> [You are the Protagonist.]

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

... He can always come back later, but he wishes he had at least tried to open the lockers. Guess it's... weird. Eddie could've known them. His hand closes into a fist, then opens again. He couldn't have done anything about their deaths, but he still feels... bad.

They open their fan. [Autopsy reports.]

Flipping it to the other side, there is more writing. [Elise’s partner -> redacted info.]

Eddie puts his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight to one foot. If Elise has that kind of power then... he looks at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Eddie's worried for the next game.

But before they can go to write anything else, they’re quickly cut off by a certain @nonsensicalxjokester walking into the bar. Speak of the devil — it’s almost as if he knew they were talking about him. Maneki looks around, quickly realising that his and Eddie’s position is rather… suspicious, considering where they just walked out of.

Option 1: Wait for Elise to leave or attempt sneaking out.

Option 2: Confront Elise directly.

He glances at Maneki. "Sorry," he whispers.

Well. He put them in a bad spot on accident. He looks at Maneki again, although purposefully avoiding eye contact (he feels bad for practically shoving Maneki into a corner with him). Eddie's expecting the other to take initiative. He doesn't know what to do.

"Are the bull and the cat on some sort of stealth mission?"

He stands a little off to the side so he can read Maneki's fan. He's looking at Maneki now, expecting them to lead the conversation. They shouldn't reveal what they know—that's a given—but they can probably get more information out of Elise.

"... What are you doing here." His voice comes out a lot more intimidating than he intended it to be.

"What does it look like? I'm getting something to drink.

"What are you guys doing here? Being in that sketchy little booth is certainly a lot less mundane than taking a break at the bar, that's for sure."

Elise gestures to the two; standing in a corner awkwardly.

After giving himself a moment to think, Maneki simply shakes his head, trying to think of their best next course of action. There really is no way to get out of this without seeming suspicious — both possible options on why they were in there are terrible. Either they find out the reality of the situation — that they crawled into the vent and found the morgue (terrible option), or alternatively, they assume that they were… hm. You know what, never-mind, that second option is possibly worse. Except no it isn’t, because if Elise found out about the morgue, it could only serve to expose their secret, something that someone with as little empathy or human decency as Elise wouldn’t hesitate to use against them. Certainly a sticky situation, isn’t it? And considering how weird they’ve been acting, no way would @nonsensicalxjokester take ‘we were just hanging out!’ as a realistic answer.

So instead, Maneki decides to bite the bullet. An unassuming (fake, but there’s no way for Elise to know that,) smile appears on their face, motioning to Eddie, then back to himself. He opens his fan, flashing a little heart symbol on it. Hopefully Elise will back off if he assumes these gross old men (Elise’s words, not Maneki’s,) were busy making out in there or something of the like. Well, they’ll very likely get teased, but it’s surely better than the alternative that could lead to their own possible demise. He’ll just have to be very careful to inform Vega about the truth of the matter before Elise starts inevitably spreading rumours. The last think Maneki wants is for her to assume that they’re cheating on her.

"Very funny."

"That's basically confirmation you guys were up to something worse than being fruity old guys. Because if you were actually doing so, you wouldn't still seem so on edge. If that had really been the case, you guys wouldn't still seem like you're hiding something."

Elise pauses, before adding a little jab, just to make Maneki and @after--math more agitated than they already are.

Then his head snaps back to Elise. Shit. Convincing it isn't going to work. Eddie decides to take a step forward, getting almost uncomfortably close. "Back off before I make you." He's switched to intimidation.

"Hey babe! Miss me?" There's a teasing tone to his voice, though he's genuinely intrigued by this guy.

"What were you up to before the interviews? I spotted ya tailing around with the other freaks here- found out anything good?"

Eddie flinches. His eyes widen at the sudden interaction—where did Benny even come from—but he quickly tries to hide his surprise.

He opens his mouth, but there's a pause before he speaks. Babe?

... He decides to ignore that. Writing that off as another quirk. (He did, in fact, ever so slightly, miss the little familiarity).

"Other than the host's room, not really. You?"

Of course they're all criminals here, but this guy managed to break into the host's room? What the hell?

"Woah woah- hold up. You managed to break into Cupid's room??" His hand remains on Eddie's shoulder, but there's a glint of excitement in his expression as he leans in and speaks in a hushed tone. "Find anything juicy?"

He knows what Benny is implying. Unfortunately, he can't satisfy that excitement. "Not really." He says, matching Benny's volume.

