RVA: Shadow of Doubt, Not a Game Anymore
Apr. 9th, 2016 04:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalSalli arrived home to find Ali waiting for her in the foyer. Giving the shorter vixen a brief nod of welcome, she asked, “Everything alright?” Ali looked and smelled like she’d been working out, and she was bouncing on her footpads slightly in the manner she did when she was fully alert and engaged with something.
“Good,” Ali replied, falling in step with Salli as they headed up the stairs towards her suite. “Just had a chat with Nav and Ned, Karra and Fin’s boys.”
“Yes, you mentioned them before. I thought their mother had forbidden you to contact her family.”
“Yeah, well, the twins didn’t seem to think that was a great idea, so they went over their parents’ ears and got my number from Aunt Razi. They… they really seem like they want me to stick around.” Ali smiled uncertainly, in manner that said I haven’t the faintest idea why.
Salli squeezed Ali’s paw tightly. “You doubted this?”
She shrugged. “I’m still get used to the idea of people liking me. I mean… I know people like me. You do. So does Lady Melanie. It’s just… most other people either were afraid of me or thought I was a… um...”
“A useful tool?” Salli asked gently.
“Yeah.” Ali shook her head briefly, apparently trying to dispel the dark thought. “Enough about me. How was the second part of the ceremony?”
“Routine, mostly.” Salli described Aganatha’s execution of the invading drone, which actually made Ali laugh.
“Okay, she sounds like she’s going to be fun,” Ali admitted.
“Indeed. I was prepared to dislike her just because she was a Highglider. I’m glad to proven…”
Before she could finish her sentence there was a high pitched scream from the direction of Salli’s suite. Ali responded instantly, flipping her stunner out from its wrist holster, and raising her other paw to warn Salli to stay back as she jogged quickly down the hallway.
As Ali came closer, she jumped back a step when Nari came stumbling out, crying and gasping, an empty laundry basket hanging sidewise in one paw. “What happened?” Ali demanded, Nari backed up against the wall, ears flat to her head in terror.
“Milady’s bedchamber!” she gibbered. “The sheets!”
Down the hallway, Zaker pounded to the top of the stairs, stunner in her paw, and came rushing towards them. “I heard a scream, what happened?” she demanded.
Nari was close to sobbing. “The sheets on Milady’s bed… All that blood.”
“Don’t smell blood,” Ali muttered, poking her head into the room. After a quick peek she stepped further inside. Salli heard her utter a brief expletive, more in annoyance rather than distress it sounded like, then she called out, “It’s alright, Milady!”
Salli stepped inside, Zaker and a still trembling and sniffling Nari following. From the direction of her bedroom she could smell the distinct odor of paint wafting into the living room. She found Ali holstering her stunner by the bed, the top sheets stained by a bright red, half-dried puddle.
“It’s not blood, it’s paint,” Ali said, black nose wrinkling.
“So I see,” Salli agreed, the pungent smell reaching her own nostrils. Obviously Nari had stepped into the room, panicked at the sight of what she thought was blood, and ran out before she could get a good whiff. At first all she could feel was annoyance at Nari’s overreaction, then she realized the obvious conclusion. Someone broke into my room.
“There’s the paint canister,” Zaker pointed to a small, half liter plastic canister on the floor with the label of a common commercial paint company. “Don’t’ touch anything, Ali. The CP’s are going to want to go over the whole room.”
“I wasn’t,” Ali said defensively. She turned to Salli. “Milady, if someone could break in here and do that…”
“...we have a definite security issue,” Salli finished. “Zaker, contact Civil Protection. Ali, stay by the hallway door. Don’t let anyone in until the CP’s arrive.”
“Yes, milady,” they both replied in unison, before exchanging a bemused look with each other.
Salli took Nari by the arm, leading her back out into the hallway as Zaker contacted the CP’s on her phone and Ali stood feet apart by the door. “Nari, that paint looked like it had been drying for a bit. Did you see anyone suspicious near my suite or in the hallway. Anyone you didn’t know, or shouldn’t have been in this part of the house?”
“No, milady. I swear I didn’t,” Nari replied earnestly, her tail still floofed out in panic.
“It’s all right, Nari,” Salli said calmly. “No one is blaming you for this.”
“Thank you, milady. I’m sorry I screamed. It was… was just such a shock.”
