( for a moment, that's all there is to her answer. the bare fucking minimum, sticking to the safe, stark margins of what this feels like: fulfilling her end of an exchange. clean, sharp. meeting the same terms and tone his message set: straight to business, facts without the frills of feelings. no information that points fingers and pitchforks toward someone else in her corner. nothing as personal as the throb in her chest, a bruise that doesn't fade with time — just blackens, every time koby's name flashes on her screen. the permanent pressure of a finger against a sore spot she can't ignore — not when everyone keeps grazing it, keeps reminding her it exists.
it's for koby's sake more than her own — koby, who is still sorry he can't solve their issues from the grave, whose rest they disturbed even in death — that she finally adds, )
[ He's sorry now, for asking. But if the answer had been yes it would have been worth it. Maybe that in itself makes the asking worth it, too. ]
Nowhere.
[ She's given him more than he asked for, and she's still someone he has every reason to trust, even if the reverse is no longer true. So, tentatively, and aware he's risking pressing on opening more wounds that've barely had chance to scab over: ]
I was bonded to Lanfear and Josias. [ Among others, but they at least aren't dead. ] Following the thread of punishments for correct accusations you'd laid down, I thought they might both have been for me, that the wolves had seen you'd noticed the pattern and twisted it to further frame Bob. It falls apart if anyone were to think about it for a second, but so much of this game isn't about thinking anymore.
But Ren was bonded to Josias too. Not many people knew. I didn't know, and I had his throat. So either it's nothing, or it's somebody who did know, or it's someone who could've found out.
We wanted to check if the bonds were a factor before. Now I'm not so sure it means anything at all, beyond Josias being an easy target.
cool. we narrowed it down to the whole goddamn crowd we've got nothing but nosy bitches sniffing around the joint. everyone knows everyone's business
( it's not digging up a mound of new dirt they can pile on to bury bob. it's not the shovel she needs to save him from suspicion, either. they're back to circling dead ends again — back to ani's failure to protect koby in life, or honor him in death. a great, fat sacrifice that's amounted to fuck-all.
except this: the sliver of a thought that's burrowed deeper and deeper, the more she prods at spike's accusation. )
i think spike's clocked it right & armand's our perp. our big bad wolf or whatever the fuck
✅ that toothpick kid — paul? didn't fight back. didn't look like he sleepwalked to death. they tapped his blood and didn't even bother sampling the supply. paul's wife cried wolf about armand's boytoy last deathfest. you wanna guess who the real wolf was? yeah, you cracked the case. same guy, drained parisa dry with his teeth. probably gave the vamps a good masterclass on how to beat the rap next time they're in the hot seat. alina's walking around with some kinda god complex about the sun literally shining out her ass, so maybe smoking the heads was an extra "fuck you" sprinkled on top of a shit sundae meant for her, not bobby. cause nothing says romance like revenge, and we know how that saying goes. art imitiates life, right?
✅ you vouched for his control. ancient vamps probably don't need a bib cause they know better than to get messy with dinner. ain't a stretch to say he can kill without sucking someone dry like a box of franzia
✅ he can fly, could shellac saber's ass easy, his nails make chainsaws look weak. fleshworker, profile brags he called the shots in his old clique, "artistic director" for theater freaks. so he's got the alpha skills, the full drama queen package, and the flair put on a show. bet we couldn't find the tool he used on saber cause he pumpkin carved saber with his own claws
✅ his dating profile: "young men with something to prove. don't gotta tell you who's armand's perfect match
✅ spotted him and saber talking shit to each other online. bob snitched about how strong he is in the diamonds groupchat. basically handed armand a fucking manual for setting him up. koby's killer was repping red, hearts or diamonds, and we know armand's in with the diamonds. if saber's head was a warning, and armand's really running the show, makes sense he'd go after koby to remind me who's the real boss bitch in his turf
✅ no fucking clue how josias fits into the puzzle, but armand copped to being a "former satanist" in his profile. could be lanfear's the star of his next sideshow
Give him a minute to take that into its constituent parts. He wasn't expecting extended conversation, much less another direct line into the spoils of Ani's personal investigative process.