"Just found out he has an... interesting taste in clothes. Nudie suits and western wear." It's not exactly dirt. It's also possible that he might've missed something. Eddie didn't get a thorough enough look of the entire room. But none of the others said anything, besides Elise... he shouldn't be trusting their word. Or lack of word.

But something more important is that...

"There's a phone in there though. Might just be for staff, but I haven’t tried." Interviews got in the way. He's considering going back there when he can. No harm in at least trying.

"Bleh, yeah that sounds like his taste." Benny shook his head, though he wondered if maybe Eddie could have missed something. Personally, he'd love to go digging around in the private rooms here.

His attention was regained, however, at the mention of a phone.

"A phone, huh? What, you got a sweetheart on the outside that you're gonna call up with that thing?" Benny pried, curious. He had no interest in calling anyone himself.

"Nobody at all? That's a real shocker, Eds." Benny is overly familiar with the other contestant, despite only having known him for the better part of a day. Something about Eddie's demeanour makes him just want to poke and prod at him- and his nerves.

He realizes now that Benny hasn't answered his first question. Where has the other man even been? There isn't that many places to hide (if that was his intention, though Eddie doubts it). Missing someone is difficult unless he's always just managed to, somehow by pure chance, missed him—would that be considered terrible luck as well? Either way, it's possible Benny has a way to get into the vents too.

Benny chuckles softly and leans against the wall next to Eddie, his tone light and amused, he's enjoying annoying his companion. "Just exploring the place, looking for something entertaining, annoying the staff, stealing from the snack stand.." He muses, his eyes flickering around the backstage area as he speaks, noticing how everyone has seemingly dispersed once again backstage, leaving the two of them alone. Maybe Eddie would be willing to get into some trouble with him this time, maybe even take him to have a peek at the host's room himself.

But, uh, ignoring that. He's surprised; he expected something more—though thinking about it now... it is entirely in Benny's nature to mess around.

"Well," he starts without a plan. Eddie clears his throat, using the short pause to find a way to steer the conversation in a different direction. "I was planning on doing a second sweep of the place if you wanna join." He offers. It was something he was going to do anyway; either on his own, or preferably—with someone he can trust in his presence (which is a convoluted way of saying Benny, there's noone else he can think of at the moment) while he feels like he's doing something productive with his time. He gets antsy too easily now—it might be the environment.

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

... He can always come back later, but he wishes he had at least tried to open the lockers. Guess it's... weird. Eddie could've known them. His hand closes into a fist, then opens again. He couldn't have done anything about their deaths, but he still feels... bad.

They open their fan. [Autopsy reports.]

Flipping it to the other side, there is more writing. [Elise’s partner -> redacted info.]

Eddie puts his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight to one foot. If Elise has that kind of power then... he looks at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Eddie's worried for the next game.

But before they can go to write anything else, they’re quickly cut off by a certain @nonsensicalxjokester walking into the bar. Speak of the devil — it’s almost as if he knew they were talking about him. Maneki looks around, quickly realising that his and Eddie’s position is rather… suspicious, considering where they just walked out of.

Option 1: Wait for Elise to leave or attempt sneaking out.

Option 2: Confront Elise directly.

He glances at Maneki. "Sorry," he whispers.

Well. He put them in a bad spot on accident. He looks at Maneki again, although purposefully avoiding eye contact (he feels bad for practically shoving Maneki into a corner with him). Eddie's expecting the other to take initiative. He doesn't know what to do.

"Are the bull and the cat on some sort of stealth mission?"

He stands a little off to the side so he can read Maneki's fan. He's looking at Maneki now, expecting them to lead the conversation. They shouldn't reveal what they know—that's a given—but they can probably get more information out of Elise.

"... What are you doing here." His voice comes out a lot more intimidating than he intended it to be.

This is a RP/ask blog based off of (as of 11/5/25) part 1 of chapter 1 of JACKPOT CRASH COURSE by Studio Investigrave. Portrayals of characters may not be accurate to their source material. Rules and other info below the cut!

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

... He can always come back later, but he wishes he had at least tried to open the lockers. Guess it's... weird. Eddie could've known them. His hand closes into a fist, then opens again. He couldn't have done anything about their deaths, but he still feels... bad.

They open their fan. [Autopsy reports.]

Flipping it to the other side, there is more writing. [Elise’s partner -> redacted info.]

Eddie puts his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight to one foot. If Elise has that kind of power then... he looks at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Eddie's worried for the next game.