Salli laid a calming paw on Nari shoulder. “I know it must have been.”
“But you don’t look worried, milady,” Nari said, her look of panic easing.
She smiled grimly. “I’ve seen worse.”
“Good,” Ali replied, falling in step with Salli as they headed up the stairs towards her suite. “Just had a chat with Nav and Ned, Karra and Fin’s boys.”
“Yes, you mentioned them before. I thought their mother had forbidden you to contact her family.”
“Yeah, well, the twins didn’t seem to think that was a great idea, so they went over their parents’ ears and got my number from Aunt Razi. They… they really seem like they want me to stick around.” Ali smiled uncertainly, in manner that said I haven’t the faintest idea why.
Salli squeezed Ali’s paw tightly. “You doubted this?”
She shrugged. “I’m still get used to the idea of people liking me. I mean… I know people like me. You do. So does Lady Melanie. It’s just… most other people either were afraid of me or thought I was a… um...”
“A useful tool?” Salli asked gently.
“Yeah.” Ali shook her head briefly, apparently trying to dispel the dark thought. “Enough about me. How was the second part of the ceremony?”
“Routine, mostly.” Salli described Aganatha’s execution of the invading drone, which actually made Ali laugh.
“Okay, she sounds like she’s going to be fun,” Ali admitted.
“Indeed. I was prepared to dislike her just because she was a Highglider. I’m glad to proven…”
Before she could finish her sentence there was a high pitched scream from the direction of Salli’s suite. Ali responded instantly, flipping her stunner out from its wrist holster, and raising her other paw to warn Salli to stay back as she jogged quickly down the hallway.
As Ali came closer, she jumped back a step when Nari came stumbling out, crying and gasping, an empty laundry basket hanging sidewise in one paw. “What happened?” Ali demanded, Nari backed up against the wall, ears flat to her head in terror.
“Milady’s bedchamber!” she gibbered. “The sheets!”
Down the hallway, Zaker pounded to the top of the stairs, stunner in her paw, and came rushing towards them. “I heard a scream, what happened?” she demanded.
Nari was close to sobbing. “The sheets on Milady’s bed… All that blood.”
“Don’t smell blood,” Ali muttered, poking her head into the room. After a quick peek she stepped further inside. Salli heard her utter a brief expletive, more in annoyance rather than distress it sounded like, then she called out, “It’s alright, Milady!”
Salli stepped inside, Zaker and a still trembling and sniffling Nari following. From the direction of her bedroom she could smell the distinct odor of paint wafting into the living room. She found Ali holstering her stunner by the bed, the top sheets stained by a bright red, half-dried puddle.
“It’s not blood, it’s paint,” Ali said, black nose wrinkling.
“So I see,” Salli agreed, the pungent smell reaching her own nostrils. Obviously Nari had stepped into the room, panicked at the sight of what she thought was blood, and ran out before she could get a good whiff. At first all she could feel was annoyance at Nari’s overreaction, then she realized the obvious conclusion. Someone broke into my room.
“There’s the paint canister,” Zaker pointed to a small, half liter plastic canister on the floor with the label of a common commercial paint company. “Don’t’ touch anything, Ali. The CP’s are going to want to go over the whole room.”
“I wasn’t,” Ali said defensively. She turned to Salli. “Milady, if someone could break in here and do that…”
“...we have a definite security issue,” Salli finished. “Zaker, contact Civil Protection. Ali, stay by the hallway door. Don’t let anyone in until the CP’s arrive.”
“Yes, milady,” they both replied in unison, before exchanging a bemused look with each other.
Salli took Nari by the arm, leading her back out into the hallway as Zaker contacted the CP’s on her phone and Ali stood feet apart by the door. “Nari, that paint looked like it had been drying for a bit. Did you see anyone suspicious near my suite or in the hallway. Anyone you didn’t know, or shouldn’t have been in this part of the house?”
“No, milady. I swear I didn’t,” Nari replied earnestly, her tail still floofed out in panic.
“It’s all right, Nari,” Salli said calmly. “No one is blaming you for this.”
“Thank you, milady. I’m sorry I screamed. It was… was just such a shock.”
Salli laid a calming paw on Nari shoulder. “I know it must have been.”
“But you don’t look worried, milady,” Nari said, her look of panic easing.
She smiled grimly. “I’ve seen worse.”
