dreamer.

"That only makes the decision more difficult," Kara put on a smile, her head shaking the slightest bit as she continued to survey her options. "Oh hell no, I come here all the time. Probably more often than I should, if I really stop to think about it, which I try not to. But usually I try to just stick to the coffee." She straightens up, her head now bobbing in a certain nod. "You know what, you've probably got the right idea though. Chocolate chip seems like the way to go. Are you a regular here?"

"what, you immune to personal tragedy?" corvin huffed, trying to lighten the mood again and distract from his sour mood. but he did think his own tragedy was not unique, it was entirely of his own doing. but people didn't deserve to suffer forever for mistakes. except for him, maybe. but most people didn't. he had to wonder if what happened to hope was a mistake of her own making or someone else's personal tragedy being taken out on her. from the way everyone was talking to day she was both princess diana and also a saint.

"Definitely not. Just trying to respect your desire to move on. Unless you want to get all touchy feely? I'm all ears, Corv." Everyone had something that they didn't like discussing. But funerals already put people in somber moods, it was hard not to keep with the theme in conversation, too.

"I mean, that would be what we'd all hope for," Kara murmured, her arms lifting to fold across her chest as her gaze pulled away from Jack and instead searched the crowds once more. If it were that simple, just about anyone could be a detective and crack the case. But when people didn't want to talk and secrets were being held close to the chest...It certainly wasn't just as hand wave-y through the air like Corvin tried to make it seem. The Mercers weren't exactly the easiest bunch to get along with, let alone put together a case for. Hope had a lot of friends - and alongside that, a lot of enemies. But who among them wanted her dead?

Probably someone standing in this very room.

" what ? why are we stopping. i want to keep moving, i want a whisky. do you not wanna drink anymore ? " javi questioned impetuously, taking a drag from his cigarette as he squeezed the other's arm, trying to provide some easement. " you need to chill the fuck out, kara. you're, like, overthinking things and it's making me nervous. we already left, we're not going back. "

"You are actually a horrible, terrible influence. You do know that, right? And - yes. I do still want a drink. Or two. Or three. The need for a drink keeps rising." Would it look worse if they were to turn around and go back now? Perhaps they could make excuses - they'd shown face for at least a little while. That had to count for something... Whatever, it was too late now because Javi was dragging her down the sidewalk once again and after a bit of grumbling under her breath her feet soon picked up the pace.

" you're definitely supposed to stay at a funeral for the whole service, if you can. if you're planning on ditching, you usually do that during the transition between the funeral and the reception. " he inhales heavily as they're finally met with fresh air, no longer surrounded by the musty smell of an old church. " have you been ditching funerals early this whole time ? shit, kara. i don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but you're for sure going to hell. "

"Wait, wait, wait, wait - hold on. You mean to say that the service hadn't even started yet? All those people were crying and no one had even given a speech at the podium? I thought I'd just like...blacked out the whole thing and we were already on to the reception. Shit, Javi - now I feel bad." She pulled on his arm and abruptly came to a stop, huffing a bit childishly. "Should we go back? Why would you let me do this? I don't exactly make funerals a common occurrence in my life, I don't know the protocols! I wasn't talking about ditching the service - but like, wakes and receptions and shit - people mill in and out. Right? Right? Why would you go along with that - and fuck you you know I think that's a terrible habit and you're going to die early because of it and I'm going to have to ship you off to Saturn earlier than necessary." She paused, maybe a bit dramatically sucking in a breath after the string of words that had come out of her mouth in seemingly one go.

"sore subject." he repeated, feeling tension in his jaw. he was more worried about how he was going to be cracking all his teeth than he was about cigarettes killing him. "not really good conversation for a funeral. more stiff drink conversation."

and he didn't do stiff drinks anymore. so it was a conversation they never needed to have. if he could avoid it, he'd never have the conversation for the rest of his life.

"Sure, copy that." Kara was starting to think most everything was an inappropriate topic for a funeral besides all the wonderful memories everyone suddenly seemed to have of the deceased. Which, good for Hope that she had so many apparent loved ones. But Kara didn't have all that much to share on the girl that turned up dead in their sleepy little town.

he glanced over at kara, watching her arms wrap around her frame. her question hung in the air, tempting javier with the possibility of leaving early. part of him yearned to escape the dark atmosphere and find comfort in the company of good whiskey, but another part of him, the part that valued respect, wrestled with the conflicting desire.