It's a lot of weight to throw behind an accusation that was light on detail. Some people will like that, find merit in the padding, proof in the past. There's good work here, connections drawn where so many of them wouldn't have known to draw connections.
But holes, too. And set dressing can't stick on the chasm between two different proposed victims.
The last time she'd given him her theories, he'd given her too many words and then nothing but silence. Now, he tries to take it one considered step at a time. Proofreader before the pitch goes out to print. ]
Spike wanted Armand for Giles. That seems to be the going theory. Who do you put on Giles, if you need Armand for Paul?
( doesn't mean she hasn't let the thought cook — just that it's come out rare. not quite to temperature, needs a little extra care before she can serve it and expect it'll satisfy any appetite for answers. the bubbles blip up, vanish. real-time footage of reeling through the options. for all they've faced and whatever's still waiting up ahead, stephen's a reliable pick for this — practice sessions for a mock jury before the real trial goes live. with its real teeth, hungry for blood and calling it justice.
she needs to get this right. koby needs her to get this right. )
if we're clearing august cuz his heads still holding up someone from doggy dog care who put their paws all over the crime scene his throat was torn into like a raw fucking steak. so i'm thinking newbie vamp or mutt with rabies
Edited (pretend i can spell PLEASE) 2025-10-21 23:47 (UTC)
[ For Giles, he means. Then again, for better or worse, no matter the evidence stacked against him, he's struggled to find Armand above anyone else in any of it. That makes it both easier and harder for him to say what comes next. ]
If your money's on him, I don't think creating doubt is going to help your numbers Shoring up an existing argument is one thing Providing an entirely new victim to fit a theory of tangled revenge one year in the making muddies the waters when you need them clear If Spike hadn't spoken up it would be different, but any public theory that contradicts his now will only show a lack of cohesion amongst those who believe Armand to be guilty, potentially weakening the argument for anyone undecided. Your word alone should be enough for the people already inclined to trust your insight.
[ In short: you don't need to do all that, if the priority is wanting him in cage. If the priority, however, is honesty, and to only put him there for reasons you're happy to stand behind - then back to the sounding board they go. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
( for a moment, that's all there is to her answer. the bare fucking minimum, sticking to the safe, stark margins of what this feels like: fulfilling her end of an exchange. clean, sharp. meeting the same terms and tone his message set: straight to business, facts without the frills of feelings. no information that points fingers and pitchforks toward someone else in her corner. nothing as personal as the throb in her chest, a bruise that doesn't fade with time — just blackens, every time koby's name flashes on her screen. the permanent pressure of a finger against a sore spot she can't ignore — not when everyone keeps grazing it, keeps reminding her it exists.
it's for koby's sake more than her own — koby, who is still sorry he can't solve their issues from the grave, whose rest they disturbed even in death — that she finally adds, )
jake and i were linked up
this going somewhere?
no subject
Nowhere.
[ She's given him more than he asked for, and she's still someone he has every reason to trust, even if the reverse is no longer true. So, tentatively, and aware he's risking pressing on opening more wounds that've barely had chance to scab over: ]
I was bonded to Lanfear and Josias. [ Among others, but they at least aren't dead. ]
Following the thread of punishments for correct accusations you'd laid down, I thought they might both have been for me, that the wolves had seen you'd noticed the pattern and twisted it to further frame Bob. It falls apart if anyone were to think about it for a second, but so much of this game isn't about thinking anymore.
But Ren was bonded to Josias too.
Not many people knew. I didn't know, and I had his throat.
So either it's nothing, or it's somebody who did know, or it's someone who could've found out.
We wanted to check if the bonds were a factor before. Now I'm not so sure it means anything at all, beyond Josias being an easy target.
no subject
we've got nothing but nosy bitches sniffing around the joint. everyone knows everyone's business
( it's not digging up a mound of new dirt they can pile on to bury bob. it's not the shovel she needs to save him from suspicion, either. they're back to circling dead ends again — back to ani's failure to protect koby in life, or honor him in death. a great, fat sacrifice that's amounted to fuck-all.
