Damian stopped his search for the bag of candy. Turning over his left shoulder, he gazed back at Herrera while leaning against the counter. This Dane guy sounds like a great case to work with for Herrera. He's going to have to work his way around the man if they want to get any information on the watch and perhaps even his relation to Crystal.
"I wouldn't go for the watch thing right away. It's never a good idea to get to point first. Although, you can try to find out if he likes to collect watches or something along the lines. Try to befriend him or engage in some informal conversation."
In the corner of his eye, he noticed the bag. Reaching for the bag of candy, he cautiously opened it. "Don't rush yourself, but don't be slow if that makes any sense."
"I will force my friendship upon him," Felix says with a serious tone and nod. He checks his phone for notifications and then pockets it. "But I don't go back until next week, and if I track him down now that'll raise suspicion. So, I guess we're at standstill for now." Really, anything could be possible with Dane's relationship with Valentine. Sure, he's probably 25 years older than the dead woman, but hey, they're both adults and who is Felix to judge. The watch is pretty much the best lead they have. As much as Felix hates to admit it, he could hardly get anything off of the five players. They're no amateurs in hiding emotions and tells.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, Damian." Felix waves his hand. "I'll try to get something out of him next time." He drums his fingers on the table as he searches back to see if he could pick up any more of Dane's behavior. When he can't remember anything, Felix lets out an annoyed huff. He wishes he had the chance to talk to Dane after the game… Like Helsie did. "Helsie Rivers-" Felix looks up and snaps. "They said they were glad Valentine was dead and gone." If anything, I'm glad she was wacked over the head. "Do you know how Valentine was killed?"
Damian watched Herrera, snorting at the poker player's serious nod. The exhaustion was worn, his reaction sarcastic. He took a handful of M&M's and shoved them in his mouth. As he chewed on them, he covered his mouth until he was able to speak. "This isn't the FBI, so I guess we are at a standstill for now. Patience is a virtue."
His phone buzzed. Taking it out if his pocket, he held it up to face to read the notification. It was Paul, and he said that he recommended Damian take it in tomorrow. Probably is the safer thing to do. He just sent back a simple thanks then placed the phone on the counter.
"Helsie Rivers…." He muttered the name to himself. His eyes squinted as he recalled the person's voice through the ear piece. Damian rubbed the back of his neck as he began to pace around in the kitchen area. "Forensics isn't sure. I even have a master's in forensic science, and I don't know," He responded. "A leading theory is that it was foul play. She might have been hit in the head with something heavy or made of glass. Her blood alcohol level was 0.27. She had some bruises on her arms, thighs, and left shoulder. No one's fully certain, but it has to be the blow to the head. Forensics is still running tests."
Felix's eyes light up, his posture straightens and he snaps his fingers. The small tidbit of information about Mae's master in forensic science is fascinating but for another day. "Is that information public?" It could be, Felix never pays attention to the news. He takes a few steps before turning around on the balls of his feet. His trenchcoat whirls around him, some of the watches within lightly clinking together. He's pointing at Mae with both his index fingers. "Helsie- remember, they said that they were glad Valentine got whacked over the head."
He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head slightly down awaiting an answer from Mae.
Damian squinted his eyes. Some of it might be public info, but he does not watch basic cable news anymore; he rarely is at home enough to watch tv anyhow. He shrugged, "I mean, technically you are part of this case, you're just not in the same position as me." Scooping his hand with M&M's, he placed the candy in his mouth and chewed.
Snorting at the sight of Herrera's twirl, he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. He will have to admit, the poker player is a bit funny. Ridiculous is a better word, maybe. At first, he did not say a word, rather he just nodded his head. "I did not expect someone to say such things in the manner that Helsie did," He frowned. "It is strange that they know the probable cause…."
HIs eyes widen, he rubs his hands together. "Could this qualify them as a suspect?" Felix raises an eyebrow. "Because if so, boom, that's two suspects, one night, all thanks to my awesomeness." He cracks a smile. Trust him to always find a way to make the situation about him. "Helsie did seem a little…" He waves his hands around trying to find the word. "Overzealous? No- thrilled- Yeah, thrilled. They seemed a little too thrilled that Valentine's six-feet-under." He thinks back to his interaction with the other player earlier that day. "They seemed eager to welcome me in."
