Hell(o) (T)Here

“Oh ofcourse, and I quite agree, such a sleepy little town as this… it would be so unfortunate to see anything like that happen here, well…. more than it already has ofcourse,” he mused, sauntering a step closer, a bit of a sparkle in his eyes

Echo Springs was dreadfully boring even on the best of days, and Stolas had been itching for some fun recently….

The pretty detective looked like an utterly delicious little plaything to him

“Still, some part of you must find it exciting, I imagine that in a town such as this you’re mostly relegated to… what, finding cats? On a daily basis? A break from the norm is always a good thing once in a wile, wouldn’t you say?”

He took another step, his long hair falling like a little cascade across his shoulder as his head tilted, practically fluttering his lashes at the other man

“After all, if we don’t try something new every now and then we stop growing as people, isn’t that right?”

~*~

Dexter wished he would stop. He never knew what to do when someone was like this. Should he… reciprocate? What would Harry think of that? The world had been different back when Harry was teaching him to fit in, they had never practiced this. 

He let out a chuckle, with enough of a pause to pass for nervous. “That’s not the word I would use,” he said, smiling. (That was right, right? That’s what he should do?) “Besides, I’ve only been here a month. I’m new in town. Dexter Morgan,” he introduced himself, holding out a hand. 

“That’s an… interesting theory,” he agreed. “But I’m a creature of habit, I’m afraid. Even in a new town.”

“Stolas Prince, the pleasure is all mine love,” Stolas smiled back, giving Dexter’s hand a shake

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the other man was uncomfortable, and although Stolas did like to wave his sexuality in the faces of everyone he encountered, he felt a strange sort of.... familiarity? Kinship? No those words weren’t right....

There was something about Dexter that made Stolas feel like they might not be so different from one another, as though he was having a sort of sixth sense about the stranger, that not all was as it seemed...

Point being, perhaps not alienating the cute analyst was a better choice this time around

“Mm, I used to be like that, it’s one of the ways I ended up tapped in a toxic marriage for my entire adulthood, until a couple of months ago- a straight marriage, if you can imagine that,”

Ofcourse Octavia had been the main reason he stayed, but he’d be lying if he said that part of his reasoning hadn’t also been simply being in a rut

Stella- and his marriage to her- had been comfortable, simple, mundane, and Stolas had spent so long without any real excitement in his life that by the time Octavia was old enough not to need him quite so much he had forgotten how much fun it could be

Stolas wasn’t an especially violent person

….But he was an especially nosy person

So when he had heard all the commotion from other visitors to his favorite park, he had followed along with the crowd- unusual as that was for him- and ended up at a crime scene

He had never been bothered by blood or gore or violence, and although he couldn’t say that he had much respect or appreciation for the police, he had to admit that this entire situation was rather interesting to him

“Oh, apologies,” he hummed, pulling away from the car as he glanced up at the other man- the very pretty man

“Are you one of the investigators? What a shame what happened to that poor woman, it seems to be a trend recently though, wouldn’t you say?”

~*~

“Not a problem,” Dexter said cheerfully. It was a forced cheeriness, but practiced enough that only he knew that. He wondered sometimes, what it would be like to actually feel even a fraction of the emotions he faked throughout the day. It seemed exhausting, honestly. 

The man was giving him one of those looks. The kind that Dexter never really understood. Maybe that’s why his tone was so strange, why the other man sounded so chipper while he discussed the murder. 

Or maybe it was deeper than that.

Dexter paused, arching a brow. “Yeah. It’s a real tragedy,” he said, watching his companion carefully. “Hopefully it’s just a big coincidence. As much as I love the overtime, I’d hate for there to be a serious problem here.”

“Oh ofcourse, and I quite agree, such a sleepy little town as this... it would be so unfortunate to see anything like that happen here, well.... more than it already has ofcourse,” he mused, sauntering a step closer, a bit of a sparkle in his eyes

Echo Springs was dreadfully boring even on the best of days, and Stolas had been itching for some fun recently....

The pretty detective looked like an utterly delicious little plaything to him

“Still, some part of you must find it exciting, I imagine that in a town such as this you’re mostly relegated to... what, finding cats? On a daily basis? A break from the norm is always a good thing once in a wile, wouldn’t you say?”

He took another step, his long hair falling like a little cascade across his shoulder as his head tilted, practically fluttering his lashes at the other man

The air was thick with the smell of pine. October sun beat down through the trees, casting shadows on the pine needles. Glinting off the pools of blood. They weren’t the problem. He was used to seeing blood, it was in his job description. Dexter Morgan, forensic expert, specializing in blood spatter analysis. He was no stranger to crime scenes. This body wasn’t a particularly bad one. He had seen worse, certainly. The woman half-buried in the pine needles, looked almost peaceful. 

