i want to believe

Nora Skye Greengrass-Hale. Aka Name Soup. 32. Author, Researcher. Wandering Souls Reunion Tour.

[nora-skye]

lucimcrtinez​:

“You were amazing,” Luci agrees, “I was just there to keep things from getting too bogged down in technical. The ‘everyman’ who still doesn’t quite understand the equipment or the science Will was always trying to spout out.” Nora never believed it, that there was a faction of their fans who loved and adored her, but Luci had seen them - she loved diving into the world of their little following. 

“Let’s make a date of it. You, me, Des - we’ll grab a bottle of something and hit the old train tracks, telling ghost stories or something. Light and easy and distracting and fun. We can livestream it and get people interested and maybe the others will finally see that we can do something with it again. For fun.”

“Sounds perfect. You grab the bottle and I’ll grab Des?” Nora laughed, feeling excited for the first time in awhile. It was like a high, the thought of being able to finally be back. “Let’s get this reunion tour started.”

Her life had been miserable up until Wandering Souls. Things had been good back then, fantastic maybe. Nora missed the adrenaline rush of being live in front of people who were just as enthralled as they were about the mysteries of the world. Or maybe they were just enthralled with the chemistry they all had with each other. Either way it was addictive.

[nora-skye]

annieharlowe​:

—

“I adore her,” She straightened the little sweater Nora had adorned Lilith with. “You wouldn’t need a murder board to figure out where she was if she went missing.” A veiled threat.

Her stomach revolted at the thought of a young girl happily skipping town with the man. “Unfortunately, Todd Harding can be very persuasive. Likeable even.” Her face is pained when she says it. “And I could see how Casey, who maybe didn’t get the star treatment her sister did, could feel valued by his special attention.”  

Brushing cookie crumbs off her chest before adding, “I don’t know if he taught you growing up, but that was sort of his thing.” She quickly glances at Nora and then quietly, “Special attention.”

Annie clears her throat and sits up to look through the laptop she brought with her. “Have you noticed any of his friends or colleagues posting?”

------

“Right. To be fair I could call it someone is missing board but that doesn’t have the same ring to it does it?” Nora tried to stay positive. Maybe Casey wasn’t dead, maybe she was just trapped in a situation she thought was love. Though to be fair, she didn’t know which one could be worse.

She listened to Annie and nodded, absorbing the information before writing it down on some paper and pinning it to the board. Persuasive. “Do you have experience? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m just checking in on you right now.”

They were friends, which was a nice thing to have, and Nora appreciated Annie’s presence and determination to find the truth. They were both curious souls but she had never stopped to consider Annie’s true motivations other than finding a missing girl.

“As far as his friends or colleagues they’ve been pretty quiet. Especially the male teachers. They don’t want anyone to think they’re involved, which is fair.”

[nora-skye]

williamdeuxfois​:

____

“Nora,” William started, further words failing to materialize as his usual eloquence eluded him. What was he supposed to say? She was correct. Though they had eventually stopped chatting, it was not her fault they had ceased originally, nor was it her fault that they hadn’t resumed once they’d been made aware of each other’s presence in town.

He had always anticipated that there may be some anger and resentment if they were to ever reunite, but he had made things considerably worse by prolonging the reunion. And now there was a wall between them that might be too high to overcome.

“Please know that I am truly sorry for not keeping in touch,” he tried again after a full minute of silence. He could tell that she was seconds away from abandoning the conversation altogether, but he had to try. He had to continue to offer the words he’d mentally practiced months ago but hadn’t had the courage to speak until just that moment. Perhaps it wasn’t coming off so much as courage but rather cowardice, begging for forgiveness, but he was sincere.

“I know how it sounds, but I genuinely did not know what to say.”

--------------

Nora looked him over, trying to see just how genuine he really was. It was easy to tell when he was lying. Will had always been shit at that. But right now she didn’t see any of his usual tell tale signs; the only thing really holding her back from believing him fully was the years of resentment and pain that had built up. They were supposed to be best friends and he had abandoned her.