But before they can go to write anything else, they’re quickly cut off by a certain @nonsensicalxjokester walking into the bar. Speak of the devil — it’s almost as if he knew they were talking about him. Maneki looks around, quickly realising that his and Eddie’s position is rather… suspicious, considering where they just walked out of.

Option 1: Wait for Elise to leave or attempt sneaking out.

Option 2: Confront Elise directly.

He glances at Maneki. "Sorry," he whispers.

Well. He put them in a bad spot on accident. He looks at Maneki again, although purposefully avoiding eye contact (he feels bad for practically shoving Maneki into a corner with him). Eddie's expecting the other to take initiative. He doesn't know what to do.

"Are the bull and the cat on some sort of stealth mission?"

He stands a little off to the side so he can read Maneki's fan. He's looking at Maneki now, expecting them to lead the conversation. They shouldn't reveal what they know—that's a given—but they can probably get more information out of Elise.

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

... He can always come back later, but he wishes he had at least tried to open the lockers. Guess it's... weird. Eddie could've known them. His hand closes into a fist, then opens again. He couldn't have done anything about their deaths, but he still feels... bad.

They open their fan. [Autopsy reports.]

Flipping it to the other side, there is more writing. [Elise’s partner -> redacted info.]

Eddie puts his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight to one foot. If Elise has that kind of power then... he looks at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Eddie's worried for the next game.

But before they can go to write anything else, they’re quickly cut off by a certain @nonsensicalxjokester walking into the bar. Speak of the devil — it’s almost as if he knew they were talking about him. Maneki looks around, quickly realising that his and Eddie’s position is rather… suspicious, considering where they just walked out of.

Option 1: Wait for Elise to leave or attempt sneaking out.

Option 2: Confront Elise directly.

He glances at Maneki. "Sorry," he whispers.

Well. He put them in a bad spot on accident. He looks at Maneki again, although purposefully avoiding eye contact (he feels bad for practically shoving Maneki into a corner with him). Eddie's expecting the other to take initiative. He doesn't know what to do.

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

... He can always come back later, but he wishes he had at least tried to open the lockers. Guess it's... weird. Eddie could've known them. His hand closes into a fist, then opens again. He couldn't have done anything about their deaths, but he still feels... bad.

They open their fan. [Autopsy reports.]

Flipping it to the other side, there is more writing. [Elise’s partner -> redacted info.]

Eddie puts his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight to one foot. If Elise has that kind of power then... he looks at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Eddie's worried for the next game.

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

... He can always come back later, but he wishes he had at least tried to open the lockers. Guess it's... weird. Eddie could've known them. His hand closes into a fist, then opens again. He couldn't have done anything about their deaths, but he still feels... bad.

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

He sees the bars familiar red lighting and breathes a sigh of relief, quietly exiting the ventilation system and putting the vent cover back into its place as quickly as he can. He pushes the curtain away, stepping onto the floor.

"So," he begins. "did you see anything interesting on the lockers?"

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."

He doesn't want to overstep a boundary by mentioning it further or make Maneki feel like they're trapped. "Do you want to get out of here?" He asks. "We can talk about what we found later." He didn't take a good look at the lockers, but he trusts Maneki to tell him what they found.

While the man seems nice at first, and very insistent on being nothing like his “Brutal Bull” title, Maneki has found that he has a fierce temper when it comes to the things he cares about. He seems awfully unprepared for a game like this, but it would be in their best interest to keep up a positive relationship with him — getting on the Brutal Bull’s bad side could prove to be dangerous, after all!

They approach, tapping the top of Eddie’s head with their fan. Eddie’s short enough that they don’t even have to stand on their toes to reach him. They open their fan back up after they’ve gotten Eddie’s attention. [interviews?], it reads. It seems he’s asking how Eddie went with his. They were watching, of course, but it could be interesting to hear it from Eddie’s perspective.

— 🪭 @tongue-tiedenigma

Eddie was about to head to the bar until something light taps his head and catches him completely off guard. "What-" He whips around, a brief look of fear that shifts into surprise upon realizing it's Maneki. "Where did-" Then he reads the fan. Interviews?

"Uh." He puts a pause on the sentence he was trying to form before, processing the question as he slowly calms down. Seems like Maneki's asking about how Eddie's interview went. His eyes drift to the side. It happened just a few minutes ago, but he already wants to move on. "Went fine," he says, the tinge of anger—or rather bitterness, obvious in his tone. Although to him, fine sums it up pretty well.

