Two adult men circle each other like wary cats, the post

[hatesdeerstalkers]

WHO: James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes, and you!
WHEN: Probably after the whole...murder discussion thing
WHAT: Two men have found their way, and as is normal for them, immediately start blaming and barking at each other. And then after the girls are done fighting, they'll be around snooping in the area.



[Today, there's...a commotion in the auditorium. Looking out from the hallway - or approaching when you were already inside - will give you an eyeful of what looks like two adult men - one tall, thin, and with slicked back black hair, and the other with a head of gray hair and a mustache - in high school uniforms warily circling each other while also apparently talking.

One of them - the older man - has a decent set of lungs on him, which is probably what drew you to look at the courtyard in the first place.]

"...Blaming me for this, Holmes? How very arrogant of you!"

[The tall man is shockingly pale, his eyes daring around then back at the short man, his movements harried, sounding oddly breathless when he retorts]

"Can one be blamed when you always seem to be on the edge if not right in the middle of suspicious incidents?"

"Surely you can't believe I'm responsible for all of this! Isn't it much more likely we both got dragged to some kind of Singularity?"

[A pause and an unreadable expression flits across the tall man - Holmes' - face. His arms folds over his chest, his right hand gripping his left forearm tightly in the process, shoulders hunching up]

"...It is possible."

[The older man gives a scoff, shaking his head.]

"Yes, because I just happened to find another demon pillar to team up with, and chose a school to do my dastardly plan in."

"Fine. You're probably not involved. And no contact from Chaldea..."

[The younger man paces, still tightly gathered into himself.]

"Can't rely on outside here..."

"At least you can make out that in your current state."

[The men continue to circle and bicker as they keep their eyes on each other, practically wearing out a path with their feet as they do so.

There's the feeling they're not going to stop until someone breaks them up...Or, maybe you should leave and try to catch them later, alone?]

((OOC: OKAY SO - Moriarty and Holmes will have Individual top levels with prompts you can hit up, if you don't want to be involved in their little weird circle dance up top. If you DO, then just comment to this post and we'll both reply!))

Comments

Sherlock toplevel

[improbablenotimpossible]

A After the fight
[When the stalemate between the two men broke off, the thin man practically scurries to a corner of the auditorium, exhaling sharply before inhaling, eyes squeezing shut as his hand slides over them. Steady his breathing, steady his heartrate - focus... why was he feeling like this?]

A minute, two – then he opens them, pulling the PDA from a pocket with trembling hands, examining the device, long, unsteady fingers dancing across the buttons and screens. He pauses in his investigation when he senses someone approaching, standing up straight and rolling his shoulders back – gathering himself to speak]

I suppose you have questions, and I have plenty myself… shall we try to answer what we can?

B Is that a corpse?
[After getting his bearings, he finds his way back to the case with the corpse, peering in closer, examining the entire case... frowning slightly as he looks at it and the marks on his wrist, what on earth?]

C. Wildcard

A

[dereban]

While I do have many questions about... [she gestures at everything around her] most of it can't be answered... yet. So you might as well start with your own questions, first.

Re:

[improbablenotimpossible]

[What an interesting necklace...]

Where to begin... may I see your wrist?

[dereban]

... Ah, you're referring to this, I assume?

[She pulls a little bit on the left sleeve of her uniform to reveal the tally marks there - four of them, in fact.]

[improbablenotimpossible]

[He reveal his own five marks]

Are these marks something everyone else has?

[He saw it on the professor and now this young lady]

...And I presume the corpse in the case is real.

[dereban]

As far as I'm aware, the 'transfer students' are the ones who have them, but not...

[Everyone else, is the implication there.]

And it most likely is, but the others don't treat it as such. Nobody's been able to investigate it more properly, though.

A

[commences]

What's there to question?

( though, there was something he noticed, and it was the way his hands trembled when accessing his pda. however, komaeda won't ask unnecessary things, and instead he'll focus on what stands out to him. he raises his left, mechanical hand that whirrs softly as it moves, and he points at the other. )

I hope you're not thinking trash like me is able to help you. ( he pauses, letting that sink in for the other before he carries on. ) Anyway, did something happen... you're shaking!

[improbablenotimpossible]

I suppose it's nerves - from finding myself in a place I am unfamiliar with, and no knowledge of how I arrived.

[He waves off the question]

Well... there is a great many things to question, I am not the sort that can exactly leave things be, and even a little scrap of information can prove be invaluable.

[commences]

Don't worry about that, it's not like you're going to remain stuck here, right?

( komaeda has hope for him yet, and that's because he's sure everyone has the same thought that they'll do anything to get out. no matter how mysterious this school is, he has faith in the "transfer students" around him. that said, komaeda guesses those are the questions he wants answered? give him a moment to think about it, raising a hand to cup his chin while contemplating over the answers that litter his mind. )

I wonder if I can calm them.. ( it doesn't take him long to smile, nodding to himself as he continues. ) What's on your mind, I think I may have an answer for all your problems.

[improbablenotimpossible]

Well I certainly do not plan on staying here.

[Too many things that needs to be done, too many unknowns, too much whirling around in his head]

Where to begin, if we are all transfer students, what is the reason for us to be transferred here? Of course I doubt anyone has the answer at this point.

[commences]

The answer is obvious, can't you see?

( he sounds a little confused as he says this, and well, he knows it takes time for people to understand how things work. sometimes, they need to be reminded. ) Hope.