"I mean, no one goes to a funeral and stays for the entire time other than like, immediate family anyway...right?" Was it disrespectful to leave early? Had she been doing this wrong all this time? Besides - who would even notice? They came in, they said their condolences, they stood around and nodded to their fellow Mercer Hollow townspeople...they came, they saw, they...would conquer, hopefully.

She wasn't all that surprised when Javier gave in, though. And she was thankful for it, admittedly. Even just stepping outside the cathedral doors seemed to make it easier to suck in a breath of air, and Kara seemed to open right back up again. Funerals weren't a common occurrence in Kara's life, and it wasn't a good environment for her. She didn't know how to be in such a place.

"don't talk about shit you don't know, yeah?" corvin clenched his fist in his jacket pocket. he knew that kara couldn't know all the details of that last murder he worked on. and he had been working nonviolent crimes, drug addicts, petty theft, easy work. "cops have that habit. seeing what they think is the whole picture and jumping to the end."

"Sore subject?" Normally Kara wasn't the type to press where it hurt, at least when it wasn't in a teasing manner with those she was comfortable around. But Corvin had an irritating way about him, and it felt good to give him one back - at least momentarily. It was true that she didn't know all that much about Corvin's scenario, just what had been going around the grapevines. And, truth be told, she didn't really care, either. They weren't friends. Clearly. She didn't see that changing any time soon if he stayed up on that high horse of his. "I'm not presuming to know anything about anything. Just seems like it's been a while since you've worked something like this is all. Don't get your panties in a twist."

" i'm not superstitious, but maybe i ought to be for this case — don't want anything or anyone fucking it up. until this case is done and dusted, i'll be knocking on wood, throwing some salt over my shoulder, and hanging up evil eye amulets around my house. i'll look fucking insane, but gotta do it just to be on the safe side. " he shrugged and gently nudged kara, an amused glint in his eye despite the solemn occasion. javier was almost certain that nothing supernatural existed in this world, but it didn't hurt to implement some superstitious beliefs for the time being... just in case.

"That sounds like you are a little bit superstitious," Kara gave him a skeptical look. At least it would be entertaining, watching Javier go through all the hoops just to ensure this case went through as it should. To stay on the safe side. "Sure, sure, sure. You do what you gotta do, boss."

How shitty would it be, though, if she had just jinxed it? She couldn't burden herself with any more guilt over this case - even when she knew none of it actually rested on her shoulders. She wasn't the one who held the knife, after all. That was who was to blame, here.

Now she was getting all up in her head.

corvin scoffed at that prospect, "best suspect is the one who did it, and if its the person beside me, all i'm tryna do is get them a just sentence." he could practically hear his law professors touting the beauty and poetry of a just system, the importance of fighting for not the cruelest punishment but the fairest one, how everyone gets an advocate regardless of deserving one.

"Great, seems like we're in agreement then." Kara was all for the one who did it getting a 'just' sentence - because the just sentence should put them behind bars for a good long while in a murder case. And yeah, for Mercer Hollow, a dead Mercer was a pretty big deal, no matter what way you sliced it.

javi sighed, his gaze returning to fix on kara. the weight of hope's murder rested heavy on the town's shoulders, and the echoes of her ancestor's tragic fate added an eerie layer to the investigation. " don't know what happened to the cops that were on charity's case. hell, i wasn't even born yet, but perhaps the mercer's were nicer back then. after all, the seventies were all about love, peace and all that other shit, i think ? "

"Oh c'mon, you don't really believe in that shit, do you?" Granted, now that he'd pointed it out, there was the slightest twist in Kara's stomach. Had speaking about the case being solvable just made it unsolvable? No. That wasn't a thing. That wasn't how the world worked. Was it? "Fuck. I need a drink."

Weren't all cases technically solvable? But then again, so many went cold. They were all only human. They only had so much to go off of. And even when you had a suspect that seemed to fit all the right categories, they could get off on technicalities of the law. Innocent until proven guilty. Sometimes, proof wasn't as easy to come by.

"i can't blame you. i suppose i'm here doing the same thing. it's been a while since i had to do a murder defense, but the thing is... half the battle is having a better suspect than the one on the stand. get the jury thinking it was someone else. gives them the reasonable doubt." he sipped at his coffee, letting it burn his mouth and the bitter taste clear his mind about the last violent crime he had to work on.

he looked out at the sea of people in black and shades of gray they considered close enough. "besides, who takes time off work in our industry."

