KTostada

Château de La Lune

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Ivanna (Brendan)

Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Elenore seemed quite poised and put together, despite the horrors. Brendan wasn't sure whether to admire her 'show must go on' ability, or be incredibly sus of her for not being more freaked out. Was she admirably calm, or just way too calm? He nodded as she mentioned helping out with the flowers, glancing over to Millicent, wondering what she was thinking about Elenore.

Elenore then asked them to help out with something else, but before she could say what, she was interupted by a bell, which apparently meant food, and that rich people could seemingly be trained the same way as Pavlov's dog. Elenore told them to go get food, then return, and then she'd tell them what to do. Brendan wondered why she couldn't just say it now? How was he supposed to have room for food, when he was so full of suspense? Still, he was glad they'd have a reason to come back and try to find out more, at least. He just hoped whatever she needed help with, it'd continue to be just her, him and Millicent. It'd be hard to learn anything if others were around.

He agreed to help her after he was done eating, following Millicent out into the hall. Once they were alone, Millicent told Brendan that she'd been unable to get a read on Elenore, and suggested that they try and bring up Miguel or Elenore's husband to see her reaction.

Brendan nodded. "Yeah. If she has a weird reaction...well, it'll mean something. We'll work it into the conversation and see if she freaks. We gotta be able to figure out something from her."

Brendan followed Millicent to the food, wondering if he was going to get Pavlov'd from all these bells too. He was certainly going to come away from all this with a much stronger reaction to mystery envelopes in the mail.

Château de La Lune

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Ivanna (Brendan)

Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan glanced back and forth between Millicent and Elenore.

Millicent was taking a good lead, Brendan would try to follow it. Millicent was a performer too, he trusted in her ability. There was still an anxiety that tugged at the back of his mind, a strong pull that he couldn't shake free of, like that time his dress got caught on the stage doors at a drag competition he still had somehow won. What if Elenore was the killer? Would she kill two people at once? He could not let her get him away from Millicent.

He decided to treat this like his short time in theatre. He had an objective in this scene, he would focus on that, every choice he made would lead back to it, and all his anxiety around whether or not Elenore was the killer was just backstory, motivation, not important in this moment.

"Yeah," Brendan nodded, speaking gently after Millicent had finished, "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

When he did drag or theatre, he always amazed the other performers by having near zero stage fright. He tried to recall that feeling, of bravery in the moment. If he just pretended this was a stage, a made up story, then maybe he could get through it.

Château de La Lune

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Ivanna (Brendan)

Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan nodded as Millicent suggested food, ready to follow her to wherever. Probably no one was actually hungry right now after seeing...that...Brendan tried to push the image out of his mind. Oh gods, what if he just actually full on passed out from hunger? That'd be bad. He did not want to add to the number of bodies on the floor that these poor people had seen.

He tried to focus and hoped that Millicent was going in the direction of food. She was saying something else now, something about Miguel and how at least now they knew what had happened.

Brendan nodded again. "Yeah. It's better to know..." Brendan went quiet as all the memories of the past month came flooding back. The Finding Out to Fucking Around ratio had been insane. He thought he'd learned his lesson back home. But here he was, still finding out all the worst things in the worst ways. He vowed that if he ever got off this island alive, he'd swear off fuck aroundery forever. "I just really hope we aren't...getting ourselves into danger." Brendan took a deep breath. "Sorry. Yeah I'm holding up...okay enough, at least....are you okay Millicent?"

He tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, then hesitated, not wanting to seem weird. Probably standing here with his hand just out while he waited for her to answer was weirder?

Whatever. It was all weird. Just as long as everyone was okay in the end. That was it, that was all that mattered. Protect anyone he can. Don't think about anything else.

Château de La Lune

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Ivanna (Brendan)

Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan tuned back into what was going on and tried to focus. How long had he gone quiet just staring? The weather was starting to get worse again. It seemed like a narrative device. The rain was a metaphor for bad things coming. Or maybe it meant good things coming? But probably not. They'd just found a dead body. Again. They were talking about comparing notes...maybe showing his note wouldn't be so bad. And if it solved whatever crazy thing was going on, it'd be worth it. Even if it was uncomfortable. Not that he could take the paper note out right now anyway with the rain coming down like this.

As the others discussed splitting up, Brandon glanced around the group. It seemed he'd be going with Millicent, the one he trusted the most. That was good. He looked around the group. Could a blackmailer and a killer really be among them?

