sang the tales of the nameless bard he had taken the appearance of. You knew he trusted you enough to share his story, something so personal, you could almost feel the war that took down the tyrant of Mond. Oh how much you cherished that evening, treating him to some well deserved dandelion wine afterwards, his favorite, and asking him to sing you more about the time where was nothing but the spirit of a breeze.

Your heart broke a little, remembering his rosy cheeks and drunk smile, you wish you could talk to him, ask him what happened. What did he do, was he really as dangerous as you had been told? If so, then why did you feel so good around him? Why did you feel like you could give hi-

You stopped walking upon seeing a ruin guard up ahead in the distance. You're so stupid, you think. Feeling this way is not gonna get you anywhere, especially with how the bard had been missing for a few weeks now. Ever since you had last seen your sibling.

Where was he, where was he wandering off to? You walk towards the disabled ruin guard, not really paying any mind to it, still thinking about the god you longed to meet with. If you could see him, what would you even say? Would he even answer your questions? Why did your stomach feel so light and funny when you thought about seeing him, why aren't you angrier?

You're almost at the killing machine's level now, so lost in your thought you don't notice the five other similar robots hidden behind a wall next to it. You notice them only when it's too late and you've already turned them on while thinking about examining them and collecting their serial numbers. When you hear the familiar tick of the mechanism turning on, you internally panic and think about running away only to calm down moments later and think to yourself that you can simply beat it and take what you came here for. Even if you are emotionally and physically tired, you can manage, you think.

That was before hearing five other consecutive ticks right after it, and all around you.

Turning around, your gaze falls upon the small army of field tillers. Fuck.

Paimon wasn't with you today, you had asked for some time alone which she hesitantly accepted, so you couldn't ask her to go fetch help. You would have been worried if you had all your capacities but with the state you were in, you were wondering how you were going to survive this fight. You were alone, none of your companions with you, and deeply weakened by the busy day you had and the few hours of sleep you had managed to steal away from the night. Was it today you would meet your doom, with all your questions and uncertainties unanswered?

You tried your best to fight with the strength you had left, but quickly grew desperate after what felt like hours of efforts to swing your blade and being able to only take one monster down out of the six. It didn't help that you got injured along the way, their blows becoming harder and harder to dodge. After being thrown on the grown for the third time, you understood you had at least two broken ribs and that your shaking legs would soon fail you as well.

Fear crept upon you, you would die here today, alone. Alone. You couldn't talk to your sibling after all, couldn't understand. You didn't even get to talk to him one last time. Him... You would die without the knowledge of the truth about your bard. You would die alone. You didn't want that, you couldn't look death straight in the eye.

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

-

In Mondstadt, there was a musician, a weird singer everyone had heard about at least once. He lived off of his songs and was mostly known for having a great story-telling and being an alcoholic.

The number of people who knew the true nature of his identity were few and he was perfectly content with that. He didn't wish to be a god anymore, his gnosis had been taken away anyway and it's not like he had any power over the city of wind nowadays. Even if his people still worshipped him as Barbatos, it didn't sit right with him to be called a god anymore. It actually never did, he thinks to himself with a smile, he never really took any responsibilities that came with the divine title which is why he was so weak today. But it didn't matter to him, his smile turns into a soft giggle.

Sitting on a mill that was once born from his steps he looks fondly over the city he founded. Even if they were godless, the citizens were still thriving and free. He cared oh so very deeply about the place even if he rarely, if not never, showed the affection within his heart. He remembers the day he grew strong enough to dispel the storms over his actual Mondstadt, and made the weather gentle enough so that there was no need for fireplaces. Nowadays, he loves watching birds nest into the chimney tops and seeing them found their own home. It gave him a sense of belonging like no other, not above his people, but walking among them and watching them nest into this cocoon he created. He was proud of what happened to his land and would do it all over again if he had to.

Especially since it led to him meeting you. This thought doesn't catch him off guard, you often roamed around in his mind after all, and it's not like he didn't write at least three songs about you and your feat, your smile, your courage...

Ah there he goes again, rambling about you in a whisper. He turns around to the statue of him his people erected in his honor, chuckling at how they never made the connection with his signature braids. His, but not really his, since he had stolen this form from someone who was much more deserving of this power than him. Seeing his friend being honored with the statues of the seven around the land made him happy, he hoped that it was a good enough thank you gift in return for everything that the bard whom he couldn't even remember the name of anymore did for him.

Upon gazing at the statue, he remembered telling you of his long gone friend. It was the first time he had talked about him to someone else, he didn't even mention it to Venessa, she who made him believe in himself again. He could ask himself why, but he simply knew that you had something different, more than meets the eye. Perhaps it was because you weren't from Teyvat, or perhaps it was just you being as simple as your natural self but he was simply and utterly captivated by your being. You inspired him to no end, at first he thought it was because he had never met someone like you and he loved new things! But as time grew and he got to know you, he understood quickly the meaning and depth of his passions. He thought of it with a light chuckle, content with your presence alone. He really did need and want you around.

So why did he purposely avoid you like the plague?

The wind had brought to his ears that you had met with Dainsleif.

And your twin.

His first reaction was to search for you, talk to you, he wanted to be here to know what happened! You had searched so long, he couldn't contain himself, still listening to what the wind told him, he started running with excitement but... But wait, Dainsleif was... He told you what?

Oh.

So you heard about Khaenri'ah. He had stopped dead in his tracks and turned back, only sending a warm current of wind your way, hugging you from afar.

He wasn't ready to talk about this yet, not ready to face you and absolutely not ready to answer your questions. He was a coward, he thought, running away like that but what else could he do, really. It was only natural for him to be as uncatchable as air.

A sorry excuse to avoid the fact that even if his past had marvelous story like the one of the nameless bard, it also had its share of darkness, something he wasn't ready to dive back into. Especially not now when your arrival has been shaking this world up like it hasn't been since at least 500 years.

But oh, how he longed to see your face or to hear your voice. So he asked a breeze to report to him what you were up to, and where you were. Just in case! he tells himself, what if you needed help ehe? But he knows you're competent and you won't need the help of a weakling coward like him anytime soon. Or so he thought.

Because when the breeze only gives him a few words back, his blood runs cold.

"Please, anybody... Just help me."

-

As you murmured these words in your desperate state, not really for anyone but yourself as a last resort, a prayer of some sort, you tried to stand by leaning yourself on your sword and failing miserably. You didn't dare look up as you heard the loud footsteps of the metal giants coming your way. It was over, and you barely managed to accept it.

As you rested your forehead against the cold handle of your sword, you closed your eyes, tears starting to make their ways out of your closed eyelids. All you could feel was remorse.

A soft breeze moved your hair slightly and your chest felt like a black hole had taken place where your heart used to be, regretting to not have been able to meet him under the tree at Windrise one last time.

The breeze quickly grew stronger, until it felt unnatural and you looked up from the ground, only to close your eyes again immediately when you realized the wind was too powerful for you to keep them open. If you had struggled to see though, you would have been blinded by the white light that soon illuminated the whole ruins. You didn't have enough time to register the situation when you felt a hand being laid atop your shoulder, snaking around your collarbones and pulling you back into... nothing? Another arm circled your weak form and a voice you immediately recognized said

"I've dealt with things worse than you, now crumble."

You realized that if you couldn't feel a chest behind you while still being embraced by his arms, it was because he was floating above you, and not standing behind you. A look in his direction confirmed your suspicions but what stunned you wasn't the fact that he was flying, but the attire he wore. Barely covering his body, a white set made of materials that seemed like clouds and liquid gold contrasted perfectly with his regular green clothes. His hair was glowing green and his eyes that were focused on the ruin guards up ahead had a marvelous shine that you had never seen before. He had that same aura he did the night he freed Stanley, but there was also something different about the way his hands gripped you a little too tightly or the way his voice sounded.

"Venti.." You muttered his name, relief and affection flooding you all at once, in his presence you felt as if nothing bad could happen to you. How foolish could you be, just a few hours ago you were speculating wether or not he had wiped out an entire civilisation and now here you were, being saved by him and feeling safer than you had in months.

"Close your eyes, I don't want give you a headache" he said, slowly floating legs first towards the ground. His unusually serious voice surprised you (and him) but you did as he told you. Letting go of your sword and leaning back into him, you let him deal with the monsters ahead of you.

"It's okay, it's over now" he kneeled to be at your level, his arms still wrapped around you, and you didn't have the energy to fight your urge of nuzzling into him. "I'll always be here for you, wherever there is wind, remember I'm here too. You only need to ask."

Being protected by a god really didn't feel that bad. Especially when you were in love with said god.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Thank you so much for reading whatever this is until the end :’)

Don’t hesitate to comment or reblog, tysm <3

Ps: venti loves u and so do i do pls take care of urself mwah

[ilovebeing-weird]

Have a Coffee

Chapter-3

Chapter-1 Chapter-2

So, people who like angst. There won't be much angst here. I hate it! There would be hurt/comfort at best. This is going to be a fluffy story. And if I get anything wrong in the airport scenes, it's because idk how they work. Never been to an airport.

"Flight 204, to New York, from Air France will leave soon. Passengers please board the plane. Flight 204....." The voice was heard from the speakers

"Queenie, it's our flight. Let's go." Marinette called Chloe, who was busy fighting with a person, because he didn't recognise her and it's 'ridiculous, utterly ridiculous'

"Hmph, you better keep up with the celebrities. I am the Chloe Bourgeois. The only daughter of Style Queen, Audrey Bourgeois. The person who has her own amazing business. The best friend of cocci-"

"Chlo!" Mari put her hand to prevent her from speaking more than necessary. "Our flight, let's go."

"Oh"

"Je suis désolée Monsieur." (I am sorry sir)

"C'est bon." (It's okay)

"Let's go Chloe."

"I can't wait to go to New York! It's gonna be sooo much fun! I am so excited" Adrien squealed heading towards his seat

"When are you not excited?" Kagami asked rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's behavior

"Don't put your cloudy shade over my sunlight." Adrien said dramatically, in response Kagami again rolled her eyes.

"If you think I am such a rain cloud, why are you dating me?"

"Because I love you, Duh!"

Kagami's face went as red as a tomato.

"Aww, you're blushing!"

"No, I am not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I am not."

"Yes-"

"Guys as cute as you are, can we just please move." Luka said moving to his seat

"Sorry Lukes."

"Luka-bear, window seat is mine."

"I know Bee."

"Mari, you get the aisle seat. And Lu you'll have to sit in the middle." Chloe pointed to everyone's seat

"Yes Queenie!" Marinette saluted

"Perfect, now I will sleep for hours, I need my beauty sleep after all. If I will get dark circles it will be ridi-"

"RIDICULOUS, UTTERLY RIDICULOUS" All of them yelled

"Melody, your soul mark is in English, right. Maybe you'll find your soulmate here."

"Oooooh"

"Yeah, probably. My luck is not that good though."

"Don't lose hope yet Marinette, who knows maybe something good will happen."

"Maybe"

"The flight is ready to take off, passengers please wear their seatbelts. The flight is ready to…"

"I think we should get seated." Kagami took her seat "And Mars, don't worry, you will find your soulmate soon. It's destiny."

"You're right. It's destiny."

They all got seated, and Marinette was dying from lack of her coffee.

"I need my coooooffeeeee."

"No, sleep."

"Coffeeeee."

"Mel, for the last time, Sleeeeep!! Please."

"But I don't wanna. I have work-"

"That can wait. I am sure your clients will understand. And even if they won't I am sure you're ahead of your schedule." Marinette opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, it happened for a good three minutes before she gave in.

"......fine."

"Good"

"but you are working as my mannequin later."

"If it gets you to sleep."

"Why are you obsessed with making me sleep?"

"Because I care." Came his soft reply.

~After 5 hours~

"Marinette~ Where are you?~" A maniacal voice was heard

"Marinette! Answer me before I come there! Guess I will have to teach you another lesson!"

"Why don't you just die, you stupid piece of shit?" A punch

"Why are you even alive?" A kick

"You're nothing more than a waste of space." A push and marinette fell to the ground

"Nobody ever loved you, and nobody ever will! You don't even have a soulmate!" Marinette tried to say something, deny it, tell them that she had one, but she couldn't "And your "friends" they just hang out with you for pity!"

"I can't even believe I was friends with you!"

"You're nothing more than a jealous bully!"

She tried to do something, anything! But she wasn't able to, it was almost like she was bound by an invisible force.

"I hate you! I can't believe I was besties with you! You are just a liar and a bully!" Another kick, it didn't hurt. Not more than their betrayal.

"Asshole!"

"Bitch!"

"Slut"

"Waste of time!"

She sat there, listening to them. All of their insults, she didn't care. Not anymore.

"Guess I will have to put an end to it all, huh? I feel sad, you were a good playtoy." Her da-, no Mr.Dupain said, and the knife came down, she was screaming but no sound came out

"Marinette!" Huh? She didn't die?

"Marinette!" Adrien, she recognized the voice

"Marinette!" Marinette woke up with a shock

"What happened?"

"You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep."

"Oh, I had a nightmare." Adrien wiped her tears, she'd been crying? She didn't know.

"Wanna talk about it?" No she didn't, it will make it all real. It would bring flashbacks and she would have a panic attack.

"Not really." It was good that Adrien respected her wishes and didn't push it. "How long till we reach?"

"Uh, it's been five hours, so I am guessing three hours more. You wanna eat something?"

"N-" Adrien cut her off

"You know what? You do want to. You will obviously deny it, but I am not gonna let you starve."

"Why are you all like this?"

"Like what? So caring and such good friends? You deserve it."

"I hate you, each one of you."

"Aww, you know you love us! You looove us"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Mari rolled her eyes. She knew she loved them, they knew she loved them. They all loved each other, platonically obviously. But, there was a part of her which always wondered if they hung out with her just because they pitied her. They wouldn't do that, right?

Would they?

Finally almost eight hours passed, she had eaten and now she was working on some new designs while her friends slept peacefully.

"There has been a technical issue, the flight would land right here, in Gotham. Passengers are required to please wear their seatbelts and not panic."

WHAT!? The flight had to make an abrupt stop at Gotham at all of places, the fucking CRIME CAPITAL!! Oh no, oh no, OH HELL NO! This is a disaster, this is a disaster, a disaster. Wasn't luck supposed to be on her side? Did the miraculous mean nothing?

She quickly wore her seatbelt and checked all of her friends' too before waking them up.

"Umm, guys, there has been a technical issue, the flight's gonna land now, so you may wanna wake up." It didn't work, the formal and polite option didn't work "GUYS WAKE UP! THE FLIGHT'S GONNA LAND RIGHT NOW IN GOTHAM!" That worked! It jolted awake all of them.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"In the fucking crime capital?!"

"Maybe it is destiny." Marinette gave Luka a weird look that said 'are you crazy or something?'

"Maybe you will find your soulmate here."

"Of fucking course. In the crime capital. Maybe my soulmate is a criminal too, huh?"

"Don't be such a pessimist Mari, there are good people too in Gotham."

"So any idea what we wanna do?" Marinette asked once they were out of the plane.

"Let's order a cab to New York?"

"Yeah, let's do that. Let me check the cabs… There's no cab available for where you wanna go….. " Blood drained from Adrien's face as he read that.

"So, we are forced to stay in Gotham?"

"Kinda"

"Well what should we do now?" Luka gained their attention

"Let's go shopping!!" Chloe, obviously, cheered "Before either of you deny, Kags, you need new clothes, no offense, but you really have a bad fashion sense. Luka-bae, I need you to carry my bags. Adri-kins, Kags need you. And Mari-bear, you have a good fashion choice." Luka and Adrien sighed, guess they have to carry their bags forever.

"I don't know Chlo, I really need some coffee and have to do some work. I guess I will go to a café instead." Marinette said sheepishly

"Hmm, if you say so." Marinette was genuinely surprised that she let her off the hook. Usually she would be dragged with them. "You can send us your location and we'll meet you there in two hours?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Okay, bye, don't have a overdose~"

"Bye queenie!"

"Now let's find a café with an internet connection and quiet environment." She quickly searched all the café near her, fortunately the nearest café was within walking distance.

She walked for ten minutes before she reached the café "coffee and joy" apparently this café has amazing coffee and the batfam, mostly Red Robin, always comes here. The atmosphere was good, not too crowded but enough for it to be good.

She walked inside, it was good. As soon as she walked in she was greeted by the fragrance of coffee. The circular tables had plants on the side, couples were talking and chattering. There were families enjoying themselves, and a person who was typing away on his computer, huh, he almost looks dead. Well, who was she to judge, she was sure she looked the same while she was working.

She went to order. The workers there were happy and cheery. Weird, this is Gotham. Aren't people supposed to be gloomy and annoyed here? Well, Paris, the supposedly city of love, the people there are--the ones she knows the rest she is sure are good--are evil. She is not even exaggerating.

"Hi! How can I help you today?" The worker, she learnt the name was Sam, asked her.

"Hey can I get a black coffee with…..eight espresso shots? thank you!" The worker looked shocked, obviously anyone would be shocked if someone ordered this much caffeine. She muttered something that she couldn't quite make out but it sounded like 'there's three of them' . What did she mean by three of them? Eh, whatever.

"What name should I write on the cup?"

"Marinette." Marinette, the only reminder of her fam- the people she lived with. The name that was given to her by her grandma that she loves dearly. At Least her grandparents are good people.

"Okay, why don't you wait and I will call you?"

"Sure" She went to the table in the corner. So she would not grab any attention but will be able to go to the counter easily when called.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim was having a sucky day. Firstly, he was almost late to the meeting because Bruce thought it was good to let him sleep in. Fuck you Bruce! I don't need to sleep. Then Alfred banned coffee. Why? Because apparently he had a little too much coffee. Thirdly, his brothers were still obsessed with making him sleep, he already slept last night!

"Ughhh" Tim groaned, luckily his favourite café was just around the corner. He would go and grab some coffee there and work in peace.

Upon entering the café he was greeted by the sweet fragrance of coffee. Oh, how much he loved it. If he didn't find his soulmate he would marry coffee. Bruce wouldn't have a problem, right?

"Hey Sam!" Tim greeted the always cheerful barista

"Hey Mr. Drake. Your usual?"

"Yep."

"It will be ready soon!"

Thanking her Tim made his way to his usual table and took out his laptop to go over the meeting details. After a minute or so grabbing his coffee and feeling alive again Tim started working on the documents. He was so lost in his world that he didn't realise someone coming in. Only when her name was called did he realise that.

Out of curiosity, Tim looked at her, and what he saw was something he would remember forever. That woman was beautiful. He knew that it was wrong, he knew that he had a soulmate, he knew he should wait for them wherever they are, but he also knew that he felt a connection with her, he also knew that he had to take his chance. So that's what he'll do.

Waiting for a while to gather some courage and thinking about what to say. He started to make his way to her. Only to be stopped by her sad expression, she was angry, mostly sad looking at her laptop. Huh, looks like she's not having a great day. He decided that he will go to her with coffee, after all what was something that coffee couldn't solve. He ordered two coffees for them, he knew that her order was the same as his.

He took a deep breath and made his way across the café to her and offered her the beverage in his hand. "Having a rough day?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette was relieved that she got her coffee. She hasn't had any since morning. Why does the world have to be sooo unfair to her!? Opening her laptop she found some new commissions…..and some emails from her old class. Can they just suck it and move on? How childish can anyone be.

She knows that she shouldn't be but she was sad looking at it. She was just about to delete them when a voice startled her.

"Having a rough day? Have a coffee, It will make it better." Marinette being Marinette jumped at the voice.

"Ahh! You scared me! Wait a second….. You are my soulmate! Thanks for the coffee by the way." As soon as their hands touched there was a golden glow around them, a welcoming glow.

"Hey, soulmate. I am Timothy Drake-Wayne please call me Tim."

"Hey Tim, I am Marinette. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Marinette." Tim kissed her knuckles to which she responded by blushing.

@legodetectivemalsblog

[hopeisour4letteredword]

look through your textbook (cause i’m history) ch2

Content warnings: implied/referenced domestic violence

Summary: After dropping out, Yuri’s life is a haze of working and trying not to lose his damn mind. Then he meets Estelle.

Read it here or check the notes for the link to AO3.

Estelle spends  a whole morning huddled down in front of Yuri’s clunky old laptop. He doesn’t have internet at his apartment right now, so they bring it over to the community center. Hanks helps her for a while, but soon the morning crowd trickles in, and duty calls him away. Yuri is banned from helping, on the grounds that he has no business advising anyone on how to interact with the police. He wishes he could do something for her, aside from repeatedly confirm that yes, he’ll be a block away the whole time; yes, she can still stay with him afterwards; yes, he will break into the station and whisk her away to safety if the police try any bullshit.

“I thought I told you to get away from her and not give any advice,” Hanks says, smacking Yuri away from Estelle’s side with the soft end of a broom.

“It’s not advice,” Yuri protests. “It’s reassurance.”

"Do n’t you listen to a damn thing that boy tells you,” Hanks tells Estelle, sternly. Estelle smiles nervously at both of them, eyes crinkled up despite the dark bags underneath them. She didn’t sleep much last night, according to Yuri’s creaky old box springs. That or nightmares, the way she was tossing and turning. It doesn’t make a difference which it was, really. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

What she’s doing is reading a lot of advice blogs and mumbling to herself about her rights. Just watching her raises the metaphorical hackles of Yuri’s protective instincts. Hanks has a point, though. The less Yuri is involved, the better. He keeps himself busy in the kitchen for the rest of the morning. At least he can be sure the chicken stock won’t try to coerce Estelle into returning to an abusive household.

After lunch, they pack up Yuri’s laptop and  get ready to go. Hanks unexpectedly flags them down before they make it out the door.

“Be careful, you two. Yuri, you’re on your best God damned behavior, you hear me?”

“Sir yes sir,” Yuri says, dryly.

“Young lady, you take this.”

“Huh?” Estelle fumbles with the solid object he drops into her hands. “Your—your phone? But—“

“I turned off the password lock,” Hanks says. “And Yuri’s name is plainly labeled in the contacts. That should stop him getting antsy and bursting in because he thinks it’s taking too long. I imagine it’ll make you feel a smidge better, too.”

“Thanks, Hanks,” Yuri says. He doesn’t have the heart to brush this one off. It really does make him feel a fuck of a lot better to know Estelle will be able to reach him even if she can’t get out of the building.

“Mind you, I want that back, of course,” Hanks says, patting Estelle on the shoulder. She clutches the phone to her chest, wide-eyed.

“Thank you so much...!”

Yuri flippantly salutes Hanks, reaching for the door. “Alright, boss, I’m clocking out for now.”

“No, you aren’t; community escorts are on the clock. Same as it would be if you were taking her to a clinic. Don’t argue with me, son. You need to pay for that gas somehow. Get a move on.”

“A clinic?” Estelle asks, as Yuri shepherds her out the door and into his car.

“Planned Parenthood, usually,” Yuri says. He turns the key and the car rumbles angrily at him, put out that he continues to expect it to function. He gives the dashboard a consoling pat. “Or other reproductive health clinics. Anywhere you can get an ob-gyn. Family planning services. You get the picture.”

“I think I do.” Estelle endearingly turns with Yuri to check behind the car as they reverse, then pull out of the parking lot. Even his shitty car seems to be a novelty to her sometimes. “You do an awful lot for the community center, don’t you?”

“Mm. Yeah. No more than they’ve done for me, though.”

There’s a moment of silence where Estelle fidgets with the sleeve cuffs of Hanks’s jacket. Yuri keeps an eye on her in the corner of his vision, but he can’t get a very good look at her expression. He needs to focus on the road. The last thing they need right now is for him to break a traffic law or cause an accident and get pulled over.

“Can... can you keep talking?”

“Sure. Any requests?”

“Ah... tell me a story about you and Flynn?”

Yuri ends up telling her the story of Repede’s blind eye. It’s not too gruesome if he plays it right, and he’s got a bit of practice at that from curious kids at the center. Yuri was her age at the time—God, that was a weird thought—and he’d been new to dog-ownership. Repede broke out of the hovel he and Flynn called an apartment overnight. After hours of searching in the dark, Hanks had hauled them both inside by their ears and forced them to rest. Repede turned up on the doorstep the next morning, face horribly scratched and howling for all his tiny little lungs were worth. Yuri was terrified to so much as wipe him off, in case he made the wound worse. All he could do was bundle Repede up in the cleanest towel he could find. He didn’t have the car yet, so Hanks called them a cab and Flynn, stuttering with panic, had asked to be taken to the vet their Coach used to take Repede and Lambert to.

“So you’ve got these two scruffy, sleep-deprived teenage boys obviously losing our minds while trying to keep a grip on this bloody puppy that was just—I know it sounds wrong, for a dog, but really the only way to describe it is screaming,” Yuri says. He flicks his turn signal on. They’re getting close to the police station. “And the poor receptionist was trying to ask for Repede’s info, but we didn’t know what to tell her, because we hadn’t taken Repede to the vet before—don’t look at me like that, we’d only had him two months or something, it’s not like we skipped out—and all the sudden the vet comes out to see what all the noise is about, and he takes one look at us and he goes, ‘that’s Lambert’s pup.’”

“Lambert?”

“Repede’s dad. He was our fencing coach’s dog. Apparently the vet worked with Coach at ZU back in the day, although we didn’t know that until later. Anyway, he whisked Repede into the back and told us to wait in the lobby, ‘cause it wasn’t going to be pretty. I was flipping my shit, because, you know, we’d only been taking care of Repede for a little while, and the wound looked so bad I had convinced myself he was going to die.”

“Oh, Yuri.”

“I was also running on like two hours of sleep at the time, which may have contributed. Anyway, Flynn had to sit there for like an hour, literally holding my hand, telling me that Repede was going to be fine and everything would be okay. He was freaking out too, but he still babysat me while I lost my min d . It was fucking heroic. And we were covered in blood that whole time. I mean, the receptionist took us to a sink where we could clean up a little bit, but some shit is just there to stay unless you change clothes.”

“Ew.”

“Uh-huh. But after a while the vet popped back out and he was like, ‘your dog is fine, come see him.’ They had knocked him out and stitched him up all pretty. Funny in retrospect—I wish I had a picture. Repede was boneless. Puppy puddle.”

“Maybe Flynn has a picture?”

“I don’t think so. We were both too busy being relieved.” Yuri pulls over in front of the police station. Estelle is a rigid line of tension in the passenger seat. “Alright, princess. You’ll just have to get this over with and hurry back out to get the rest of the story.”

Estelle’s lower lip wobbles. “You’ll have your phone on the whole time?”

“Max volume. Texts and calls.”

“And I don’t have to go back. I can—I can still stay with you.”

“Long as you need.”

“I’ll be okay.”

“You’re gonna be A-okay,” Yuri says, firmly, “Just like Repede was. Look, you’ve got the beat-up face and everything. You have to be okay. It’s just cinematic parallels at this point.”

Estelle smiles, even though it doesn’t reach her eyes, as she clicks open the car door. “Where are you going to be parked?”

“You see over at that corner?” Yuri points down the block, through the windshield. “I’ll be at that convenience store. I’ll go in and buy a snack at some point so they can’t boot me out, since I’m a paying customer.”

“I’ll come find you when I’m done.”

“Sure thing.” Yuri holds his hand up to her. She stares at it blankly. “What? Come on. High five for good luck.”

Estelle slowly presses her palm against his and holds it there for a beat, looking at him dubiously. Yuri snorts.

“Okay, we’ll work on that one later.”

“Is this not—?”

“Nope, nuh-uh, this is a problem for post-police Estelle. Out you get.”

She puts Hanks’s phone into her pocket and slides out of the car. She gives Yuri another halfhearted smile as she closes the door, mouthing bye through the window. See you, Yuri mouths back. He doesn’t pull away from the curb until she’s all the way inside. When he does, he’s muttering curses under his breath.

Dammit. She’s going to be fine. Cinematic parallels. Estelle is a smart cookie, and she spent all morning preparing. She has Hanks’s phone. She’s a legal adult.

Yuri wishes he had brought Repede along. But there was a toddler read-along today at the community center, and Repede likes to lounge on the carpet between all the kids, soaking up their attention while he naps. It’s not like there’s anyplace close to the station where Yuri could be exercising with him, which is the only way he could justify it. If Repede isn’t getting a workout either way, he might as well do the one he likes better. Yuri’s the human here. He can suck it up.

He pulls into the lot of the convenience store and cranks the parking brake into place with more force than necessary. His forehead thuds against the top of the steering wheel, well away from the horn. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Estelle a Flynn story. Now he just fucking misses Flynn. He always does, has for the last few years, but now it’s sharp and immediate. He misses knowing that Flynn could take Repede out between classes when Yuri was too busy. He misses having his best friend there to tell him shit’s going to be alright. He misses Flynn being able to cheer him up just by being there, misses Flynn helping him do school shit even if it was too simple for him when it was stupidly hard for Yuri.

