*｡ fight me ｡*

            WHEN SHE ASKED him, to his face now ( which he appreciated far more ), whether he’d been the one planting the badge, jim didn’t move an inch. he kept his gaze fixed on her, until he raised a brow whilst speaking up: “ no. i’ve got no personal issues with tremaine. o r winnie, for that matter. “, his voice steady. “ that’s none of your business. though winnie or the whole disappearance case wasn’t the reason. “, he said, not wanting to share the true intention behind the robbery. 

Raising her eyebrows in response, Kida nodded. Not to anything in particular but just the entire situation. She couldn’t really relate to this entire thing but with all these questions Kida almost needed more. “Well...I’m glad you’re not a kidnapper...I guess.” Eyes drifted lower until the rested on her ring clad fingers picking at the acrylics on them. “So...You essentially gave the police the biggest break in the entire case...without any reason??”

Milo pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. Purely reactionary. Kida always managed to stoke the fire and keep him on his toes. “I wasn’t aware that you’d become a clairvoyant. Yes, you’re right, it’s all very trope-ish. Almost like a game clue, if we’re being honest. But, all tropes are based on and in reality to some extent. They had to come from somewhere. And that’s why I’m not ruling this out. A logical person wouldn’t count out any possibility without proper evidence contrary-wise.” Milo explained simply, raising a brow. “Well, considering all you gave me was ‘what’s his face’ you weren’t really giving me much to go on! But, it’s Jim. Hawkins, if I’m correct. But, I will agree with you. It’s too clean. Too simple. The motive just doesn’t seem to be there for the guy. Or his supposed accomplice. And if it wouldn’t have been found without them…it just sort of seems…like a setup, maybe? I dunno yet. Not conclusive. But, something tells me Mrs. Tremaine wouldn’t have turned it in if she found it. Which tells me she knew it was there.” Milo groaned and rubbed his temples. “This whole thing is becoming too real. It’s only fun when it isn’t so…personal.”

She tapped her temple laughing. “Knew you were gonna say that.” Kida couldn’t help but snort as she laughed, but tried to cover it with a cough. “What if it’s supposed to feel tropey?? Or like maybe it really is a game... some saw type shit...ya know??” Her features softened slightly as thoughts raced through her mind. “Milo, not everything is going to conclusive, some shit is just sketch.” She nodded, silently agreeing with Milo. “You’re stressing yourself out Nancy Drew...Everything gets personal in a small town...Sometime along this road it’s gonna involve someone we care about and we can’t avoid it.” Standing she threw out the apple core in the nearest trash can, taking a deep breath, eyes narrowed and a laugh escaped her. “This is so depressing...time for happy hour on me!! Get up, Professor.”

“Well, I don’t see why things can’t wrap up nicely. No need for things to get messy, as far as I’m concerned. But, I will say that I kind of agree with you.” Milo finally concurred offering her a curt nod. “Of course it’s not the end. No, it’s most definitely the beginning. It’s really the only big piece of evidence we’ve gotten since the investigation’s been open; the only thing that has further pushed anything.” Milo could analyze it all for hours, it was so fascinating. “But, uh, who’s this ‘what’s-his-face’ fellow?”

Squinting her eyes at the other, Kida leaned forward. “You completely agree with me and I know it. The logical little brain in your head is telling you this is a trope, and tropes aren’t a real thing.” Chuckling she took a bite of the apple in her hand.”Exactly! if the house was never robbed, then well...if Mrs.Tremaine had anything to do with it we would’ve never known...” Kida shook slightly, not knowing things, important things, always made her tummy twirl. “Didn’t you read the paper Thatch? The only reason they found the name tag was because a robbery was taking place in the Tremaine residence...some guy. Jim or John, I can’t remember, was caught red-handed. And you call yourself a researcher...”

Phillip wished he could ignore the news and the reports and the whole disappearance itself, but unfortunately he couldn’t. And as much as he wished this most recent report really could wrap everything up with a bow, he had to agree with Kida. “No, I agree. It just doesn’t feel right. There’s no way this is the end of it. Unfortunately.”

“Nah, this is kinda cool to follow, like shitty because Winnie’s likely hood of being alive is so small that it should already be a murder investigation.” Leaning back Kida shrugged, no one could deny that it was a sad situation but, she didn’t see the reason for keeping up false hope. “Phillip, it’s not even close to the end, sadly it’s just the beginning.”

“You’re seriously implying that Jim Hawkins would’ve framed the already creepy woman?” Anya –who, admittedly, barely knew Jim Hawkins other than in passing outside of her apartment– felt the indignant tone rising up inside of her. “Honestly this whole thing with the Sanders woman just needs to end so this town can take a sharp left out of Cuckoosville!”

“I’m just saying it’s too clean, no need to jump down my throat.” Laughing, Kida shrugged take her drink into her hand. She didn’t really have any skin in the game to complain or not to about the missing woman. “I think we all deserve some kind of actual truth...surely her family does...Anyways, being in cuckoosvilles is super entertaining.”

“Yeah, the obvious choice was the one who did it, sounds sketchy“, Tiana sighed and looked over the news again, “he could have but if he did, how could the police prove it?”. 

“Honestly, I’m ready to find out this is all actually a cult thing and then BOOM it’s out in the open.” Kida didn’t believe it, but it’d be more entertaining than this slow-moving news cycle. “Fingerprints, if her’s aren’t on it and his are...then they would have to be able to explain it away.” She pointed to the paper. “What else does it say??”

             JIM WAS USED to people looking at him like he was bad news. a criminal. a lost cause. he didn’t take their opinions personal anymore because, at the end of the day, that was all they were – opinions. opinions of people who didn’t know him, didn’t know his story, and didn’t seem to bother to give it a shot either. if anything, he couldn’t care less about those people’s opinions… “ why don’t you ask him for yourself ? “, jim mumbled, his voice blunt as he crossed his arms in front of his body, emerald hues falling down on the smaller woman’s frame, one brow slightly arched up. 

To say, Kida was horrible with faces would be an understatement and honestly, it’s probably cause she never really bothered to try hard to put names to faces. Hazel eyes looked up at the taller of the two and shrugged. “Well...did you??” She took a sip from the cup in her hands as her brows raised. “Why were you even there?? Really rich people always got the cops on speed dial.”

She felt her eyebrows lift as she spoke, taking in every last word. While she didn’t think this is what was really going on, it certainly was an interesting theory. “I know it’s not physically about me. It’s not about me at all; but you have to admit all of it’s unsettling. Somebody is covering something up, and it’s just a matter of time before it rolls on out.”

“Everything going down right now is unsettling Leon, like ya know the earth’s fucking kicking the bucket” Kida shrugged before leaning back.”And unless ya killed her or hid it, you’ll be fine promise...Anyways how do we know if it’s even true??”

Honey was starting to grow tense with the buzz around the latest news on Winnie’s case. She’d been reading every last word on reports that came out, and nothing seemed to make sense to her anymore. “It’s possible,” she agreed amicably, looking over to the other with a queasy look on her face. “But I agree with you. It’s too…tropey.”

“conspiracy theory, the robber dude was sleeping with both and then BOOM Tremaine killed Winnie and gave the robber the nameplate but he broke in and put it back but the cops were called.” Taking a sip of her iced coffee, Kida groaned at the other's queasy look. “Dude, take a drink of some water, it’s not physically about you, don’t worry ya self so much B.”