All those high school years of being bullied had added up and it made it hard to trust. She had agreed to give him whatever there was left. Then he had thrown it back in her face and abandoned her like everyone else.

“Sorry, I’m having a hard time believing it,” she said after a minute, taking a deep breath to keep her anger in check. “Fine. I’ll believe you. But what comes next? Did you think about that? Do you want to be friends again or is this just an ill timed apology so you can vanish into the ether again?”

[nora-skye]

annieharlowe​:\​

—

It didn’t take long for the two of them to figure out who had been behind their accounts on the message boards. The realization was what Annie felt was a testament to their detective skills. Whoever was behind this should be afraid.

Maybe they wouldn’t have connected without the mystery, but Annie now frequently found herself at Nora’s apartment, making herself at home, taking up her couch with Lilith wrapped around her arm.

“A kidnapping and a framing? Great theory.” She eyed the photo Nora was studying. Not through any sleuthing, but through personal experience, Annie knew Todd Harding was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. To some, it could seem cliché for the handsome pillar of the community to be the main suspect. She hypothesized it only made it easier for him to hide in plain sight. He would remain at the top of her list.

“Or he could have set up his own kidnapping so that it looked like they didn’t go together.” She pursed her lips. Nobody wanted there to be truth to the rumours that anything between Casey Andrews and her coach was more than a healthy student/teacher relationship, but it wasn’t entirely impossible. It made her skin crawl. She popped a cookie in her mouth. “We’re both ruling out the aliens, right?”

--------------

“We are both ruling out aliens,” Nora said with a soft laugh. It was nice to have a friend who was as fascinated as she was about this case. They had stumbled into each other’s orbit thanks to an online forum and now they were constantly together whenever they were free. “Definitively.”

She pinned the photo back on the board and sat at her table with a sigh. “How’s Lilith treating you? She’s not being temperamental is she?”

Her little snake was the love of her life, her sweetest baby who needed to be protected. She was grateful that Annie wasn’t afraid of her snake child either. It was incredibly refreshing to have a friend who didn’t request Lilith to be put away every time they came over.

“What’s your opinion on it? Do you think they ran away together or do you think he kidnapped her? I mean I know he kidnapped her either way because of...the age situation, but do you think she thought going willingly with him would be smart?”

[nora-skye]

lucimcrtinez​:

Luci’s nose scrunched happily; she knew Nora would agree, the other probably missed the group as much as she did. She didn’t know about the others, but if even half of them were ready - well, that was enough to give it a try, right? 

“Des is putty in our very capable hands,” Luci grinned, “there’s no way he could tell us ‘no’ - the others, though, they may take some convincing.” Hell, she wasn’t even sure if William was willing to give up his pursuit of knowing absolutely everything in the entire world in order to chase ghosts with them again. When she’d texted him about it, the possibility, he’d ignored her - never intentionally, she was sure, but still. “I may have to make a public instagram post about it to show them how badly the people want it. You in?”

Nora beams and hugged Luci tight. She knew when their heads were put together that they could do anything in the world. They were a friendship powerhouse and for that Nora was grateful. She finally had friends, unlike that scared little girl back in high school.

“I think that’s a great idea. Show them that they’re wanted, that we’re wanted. People are going to want to see us. I mean how could they not; we were amazing at what we did, right?”

[nora-skye]

williamdeuxfois​:

Will would never classify his behavior towards the former members of the Wandering Souls as avoidant. He was an adult, and a mature one at that. Walking into an awkward situation of his own making was nothing new for him and he was absolutely capable of holding a conversation with any member of his former troupe, however tenuous the strings that bound them together might have become.

With one exception.

Will had been in town since August and every time he’d seen Nora Greengrass-Hale walking his direction, he’d turned the other way.

There’s a certain closeness that comes from working together on research projects, and Nora and Will had been tossed together more times than potentially any other combination in their little cast of characters. They had become friends. And then Will had left, and proved that sometimes adult males could have the object permanence of a 5 month old.