But she was number five in six weeks. That was too many, too fast, even by his standards. And that was the real problem – this wasn’t his work. He had nothing to do with this, or the other four bodies he’d worked. There was a serial killer in Echo Springs. Another one. 

He snapped another picture with his camera. “She bled out from a single wound to the head,” he pointed out. “But she wasn’t bludgeoned. No, she was… pushed,” he said slowly, making a sweeping motion with his hand. “The killer shoved her to the ground with enough force to crack open her skull.” Which should’ve been impossible given the surrounding area. It was as if she’d fallen out of the sky. The detectives clearly shared his thoughts, and they started to murmur between themselves. 

Stolas wasn’t an especially violent person

....But he was an especially nosy person

So when he had heard all the commotion from other visitors to his favorite park, he had followed along with the crowd- unusual as that was for him- and ended up at a crime scene

He had never been bothered by blood or gore or violence, and although he couldn’t say that he had much respect or appreciation for the police, he had to admit that this entire situation was rather interesting to him

“Oh, apologies,” he hummed, pulling away from the car as he glanced up at the other man- the very pretty man

Then again, she’d never been good at people even before coming to town.

Today had been the day. She was going to try to meet actual new people, sit somewhere populated for lunch, maybe a diner or something, possibly even make a friend… And then she entered the place, saw a bunch of people, and her feet were carrying her off to get takeaway from the empty Chinese place and eat it on a park bench. Her discomfort with other people was only rivaled by her dislike of them.

Stolas blinked, he hadn’t realized that he had been staring- and that really must have been quite creepy to the poor girl- but... she just reminded him so much of Octavia.... it was hard not to be a little bit dumbstruck by it

“Ah, I’m so sorry, I just..... this is going to sound a bit strange but you remind me so much of my daughter Octavia.... she’s away with her mother on a vacation right now and I miss her terribly, it’s just.... I guess I sound pretty odd, but it was a little startling to suddenly see someone who resembles my little owlette so much,” he explained, pausing a moment and wringing his hands

Stolas cared for exceedingly little in life outside of Octavia and his own hedonistic pleasures, but even those pleasures were mostly spur-of-the-moment peices of junk that he could take or leave at any moment without feeling a shred of remorse or contemplation, but one thing he did honestly appreciate was beauty

Beautifull art, beautifull music, beautifull cuisine….

And beautifull nature

Ofcourse he found little in the natural world could claim that title, most of nature was ugly to it’s very core, but birds were one of those rare exceptions that actually made him believe there was something in the world that wasn’t completely hideous

Therefore, Stolas made it a point to stop and enjoy the birds whenever he could find them, he was less a bird watcher- seeking out different species to mark off of a list as though it were some sort of accomplishment- and more of a bird audience, he just liked to observe them and listen to their sweet little tunes, something about them just made him feel oddly comforted

…And then, as per usual, something ugly had to come along and ruin it

Without so much as turning his head, he reached up and easily sniped the page between his index and middle finger, drawing it to his chest and frowning in utter displeasure as the lovely cardinal he had been listening to flew off, no doubt spooked by the careless idiot’s fly-away work

“Oh, this little thing?” he hummed, finally glancing over his shoulder with a sickening saccharine smirk

“Well that’s not a very nice way to ask for it back, what if I wish to keep it?”

As soon as he saw this guy, Harold knew he was a joke. The angelic curly hair, the ridiculous bow tie, the smug smile. The whole look made his skin crawl. Harold stood there, watching him, and didn’t smile back. He knew exactly what this bloke was doing – he’d played that trick before. He usually was that guy – the one with the smile and the annoyingly chipper attitude. But not today. Today, he was tired of Echo Springs, and paperwork, and Malus, and his stupid job. So, he didn’t smile back.