The problem is that it’s so easy to talk to Estelle about Flynn. Everybody at the community center drives him up the freaking wall treading on eggshells about it. They’re always watching him when Flynn comes up in conversation, waiting for him to snap and get mad. They only know scattered fragments of why Yuri and Flynn aren’t the same unit they used to be, but they know enough to be wary of bringing it up. Estelle, though. Estelle doesn’t know any of it. It’s bizarre to Yuri. They nearly physically fought the last time they saw each other, and Flynn told Estelle that Yuri is his best friend. Estelle will go, one time Flynn—and Yuri can go, yeah, that’s Flynn alright, did he tell you about this other time? And there’s no secret second conversation about whether Yuri’s about to go completely unhinged. It makes him run his mouth more than he should. He didn’t even tell Hanks that Flynn held his hand in the vet lobby while Repede had surgery. He doesn’t think anybody but Raven knows about that, if Raven even remembers.

If he doesn’t get a grip, Estelle is going to figure out a lot more about how he feels about Flynn than he wants her to. She’s not an idiot. Worse, she’s a romantic. She’ll connect the dots.

...Now he’s worrying about Estelle and missing Flynn and kicking himself over his shitty feelings again. Great. Fantastic. This afternoon is going just swell.

Yuri lets himself out of the damn car and goes into the convenience store to buy chocolate or something. He needs it.

Yuri is used to his friends just opening the door and hopping back in the car, so when Estelle taps on the window, he jumps about a foot in the air and almost hits his head.

“Sorry,” Estelle says, cracking the door open to peer in at him. “Can I—?”

“Yeah, get in,” Yuri says. She climbs into her seat and draws her knees up so she can wrap her arms around them, and takes a deep, shuddering breath. Yuri watches her for a moment, then reaches past her to get into the glove compartment. “Hey. Here. Got you something.”

“Huh?” Estelle sniffles a little. Her eyes go big when she sees what Yuri is offering her. “Oh, you didn’t have to—“

“It’s convenience store chocolate,” Yuri says. He pokes her in the arm with it until she frees a hand to take it from him. “Not exactly a crazy luxury gift. I got the receipt if you want a different flavor, though.”

“No, this is good,” Estelle mumbles. She unwraps it, sniffling some more. “’M—‘m sorry. I know c-crying makes you uncomfortable.”

“That’s my problem. You worry about yourself.” Yuri crosses his arms, leaning back in his seat to watch her. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Th-they wanted me to go back.” She scrubs at her eyes. “I knew they would. It’s okay. I expected it. You were right, they couldn’t force me to do anything because I’m eighteen.”

“Still shitty, though.”

“Y-yeah.”

“They give you any other problems?”

“I had to argue with them about n-not telling my guardian where I was staying. But they said they would officially delist me as missing. That’s what—what matters.”

Yuri nods, slowly. “You just tell me if there’s anyone I should be running off the property if I catch them near the apartment, alright?”

“Ah. Okay.” She nibbles at the chocolate. “...Will you, um, tell me the rest of the story about Repede?”

“Sure. Lemme pull out first.” When they’re both seat-belted and Yuri has managed to exit the parking lot without running anyone over, he drums his fingers against the steering wheel. “Where was I?”

“P-puppy puddle.”

Yuri huffs out a laugh. “That’s right. Poor Repede. Raven—that’s our vet—he gave us a bunch of antibiotics to give Repede, and talked us through what to expect during Repede’s recovery until he woke up. Once he was conscious they got the cone of shame on him. Only time he’s ever needed one, while we had him. Think he had one when he got fixed, too, but that was before we took him in.”

Estelle giggles wetly. “P-poor thing. Borzoi pups are all—all skinny, aren’t they? He must’ve been falling over with the heavy cone on his head.”

“God, you would think so, but Repede was a big boy when he was a puppy. Solid chunk of dog. He was like that even when Coach had him, so it wasn’t our fault for overfeeding him or anything . Probably the German Shepherd blood. They’re a little thicker than Borzoi pups. I definitely do have pictures of puppy Repede, I’ll find them for you when I get home from work tonight.” Yuri sifts through the memories and snorts fondly. “Didn’t help much with the cone, though. I don’t think losing one of his eyes was doing him any favors either. The first few nights after the surgery were terrible. He would wake up and try to get some kibble or water, and he’d knock over damn near everything in the apartment, so of course that would wake us up, too. Even if we managed to sleep through that, he would get frustrated and start crying. ”

“But you were already so tired!”

“Like I said, rough couple of nights. We ended up having to coordinate a schedule of who got up to deal with it at what times on what nights. Hanks kept telling us it was a practice run for having kids someday.”

Estelle cocks her head, more alert. “Kids? For you two, together? Flynn didn’t tell me—”

“No.” Yuri grips the steering wheel tighter and prays his cheeks aren’t red. “No, not together. Just in general. It was a bad joke either way—I’d make a crummy dad .”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“You’re very nice to say so, but you’re also very wrong.”

Estelle gives him a thoughtful look. Yuri hurries on with the story.

“Anyway, giving him the antibiotics was probably the worst part. Raven gave them to us in a syringe at first, to squirt into his mouth, but Repede would lose his mind when we tried to open his mouth to give it to him. It was hard to hold his head still without aggravating the wound. So we tried switching to pill form and mixing them into his food, but the little brat would just pick them out and we’d find a little pile of them in his empty bowl after he ate.”

“What did you do?”

Yuri grins nostalgically. “Wrapped ‘em in bits of deli turkey.”

“Yuri!”

“Yeah, Flynn yelled at me too. He damn near killed me the first time I did it. Still, it was the only thing that worked, and we were too exhausted to fight over it. Repede would be so excited to eat the turkey, he wouldn’t realize there was a pill until it was too late. Flynn did get to say ‘I told you so’ a lot afterwards, though, because I’ve never been able to keep deli turkey in the house since. Repede is convinced it’s for him.”

“Can’t you just keep it away from him?”

“Nope. He’s a dog on a mission.”

Estelle smiles, small but real. Some of the tension has left her posture. Good.

“That whole ordeal is probably why Repede hates the vet, now, anyway,” Yuri says. He mentally plots their route back to the community center. He should have enough time before bartending to drop Estelle off and take Repede for a run.

“Maybe if you switched vets...?”

“Nah—I don’t think it’s just Raven, since he’s not very happy to see any of the vet techs, either. I guess it could be the location itself. Best vet within a convenient distance, though—if you ever meet Raven, don’t tell him I said that, okay? He’d be fucking insufferable about it. But he did us... a lot of favors, back then. Had to guide me through a lot of stupid first-time dog-owner stuff. Least I can do is give him my business.”

Estelle’s been looking out the passenger-side window, but now her head lolls against the headrest to face Yuri. “Hey, Yuri?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you talk about Repede like he was yours and Flynn’s when he was a puppy, but just yours now?”

“...Flynn’s pretty busy with school these days.” Too busy to be wasting time on some stupid drop-out. “I’ve got more free time, so I took Repede. He hasn’t seen Flynn in a long time. I don’t know if he would remember Flynn now.”

“You don’t have very much free time at all, though.”

Yuri cocks a smile with as much conviction as he can muster. “Yeah, because I’ve filled it all with Repede. It doesn’t really look like free time any more. It just looks like Repede time.”

Estelle is quiet for a moment. Just when Yuri starts to hope that she’ll drop it, she says, “You miss him.”

Yuri brakes maybe a little too sharply at a stop sign. Their seatbelts snap taught. Estelle yelps.

“Sorry,” Yuri mutters. “Noticed the sign a little late. Miss who, Repede? It’s true, I do miss Repede when I have to leave him for more than five minutes— ”

“Flynn. You miss Flynn, don’t you?”

Yuri tries to fast forward through all the different ways this conversation could play out in his head. What’s the answer least likely to swamp him with a discussion of his feelings and his current relationship with Flynn? If he tries to say no, Estelle might tell him why she thought he did, and he doesn’t want to deal with that kind of self-awareness. The truth is probably safer. “...Yeah.”

“Why don’t you call him?”

“He got a new number at some point since I last saw him in person.”

“Wh—oh.” Estelle frowns a bit. “I think I remember when that happened. He didn’t give you the new number?”

“Nope. Probably didn’t have mine memorized, or something.” Or he just figured it was as good an excuse as any to move on to better social circles, and leave the squalor of his past behind. That’s what Yuri’s been betting on.

At least, it was until Estelle showe d up and started saying weird shit about how Flynn still talks about him.

“I could give you his new number!”

Somehow, that catches Yuri completely off guard. He glances over at her. “You have his number memorized? Wow, princess. I didn’t realize you were that into him.”

“I’m—“ Estelle splutters at him, red-faced. Yuri grins despite himself as he turns back to the road. “I am not! It’s not like that! I forgot I didn’t have my phone—”

“Uh-huh. I’ll start working on my speech for your wedding.”

“Yuri! I don’t like him that way! And that’s not even—Flynn doesn’t even like g—“

Girls. Estelle slaps a hand over her own mouth before the rest of the word can slip out. She looks at Yuri, wide-eyed and pink-cheeked. Yuri considers messing with her some more, but decides to have some pity.

“Relax. I already knew Flynn was gay. I’m just screwing around.”

“Oh, good,” Estelle breathes, slumping back in her seat.

“Anyway, speaking of your phone, maybe we should figure out a plan to rescue some of your shit.”

Estelle wrings her hands. “...I don’t know. I don’t think there’s a good way to get into my old home without having to talk to...”

“ Don’t you worry,” Yuri says, cheerfully. He was just trying to find a way to divert the conversation away from Flynn, but he’s quickly warming to the idea. He doesn’t have bartending too late tonight. “I’ll take care of that. Just wait and see. You didn’t have any plans for tonight, did you?”

“This is illegal!” Estelle hisses. Yuri, halfway through the action of pulling himself over a brick wall, gives her an incredulous look. She’s been trying to dissuade him since they came within a few blocks of the property. Apparently Estelle is willing to stand up when people try to steamroll past her. She just picks her battles.

“How? I’m pretty sure you technically still live here, legally.”

“It’s still breaking and entering! And theft! ”

“Oh, wah wah wah. It’s not like we’re really stealing. It’s all your stuff.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works!”

Yuri snorts and pulls himself the rest of the way up, perched on the top. “Are you coming, or do you want to wait here?”

“I—I don’t want to start my new life with a criminal record!”

“So wait.”

“Yuri!”

“Relax, I’ve got this under control. Which floor is your room on?”

Estelle makes a high-pitched sound of aggravation and tries to scramble up the wall after him. She almost topples back down halfway up, and Yuri has to reach down to haul her up by the collar of Hanks’s jacket. The jitters probably aren’t doing her coordination any favors.

“What happened to not wanting a criminal record?”

“If I come with you so you know where to go, everything will be faster, and we can be done and leave sooner.”

“You can tell me where to go from here, you don’t have to be involved.”

Estelle gives him a sulky, anxious look. “I don’t want to—to just wait alone in the dark. What if someone comes by?”

“Hide in a bush.”

“Flynn and Hanks were right, you are a troublemaker.”

“I can’t tell you how flattered and alarmed I am that it’s taken you like a week and a half to figure that out.”

Yuri did sort of count on Estelle staying behind, although he gets why she doesn’t want to now that she mentions it. There’s no car in the driveway right now. What if her guardian comes back while Yuri is inside? Still, now he has to factor her into his entry and exit strategy. Damn. He should have just made her give him an address, left her at home and winged it from there.

“Okay,” Yuri mutters. He swings his legs over the other side of the wall and starts his descent. “Just... do what I do, alright? I’ll try not to do anything too crazy. Lemme know if you can’t keep up and I’ll figure something else out.”

“A-alright.” Estelle tentatively lowers her leg over the edge of the wall, searching for the uneven bricks Yuri used to get down. Yuri hops down the last few feet and gets under her, spotting her in case of a fall. It seems to help with the mental side of things, at least. Estelle stops trembling so much and plants her feet more confidently. Yuri whisks her off the wall when she gets as far down as he jumped from.

“I don’t suppose you know whether there’s any security cameras?”

“Ah—yes, but—but we’ll be able to see them, there’s a little light when they’re on.”

“You sure they’re not motion-activated?”

“Y...yes?”

Well, there’s only one way to figure out for sure.

They creep around the perimeter of the property. Estelle murmurs directions and notes about the layout of the property. Here’s the garden; there’s the shed, but that definitely has a security camera, so don’t go that way. The greenhouse doesn’t have a camera, but it’s locked. Estelle thinks it will be, anyway, and Yuri’s not going to stick his fingerprints on every random surface just for funsies. Back door to the kitchen is a no go, too. There’s a chance the housekeeper might be around. Obviously they’re not going through the front door.

“I...” Estelle looks at him sideways, wringing her hands. They’re crouched in the shadows of the small orchard on the far side of the house. “I never locked my balcony door? But it’s on the second floor. There’s a tree, but no branches until higher up—I don’t know if it’s...”

“Oh, princess,” Yuri says. “Have some faith. I will make it climbable.”

“M-maybe for you!”

But she still helps guide Yuri back around the house and points out the window. It’s dark, which isn’t surprising. Estelle hasn’t been in her room for at least a week and a half. They’re too close to the ground floor windows now to risk talking, even whispering, so Yuri just pats her on the back and hoists himself up on the nearest decorative garden statue. From the top, he leaps to grab a tree branch hanging ten feet off the ground. It’s a solid jump, there’s no getting around it. Estelle’s wide eyes gleam in the moonlight as she clambers up the statue after him. Yuri hastily climbs up to straddle the branch. If she gets a bad grip, he’s going to want to be stable enough to catch her.

She wobbles at the top of the statue and casts a fretful look at Yuri. Yuri’s not feeling so hot about this himself, really, but at this point all he can do is flash her a thumbs-up and lean forward, body pressed to the branch to extend his reach below it.

She jumps.

The tree shu dders violently. Estelle gasps. Yuri hisses through his teeth, straining to keep his grip on Estelle’s free hand. She managed to get one hand onto the branch, at least, but she’s scrabbling not to lose her hold.  The longer this goes on, the less likely someone inside will be willing to write it off as a bird or a raccoon or something—honestly, though, with her fingertips sliding over bark, it seems more likely that she’ll plummet to the ground and break something.

But right as Yuri starts to seriously consider freaking out, she grits her teeth, stretches up with Yuri’s help to get a second hand on the branch, and somehow, somehow works her way up to sit beside him. It’s fucking impressive. Yuri didn’t know she had that kind of arm strength. She really is a determined little monster when she puts her mind to it.

From there, it’s not easy, but it’s easier. The tree is good for climbing once you’re on it. Estelle shadows Yuri’s footwork, even with her second-hand sneakers slipping where the traction has worn down. Yuri helps her swing out of the branches and onto the balcony. He reaches for the door. Estelle catches his wrist, shaking her head, and opens it herself.

Of course. Estelle leaving fingerprints won’t alarm anybody if someone investigates the break-in. Yuri should have thought of that.

Estelle’s room is cast in odd angles of shadow, but Yuri can still tell that it’s exactly as frilly as he expected. Gauzy pink drapes surround the bed. The sheets gleam like satin. The moonlight makes the carpet look snow-white. It’s horrifyingly clean, too. Yuri has never seen a carpet that looked less walked-upon than this one. For fuck’s sake, did they steam-press her carpet the second she left the house, or does it always look like this?

He glances at Estelle. She stares at the room like she’s never seen it before.

No, wait. She doesn’t look like she’s seeing it at all. Shit. Yuri didn’t think this through. He should have been ready for the chance that coming back here would make Estelle dissociate.

“Estelle,” Yuri hisses, as quietly as he possibly can. It’s rough. He’s not built for low volumes. He touches her elbow. “Estelle, stick with me.”

Estelle looks down at his hand, blinking sightlessly. Yuri jostles her a bit. That snaps her out of it. She shakes herself out, jaw clenching. Yuri passes her one of the drawstring backpacks he brought with him.

“What do I grab?” she whispers.

“Whatever you want.”

“But...”

“Irreplaceable family shit. Books. Any clothes you really like.” He holds up the other bag. “Just point me to what you want and I’ll grab it for you.”

Estelle’s face falls. “I can’t fit all of my books.”

“That’s what the library is for, princess.”

“I don’t have a library card.”

“I have some great news for you about public libraries, but we’ll save that for later. Come on, let’s hurry up.”

Estelle’s wardrobe is baffling to Yuri. Almost everything in it is nicer than the value of all of his clothes put together. To get to the clothes she wants, she has to shove aside a whole row of hangers with fancy dresses on them. Thank God she doesn’t seem to want to take those ones with her. She points him to her bookshelf, whispering, “As many as possible!” and tiptoes off toward an ensuite bathroom. The floor doesn’t creak a peep. Yuri’s not sure he’s ever been in a room where it was possible to move this quietly.

He gives Estelle’s personal library his full consideration, which is to say he stares at each title for about two seconds and tries to picture it in the Lower Quarter’s public library. If he can’t, he grabs it. Most of the fiction gets left behind this way, but he figures Estelle will forgive him once they get her a library card. It’s gonna be awkward if she’s no longer interested in hardcover nonfiction novels about the history of European mythology or what the fuck ever, though.

Estelle emerges from the bathroom again, clutching her bag to her chest. On her way back to Yuri, she stoops to retrieve a pair of sneakers from under the bed. They’re fucking pristine. Yuri has seen shoes in shoe commercials that looked more used. She peers at what’s left on the bookshelf. Yuri allows her to double-check his work with as much patience as he can muster, but it’s not long before he nudges her insistently again. She huffs but obliges, crossing over to her desk. She retrieves several notebooks, then hesitates. Yuri peeks around her. Her hand hovers over her phone.

“It’s your call,” he says. “But I wouldn’t put money on that not being tracked.”

“I know,” Estelle says, miserably. She reaches down to turn it on and Yuri winces away from the sudden illumination of the screen. “Oh, no... I knew everyone might worry, but this is...”

“Maybe they’ll figure it out when the posters go down.” Or they’ll think she was found dead in a ditch, but Yuri probably shouldn’t say that to Estelle. Oh, hell, maybe Flynn thinks she’s dead in a ditch. Yuri is intimately acquainted with how badly Flynn copes with grief. Maybe they should be looking into secret, safe venues of contact. It won’t be from Estelle’s old phone, though, because she gives it one last wistful caress and leaves it on the desk.

Somehow, Yuri gets them both back out the window, down the tree and off the property without making too much of a ruckus. They sprint back to the edge of campus where Yuri left his car. For a few minutes, Estelle is too busy wheezing to say anything, and Yuri is more than happy to drive them through quiet streets bathed in yellow lamplight in silence. He likes the cover of night. It feels safe. He appreciates that, after the luxuriousness of Estelle’s house up close showed him that he was in way, way deeper than he’d thought.

“Oh, drat,” Estelle says, abruptly. Yuri side-eyes her.

“What now?”

“I ought to have at least gotten my contacts out of my old phone. I wanted to get Flynn’s number for you.”

“Christ’s sake, Estelle. Don’t do that to me. I thought we needed to go back for something important.”

“No! No. That was—this is enough. More than enough. You shouldn’t have—and I mean you really, actually shouldn’t have. I can’t believe you made me into a criminal!”

“I don’t see how it’s breaking and entering and stealing if I escort a lady back into her old house to pick up her own shit,” Yuri says, rolling his eyes. He does, in a clean-cut legal way, but it’s a stupid case to make in the first place. Everything they took was Estelle’s. Honestly, none of it seems to be worth much by itself. With a little luck, Estelle’s guardian or whoever won’t even notice that anything is missing until it’s way too late.

“It was extremely illegal!”

Yuri drops his voice several octaves to drone, blandly, “Your honor, the defendant is responsible for the theft of her own fucking notebooks, which have absolutely no commercial value and are basically useless to literally anyone else.”

Estelle laughs, once, sharp like she can’t help herself. She pushes at Yuri’s shoulder with almost no real force. “You’re awful.”

“Hey, no hitting the driver.”

“You didn’t even flinch!”

“I let you hit me, someday you’ll do it while Ted’s watching, suddenly Ted thinks he’s allowed to hit me and then we’ll all die in a fiery car crash.”

“You’re absurd.”

Yuri snorts. “You sound like Flynn.”

“I probably sound like everybody who knows you!”

“Absurd? Nah, that one’s all Flynn. Most people stick with ‘dumbass.’”

“Well,” Estelle says, primly, “I can’t imagine why.”

“Ouch,” Yuri laughs. He pulls into his apartment’s parking lot. “Right in the heart. I don’t know if I’ll ever recover.”

They’re still sniping at each other when they exit the car and head inside. The banter keeps up all the way to Yuri’s door, but Estelle is definitely sagging before they’re halfway up the stairs. She drags her feet on her way across the threshold, dropping her bag of rescued possessions on the couch before she collapses in a pile on the floor, next to Repede. Repede lifts his head enough to sniff at her suspiciously. When she offers her hand, he licks it, then unexpectedly leans over to lick her on the nose. Estelle half-laughs, half-yelps.

“Yuck! Repede!”

“Aw,” Yuri says. He kicks off his shoes and leaves the bag of Estelle’s books with her other shit before throwing himself down next to her and Repede. Repede quickly turns to plop his head into Yuri’s lap, tail wagging. Yuri strokes his back. “You’re getting used to her, aren’t you, bud?”

“He’s a good boy,” Estelle says. She pats Repede’s belly. He huffs a little, but allows it. “Repede, Yuri told me all about what a brave puppy you were today.”

She traces her fingers across his muzzle to touch the scarred side of his face. He doesn’t react much—he never has, not since it finished healing.

“I wish I was as brave as you,” Estelle whispers.

“I told you,” Yuri says, uncomfortably. “Cinematic parallels. You pulled through, just like him. I didn’t even have to force-feed you your antibiotics.” To Repede, he adds, dryly, “Unlike someone.”

Repede, who is a dog and has no clue Yuri is shit-talking him, yawns widely.

“I wish I could be strong,” Estelle mumbles. Her eyelids are drooping. Her whole body is drooping, actually. She wobbles unsteadily, even sitting down. “I wish I could... could go back and talk to my friends and not be so scared. That I could just knock on the door and ask to pick up my things. I’m such a baby.”

“Estelle,” Yuri says, around the lump in his throat. He reaches out and catches her by the shoulders as she sways forward, then eases her down so her head rests on Repede’s side. She sniffles a bit. “Being afraid of an abuser doesn’t make you a baby. Sometimes running away is the brave thing to do.”

“It’s not like he hit me that often.” Her fingers curl into Repede’s fur. He whuffles anxiously. Yuri strokes his head, trying to give Repede the comfort he wishes he knew how to give Estelle. “I should have stayed. I overreacted. I’m so stupid. And now I’m causing you trouble, and...”

“Estelle, c’mon.”

“It’s not fair.”

“No,” Yuri says. He rubs her back. “It’s not. But it’s not your fault.”

“I should have...”

“You should get some sleep is what you should do,” Yuri says. He heaves himself to his feet, then crouches again to scoop Estelle into his arms. She buries her face against his shoulder as he lifts her. Shit, she’s heavier than she looks. He grunts with the effort. “Okay, princess? Let’s get you to bed. In the morning we’ll eat a good breakfast and go talk to Hanks, and you’ll feel better. It’s gonna be alright.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah. I promise.”

He carries her to the bedroom and dumps her on the bed. She clings to his shirt when he tries to pull away.

“I d-don’t want to be alone—”

“Okay,” Yuri says. “Then let’s get you into some pajamas, and I can sleep on the floor in here for tonight.”

“I’m s-sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I took you someplace that was shitty for you tonight. Of course you’re upset.”

Estelle changes while he brushes his teeth. Once he’s got on his own soft sleep shirt and old shorts, he flops down in a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor. Repede curls up behind his knees.

“Thank you, Yuri,” Estelle mumbles, from under the comforter.

“It’s no problem. Wake me up if you need anything, alright? Anything at all.”

“...Okay.”

Yuri wakes up to smoke.

“The fuck?” he croaks. Repede sticks his head in through the open bedroom door, whining quietly. Yuri kicks his way out of the blanket cocoon he’s tangled in and staggers into the kitchen.

Ah. Estelle.

“I’m sorry,” she starts, wide-eyed and near to tears in front of a blackened skillet of what possibly used to be eggs. “I just wanted to—“

“Windows first, apologies later,” Yuri says. He yanks open the living room window, then grabs a magazine off the coffee table to wave uselessly through the smoke. Estelle coughs. “Damn. I forgot to change the batteries in the smoke detector.”

“A-are we going to—?”

“It’s fine, we’re fine. Go open the window in the bedroom, will you?”

Estelle hurries to obey while Yuri opens the kitchen window. The smoke isn’t as bad as it could be, given the apparent death of the detector. Seems like it’s already clearing out a bit. He picks up the spatula Estelle abandoned to prod at the lump of charcoal in his skillet.

“I wanted to make breakfast,” Estelle says, miserably, from somewhere behind him. “To thank you. But I messed it up.”

“Of course you did,” Yuri says. He scrapes at the skillet a little. It spreads charcoal around. “You haven’t ever cooked before, have you?”

“No...”

“You should have gotten me up. I could teach you.”

“But it wouldn’t be thanking you if I made you work more!”

“Yet here we are,” Yuri says. “Besides, I don’t need to be thanked, Christ. Open the trash for me.”

Estelle dutifully opens the cupboard the trash bin is stashed inside. Yuri pushes the less stubborn bits of charcoal into the bin, kicks the cupboard closed, then dumps the pan into the sink to soak.

“You do need to be thanked,” Estelle says. Yuri gives her an exasperated look over his shoulder; when he opens his mouth, she adds, hurriedly, “I want to thank you.”

“Well stop it,” Yuri grumbles. He goes into the cupboard for  a new pan. At least the smoke is clearing out relatively fast. “Are there still eggs?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Alright. We’re going to give the smoke another minute to disperse, and in the meantime you can get a small bowl down for me and take the eggs back out.”

Yuri fucks off to find batteries. When he returns to the kitchen, Estelle is waiting anxiously with a small bowl and the egg carton. The air is only faintly smokey. Yuri grabs a chair and shoves it under the smoke detector.

“Crack the eggs into the bowl,” he says, as he clicks the cover off. “I’ll watch from here.”

“How many eggs?”

“Four.”

“You eat four eggs at once?”

“What are you going to have for breakfast?”

Estelle gives him a baffled look, like it hadn’t even occurred to her that she could make her own breakfast too. “I—I guess eggs?”

“If we have four eggs left, do four. If we don’t, I’ll just split whatever we have with you. We’ve got bread. We can have toast or something too.” Yuri sighs as he slides the new batteries into place. “I guess we need to go to the store. Shit.”

“I only used two eggs before,” Estelle blurts out. “We’ve still got five eggs.”

“Yeah, but I was gonna make shakshuka tomorrow.” Yuri puts the cover back on the smoke detector. Estelle finally, hesitantly removes an egg from the carton. She taps it lightly against the side of the bowl.

“Harder than that.”

“I’ll get egg everywhere!”

“You won’t.” Yuri climbs down from the chair. “You need a clean break to pull it apart, or you’ll get bits of shell in everything. Here, I’ll show you one.”

Yuri dumps the dead batteries into the garbage along with the still-faintly-smoking wreckage of the burnt eggs, then washes his hands. Estelle watches raptly as he plucks an egg out of the carton and snaps it against the edge of the bowl before pulling it cleanly apart.

“Like that. Now you—yeah, okay, that was a lot better. Now the next two.”

Estelle furrows her brow and does as instructed. She still gets a piece of eggshell in the mix, but nothing Yuri can’t fish out with his fingers. “Why are we using a bowl? Can’t it just go straight in the pan?”

“It can if you know what you’re doing.” Yuri shrugs, leaning his hip against the counter as he monitors Estelle’s dismemberment of the final egg. “For a beginner, though, it’s easier to make sure all of the eggs will go in the pan at the same time. Are we doing sunny-side up, or scrambled?”

“Uh—scrambled?”

“Okay. Let’s both wash the raw egg off our hands, then you’re gonna get the milk out.” Yuri towels off his own hands as Estelle opens the fridge, then reaches into the silverware drawer for a fork. “Just dump in a little bit.”

“How much?”

“A little bit. Like I said.”

“That’s not very specific.”

“Well, I just eyeball it. Here, I’ll do it the first time so you can see. Just—this much, about. A glug.”

“A glug,” Estelle echoes, side-eyeing him dubiously.

“A very precise measurement,” Yuri says. He flashes her a grin and hands the milk back. “Put this away.”

Salt and pepper to taste and whisking the yolks into the whites, at least, Estelle seems comfortable with. While she does that, he dumps some cooking oil into the new pan and turns on the heat.

“You’re a good teacher,” Estelle tells him, as she carefully pours the beaten eggs into the skillet. “You should teach classes.”

Yuri snorts. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don’t have the patience for teaching as a job.”

“But you do!”