The guilt had set in after only the first sighting, and it was still going strong 8 months later. But that day was different. Everything for the last few weeks had been different. The streets were emptier, the coffee shops less full, and every presence was more noticeable. Including his.

Perhaps that simple knowledge was what had him carefully approaching her at the coffee shop, to-go cup in hand. Or maybe it was simply time to finally speak up. Either way, Will had turned, taken in the shock of red hair nearby, and charged ahead.

With a nervous smile and lightness to his voice, the male greeted Nora for the first time in years.

“Long time no see.”

@nora-skye​

Nora was walking home from a day out trying to find herself some inspiration. It felt impossible to find anything these days. Everything in her brain was discombobulated, thoughts only of the missing Andrews girl on her mind and the way it had rocked her town. There were thousands of poems about that half written on her computer and in her notebooks about that but nothing for the book she had actually promised her editor she was writing.

She was hardly paying attention to what was around her, brain too full of curious thoughts, but then someone said her name.

William. Of course.

Her and William had been friends, maybe even the best of during those Wandering Souls days. His departure had hurt her the most. Des and Luci had stayed in contact but Will had disappeared into the void never to call or text or anything again.

They were research partners. The silent duo that loved to know and learn and everything.

“I wonder who’s fault that is.” Her words were biting, maybe too much, but they had both been avoiding each other for a reason. Maybe it was better that continue to do that.”

[nora-skye]

Never were there a more unlikely pair of friends than Annie and Nora, and yet there they were, together sitting in Nora’s house as they looked at a cork board covered in red string, photographs, and newspaper articles about the Andrews girl disappearance. Maybe it was a little too true crime but the two of them were both determined to find some truth in the horrible mystery that had befallen this little town.

“Do you think there’s even a small chance that they were kidnapped seperately? Or he was kidnapped to make it look like he was at fault?” Nora asked, looking at the picture of the man. He seemed friendly enough. His features were handsome and with some gentle words she could see how a young girl could get wooed by him.

Certainly back in high school she would have. Those days had been brutal and she wondered if there was anything dark lurking in the Andrews closet. Maybe there were some teenage skeletons in there.

@annieharlowe​

[nora-skye]

lucimcrtinez​:

“We live in Cassel, Nor,” Luci chuckled, though she indulged her friend regardless. “Don’t you think if anything was going on with me, you’d already know about it?” 

She had been ruminating on an idea, though, and it would be nice to have as many of them on board as possible - “I was thinking, though,” she leaned across the counter, conspiratorially, “maybe it’s time to get the band back together. All six of us, on the road, making videos again. I mean, I miss it. Don’t you?” 

Immediately the idea lit her up in ways she hadn’t felt in a long time. The band back together? Of course they’d all talked independently, chattered amongst themselves in conspiratorial whispers on the occasion. She had dreams and what ifs and fantasies about coming back together but it being a possibility? That was something she hadn’t truly indulged herself in.

“I miss it every day. Are you thinking of asking around? You know I’m in without a second though. I think Des would be down to play cinematographer again. At least if we both pout at him for a really really long time.”

[nora-skye]

desmurphy​:

…

“Oh, I thought you’d already chosen the title for your next collection,” Desmond said, eyebrows furrowed and fully serious as he looked at Nora. His eyes roamed upward as if searching back through his memory. “Yeah, I remember you telling me about it.. It was… A Collection of Odes to Desmond Murphy: Hottest Man Alive. Yeah, pretty positive that was it.”

He chuckled at his own joke, nudging Nora playfully with his shoulder. He had an idea, then. A brief spark born out of the dumb joke. That perhaps he could actually take photos for her, photographs of small town locations that paired with the words she’d written.

But… no. That would be a weird suggestion to make. He couldn’t insert himself into someone else’s project like that. If anything, maybe he would take another look at her already published work and use it for inspiration. Then slip it anonymously into her mailbox and never bring it up again. Ingenious.