“Well, as you wish,” Stolas smirked, tearing the page in half before neatly tucking both peices into his pocket

“Sweetheart, if you think that was a threat, then you’ve never been threatened,” he chuckled, taking a step forward

“Here’s a threat for you- I’m of atleast five times the importance of anything you’ll ever be, and it would be in your best interest not to make an enemy of me, perhaps in the future be mindfull of the birds and maybe those many parts of the world that are so outside of your reach won’t clamp down on your head like an angry clamshell,”

Cocking his head to the side, smile still resting on his face, he asked a single, simple question

Stolas gave a laugh, short and sharp, like the call of a bird, his lips stretched into an amused grin, eyes sparkling

“Oh sweetheart, I could teach you the difference if you’d like,” he suggested, batting his lashes flirtatiously

Big talk, ofcourse, coming from someone who had only known he was gay for less than a year, but Stolas had had plenty of experiences in that amount of time, and he liked to think of himself as gifted when it came to romance

Plus he was just a big flirt

“Is that right? How interesting,” he mused, head tilting as he leaned against his palm

There was something that had drawn him to this town, he wasn’t sure what, he couldn’t remember, but the sound of someone having an experience like that, someone else who had a bit of a memory problem…. that was intriguing

“And your quasi-date, does he remember you?”

He wanted to ask if the officer thought his quasi-date would mind that they were flirting, but he decided to hold back on that for the moment

“Oh? Hm… are you not on the up-and-up of what’s popular for teenagers then?”

Oh, boy, this was was indeed a flirtatious creature. The more he flirted the more Stiles solidified in his mind how much he was looking forward to his date with Derek. Derek, who he may or may not remember. Derek, who he knew he remembered. There were no other explanations for the feelings the man gave him, that sense of finding someone lost.

Stiles came back to the conversation with a blink, smiling and shaking his head over a chuckle. His fingers fidget around his shirt pocket as if he was going to bring out a ticket book, but it really was just an idle fidget, because there was no reason to take it out. The same hand then went up and into his hair, messing up the already unsalvageable.

“Yeah, he remembers me. Somewhat. We both seem to remember each other but can’t really remember how.” And that was killing Stiles. That sense of uneasiness was what led to the Stiles Files in the first place, his collection of details about the town itself.

That was putting it mildly

Generally, Stolas didn’t care about people, but he did care about mysteries and curiosities, things like the Mandela Effect and the Bermuda Triangle fascinated him, he could spend all day fishing into things like that, and this was right up his ally

But he didn’t have any information to contribute to it, he couldn’t come up with an explanation for phenomena such as that, so he was just left to simmer over the information, that was all

“Is that so?” he chuckled, his presence suddenly taking on a slightly lighter, softer air

Oh, that was surprising

“I’m surprised you know about that, I always took local law enforcement to be simpletons,” he smiled with surprising sincerity

“No offense,” he added as an afterthought- he really didn’t mean to be a dick, it just came naturally to him

“And yes, I could still get expelled, but I highly doubt something like a traffic violation would do the trick,”

Especially considering the blackmail he had on some of the American politicians, he could probably get away with mass murder and no one would even question him

“And yes, is it working?” he grinned, eyelashes fluttering flirtatiously, after all, just because he didn’t have much respect for the man’s career, that didn’t mean Stolas didn’t find him attractive

“Oh? Weird in what way?”

Stoles was an undeniable lover of weird after all, and maybe a bit too curious for his own good, wich brought him to the realization he was beginning to have…

“Thank you… might I ask, how old are you? Nineteen?”

‘I always took local law enforcement to be simpletons.’ Well how charming. Stiles felt his patience begin to thin, squinting his eyes a little and furrowing his brow as he waited for the diplomat to finish insult/complimenting him. Insultimenting? Heh.

“No offense taken,” he sighed, chewing on his bottom lip. “You’re right, no traffic violation will touch you, I get it.” He adjusted his walkie talkie at his shoulder then engaged it, calling back to dispatch. “Nevermind. It’s a diplomat.” The dispatch came back with 'roger’ and that was that.

*Was* it working? Stiles shrugged. There was already someone he was interested in that he was meeting later that day, and while it’d be lucky as hell and an experience to check off the box to get a diplomat into his bed… But still. Now that they knew there was nothing he could do here, there was no harm in a little flirting, right? “Maybe. But I could just be itchy.” Heh.

“Weird in that I’ve met so many people today. I’ve already dealt with a politician, and now a diplomat – not to mention this guy I met earlier who I swear I know but I just can’t remember how exactly I know him and it’s driving me insane and I think it’s a date or a not-date? A quasi-date? I don’t know.” The man shouldn’t have asked. Stiles was a rambler.

“Oh sweetheart, I could teach you the difference if you’d like,” he suggested, batting his lashes flirtatiously

Big talk, ofcourse, coming from someone who had only known he was gay for less than a year, but Stolas had had plenty of experiences in that amount of time, and he liked to think of himself as gifted when it came to romance

Plus he was just a big flirt

“Is that right? How interesting,” he mused, head tilting as he leaned against his palm

There was something that had drawn him to this town, he wasn’t sure what, he couldn’t remember, but the sound of someone having an experience like that, someone else who had a bit of a memory problem.... that was intriguing

“And your quasi-date, does he remember you?”