“I’ve taught stuff for the community center occasionally. I know I’m not cut out to do it full-time. You’re an angel of a student compared to most people, princess.”

Estelle tries not to visibly preen at the praise and mostly fails. Yuri laughs. “Here, grab the spatula. What you want to do now is—“

“You could’ve gotten her in a lot of trouble.”

“I told her she could stay behind.”

“Yuri.”

Yuri sighs. Estelle is on the other side of the community center, helping some of the kids with their homework. Yuri has to leave for the bar in ten minutes, and he was starting to think he might escape without the lecture, but no such luck. “Hanks.”

“Boy, what am I going to do with you?” Hanks sighs too, leaning back in his chair. “I thought you would have grown out of this by now.”

“Sorry,” Yuri says, snippy and insincere. “Really shitty of me to want her to have some of her own stuff that she likes again.”

“You know that’s not what the issue is, son.” Hanks rubs his temples. “You’re too impulsive. What if you had been caught? Forget Estellise. What do you think would have happened if someone had caught you?”

Yuri shrugs. “Nothing good.”

“And you still did it?”

“It was a calculated risk.”

“Your damn calculations are off.” Hanks scrubs a hand through his beard and fixes Yuri with a tired look. “I wish your old coach was still here. You were always better behaved for him.”

Yuri’s stomach drops. Hanks seems to realize his mistake as soon as he makes it, hastily opening his mouth again, but it’s too late for that now. Yuri is already shoving his chair back, the legs screeching on the floor. Estelle looks up from the other side of the room; Yuri sees her in his periphery before he turns to the door.

“Yuri?”

“I’m going to work,” Yuri gets out, through gritted teeth.

“Yuri, come on—“ Hanks tries. Yuri strides away without looking back. He shoves his way out the community center’s doors. There’s a quick patter of footsteps behind him, but it’s not Hanks’s gait, so Yuri forces himself not to lash out when someone catches him by the arm before he can get in his car. Estelle blinks up at him with her big green eyes.

“I thought you had a few more minutes.”

“I’m leaving early.”

She chews on her lower lip. A little guiltily, she admits, “I told the children you would do a knife trick for them if they finished their homework.”

Against all odds, that punches a short bark of laughter out of Yuri. He feels a little of the tension go with it, but the damn ache in his chest doesn’t go anywhere. “They’ll have to do their homework tomorrow, too, then. Tell them I’ll do two knife tricks to make up for it.”

Estelle beams at him. Her hand is still resting gently on his arm.

“Are you...” The smile slides off her face. “Are you upset? When you left, it seemed like...”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Yuri says, too sharply. Estelle’s face falls further. God dammit. Estelle is the last person who deserves Yuri’s ire. Trying to speak more softly, he adds, “Hanks chewed me out and I got mad because I’m secretly twelve. That’s all.”

“It didn’t look like you were mad about being lectured,” Estelle presses. Yuri swallows down a bitter sigh. He doesn’t want to talk about Coach in the middle of the community center’s parking lot when he has to drive to work in five minutes. He doesn’t want to talk about Coach at all, really. Estelle has enough baggage of her own without trying to unpack Yuri’s.

“I don’t really want to get into it right now.”

Estelle still looks a little hurt, but she nods. Her hand drops from Yuri’s arm as she steps back.

“Hang on.” Yuri digs into his pocket and fiddles with his keyring, then holds a fist out to Estelle. “Here. Gimme your hand.”

Estelle complies, her wounded expression melting into curiosity. Yuri presses a set of keys into her open palm.

“Take these. You can just go straight back to the apartment instead of having to wait for me to finish up at the bar.”

Estelle stands up a little straighter, with her mouth a little o of shock. “Are you sure? Is that really okay?”

“Sure. What’re you gonna do, rob me?”

“Well, I—I could! Hypothetically!”

Yuri rolls his eyes. “Right. Just take Repede for a long walk in the evening before you steal all of my shit, then. And I’m gonna need you to let me in or leave the door unlocked when I get home.”

“Okay!” Before Yuri can do much except fight down the reflex to throw her across the parking lot, Estelle launches herself forward to wrap Yuri in a hug. Yuri grunts in surprise, arms trapped. “Thank you so much!”

“It’s your apartment too, for now,” Yuri says. He manages to wriggle a hand free to pat her on the head. “We’ll get a second key tomorrow or something. I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you!”

Yuri waves as he drives off. It’s—an odd feeling, almost distracting enough that he stops feeling so nauseated. He’s taken on down-on-their-luck guests before, but he’s never given them his fucking keys.

Well. That’s the power of Estelle, he guesses.

[bad-draft-stuff]

det. au 2

Arsé-kun: *A few uneventful weeks pass. Events are happening, but nothing particularly major. Sisi thinks the newspapers on the floor are for peeing on.* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he was working. Keyword: Was. It’s fairly late, and he’s dozed off for the two thousandth time.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he faceplants on the sofa. he hasn’t bothered removing his gear* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *this fails to wake him up.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Aarseeeeeeennnneeeee… I’m the woooooorrrrrsssstttt… I totally failed…. Sheepy: Sheepy: And now I’ve gotten myself into something big…