“Watching you pummel sandbags that are twice your size is literally my idea of a perfect afternoon,” he told her. “UFC Fight Night has nothing on you in terms of entertainment value.”

------

For a moment, she sat there confused, wondering what on earth she’d told him the name could have been, but then Des was Des and of course it was a joke. Nora laughed and pushed him back, rolling her eyes. “Oh yeah absolutely. That’s what I’m going to name it. I’ll write 700 poetries about how nice your eyes are and how I think your facial hair isn’t bad even though I keep telling you it is.”

Not that she hadn’t done that in high school already. But that was a secret that no one ever would be allowed to find out about her. The childhood crush would be buried deep deep down until she eventually exploded.

“Thank you, thank you. I try to be as entertaining as live dudes beating the shit out of each other in sweaty masses of blood and muscles,” she laughed.

She paused, thinking for a minute before smiling. “Hey can I say something weird? Can we act like assholes again? Remember being in our early twenties and going bowling in shopping carts? What if we just...had a night where we did that?”

Immediately she became self conscious about her suggestion. Maybe that was weird though. 

[nora-skye]

mariannebyrne​:

____

“I wish I could say I hate them all too, but I actually have one who is legally dependent on me at this point, so I think I have to make exceptions,” Mari nodded, the gesture casual enough to convey that she was only half-serious.

About the hatred of all males. Not her exception for her brother.

As much as certain members of that particular gender could annoy her to no end, there were only a few men currently on her shit list. Like… the police. Or certain ones, at least.

Marianne could tell that she’d just waved a proverbial bone in front of a dog with her statement, and the clear interest conveyed in Nora’s tone (and words) compelled Mari to be a little more open than she perhaps would have been otherwise.

“Because I’ve been Homecoming Duchess Marianne to half of the squad for the past 8 plus years. Little Marianne for even longer. The police don’t take me seriously, they just leave me be because of my dad. And that’s only as long as I don’t push any boundaries. Hypothetically, I could single-handedly track down that missing teacher and they still wouldn’t let me touch the case. Because I’m a child, not because I’m a girl. But… actually, could be both. Who knows?”

Shrugging, Mari decided to play it a little safer as the conversation shifted to the actual missing persons case.

“I haven’t done any of my big P.I. work on the case, honestly. Like background checks or following anyone. Hearing that the teacher is missing too… I think it’s logical to assume that the two disappearances are related. From there I think all any average townsperson has is hearsay.”

———————————x—————————–x———————————

Nora’s ears perked up when Mari mentioned having one legally dependent on her. That was certainly an interesting bit of information, especially given how young the girl was. What had happened there?

Not that it was any of her fucking business. But lots of things weren’t her business that she was having fun digging into these days. That was sort of a staple of her personality at this point.

“Ah so you’re the little kid in their eyes still? I guess that makes sense. It’s hard for them to see you as anything else. And then add onto the fact that women in any sort of investigative role are frowned upon...” Nora trailed off, sighing, “I can understand it.”

She didn’t know how busy the younger girl was today but she figured it would be polite to at least ask offer coffee. And it maybe one day it would be important to have a PI friend around.

“Are you hungry? We could go get a bite to eat?”

[nora-skye]

streetoffire​:

————x—————x—————x————

In all honesty he liked when Nora just popped in  because she was bored.  There were few people who just dropped by for the hell of it, and Nora was really the only one outside of the trailer park who bothered.  It was a nice reminder that his world wasn’t as small as he made it seem.  “Nope.  Just trying to figure out if you got an ulterior motive like stealing my good bottle of whiskey or somethin’,” he teases back.  

Fletch fights his instinct of waving his hand away at the compliment, but coming from her it really meant something.  Nora was one of the few people who saw him at his lowest.  “It’s been tossed around a couple times,” he grins.  “Thank you though,” he nods as he turns to face her better.  “Work is work.  I have a little money put away though.  I’m thinking about finally selling the old trailer,” he offers– saying those words out loud for the first time.   