He wanted to ask if the officer thought his quasi-date would mind that they were flirting, but he decided to hold back on that for the moment

Stolas prided himself on being a good father, he tried his hardest, he really did

He wasn’t a nice person- he knew that- he wasn’t “good”, he didn’t perceive himself as being particularly special- gifted in wealth and power yes, but he wasn’t some narcissistic perfectionist who always tried to better himself or anything of the like

…But the one thing he truly put effort into was being a father, it was the only thing that truly mattered to him, and the only thing that gave him any real joy, so it always just… stung.. a bit that he and Octavia weren’t as close as they used to be, that her interests had evolved so much with age and yet his had stayed somewhat… stagnant... through his own fault, maybe, or through nature, he wasn’t sure, but it was the truth all the same, and it made it harder and harder for him to close the disconnect between them

But damn it all if he wasn’t going to try anyway

“Ah!! Excuse me, you look relatively… young…” he mused, pulling aside the first person he saw and making no effort to not be in their personal space as he held up two t-shirts

He managed to get a little more distance before he properly came to understand the question. He wasn’t sure he could accurately say what someone young would like, because he never spent time particularly enjoying things - regardless of their associated age. He was, of course, on the young side; at twenty-three, he still didn’t connect with any age bracket. But he did like music. 

Music relaxed Kaz because it could fill his head in a way that thought usually did. His mind buzzed constantly, making and discarding plans and scrambling between dangerous situations and strategies. Music was something that soothed him and kept his mind from running a mile a minute - and, before he’d taken up this life, he’d enjoyed it. Singing, mostly, while his father played the old piano that had been in their home. He hadn’t sung in years, though.

“Ah, thank you so much for your help!”

He hoped Octavia would like it, the stranger seemed pretty certain that Panic! At The Disco was the better choice, and he liked to think he knew his daughter well enough to atleast know that she preferred things that weren’t too loud

A little depressing and strange but not too loud

He set the other shirt down, head tilting to the side as he stared at the chosen souvenir

“Mm... would you... recommend this band? You seem fond of it, I just.. I’d love to be able to connect with my daughter again, but it’s a bit hard for me to figure out where to start,”

That was putting it mildly, most times Stolas felt like he was trying to communicate with someone of an entirely different species than the little girl who used to call for him at night because she had a bad dream about losing him...

Oh great, the local police

Stolas couldn’t possibly care less what minor traffic law he was breaking, he was trying to get home in time to call Octavia before it got too much later in Italy and he couldn’t be bothered with local nonsense

Luckily all he had to do was mention that he was a diplomat and most law enforcement was smart enough to let him go with nothing more than the releif that he wouldn’t come for their badges

All the same, he thought it best to be charming and a bit flirtatious anyway, especially when noticing how cute the officer was

“Hello dear,” he smiled pleasantly upon rolling the window down, his diplomatic ID card already in his hand

“You look awfully young to be a policeman, I must be the first foreign diplomat you’ve ever pulled over,”

Actually Stolas was willing to bet he was the first person of any real import the officer had ever met, but, semantics

“Just in case you’re still new, what I’m presenting you with is my DIC- and no, that would not be my dick, although I wouldn’t be opposed to that- my Diplomatic Identification Card liberates me from… pretty much everything, including but not limited to theft, murder, and whatever minor traffic violation I’ve committed here, you’re welcome to take a look at it if you’d like, but I must be off in a hurry, I’m attempting to call my daughter before nightfall in Europe,”

Stiles stared at him, open-mouthed, in awe at the great big load of nonsense this man had just spilled all over him. Stiles instantly disliked him. Who went around introducing themselves as a diplomat?? What the fuck was going on with his DAY? Everywhere he turned there was some new person trying to have a longer pissing stream than the last.

He badly wanted to go home and take a nap.

“Can’t you still get expelled though?” he asked, suddenly curious as he peered at the card, eyes squinting. Nothing he could do with diplomatic immunity without losing his job. “And– are you *flirting* with me?” Flabberghasted.

Stiles sighed and put a hand on one hip, waving the other hand at him. “I don’t even know at this point. Today’s been so weird. You’re free to go.”

