title: (the three part folding mirror) by luluwquidprocrow/whoslaurapalmer
word count: 15.9k
sugar bowl gen attends a costume party/spying event at the hotel denouement; snickets and denouements focused.
i love the way the bits of out of order action and different povs fit together, the improbable vfd shrubbery disguises, kit and dewey, ernest and lemony and their uncomfortable places in the schism, but especially all the sibling dynamics!
excerpt:
Frank shot him a flat and unimpressed stare in return. At least he still did that. “Promise me you won’t do anything—” he paused, his face pinching in an aggrieved sort of way before he settled on a word. “—rash tonight,” he finished.
Ernest laughed. “I don’t intend to do anything rash, Frank.” Of course not. You couldn’t carry out a pre-established plan rashly.
“I should hope not. I—”
The door opened, again. Dewey burst into the alcove, all smiles as always, and stopped on Frank’s other side and leaned over the railing, gazing into the lobby. Like Ernest and Frank, he wore the muted red manager uniform, because somebody had said it was the “host prerogative” to not dress up for a costume party. Somebody had felt bad about it when Dewey was disappointed, but somebody had still not relented, and there they were, a matched trio, everything outwardly perfect.
“Everyone’s costumes are so beautiful,” Dewey said. “Who’s that, in the big blue dress?”
“Josephine,” Ernest and Frank said at the same time.
Ernest raised his eyebrows. Frank, stooping so low as to actually guess the guest? Even Dewey blinked at him in surprise. The tips of Frank’s ears went slightly pink, but he didn’t say a word.