“Oh I always have an ulterior motive. But just to be clear I know you’d let me steal the whiskey if I wanted to, so, no that would never be one of them,” Nora teased with sweet smile, knocking on the table again and whistling to the bar tender. “Next round is on me. I plan on getting absolutely hammered tonight. Care to join me? We can cause a little trouble and make the town forget about their worries for the night.”

It was easy to just be unapologetically herself around him. Maybe that was strange, given how volatile things had been during some days in their relationship. But they were both different now, bigger people, and that matters a lot.

[nora-skye]

lucimcrtinez​:

“Starting her own business like our own personal Nancy Drew,” Luci grinned; she was proud of Mari, even if Cassel wasn’t exactly the right kind of place for it. Or maybe it was - everyone had secrets, even Luci. It just depended on who wanted to know them - and what finding them out would do to the others around them. 

“You know I’ll never turn down food,” Luci laughed; there was a bag of chips under the register, some twizzlers in her office, a few snacks in the fridge for later - she was a munchie queen, thank you, and always took payment in the form of food. “It’s my magic password. We can get together after the flowers have been a success - or a failure, in which case lunch will be on me.” 

“You know that it’s going to be a positive experience. My moms love anything that you make. They think your flowers are gorgeous,” Nora smiled, leaning forward, “Because they are, by the way. Now tell me what’s been going on with you. I’ve been...bored. Really bored. Maybe we should have a moving night sometime soon too.”

Bored was one way to put it. Everything felt impossibly dull these days and she was starting to feel her skin crawl as she itched for adventure and something more. Maybe that was why she was so interested in what might be of the missing Andrews girl.

[nora-skye]

streetoffire​:

“I’m taking a shortcut to fet my caffeine fix and maybe a donut.  I haven’t decided yet.”  Fletch can’t help but chuckle at the stranger comment, “That would require you to be a stranger first,” he teases back as his eyes flicker down to the journal in her lap.  

A hand crosses over his chest as he smirks, “I thought the coffee bein’ on me went without saying.”  Fletch nods his head in the direction of the coffee shop.  “C’mon you can be the deciding vote if we get donuts or not.”  His hands stay situated in his coat pockets to keep them from the biting cool air.  

“Whatcha working on?  Or is it top secret?”

-----x------x-----x-----

“Mmm a donut sounds amazing I would absolutely love one of those,” Nora beamed, jumping up to her feet. There was nothing better than a sweet pastry in the morning. “We’re absolutely getting donuts. In fact if we don’t get donuts I’ll start crying. Weeping. Uncontrollably here in the middle of the room.”

Except she kept her book still close to her chest. It didn’t feel good to go around sharing information that was hardly even worth sharing. Her first book had gone well but the second still needed a lot of fine tuning.

“Secret. Sorry, Fletch I know it’s not ideal but it’s work stuff for a particularly secretive client.” Did people who hired freelance writers even have secrecy? Either way she hoped it would satisfy him from asking too many more questions.

[nora-skye]

mariannebyrne​:

____

Mari could only offer a nod, her agreement with the girl about Luci needing nothing else.

Instead, she focused on the clear indication that her brothers had not been very nice to Nora in their younger and more formative years. She wished she was surprised by the reveal, but… she’d interacted with them at home. They may have been overprotective of her, but that didn’t mean they didn’t try and inflict damage of their own in order to get things like the tv remote or their choice of fast food for dinner.

“Oh the intoxicating feeling of being popular, that weird little Chemical X. Mix it with being a teenage boy and nine times out of ten you get a recipe for being a little asshole.”

Marianne knew she didn’t need to apologize, but it felt like the right thing to do. Knowing what she was like in high school… she probably had some apologies of her own to issue. At the very least mean nicknames were not the reason, but if she could try and make amends for some Byrne-based harm in the world it was a start. Thus, with the frown that had developed still on her face, she spoke up again. “I know my apology means nothing, but I’m sorry on their behalf.”