( nodding to himself, he's a little excited about giving that piece of information as he crosses his arms. )

Everyone is meant to work together by strengthening their bonds, by doing that.. they'll be able to overcome anything.

B!

[unsurely]

[ Gonna go with Saihara having missed the whole commotion from earlier, though he's maybe heard other students talking about it in passing, but anyway... he's just walking in for his own almost daily "stare at the body in the case for a while" routine, when there's someone already there.

It wasn't that odd during the first few days when it appeared, but by now... he's gotten used to there being nobody else when he comes to look. Everyone's kind of moved on from that being a novelty -- and even if the idea of getting used to a body feels a little concerning... it's also true there's not much they can do. Which is why it's not too difficult to notice there's something off about this person... come to think of it, has he ever even seen him before? There are a lot of people in the school so maybe he just doesn't remember it, but... ]

Ah... Is this maybe... the first time you're seeing this?

[ Because what's this interaction going to be if he's not out here using his talent to make deductions about the most famous detective in the world before he knows that's who this is and probably has an existential crisis. ]

Re: B!

[improbablenotimpossible]

...Yes,

[He answers, no longer feeling quite as on edge as he was earlier, glancing back at the young man that addressed him, green eyes flicking over]

And the strand of hair in there... I seem to have come to in front of this macabre display.

[unsurely]

Hair...?

[ Saihara's not able to maintain eye contact very well, but at least it doesn't seem to be for suspicious reasons? He just... kind of naturally doesn't, and instead moves on to the detail that was pointed out.

...Wait. He sees it. ]

Hm... I don't think that was there before. I suppose it might have just come from one of the cats, but...

[improbablenotimpossible]

Yes... the color it does make it hard to see on first glance, so there are cats here as well?

[It might not be relevant, but better to gather all details and sort through them later than it would be distract something only to find out it's important]

How long have you been a... 'transfer' student here?

[unsurely]

[ ...So he can tell that Saihara's a transfer student. Which confirms it entirely, this man must be one as well, or otherwise he'd already know his name and act familiar. But then... does it mean he just woke up here? And this late... ]

W-Well... I think most of us remember only as far as a month back, but... It's difficult to tell exactly. The rest of the students act like they've known us for longer and...

[ Wait. ]

Oh. S-Sorry... There are two cats that seem to live in the school. A black and a white one, so that's why the hair could be from there.

[ a time ]

[wolfetracks]

If you've found something already, certainly.

( of course they had questions- nothing about this made any sense, and it was enormously unpleasant at best. children dying and being put on display was icing o the Everything Is Awful cake. )

Sidney Wolfe. You?

Re: [ a time ]

[improbablenotimpossible]

I'm afraid I don't have anything that would be relevant to our situation currently...

[Bearings, settling - getting his head on straight, find the limitations of his place]

My name is Sherlock Holmes.

[wolfetracks]

( ... sherlock holmes.

of fucking course.

alright! okay. this isn't the manor, historical figures aren't here to hunt you like dogs- it's fine. this is something else entirely. with a deep breath, sidney is able to regain any composure he might have lost. )

That's... about what I expected, unfortunately. I only recently became aware, myself. Everything I do stumble upon is more and more disturbing, however.

( case in point: the body in a case. )

[improbablenotimpossible]

You seemed surprised.

[The man quips slightly, before giving a quiet nod of acknowledgement of what Sidney said]

Yes... I've been informed that there are at least two other bodies that were found, and this display - it does makes you wonder about who or what is running this school.

[wolfetracks]

Yours is a famous name back home. Just caught me off guard.

( which isn't entirely wrong, it's just not the whole truth. it is, however, all he intends on saying. )

... There's also signs of something being caught in the pipes. I haven't been awake long enough, unfortunately... but I must agree. There's so many things wrong going on here, it's dizzying.

C

[hatesdeerstalkers]

[So. It's been - a bit, since their original appearance, and they'd separated from each other rather quickly.

But, eventually, Moriarty winds his way back to his nemesis, putting his arm on the doorway of...wherever Sherlock currently is.]

Are you occupied at the moment, or may I speak with you freely?

Re: C

[improbablenotimpossible]

[Sherlock had wandered up into the Art room, taking stock of what's available - useful tools, supplies... and worse. There's too much he doesn't know, he hates feeling like he doesn't know enough, and everything right now especially... gnaw at him. He glances up when he heard the familiar voice, taking a deep breath before turning around, leaning against one of the supply closets]

Go ahead.

[hatesdeerstalkers]

[First off, as soon as Sherlock completely turns around - he throws a can of chamomile tea at the other man.]

Here - Something to temporarily settle you a bit.

[It's sweet and cold, but it's better than nothing.]

First off - obviously, our biggest goals here are to survive along with Ritsuka, and solve this pervasive mystery surrounding this entire institution. I would not be surprised if the Counter Force had some sort of hand in our appearance here, personally.

Secondly - For now, we shall treat this place as we do Chaldea, and call a sort of truce between us. Though I will still challenge you whenever possible, of course. Is this amenable to you?

[improbablenotimpossible]

[He easily catches it]

Thank you.

[He makes a split-second face at the can, but beggars can't be choosers, he pops it open, even the unnecessary sugar would be helpful]

Of course - Miss Ritsuka's safety is of course our top priority, but I believe that is a given with you. There's far too many things that is off...

[The Counter Force... it could explain how they got here without rayshifting]

We can continue our truce here.