Arsé-kun: Arséne: …..Eh..? *he picks his head up and looks at Sheepy* …? Did you get stabbed again…? Sheepy: Sheepy: Whyyyyyy… he’s worse than I thouuuught…. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wish I had beenn.. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’d be better than this…. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he sits up and fixes his hair. Priorities, lupin, priorities.* What happened..? Sheepy: Sheepy: Saint-Germain. Arsé-kun: Arséne: You really did it..? Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s challenged me… and I couldn’t successfully steak from him tonight Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t want to waste my precious time on some old guy! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I did warn you about the man. *he yawns* Now, what is this about a challenge? Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s challenged me. He left out notes for me to read. I brought them with me. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Show me. Sheepy: Sheepy:…Here. You read them. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he gives them to Arsene* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes back to feeling terrible about himself* Arsé-kun: *Arséne begins to look them over. Most of them name an item, a location, and a timeframe. The last is a rather taunting note. Arséne looks… Interested, to say the least.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t wanna… Arsé-kun: Arséne: You’re going to let him win? Sheepy: Sheepy: Whatever man… He’s thrown my ego from an all time high to an all time low… Sheepy: Sheepy: Win, lose, it doesn’t matter so long as you have fun. Arsé-kun: Arséne: And lets say you are able to do it. Wouldn’t that make you feel better, proving him wrong? Maybe it will be fun trying. Sheepy: Sheepy: Because if you have fun, you’ve already won. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess… Arsé-kun: Arséne: If the last Phantom could do it, so can you. Sheepy: Sheepy: The last Phantom did it? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes. They made the mistake of trying to steal from the Count, as well. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess I should try.. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s the spirit. Sheepy: Sheepy: …Hey, Arséne, do you actually think I can do it? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Of course I do. Sheepy: Sheepy: Well, if you think so, I probably can. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I don’t see why you would not. Sheepy: Sheepy: He picked me up by the collar and dropped me outside the gate. Sheepy: Sheepy: Never have I felt more offended in my life!! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll show him how good I can be! Arsé-kun: Arséne: How humiliating. Prove him wrong. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll compose the letter and set it tomorrow. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sounds fine. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, I’ll prove him wrong for sure! Arsé-kun: *The next 24 hours pass. The letter has been set.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I told them I’d steal it tomorrow. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Excellent. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m gonna make him marvel at my skills. Sheepy: Sheepy: Just he wait! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m excited! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he grins* I’m going to try the hardest I ever have! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll make you proud! Sheepy: Tom: yay Sheepy: Sheepy: And also I’ll fix my broken ego. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That, you will. Sheepy: Sheepy: But I’ve gotta wait until tomorrow. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Perhaps it’d be best to go to bed early. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, you’re right. Sheepy: *and so sheepy does just that.* Sheepy: *tom is screaming but that’s not important* Arsé-kun: *and the daytime is boring* Arsé-kun: *daytime is for losers.* Sheepy: *SO SHEEPY GOES OUT THE NEXT NIGHT TO GO STEAL SOME STUFF* Arsé-kun: *Arséne sees him off and goes back inside.* Arsé-kun: *8965 Mulberry Court. Here, there is a popular bar (The Wandering Goat) on the first floor, and a hotel from the second floor and above. The letter notes that the object that the Phantom is going after is on the fourth floor.* Sheepy: Sheepy: (Now I just gotta figure out how to get in without being caught!) Arsé-kun: *There are multiple options. The first, being the front doors, is automatically out. There is a ladder to the right side, an open window on the second floor, and a closed dumpster around the left side* Sheepy: Sheepy: (I’m not gonna possibly get my clothes all gross from some stupid dumpster! I’ll go for the ladder.) Arsé-kun: *He goes up the ladder. The open window is about three window sills away. There is another one one floor up, but only two sills away.* Sheepy: Sheepy: (Hmm.. maybe. The ones up at the third floor may be a trap, but it cuts some distance…) Arsé-kun: *Someone peeks out the third floor window, and immediately retreats when they spot him. uh-oh.* Sheepy: Sheepy: ….! Sheepy: Sheepy: *INTO THE SECOND FLOOR WINDOW I GO* Arsé-kun: *In he goes. The room is empty, the door is open. Go, go.* Sheepy: *HE GO* Arsé-kun: *HE IS GO.* Arsé-kun: *anyway, he goes up to the fourth floor. he takes a moment to recall what it is he is taking- a painting. it should be around somewhere.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he looks forthe painting* Sheepy: Sheepy: (Where could it be…) Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes into a room* Arsé-kun: *The painting is most certainly present. Unfortunately, so is another dapper-looking gentleman, seated next to it with a glass of wine. He is masked as well, and he seems amused.* Sheepy: Sheepy:….! Sheepy: Sheepy: Who…? Sheepy: Sheepy: …and why?? Sheepy: Sheepy:…(Maybe he’s been hired by the Count to confirm that I’ve gotten it…) Arsé-kun: ?: Bonjour, mon amie! *they’ve got a particularly noticeable french accent.* I’m glad you arrived! Unfortunately for you, ma chérie, only one Phantom is getting this prize. Sheepy: Sheepy: One Phantom? Prize? Sheepy: Sheepy: Uhmmm… where’s this… second Phantom? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Salut. Sheepy: Sheepy: Are you saying that you’re the other Phantom? Sheepy: Sheepy:…I’m sure the original Phantom appreciates that people think that he’s cool enough to make his name live on, but, um. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’d rather that you did your striking debut not tonight and not for this specific item… because… uh… Sheepy: Sheepy: Personal reasons. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Non, non, silly child. *he grins* Did you believe the original to be gone? I am offended, truly. I am wounded. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Do you know him? Arsé-kun: Phantom: … … I was going to allow you to take this, but now I’m just going to leave with it. Sheepy: Sheepy: B-but… Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re too young to be the original, aren’t you? Sheepy: Sheepy: I bet he’s like… your grandpa or something… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Non. I stopped approximately ten years ago. Sheepy: Sheepy: Then you’re…?! Arsé-kun: Phantom: I’m glad you understand. Sheepy: Sheepy: *groan* This is the worst streak of luck I’ve had since I can remember… Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s great meeting you and all, but. Wait. You’ve tried to steal from Saint-Germain, right? Sheepy: Sheepy: He challenged me to steal this and I was kind of… pushed into it. I couldn’t care less about the painting. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oui. He seems to get some odd amusement from this. He never specified which Phantom had to steal, though! Sheepy: Sheepy: So I guess, take it or whatever. It doesn’t matter to me either way ‘cause from my knowledge the owner isn’t bad, from what I know… Sheepy: Sheepy: And I guess that’s right. So. Where’d it go… Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh. I guess I didn’t bring it with me. Well, whatever… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Hm, hm. I suppose it would be fair to allow you to take this. You may need the headstart. Sheepy: Sheepy: H-Headstart…? Sheepy: Sheepy:…Wait, do you mean… Arsé-kun: Phantom: I do have more experience, so it may be.. Slightly unfair, otherwise. Sheepy: Sheepy: …….. *he doesn’t appear all too happy* Sheepy: Sheepy: …OK. Whatever you say. Arsé-kun: Phantom: What can I say? I am bored. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s not a victory if I’m allowed to have it. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s a loss on my behalf. Only a victory on your part. Sheepy: Sheepy: But, eh… I guess you really want ne to have it considering you’re offering it to me. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s not a victory if I’m allowed to have it. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s a loss on my behalf. Only a victory on your part. Sheepy: Sheepy: But, eh… I guess you really want ne to have it considering you’re offering it to me. Sheepy: Sheepy: So. Thanks. I guess. Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he puts the glass down and stands up* Well, then. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Sheepy: Sheepy: *yoink, painting is mine now* Sheepy: Sheepy: Sure. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he decides to return home as well, after delivering the painting to Saint-Germain* Arsé-kun: *Arséne is asleep at his desk as per usual.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he changes out of his thief gear and does his best to sleep* Sheepy: Tom: sweet dreams or bitter nightmares depending on what you want Arsé-kun: *so the next morning* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he appears anything but happy* Sheepy: Sheepy: Arsene….. Sheepy: Sheepy: Once this is over with….. Arsé-kun: Arséne: ….? Sheepy: Sheepy: …remind me to change my thief alias. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Eh? Sheepy: Sheepy: I ran into the original Phantom last night.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sheesh, what a ​jerk! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh? Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t wanna be associated with that guy! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Rather egotistical, isn’t he? Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s.. ughhh!! Sheepy: Sheepy: Why’d he have to decide to show his face when I’m at my all time low?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Probably hasn’t changed, either. But… I wouldn’t know that…. All though…. If he’s around…. Sheepy: Sheepy: “If he’s around”…? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Then so will HE… Sheepy: Sheepy: “He”? Arsé-kun: Arséne: …… Herlock. Sheepy: Herlock: *he kicks the door in* Lupin! Sheepy: Sheepy: *DFHDFJSFHKKFHHSADHKSAD*​ Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he screams. literally. screams, and throws the nearest object at him. Bye, Tom* Get out of my office right now immediately! Sheepy: Herlock: I think not! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Whatever you’re thinking, shut up, I didn’t do it. Sheepy: Herlock: *he appears to have caught on, and crosses his arms* I’m not here to accuse you of anything. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s a goddamn miracle. Sheepy: Herlock: Hah, hah. Sheepy: Herlock: I came here about the Phantom. Sheepy: Sheepy: *oh shoot* Sheepy: Herlock: … I ​did​ hear all of it, yes. I was just about to open the door when you started the topic, so I thought I might as well stay and listen. Sheepy: Herlock: Luckily for you, I’ve got no interest in posers like you. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Then what. The hell. Do you want? Sheepy: Herlock: He met him. Last night. And I want information. Sheepy: Sheepy: I can’t. Understand. Your. Accent… . Arsé-kun: Arséne: ….. I wasn’t there, so do not ask me. Sheepy: Herlock: You aren’t the Phantom Faker here, so I’ve got no interest in what you have to say. Arsé-kun: Tom: if i could fly i would be a bird. birdsheep. sheep can fly with sufficient thrust. it was me, all along. i was the murderer of this scooby doo episode Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll only answer your question if you say the magic word. Sheepy: Herlock: I’ve got no time to play along with your games. Arsé-kun: Tom: murder Sheepy: Sheepy: Then you don’t get your info. Sheepy: Sheepy: Shoo. *herlock voice* I’ve got no time for bullies like you! Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he watches* Sheepy: Herlock: Tell me what you know. Sheepy: Sheepy: Not until you do what I want and you say the magic word. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’ve raised you so well. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m so glad you’re proud of me. Sheepy: Herlock: What. Do you want me to do. Sheepy: Sheepy: You gotta be super duper nice, right. Sheepy: Sheepy: Like. Sheepy: Sheepy: You can’t say anything mean at all for the next month. Sheepy: Herlock: I’ll act as I feel fit. Sheepy: Sheepy: Bye, bye, go away, you aren’t getting anything from me. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Then say please. Sheepy: Herlock: I do not need to say that in order to get information. I’m a detective. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes, you do. Sheepy: Herlock: I am not three, Lupin. I do not need to go through the common courtesies taught to toddlers. Arsé-kun: Tom: did he kill me Sheepy: Sheepy: Probably. Sheepy: Sheepy: What a bully. Sheepy: Herlock: I’m sure I’d be able to find someone you would listen to. Sheepy: Sheepy: Probably not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Even if you tried to threaten me, it wouldn’t work. Sometimes, the only way yoi can succeed in life is through the power of kindness. Sheepy: Herlock: “Kindness”…? Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t have the energy to deal with this today. I just got back from a long trip and I was already very tired. Sheepy: Sheepy: Good for you. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe you can try again when you’re not as tired. Like. Next year. Arsé-kun: Arséne: He has a point. Sheepy: Herlock:… Expect to see me tomorrow. Sheepy: Herlock: Good day, Lupin. Fake Phantom. Sheepy: Sheepy: Bye Hurly. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Bye, loser. Sheepy: Herlock: *he leaves, looking pretty irritated* Sheepy: Sheepy: Same… Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t wanna tell him anything. Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s mean! Sheepy: Sheepy: Sheesh! He should get some manners! Sheepy: *ding! new text for arsene.* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he pauses and checks* Sheepy: *it’s from Sherlock! It reads: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA* Arsé-kun: Arséne: [text: to Sherlock] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA​AAAAAAAAAA Sheepy: Sherlock: [text: to Arsene] HES HERE Sheepy: Sherlock: [text: to Arsene] IVE LOCKED MY DOOR AND BARRICADED ALL POINTS OF POSSIBLE ENTRY INTO MY ROOM Sheepy: Sherlock: [text: to Arsene] IM HIDING UNDER MY BED HOW DO I ESCAPE IF HE GETS IN??? Sheepy: Sherlock: [text: to Arsene] I can hear him in here and he sounds like he’s in a bad mood Arsé-kun: Arséne: [text: to Sherlock] Sheepy and I gave him no slack. Sheepy: Sherlock: [text: to Arsene]I’m gonna hide all day Arsé-kun: Arséne: [text: to Sherlock] come hide over here. I’m locking the door soon. Sheepy: Sherlock: [text: to Arsene] coming Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sherlock is hiding here. Why is HE back now… Sheepy: Sheepy: It can be a sleepover! Sheepy: *after a bit, Sherlock slowly enters the door. … is he crying?* Sheepy: Sherlock:…….. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh! You’re here!! Sheepy: Sherlock:….hullo, Arséne, Sheepy. Sheepy: Sherlock: Why’d he come back now…. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I don’t know, and I wish he’d go. Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s always really rude… Arsé-kun: Tom: bet on horse number five Sheepy: Sherlock: He really needs to work on his personality. Sheepy: Sheepy: If it helps any, I can get a critical hit on him. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Please, do. Sheepy: Sheepy: Do you want me to go down and kick him right now? Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t think that’s a good idea. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Not Now. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, I guess. Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s umm… very strong, despite his appearance. Sheepy: Sherlock: And I think he chose his fighting style specifically so that if we were to spar, he’d have the upper hand. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sheesh, what a jerk. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m gonna fight him the next time I see him. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Please don’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: But… but… Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you very much for letting me hide here! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Anytime. Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t know what to do in return…. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Why would we make you do anything? Sheepy: Sherlock: Umm.. I didn’t get that far. Sheepy: Sherlock: But I’m sure, if I turn my thinking around, I can come up with a reason! Sheepy: Sheepy: There’s no reason. Arsé-kun: Arséne: You don’t need one, either. Sheepy: Sherlock: Ah…! I’m very glad!! Sheepy: Sherlock: Again.. thank you! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Quite welcome. Sheepy: Sheepy: Is he staying the night or something? Sheepy: Sherlock: Me? Umm.. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It shouldn’t.. Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Of course. You can use the upstairs bedroom. Nobody uses it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, we sleep down here usually. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We probably shouldn’t, but we do. Sheepy: Sheepy: I think that’s your reason, too. Isn’t it? Sheepy: Sherlock: I forgot to.. uh, un-barricade my door.. but I’m sure that won’t be an issue. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ll have to climb in through my window to get into my room again. But… Arsé-kun: Arséne: … Then how did you get out..? Sheepy: Sherlock: The window! Sheepy: Sheepy: “The window”? Arsé-kun: Arséne: And did you tell Watson you were leaving? Sheepy: Sherlock: No. Arsé-kun: Arséne: … Great Sheepy: Sherlock: …? Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s not going to worry, probably. Arsé-kun: *that text arsene just got says otherwise* Sheepy: Sherlock: ? Sheepy: Sherlock: What was that? Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s called a text. Arsene’s the one who got it. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I think he knows what that is. *he checks and responds* It was Watson, asking if I knew if you were okay. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh. No. He’s dead. Sheepy: Sheepy: He just told us his last words. Sheepy: Sherlock: I am? It did? Arsé-kun: Tom: knife to meet you Sheepy: Sherlock: What were my last words? Sheepy: Sheepy: “Arsene… I love you…r shoes…” Sheepy: Sherlock: Those were my last words? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, everyone heard them. They were very dramatic. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I already answered him. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he peeks over Arsene’s shoulder* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he goes back to home screen* Yes? Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re being mean to me. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Okay. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s not very nice. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wanted to see what you wrote and you’re not letting me. Sheepy: Sheepy: I"m gonna call the meanie cops on you. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, wait, they’re already here. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sherlock, you’re playing the part of the meanie cop. Sheepy: Sherlock: I am? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah. You gotta put Arsene in bully jail and then I’ve gotta reveal that I’m the true jerk, and that it was my plan all along to throw him into bully jail. Arsé-kun: Arséne: anything but that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, take him away, sir. Sheepy: Sherlock: But you just told me that you’re the bad guy. Sheepy: Sheepy: But you’re actually a corrupt cop who’s working under me. Sheepy: Sheepy: And Arsene’s the good guy. Arsé-kun: Tom: who am i Sheepy: Tom: im the murder victim Sheepy: Sheepy: Tom, it’s not a murder. It’s a case of being a meanie. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sherlock is actually hypnotized to do as I say, and Tom is the only one who can break it. Sheepy: Tom: woah Arsé-kun: Arséne: How absolutely horrible. What ever will I do? Sheepy: Sheepy: Cry. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Your suggestions are terrible. Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re terrible Arsé-kun: Arséne: Thanks. Gracias. Merci. Sheepy: Sherlock: Sheepy, that’s not really nice to say… Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re not really nice Sheepy: Sherlock: B-But I do my best…! Sheepy: Tom: *gasp* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sheepy, that was a little out of line. Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re a little out of line Arsé-kun: Arséne: Thank you, captain obvious, for pulling into our port. Sheepy: Sheepy: If it was a stormy night and I was in a boat, if the only port I could pull in was into yours, I’d abandon ship and hope maybe I’d have better luck there Sheepy: Sherlock: … Oooh… you’re kidding… Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes, we are. We’re only teasing. I’m horrible, yes, but… Sheepy: Sheepy: No I’m Sheepy Arsé-kun: *And in comes Watson, completely out of breath, looking somewhat annoyed, and with Sisi.* Sheepy: Sherlock:? Oh! Watson! Arsé-kun: Watson: How could you leave me alone with him, Holmes? Sheepy: Sherlock: *whimper* Sorry… Arsé-kun: Watson: It’s fine. Just, tell me next time? I had no idea you even left! Sheepy: Sherlock: Ahh… that was the intent… so he wouldn’t know and wouldn’t yell at me or something. Arsé-kun: Arséne: He’ll find a reason to anyway. Sheepy: Sherlock: That’s true… Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ll try to remember to tell you next time, Watson! I’m veeerrrryyy happy to see you! Arsé-kun: Watson: When are you not? Arsé-kun: Sisi: *NEW PLACE! NEW PLACE! SNIFF ALL THINGS!* Sheepy: Sherlock: Never!! Sheepy: Sheepy: *PUPPY* Sheepy: Sherlock: How did you find out? Arsé-kun: Watson: Find out what? Sheepy: Sherlock: That I wasn’t there. Arsé-kun: Watson: I asked Lupin. Sheepy: Sherlock:… But, wht would you ask him that in the first place? Oooh.. and.. I forgot to remove the barricade from my door… Arsé-kun: Watson: Because you barricading your door in of itself is unusual and I was unsure if you were even there. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh.. that makes sense… Sheepy: Sherlock: But I’m okay! You don’t need to worry! Are you okay? You seem out of breath. Arsé-kun: Watson: I had to chase Sisi. I’ll be fine. Sheepy: Sheepy: I think he’s staying with us tonight. We’ve got a bed upstairs that we never use. Arsé-kun: Watson: That’s fine, then. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh! You brought Sisi! I didn’t notice. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m glad you’re okay! Arsé-kun: Sisi: *Holmes? Holmes! HOOOOOLLLLMMEESS!!! pet me* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he pets Sisi* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *yay* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh! I nearly forgot! *have a hug, Watson* Arsé-kun: *watson is dead. not really* Sheepy: Sherlock:? Arsé-kun: Watson: too.. tight.. holmes Sheepy: Sherlock: *he loosens his grip* Sorry! Sheepy: Sheepy: Iris just texted me saying that Herlock is in a bad mood and was getting amgry at Hudson and her, but after shooting him with the smoke gun he’s leaving the two alone. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m proud of her…. Sheepy: Sheepy: We may or may not be responsible for his bad mood. We being me. Oops. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We aren’t apologizing. Sheepy: Sherlock: No, no, it’s, um, the phantom guy. Sheepy: Sherlock: I never really cared about the cases so I never tracked them, but he’s… very into the cases. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s probably because he’s been made a laughingstock by the thief in the past… Arsé-kun: Arséne: So we’re aware. Still no excuse to eavesdrop on us and bust in without permission. Sheepy: Sheepy: You don’t care about the phantom? Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s not bad. Nor is the new one. They both seem like they’d be fun friends to have! Sheepy: Sherlock: Being a thief and going on adventures sounds very exciting… Sheepy: Sheepy:…Uh-huh. Sheepy: Sherlock: Also, um, I apologize on his behalf for that. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Ordinarily, I would not accept such an apology. I’ll make an exception. Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you! Sheepy: Sherlock: I can ask him to refrain from that in the future. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Please do. Sheepy: Sheepy: Please kick him in the stomach too Sheepy: Sherlock: B-but… Sheepy: Sherlock: That’s not nice… Sheepy: Sheepy: Nor is he! Sheepy: Sherlock: Strength isn’t for hurting others. It’s for protecting yourself and those you hold dear. Sheepy: Sherlock: And for hugging people. Sheepy: Sherlock: Like Watson and Arséne! Sheepy: Sheepy: But not me?? Sheepy: Sherlock: You don’t seem like the type to like hugs. Sheepy: Sheepy: I love hugs. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh…! Sorry! I didn’t know that! Sheepy: Sherlock: *he lets go of Watson, and then bends down and hugs Sheepy* Sheepy: Sheepy: *THIS IS FINE* Arsé-kun: Tom: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa *sisi found him and is holding tom in his mouth. again* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh. Tom’s being tormented. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Nothing new. Sheepy: Tom: Misfortune will be coming your way soon. Sheepy: Tom: woah Arsé-kun: Arséne: thanks. Sheepy: Tom: watson backwards is Sheepy: Tom: bird gender Arsé-kun: Watson: *what. pardon. i. what* Sheepy: Tom: watson means Sheepy: Tom: snuzzfuzz Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’d believe it. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s the dictionary definition of Watson. Sheepy: Tom: sherlock means Sheepy: Tom: shearlock Arsé-kun: Arséne: *all right, anyway* Sheepy: Tom: but he does not have sheared locks Sheepy: Tom: his name is a dirty lie Arsé-kun: Watson: … I should probably head back. He is in the sort of mood to have my head, after all. Sheepy: Sheepy: What a jerk. Is he ever nice? Arsé-kun: Watson: ……… Not really. Sheepy: Sherlock: I guess there had to be a time where he was nice, but… I certainly wasn’t born yet. Arsé-kun: Watson: Seems accurate enough. Sheepy: Sheepy: If he’s mean to you, you really don’t have to help him in the next case Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suggest you don’t, since it’s the Phantom case. Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s not even that bad… Arsé-kun: Arséne: He is sometimes. Arsé-kun: *Watson heads out after rescuing Tom* Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? He didn’t seem like it… Sheepy: Tom: woof woof Arsé-kun: Arséne: … Eh, I thought you meant Hurl-lock for a minute. Sheepy: Sherlock: No, no! Sheepy: Sherlock: The Phantom. Arsé-kun: Arséne: The Phantom is not that bad, this is true. Sheepy: Sherlock: He seems like a very nice person! Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s very possible. Sheepy: Sheepy: Uh-huh. Sheepy: Sheepy: Stealing is bad but I guess he’s okay for a thief. Arsé-kun: Arséne: But, one does not know how he behaves when he is not the Phantom. Sheepy: Sheepy: People tend to show their true behavior when wearing a mask. Sheepy: Sheepy: A mean person normally may be nice behind a mask, and a good person normally may be downright evil behind a mask. Arsé-kun: Arséne: This is entirely true. Sheepy: Sherlock: So whoever he is out there, he’s actually a nice person. Arsé-kun: Arséne: You think so? Sheepy: Sherlock: Yeah! Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh. Weird. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Hm. Before I forget: Sherlock, Sheepy is going out for me later tonight, so if anyone comes in at an odd hour, it’s him. Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you for telling me! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll do my best not to wake you. Sheepy: Sherlock: Don’t worry, I’m usually up all night! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Maybe you should… Er.. Stop doing that. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s not exactly a choice. Sheepy: Sherlock: I just get to sleep when I get to sleep, you see? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suppose I do Sheepy: Sherlock: After all, if I had a choice in the matter, I’d definitely sleep more than a few hours at night. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sleeping is easy for me. It’s one of my best skills. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I don’t think that’s a good thing. Sheepy: Sheepy: Are you against sleeping? Arsé-kun: Arséne: No. Sheepy: Sheepy: Then why’s it bad? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Well, if it’s your “best”, that implies your other skills are lesser. Sheepy: Sheepy: I can’t think of anything I’m actually good at other than sleeping. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, maybe mimicing voices. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m okay-ish at that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Other than that.. nope, no skills here. Arsé-kun: Arséne: hm, hm. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh well! Arsé-kun: *later, that night* Sheepy: Sheepy: OK, I’m going out! Arsé-kun: Arséne: All right. Good luck. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes out* Arsé-kun: *605 Heather Lane. The local library. It, by now, is closed. Someone is waiting by the entrance.* Sheepy: Sheepy: ….? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Salut! Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, it’s you. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oui. Sheepy: Sheepy: Is this revenge for me taking on your name or something? Arsé-kun: Phantom: No, of course not. How could I be angered if others are so inspired by me that they take my name on themselves? Sheepy: Sheepy: … Hey, wait a minute. Sheepy: Sheepy: How did you even find ​out​ about this challenge? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I have my ways. Connections and such. Sheepy: Sheepy: … Except. There’s only two people who know. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I highly doubt this. Sheepy: Sheepy: I only told one person, and obviously, the Count knows of it. Sheepy: Sheepy: And then there’s you… Sheepy: Sheepy: I probably should warn you… Arsé-kun: Phantom: .. Eh? Sheepy: Sheepy: Herlock’s back and he wants your head, basically. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Excellent! I can’t wait to embarrass him again! Sheepy: Sheepy: I refused to tell him anything about what happened. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Non, non, do tell. I’d like to play another game with the monsieur! Sheepy: Sheepy: OK. If he decides to kick my door in again and demand information from me, I’ll give it, I guess. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Merci. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess you really do want to compete with me… I’m more of a fan of teamwork, but… Arsé-kun: Phantom: If something occurs, there is nothing stopping us from being of assistance to the other. Sheepy: Sheepy: … Really? You mean that? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Why would I lie? We are not enemies. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s true.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: So. Are you ready, mon amie? Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess so. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Go at will, then. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he enters* Arsé-kun: *its very library* Sheepy: Sheepy: (Now to recall what I needed to steal tonight …) Sheepy: Sheepy: (He said there was some book he published? This card has the location and all, but boy, this will be tedious…) Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes searching for the book* Arsé-kun: *looking for a book in a library. good luck.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *this is irritating* Arsé-kun: *and then Phantom comes in about ten minutes later, casually humming and scanning bookshelves* Sheepy: Sheepy: *oh. it’s him. better look harder* Sheepy: Sheepy: (Where’s that book…?) Arsé-kun: *The Phantom pauses and takes out a flashlight.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he looks over* ….? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Yes? Sheepy: Sheepy: Now that I think about it, Phantom… Where, exactly, are the night guards? Sheepy: Sheepy: It seems empty other than us two. Arsé-kun: Phantom: In a library? Don’t be silly. They only have cameras. Which I took the time to disable. You’re quite welcome. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh… Arsé-kun: *so the Phantom goes back to humming and scanning the shelves.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he continues his search* Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m never gonna go to a library ever again because I’ll forever be reminded of this miserable hunt. Arsé-kun: Phantom: If it makes you feel better, I have not found it yet either. Sheepy: Sheepy: Not particularly, because it doesn’t matter which one of us finds it, what matters is that it’s found. Arsé-kun: Phantom: That is true. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m having trouble getting into the competitive mindset because usually I work wity a partner. Sheepy: Sheepy: She’s more techy than I am, so she usually deals with the security cqmeras and stuff. Sheepy: Sheepy: So, as I see it, we both have a common goal and even if we aren’t directly assisting each other, we’re still helping each other. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Heh. I’m not used to partners, but I don’t usually compete, either. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ooohhh.. I can be your partner, then! Sheepy: Sheepy: I mean, if you want one. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I’ll think about it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay! Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s too bad it isn’t by itself. Arsé-kun: Phantom: …. Maybe it is. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh…? Arsé-kun: Phantom: The book isn’t where it belongs, so it must have been moved. It was most likely separated so it would be harder to find. Sheepy: Sheepy: That makes sense! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he looks around* If I were a book,where would I be.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Somewhere high up where no one can reach me! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Tu es magnifique! That is most likely it! Sheepy: Sheepy: I would try to look, but I’m much too short to be of use. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Very well, allow me. *he climbs up a bookshelf to the top, and looks around from there* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, good idea! Sheepy: Sheepy: Do you see anything? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I believe I do! Sheepy: Sheepy: Great! Sheepy: Sheepy: I doubt I can reach it, so.. Sheepy: Sheepy: I can will you on from down here!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he jumps from shelf to shelf, before picking something up and jumping down* Here we are. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, you did it! Arsé-kun: Phantom: I can’t say you did not help Sheepy: Sheepy: I didn’t really, I just gave you an idea. Arsé-kun: Phantom: And that stopped this from taking far longer than necessary. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess that’s true!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Because of that, I think you should take it. Sheepy: Sheepy: But you’re the one who got it… Besides, it doesn’t matter who takes it. 'Cause in the end, it’s the same end result. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I see. You’re going to continue that train of thought. Very well, then, I will take it. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he nods* Arsé-kun: Phantom: I shall see you tomorrow night, then. Au revoir! Sheepy: Sheepy: Good night!! Arsé-kun: *so Phantom leaves* Sheepy: *so does sheepy* Arsé-kun: *so he goes home.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he changes out of his Joker outfit* Arsé-kun: *Arséne isn’t downstairs.* Sheepy: Sheepy:….? Arsé-kun: *He’s probably upstairs.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he heads upstairs* Arsé-kun: *Arséne is upstairs. Seems he remembered he had a bed.* Sheepy: Sheepy: (Oh, there he is. … … … Wait a moment…) Sheepy: Sheepy: (I guess he forgot…) Sheepy: Sheepy: (Oh well. Not my problem.) Arsé-kun: *and it continues to not be his problem* Sheepy: *so he heads downstairs and goes to sleep* Arsé-kun: *and everyone gets up by about noon bc everyone is friggin’ lazy.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you veerrrryyyy much for letting me stay over! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Quite welcome. *he chuckles* I have a feeling that someone is going to overthink this situation. Sheepy: Sheepy: Um. Yeah. Arsé-kun: Arséne: The answer is no. Sheepy: Sheepy: You memory must be going with age 'cause you forgot he was there. Arsé-kun: Arséne: The answer is still no. I knew he was there. Sheepy: Sheepy: But…but why Arsé-kun: Arséne: Because neither of us care anymore. We’ve known each other for… Long enough, honestly. Sheepy: Sheepy: How long?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: … I knew his brother first, unfortunately, so from there…. I knew Sherlock for about… Eleven years? Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s a long time. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Long enough for neither of us to care. He’s not interested and he’s also not a woman. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he nods* That’s right! Sheepy: Sheepy: So you’re friends???? Sheepy: Sherlock: More than friends!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: ….. That makes it sound like what he’s assuming it is, Sherlock. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he leans over and whispers something to Sherlock* Sheepy: Sherlock: …Oh!! Sheepy: Sherlock: OK!! It’s fine if you think that. It’s not true, though. Arsé-kun: Arséne: ……. At least no one else is hearing this. Could you imagine HIS reaction if he heard you claim we were sleeping together? Sheepy: Herlock: *THE HERLOCK IS IN* ​What did you say?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *JESUS CHRIST!* STOP DOING THAT!! Sheepy: Sherlock: *he hides behind Arséne. where did he come from* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *bark, bark* Sheepy: Herlock: I’d think I’d have the right to at least be a bit concerned! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Since you were listening, and hopefully have an IQ high enough to understand the English language, I think you know better. Sheepy: Sheepy: Arsene, people with high IQs don’t need to know English- Arsé-kun: Arséne: We’re speaking English, are we not? Sheepy: Herlock: You, Joker. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah I’m a real kidder. Arsé-kun: Arséne: A comedian. Have your discussion outside. Sheepy: Herlock: You know exactly what I mean, Fake-Phantom. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Herlock. Outside. Sheepy: Sheepy: Is it actually a good idea to discuss this outside? Arsé-kun: Arséne: ……. Never mind. I think it’s too late. Sheepy: Sherlock:? Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? You’re the Joker?? Sheepy: Sheepy: Heck yeah I am. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *apply hand to face* Herlock, nobody told him. I was trying to make this easier on everyone involved. Sheepy: Sherlock: Hmmm… … ’M not upset or anything, just a bit disappointed… Sheepy: Sherlock: You never invited me…!! Sheepy: Sherlock: Iris and I could be the best thieving duo ever seen if we put our heart into it!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Please don’t Sheepy: Herlock: Now that that’s over with… Sheepy: Herlock: You’ve been in connection with the real Phantom. Where is the next place you’re stealing? Sheepy: Sheepy: Mmm… should I tell you… Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he goes and sits down, looking less than impressed* Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re lucky the Phantom told me to tell you Arsé-kun: Arséne: Did he? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah Sheepy: Sheepy: Bend down, Herlock Sheepy: Herlock: *he hesitantly does so and Sheepy whispers something into his ear* Sheepy: Herlock:…There? Thank you. Arsé-kun: Arséne: …… *he seems to be expecting something* Sheepy: Sherlock: ? Sheepy: *Tom is on the sill of the door or whatever it’s called* Arsé-kun: *that’s called a doorframe, friend* Sheepy: *tom is on the doorframe* Arsé-kun: *and how the hell did he get there? nobody knows, but Arséne expects him to fall off any time now.* Sheepy: *he falls onto Herlock’s head* Arsé-kun: *Arséne laughs.* Sheepy: *Tom falling on Herlock’s head made Herlock temporarily stop from standing up straight from his crouched position. Sheepy knees him right in the crotch.* Sheepy: *Herlock just. Collapses. He wasn’t expecting that.* Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s for calling me Faker Phantom so many times Sheepy: Herlock: *he doesn’t appear as though he’s gonna reply to that.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he wasn’t exactly paying attention, so he finally looks over and* Oh!! Were you two sparring?? Good job, Sheepy! I haven’t won against him for many years. Sheepy: Herlock: ​Shut up, Sherlock. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he retreats to the corner, nibbling at his caramel bar, his buddy in times of loneliness.* Arsé-kun: *Arséne was grinning at Herlock getting FUCKING OWNED. Not anymore, though* Arsé-kun: *And Sisi decides to sniff Herlock’s face* Sheepy: Sheepy: Get wrecked nerd. Arsé-kun: *And this is what Watson walks in on. He wisely opts to not ask what he missed.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I kneed Herlock in the crotch. Sheepy: Sheepy: He deserved it. Arsé-kun: Watson: I wasn’t here, so I can’t argue. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh. Yeah. And Sherlock knows I’m the Joker now. He’s not very good at keeping secrets, so can you do your best to make sure he doesn’t tell everyone? Thank you~! Arsé-kun: Watson: I’ll do my best. Sheepy: Sheepy: Thank you~! Sheepy: *Sherlock is still nibbling a this caramel bar, sitting in the corner* Arsé-kun: Arséne: … Ah, Sherlock? Sheepy: Sherlock: *sigh* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh… you noticed me, finally. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Implying I hadn’t before? Sheepy: Sherlock: Herlock told me to go away… Sheepy: Sherlock: And I didn’t want to seem like I was sitting around, moping… Sheepy: Sherlock: …So I sat in the corner, reading about things I’m not interested in, all the meanwhile nibbling on my caramel bar, my buddy in times of loneliness… Arsé-kun: Arséne: you stop that. he’s a jerk. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m reading about snakes. Sheepy: Sherlock: They’re even worse now. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Then stop reading it. Sheepy: Sherlock: But then what will I read? Sheepy: Tom: the obituary Arsé-kun: Arséne: tom, no Sheepy: Sherlock: *sigh*… Everyone looks like they’re having such great fun… Sheepy: Sherlock: While I alone have been shunned… Arsé-kun: Arséne: stop Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh.. sorry. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s fine. Sheepy: *Herlock has gotten off the floor* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh, I was hoping you’d become the carpet. Sheepy: Sheepy: Aww… Arsé-kun: Arséne: Wait, then we’d have to deal with him daily. Never mind. Sheepy: Sheepy: He can be the carpet at Sherlock’s place. Sheepy: Sheepy: And then he can’t come here. Sheepy: Sheepy: And carpets can’t talk! Arsé-kun: *That night: 41 Deerfield Drive. Moonshine Bank. The Phantom is, of course, there first, though he seems… Rather uncomfortable. He’s pacing, cane in hand.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Hellooo, Mr. Phantom~ I did as you asked and when Herlock demanded info, I gave it to him and kneed hin in the crotch. Sheepy: Sheepy: I did more preparing than I usually do. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Salut, as did I! I.. I do not particularly enjoy dealing with him. Sheepy: Sheepy: Don’t worry! I’ve got a solution to that! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Eh? Sheepy: Sheepy: *he produces a cat-looking and bunny looking… toy?* Here they are. Sheepy: Sheepy: My partner let me borrow these. Sheepy: Sheepy: The bunny’s full of sleeping gas if things get desperate, and the cat’s skill is tripping people and knocking things over. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Convenient! Excellent thinking, mon amie! Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s probably mad at me, so I needed to pull out the big guns. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ve put the bunny on mute mode, too, so he won’t rat us out. Sheepy: Sheepy:…Normally it likes saying, “The game is afoot!” and “It’s elementary!” … it gets annoying. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sometimes it’d be nice if the real one had a mute button. Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he smirks* How true that is. Do you have a plan, or shall we go with mine? Sheepy: Sheepy: Probably yours, because mine consists of don’t get caught. Sheepy: Sheepy: Do you know Sherlock or something?? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Fine, and perhaps I do. It is hard not to know who the man is. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, yeah, I guess his stories are popular Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s like the really weird uncle who’s the best uncle ever but he’s also convinced that aliens exist and all he reads about is aliens. Sheepy: Sheepy: Except in Sherlock’s case, replaxe aliens with snakes Arsé-kun: Phantom: Hm, hm. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m ready whenever you are! Arsé-kun: *So, Phantom quietly explains his plan, including what Sheepy brought with him.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Sounds good to me… Arsé-kun: *And, they go!* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he’s keeping a close eye for anyone who isn’t the Phantom* Arsé-kun: *So, you mean like Herlock* Sheepy: *yeah* Arsé-kun: *Right there.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he sees Herlock.* Sheepy: Sheepy: ah, Herlock’s here.. Arsé-kun: *So what is he going to do?* Sheepy: *keep the bunbun close just in case* Arsé-kun: *this is widely regarded as a good idea.* Sheepy: *he considers releasing the Cat* Sheepy: *but. he does not! because that’s not part of the plan!* Arsé-kun: *Good job!* Sheepy: *he is a bit nervous though, and sticks close to Phantom* Arsé-kun: *Phantom doesn’t seem too bothered. The most he does is occasionally glance back to see if Sheepy is still there.* Sheepy: *Sheepy’s keeping his mouth shut so he doesn’t draw the police and Herlock over to them* Arsé-kun: *Oh, shit, there are police. What a plot twist. Not really. It has been previously established most cops are assholes or idiots. This continues to stand.* Sheepy: *Herlock seems incredibly serious* Arsé-kun: *Water is wet.* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he glances back at Sheepy, gestures to the rabbit, and then points ahead. This is not a very detailed explanation.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he puts the bunny on the ground and presses a button. it begins to walk forward* Arsé-kun: *Phantom backs away, and around the corner, pulling Sheepy with him* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he allows the Phantom to do this* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *quietly* …. I suppose we now wait. How long does it take to work, and how long can you hold your breath? Sheepy: Sheepy: *also quietly* Once it stops, it, uh, does this little boxing pose, and then spews gas once it’s done. And… um.. I’d assume long enough, maybe. Sheepy: *the toy stops, and Herlock turns. he looks down at it and … picks it up to inspect it. herlock, no. the bun does its boxing pose, which he seems a bit surprised by. why is this bun doing the pose? … oh SHOOT* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *try not to laugh. succeed.* Sheepy: Herlock: *he begins to go for his pocket to grab… something to deal with the situation, but he just can’t seem to find his pocket and proceeds to get a dizzy spell. … … … down he goes.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he appears to have relaxed some* Arsé-kun: *the idiot police have either scattered, fell over, or generally didn’t do anything useful. go figure* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he seems amused* Well done. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, thank you…! Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe Wag won’t be used much after all.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: You never know. Sheepy: *the clover on the bun’s back flashes, and it slowly turns around and heads back* Arsé-kun: *Phantom picks it up and hands it back* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he puts it in his bag* Arsé-kun: Phantom: We’re going to have to cross the room. Are you ready? Sheepy: Sheepy: *he nods* Arsé-kun: *so they hold their breath and cross the room relatively easily. the rest of the plan goes without a hitch* Sheepy: *it was awesome* Arsé-kun: *herlock- 0. team phantom- 1* Sheepy: Sheepy: *…once they’re out* That was a lot of fun! Thank you! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Je vous en prie. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m looking forward to the next few nights! Arsé-kun: Phantom: As am I. Au revoir! Sheepy: Sheepy: See you tomorrow!! Arsé-kun: *and they split up.* Sheepy: *sheepy heads home* Arsé-kun: *and he is home now. does he have the loot, what the heck was it, and if he does, where is it being put?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *oh shoot was this supposed to go to rhe count* Arsé-kun: *that definitely answered everything.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he rushes over to the Count and drops it off* Arsé-kun: *since you didn’t say it twice, it was gems or something. but whatever, NOW he’s home* Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m home~! Sheepy: Tom: knees weak arms shaky Sheepy: Tom: when your sheep comes home Arsé-kun: Sisi: *HELLO! HELLOOOOO!* Sheepy: Tom: and makes the spaghetti Arsé-kun: Sisi: *!!!! IT’S ME!!!* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he pets Sisi* Sheepy: Tom: in 49 of the 50 states, it’s legal for tom to be a dog’s chew toy Sheepy: Tom: but these are not the states Sheepy: Tom: so it’s illegal for this dog to use me as a chew toy any longer Arsé-kun: *and once again, arséne is presumably upstairs* Sheepy: Sheepy: C'mon Sisi, let’s go upstairs. Arsé-kun: Sisi: *oK! OK!* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes upstairs* Arsé-kun: *there’s sherlock. and there’s arsene. it’s very much not shippy.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *ok, nothing new* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, there’s nithing interesting going on up here. Let’s go downstairs. Maybe there’s a way to play fetch inside. Sheepy: *and then sheepy stayed up all night playing with sisi* Sheepy: *tom babbled a bunch, it was great* Sheepy: Tom: if you were to attach a jetpack to a penguin Sheepy: Tom: not only would it be superior to me in absolutely every way Sheepy: Tom: but it would be unstoppable Sheepy: Tom: nothing can stop the penguin air force Arsé-kun: *and this is what Arséne came downstairs in time for. He stares* Sheepy: Tom: penguins can’t fly because otherwise they would be perfect Arsé-kun: Arséne: …. I’ve decided I don’t want to ask. Sheepy: Tom: sheepy played with sisi all night Sheepy: Tom: im lonely Arsé-kun: Arséne: That does explain the noise. Sheepy: Tom: now they’re both dead Sheepy: Tom: ive been thinking Sheepy: Tom: maybe i should get a job Sheepy: Tom: im going to be a bee keeper Sheepy: Tom: bee-lieve in me Arsé-kun: Arséne: … Maybe. Sheepy: Tom: the truth… Sheepy: Tom:…sometimes stings. Sheepy: Tom: but a bee keeper must keep going forward no matter how much he’s stung Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m getting weird texts from Herlock. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Everything he says is weird. What is it? Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s demanding an explanation over a boxing bunny. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Ah. That. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Sheepy: Sherlock: I want to see a boxing bunny. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It wouldn’t be a good idea. It’s filled with sleeping gas. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh…? Sheepy: Sherlock: Why…? Arsé-kun: Arséne: It was used as a defense mech when the Joker goes out. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Case in point: From the sounds of it, it seems Sheepy used it on Herlock, and he is most likely upset. Also tired and grumpy. Arsé-kun: Tom: A, Bee, C the bees, D Sheepy: Sherlock: Oooh… Sheepy: Sherlock:…But what do I have to do with that? Sheepy: Sherlock:…Oh,he’s saying I made it. Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s saying that there was a clover icon on the back, so it must have been made by me… Sheepy: Sherlock: But without the knowledge of the fact Sheepy is the Joker, it could have been made by anyone who was a fan if the books. Sheepy: Sherlock: The boxing pose isn’t really incriminating evidence either. Sheepy: Sherlock: However, my guess is that Iris created it, and the sleeping gas I made for her was used in it Arsé-kun: Arséne: That seems accurate enough. Add in that Iris has free access to anything you make, and that she is a capable inventor in her own right Sheepy: Sherlock: But why would she make that??? Sheepy: Sherlock: And why does Sheepy have it… Arsé-kun: Arséne: To help Sheepy? It is entirely possible that she knew he was the Joker. Sheepy: Sherlock: Maybe… Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s more than possible, actually, because she built more than one. One resembles Wagahai. Sheepy: Sherlock: She did…? Sheepy: *There’s a buzzing noise that sounds like it’s at the window* Arsé-kun: Arséne: …? Sheepy: *there’s a little blue dog-looking robot hovering at the window* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Exhibit B: That. Sheepy: Sherlock: What’s that? Sheepy: *it looks like it wants in* Arsé-kun: Arséne: A little spybot Iris built. *he makes a face at it, then opens the window* Sheepy: *it flies over to sheepy’s bag, hooks onto the zipper, and opens it. #mad skills* Sheepy: *it proceeds to pick up the bun and fly away. goodbye my dude* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sometimes I wonder why she does not come get it herself. Sheepy: Sherlock: If Herlock’s upset about it, she may not want him finding out she’s the one who made it. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That is true. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he sleepily rubs his eyes* Oh. Iris told me she’d check that for any damage in the morning, 'cause Herlock dropped it. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That does explain it. Now, why were you up all night? Sheepy: Sheepy: I was playing with Sisi. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sisi’s so cute. How could I say no??? Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s going to impact your performance later tonight. Sheepy: Sheepy: Pshhh, whatever, Sisi’s worth it. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m strong anyway. Sheepy: Sheepy: Did you think teens actually sleep? Sheepy: Sheepy: Were you ever a teen? Sheepy: Sheepy: Or did someone just imagine you up and you appeared in this world as an adult? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Unfortunately for the world, I was. Sheepy: Sheepy: You mean you were a teen once? Sheepy: Sheepy: Or maybe you were born an old man. Sheepy: Sheepy: And every year you age, you get younger. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s horrifying. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s how one story went. Sheepy: Sheepy: And then he poofed out of existence. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Thankfully, that is not based on a true story. Sheepy: Sheepy: Or is it? Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe it’s based on you!! Sheepy: Sheepy: That’d explain a lot. Arsé-kun: Arséne: No, it would not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah it would. Arsé-kun: Arséne: How. Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re always acting like an old guy. Sheepy: Sheepy: But you’re only like.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Fifty. Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s not fifty. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I hope I’m not! Sheepy: Sheepy: You age backwards, so you’ve got another fifty years to live. Arsé-kun: Arséne: no. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m a scientist. Sheepy: Sheepy: So I know this stuff. Sheepy: *HERLOCK IS HERE* Sheepy: Herlock: Tell me where you’re going to be tonight. Sheepy: Sheepy: Nice people knock before they enter unless they’re Sherlock, and also they say “hello”. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m going to get a restraining order. Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t care. I need to know this information so I can catch the phantom. Sheepy: Herlock: … Besides. Some gray-haired kid came to me and asked the same thing, like I knew. Sheepy: Herlock: Claiming he was the “Joker’s rival”, or something along the lines of that. Sheepy: Sheepy: … *shrug* No idea who that is. Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t feel the need to tell him anyway. He’d just get in the way. Sheepy: Sheepy: OK, bend down. I’ll whisper the next place in your ear. Sheepy: Herlock: No, you come up here. You hit me yesterday. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We do not get an encore? A shame. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe you’d be able to successfully catch the Phantom if you were to think about what you say before you say it. Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re almost 6’ with your dumb platform boots. Sheepy: Herlock: …. *he hesitantly bends down* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he whispers the information into Herlock’s ear, and Herlock immediately stands up straight again* Sheepy: Sheepy: You’re no fun. Arsé-kun: Tom: death is not fun, dont recommend it Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s true! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I think we may all agree on that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sherlock might. Maybe. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Anyway. Sheepy: *Herlock takes his leave* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he sighs* I’m going to lock that door. Sheepy: Sheepy: Good!! Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ll do my best to remember to knock! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Thank you both. *he gets up and locks the door* Sheepy: Sheepy: Besides, people could’ve come in here and snoop through my stuff. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Implying people other than him will. Sheepy: Sheepy: You never know. He could tell.. whoever he was talking about about me being the Joker. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Hm. Sheepy: *SO LATER THE LITTLE SHEEP GOES OUT TO THE PLACE HE’S GOTTA STEAL FROM, WITH A REFILLED BUN AND A CAT* Arsé-kun: *Anyway, he’s gone to 896 Garfield Avenue. The Great-City Museum. Nobody has bothered to fix this name. Nobody cares. Anyway, the chalice Sheepy needs to take was hidden among the exhibits.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *time to enter real sneaky… after a quick look for the phantom* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he gets down from the ledge he was on, and follows Sheepy in* Evening! Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, hi! Arsé-kun: Phantom: I, eh… I already took the liberty of getting started, I must admit. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, that’s fine! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Well, then lets get started, shall we? *and then he just walks off.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he follows* Arsé-kun: Phantom: By “got started” I meant to say “I shut down the security and we have at least an hour.” Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, thank you! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Pas de soucis! [no worries!] It was simple enough. Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t understand that stuff very well… Arsé-kun: Phantom: My apologies! I said no worries! Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, I meant security cameras are confusing, but I don’t know any French either. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oh. Yes. Those are, too. Sheepy: Sheepy: But, don’t worry, I know some people I understand even less than you when you speak French. Sheepy: *who’s this grumpy detective man??? ITS HERLOCK* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he turns, and gives Herlock a huge smile* Long time no see, rival! How are you and your brother doing? Would you like to join us on this museum tour? Sheepy: Sheepy: *he immediately hides behind Phantom. nopenopenope* Sheepy: Herlock: Don’t try to have some pleasant conversation with me. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to catch you Arsé-kun: Phantom: I cannot ask how an old friend is doing? How terrible! Why is it that you always refuse casual conversation? Sheepy: Herlock: “Friend”… With my brother, maybe, but not me. Sheepy: Herlock: If you want to have casual conversation, talk to my brother, not me. Arsé-kun: Phantom: We’ve known each other this long, and I am still not a friend? I am heartbroken! Sheepy: Herlock: Good. Arsé-kun: Phantom: You’ve killed me! I’ve died, and in the grave, where you will never catch me. Sheepy: Sheepy: Mr. Phantom, I don’t think he has any friends. Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t. I don’t need them. Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he shakes his head* See, this is why I liked Ganimard better. Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t care. Arsé-kun: Phantom: He was my friend, and he managed to catch me more than you ever will. Sheepy: Herlock: My brother is the social one, not me Arsé-kun: Phantom: Too bad, too sad, nobody is going to love you and you’ll never accomplish anything, while the social butterfly will flourish and grow. Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t believe you. Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he shrugs, and glances at Sheepy* He’s got no interest in you, I notice, so go get what we need. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay! *off he goes* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he watches Sheepy go* … Now that we are alone. I don’t think I’m going to allow myself to be caught by you. Sheepy: Herlock: You don’t know me or anything about me. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Sure I do. It’s all clear from the way you speak. *he shrugs again* You think you’re superior to everyone else. You don’t need anyone else, you think. Anyone who disagrees with you, or opposes you, is an imbecile. How fantastically close-minded. Sheepy: Herlock:….!! Sheepy: Herlock: *he look pretty annoyed from hearing that* Arsé-kun: Phantom: You forget! I am talented in reading others. You are not an exception. Sheepy: Herlock: *he glares* … That’s not… Arsé-kun: Phantom: I’m sorry, Monsieur, is it not what you wanted to hear? I only lie when it is necessary, as you know. Hm, hm, hm. I feel bad for your brother, having to put up with you. You are lucky your brother is, well, your brother. Had he been a she, I’d have stolen her away from you a long time ago out of spite, and possibly love. Sheepy: Herlock:…..! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Maybe I’ll make an exception. Anything would be better than you. Sheepy: Herlock: Y-you wouldn’t dare… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oh, what’s that? A quiver in your voice? *Phantom Smirks!* Maybe if you prove to me, or anyone around you that you are not a completely heartless bastard, I will not consider it. Sheepy: Herlock:…..I’m doing what’s necessary… Arsé-kun: Phantom: I’d understand if you pushed me away, of course. But I have not even seen your partner any of these nights. Have you neglected him, too? Sheepy: Herlock:….Partner…? You mean… Sheepy: Herlock: He’s just…busy. … Arsé-kun: Phantom: The good doctor? Mmm… Understandable. Sheepy: Herlock: I don’t drag him everywhere like my brother does. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I already conceded. Sheepy: Herlock:….. Arsé-kun: Phantom: ….. So be it. *his tone seems colder, somehow* I will not offer again. From here on, we are strictly enemies. I hope everything in your life goes wrong. *he turns away* If you do not mind, I need to find my student. Sheepy: Herlock: *glare* … Sheepy: Herlock:..Go ahead. See if I care. Arsé-kun: Phantom: No objections? Excellent. Je peux vivre sans toi. Au revoir, mon ennemi! [I can live without you. Goodbye, my enemy!] Arsé-kun: *With that, he walks away without a glance back. He then goes and looks for Sheepy* Sheepy: Herlock: *he watches and then just.. walks off.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he exits the building, chalice in hand, and accidentally slams directly into Phantom* Oh!! Sorry! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Ah, there you are. I see you succeeded without me! Sheepy: Sheepy: Yup! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he grins* All of the guards were totally oblivious~ It was kinda funny watching them act like nothing happened. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder what the count wants this for… Sheepy: Sheepy: Technically, though, isn’t he the one really benefiting from this? Sheepy: Sheepy: In a way, I feel like we’re being used… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Perhaps! It is quite fun, though! *he holds his arms out* Wouldn’t you agree? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah! And I got to meet you, so that’s even better! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Sadly, we only have 3 nights left. Perhaps we will meet again! Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah… that’s unfortunate. I really hope we do. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I want to say we will! There is no use worrying now, though, we have 3 nights left! So, au revoir, mon amie! Joker: Sheepy: Good night! Arsé-kun: *Phantom exits stage left* Sheepy: *Sheepy delivers the chalice to the Count and heads home* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *for whatever reason, he is up when Sheepy gets home* Good morning. Sheepy: Sheepy: Helloooo~! Herlock got wrecked big time! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh? That is the type of news I like to hear. Sheepy: Sheepy: I didn’t hear most of it. Arsé-kun: Arséne: How unfortunate. I suppose we will hear about it tomorrow. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m kinda sad that the challenge is going to end soon, but… oh well. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he yawns* After that, we get to catch you up on schoolwork. Sheepy: Sheepy: *internal screaming* Arsé-kun: *Skip to later that morning* Sheepy: Sheepy: By the way, why were you up so late? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I was assisting Sherlock with something. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ooooh.. yeah, he’s always up really late. Sheepy: Sheepy: What did he need help with at that time of night??? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh, you’ll find out soon. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess I’m looking forward to finding out? Arsé-kun: Arséne: You should. Sheepy: Sheepy: I should be? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes. Also, do unlock the door for me. Sheepy: *Sheepy unlocks the door, questioning why Arsene can’t do it on his own* Arsé-kun: Arséne: I didn’t feel like standing up just yet. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oooh… I guess that make ssense. Arsé-kun: Distant Watson: holmes no Sheepy: *there isn’t a reply from Sherlock because he’s gotten his head stuck in something* Arsé-kun: Distant Watson: damn it holmes Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder what’s going on out there. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Go find out. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes outside and looks around* Arsé-kun: *He finds Watson and Sherlock moving boxes into the apartment next to theirs. Or would be, if Sherlock hadn’t gotten his head stuck in one.* Sheepy: Sheepy:…? Do you need help?? Arsé-kun: Watson: Ah, Sheepy! We do. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he comes over* Um… how did he manage that? Arsé-kun: Watson: Somehow. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he finally gets himself unstuck* Oh! Sheepy! Hullo! Sheepy: Sheepy: What’re you doing? Arsé-kun: Watson: Moving property. Sheepy: Sheepy: I can help, but why’re you…? Arsé-kun: Watson: You’re a smart kid. What does it mean when someone is moving property? Sheepy: Sheepy: They’re moving to another location? Arsé-kun: Watson: Correct. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah… you’re moving here… Arsé-kun: Watson: *wait for it.* Sheepy: Sheepy: ….. Sheepy: Sheepy: W-Wait, you’re moving here…?! Arsé-kun: Watson: *boom.* Well, are there any other obvious conclusions? Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s great!! … Other than um… the fact Herlock will be right next door… Sheepy: Sherlock: He will? Arsé-kun: Watson: Oh, he isn’t coming. Sheepy: Sheepy:!! Sheepy: Sheepy: Really?? Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ve gotta ask two things, though… Arsé-kun: Watson: Go on. Sheepy: Sheepy: Why are you moving, and why isn’t he coming? Arsé-kun: Watson: Because we’re here often enough that we may as well move in, and because he refused. Sheepy: Sheepy:…He refused…? Sheepy: Sheepy: … *he appears bothered by something* … Arsé-kun: Watson: I think it’s simply because he’s stubborn. He’ll come around, eventually. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder if last night had anything to do with it.. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’d never seen that face on him before~ Arsé-kun: Watson: Hmmm? Did something happen that we were not informed of? Sheepy: Sheepy: He was spouting stuff about how he didn’t need friends or whatever before I left. Arsé-kun: Watson: I’ll remember that next time he asks for help. Sheepy: Sheepy: I saw them through the window. Sheepy: Sheepy: Herlock had this look on his face… Sheepy: Sheepy: It looked sort of like he was trying to hide fear with anger, but not very well, if thay makes sense. Sheepy: Sheepy: Unfortunately I didn’t hear any of it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Other than the stuff before I left. Sheepy: Sheepy: Also he was basically shoving the Phantom on Sherlock. Sheepy: Sheepy: Saying that he refuses to be friends and try that with Sherlock if he wants results. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he has stopped paying attention* Arsé-kun: Arséne: That sounds like we should try that one night. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, maybe! Sheepy: Sheepy: And then we can all be friends. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh!! Arsene!! Sheepy: Sherlock: Hullo! We’re busy moving. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Busy running your mouths, more like. *he picks up a box* Lets hurry it up, or you’ll be here all day. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? B-but… Sheepy: Sheepy: *he picks up a box* Arsé-kun: *so does Watson. Carefully.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he frowns and picks up a box or two* Arsé-kun: *world of str. anyway, they get all the boxes inside* Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you! *he hugs arsene. Sherlock, please* Sheepy: Sheepy: Arsene, Herlock isn’t moving here. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Thank the lord. Sheepy: Sheepy: We’re free. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Well, I doubt that. Sheepy: Sheepy: And Iris can send robots through our windows. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Actually, about that.. Sheepy: Sheepy: ? Sheepy: Sherlock: We should put doors between this wall so we can see each other whenever! Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s basically a constant sleepover! Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s terrifying. Arsé-kun: Arséne: You would not appreciate being able to meet with Iris quickly? Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s a good point. Sheepy: Sheepy: She generally likes staying in her room and working on robots, though. Arsé-kun: Arséne: The point stands. Sheepy: Sherlock: But howbare we going to make a doorway? Arsé-kun: Arséne: If everyone would go upstairs for a couple of minutes, I have an idea. Sheepy: Sheepy:??? i want to watch, whatever it is Sheepy: Sherlock: OK! *he goes upstairs* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Go upstairs, Sheepy. You’ll be able to watch the end. Sheepy: Sheepy: Aww.. okay. *he goes upstairs* Arsé-kun: *It’s quiet downstairs for a few minutes, followed by a sound that is suspiciously like a chainsaw.* Sheepy: Sheepy:….he still has the chainsaw Sheepy: Sheepy: ​he still has the chainsaw Arsé-kun: Watson: …… Why does he have that, exactly? Sheepy: Sheepy: Because we stole one a while back. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s a long story. Arsé-kun: Watson: “We”? .. I suppose it can wait for a time when it isn’t running. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah… Sheepy: Sheepy: Ask Arsene. Arsé-kun: *the chainsaw stops, and arséne yells “Okay, done!”* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he heads downstairs, Sheepy follows* Arsé-kun: *There is a door shaped outline in the wall.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Wow!! Sheepy: Sheepy: Chainsaw.. Arsé-kun: *And then Arséne tackles the cut-out part down. “OH YEAH” optional.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Good job! Sheepy: Sheepy: Chainsaw…. Sheepy: Sheepy: Why do you still have that?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: …. Emergencies? Sheepy: Sheepy: What sort of emergencies do you need a chainsaw for? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Very specific ones. Sheepy: Sheepy: Like zombies? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sure. Sheepy: Sherlock: When you can’t find the kitchen knives and you have vegetables to cut!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I was going to say for the day plant life stages an uprising and the trees kick the door in, but okay. Sheepy: Sherlock: Close enough! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I guess so. Sheepy: Sheepy: Are we gonna put a door there eventually? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes. Sheepy: Sheepy: Good. Sheepy: Sherlock: I should bring Sisi and Wag here! Wilson is staying with Herlock, even though Wag and Wilson are friends… Arsé-kun: Tom, somewhere: aaaaaaaaaaaaa Sheepy: Tom: why did the chicken cross the road Arsé-kun: Arséne: why Sheepy: Tom: chickens have no real meaning or thought process behind most of what they do, and they’re wired to do things. so, there’s no reason behind it crossing the road, it’s just an action it took on its quest to stay alive and lay eggs. what a mysterious creature Arsé-kun: Arséne: But what came first, the chicken or the egg? Sheepy: Tom: Technically, the egg had to have come first. as creatures evolved, they slowly changed appearance and the way they stayed alive, so eventually, what hatched out of the bird’s egg was a chicken. the original mother of a chicken may not have even been classified as a chicken by every day standards Arsé-kun: Arséne: That is the first time I got a good answer for that. *he looks impressed* Sheepy: Sheepy: Tom can be smart sometimes. Arsé-kun: Tom: I will be the ruler of egg kind. Call me Tom Egg. Sheepy: Sheepy: I take that back Sheepy: Tom: im one eggciting egg Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh yeah, why don’t you two have pets??? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Tom does not count? *he’s kidding* Sheepy: Sherlock: He doesn’t. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I thought it may be too much work. You having two proves me wrong, I feel. Sheepy: Sherlock: Watson helps! And Wag is very independent! Arsé-kun: Watson: Watson has to make sure Wag doesn’t go indoors. Sheepy: Sherlock: Should we stick a cat door on the door once we add one? Arsé-kun: Watson: Yes. Sheepy: Sherlock: Wag is great other than that. Arsé-kun: Watson: And we cannot toilet train a cat. Sheepy: Sherlock: That’s true. Sheepy: Sherlock: But Wag does his best! Arsé-kun: Watson: … Since Herlock isn’t coming, I suppose I should ask. Sheepy, where are you going tonight? Sheepy: Sheepy: *because Watson isn’t tall feet tall like Herlock, he instead stands on his toes and whispers to Watson where the thieving will take place* Arsé-kun: Watson: … All right. I wonder why there. Sheepy: Sheepy: I was told to. Arsé-kun: Watson: No, no, I mean why it was chosen. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh..no idea. Arsé-kun: Watson: .. It is supposed to be poor weather later tonight as well. Sheepy: Sheepy: Stinks to be me, I guess. Arsé-kun: *That night! 745 Evergreen Drive. The main entrance to Grimview Graveyard- it’s actually a cemetery, but shut up* Sheepy: Sheepy: Ooohhh… creepy. Arsé-kun: *It does not help that a thick fog is beginning to roll in..* Sheepy: Sheepy: Hmmm… this doesn’t look good.. Sheepy: Sheepy: *time to find the phantom* Arsé-kun: *The Phantom is not far away, sitting on top of the gate and staring at the surrounding area.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he comes over* Hi!! Sheepy: Sheepy: Watson will be here today, I think! I don’t know about Herlock. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s kinda creepy here~ It’s too bad we don’t have time to summon spirits or something. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh well. Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he looks down* Salut. And I do not think we have the time to mess with the occult. Sheepy: Sheepy: What’re you doing up there?? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Good vantage point. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oooh.. Arsé-kun: *Phantom gets down, grinning* Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay, so we’re stealing a crown thingy, right? Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he nods* Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay~ Now we just have to find where it is…. Sheepy: Sheepy: If I was a crown-thingy, where would I be… Arsé-kun: Phantom: There aren’t many places to hide things.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Hmmm… Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe it was buried. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I hope not. Sheepy: Sheepy: I didn’t bring a shovel, so me, too. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I doubt the Count would be so cruel as to do that. Sheepy: Sheepy: True… Arsé-kun: Phantom: It’s most likely over there. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, probably! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes to investigate* Arsé-kun: *He doesn’t find it* Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s not here. Arsé-kun: Phantom: So, it’s hidden more carefully than I had hoped. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder where Watson and Herlock are… I hope they don’t see us yet. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I doubt it. If it keeps getting thicker, I won’t be able to see you, either. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he looks deep in thought, and grabs the end of Phantom’s sleeve.* You won’t lose me like this, right? Now we won’t startle each other thinking we’re someone else! Arsé-kun: Phantom: If I manage to lose you like that, then it’s time for me to retire. Sheepy: Sheepy: You don’t mind, right? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I do not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Good! Arsé-kun: Distant Watson: *faintly* holmes no Sheepy: Distant Sherlock: Maybe this figure in the distance knows something!! Heee~ey! *thunk* Oh, that’s a lamp post! Who would put a lamp post there?! Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s not Herlock. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I’m so glad. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder why Sherlock’s here. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Hm, hm, hm. Whatever the reason is, this is much more preferred. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah! Sheepy: Distant Sherlock: We’re looking for ghosts, right?! Arsé-kun: Distant Watson: We may as well be. Sheepy: Distant Sherlock: Oh!! Maybe Sheepy’s here to do occult stuff!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: …. (Do) you know them? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, I do. Sheepy: Sheepy: They moved next door. Arsé-kun: Phantom: … Ah. I’ve seen the kind doctor on occasion, but seeing ​his​ brother is just a treat. Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s been sleeping over with us for the past few days 'cause Herlock came back, so I’m kinda used to seeing him. Arsé-kun: Phantom: And I presume he knows just who you are? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah. Arsé-kun: Phantom: …. *he seems thoughtful* So was it you he was just referring to, then? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yup! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Valuable information. Shall we go? Sheepy: Sheepy: OK. Arsé-kun: *they get going. the fog is ridiculous. sheepy considers raising the dead. water is wet* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he squints* IT’s foggy… Arsé-kun: Phantom: This is almost hopeless. Sheepy: Sheepy: If you give up now, we’ll never find it. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I would never! *he sounds offended* Sheepy: Sheepy: It sounds like you were, that’s why I said it. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Of course not. Arsé-kun: Distant Watson: Holmes, shall we unleash the hound? Sheepy: Distant Sherlock: Yes!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: H-hound..?! This is…. Inconvienient..! Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s a puppy. Arsé-kun: Phantom: It does not matter. They have the advantage, and we cannot cover our tracks. This is… Problematic. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? It is? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oui. The canine will have a trail to follow. We do not. Sheepy: Sheepy: But he likes me. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll serve as a distraction. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Are you sure you will not get lost? Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll could stay right here, maybe. Arsé-kun: Phantom: If you wish so. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah! I’ll distract the puppy! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Fine. I’ll come find you once I’ve retrieved it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay! Arsé-kun: *and Phantom runs off.* Arsé-kun: *And, he does eventually find it. He decides to put it on his hat, and look fabulous. He starts to go back, before realizing he has no idea where Sheepy is.* Sheepy: *do you know who else does’t know where his partner is? sherlock, but he’s busy running around being sherlock* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he can’t help but stop when he hears Sherlock slam into yet another tombstone.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Why would someone put a tombstone there…?!! Ow!! Sheepy: Sherlock: *he keeps searching for the Phantom* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he wonders if he should help any.* Sheepy: *Just as he’s wondering this, Sherlock’s footsteps begin to get louder… and then he gets slammed into by Sherlock.* Arsé-kun: Phantom: !! *he’s actually knocked over, and a bit stunned. this poor man* Sheepy: Sherlock: ! Are you okay??? *he picks up Phantom* Are you dead?? D-Did I kill you?? Sheepy: Sherlock: D-Don’t worry, I know a doctor!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he can’t help but laugh* I’m perfectly fine, mon amie. Please do put me down. Sheepy: *Sherlock puts him down* Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m very sorry!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he brushes himself off* You’re forgiven, Detective. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? You know me…? Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m looking for the Phantom! I dunno why, but my brother’s very serious about getting him captured.. Sheepy: Sherlock: …He seems really nice, though… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Of course. I never forget a face. Hm, hm. Well, now you can brag to him that you actually had me for a good minute. That’s longer than he ever has. Sheepy: Sherlock: ??? Sheepy: Sherlock: You’re the Phantom? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Je suis. Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t really want to capture you….. it just seems mean, because really you pose no threat… Arsé-kun: Phantom: You’re too kind, Detective. Sheepy: Sherlock: So instead, let’s be friends! Sheepy: Sherlock: You haven’t hurt anyone, so I don’t see a reason tp capture you. Sheepy: Sherlock: If you’d battered or murdered anyone, it’d be different, but… Arsé-kun: Phantom: You are.. Far too kind. Mon coeur t’appartient, monsieur. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? I didn’t understand that last part… sorry about that. Arsé-kun: Phantom: That’s perfectly fine, I’ll keep it in English. I said, my heart was yours. Sheepy: Sherlock: …huh? Sheepy: *he appears to be processing this* Arsé-kun: Phantom: …. *he takes the circlet off, and puts it on Sherlock’s hat* That looks much better on you! Sheepy: Sherlock: Ah, um.. does it? Sheepy: Sherlock: It looked great on you as well! Arsé-kun: Phantom: That’s because everything looks great on me. Arsé-kun: Phantom: …. I think.. I think I know what else would look good on you. Sheepy: Sherlock: …Huh? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Me. *he pulls Sherlock over and kisses him straight on the mouth, before letting go and running like hell. He is most certainly gone.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *WH AT* Sheepy: Sherlock: *SHERLOCK.EXE HAS CRASHED PLEASE TRY REBOOTING* Arsé-kun: *And of course, Watson catches up as Sherlock.exe is crashed.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *BSOD* Arsé-kun: Watson: …. Holmes? Sheepy: Sherlock: he just… Arsé-kun: Watson: …… ? Sheepy: Sherlock: ph-phantom just.. Arsé-kun: Watson: Holmes, I don’t understand half sentences. Sheepy: Sherlock: watson….. Arsé-kun: Watson: … *he sighs* Save it for when we get home. Sheepy: Sherlock: pinch me. I must be dreaming. Sheepy: Sherlock: he just- he just started flirting with me… Sheepy: Sherlock: and then he uh… Arsé-kun: *Meanwhile, Phantom has found Sheepy, and he’s grinning like an idiot* Sheepy: Sheepy: …? Oh, hi! You’re back! What happened? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oh, I just had a little fun! I spoke to Sherlock, as well! And yes, I did find it. I will take this one. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay! Arsé-kun: Phantom: And where has the dog gone? Sheepy: Sheepy: He just took a bathroom break but I was petting him earlier. Arsé-kun: Sisi: *he barks and sits next to Sheepy. he’s here.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he pets Sisi* Arsé-kun: Phantom: …! Why, that’s no hound at all! To think this little pup is what had me worried! Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah!! He’s cute and shakes his butt when he’s excited. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Pet him for me. I’d rather he did not learn my scent. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay! Arsé-kun: Phantom: You may want to return their dog, as well. Sheepy: Sheepy: I dunno where they are currently, but if I bring him home, I can just drop him off next door. Arsé-kun: Phantom: They were in that direction a bit ago. Sheepy: Sheepy: Or I could call out for them.. or look for them. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, thank you! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he picks up Sisi and goes that direction* Arsé-kun: Watson: Holmes, you’re starting to worry me. Sheepy: Sherlock: h-he Arsé-kun: Watson: Full. Sentences. Please. Sheepy: Sherlock: watson he kissed me Arsé-kun: Watson: WHAT Sheepy: Sherlock: he flirted with me and Sheepy: Sherlock: said hed look good on me and kissed me Arsé-kun: Watson: I Sheepy: Sherlock: right on the lips Sheepy: Sherlock: watson im dreaming right? Arsé-kun: Watson: Well, I. I don’t actually have the words for this. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he is just. listening to all of this* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *so is he* Arsé-kun: Watson: I would like to know the same thing. Sheepy: Sherlock: i think… I think he was serious… Sheepy: Sheepy: Is THAT whay he meant by fun, and is that why he was grinning ear to ear? Arsé-kun: Sisi: *woof!* Arsé-kun: Watson: *sWEET JESUS CHRIST OF-* You are going to give me a heart attack! Sheepy: Sherlock: !! Wh-when did you get there?! Sheepy: Sheepy:…? Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m not a ghost. Sheepy: Sheepy: I just have your dog. Arsé-kun: Sisi: *I DID MY JOB, RIGHT? RIGHT? PET ME REWARD ME* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he pets Sisi* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *YAAAAAAAAAAY* Sheepy: Sheepy: Can I follow you home? Arsé-kun: Watson: I see no reason why not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Great! Arsé-kun: Watson: Just take that mask off in case we stop for any reason. Arsé-kun: Watson: We don’t need to get into anything because the Joker is with us. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he takes the mask off* I still have these contact lenses and the clothes, but- Sheepy: Sherlock: *he puts his coat on Sheepy* Arsé-kun: Watson: Now just the lenses. Sheepy: Sheepy: Uhhh… … Arsé-kun: *they get home safely. Arséne’s sleeping at his desk again.* Sheepy: Sheepy: That always seems very uncomfortable… Arsé-kun: Watson: How does he do that so often…? Wouldn’t that hurt his back? Sheepy: Sheepy: Probably. It doesn’t look healthy Sheepy: Sheepy: He was only using the bed when Sherlock was sleeping over. Sheepy: Sheepy: Now he’s back to sleeping at his desk. Arsé-kun: Watson: Was he, now…? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah. Arsé-kun: Watson: That’s not strange at all. Sheepy: Sheepy: It isn’t? Arsé-kun: Watson: I was joking. Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder what’s up with that. Arsé-kun: *Later that morning!* Sheepy: Sheepy: Last night, apparently the Phantom kissed Sherlock. Sheepy: Sheepy: He couldn’t form complete sentences for a bit after that. Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s probably doing better today. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he nearly chokes on his tea* He what? Sheepy: Sheepy: You heard me right. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m not sure if I feel bad for him or not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Doesn’t the Phantom do that with women? Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe he just wanted to get at Herlock through Sherlock? Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s possible, but I doubt it is entirely fake. That would be rather cruel. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s true. Sheepy: Sheepy: There’s also the fact that he was flirting with Sherlock. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That does not make it any less true or false. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, he could’ve been faking it, maybe not. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It isn’t like you cannot ask. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll ask him tonight, then. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Fine. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m sad that the challenge is ending soon. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Aren’t you glad you did it, now? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah! Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh yeah. Herlock wasn’t there. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That doesn’t sound good, actually. Sheepy: Sheepy: It doesn’t? Arsé-kun: Arséne: You know how he is about the Phantom. And he suddenly stopped showing up? Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s a good point. Sheepy: Sheepy: But isn’t it good that he may actually leave us alone? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Well yes. Sheepy: Sheepy: So it should be fine. Maybe he’s just learned to give up. Sheepy: Sheepy: 'Cause it’s not good to give up, but sometimes it’s necessary. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That, or maybe the Phantom said something to them. Sheepy: Sheepy: He did, actually. Sheepy: Sheepy: The other night. Sheepy: Sheepy: I didn’t hear most of it, though. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Maybe we should ask… Sheepy: Sheepy: Whom? Herlock??? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suppose.. Sheepy: Sheepy: I doubt he’d answer us. Arsé-kun: Arséne: This is a valid point. We could bring up how he repeatedly expected answers from you. Sheepy: Sheepy: Sounds good to me. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Lets check on Sherlock, first. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay. Arsé-kun: *so they go check on Sherlock through the hole in the wall* Sheepy: *he’s asleep on a chair. the way he’s sleeping looks very painful* Sheepy: Sheepy: That looks like it hurts. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It probably does. Sheepy: Sheepy: He shouldn’t do that. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’d move him, but that may wake him up. Sheepy: Sheepy: And if he gets startled, his reaction may damage his neck. So maybe we shouldn’t do that. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Right. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh well, should we wait, or should we go over and ask? Arsé-kun: Arséne: We should wait, I think. Sheepy: *guess who’s waking up! it’s Sherlock.* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh. Good afternoon. Sheepy: Sherlock: … … Oh!! Arsene! You’re here! And I slept through you being here! How rude of me! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I just got here. Sheepy: Sherlock: !! Oh, good! Arsé-kun: Arséne: So again, good afternoon. How are you doing? Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m feeling fine! And you?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: We’re fine. A little worried about Herlock, but fine never the less. Sheepy: Sherlock: Worried..about Herlock? Sheepy: Sherlock: …Are you feeling okay? Arsé-kun: Arséne: … I suppose you have a point. Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s super serious about the Phantom and yet he wasn’t there last night. What’s up with that? Sheepy: Sherlock: … … … *shrug* Sheepy: Sherlock: I think he said something along the lines of the Phantom not being worth his time. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Whaaat? Sheepy: Sherlock: Yeah, something like that. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Note to self: Visit Herlock. Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t think he’s interested in visitors, but it’s worth a shot! I can go with you!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’ll wait a day. Just in case he shows up tonight. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s a good idea. Sheepy: Sherlock: Okay! Arsé-kun: *That night. 669 Church street. Today’s target is a government building.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he arrives* Arsé-kun: *the Phantom is not here yet, it seems… Wait? Or go ahead?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he waits* Arsé-kun: *He’s left waiting for about ten minutes, before Phantom arrives* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, hi! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Salut! I am sorry, I needed to take care of something! Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s okay! Sheepy: Sheepy: by the way, why’d you.. uhhh… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Hmmm? Sheepy: Sheepy: Sherlock was all flustered when I found him last night. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Ah, that. I should apologize, but I will not. Sheepy: Sheepy: But..why? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Because I’m an egotistcal jerk that does what he wants, when he wants. Sheepy: Sheepy: N-No, I wasn’t going after you over it or anything, I was just confused, because.. uh.. Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s not a part of the part you usually… Arsé-kun: Phantom: Also, I think he’s quite cute. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Just because only my flirtations to women were public does not mean there were others. As well, I never meant them seriously. Sheepy: Sheepy: But, um, it’s not exactly, uh.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I meant what I said to him. Sheepy: Sheepy: B-but still….. it’s not exactly nice to um… lead people on. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oh, I’m not leading him on. And neither is stealing, yet here we are. Sheepy: Sheepy: I see your point. Sheepy: Sheepy: Also, do you know why Herlock didn’t come yesterday? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I do not, but I may have been too cruel… Sheepy: Sheepy: Sherlock said that Herlock considers you not to be worth his time.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Then I most certainly went too far. I must make sure to personally apologize later. Sheepy: Sheepy: Do you actually want that guy around you? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Well, no, but I did not intend to so deeply wound his psyche. Sheepy: Sheepy: But he’s got like… no redeemable qualities to speak of. Arsé-kun: Phantom: That’s not true. But, lets speak after we get these files. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay. Sheepy: Sheepy: I know the perfect thing for this, but I forgot to bring it. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Hm? Sheepy: Sheepy: Another one of those robots, specifically for hacking into things and downloading info. Arsé-kun: Phantom: But… I had figured we were taking physical files. Sheepy: Sheepy: ..Huh? Arsé-kun: Phantom: It never specified if the files we needed were digital, or physical. Sheepy: Sheepy: oooh… Arsé-kun: Phantom: … Get both? Sheepy: Sheepy: Sounds good to me! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll focus on the digital, I guess. Arsé-kun: Phantom: That’s fine. heepy: Sheepy: Although… I dunno if I’ll be able to do it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Worst comes to worst, we’ll just get the physical ones, I guess. Sheepy: Sheepy: Should we go in yet, or…? Sheepy: Sheepy: Hmm… maybe we should just stick with physical. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Certainly. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay. I’ll follow you in! Arsé-kun: *does anyone try to stop them today?* Sheepy: *no* Sheepy: Sheepy: That was more stressful than usual. Sheepy: Sheepy: It was incredibly well guarded… Sheepy: Sheepy: But we did it! Mostly you, though. Arsé-kun: Phantom: You were still a great help. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh.. thank you! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m glad! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll let you deliver it, because you did more work. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Certainly. Sheepy: Sheepy: Thank you! Sheepy: Sheepy: I definitely couldn’t have done it on my own! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Quite welcome! *he leans against the gate, seemingly thinking* One night left, eh? Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he slowly shakes his head* What a pity. Perhaps I will… No, non, I do not think I will tell you who I am. I may visit you in secret once this is over, though. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s unfortunate that there’s one day left, buuut.. maybe we’ll steal together! And, um, “in secret”? Like, out of costume? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oui. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh…! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll be looking forward to it! Sheepy: Sheepy: Well, good night! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Au revoir! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he heads home* Arsé-kun: *Arséne is, as per usual, at his desk.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m back!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he turns his head, and sleepily blinks* Welcome back. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, sorry, did I wake you up? I didn’t mean to. Arsé-kun: Arséne: You did.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Whoops… Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, yeah. Herlock wasn’t there. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Hmm? That’s worrying. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah… the Phantom said he went too far, from what I recall. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Then I suppose we shall hear from Herlock tomorrow. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess so. Arsé-kun: *now it’s tomorrow aka later* Sheepy: Sheepy: Ewww.. do we really have to visit him? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’d like to make sure he’s still alive. Sheepy: Sheepy: If we have to. Sheepy: Sheepy: Let’s drag Sherlock along so we can hide behind him. He can’t see us behind someone tall like Sherlock. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Only if he’s willing to come. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay. Sounds good to me! Arsé-kun: *so they ask Sherlock* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, you want to go and see Herlock? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes, just in case. We were wondering if you would come along with us. Sheepy: Sherlock: I can go with you. Sheepy: Sherlock: I forgot something of mine there anyway. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s fine. Arsé-kun: *so they go ddududududu* Sheepy: Sherlock: I probably have a key… Sheepy: Sherlock: … Umm… I don’t appear to… uhhh… Sheepy: Sheepy: You have like, twenty pockets. That’s about 16 more than you’ll ever need. Sheepy: Sherlock: Maybe we can knock. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Or break in. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Sheepy: Sherlock: Wouldn’t he get mad? Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s true. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he hasn’t waited for an A-OK, and he’s already picking the lock* Sheepy: Sheepy: Should I not be doing this? Sheepy: Sherlock: He might be mad…! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Well, we’re breaking in now. Sheepy: Sheepy: Stinks to be him. Sheepy: Sheepy:…OK. We’re in. Sheepy: Sherlock:…There’s a letter here… maybe it just came and he hasn’t seen it. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I wonder what it is. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he opens it and starts reading it* Sheepy: Sherlock: ….Huh. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he gives it to Arséne* It’s, um… Sheepy: Sheepy: I just remembered that the Phantom said that he was completely serious when he was flirting with you and when he kissed you. He also called you cute. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, the letter is from the Phantom. How did you know? … Wait, what? Really? … … Huh. Sheepy: Sheepy: I thought that’d bring Herlock out, but it didn’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: maybe he’s dead. Sheepy: Sheepy: Good riddance, I guess. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Maybe he’s out. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe. Sheepy: Herlock: …What are you three doing in my doorway? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Breaking in and stealing- No, no we aren’t. We wanted to make sure you were alive. Also, you got that letter. Sheepy: Herlock: I noticed the letter. I was going to read it later. And yes, I’m alive. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he imitates Sheepy* No, you’re a ghost. Sheepy: Sheepy: Do I actually sound like that? Arsé-kun: Arséne: No. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m glad, 'cause I was getting scared! Sheepy: Herlock: Since you’ve obviously already opened and read it, you might as well enlighten me on its content. Sheepy: Herlock: Just, let me bring these inside first. You can come in if you want. Sheepy: Sheepy: …Is he sick? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he moves out of the way, and shrugs* Perhaps we should have brought Watson along. Sheepy: Herlock: *he goes in* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, he’s usually like this when he isn’t all upset about the Phantom… Arsé-kun: Arséne: I appreciate this change, to be honest. Sheepy: Sherlock: I find it a bit strange… Arsé-kun: Arséne: That, as well. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh well. Maybe he’s really given up the Phantom. I’m sure that’ll really help his blood pressure! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suppose you’re right. Sheepy: Herlock: Okay, I’m done packing things away. Thank you for waiting. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Quite welcome. Sherlock, could you pass him the letter and let him read it? Sheepy: Sherlock: *he passes Herlock the letter* Sheepy: Herlock: *he begins reading it* … … Sheepy: Herlock: He’s just mistaken. I’m not hurt. I’ve just lost interest. Sheepy: Sherlock: Do you have a fever? Arsé-kun: Arséne: There is odd, strange, and weird. This fits none of them. Sheepy: Sheepy: I think the real Herlock’s tied to a chair or something and this is a doppelganger. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Herlock, you’re fooling no one. Sheepy: Herlock:… Okay. I was hurt. Which is specifically the reason why I’ve backed off - if I get this emotional over someone I’d otherwise not care about, it’s time to take a break. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That makes much more sense. *he nods, as if confirming something to himself* Sheepy: Herlock: Once I’ve calmed down, I might consider chasing him again, but… Sheepy: Herlock: For now, it’s easiest just to ignore him and go on with my own life. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suppose that is for the best. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he appears to be thinking* Are those two even related, or do they just act it because their names are the same except one letter was changed? “Sherlock Holmes” and “Herlock Sholmes”… Arsé-kun: Arséne: I. Where did that thought come from?? Sheepy: Sheepy: My theory is that Herlock is an identity thief who tried to steal Sherlock’s identity but made a typo, was caught, and they became friends. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s my headcanon and because it’s a headcanon it can’t be wrong. Sheepy: Sheepy: I saw the name on the letter. I didn’t know that that was his last name. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s almost like you can ask. Sheepy: Herlock: He’s been calling me that for years now and no matter how many times I tell him my name, he won’t stop. Sheepy: Sheepy: Phantom? Sheepy: Herlock: No, Sherlock. Sheepy: Herlock: I’ve given up correcting others because he introduces me to everyone by that name. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Well, why expect it to change if you do not do anything about it? That’s not how logic works. Sheepy: Herlock: I’ve gotten used to the name. In fact, it’s almost like you’re special if you know my real name. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suddenly feel average and I hate it. Fix this immediately. *he’s teasing.* Sheepy: Herlock: Since I’m in a good mood, I think I will. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh, boy. Sheepy: Herlock: My name’s actually Harley Holmes, not Herlock Sholmes… Sheepy: Harley:…But he’s close enough, I guess. Arsé-kun: Arséne: And so that’s what I’ll use. *a grin* Except when you kick my office door in at a stupid hour. Then you’re Herlock. Sheepy: Harley: I doubt I’ll be doing that much anymore. Sheepy: Sheepy: That alliteration hurts my brain. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We’ll see about that. *a glance to Sheepy* So do a lot of things. Sheepy: Sheepy: Everything you say hurts my brain. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m sorry, I did not know I was Tom now. Sheepy: Sheepy: Both of you hurt my brain. Arsé-kun: Arséne: How have you not gotten used to it yet? Sheepy: Sheepy: Used to what? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Us. Sheepy: Sheepy: I have. I’m just in constant pain. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m offended. Sheepy: Harley: *he’s grinning… jerk.* Arsé-kun: Arséne: H-hey! I see you doing that! Sheepy: Harley: Sorry, I just found it funny. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Even when you aren’t being a jerk, you’re a jerk. How horrifying. Sheepy: Harley: Am I? I’m very skilled, it seems. Arsé-kun: Arséne: See, this is why I hate you. Jerrrrk. Sheepy: Harley: I’m hurt. Arsé-kun: Arséne: By little ol’ me? :3c Sheepy: Harley: Mhm, like I want to cry. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Do you? I heard Harley tears cure diseases. They must be rare. Sheepy: Harley: They’re worth a fortune. Arsé-kun: Wilson: *good morning, friends, it’s at least 3 pm and I’m here to bark* Sheepy: Harley: *he pets Wilson* Arsé-kun: Wilson: *YAY* Sheepy: Harley: *he seems unusually happy* Arsé-kun: *Wilson seems to notice, and is very happy that he is happy!* Sheepy: Harley: *good dog.* Arsé-kun: *That night! It is time for Sheepy’s last challenge. 72 Shady Road. The Clocktower. The Phantom is already here, ready and looking confident.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, hi!! Herlock isn’t gonna be here today. He’s taking a break from you, because he thinks it’d be better for his health. Sherlock, my dad, and I visited him today. He was much nicer than usual… Sheepy: Sheepy: He seemed much happier, too. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oh? Was I too much? *he quietly laughs* That’s up to him, of course. I will not complain. Sheepy: Sheepy: I didn’t ask. Sheepy: Sheepy: He said something along the lines of, “If he gets so emotional over something that normally wouldn’t mean anything to him, he should back off and try to calm down” Arsé-kun: Phantom: So he recognizes that. Good for him. Sheepy: Sheepy: Now we don’t have to deal with him as much! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Lovely. Sheepy: Sheepy: And I guess it’s good for him, too. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Mm. Sheepy: Sheepy: What’re we stealing today? I didn’t check. Sheepy: Sheepy: Did he even specify? Arsé-kun: Phantom: … Now that you mention it… I do not believe so. Sheepy: Sheepy: Hmmm.. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s probably obvious. Sheepy: Sheepy: So, let’s get going! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Right! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m gonna try to enjoy this as much as possible, 'causw it’s our last day together. Arsé-kun: Phantom: We’ll see about that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe we have to steal the entire clocktower. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Wouldn’t that be a stunt? Sheepy: Sheepy: Is it even possible? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Sure it is. It would just take large amounts of work. Sheepy: Sheepy: But, let’s keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious!! Arsé-kun: Phantom: But of course, Joker. Sheepy: Sheepy: *so he goes searching* Arsé-kun: *the Phantom joins him, seeming equally puzzled* Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe it’s just a prank.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Unlikely. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he continues to look* Arsé-kun: *And so does Phantom.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Sheesh… Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s hars to look for something when you don’t know what it is. Sheepy: Sheepy: He should consider that before setting something like this up. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe we can discuss interesting things as we look for it! Sheepy: Sheepy: Like, ummmm.. Sheepy: Sheepy: …do you think that a lobster can have an existential crisis? Arsé-kun: Phantom: *a pause* What? Sheepy: Sheepy: Lobsters don’t age. Sheepy: Sheepy: So do you ever think they look back on their life and they’re like… Sheepy: Sheepy: “I haven’t accomplished anything over my 600 year life”… Sheepy: Sheepy: “What have I been spending it doing?” Arsé-kun: Phantom: This is absurd. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s a way to pass time. Arsé-kun: Phantom: You’ve killed me, and I’ve died, mon amie. Look what you’ve done. Sheepy: Sheepy: Rest in pepperoni. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Now shush. What if someone else is here? Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah, you’re right.. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he continues looking around, appearing to slowly lose interest* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he splits up, looking around with as much vigor as before* Sheepy: Sheepy: *yawn* He could’ve chosen a more fun place, at least.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: …? I think I- No, never mind. Forget it. Sheepy: Sheepy: What’s up? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Thought I found something. Sheepy: Sheepy: What do you mean? Arsé-kun: Phantom: It’s a bunch of old rope and a few bullet shells. Nothing of value here. Arsé-kun: Phantom: …. On second thought. These shells are new. Sheepy: Sheepy: …Huh? Sheepy: Sheepy: New…? Sheepy: Sheepy: So then, someone was shooting around here recently? Arsé-kun: Phantom: … About a week old, I want to say. .. Am I talking too much? Sheepy: Sheepy: No, no, you aren’t. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Ah… And yes, it seems so. Sheepy: Sheepy: ..D'ya think they’re around? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I would hope not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, of course they wouldn’t be… I just thought I might ask… Sheepy: Sheepy: Gimme a moment, though, ummm… Sheepy: Sheepy: “About a week old”… Sheepy: Sheepy: The count most likely was here about a week ago to choose the areas he wanted us to steal from… Sheepy: Sheepy: ….. Arsé-kun: Phantom: That is true.. But he is not the sort of man to carry a firearm. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah… Sheepy: Sheepy: Besides, what would he use rope for? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I don’t know… Should we start heading up? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah. Arsé-kun: *So they go up. Phantom freezes up once he is off the stairs, seeing something off to the side* Sheepy: Sheepy:…? Sheepy: Sheepy: What’s up? Arsé-kun: *The Phantom doesn’t get to answer before there’s a loud bang. Phantom is knocked over just as suddenly, followed by something metal hitting the floor.* Sheepy: Sheepy: ?!! *he rushes over to Phantom’s side* A-Are you okay?! Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he’s eerily silent for a few moments, before grimacing and putting a hand on his chest* That hurt…. B-but yes. Sheepy: Sheepy: You aren’t bleeding, right…? Arsé-kun: Phantom: N-non… I’m not. I… I can keep going.. *he shakily stands, looking to be pained* heepy: Sheepy: I can bring you to Watson! He treated me when I was hurt!! Sheepy: Sheepy: B-But he’s really far away… Arsé-kun: Phantom: N-not now… *he looks to where the gunfire had come from. Said gun is now lying on the floor..* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he still seems worried, but follows Phantom’s gaze* Sheepy: Sheepy:….? Arsé-kun: *There’s definitely someone there, but they don’t seem to be trying to hide.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he hesitantly approaches* ….? Sheepy: Sheepy: Who are you? You don’t look like Saint-Germain… Arsé-kun: *The poor sod is tied to a pole with a large amount of rope… They weakly look at Sheepy, looking surprised when the Saint is mentioned* Arsé-kun: ?: …. N-no… D-did he send you…? Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah, um, maybe you’re why he sent us here… wait a minute.. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he takes out his knife and starts to cut the rope, making sure not to cut the other man in the process* Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he stumbles over, seemingly out of breath. He doesn’t help, just watches.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he’s still cutting at the ropes, having made some progress* Who tied you up? Arsé-kun: ?: …. Dunno their names.. ’m of no help… sorry.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah, umm… how long have you been here? Arsé-kun: ?: Lost track… Think a week…? Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah…! Th-that’s when… Arsé-kun: Phantom: … Oui. Don’t think this entire set-up would be to rescue someone, though… 'f it were, we’d have gotten 'im the first day… Sheepy: Sheepy: He challenged the Phantom and me to steal stuff. This was the last place… and there was no object specified… Arsé-kun: ?: …. Again? Sheepy: Sheepy: I wasn’t involved in the first one. Sheepy: Sheepy: I only heard about it. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ve almost got you free… Arsé-kun: ?: …. thanks, kid.. *he doesn’t seem to care that sheepy’s a thief or anything.* Sheepy: Sheepy: …Oh! There we go! *he done* Arsé-kun: *without the rope holding him up, the poor guy sinks to the ground, looking positively miserable* Sheepy: Sheepy: Y-you can use me for support! I’m sort of strong! Arsé-kun: Phantom: Not immediately. Give 'im a minute. And… *he takes a canteen out from under his cape, which is tossed to sheepy* Let him use that. One can only go so long without water. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he gives the canteen to the man* Arsé-kun: *They gladly accept, albeit a bit shakily* Sheepy: Sheepy: My dad’s a detective, and Sherlock Holmes has been a family friend for as long as I remember, so we might be able to investigate what happened.. Arsé-kun: *They’re more preoccupied with getting a damn drink, but they are listening, and nods.* Sheepy: Sheepy: If they aren’t willing to help, I’ll do my best, even though I’m not a detective yet. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Don’t see why they wouldn’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: Me neither. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Sherlock’s too nice. *he pauses, like he’s had an idea* Why, speaking of the monsieur… Why not have him help you get this unfortunate man out..? Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, you’re right! Arsé-kun: Phantom: I would help, but I would like to check the rest of the tower.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Are you sure you’re okay? Arsé-kun: Phantom: Oui. *he grins and picks up his shirt to show a vest* I go prepared. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh! Sheepy: Sheepy: Should I tell Watson about you, too? Arsé-kun: Phantom: It just knocked the wind out of me, that is all! Sheepy: Sheepy: You sure? He was all upset over one little stab wound for me, but if you insist… Arsé-kun: Phantom: It did not go through the vest, I promise. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he dials Sherlock/Watson’s residence* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he picks up, sounding like he just woke up* Hello..? Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh!! Dr. Watson! Hi! There’s a man, here, who’s been tied up for about a week… Arsé-kun: Watson: Oh?! *he sounds much more alert* A week, you say?? Sheepy: Sheepy: Mhm. We need both you and Sherlock, because I doubt I could get him all the way back there, and Sherlock’s ripped. Arsé-kun: Watson: I’ll see if he’s still awake. Hold on. *there’s some muffled noise, and Watson yelling for Sherlock to pick up the other line* Sheepy: Sherlock: *yaaaawn* ….. Hullo? Arsé-kun: Watson: Sheepy’s on the other end. He found an injured man, and cannot bring him here by himself. Are you up to it, or must I bother the neighbors? Sheepy: Sherlock: I was dreaming about puppies… little, fluffy puppies… Arsé-kun: Watson: not the time, holmes. Sheepy: Sherlock:…Mmm? I guess I could… Arsé-kun: Watson: If I can properly motivate Holmes, we’ll be there in at minimum 20 minutes. Sheepy: Sherlock: Watson… do you think dream puppies ever grow up? Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah, thank you!! Arsé-kun: Watson: …… Holmes, shut up. Quite welcome, Sheepy. I’m hanging up now. Sheepy: Sheepy: OK. Sheepy: Sheepy: They should be here in at least twenty minutes. Arsé-kun: Phantom: *he looks away from the other guy for the first time in five minutes* That’s good. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll stay with him. Arsé-kun: Phantom: Please, do… I’ll stay put for now, for lookout purposes. *so he goes over to the window and looks out* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, thanks! Arsé-kun: Phantom: It’s the least I can do. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s more assuring for someone to be here with me, 'cause all I brought was my smoke gun. Sheepy: Sheepy: It just creates a bright-colored smokescreen and a loud “Bang!” Arsé-kun: Phantom: Helpful, but not now. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah.. Arsé-kun: Phantom: There is a time and place for everything. The best uses are the unintended ones, but sometimes that simply does not work. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s why I’m not allowed to use the stove. Arsé-kun: Phantom: I do not want to hear more. Sheepy: Sheepy: Okay… Arsé-kun: Phantom: And that was not twenty minutes. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Sheepy: Sheepy: They’re already here…? Sheepy: Sheepy: I wonder if motivate meant threaten… Arsé-kun: Phantom: It seems it did. I suppose I should go. *but first, he leans out, waves to Sherlock, and then withdraws* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he waves back* Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Why’re you leaving? Arsé-kun: Phantom: I told you. I wanted to explore the rest of the tower. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oooh.. okay. Have fun. Arsé-kun: *so Phantom exits stage right* Sheepy: Sheepy: They should be here shortly… Arsé-kun: *and right on cue, here is Watson.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he arrives a few moments later* I saw a dog, Watson! Arsé-kun: Watson: that’s great. *he directs his energy into going over and checking on the poor dude, who really doesn’t look well.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Did the Phantom leave already? Aww, OK. Arsé-kun: *Watson is too preoccupied to respond* Sheepy: Sheepy: He did. Sheepy: Sheepy: He actually got shot, but he was wearing a vest. Arsé-kun: Watson: *he doesn’t say anything, but he raises an eyebrow* Sheepy: Sheepy: This guy originally had a gun, and I’m guessing he shot Phantom because he thought that Phantom was the guy who tied him up. Arsé-kun: *said guy confirms, not looking apologetic at all* Sheepy: Sherlock: B-But the Phantom is nice!! Arsé-kun: *the only response Sherlock gets is a deadpan “’m I supposed to know that?”* Sheepy: Sherlock: That’s his main thing. Everyone knows that. Arsé-kun: Watson: Enough. We do not need to work him up. Sheepy: Sherlock:….? Sheepy: Sherlock: Work him up…? Arsé-kun: Watson: Agitate. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh!! Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ll do my best not to agitate him! Arsé-kun: Watson: …. I’ll ask you for your information later, but may we ask for your name? Sheepy: Sheepy: I was wondering that, too. Arsé-kun: ?: …. Helsing. Van Helsing. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ve never heard the name before! Arsé-kun: Van: … good for you. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m Sherlock Holmes! This is Watson! Sheepy: Sherlock: And this is Sheepy. Arsé-kun: Van: *he grunts. he looks tired on top of looking like shit.* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he pauses, looking up at Sherlock* Yes, because he’s definitely going to remember that. Arsé-kun: *Van, who, in the ten seconds of being left alone, took another drink of water, curled up, and went to sleep. classy.* Arsé-kun: *and watson is not impressed.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Finally, someone I can relate to. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? How d'ya know he has a bad memory? Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh well~ *he picks up Van* Sheepy: Sherlock: Where am I bringing him? Arsé-kun: Watson: I suppose back with us. It’s far too late to travel, so I’ll just keep an eye on his condition tonight, and bring him tomorrow. Sheepy: Sherlock: Okay, sounds good to me! I forgot to take off my coat to give to Sheepy. Sheepy: Sherlock: So he’s gotta somehow figure out how to not be the Joker when he returns. Sheepy: Sheepy: I just walk home like this. No one asks questions! Arsé-kun: Watson: Truly? Sheepy: Sheepy: Mhm. Sheepy: Sheepy: There’s no place that I can go to change out of this. Sheepy: Sheepy: So I just go home like this. Sheepy: Sheepy: Is that really bad or something? Arsé-kun: Watson: Other than possibly cluing people in to who the Joker is? Sheepy: Sheepy: Pshh, I stay hidden. Sheepy: Sheepy: But, if you’re really that serious about it…. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he rifles through his bag and takes out a sweater. he takes off his coat and mask and puts the sweater on* Sheepy: Sherlock: …Do you just keep your hair exactly the same as the Joker? Isn’t that kinda.. y'know, obvious? Arsé-kun: Watson: Apparently it isn’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: No one has noticed. Sheepy: Sheepy: Except for Herlock. Arsé-kun: Watson: Of course he did. Sheepy: Sheepy: I think he’d notice it even if I did something with my hair. Arsé-kun: *can they go now* Sheepy: *yes* Arsé-kun: *ok good* Arsé-kun: *so i guess they’re home now. watson goes looking for his supplies, finds most. some stuff is missing. that is no good.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Is something gone? Arsé-kun: Watson: Yes. Fortunately, not something I need right now… Sheepy: Sherlock: I can go look for it! Arsé-kun: Watson: Go ahead. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he goes looking for it* Arsé-kun: *it’s not in their apartment.* Sheepy: Sherlock: …? Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s… Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s, uh, not here. Arsé-kun: Watson: That’s… Worrying. I know I had it when we moved. … I didn’t want to suggest this, but go check on Lupin. Sheepy: Sherlock: OK! *he goes over to Lupin’s apartment* Arseeeeeene, have you seen Watson’s thingy-merbobberydo? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *from upstairs* What? Sheepy: Sherlock: His doctor-thingy! The thing he uses to do doctor things. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he doesn’t respond. Better go check.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he goes upstairs* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *He does, indeed, have the supplies. He’s also got no shirt on other than an open vest, and nursing a wound on his chest. He looks startled when he hears someone come up, but relaxes when he sees it was Sherlock. He’s also speaking rather quietly.* … 'Lo, Sherlock. Sheepy: Sherlock: …? Are you okay? Arsé-kun: Arséne: … Y-yes. I’ll be fine. Sheepy: Sheepy: Arseeeene, where’d you go this time, I wanna tell you what happened- *he comes up and just. stares.* Sheepy: Sheepy: … Why d'you have the same clothes as the Phantom??? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *Once he sees Sheepy, he gets a face only described with the phrase “a deer in headlights”* ……… *he glances away, rather uncomfortable* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he seems to be thinking* And that’s where the Phantom got shot…….. Sheepy: Sheepy: So you’re…? Arsé-kun: Arséne: ………. *Discomfort changes to something more like… Being ashamed.* ….. Oui. Je suis désolé. …. I truly am sorry. Sheepy: Sheepy: No, that’s awesome! Sheepy: Sheepy: I can’t believe one of my heroes is my other hero!! That means you’re like..double the hero! That’s super weird! Sheepy: Sherlock: ????????? Arsé-kun: Arséne: ….? You don’t mind my tricking you, or my dishonesty throughout the years…? Sheepy: Sheepy: No way! Arsé-kun: Arséne: …. To you, it makes it so much better, doesn’t it..? Sheepy: Sheepy: Mhm! Sheepy: Sheepy: I was super sad that I wasn’t gonna see him again~ but, you’re him! Arsé-kun: Arséne: … And, by the by, your statement of “People tend to show their true behavior when wearing a mask.”? Not entirely true. Such things make it much easier to act. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? So the whole Phantom thingy is an act? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Some yes, some no. Sheepy: Sheepy: Mm.. I kinda doubt that. Arsé-kun: Arséne: The part that was fake was my pretending we had never met, and were for the first time. Some other small things, as well. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, that’s true, but the ego’s really not an act. Sheepy: Sheepy: You were commenting on how great the Phantom was. Arsé-kun: Arséne: … I suppose you’re right. Sheepy: Sheepy: Partially for ego fluffing, I bet! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Hm, hm. I suppose you noticed more than I had intended- or, more than I had realized. I’d better compliment you for that, too. Sheepy: Sheepy: I found it a bit strange that you were telling me to go and do the challenge, honestly. Sheepy: Sheepy: It made me a bit suspicious. Arsé-kun: Arséne: As well as explaining how the Phantom knew. Sheepy: Sheepy: Mhm. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I could most likely find and explain exactly where I messed up… But I won’t, for the sake of your easily hurt brain. *he’s teasing again* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he nods* Mm. And I apologize for leaving early- I had simply wanted to return here before you did. Sheepy: Sheepy: *pout* My brain’s stronger than you think. Sheepy: Sheepy: That makes sense… Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he fake-wipes away a tear* I’ve raised you so well. Arsé-kun: Arséne: …. *he stops smiling, looking at Sherlock* … Sherlock? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I should apologize to you personally for the my behavior at the cemetery. I couldn’t help myself. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Oh, it’s okay. I’ve almost completely forgotten about that. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I wasn’t lying. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? You weren’t? Sheepy: Sheepy: ..But I thought you said you weren’t interested in him. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I was not. Except to you, Sheepy. That’s when I lied. I’m surprised you did not mention my insistence that the Phantom had not been fooling around. Sheepy: Sheepy: Wow, I’m offended. Arsé-kun: Arséne: No, you aren’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, but I didn’t even know that you were the Phantom. And when you said that you weren’t interested, it was before the incident in the graveyard happened, wasn’t it? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Correct. Sheepy: Sheepy: So obviously, that’s why I didn’t mention it. Sheepy: Sheepy: I mean, at the time. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Ah. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Admittedly, everything I said was not a lie. Only small parts of it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Uhuh. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Truth being that he does not care about what had been implied at the time. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Moving along- Arsé-kun: Watson: *who was lurking outside the door for the last few minutes, somehow* No, I’m going to stop you there so I can make sure you did not break a rib Arsé-kun: Arséne: *ASDFJKLKAFK* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, hi, Watson! Arsé-kun: Watson: Hello, Holmes. I was wondering what took so long. Sheepy: Sherlock: He has your medical doohingy. Arsé-kun: Watson: I see. Sheepy: Sherlock: I forgot to tell you, because I was listening to what they were saying. Arsé-kun: Watson: I see this, as well. Sheepy: Sherlock: You aren’t mad, right? Arsé-kun: Watson: Do I look angry? Sheepy: Sherlock: Well, no, but you usually don’t, and you were mean earlier, so I thought you were. Arsé-kun: Watson: I’m not mad. Please move aside. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he moves* Arsé-kun: *And Watson checks Arséne. Arséne doesn’t complain.* Sheepy: Sheepy: D'ya think I should maybe talk to Saint-Germain about the whole, uhhh.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Finding a tied up guy? Arsé-kun: Arséne: That sounds like a good idea. Sheepy: Sheepy: I will tomorrow. Arsé-kun: Tom: butts. Arsé-kun: *the next day!* Sheepy: Sheepy: Before I go, I just wanna know how you’re doing. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m doing better. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, good. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he copies Arsene’s voice as best as he can* Don’t move around too much! Sheepy: Sheepy: .. Or whatever you like to say when I’m hurt. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I don’t intend to. Sheepy: Sheepy: OK, good. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Go on, then. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he gets going* Arsé-kun: *and he’s go* Sheepy: *he arrives to sanchan’s house/mansion/whatever* Arsé-kun: *it big* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he knocks on the door* Arsé-kun: Germain: *and he gets it* *and his face is, as to be expected, the epitome of :)* Hm? How may I help you? Sheepy: Sheepy: Hi, I have something to ask you. Arsé-kun: Germain: Go on. Sheepy: Sheepy: We found this guy last night in the clock tower. His name was “Van Helsing”. Do you know him or even recognize the name? He knew you. Arsé-kun: Germain: Ah, so you did find him! I must gratefully thank you, then. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, but.. why’d you leave him there? Arsé-kun: Germain: I didn’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: Then.. who did? Sheepy: Sheepy: I meant more like, “Why’d you let him stay there despite knowing about him, and why was it the last challenge,” but… Arsé-kun: Germain: I had already intended to hide something else up there, yes, but I also had vague knowledge of a plan that’d put dear Helsing in danger. So, I chose to use it. If it went off, he would be located. If not, you would still pass. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah…. Sheepy: Sheepy: I get it, now. Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s currently at the hospital. Fortunately, I had my phone on me… Arsé-kun: Germain: *he looks sheepy over. somehow.* Mm. Do not share that first section of information freely. *he pauses for a moment* Considering who you are, I suppose you and the kind detective you live with will return for the aforementioned details of the “plan” I mentioned? Sheepy: Sheepy: *he nods* Yeah. But. Um. How do you know I live with a detective? Sheepy: Sheepy: …And is someone after him or something, if they can’t know about him being at the hospital? Arsé-kun: Germain: How could I not? And that is correct, yes. Sheepy: Sheepy: 'Cause I never told you my name or anything. Arsé-kun: Germain: That does not mean I have not seen you go by with the kind detective. Sheepy: Sheepy: B-but I was in my thief clothes when I first met you.. Arsé-kun: Germain: You’re doing nothing to hide your voice. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah.. I guess that’s true. Sheepy: Sheepy:… Should I be trying to do that? Arsé-kun: Germain: It would be a good idea. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess that’s true… Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah, um, he’d apparently been there for a week… Sheepy: Sheepy: Why’d you never go back and check…? Arsé-kun: Germain: A week? *he :(* I did not think it was going to be done so early in the week. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, he was quite weak when we found him. Fortunately, my neighbor’s a doctor, and he already knew about, uh, that. Arsé-kun: Germain: *he is still :(* That is good news. Sheepy: Sheepy: Did you know him or something? Arsé-kun: Germain: Helsing? Yes. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah… that’d explain why he seemed a bit surprised when I mentioned you. Sheepy: Sheepy: I believe that Sherlock Holmes’ll be helping out. Sheepy: Sheepy: 'Cause he said he would, and he usually doesn’t say something and then not do it. Arsé-kun: Germain: *ok, he’s :) again* That is a relief. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah. So, if we come back later to ask questions, he’s probably gonna be with us. Arsé-kun: Germain: That is fine. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, that’s good! Arsé-kun: Germain: Honestly, if we are just going to talk about it, it would be easier if they would simply show up. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah, you’re right.. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ll bring them over here. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he calls Arsene* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he picks up, and before he can speak you can faintly hear tom saying “good morning america.”* … Yes? Sheepy: Sheepy: Hi, he wants to talk to both you and Sherlock if you’re taking the case. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sherlock said he would, didn’t he? I mean, sure, I’ll come too, but..? Sheepy: Sherlock: Yeah!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: that was my ear Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Sheepy: Sherlock: What was your ear? I didn’t see anything. Arsé-kun: Arséne: nevermind. Tell the Count we’re coming. Sheepy: Sheepy: They’re coming. Arsé-kun: Germain: Great! Oh, where are my manners? Do come inside! Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, thank you! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he comes inside* Arsé-kun: *and then sherlock and arsene show up. like, ten minutes later. or somethin* Sheepy: Sherlock: Hi!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Bonjour. Sheepy: Sherlock: we came because you called!! Sheepy: Sherlock: But, I’m okay going anywhere as long as I have Arséne with me! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I have a response for that, but we are in public. Sheepy: Sherlock: Okay, you can tell me later. *he seems a bit confused* Arsé-kun: Germain: *he’s patiently waiting.* Sheepy: Sherlock: I dunno why we’re here other than that! Arsé-kun: Germain: *ahem.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh! You want to tell us something. Arsé-kun: Germain: Indeed. *he then repeats everything he told sheepy slowly, and in an easily understood manner. looking at you, sherlock* Sheepy: Sherlock: Ah… makes sense. Arsé-kun: Germain: Now.. *he folds his hands, looking more :( than :)* As far as I am aware, the ones responsible do not know I was assisting Helsing, so I should be safe from them. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, good! Sheepy: Sheepy: You don’t appear too happy. Arsé-kun: Germain: That is because at this juncture, everything that happens is out of my hands. At this point, the most I can do is provide information. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, I see.. Arsé-kun: Germain: So, on that note. If there is anything you wish to know, do ask. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah. umm… Sheepy: Sheepy: Where’d you get the information from that there was a possibility of that happening? Arsé-kun: Germain: Helsing himself, actually. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh.. what’d he say? Arsé-kun: Germain: He told me that he was leaving a group he had been in, and they did not appreciate it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah… Sheepy: Sheepy: Then, that must be the people who went after him. Arsé-kun: Germain: Right. Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t think I should ask him right now, because he seemed like he was in bad shape yesterday. Arsé-kun: Germain: That’s completely understandable. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess maybe we should investigate the scene? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Perhaps. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe, once he gets better, we can ask… Arsé-kun: Germain: I would suggest you do. Sheepy: Sheepy: Mhm.. I can’t think of any other questions to ask.. Arsene, can you think of anything? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Not now. Sheepy: Sheepy: OK… Sheepy: Sheepy: Sherlock? Sheepy: Sherlock: *he appears to be zoning out* Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s a no. Sheepy: Sherlock: How can you see with your eyes closed? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sherlock, that’s- Arsé-kun: Germain: *he lightly laughs* No, no, it’s all right. The answer is practice. Sheepy: Sherlock: So if I try hard enough, I can, too? Arsé-kun: Germain: … Just don’t try it outside. Sheepy: Sherlock: I won’t! Sheepy: Sheepy: He slams into everything already. Arsé-kun: *Anyway, so team Detective eventually leaves* Sheepy: Sherlock: What did you want to tell me earlier, Arsene? Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess next up is the clock tower.. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We’re still in… Oh, you know what? *he leans over and whispers something to Sherlock* Sheepy: Sherlock: ? Is that bad? Sheepy: Sherlock: We’re a couple of friends! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I guess you have a point. Sheepy: Sherlock: Mhm! Arsé-kun: Arséne: And yes. We should investigate the tower. Sheepy: Sheepy: Great! Sheepy: Sherlock: Won’t we be in danger if we investigate this? Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s possible. I think we can hold our own if something happens, though! So, allons-y! Sheepy: Sherlock: I guess so. Arsé-kun: *so they go there* Sheepy: Sheepy: Time to investigate furiously! Arsé-kun: Arséne: You do that. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he is already inspecting something irrelevant* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Somewhere around here are old bullet shells and some rope. Try to find it. Sheepy: Sheepy: OK. *he goes looking* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Sherlock, what are you..? Sheepy: Sherlock: *he seems pretty focused on whatever he’s inspecting* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *so he joins Sherlock* Sheepy: Sherlock: Arséne, why would a ring be here? Arsé-kun: Arséne: That is an excellent question, and a good find! Sheepy: Sherlock: Thanks! Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he takes a small bag out of his pocket. tiny bag.* Pass that. We can look it over later. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he passes it over* Arsé-kun: *Arséne bags it and puts it in his other pocket* Sheepy: Sherlock: Also, if you start feeling real bad from your wound, I’m here to help! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I almost forgot how much pain I was in. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m sorry that I reminded you…! Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s all right. *he decides to sit on the floor where he is* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he appears to just want to stay with Arsene* Arsé-kun: *and how is Sheepy doing?* Sheepy: *his best* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, there it is… Arsé-kun: *He found it?* Sheepy: *yes* Arsé-kun: *Hooray! Bring them back to Arséne!* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he comes back* Guys, I found it! Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he turns to look at Sheepy* Excellent! Sheepy: Sheepy: *he passes what he found to arsene* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he takes out another small baggie and puts the shells in it. he doesn’t seem sure what to do with the rope.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I dunno where to put the rope either. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We’ll just have to hold it, I suppose. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah… Arsé-kun: Arséne: *and he stands up* Shall we head upstairs? Sheepy: Sherlock: Yeah! Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m ready whenever. Arsé-kun: *so they go upstairs* Arsé-kun: *Arséne stops at the top of the stairs, looking around. He carefully enters, looks around again, then looks at the ground. “There are slight footprints,” he notes, following the dusty tracks towards the back of the room. Occasionally, he stops, taking in more of the environment, before continuing on. Upon reaching the back wall, he leans against it, looking puzzled. He looks back across the room, towards Sheepy and Sherlock, his vexed expression not changing. “The tracks disappear into this wall. That can only mean there is a passage here, and we need to find the switch to open it.” Sheepy: Sherlock: OK! Sheepy: Sheepy: Sounds good to me. Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ll begin looking around! Sheepy: Sheepy:…Should we really be going there unarmed? Who knows, that might be their secret base. Sheepy: Sherlock: I can take 'em! Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m skilled in boxing! Sheepy: Sherlock: *he looks ready to 1v1 anyone* Arsé-kun: Arséne: I think we can handle it. But again, we need to open it. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah… hmm.. I wonder if there’s a clue around here. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Most likely. Sheepy: Sheepy: It'l be difficult to find it otherwise. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Or we’ll give up and accidentally find it. That seems to be a reoccurring event. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s always the last place you look, because once you find it, you stop looking. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Actually look. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m looking, I’m looking. Sheepy: Sherlock: *once again, he’s up to his usual antics* Arsé-kun: *Arséne sits down and watches* Sheepy: Sheepy: I dunno what the button will even look like. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Nor do I. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s probably in some really weird place. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Or right in front of us. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, maybe.. Sheepy: Sherlock: …Huh? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Did you find something? Sheepy: Sherlock: I dunno. I think so. I wonder what this does… *he presses a button he found* Arsé-kun: *And the passage opens.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he looks over* Oh! It’s open! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Excellent find. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he grins* This is exciting! Sheepy: Sherlock: Let’s keep going! Sheepy: Sheepy: This seems like a bad idea- Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he gets back up, brushing himself off* Allons-y! Sheepy: Sherlock: *he picks up Sheepy and heads in* Arsé-kun: Arséne: That also works, I suppose. *and he follows them in* Sheepy: Sheepy: *pout* I’m not some little kid who needs to be carried everywhere. Sheepy: Sherlock: Hmm, I wonder what’s hidden here~ Sheepy: Sheepy: Dust, dirt, dead bodies, and spiders. Sheepy: Sherlock: This isn’t a horror movie! Arsé-kun: Tom: *from Sheepy’s bag* spoop Arsé-kun: Arséne: One of those things was not like the others. Sheepy: Sheepy: They probably tie people here often. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I want to say you are right. Come on, let’s look. Sheepy: Sherlock: Okay! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oui. You were right. All of these have ropes around or near them. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he glances around* It definitely seems like someone was here recently- Oh!! Arsene, you found dead bodies! *he seems surprised* Oooogh.. what a horrible way to die… Sheepy: Sheepy: *yawn* How unexciting… Arsé-kun: Arséne: Shush, you. Any missing persons reports could easily be connected into this, with this many bodies… What I don’t understand is why it does not smell like people died here? Sheepy: Sheepy: They probably use strong amount of febreeze or something. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Ha, ha. We would smell that, anyway. Sheepy: Sheepy: Nooo idea, though. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he seems to be thinking* Sheepy: Sherlock: Why didn’t they clear these out? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Laziness? Or maybe they died recently… I’m no doctor, of course.. *he bends down to look at one* No, no, that isn’t it. This is not new. Sheepy: Sherlock: Are they used to threaten people? Sheepy: Sheepy: maybe they’re fake. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It’s real. *he goes to check another one* And maybe. ….. Hm….. *he seems to be thinking again* Sheepy: Sheepy: Dead bodies are super duper gross. Arsé-kun: Arséne: …. Sheepy: Sheepy: Like, they’re breeding grounds for infections, I bet. Arsé-kun: Arséne: ……. I. May have an idea. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Sheepy: Sheepy: What is it? Arsé-kun: Arséne: There was rope and bullet shells downstairs, yes? I feel that there may have been a struggle down there. It may also be possible our man was intended to be tied up in here, but was not, due to lack of room. The prints leading here, as well, imply that. I will return in just a moment. *He leaves, and returns about ten minutes later* It was as I suspected! There was a struggle on the first floor. It was cleaned up, poorly. I want to say our victim escaped, ran upstairs, and was caught again. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh. Yeah, maybe. He’d be cornered up there! Sheepy: Sherlock: Mm.. huh? You were saying something? Sheepy: Sherlock: What’s the purpose of a clocktower when people have watches now? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes, Sherlock. *he gives a shortened version* So… … Sherlock. Why. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, I get what you’re saying. Arsé-kun: Arséne: ….. As I was going to say, there are things that do not fit in. The lack of scent. Why he would not be brought in here. The ring. And how he managed to have a gun. Sheepy: Sherlock: Now, why was he here in the first place? Arsé-kun: Arséne: We do not know that, either. Sheepy: Sherlock: My guess is that whoever went after him was the owner of the ring. Sheepy: Sherlock: I wonder if it has fingerprints…? Arsé-kun: Arséne: That is one possibility. Another is that it was what the Count had hidden. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s possible he came here before he got tied up and hid the gun here, or he just brought it with him on the day of the event. Sheepy: Sherlock: I do wonder why he only told the count and not, say, the police… Arsé-kun: Arséne: Implying the police have any use. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s better to have a group than be alone. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I guess. Sheepy: Sherlock: We might want to show the ring to the Count. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Right. Sheepy: Sheepy: …Why do they just tie 'em up? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I could think of many a reason. Sheepy: Sheepy: They don’t kill them. Arsé-kun: Arséne: They may be. Sheepy: Sheepy: What is this group, anyway? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m not sure I entirely want to know. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess once we find out, we’re gonna be their target. Arsé-kun: Arséne: It is highly likely. Sheepy: Sherlock:…Is it really a good idea to investigate this, then..? Sheepy: Sherlock: Because I have Watson and Iris, and you two are very important to me, so if we investigate this, we may lose what we hold dear. Arsé-kun: Arséne: …. You have a point. However, that has not stopped us before. Sheepy: Sherlock:…I guess. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s just… it worries me, that’s all. Sheepy: Sheepy: Either way, I’m gonna investigate it. I always keep my promises. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suppose you both have a point. Let us start by bringing the ring, and then returning home for the night. Sheepy: Sherlock: Okay… Sheepy: Sheepy: Sounds good to me! Sheepy: Sheepy: This is gonna be a super fun case, I can just feel it! Arsé-kun: Arséne: people died. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, they do that sometimes. Arsé-kun: Germain: That is indeed a natural event. *he’s peeking in, and he’s very :(. also, confused* On the other hand, this most certainly is not. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, when did you get here? Arsé-kun: Germain: Just now, in fact. I could not help but give in to curiosity. *he crinkles his nose* This is disgusting. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s like something out of a slasher movie where they censored the blood. Arsé-kun: Arséne: ! Right, is this yours? *he takes out the ring and shows Germain.* Arsé-kun: Germain: …… *>:(* It certainly is not. I do recognize it, though. Sheepy: Sheepy: You do? Sheepy: Sherlock: Whose is it? Arsé-kun: Germain: I do not know exactly whose. I do recognize the style, though. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Arsé-kun: Germain: This belongs to a group member. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ah.. do you know what group it is? Arsé-kun: Germain: Yes. Let us not talk among the dead, though. Sheepy: Sheepy: ? Sheepy: Sherlock: I agree. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Me, too. Sheepy: Sherlock: So, let’s leave this place! Arsé-kun: *so they go. downstairs.* Sheepy: Sherlock: So, um, what were you going to say? Arsé-kun: Germain: I was going to say that the group calls themselves Twilight. Last I was aware, I had thought they were only a scientific group. It appears that was, well, incorrect. Sheepy: Sherlock:….Huh. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe they test on humans. Arsé-kun: Germain: I would not at all be surprised, considering that room. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s like a horror movie. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Please stop saying that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Why? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Because I’ll cry, of course, and you’ll have to deal with it. *he’s kidding. I think* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he sticks his tongue out at Arsene* Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m being bullied. Sheepy: Sherlock: Don’t bully him. Sheepy: Sheepy: I do what I want. Arsé-kun: Germain: Oh, you all get along so well. *^^* Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah, we’re so nice to each other. Arsé-kun: Germain: Clearly. Sheepy: Sherlock: He’s just kidding around, of course. Arsé-kun: Germain: I was well aware. Sheepy: Sherlock: You were? Arsé-kun: Germain: Quite. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess we might as well look into Twilight. Arsé-kun: Germain: Will you? Just be careful. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We will. Sheepy: Sherlock: I can take most people on! I’m good at boxing! Sheepy: Sheepy: You don’t seem like the type to fight anyone, though. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’d rather he did it than I. Sheepy: Sheepy: Good point. I feel the saaaame way. Arsé-kun: Tom: me too Sheepy: Sheepy: Shh, Tom, not now. Arsé-kun: Tom: ok. Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess I can google it as well, to see if I can find anything. Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you very much for your assistance, mister, uhhh.. Sheepy: Sherlock: ..I never caught your name, actually. Arsé-kun: Germain: *so he gives it to Sherlock* Sheepy: Sheepy: We’ve said his name multiple times. Arsé-kun: Arséne: What talent. Sheepy: Sherlock: Thank you! Arsé-kun: Arséne: You’re welcome. Sheepy: Sherlock: I guess we should investigate that room to find clues, but oooh.. those dead bodies.. Sheepy: Sherlock: They’re creepy.. Sheepy: Sheepy: Pshhh, I’ve seen living people who looked worse than those things. Arsé-kun: Arséne: The police, you mean? Sheepy: Sheepy: Mmm, many people. I can’t say just one. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That was plural. Sheepy: Sheepy: I can’t say just one group, either. Sheepy: Sheepy: Who knows! Maybe this Twilight is actually zombies! Sheepy: Sherlock: I, um, highly doubt that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Think about the possibilities! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Enough. Sheepy: Sheepy: *pout* You’d be the one getting the chainsaw anyway. Arsé-kun: *so i guess they go home i guess* Arsé-kun: Watson: Welcome back, everyone. How did it go? Sheepy: Sherlock: Well- Sheepy: Sheepy: We found dead bodies. Arsé-kun: Watson: I. Oh. Okay. Sheepy: Sheepy: So basically he got attacked by a group that may or may not test on people. Arsé-kun: Watson: … That’s. That doesn’t sound good. Care to sit down and update me? Sheepy: Sheepy: Sure. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he plops down next to Sherlock, who’s already sat down* Arsé-kun: *And Arséne takes up the entire sofa because he’s an asshole.* Sheepy: Sheepy: really. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *and he makes a face at sheepy* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he sticks his tongue out at Arsene, what time is this, the third time?