except this: the sliver of a thought that's burrowed deeper and deeper, the more she prods at spike's accusation. )
i think spike's clocked it right & armand's our perp. our big bad wolf or whatever the fuck
✅ mindfucking's his bag. "What’s the most toxic thing about yourself you actually kind of secretly like? I can convince anyone to do anything I want. he sold himself as a control freak on his job app at the slip too. "I can make everyone I meet do what I want them to do." if this is his audition, he's nailing it
✅ that toothpick kid — paul? didn't fight back. didn't look like he sleepwalked to death. they tapped his blood and didn't even bother sampling the supply. paul's wife cried wolf about armand's boytoy last deathfest. you wanna guess who the real wolf was? yeah, you cracked the case. same guy, drained parisa dry with his teeth. probably gave the vamps a good masterclass on how to beat the rap next time they're in the hot seat. alina's walking around with some kinda god complex about the sun literally shining out her ass, so maybe smoking the heads was an extra "fuck you" sprinkled on top of a shit sundae meant for her, not bobby. cause nothing says romance like revenge, and we know how that saying goes. art imitiates life, right?
✅ you vouched for his control. ancient vamps probably don't need a bib cause they know better than to get messy with dinner. ain't a stretch to say he can kill without sucking someone dry like a box of franzia
✅ he can fly, could shellac saber's ass easy, his nails make chainsaws look weak. fleshworker, profile brags he called the shots in his old clique, "artistic director" for theater freaks. so he's got the alpha skills, the full drama queen package, and the flair put on a show. bet we couldn't find the tool he used on saber cause he pumpkin carved saber with his own claws
✅ his dating profile: "young men with something to prove. don't gotta tell you who's armand's perfect match
✅ spotted him and saber talking shit to each other online. bob snitched about how strong he is in the diamonds groupchat. basically handed armand a fucking manual for setting him up. koby's killer was repping red, hearts or diamonds, and we know armand's in with the diamonds. if saber's head was a warning, and armand's really running the show, makes sense he'd go after koby to remind me who's the real boss bitch in his turf
✅ no fucking clue how josias fits into the puzzle, but armand copped to being a "former satanist" in his profile. could be lanfear's the star of his next sideshow
no subject
Give him a minute to take that into its constituent parts. He wasn't expecting extended conversation, much less another direct line into the spoils of Ani's personal investigative process.
It's a lot of weight to throw behind an accusation that was light on detail. Some people will like that, find merit in the padding, proof in the past. There's good work here, connections drawn where so many of them wouldn't have known to draw connections.
But holes, too. And set dressing can't stick on the chasm between two different proposed victims.
The last time she'd given him her theories, he'd given her too many words and then nothing but silence. Now, he tries to take it one considered step at a time. Proofreader before the pitch goes out to print. ]
Spike wanted Armand for Giles. That seems to be the going theory. Who do you put on Giles, if you need Armand for Paul?
no subject
( doesn't mean she hasn't let the thought cook — just that it's come out rare. not quite to temperature, needs a little extra care before she can serve it and expect it'll satisfy any appetite for answers. the bubbles blip up, vanish. real-time footage of reeling through the options. for all they've faced and whatever's still waiting up ahead, stephen's a reliable pick for this — practice sessions for a mock jury before the real trial goes live. with its real teeth, hungry for blood and calling it justice.
she needs to get this right. koby needs her to get this right. )
if we're clearing august cuz his heads still holding up
someone from doggy dog care who put their paws all over the crime scene
his throat was torn into like a raw fucking steak. so i'm thinking newbie vamp or mutt with rabies
no subject
[ For Giles, he means. Then again, for better or worse, no matter the evidence stacked against him, he's struggled to find Armand above anyone else in any of it. That makes it both easier and harder for him to say what comes next. ]
If your money's on him, I don't think creating doubt is going to help your numbers
Shoring up an existing argument is one thing
Providing an entirely new victim to fit a theory of tangled revenge one year in the making muddies the waters when you need them clear
If Spike hadn't spoken up it would be different, but any public theory that contradicts his now will only show a lack of cohesion amongst those who believe Armand to be guilty, potentially weakening the argument for anyone undecided.
Your word alone should be enough for the people already inclined to trust your insight.
[ In short: you don't need to do all that, if the priority is wanting him in cage. If the priority, however, is honesty, and to only put him there for reasons you're happy to stand behind - then back to the sounding board they go. ]