The question about her profession caught her off guard almost as much as the fact that she was able to hear it, the words going uninterrupted by even the tiniest peep from Pongo.

No, he had settled in and seemed content for the first time all day. And so she was allowed to continue the conversation, offering a quick shrug that was more aimed at Nora’s second question than her first.

“I am officially licensed, yes. The police around here sort of just leave me be, except for on that case. So… officially no, but unofficially a little. There’s little doubt in my mind about what happened, at least in terms of the person who… took her. But it’s what happens next that’s anyone’s guess. Why?”

———————————x—————————–x———————————

Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t you who did the bullying.” Nora said, shaking her head as she set her writing journal aside. “Testosterone will do that to boys apparently. It’s why I hate them all. But I appreciate it anyway.”

Whatever the hell Marianne’s brothers were getting up to at the current moment didn’t bother Nora any. If she could avoid seeing them for the rest of her life that would be for the best. Then again, maybe those kickboxing classes could finally come in handy in real life.

“Why won’t they let you look into it?” her ears perked up. Why wouldn’t they want a PI to help this out. This was a big deal, something massive in their tiny little town. “That seems a little strange to me. Sorry I’m not trying to snoop or I guess maybe I am trying to snoop. I’m a bit of an armchair detective about certain things I guess.”

That was one way to put it. Maybe not the best way though.

“So I’m curious to hear what you think about the whole thing as someone who’s a PI.”

[nora-skye]

desmurphy​:

When Nora mentioned the leaves, Des tore his eyes away from her to look out at the rest of the park. There were times when he couldn’t decide whether Cassel was truly beautiful or whether it only looked that way in his rearview mirror. 

He’d been to Niagara Falls once. It was as much a natural wonder as the postcards let on. Des could feel the rushing of the waterfalls deep in his bones. Yet he couldn’t help but think of Cassel then, too. Of the old, chipping fountain in the middle of the park. The water trickled lazily above the pennies kids had tossed in for good luck. He felt it in his bones just as much.

“Sometimes I think I can pinpoint the spots you were sitting when you wrote the poems in your first book,” he said, watching a couple wrens bounce around the grass. “It’s a little game I like to play. Like advanced I Spy.”

Her work was good; it was probably the best art that the town of Cassel had ever had a hand in producing. She deserved to put her name on it, but Des would be hypocritical to say as much. He rarely even let them credit him in Wandering Souls videos. 

“Kickboxing?” he asked, finally looking back at her with a slightly incredulous expression. “I’m offended you haven’t invited me along yet. There’s a lot of inspiration in the agony of defeat, after all. And I’ve got a pretty mean roundhouse.” 

Not true in the slightest. They both knew (from experience, years ago) that Nora could kick Desmond’s ass with her hands tied behind her back. But it was hard to resist teasing her. 

The fact that he had read her work, cared enough about it to take the time out of his day to indulge in her poetry, well it made Nora’s heart flutter. Weren’t school kid crushes supposed to go away as adults, especially when you were friends with them? It hardly seemed fair that she was going to have to continue to suffer with this until she either died or confessed.

So died was the most likely option.

“Well I’m glad you enjoy playing I Spy with my books. Maybe that’s what the next one should be published as. Small town I Spy.” Nora paused. “You know that’s not actually a terrible idea, right? It would speak to people who live in dilapidated Americana like we do.”

OF course he had taken an interest in her saying kickboxing. She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Oh you’re more than welcome to come but only if you want to see me knock a bag over like it can bleed.”

It was nice that Des didn’t ever judge her for the methods she used to get out her aggression. There was still a lot of it pent up from back in her youth and there was no better time like the present than to get rid of it. 

At least that’s what her therapist kept trying to tell her.

[nora-skye]

lucimcrtinez​:

Luci gave Nora a small smile; she could see why she’d think about wanting to go help, but this was out of their hands. They handled ghosts, the lives of those already dead - they’d never taken on a real crime, a true crime happening in real time. And they’d never even really proved anything with their youtube videos - sure, there were experiences they’d all had and most of them were firm believers in something after death at this point, but it was different. 

