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[color=skyblue]Location[/color]: Château de La Lune: Lounge
[color=skyblue]Skills[/color]: N/A
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Finally exiting from his room into the lounge, Tony scanned the room. At one table he saw Constance talking to Sam, and at another he saw the interrogative magician - probably a consequence of his drinking last night, he did not recall her name; M-something? - talking to a man that didn't look familiar. He didn't seem to be family or staff, though. The drag queen, maybe. Besides those two pairings, the only other people that seemed to be present were the couple staff that attended to their breakfast. [i]Where are the rest of the nominees?[/i] he wondered. There had certainly been more than this. Maybe they're all still getting ready after the unexpected start to the morning they'd all had?

Heading first to where the staff had laid out their breakfast, Tony poured himself a cup of coffee then requested some crepes from the chef. While he worked, Tony sipped some coffee and considered his next steps. He felt like he was back in school, navigating the politics of which table to sit at in the cafeteria. If he had no agenda, he certainly would have preferred to eat with Constance, for multiple reasons. Besides the obvious, there was the fact that his previous conversation with the magician had been more of a cagey standoff, and he didn't think he'd really spoken to the drag queen at all, yet. But he [i]did[/i] have an agenda, so all of those reasons to choose one table were in fact reasons to choose the other. He already had Constance as an ally, and hopefully she was working on finding out if Sam was in the same predicament as them, and could be trusted. Joining their conversation would at best be unproductive, at worst could be [i]counterproductive[/i] make him less likely to talk. It would be better to put out feelers with the other pair, and hopefully clear some of the tension between him and the magician. Furthermore, everyone [i]else[/i] probably expected him to continue his pattern of focusing his attention on Constance, and that, too, was reason to do the opposite. There are people in this château that know far too much about him already; better to do the unexpected and keep them guessing, whenever possible.

With that decision made, once the chef was done Tony thanked him for the crepes, then approached the pair of nominees. [color=skyblue]"Hopefully I'm not intruding on your conversation?"[/color] he asked as he sat down with his breakfast.

[color=910A1C]“You can sit,”[/color] Said the man, gesturing, both his voice and his mannerisms very Ivanna. 

Millicent stared at the new arrival. The good doctor had decided to join them. She wanted to speak to him anyway, but she didn’t necessarily want to do so with Brendan here. She still didn’t trust him. So she nodded her agreement and returned to her breakfast. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could talk to Felix.

Tony ate a bite of his crepes before speaking again. [color=skyblue]”So, this morning certainly hasn’t gone how any of us expected. How are you two holding up?”[/color]

[color=910A1C]“It’s a lot to think about,”[/color] Ivanna said after a moment, looking sad. [color=910A1C]“I didn’t really know her but…it’s awful.”[/color]

[color=63142b]”You don’t expect to wake up to someone dead. Or rather, most people don’t.”[/color] She looked at Tony now, uncertainty in her gaze. What did he want?

Tony nodded in agreement. [color=skyblue]”Most people indeed. Come to think of it, there have been quite a few things now that [i]most[/i] people wouldn’t expect. It makes you wonder,”[/color] he added as he took another bite, hoping he had managed the casual nonchalance he intended. [i]How the hell do I bring this up without making it obvious?[/i]

Ivanna looked lightly confused. [color=910A1C]“You mean…this chatitino place itself or…”[/color] Ivanna looked like he knew something was being implied, just not what, glancing over to Millicent uncertainly.

Millicent glared at Tony now. He was scurrying around whatever point he was trying to make here. [color=63142b]”I don’t know about that so much. The family is odd, to be sure. Full of homophobes and one-percenters who likely don’t know a day’s work, but otherwise a fairly peaceful vacation. Apart from Renee, of course. Hey, you looked at her body, right? Poor thing probably fell.”[/color] 

Tony sighed. Ivanna seemed confused - he had no idea what a ‘chatitino’ was - and Millicent’s glare said she was getting annoyed. Subtlety was not working well. [i]They warned me not to talk about it at all. Do I dare to be direct with these people?[/i] He glanced around and decided no one else would hear, as long as he wasn’t too loud. He resisted the temptation to shoot a pointed look towards Ivanna, hoping this wouldn’t cause a scene. [color=skyblue]”Maybe she did, all of her injuries would fit. But the wound on her head… it [i]could[/i] be an accident, but I’m not convinced.”[/color]

[color=910A1C]“You--”[/color] Ivanna lowered his voice, [color=910A1C]“You mean you think like…someone pushed her?”[/color] Ivanna said, barely audible, [color=910A1C]“What wound on her head?”[/color]

[color=63142b]”A wound to the head suggests foul play, doctor. Is that the route you’re leaning towards?”[/color] Millicent figured there was more to it, but she hadn’t expected Tony to share that information. If he was telling the truth, of course. [color=63142b]”That’s interesting. Who would want to hurt a preschool teacher?”[/color]

Tony nodded, continuing quietly. [color=skyblue]”To be clear, it [i]could[/i] be that she just hit her head on the way down. It’s possible. But… whatever it was that hit her head, it did quite a bit of damage. As for who, I don’t know, but like I said there have been a few weird things going on. People saying terrible things to guests, people acting strangely, [i]things[/i] that don’t belong at an award ceremony. It can’t all be coincidences,”[/color] he finished before taking a sip of coffee, eyeing them warily. [i]We’ll see if they have any idea what I mean.[/i]

Ivanna nodded slowly. [color=910A1C]“Some of the family are…not acting…good…ly, but some people are just like that, I think. What do you mean by things that don’t belong at an award ceremony? Do you mean like…”[/color] Ivanna shifted uncomfortably, looking very uncertain, [color=910A1C]“Things like…actual things, like objects? Did someone leave something in your room?”[/color] Ivanna looked hesitant.

Millicent bit her tongue. She wanted to see Tony’s reaction to what Ivanna said. She didn’t know if he was looking for information or seeing if they knew more about what’s going on. Millicent figured there had to be someone here with ill intent. She trusted Sam, Ralph, and Ivanna, but that was about as far as she wanted to put her trust.

[i]So, Ivanna is being blackmailed, too. It must be everyone then, like we thought.[/i] Millicent was suddenly being quiet, though. Interesting. [color=skyblue]”Something like that,”[/color] Tony agreed. [color=skyblue]”I suspect we all probably have that in common. And what happened to Renee is probably related, so be careful who you talk to. We should all talk more later, somewhere we’re less likely to be overheard.”[/color] Tony had already said more than he would’ve liked, he would need to find somewhere safe before he would talk in more detail. Somewhere he could be sure no staff - and no recording devices - could listen. Outside, maybe, if the weather improves.

Ivanna nodded, still looking uncertain. He looked like he wanted to ask more, but stayed quiet.

Millicent still didn’t trust him, but she nodded her understanding. It seemed they all did have something in common. [color=63142b]”Let’s talk later then.”[/color] She left it there, clear she wanted Tony to go elsewhere for now. 

Tony nodded. [color=skyblue]”Later, then,”[/color] he echoed, then he picked up his breakfast and moved to another table by himself. Continuing his meal, he reflects on the conversation he just had.