* Arsé-kun: *and then watson is updated* Sheepy: Sheepy: So, what d'ya think? Do you think it’s actually worth looking into, considering the possible threat? Arsé-kun: Watson: Since we’re now involved already, we may as well. Sheepy: Iris: Um… did you mention “Twilight”…? Sheepy: Iris: *she doesn’t appear happy, that’s for sure* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Evening, Iris, and yes…. Do you know something we do not? Sheepy: Iris: Umm.. … Arsé-kun: Watson: Iris? Sheepy: Iris: I, um, do know about it, yes…. I guess… *she seems very bothered* N-no, I’m sick and tired of hiding this…! Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he sits up, looking startled* EH??? Sheepy: Iris: Twilight, for quite some time now, has been forcing me to build things for them. Th-there’s other people under their thumb, too… Arsé-kun: Watson: *there goes the pen he was holding* You never said anything?? *he looks equal parts upset, offended, and worried* Sheepy: Iris: They at least let me go home, but those other people… they’re stuck there. B-but they told me I couldn’t tell anyone about them, or what they’re making me do… or else they’ll… Oh… maybe it was a mistake to say anything… Sheepy: Sheepy: That’d explain your overall absence. Arsé-kun: Arséne: They’ll what? Sheepy: Iris: B-burn our house down. Arsé-kun: Arséne: ….. Do they know that you, y'know *he vaguely gestures to mean “moved”* Sheepy: Iris: No. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I suppose I am going out, then. *he heads through the wall hole and upstairs. that is not “out”, arsene* Sheepy: Sheepy: We really need to put a door there eventually, but I’m starting to get used to how it looks. Arsé-kun: Watson: That didn’t look like “out” to me.. Sheepy: Sheepy: That too! Sheepy: Iris: Sorry… Arsé-kun: *Watson has a comforting father moment with iris, but see, i don’t know how to write that.* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he returns moments later, leaning in the “door” in full Phantom gear* I never specified where I was going out from. Sheepy: Iris: …? Sheepy: Sheepy: That seems a bit unnecessary, but okay. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Ta gueule. It is completely necessary. Sheepy: Sheepy: Just like your French, which I don’t understand. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *and here comes the french accent* De rien, you’re welcome, it is definitely quite necessary. And now I AM going. Sheepy: Sheepy: *pout* I’m being bullied. Arsé-kun: Tom: bet on horse five Sheepy: Sherlock: *he looks up from wagahai, who’s decided to take over his lap and force sherlock to pet him* Sheepy: Sherlock: How’re they listening in, anyway? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he pauses* Most likely a bug. I’m really going now. Sheepy: Iris: Huh? Umm… Sheepy: Iris: Y-yeah.. Sheepy: Iris: I think it’s as he says. Arsé-kun: Watson: We’ll just have to find it. Sheepy: Sheepy: But in a way, this is sort of good luck, right? Because we might be able to assist each other. Arsé-kun: Watson: shhh. If there is a bug, it’ll pick everything up. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, I guess you’re right. Sheepy: Tom: *screaming* Sheepy: Tom: you cant catch me im the gingerbread man Arsé-kun: *Sheepy gets a text! Text for you!* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he looks at the text* Arsé-kun: *It’s from Arséne! All it says is “bad fire few blocks away. Will return soon.”* Sheepy: Sheepy: …*he slowly shows Tom the phone* Sheepy: Tom: that’s hot Arsé-kun: *Watson squints* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he shows Watson the phone* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he frowns* Sheepy: Tom: i cant believe this Sheepy: Tom: some sheep have been shown to have special genes Sheepy: Tom: these genes make them capable of Sheepy: Tom: batman? Sheepy: Tom: flamethrower Arsé-kun: *Watson has found the bug! He doesn’t say anything, though.* Sheepy: Sheepy: …? Sheepy: Sheepy: *he seems to have caught on, and leaves for a moment. … he’s returned with a lighter. Sheepy do NOT set that bug on fire* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he puts the bug on a candle, and nods to sheepy. LIGHT IT.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he lights it on fire* Arsé-kun: Watson: Whoever is on the other end has died from internal bleeding. Well, not really. Sheepy: Sheepy: Poor them. Too bad I can’t feel any pity. Arsé-kun: Tom: get wrecked batman Sheepy: Iris: Thank you…! Sheepy: Iris: ..But… Sheepy: Iris: There’s a fire…? Sheepy: Iris: ..Isn’t Herly still living there…? Sheepy: Sheepy: Stinks to be him, I guess. Sheepy: Iris: Sheepy, you really need to start at least acting like you care, even if you don’t. Sheepy: Sheepy: Lying to others ends up making you lie to yourself. It’s better to be true to everyone and true to yourself. Arsé-kun: *Another text for Sheepy!* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he checks the text* Arsé-kun: *It only has two words: “harley safe”. that’s the entire message* Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh. Arsé-kun: Watson: What? Sheepy: Sheepy: “Harley safe”… Arsé-kun: Watson: That’s good to hear! Sheepy: Sherlock: Who? Sheepy: Iris: Oh, good! Arsé-kun: Watson: *he glances at Sherlock* Herlock. Sheepy: Sherlock: Weird nickname, but okay! Arsé-kun: Watson: It’s- You know what, nevermind. Sheepy: Sheepy: Once he arrives, we can explain what’s happening. Sheepy: *the door slowly opens. it’s harley* Sheepy: *on a scale of 1-10 of okay, he looks a -5* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he immediately gets up and more or less pulls Harley in. Mostly more.* Sheepy: Harley: ……*he just lets Watson do this* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, hi! Arsé-kun: Sisi: *watsons seat is mine now its my city* Sheepy: Iris: *SISI YOURE HERE!!! ITS YOU!!!* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *IM HERE! IT’S ME!* Sheepy: Iris: *she pets Sisi* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he immediately checks Harley’s breathing and such* Sheepy: *he’s hyperventilating. rip in pepperoni harley* Arsé-kun: Watson: … *he doesn’t seem too worried. he’s also speaking a bit quieter than usual* How do you feel, Harley? Sheepy: Harley: ………….headachy…​ Arsé-kun: Watson: understandable. Do you think you can make it up the stairs, or would you prefer to rest here? Sheepy: Harley: *the response he muttered seems to be “here”* Arsé-kun: Watson: *he nods* lie down. *He then shoos Sherlock, Sheepy, and Iris out, to the other side of the wall, so he can help Harley* Arsé-kun: *but wag and sisi can stay. they can help* Sheepy: Wagahai: *he bumps Watson’s leg* Sheepy: Iris: If only I’d kept my mouth shut… Sheepy: Sheepy: Pshh, it would’ve ended the same, but they would’ve done it 'cause you lost your usefulness rather than because you said anything. Sheepy: Sheepy: This way, we could predict when it’d happen. This “Twilight” doesn’t seem very bright to me. Sheepy: Sheepy: If they were smarter, they would'a waited until we let our guard down. If I were the head of a super evil organization, that’s what I would do. Sheepy: Sherlock: But, the whole thing about being a phantom thief is letting your opponent know ahead of time so you both can fight on an equal ground. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yes, and gentleman thieves aren’t heads of evil organizations. They’re good guys, not bad guys. Bad guys are dirty, rotten liars who’ll do anything to get what they want! Arsé-kun: *Upstairs, the sound of Arséne falling in the window. Graceful thief.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he goes upstairs* Arsé-kun: Arséne: oww. Sheepy: Sherlock: Are you okay?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yeah. I mis-stepped. *he sits up, looking sheepish* Did Harley make it here? Sheepy: Sherlock: Herlock? He did, yeah… Sheepy: Sherlock: Watson is with him now. Did you get burned or anything? Arsé-kun: Arséne: A little. Not enough to stop me. Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? B-but… at least get some ice on it, I think, before you say it’s fine.m Arsé-kun: Arséne: of course. Just let me change out of my gear. Sheepy: Sherlock: OK! Sheepy: Sherlock: *he gives Arséne his privacy* Arsé-kun: *And Arséne is done fairly quickly. He still smells like smoke and fire. ha ha* Sheepy: Sheepy: Eww… Arsé-kun: Arséne: ? Sheepy: Sheepy: You smell bad. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Do I? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yeah. Sheepy: Iris: Um, we got rid of the bug. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh! That’s good. Sheepy: Sherlock:…Ah, um… Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oui? Sheepy: Sherlock: What happened to Wilson? Arsé-kun: Arséne: ……………….. *he glances elsewhere* …. I couldn’t find him. I do not know if he escaped. Sheepy: Sherlock: I see.. Sheepy: Tom: fun bee facts! Sheepy: Tom: according to all known laws of aviation Arsé-kun: Tom: bees are actually sheep? Sheepy: Tom: the bee is unable to fly. its wings are too small for its fat little body. Sheepy: Tom: but the bee flies away anyway Sheepy: Tom: becayse bees dont care what humans think is impossible Sheepy: Tom: did you know? Sheepy: Tom: the leader sheep is born smarter than the other sheep Sheepy: Tom: sheep are very Sheepy: Tom: bear Sheepy: Tom: televisions are just windows into someone’s imagination Sheepy: Tom: what did the sheep say to the detective Sheepy: Tom: woold you like to Sheepy: Tom: bee? Sheepy: Tom: wasps are the bullies of hive school Sheepy: Tom: bumblebees are the class nerds Sheepy: Tom: yellow jackets are the jocks who are also bullies Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he left, cleaned up quickly, got an ice pack, and came back. Tom is still not done* Sheepy: Sheepy: Welcome back. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Thank you. Is this better? Sheepy: Sheepy: Yes. Sheepy: Sherlock: As long as you feel better, it is!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m glad, then. *he sits down* Did I miss much? Sheepy: Sherlock: No. Arsé-kun: Arséne: That’s good, I suppose. Sheepy: Sheepy: Scary~ I guess we’re deep into it now. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Seems like it. Oh, well. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s like a spy movie. Sheepy: Sheepy: Or the Godfather. Arsé-kun: Arséne: At the rate this is going, it might just be safer for the Phantom and Joker to solve this one. Sheepy: Sheepy: Mhm! Sheepy: Iris: Huh? I thought the Phantom was the Joker… Arsé-kun: Arséne: Yes and no. The Joker is the next Phantom, and most people call him the Phantom. The original Phantom is another man. Sheepy: Iris: Awww, I totally missed out on meeting him… Sheepy, why wasn’t I invited? Sheepy: Sheepy: Because the letter was directed at the Phantom, and you’re not the Phantom. Sheepy: Sherlock: ?????? Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he looks up at Sherlock, then at Iris and Sheepy* Wording, kids. Sheepy: Sheepy: He already knows about me. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Not what I was referring to. Sheepy: Sherlock: Iris is a thief, too? Sheepy: Sherlock: Why am I never invited…? *whimper* Arsé-kun: Arséne: … That’s what I was referring to. And maybe you will. Sheepy: Sherlock: !! Really?? Arsé-kun: Arséne: We’ll think about it. Sheepy: Sherlock: Yay! Arsé-kun: *there’s a scratching sound at the door!* Arsé-kun: *Confused and curious, Watson gets the door. It’s Wilson! He’s okay! He happily woofs and trots right to Harley’s side, staring at him with those big round puppy eyes of his.* Sheepy: Harley: *he hugs Wilson* Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh, I guess that answers the question. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s Wilson!! Sheepy: Iris: I’m sure I can help somehow… Sheepy: Sheepy: If you get captured, that’d just put everyone in danger again. Sheepy: Iris: But isn’t that the same for you? Sheepy: Sheepy: The Joker’s already relevant to the case. Sheepy: Sheepy: As is the Phantom. Sheepy: Sheepy: If they captured me, the situation wouldn’t change very much. Arsé-kun: Arséne: If you were captured, it most certainly would change. Sheepy: Sheepy: I mean that, if they capture her, more people are gonna be in danger than if I’m captured. Arsé-kun: Arséne: She, at least, is of use to them. They’ll most likely kill you. Sheepy: Sheepy: Pshhh, I’d like to see them try. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he looks serious* Sheepy: Sherlock: But… it’s not exactly possible to shut down a group that we know barely anything about, right? Sheepy: Sherlock: You, *he looks at Arséne* are injured, and he’s careless. Is this really a good idea? Sheepy: Sheepy: I always keep my word. Arsé-kun: Arséne: At the moment? No. It isn’t. I’d like to at least wait until we know more. Arsé-kun: Arséne: So, Sheepy? We are not going to start yet. Sheepy: Sheepy: Aww.. okay. Sheepy: Sheepy: But don’t forget about me when we’re ready. Sheepy: Sheepy: If you do, I’ll be sad. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I would never. *he looks somewhat offended, but he isn’t* Sheepy: Sheepy: Good! Arsé-kun: Watson: *he joins the party, looking a bit happier than he was before* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, you seem happy. Sheepy: Sheepy: What’s up? Arsé-kun: Watson: Simple. Both Harley and Wilson are fine. Sheepy: Sheepy: Ooohh.. I guess that’s a good reason to be happy. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he goes and looks in the doorway. takes his phone out. gets possible blackmail material. comes back. arsene no* Sheepy: Sheepy: Arséne, no. Arsé-kun: Arséne: You never know when you need a picture like that. Sheepy: Sheepy: Are you gonna blackmail him? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Hopefully not. Sheepy: Sheepy: But there’s still a chance there, huh Sheepy: Sherlock: Can I see the picture you took? Arsé-kun: Arséne: You sure can. *he shows Sherlock. it’s adorable.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oohhh.. this is really good blackmail material. Sheepy: Iris: *she peeks over Sherlock’s shoulder* It is!! Arsé-kun: Watson: *he looks too* I want that as my phone background. Sheepy: Harley: *he appears to have heard all of this, and he looks embarrassed* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he looks back at him, and then makes a face. adults* Sheepy: Sheepy: Hmmm… D'ya think Van Helsing has a bug on him? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I wouldn’t be surprised. Sheepy: Sheepy: That certainly is an issue! Sheepy: Iris:…? Arsé-kun: Watson: That would classify under “Major Issue” Sheepy: Iris: Who’s that? Sheepy: Iris: “Van Helsing,” I mean… Sheepy: Sheepy: He’s a guy who worked for Twilight, but he left and got tied up. Arséne and I found him. Sheepy: Tom: *whiny voice* do i have to do everything????? Sheepy: Tom: like? Sheepy: Tom: beekeeping and infiltrating evil groups’ bases Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he waits for tom to finish* Dirty blond, had glasses, looked like he had a permanent frown on his face. Ringing any bells? Sheepy: Iris: Oh, I’ve seen him a few times. Sheepy: Iris: We never spoke, though. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Do you know what he did? Sheepy: Iris: Oh, um… he was mostly tested on. He seemed a bit scary because he’d beat people up. Sheepy: Iris: I felt bad for him, but there was nothing I could do. Sheepy: Sheepy: Usually people don’t feel bad for scary individuals. Arsé-kun: Arséne: If he wasn’t a willing volunteer, I could understand the violence. Sheepy: Iris: I don’t believe he was. Sheepy: Iris: I went to talk to him once, but Franny said that the higher-ups might not appreciate it… Sheepy: Iris: So I didn’t. Arsé-kun: Watson: “Franny”? Sheepy: Iris: He’s someone else who’s being forced to work for them, except he can’t go home. Arsé-kun: Watson: Are there many like that…? Sheepy: Iris: *she nods* Uncle Barby also is like that. He and Franny are friends. Arsé-kun: Watson: … “Uncle”?? Sheepy: Iris: He’s very cool! Like, the weird uncle stereotype, who’s always making really cool things. Arsé-kun: Watson: Ah. Sheepy: Iris: Franny’s name is Victor Frankenstein. He’s a scientist with some knowledge in the medical field, except he apparently dropped out of medical school in his “rebellious times” and pursued what he loved… Uncle Barby’s an engineer. He seems like a very fun person! Sheepy: Iris: His name is “Impey Barbicane”… I’m not sure if either name rings a bell. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *on mention of Impey’s name, he furrows his brow. He doesn’t comment, though.* Sheepy: Sheepy: What’s up? Arsé-kun: Arséne: I did know Barbicane. He’s where I got my bulletproof vest from. Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh. Sheepy: Sheepy: How long ago did you get that? Arsé-kun: Arséne: This one? Last year. Sheepy: Sheepy: How did I never notice it…? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Because you don’t go through my clothes drawers, ever. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s because I’m not creepy! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Exactly. Sheepy: Sheepy: But now I’m curious… Sheepy: Sheepy: Curious what secrets are hidden in there!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Please don’t. All you’ll find are clothes. Sheepy: Tom: dead bodies Arsé-kun: Arséne: tom no Sheepy: Sheepy: Aw… that’s dull. Arsé-kun: *skips to next morning* Sheepy: Tom: *trumpet imitation* it’s morning Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he opens an eye slightly, and pushes Tom off the nighttable* non. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he’s still asleep. Wag is prodding him with his paw. …. … oh, he’s on his face now* Arsé-kun: *Wag has decided it is time to wake up. Pay attention to me, human* Sheepy: Sheepy: *.. … ASDSGHS IM ​UP​* Arsé-kun: *faint trumpeting from tom upstairs* Arsé-kun: Tom: *from upstairs* you are now wed as tom and tom. you may kiss the tom Sheepy: Sherlock: *he has exactly one leg on the chair. the rest of him is on the floor ans he’s sleeping like that* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *and he’s on Sherlock’s chest. this is fine* Sheepy: Sheepy: Wag… I really wanna sleep… Arsé-kun: Wagahai: *mmmmmmmmno* Sheepy: Sheepy: Why… Arsé-kun: Wagahai: *mrow. this means feed me in cat* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he stands* What would a cat want this early in the morning… Sheepy: Tom: sacrifices Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, food. Arsé-kun: Wagahai: *MYAAHH. YOU SAID THE WORD.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Where do they keep the cat food..? Sheepy: Sheepy: *he looks for the cat food in the kitchen* Arsé-kun: *he eventually finds it* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he gives it to Wag* Arsé-kun: *Wag is a happy cat* Sheepy: Sheepy: *thank goodness. he puts it back to its usual spot and heads back to bed* Arsé-kun: Tom: if i were a bee id be Arsé-kun: Tom: the letter b Sheepy: Tom: *beatboxxing* it’s 6:30 am rise and shine Sheepy: Tom: *he gets close to Arséne and whispers into his ear* omelette du froumage Arsé-kun: *Tom is pushed off the bed* Arsé-kun: Tom: long live the king Sheepy: Sheepy: Why… Sheepy: Sheepy: I can hear Tom from here. Arsé-kun: Tom: *behind him on Arséne’s desk* im the gingerbread bee Sheepy: Sheepy: Shush. Arsé-kun: Tom: I’m. The King Bee. And you’re Arsé-kun: Tom: yellow, black, yellow, black Sheepy: Sheepy: Sisiiii~ Sheepy: Sheepy: I’ve got a toy for you. Arsé-kun: Sisi: *he picks his head up, yawns, and trots in.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he gets Tom and puts him in front of Sisi* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *OH BOY MY FAVORITE TOY* Sheepy: Tom: aaaaaaaaaa Sheepy: Sheepy: *he pets Sisi some, yawns, and heads back to bed* Arsé-kun: *Well, Sheepy isn’t getting any quiet, because TOM KEEPS SCREAMING* Sheepy: Sheepy: *groan* Arsé-kun: *despite tom, sheepy manages to get about four more hours of sleep before someone wakes him up again* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he opens an eye* ….? Sheepy: Sheepy: whaaat now… Sheepy: Tom: i wanna play some bee-ball Arsé-kun: Sisi: *he’s sitting next to Sheepy* *who said ball???* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he pets Sisi. it’s ok if you woke me up sisi* Arsé-kun: Sisi: *yay.* Sheepy: Wagahai: *he is napping on Sheepy’s chest* Arsé-kun: *it’s fucking animal kingdom in this shit* Sheepy: Tom: why is no one but you awake Sheepy: Sheepy: Because you woke me up. Arsé-kun: *well, sheepy is awake now. what will he do next?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he sits up* Maybe I should look into that case… Arsé-kun: *Is this a wise idea?* Sheepy: Sheepy:..Or look in the magical clothes closet.. Arsé-kun: *and the dresser.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he decides to investigate the dresser* Arsé-kun: *This is a dangerous crusade, as Arséne is right there. One wrong move, and he may wake up. Do it anyway.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he’s already probably in trouble with twilight so arsene isn’t too bad* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he investigates* Arsé-kun: *There are six drawers. Which will he start with?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *#3* Arsé-kun: *Of course Sheepy picks that one drawer first. You know the one.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *let’s just, close that* Arsé-kun: *but what if there are secrets in there?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *it’s not worth looking through that* Arsé-kun: *Okaaaaaay.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he chooses #2* Arsé-kun: *So THAT’s where he keeps his phantom gear. Check the rest of the drawer?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *…yes* Arsé-kun: *There are a few bagged packages of… Something. It looks clay-like* Sheepy: Sheepy: *huh, whatever* Arsé-kun: *Anything else of value?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *probably not* Arsé-kun: *So, next drawer.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *#6* Arsé-kun: *Sheepy has hit a jackpot. The first thing in sight is a bundled wad of cash, and some gems. Looks like he found some of the Phantom’s loot* Sheepy: Sheepy: *better just close that* Arsé-kun: *All right, next?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *#1* Arsé-kun: *Found the sock drawer. Investigate further?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *no way. that’s creepy* Arsé-kun: *are you sure* Sheepy: Sheepy: *yes* Arsé-kun: *okkk* Sheepy: Sheepy: *#4 next* Arsé-kun: *it’s empty, except for something in the back. check?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *seems risky. maybe when arsene is out.* Arsé-kun: *sheepy for wuss* Sheepy: *sheepy doesn’t wanna get wrecked* Arsé-kun: *wuuussssss. but whatever* Sheepy: Sheepy: *lastly he checks #5* Arsé-kun: *there’s a plastic bag. check?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *yes* Arsé-kun: *there’s a sheathed dagger, and what is shaped like a nice little pistol. What matters, though, is if the gun is real.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *nice. he closes that drawer because using guns indoors is bad* Arsé-kun: *Since plastic bag noises did not wake Arséne, would you like to check anything you skipped?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *#4* Arsé-kun: *That lone object is still there.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he checks whay it is* Arsé-kun: *it’s a book. there’s no title or anything. check?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *yes* Arsé-kun: *Thankfully, it is not a diary. Instead, each page has a neatly drawn map, and notes. If the page does not have a map, it is dated and has some sort of record. It seems that this was the Phantom’s record book.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he puts it away. interesting.* Arsé-kun: *Anything else?* Sheepy: Sheepy: *no* Arsé-kun: *Okkkkk.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he closes the drawer and goes to leave* Arsé-kun: *and then he leaves. it’s very uneventful* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he decides to start getting ready to go out. why is everyone sleeping. he wants to check on van* Arsé-kun: *Watson swears a room over, hitting the floor. Bye.* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he rushes over* Are you okay…?! Arsé-kun: Watson: *he tripped on Sherlock. get rekt.* A-ah, yeah. *he gets back up, wincing as he does* Sheepy: Sheepy: Did you hurt something? *seems he noticed that* Arsé-kun: Watson: Long before this. *he doesn’t say anything else regarding the matter* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he appears to be waking up some* Arsé-kun: Watson: Morning, Holmes. Please stop sleeping on the floor. Sheepy: Sherlock: But it’s comfortable… Arsé-kun: Watson: Okay, then stop sleeping in a spot that I regularly walk past, because I just tripped on you. Sheepy: Sherlock: You didn’t injure anything, right…? Arsé-kun: Watson: No, Holmes. Sheepy: Sherlock:…OK. Arsé-kun: Wagahai: *he places a single paw on sherlocks face. you have been blessed my man* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he pets Wag* Sheepy: Sherlock: it’s comfy here.. Arsé-kun: Wagahai: *he places another paw on Sherlock’s face.* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he continues to pet Wag* Arsé-kun: *and then Wag climbs onto his face.* Sheepy: Sherlock: I’ve been betrayed… Arsé-kun: Wag: *myaaah.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I fed him this morning because he woke me up at 6:30. Arsé-kun: Watson: Oh, I thought Sisi had been getting into something. I’m glad it was only you. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, sorry. He wouldn’t leave me alone otherwise. Arsé-kun: Watson: No, I don’t mind. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he shifts Wag off of his face and yawns* Sheepy: Sheepy: How is that even comfortable Arsé-kun: Watson: I wish I knew. Sheepy: Sherlock: It’s the least uncomfortable. Arsé-kun: Watson: *he rolls his eyes* I’ve decided I’m going to check on dear Helsing today. Would anyone like to come with me? Sheepy: Sheepy: I was planning on goinf whether anyone else wanted to or not. Arsé-kun: Watson: So I will have company. Great. What about you, Holmes? Sheepy: Sherlock: I can go… Arsé-kun: Watson: You’ll have to get up, first. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he gets up* Arsé-kun: Watson: Would someone get Lupin, and then we may go, assuming Harley is not coming? Sheepy: Sherlock: I can go and get him. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he leavrs momentarily and returns carrying Arsene* Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he looks like he isn’t fully awake yet* … why.. Sheepy: Sherlock: We’re going to visit Van Helsing. Arsé-kun: Arséne: … right now? Sheepy: Sherlock: Yeah. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he groans* why this Sheepy: Sherlock: I can give you a piggyback ride if you want! Sheepy: Sherlock: Or just carry you like this. Sheepy: Sheepy: How romantic. Arsé-kun: Arséne: not in public you arent. *he rubs his eyes* Put me down. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he puts Arsene down on the chair* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Merci.. Sheepy: Sherlock: Umm.. what could wake him up… Sheepy: Sheepy: Very loud tap dancing. Arsé-kun: Tom: bees Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, I know! Arsé-kun: Arséne: ……. *this does not seem to be helping, sherlock* Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe it’s like Snow White. Sheepy: Sheepy: Maybe he needs a kiss from a prince. Arsé-kun: Tom: beelieve it or not Sheepy: Sherlock: Really? Arsé-kun: Watson: …. I need my coffee before I deal with this. *off he goes* Sheepy: Sherlock: I’m not a prince, though… Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t know any princes, either. Arsé-kun: Watson, from the kitchen: He means you. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh…! Sheepy: Sherlock: I guess I could try, if it’ll wake him up… Sheepy: Sheepy: I… I was kidding… Sheepy: *too bad. Arsene gets a kiss.* Sheepy: Sheepy: I was kidding!! Arsé-kun: *That most certainly woke Arséne up, because he looks very confused and about one shade redder. Good morning.* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, you’re awake! Arsé-kun: Arséne: What… Was that?? Sheepy: Sherlock: He said that a kiss from a prince would wake you up, and Watson said he meant me! Sheepy: Sheepy: ​I was joking!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he blinks, processing this information. he also opts to ignore sheepy.* Well, for future reference? It’s a bit more like this. *he pulls Sherlock down and kisses him again. Arséne, no, there is a child present. Arséne.* Sheepy: *there are actually two. Iris has come downstairs and she’s just. excited* Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, I see! I’ll remember that for future reference! Arsé-kun: Watson: *he comes out with his coffee* Good morning, Iris! And really, you two? It’s 11 am. Sheepy: Iris: Hi!! I knew they were together! Sheepy: Sheepy: *whine* I was kidding… Arsé-kun: *Sheepy makes a gagging noise probably* Sheepy: Sherlock: Huh? Oh, sorry! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m not. Sheepy: Sherlock: What’re we apologizing about, anyway? Sheepy: Sheepy: Why does every joke I make backfire on me… Sheepy: Iris: Isn’t this great, Sheepy?! Sheepy: Sheepy: Kissing is gross!! Sheepy: Sheepy: Who knows what germs you’re transferring…! Sheepy: Iris: What are you, two? Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s really unclean!! And lots of people want to kiss the Joker. Sheepy: Iris: Maybe if you didn’t have such a bad boy rebellious look, and your cards didn’t have “Take your heart” on the back, you wouldn’t have that issue. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I’m still not apologizing. Sheepy: Sheepy: It’s still gross. Arsé-kun: Arséne: *he shrugs* Arsé-kun: Watson: Anyway! Iris, dear, would you like to come with us? Sheepy: Iris: *she nods* I want to help in any way I can! Arsé-kun: Watson: All right. Sheepy: Sheepy: Also, the fire last night probably has Pierce out and about, trying to get any info he can. If he tries to talk to us, I’ll just walk faster and not make eye contact. Sheepy: Iris: Who’s Pierce? Sheepy: Sheepy: Some journalist guy who talks too much. Arsé-kun: Arséne: A newspaper reporter I occasionally work with. Sheepy: Iris: Oh! Sheepy: Iris: His name is hard to make a nickname from… Sheepy: Iris: Just like Sheepy’s! His name’s impossible to make a nickname from. Sheepy: Sheepy: That may be because it’s already a nickname. Arsé-kun: Tom: shep sheps obscure trek Sheepy: Iris: Wh-what?! Really? Sheepy: Sheepy: Of course it’s a nickname. Who would name their kid that? Sheepy: Iris: Luppie. Arsé-kun: Arséne: I would not. Sheepy: Iris: You call him that all the time. Arsé-kun: Arséne: So? It’s the name I was introduced to him with. Sheepy: Sheepy: People would call me that 'cause of the name of the bar my father would always go to. It stuck. Sheepy: Iris: That doesn’t seem like a very cute nickname anymore. Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s what I remember anyway. Sheepy: Sheepy: I don’t remember much about then. Arsé-kun: Tom: i was a smart. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yes you were. Arsé-kun: Tom: yaaaaaaaaaaay Sheepy: Sheepy: You also woke me up. Arsé-kun: Tom: good Sheepy: Sheepy: So, uh, should we get going? Arsé-kun: Watson: It would be wise. Sheepy: Iris: I need to know your name so I can make a nickname perfect for you! Sheepy: Sheepy: Later. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he go. it’s up to everyone else to follow him* Arsé-kun: *So they go, I guess. Watson brings a cane for some reason.* Sheepy: *Iris is worried about that. Sherlock is as well. Sheepy’s oblivious to it* Sheepy: Iris: Did you hurt your leg? Arsé-kun: Watson: I managed to trip on Holmes earlier. Sheepy: Iris: Are you sure it’s okay to walk on it? Arsé-kun: Watson: It’s not too bad, so I’m all right. Sheepy: Iris:..OK. Sheepy: Sherlock: *whimper* I didn’t know that I was in the way.. Arsé-kun: Watson: It’s fine. Sheepy: Sherlock: Maybe I should try sleeping in a regular bed.. Arsé-kun: Watson: That would be a good idea. Sheepy: Sherlock: The chair is closer. Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, we’re almost there. Sheepy: Sherlock: Where- *he sees the hospital. nopenopenope. he looks ready to ditch* Arsé-kun: Arséne: Oh, no you don’t. Do you want to check on him, or not? Sheepy: Sherlock: B-but….!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: I can’t carry you, and no one is staying out here with you. Sheepy: Sherlock: But…but… Sheepy: Sheepy: Have fun being alone! Sheepy: Sherlock: But…! Sheepy: Sherlock: But I…!! Sheepy: Sheepy: See you later. Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t want to be alone…! Arsé-kun: Watson: Then come with us. Sheepy: Sherlock: *whimper* Arsé-kun: Watson: Well? Make up your mind. Sheepy: Sherlock:….*he takes Arséne’s hand. apparently that’s his response* Arsé-kun: Arséne: … *he sighs* Just stay close to me, all right? Sheepy: Sherlock: …OK… Arsé-kun: *so they go in i guess* Sheepy: Sheepy: Now just to find the room he’s in.. Arsé-kun: Watson: I know where he is. *and so he leads them there* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, is this the room? … Looks like it. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he peeks in to see if Van is sleeping* Sheepy: Sherlock: *he’s internally screaming* Arsé-kun: Van: *he is awake, and he looks over. Squints. Because his glasses are over there, out of reach. Who did this to this man* Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh, hi! You probably don’t remember me. Sheepy: Sheepy: Or, recognize. Arsé-kun: Van: ….. I remember your voice. Sheepy: Sheepy: Um, do you need your glasses? Arsé-kun: Van: Yes. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he goes over and gives Van his glasses* Arsé-kun: Van: Thanks. *he blinks a few times.* Oh, you. Sheepy: Sheepy: Yup! Me. Arsé-kun: Van: I see quite a crowd. Why. Sheepy: Sheepy: Um, they all have their different reasons. Arsé-kun: Van: Oh, fun. Sheepy: Sheepy: Those two *he points to Arsene and Sherlock* are detectives, *he gestures to Watson* he’s the doctor who assisted you, and *he gestures to Iris* she’s his daughter, and has personal reasons to help you. Arsé-kun: Van: *he takes a moment to look at everyone, and his gaze settles on Iris* …. I’ve seen you before. Sheepy: Iris: Oh, um… Sheepy: Iris: We’ve met before. Arsé-kun: Van: …. Ah, yes. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he does not seem like he’s a happy camper.* Sheepy: Tom: what if he Sheepy: Tom: what if he have bug Sheepy: Tom: aaaaaaaa Sheepy: Sheepy: That’s a very good point. Arsé-kun: Van: …? Sheepy: Sheepy: Oh. Um. Sheepy: Sheepy: *he takes Tom out of his bag* Here, hold this. Arsé-kun: Watson: I don’t know if that is a good idea… Sheepy: Sheepy: Huh? Arsé-kun: *too late, watson, van now hears tom being. tom.* Sheepy: Sheepy: Why not? Sheepy: Tom: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Arsé-kun: Watson: Never mind. Sheepy: Tom: iris had a bug but we killed it Arsé-kun: Van: :I Sheepy: Tom: what if edgy glasses man has one Arsé-kun: *Van looks more confused than anything* Sheepy: Tom: im tom Arsé-kun: Tom: call me the bird king. Sheepy: Tom: sheepy is my bee prince Sheepy: Tom: arsene is my servant Arsé-kun: Van: *he produces a bug and puts it on the table. looks like he found it already* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he takes the bug and grabs his lighter out of his pocket. Sheepy. Don’t use that in a hospital- nope, he’s already done it* Arsé-kun: Van: *he looks at Tom, still confused* Sheepy: Tom: woah Sheepy: Tom: the bug is dead Sheepy: Tom: do you know what else is dead Sheepy: Tom: me Arsé-kun: Arséne: Tom, no Sheepy: Tom: baaaaa Sheepy: Sheepy: Now that that’s done with, we actually came for information. Arsé-kun: Van: Huh? Sheepy: Sheepy: About the group. Arsé-kun: Van: … Oh. *he sits up.* What do you want to know? Sheepy: Sheepy: As much as possible. Arsé-kun: Van: That’s quite a bit. Sheepy: Sheepy: Anything could help, probably! Arsé-kun: Van: … Very well. Where should I start… Sheepy: Sheepy: *he waits patiently* Sheepy: Sheepy: *he realizes that this may be a question for him. oh shoot. uh. better look to the actual detectives for an answer* Sheepy: Sheepy: Arséne, what d'you think? Sheepy: Sherlock: *he appears to have calmed down some* Arsé-kun: Arséne: I don’t have a particular preference Sheepy: Sheepy: I guess, um… maybe from the start? Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m not very good at this detective thing. Arsé-kun: Van: I suppose… Sheepy: Tom: once upon a tom Sheepy: Tom: there were three little bees? Sheepy: Tom: one built a hive of paper, one built a hive of wood, and one built a hibe of Pure Titanium Sheepy: Tom: and they lived happily ever after Arsé-kun: *Van then Exposition Dumps. The useful information consists of having been captured like many others and being tested on, many people dying, many people being rendered clinically insane and tied to the poles to “calm down” (they would always die), and others being used to build new equipment or weapons. None, bar Iris, were allowed to leave. He looks like he isn’t done, but he seems tired.* Sheepy: Iris: Are you feeling okay? Sheepy: Sheepy: Hmm… sounds like a horror movie. Sheepy: Iris: Does anything not sound like a horror movie to you? Sheepy: Sheepy: When you get angry, it’s more like a slasher film. Sheepy: Sherlock: It seems as though the research they’re conducting has to do with one’s mental state. Sheepy: Sherlock: My guess is that they’re trying to create an “artificial being” - by manipulating one’s mind, they could probably create the perfect human with all the traits they want. Arsé-kun: Van: …. That sounds accurate to me. Sheepy: Sherlock: How frightening… Sheepy: Sheepy: That sounds like a cheesy movie plot, except it’s real. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Stop with the movies. Sheepy: Sheepy: Stop with the hate for movies. Arsé-kun: Arséne: Vague threat based on b-list movies. Sheepy: Sheepy: Wow. I’m offended Sheepy: Sherlock: Um…not to scare you, but… since there was a bug on you, you may want to be careful… Sheepy: Sherlock: They set our old address ablaze yesterday. Arsé-kun: Van: That’s not surprising. Sheepy: Sherlock: We were hoping to keep your presence here a secret.. Arsé-kun: Van: Doubt that will last long. Sheepy: Iris: Don’t worry, we’ll do everything we can to stop them. Arsé-kun: Van: Please. I do not want to go back there. Sheepy: Iris: I feel terrible that I may have contributed to your suffering with the inventions they forced me to make.. Sheepy: Sheepy: This is why I hate adults. They think they can trample over anyone and that as long as the end is good, any evil they committed is worth it. Sheepy: Sheepy: And they get away with it, too. Arsé-kun: Tom: ive been betrayed Sheepy: Sheepy: Tom, you aren’t an adult. You’re a sheep. Arsé-kun: Tom: i am a hardworking business sheep Sheepy: Sheepy: Yes, you are. Sheepy: Sheepy: Thanks for the info. Sheepy: Sheepy: I’m sure it’ll be of help! Arsé-kun: Van: … You’re welcome. Sheepy: Iris: I hope you get better soon. Arsé-kun: Van: ….. Thank you. Sheepy: Sherlock: *he wants outtie* Arsé-kun: *and so they go outtie, except Watson, who remains to check Van’s health* Sheepy: Sherlock: *whimper* It was horrible there!! Sheepy: Sherlock: I felt like they’d take me away at any moment and then I’d be all alone…!! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Why would anyone? Sheepy: Sherlock: I don’t know… Sheepy: Sherlock: B-but, you wouldn’t abandon me, right? Sheepy: Sherlock: If I were stuck at the hospital, you’d visit me if you could, right? Arsé-kun: Arséne: Of course I’d visit you. It would be cruel not to. Sheepy: Sherlock: Oh, good…! Arsé-kun: *so they go home* Sheepy: Wagahai: *he nearly trips them.* Arsé-kun: *And Sisi jumps on everyone* Sheepy: Sheepy: We learned a whole bunch today, I think. Arsé-kun: Arséne: We did. Sheepy: Sheepy: How’re we gonna use this info, though? Arsé-kun: Arséne: However we can. Sheepy: Sherlock: Maybe it’ll become important later! Arsé-kun: Arséne: Or soon, most likely. Sheepy: Sherlock: Maybe.