He shrugged as he continued to eat the candy. Really, he cannot simply label someone as a suspect all because of something they said. If it were the opposite, then he would be one in a few at this point. "Probably not. I am going to assume that you know I need something substantial and concrete in order to make them one." Damian rolled his eyes at Herrera.
While he does disagree with some of Herrera's words, the guy actually has a point for once. It's weird how Helsie was so enthusiastic about Crystal's death and Herrera joining. That could mean something to the case. "Way eager than I would suspect anyone to be. It's strange to say nonetheless. Guess that's another person for you to look deeply into, maybe their eagerness could help you with that."
He puffs out his cheeks in slight defeat, but otherwise isn't too affected. Mae says that somebody's word isn't enough to make them a suspect, yet Felix has been in plenty of scuffles that would say otherwise. "Yeah, Helsie really came on strong there. But-" He snaps and points a finger-gun at Mae. "I can use that to my advantage next week when I see them."
Checking the time on one of this three watches adorning his left wrist, Felix lets out a low whistle. It isn't too late, but the sun is probably below the horizon about now. He knows how uneasy his roommate gets late at night. "Well, Damian darling, this talk has been absolutely fantastic-" He claps his hands together. "But I should really be getting home. My roommate's a needy bitch and she needs me to pick up Kool-Aid on the way home."
Believe him, words can only take you so far in this disaster called the American criminal justice system; and it's not even better in places like South Korea. Damian took another handful of M&M's, shoving it into his mouth. He just kept nodding at everything Herrera was saying, in hopes that the guy won't say anything about him out of nowhere. "Sounds good," He mumbled.
Even before Herrera announced that he was leaving, Damian stopped what he was doing then took out some food containers and putting some leftovers in them. "Hold on a second," He hummed. Stacking all the containers perfectly, he took a ribbon from a drawer and made a makeshift handle. Holding it by the handle, he held it out. "Here for you, and your roommate if you want to share it."
As if his children had read his mind, they walked out of Mina's room. Even though the little girl initially got along with Jackpot, it was Adonis who was holding the furry noodle. They had dressed it up, giving it a green bow. "Does Jackpot have to go?" Adonis asked.
Damian nodded. "Yes, Felix and Jackpot have to go home now."
Felix takes the containers with a raised eyebrow and amused expression. His parents might have sucked, but they didn't raise him to decline free food. It's been a few hours since he's eaten, and if he's being completely honest, the food smells heavenly. "Awesome," He whispers just under his breath. When the kids enter the room, stifling a snort at Jackpot's makeover. "He looks lovely, thank you very much." He nods seriously at the children.
Felix snaps his fingers and whistles, Jackpot wiggling from the child's clutches and scurrying across the floor to scale Felix's body and sit on his shoulder. A proud smirk tugs at his lips. Jackpot isn't his best friend for nothing. "Alright, I'll see you next week before the game, Damian." He moves the food to one hand and offers a curt wave with the other. He slips his shoes on and quickly checks his reflection in the mirror. "Try not to miss me too much." And with a wink, he's out the door and heading to his car.
Sure enough the night air is stiff, the heat still lingering. It won't be long until the desert cools. With a quick click, Felix unlocks his car and tosses Jackpot in the back. The stack of food goes in the passenger seat, the AC immediately turned on to a low setting. He checks his mirrors and then the radio station, and then he's pulling out of the driveway and down the street. He thinks the supermarket is open this late. He hopes it is to save him the wrath of his roommate when faced with a Kool-Aid withdrawal.
Damian took a look at the furry noodle then back at his kids. Whatever goes through their precious little minds is a mystery to him, but then again, he is their father so the rodent's makeover isn't too bizarre to him. Both Adonis and Mina smiled at Herrera's words. They scurried off again, this time singing Baby Shark as they ran into Mina's room.
