❝ Ohh. More productive. I see. ❞ Padraic was obviously not falling for that one, but he knew arguing the point would only end up with them going in circles about his suspicious behavior. ❝ Bureaucracy can be quite the headache. ❞ He was no stranger to “creatively” circumventing laws and legalities himself. A fact the young man may have appreciated. However, Padraic would rather act the moral superior in any situation even if he was just as guilty, if not more so. ❝ However I suggest the addition of a second party to aid you, if that’s the case. You’re not very good at lying low…perhaps you need a look-out. ❞
Padraic came to a halt as Dipper did, frowning, watching the young man’s eyes flit to somewhere on his person. Following his gaze, he realized he was looking at his hands. Perhaps seeking confirmation of his story? Well, there was a ring there, but Padraic instead folded his arms together and crossed them over his chest, effectively hiding it from the boy’s prying eyes. With a soft clearing of his throat, he watched Dipper burst through the doors with confidence. It took quite a bit of effort not to simply roll his eyes as he leisurely followed behind, several steps behind the intrepid young man. ❝ Well, perhaps it was very good wine. Mayor Drake has never been one to skimp on taste, even for large events. ❞ He gave a little scoff. ❝ And I do recall seeing some chap who’d clearly been hitting the bottle before the party even started. It’s been a long and eventful year, lad. Maybe we needed a night to forget it all. ❞ Surely the way his year had gone had driven him to down a bit more scotch at home than he previously did.
“Yeah. It can,” Dipper grunted, glad that his face was turned away from the professor so that he could say it with a roll of his eyes. “And, look, it’s not like I’m super conspicuous either. Far as I know, some other people could have seen me around here and just not given me a second thought.” It wasn’t as though he was the most suspicious-looking of people. He was usually pretty decent about being able to just sink into the background, being pretty much a perfectly average, nondescript college kid, even a little on the small side, which only helped in this task. As long as he kept his forehead sufficiently covered, he doubted many people could pick him out of a lineup, let alone give him a second glance. Ratigan, whose stature seemed determined to draw the attention of everyone in the vicinity wherever he went, was in no place to talk.”
“Sure, maybe some people at the masquerade were there to forget,” he answered as they entered the ballroom. “But every person there? Plus, you can only spike a drink so much before the taste starts to give it away. So if everyone was simply drunk enough to get a case of amnesia about the whole thing, wouldn’t that warrant an investigation too? I was there, after all, and I wasn’t spending the night drinking to forget.” He cast his gaze about the ballroom. The place appeared to have been mostly cleared out, not a trace of refreshments anywhere, tablecloths gone, floor freshly mopped. A few autumnal decorations left on the walls were the only indication the ballroom had been recently used. “Any déjà vu yet?” he asked Ratigan.
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