Kara didn't necessarily see Jack as standing on the opposite side, but he definitely was a roadblock in many ways. Whoever their prime suspect ended up being (or, even better, whoever they proved committed the crime), was going to be defended on the stand by Corvin. And clearly he was going to do his very best to ensure they didn't get convicted.

She couldn't imagine standing in his shoes, attempting to get people off that may have very well committed the crime in question. But he wasn't there to get the guilty off. He was there to ensure the innocent went free. At least, that was how she was how she tried to look at it.

But she had no plans of putting the innocent in the hot seat in the first place.

javier straightened his tie and then gently held the other's hand, his gaze fixated on her fingers. he fidgeted with them, attention diverting from the weight of the occasion. perhaps today was one of those days when he should have taken his adderall. " how would one even manage to pull a trigger with these hands ? " he mused. " maybe that's something we should do today – after this is over, let's head to the shooting range. "

"Sure, we could do that," Kara agreed, watching as he fidgeted absently with her fingers before also letting her gaze shift to observe their surroundings. Which, right, she should probably be focusing on. "As long as you're prepared to lose."

" fucking alien-like fingers they are. honestly, i'm scared to see what your toes look like. if they resemble your fingers in even the slightest, we might need to deem you the antichrist of mercer hollow. " as much as he loved to take little digs at kara, she was one of the few people that he genuinely cared for. it just so happens that the only way javier showed that he cared was through insult.

"Nope, nope. I'm sorry. You're just jealous you don't have these delicate, perfect fingers. I understand. It must be hard for you to be around me all the time and bask in my glory, so I forgive you." For added measure she pokes him in the ribs again, just to fully impart her words. "I won't even demand you take it back. I know deep down your regret is vast and just eating you right up inside. It's okay. You can forgive yourself, too."

Her eyes skim over the faces of the mourners that pass them by, knowing she should probably be more attentive to the event they were at rather than joking about what would happen should Javi become the one in the box. But she'd never exactly been the type for well timed joking, either. Maybe it came with the job. She couldn't be serious all the time (in fact, it was rare that she was serious outside the job anymore). "Now we're getting inventive. It's cute that you think I'd miss you, but beyond that it sounds like a nice ride. Forever sliding around Saturn's rings takes the cake for me, though. But I suppose since it would be your funeral I could make some exceptions."

"more than half the town out here today, makes it seems awfully hard to spot if someone is here to gloat, hm?" corvin walked up behind kara, a cup of cheap coffee in one hand. he traded out his usual jacket for one in black, and his black tie hid a coffee stain from earlier in the day. he took a sip and swept his eyes over the green field that people had gathered on to share stories and awkward hugs.

Damn it, she'd been caught people watching, hadn't she? Then again, who wasn't people watching? At least half the town had to be here just to see whatever there was to see. Or maybe, as Corvin had so dutifully pointed out, someone might just be here to bask in the glory of their so far successful murder.

"Probably more than half the town, if I had to guess," Kara hummed, glancing at the coffee cup in his hand and thinking for just a moment she might steal a sip from it before deciding better of it. It looked like a shit cup of coffee Corvin probably paid like a buck fifty or less for. Get what you pay for, she guessed. Though then again, Starbucks was also way over priced.

There had to be a happy medium right? --- She was getting off track.

he winced as kara poked him in the ribs, face contorting in a mock expression of pain. " ouch. i may not like funerals, but i'm not ready to feel the wrath of your weird-looking fingers. " cracking a slight grin as they watched the somber procession, javier leaned in closer to kara, words merely a whisper. " a party ? no fucking way. i want everyone to be sad, but not like this kind of sad — the mood's a bit of a downer. cry for a minute and move on, y'know ? "

Kara scowled, holding her hands out before her and studying them. "I'm sorry, weird-looking fingers where? These are the most beautiful fingers I've ever seen, thank you very much." Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite the appropriate behavior or discussion for a funeral, but it wasn't as if she were connected with Hope on any sort of personal level - she was just here to show her support. Besides, irritating Javier was practically in her job description. She was doing her civic duty.

"It would be a sad party," Kara whispered back, though her head bobbed in a nod of agreement to what he'd said. She wasn't necessarily surprised by the way all this was turning out. A murder in a small town? Or one of the namesake kids, no less? It was certain to draw the attention of - well. Everyone, evidently.