He looked over his shoulder, watching the twins as they disappeared after Jackpot went over to Herrera. Covering his mouth, he yawned. "Don't get into too much trouble. I can't and won't cover for you." His hand dropped to his side. There was the faint urge to resist rolling his eyes at what Herrera said, and yet, he just went on with it. "Oh no, I need you, oh baby oh baby."
Scratching the back of his neck, he waited for the moment when the poker player left his house. A long sigh drew out from him. Now that wasn't too bad, he supposed. His eyes flickered down at the watch.
Felix - after a quick stop to the store to pick up some Kool-Aid - arrives at his apartment. Rhyda's lounging on the couch with the news playing in the background. She has headphones on and she's tapping a beat on her knees. Deciding there will be dire consequences if he spooks her, Felix sets his food from Mae on the counter and throws the various Kool-Aid packets next to it. He removes the top container from the stack and opens it up. It's still slightly warm, but Felix puts it in his microwave anyways. Most likely smelling the food, Rhyda perks her head over the back of the couch. Her gaze - lifeless as always - is fixated on the area just to the right of Felix. For being blind, her idea of where things are can be frighteningly close.
"What's that?" She asks, pulling the headphones down over her neck.
"Damian made us food," Felix replies.
"Damian?" Rhyda gets up from the couch and navigates her way to the kitchen. Felix removes his food from the microwave and Rhyda immediately takes it from him. "Fork." She snaps her fingers. Felix slides one over to her. As soon as the food enters her mouth, Rhyda's humming, milky green eyes fluttering shut. "Marry this man," she says around a mouthful of food.
Felix can't help breaking out in laughter.
(okay a time skip feels right, should we skip to the next week before the match or is there anything else you would like to achieve before then?)
(A timeskip to before the next match works for me. Should it be at Damian's office again or should they meet up somewhere else?)
(yeah at Damian's office sounds good!)
(Awesome! I will write a response as soon as I can.)
For almost a whole week, the watch has been spending time between the evidence and forensics. Damian spent a total of fourty minutes explaining to everybody how he got the evidence and why it was in his house. Most of it was just sparky comments because it wasn't anyone's business, but still. Believe him, he is still partially embarrassed about it. Nevertheless, it is not serving much use to anyone since Herrera's and his fingerprints were on it. At least forensics is trying to find the seller of it.
The same time, same place, Damian was reclining in his office chair. Thankfully, he reminded himself to bring food. He didn't have enough time to eat breakfast, but at least he brought leftovers that still taste pretty good. And three Caprisuns, let no one forget about that too.
While it was just him in the office, he had his bluetooth headphones listening to witness accounts of the night of the murder. Despite this being his fifth time in a row today listening to them, he thought that the repetition would help give him some sort of clue.
Not really. Nevertheless, he should have it to memory by now. His eyes glanced over to the time on the bottom of his laptop screen. Pausing the audio, he lowered his headphones around his neck. Herrera should be arriving at any minute now. He sighed. Let the games begin, again.
(I'm probably going to be spotty over the next couple days bc I am on vacation (currently typing this in line for a roller coaster right now akdjks) so please forgive me 😫🙏 I'll be back to normalish on the 8th but I have online classes starting the 12th and then a couple different camps sprinkled through June and July and August. I got a busy summer my guy. I'll try my hardest to stay up to date and active but I can only do so much I'm sorry man)
With Rhyda - who needs a ride to her girlfriend's apartment - and Jackpot - who follows Felix wherever he goes - in tow, Felix stops by at the station. "I'll be right back," Felix promises, jumping out of the car as soon as he parks without bothering to take the keys out of ignition. He's already almost eight minutes late, and Felix tries his damndest to be punctual. He winks at the secretary (who most definitely has slept with an officer since his last visit) and gives the chief a brief nod before seeing himself into Mae's office.
"Afternoon, Damian," Felix greets with a smile, kicking the door shut behind him. "Sorry I'm late, darling. My roommate tackled me when I was about to leave and said she needed a ride." He claps his hands and slumps on a chair, similar to how he was during their first encounter. "She's blind, you see, and I'm her chauffer." He huffs, blowing a piece of hair from his face. "I'll drop her off before I go to the game. Until then, anything you need to brief me on?"