It stressed him the fuck out. It's obvious, the way his voice had shook as he responded to the questions (which, Eddie's sure was made to piss him off). The way his hands had clenched into themselves. The way his eyes had darted around, unable to keep contact with Cupid's.

The lights and cameras that pointed on him made him feel on edge the moment he stepped onto the stage, but the live audience. All those eyes on him, judging, mocking, pressuring—made everything even worse. He rather it be silent, and the cameras hidden from view like in Roulette. But he couldn't freeze up. He had to speak, even when it felt like every word that rose from his throat felt like he was trying to navigate the best way to travel on thin ice, every little thing tipping the scales one way, then another.

Eddie shakes his head, bringing himself to the present. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "You?"

Maneki gives Eddie a light smile. [fine], their fan reads. The interview didn’t seem to have bothered them at all — or not on the outside, at least.

Then silence creeps into the conversation again. He doesn't know what else to talk about, he's usually the one almost absent-mindedly nodding along to whatever the other person is saying. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. This is really awkward. Doesn't really help that Eddie can't get a read on Maneki, their unmoving stare is more intimidating than comforting.

Eddie starts heading further backstage. "The shop and the bar... might something we could've missed there." Like... ventilation they can maybe squeeze into. There must be some way they're getting air down here. The idea of secret passages rise to his mind. How are they getting the employees into this area? It would be embarrassing to feel the walls, but he doesn't recall seeing any doors they can enter and exit through. Would be a bad idea anyway, letting a passageway like that be seen by a bunch of criminals. Anyway, something to look out for.

They stop in front of the alcove. The red curtain is pulled and tied to the side. From what he can see, there's nothing here.

"Uh..." He turns to Maneki. "What's here exactly?" He asks.

Well, that solves his question about air. But... he's confused. He gets closer, knees pressing against the couch, but he doesn't smell anything. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Maneki smiles lightly when the vent cracks open, batting his fan up and down as if to say ‘thank you’. They climb into the vent with ease, tall enough to reach it without much trouble. After they’re in, they offer out his hand to Eddie to take so they can pull him in with him.

The smell only gets stronger as they approach, Maneki sniffing it out like some kind of cat. It’s funny to look at, actually. They nod in response to Eddie’s question. It seems awfully loose, similarly to the other vent. Someone’s definitely been in here before. The vent has very little resistance, cracking open almost instantly upon impact from the base of their fan.

Maneki steps out of the vent without much hesitation. It’s a big drop to the floor, but Maneki makes it easily without any injury — as nimble as ever. Cats always land on their feet, after all!

Once in the room, Maneki’s eyes widen as he takes in his surroundings. The disgusting bloody smell has increased tenfold; they’re clearly in some kind of morgue. Suddenly, everything clicks into place in Maneki’s mind. They immediately start exploring, not giving Eddie much time to adjust, moving to the lockers first. Or perhaps… they’re something else? They are lined up in order of contestants, each one labelled with a different contestants title. Perhaps this will be their coffin one day, if they’re not careful. A sense of uneasiness washes over him, but they don’t let it show on their face.

The first thing he notices is the horrible stench that assaults his nose—he wrinkles his nose in disgust, fighting the urge to pinch it. He looks around, looking for the source then he processes his surroundings. The table, the lockers—this is a morgue. Of course, they're prepared.

His fingers dig into his palms to steel himself. Maneki seems preoccupied with the lockers, so he searches the desk in the far corner. Oh. "There's a paper here." His voice is lowered, just loud enough for Maneki to hear. "Round 1; Prelimary Status. All participants passed except 1B, 2A, 2B, 6B, 8A, 10A, and 10B."

He looks around the room again. His eye focuses on the cabinets next to the lockers this time—there might be something there. Eddie places the paper back where he found it before moving on.

He opens a few cabinets until he finds a bunch of papers. Eddie takes a few seconds to skim through the contents of each paper, but he doesn't understand most of these medical terms. "That's weird... these files on the contestants contain their medical information." His hand briefly hovers over his right eye before it returns back to his side. Why keep it in the morgue? "Participant 1A has damage to thyroid," Eddie briefly glances at Maneki. If their partner is 1B then... He keeps reading. "one of them has chronic sciatica whatever that means..." He pauses, squinting at the papers. "Participant... sorry um. Participant 10A history of heart conditions..." He goes silent for a few seconds. Participant 4B... it lists his condition too. He rubs the back of his neck. "... That's all I can really get from it, it's a lot of medical jargon."