Rufus Catch-All

[misstrust]

Comments

[soulus]

[His hearing may have largely gone, but his other senses are still intact. He feels the faint vibration of footsteps on the forest floor, and it's hard to miss an entire presence with eyes on him. His eyes slide open.]

What is it?

[misstrust]

[ Well. Before she yells all spoopily at him, Dorothy just taps one ear and tilts her head inquisitively.

How goes the hearing, Rufus? ]

[soulus]

You will have to shout or write if you want to talk.

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy just - for some reason?? - grimaces, but pulls out her PHS because really, she doesn't want to be yelling at Rufus this entire time. ]

We found a note in the inn, spoopy. It shared the same handwriting as that memory book in the lobby, spoopy.

Also I'm talking like this because I spent the night in the graveyard, spoopy.

[soulus]

[Reading is better, anyway. He bows his head to read her message. It's obvious what effect she's under before he even gets to the explanation.]

I was at the gun range.

What did the note say?

[misstrust]

[ He's missing out on all of the adorable British "spoopy"s.

Which is fine because Dorothy hates it. ]

"Forgive them", spoopy. Though I would have to say that at this juncture, this isn't about forgiveness, spoopy. Nor do I think it ought to be, spoopy.

[ She was the one who'd written that she didn't need to be forgiven, anyway. What does anyone's forgiveness matter, in the scheme of... so much? ]

[soulus]

[In painfully realistic terms, it doesn't.]

Yes. This is about the stabilization of nova.

[misstrust]

Did you find anything, spoopy?

[soulus]

There was a bloody handprint at the graveyard. Digging up some graves yielded nothing.

[misstrust]

I don't remember seeing anything like that, even though I slept there, spoopy.

And I don't think it would have been my handprint, either-- not like what happened at the pub, spoopy.

[ Though she does raise one hand to look at it dubiously. She doesn't know what size this handprint was, but she thinks she'd probably know if she'd placed her hand in something like that. ]

[soulus]

[Luckily for her, he can say this much:]

It was a similar match to the size of Homura's hand.

[misstrust]

[ Why won't the evidence let Dorothy die ]

So someone smaller, spoopy. I believe people were looking for Hikaru as well, spoopy.

[soulus]

. . . Shigeo believes she's buried in the mountain.

[misstrust]

[ ... Ah. ]

That's going to be quite a task uncovering her if so, spoopy. Though I imagine they'll be able to dedicate some time to that tomorrow, spoopy.

[soulus]

Sorting the evidence will be easier once the body has been retrieved. It should be a priority.

[misstrust]

I'm certain it will be, spoopy. Otherwise it's just going to be a lot of baseless conjecture, spoopy.

[ Which. Tends to happen more often than not. ]

This isn't ideal, but I suppose I ought to be glad they're not targeting Leaders yet.

[soulus]

Was your Leader stripped of their powers last night?

[misstrust]

[ She... shrugs. ]

I haven't had the opportunity to talk to them about it, spoopy. But from the way they were talking earlier this week, it's entirely possible, spoopy.

I can't say I don't understand why they were concerned, spoopy.

[soulus]

When possible, I would like you to confirm whether your team has fallen below the threshold.

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy blinks at him-- before the pragmatic rationale kicks in. ]

You think it might impact stabilization as a whole, and not just for that team, spoopy.

[soulus]

. . . Please inform me once you've learned the answer.

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy studies him for a minute longer-- then nods, silently.

Well, it's a valid concern. She can't fault him. ]