(Oh no it's all good. I'm going off to college and have some other things, so I understand. Don't worry about it at all, just reply whenever it is convenient for you. No pressure. :D )
For a second, Damian debated whether or not he likes bring called these "sweet" Nicknames by Herrera or if he still thinks that this guy is his new bane of existence. A tough debate to say the least. As per usual, he rolled his eyes in response. Quickly he put the lid on his leftovers then shoved it into his backpack.
Rolling up his sleeve, his ignored the scars on his wrist to look at his watch. "You are five minutes late, but better late than never, isn't that so?" He sighed, rolling his sleeve down. "I just hope you left the AC on for her. Weatherman said it's getting warmer in a get hours."
He rested his index finger in his lip. Thoughts about the case ran over his mind. He did his best to recall everything from last week too. "Remember to talk to that Helsie Rivers, try to get close to them. Oh and that old man too."
(aksldf thanks man)
Due to his DnD passive perception level of 35, Felix notices the scars on Damian's wrist and mentally hurls himself down some stairs for not noticing them before. His eyes barely even move, his expression doesn't change in the slightest, but his poker face doesn't put a stop to any of the questions in his mind. Some of the pieces click together, some remain floating around in his brain like a dvd idle screen, the box barely missing the corner before bouncing off a wall.
When Mae begins talking again, Felix's attention is right back on him. "Helsie and Dane." They're the seats to both his left and right. They're the closest to observe mannerisms for, however it's still going to be an uphill battle to get anything off of them. These are world-class poker players. Any of them could be a murderer. "Got it. You still want to do a microphone in my watch?" He asks, rolling up the sleeve to his beige trench coat to reveal at least five watches clasped onto his forearms. All of them are freshly snatched within the last week from Felix's amateur games. Is it cruel to constantly drain these wannabe gamblers of their money? Probably. Does Felix care all that much? Nope.
(Bro I love your descriptions. I can't get over the passive perception and the DVD idle screen, I love it.)
Damian pulled down his sleeves then pulled his notebook in front of him. He flipped through a couple of pages, reading through everything that he had scribbled down since last week. Part of him wished that his speed writing was less sloppy given that this is a critical investigation, but he sighed in self-disappointment and dissatisfaction. C'est la vie, he guesses.
In his peripheral, he caught Herrera with a funny look. Well, funny being something that he hadn't seen from the quirky poker player. There was something about the guy's eyes that made him think he saw a ghost or something; like he got caught off guard for a second perhaps. Rolling his eyes, Damian relaxed back into his chair. He asked, "Hm? You okay? Did you not eat or something?"
He shrugged. "I guess we can. What we did last week was fine though. Just don't do that movie spy crap, will you? Technically I can't record anything so it does not matter."
(aksdfj;l thanks I just kinda threw some words up. felix is pretty smart for such a head-empty guy)
Felix actually has to think back trying to remember if he ate. He had some Fruity Pebbles and a large glass of Kool-Aid that morning (Rhyda interrogated him after her pitcher of glorious fruit punch elixir felt lighter; Felix managed to oh-so-suavely weasel his way out of that one with only a minor bit of gaslighting) and then a gas station Twinkie after his 1 o'clock match. The cashier gave him a weird look when Felix handed the kid a Benjamin when all he was buying was a Twinkie, but Felix isn't really the guy to carry around small bills. Big bills mean big status, and by no means is Felix above flaunting some status.
"Please, I didn't do any spy crap ever. I am not a child and I am very capable of being mature, thank you very much." Felix crosses his arms over his chest and tips his chin up. He looks odd considering he's still slouched in the chair with his legs taking up as much room as humanly possible. "So are we doing the microphone thing again or are you just gonna trust me to remember every single tidbit of information I can possibly get off of Helsie and Dane?" He clips his tone towards the end and draws out the vowels. A horn beeps from outside. It's his car. Rhyda's getting impatient.