“I’m surprised you know about that, I always took local law enforcement to be simpletons,” he smiled with surprising sincerity

“No offense,” he added as an afterthought- he really didn’t mean to be a dick, it just came naturally to him

“And yes, I could still get expelled, but I highly doubt something like a traffic violation would do the trick,”

Especially considering the blackmail he had on some of the American politicians, he could probably get away with mass murder and no one would even question him

“And yes, is it working?” he grinned, eyelashes fluttering flirtatiously, after all, just because he didn’t have much respect for the man’s career, that didn’t mean Stolas didn’t find him attractive

“Oh? Weird in what way?”

Stoles was an undeniable lover of weird after all, and maybe a bit too curious for his own good, wich brought him to the realization he was beginning to have...

Stolas prided himself on being a good father, he tried his hardest, he really did

He wasn’t a nice person- he knew that- he wasn’t “good”, he didn’t perceive himself as being particularly special- gifted in wealth and power yes, but he wasn’t some narcissistic perfectionist who always tried to better himself or anything of the like

…But the one thing he truly put effort into was being a father, it was the only thing that truly mattered to him, and the only thing that gave him any real joy, so it always just… stung.. a bit that he and Octavia weren’t as close as they used to be, that her interests had evolved so much with age and yet his had stayed somewhat… stagnant... through his own fault, maybe, or through nature, he wasn’t sure, but it was the truth all the same, and it made it harder and harder for him to close the disconnect between them

But damn it all if he wasn’t going to try anyway

“Ah!! Excuse me, you look relatively… young…” he mused, pulling aside the first person he saw and making no effort to not be in their personal space as he held up two t-shirts

“My darling daughter is a fan of death metal, torture, and human suffering- she gets it from me- so wich of these do you think would suit her tastes best? Panic At The Disco or Metalica? They both seem to imply some level of cruelty don’t they? What do you think?”

Since coming to Echo Springs, Jamie had relied entirely on her wardrobe from England – blouses from Hobbs and Nordstroms, jackets from Belstaff, skirt suits and trousers with price tags befitting of a six-figure yearly salary, courtesy of the British Museum. But now, she found there to be certain areas in which she was lacking. The same rotation of clothes had become rather dull, and she was searching for more monochrome items, which still befitted her distinct style. She was holding up a black dress to herself when a stranger approached her.

Before she could speak, the man had taken her arm and turned her around. Jamie stared at him coldly, unable to pry his grip from her while she was holding the dress. She looked at the two shirts as the stranger spoke, and ascertained several things in the space of a few seconds. This man was either socially inept, extremely arrogant, or insane. His accent suggested an education, and certainly wasn’t local, and his attire was reminiscent of the short-lived Goth fashion. She gets it from me was another very telling phrase, and certainly fed into her deduction that he was probably not entirely sane. And Jamie ascertained all of this in a matter of seconds, as she looked at the shirts.

“Why thank you,” Stolas smiled politely

The stranger was well dressed and well spoken, it seemed he had made the right decision, despite just grabbing a random stranger, perhaps he had some sort of intuition for these things, it wouldn’t surprise him if he did

“Ah, alright then, Panic it is!” he announced with a flourish, placing the Metalica shirt neatly back in place and folding the Panic shirt nicely over his arm

He certainly hoped he was being lead in the right direction, he wanted to actually make Octavia happy for once instead of trying and trying only to fail due to not understanding her interests or her passions.... he wanted to understand, he just.. didn’t....

“Prince, Stolas Prince, but really, just call me Stolas,” he introduced, turning to offer her his hand in perfect politeness

He was a little surprised by the question honestly, he hadn’t really considered their “conversation”- something he hesitated to call the exchange in the first place- to be an introduction, but maybe it was a cultural thing? Although she sounded like she was from England as well....

“I don’t, but it’s as you said, it’s unusual, and who would ever want to be just usual? Besides, I wasn’t under the impression that we were to become freindly, I only wished for the eye of a young woman with good taste,”

Well, actually, he just wanted someone who was possibly more up on the times of pop culture than he was, but even Stolas knew that outright saying that was bordering on being rude, and he prided himself in his manners

Stolas couldn’t possibly care less what minor traffic law he was breaking, he was trying to get home in time to call Octavia before it got too much later in Italy and he couldn’t be bothered with local nonsense

Luckily all he had to do was mention that he was a diplomat and most law enforcement was smart enough to let him go with nothing more than the releif that he wouldn’t come for their badges

All the same, he thought it best to be charming and a bit flirtatious anyway, especially when noticing how cute the officer was

“Hello dear,” he smiled pleasantly upon rolling the window down, his diplomatic ID card already in his hand

“You look awfully young to be a policeman, I must be the first foreign diplomat you’ve ever pulled over,”

Actually Stolas was willing to bet he was the first person of any real import the officer had ever met, but, semantics