the title of the headline stared back at him, as it ever did, taunting him with it's hidden knowledge.
If he could just figure it out, twist this puzzle piece just right maybe, maybe...
he sighed in frustration, there HAS to be something there, it has to be some kind of clue. The obituary, the headline, something!
there was no name, it'd somehow been scrubbed from every copy Aero could get his hands on, and no amount of painstakingly tedious tracebacks could pull even the faintest imprint from the papers.
but he couldn't just give up though, he had to be making at least SOME progress right?
he looked over the papers again.
Rising Star Falls Flat; friends and fans alike have all come together to mourn the loss of a beloved showman, , host of "Puppet Time!" will be remembered for the laughter and joy they brought fans, and the kindness they always showed in their friends lives. services with be held...
Aero groaned, putting his hands over his face as he leaned over his desk. useless!
he growled under his breath, nails scraping his cheeks as he slammed his fists down.
"Fuck!" he shouted, staring up to the ceiling.
this fucking clown was near impossible to find anything on, and the little he could dig up was practically fucking useless!
"Aero, buddy, i know you're obsessing over your crush right now but i need you to take it down a little okay, thanks." Nina's voice startled him, causing him to whip around to face her, wide eyed.
"ah, shit, you scared me," he breathed, holding his chest.
"yeah well the feelings mutual" she tilted her head, raising an eyebrow at him, "anyway, maybe you should take a break if it's making you that mad"
he nodded absentmindedly, "i will soon, i just need to figure this out, i feel like there's something I'm just not seeing yet, i need to find it"
"Aero," she gave him a tired look, which he understood to mean it wasn't a request more than a statement.
with a reluctant glance back at the paper, he stood up and followed Nina to the break room. She had already made a pot of coffee, and Oria was napping on the couch in the corner.
or, well, maybe they were just laying there awake, he couldn't actually tell with the way Oria's hair obscured their eyes
"So, we have four interviews lined up for next week, and a segment for helper of the week, and Oria got us access to some like," Nina waved her hand in a broad motion, "old stuff, i forget what it was-"
"archives" Oria chimed in from their spot on the couch, stretching, "a buddy o' mine got their paws on some really interesting stuff from like, twenty, maybe thirty decades ago i think they said." they grinned, "that's like, before the luna split i think, or maybe like right after?" they paused, trying to remember.
Nina took this time to interject, "yeah, that, we'll be transporting over tomorrow to get the container thing and you can look it over."
Aero tilted his head slightly, puzzled, "you mean someone was actually able to find documents from that long ago and i haven't been informed before now?" he furrowed his brows, upset
"well that's the thing, they haven't been able to confirm it's location until just recently, the historian that'd been keeping ahold of it is like really secretive for some reason," Oria shrugged
Nina failed to suppress a smirk as she shook her head, "probably to keep Aero from getting his freaky claws on stuff about his clown boyfriend"
"I'm not obsessed with them!" he shouted, a little too defensively.
Nina chuckled, "whatever you say"
He shook his head, choosing to end the argument there, "well, anyway, that's good. we can make copies for our own archives and see what information we can get from them. maybe there'll be something about life before the split, it'll be good if we can do some kind of study of trends or linguistic differences of pre-luna, wherever it's from"
"it's from where the old city used to be, uh, whatsitcalled" Oria hummed as she wracked her brain, "Stoney something?" she offered with a shrug.
"oh, Stone Haven? there's a historian there still?" Nina asked with a slightly confused expression, "i thought you said your friend got it from like, some place in Cavern Valley?"
"no no, my friend is from from Cavern Valley, the archives are from Stone Haven" Oria corrected, "and yeah, you'd be surprised how many people still live there, I heard it's not actually as bad as the rumors make it seem"
"well," Aero walked over to the coffee machine, getting himself a cup, "guess we'll find out"