At first he had no idea what to say except for, "Sure….alrighty then…" His eyes squinted as he observed Herrera. He never knew that it was humanly possible for someone to have their legs spread out like that. Not like he's actually looking or anything. Damian just naturally watches people and their body mannerisms; he swears that's what he is actually doing.
"Let's do the mic thing again, but I am still going to have to rely on you to remember everything. Oka-" He shot up in his seat and looked out his office window. Biting his bottom lip, he shook his head while relaxing back into his seat. "Just go take your roommate wherever she needs to be. We'll talk later."
Damian closed the notebook, carefully placing it back into the correct spot of his drawer. He took a fork full of food and put all of it in his mouth. Chewing quietly, he carefully slid his watch up to check the time. There's still plenty of time before the next game. He swallowed then dabbed his lips with a napkin. "Is there anything else or are we good to go for today?"
The swell of irritation that surfaced when Rhyda honked had subsided by the time Mae asks to meet up later. It's probably smarter like that. For Mae to show up beforehand and get everything ready at Harima's Bar. It'll be less suspicious than the two cars entering together and leaving together. The last thing they need is one of the suspects catching on. Thankfully, the other five enjoy grabbing a drink or hitting the floor after the weekly four deals of poker.
"Alright," Felix stands, the chair slightly scooting back from the unexpected force of the movement. He looks down at Mae in his desk, a smirk crawling on his face when the height difference sets in. "I'll meet you at the bar, darling. Try not to show up at the same time." His smirk grows into a smile, he winks and then he's at the door and out.
He barely even catches anybody's eye as he exits the station. Rhyda complains as he gets into the car. Jackpot is squeaking on her shoulder.
His eyes squinted at Herrera as he tilted his chin slightly up. He isn't completely sure whether or not to question the smirk. Although he is confident in assuming why. And as usual, Damian rolled his eyes at being called "darling". His arms crossed in front of him. "Will do," is all that he says in reply then gives Herrera a wave, watching as the guy leaves his office.
Damian just spent ten minutes sitting by himself in the office again. There is still plenty of time to get to the bar without having both his and Herrera's car come in at the same time. Eventually he did get up, pack whatever he needed into his backpack, then went into his car.
He arrived to the bar parking lot about the same time he did last week. The fact he did so made him feel proud of himself; consistency is a favorite of his. While he was not able to park in the same spot, he found another one on the far left corner. Damian took off his seatbelt then pulled out his notebook, pen, and anything else he would be needing for during the game.
Well, not the game per say, but he knows what he means. In his cup holder, he had a bottle of water and of course, a fruit punch Caprisun.
The entire way to Rhyda's girlfriend's house (that she shares with her four super-macho and jacked older brothers), Felix and Rhyda - per usual - argue about the most obscene topics imaginable. Rhyda's asking Felix if he would ever eat his own flesh. Felix, after nearly barfing, loudly declines. Rhyda continues to press and ask a thousand questions that feel like serious HR violations. Felix tries to turn up the radio and let Ricky Martin's sweet, sweet voice drown out his annoying roommate-slash-best friend, but Rhyda's persistent and it's just a losing battle.
Felix drops her off, watching as Rhyda perfectly navigates the uneven and shifty yard towards the even shiftier porch. Felix hums to himself. Honestly, he's not too convinced Rhyda's as blind as she says she is. When Rhyda's safely inside the house, Felix flips on some dollar-store sunglasses and pulls away from the house. Jackpot squeaks and chitters from the passenger seat. Felix nods along to the ferret's story.
It doesn't take long to pull into the bar's parking lot, and sure enough, Mae's car is waiting in the corner of the lot. Felix parks his metallic sedan in a space beneath a wiry tree and gets out. He ensures his keys are safely in his pocket before snapping at Jackpot to follow. The weasel climbs up Felix's arm and slips beneath the collar of his tan trench coat. With Jackpot safely stowed in his favorite inside pocket, Felix snaps the door shut and makes his way over to Mae's car. With a shit-eating grin on his face and those dollar-store sunglasses over his eyes, he approaches the car and raps twice on the driver side window.