Luci couldn’t smile and giggle and flirt her way for information about a very real girl. 

“I don’t know how much help I’d be,” she settled on, plucking a flower out of a vase that was just slightly too old, her fingers pulling on the petal absentmindedly. It was what she did when she was nervous, or anxious - her fingers always moving, keeping busy so her brain wouldn’t. “I mean, if the cops can’t locate him - I just want to help the Andrews and when she returns, make sure she’s okay. I’ve never been close to them or anything, so I’m just….doing what I can.” 

Which, usually, felt like a lot of nothing. 

“You should team up with Mari,” she said instead, a slight smile at the image of the two working together to solve the crime. “I bet you’d make an excellent partner for her - the two of you could probably bring Casey home before the cops could.” 

“Marianne is a private investigator now right?” Nora’s ears perked up at Luci’s suggestion. Maybe that was actually something to look into. Not that she thought it would be an immediate “yeah sure come with me to break into people’s houses” situation but maybe it at least involve getting some information.

Her mind dwelled a little too long on the possibility. It would feel good to have purpose again.

“I think what you’re doing is a lot. I imagine your shop has probably been busier lately with everyone worried and sending flowers. Thanks for making such awesome flowers for Elizabeth by the way. Can I treat you to lunch as a thank you?”

[nora-skye]

mariannebyrne​:

____

“I take it you have personal experience cuddling with snakes?” Mari questioned, not at all convinced as to their cuddliness. She was not and would never be a snake person. The Jungle Book had made a lasting impression, thank you very much.

Glancing down yet again as she heard another shrill yap, somewhere in the back of her mind she wished she could just drop the leash and let the dog run wild. It was clearly what he wanted. But that would be wrong, and she would undoubtedly be dubbed the town’s worst neighbor - a title that she didn’t want to risk even with her current dislike of the town in mind.

Alas, the minds of miniature dogs were fickle, apparently, because one second Pongo clearly wanted to be anywhere but there and the next he clearly wanted to only be in the other girl’s lap. He was very determined to accomplished the latter, but it seemed from his temporary silence like he also wanted the conversation presently occurring to continue.

The one about snakes. And the eldest Byrne brothers.

The same topic, really.

It was the bitterness of being the only child that stayed that had her thinking those particular thoughts, and she’d never voice them aloud, but at least Satan in chihuahua form had allowed her to finally put a mental voice to some of the feelings she’d been letting fester.

“You don’t have to lie. I’m pretty sure you’re the first person to ever say either of them was interesting. But yeah, my oldest brother dated Luci. Apparently it ended amicably, or else I wouldn’t be getting the occasional meal from her during her routine check-ins. Though… considering the meal, maybe it didn’t actually end very well. But don’t tell her I said that. I know she means well.”

———————————x—————————–x———————————

“Luci always means well,” Nora said with a soft smile. It was the truth; she was just a good person, the impossibly real kind of good person that  you didn’t even know existed. It was impossible not to smile around her. There were only a few people like that in the world and when you found one you had to cling on tight. Luckily for Nora she had two of them. Though she would probably never tell Des that to his face. “But pinky promise I won’t tell her.”

“Oh I’m not lying. His creative Nora No Tits was inspired and interesting. Truly. But you’re his sister I don’t hold it against you.”

That was the truth, for once. before a couple years of therapy, some medication, and a very useful round of kickboxing classes she probably would have held it against her. But none of that past trauma was Mari’s fault and so she wouldn’t have to pay for the sins of her brother.

So many people had to do that already, pay for the sins of their family.

“You’re a private investigator right? Have you....looked into the Andrews case at all?” She couldn’t help but admit how curious she had become, how enthralled with the potential of a mystery. Some days had felt like aimless wandering and maybe in a selfish way she wanted to chase the truth for a sense of purpose.