He nodded in agreement as they mentioned him going with Millicent. He'd been with her most of time so far, she seemed trustworthy. He had not yet been murdered, and she showed very few signs of being a secret mermaid.

But the others...could he trust them? Did he even have a choice? Maybe he needed to stop doubting everyone and everything all the time. Which was, in his defense probably a reasonable reaction having just seen two dead bodies in such a short amount of time, but that didn't mean it was the best reaction. He took a deep breath. He'd trust them, like he trusted Millicent and Felix and Superfetch, and if that got him killed...well, he wouldn't be alive to regret it anyway.

Brendan nodded at Sam. "That makes sense. I can go with Millicent to talk to Elenore again. We'll let you know what we figure out whenever we run into you...where are the rest of you gonna go...?" Brendan tried to look up through the rain pelting down. All he could think about now was how cold he was. He tried to focus. "We should figure out where inside it will be safe to talk..."

Château de La Lune

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Ivanna (Brendan)

Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan felt anxiety grow in his stomach as Millicent started to talk about what they'd found. He tried to add something and help explain, and, at the same time, also tried to tell her not to talk about it so openly, in the end just making a weird noise very quietly. Probably telling the others was the right thing to do...but if the blackmailer and/or killer was among them, then they now knew that Brendan and Millicent knew and had been snooping around. What if they were both in the group right now, and both after Millicent and Brendan? What if the blackmailer and killer were working together? What if the baddies split up the work and each took out one of them? Brendan was not prepared to fight someone, much less someone who was so much more orginized then he was...which maybe was anyone.
He tried to remember what Millicent said...focus on their favorite foods... He closed his eyes peanut butter mayonnaise pickle sandwich...peanut butter mayonnaise pickle sandwhich....peanut butter mayonnaise pickle sandwich...he took a few deep breaths. He opened his eyes, his gaze landing righ to on Miguel as Millicent picked up her shovel and said something about reburying Miguel.

Brendan felt sick to his stomach, more then he had in awhile. There was a dead body, someone he'd kinda sorta known, so close...he took another deep breath.

"Yes. We can't put ourselves in extra danger..." Brendan trailed off, with a growing worry that they already had.

Château de La Lune

Brendan got closer to Millicent, trying to figure out what he wanted to say when he stopped it. Words no longer seemed to be able to form for him right bow. There was an arm. A human body that had just been dug up.

Brendan stepped back, who else was dead, what the hell was happening here. Brendan backed up without looking or caring where he was going when he caught a glimpse. The others were still messing around, uncovering the body further and...

Brendan knew that face. Who was it again...

Oh.

Miguel? Was that the name? Brendan felt dizzy again. He was never going to get used to seeing people he knew dead....he shouldn't fucking have to...!

Millicent tried to reassure them, telling them to think of snacks and take a deep breath. Brendan tried but just felt dizzy, reaching out a hand as he felt his knees get to weak to stand

Château de La Lune

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Ivanna (Brendan)

Location: Château de La Lune:
Skills: N/A

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Brendan watched as the others all turned back to Ralph, who still looked a little confused. He started talking about how he hadn't seen Miguel recently. Brendan realized he hadn't either. He felt a slight shiver, or was that just that it was cold out? Murder, a missing person, and a grave...no, Brendan would not allow himself to think that horribly.

Then Sam spoke, saying the exact same thing and Brendan's felt anxious. Then Sam added that this was the last known location of Miguel? And a text from a weird number? Brendan glanced over at Millicent. Could that number have been the same person who had texted Renee?

Brendan started towards Millicent and--oh good gods, was she helping to dig? Wasn't she afraid of what was in there? What if it was...? She had more bravery then Brendan did.

Brendan couldn't look away, but was aware that Tony was speaking now too. Saying that this could be a trap...shit, he was right, it could be! He glanced back at Millicent and then the others. He wanted desperatly to get out of there before they all got murdered to death, but he was not going to leave Millicent, for her sake and for his.

He looked back at Tony, who was holding up his phone, showing a text that was telling him to keep quiet. Brendan shivered. He felt cold all the way through now. There was something going on for sure. Someone was was hiding something. Was it nominee? One of the a la lunes? Felix?? He stared at the message. He hoped desperatly that it was not someone here who sent it. If the person threatening Tony to keep quiet saw that he wasn't...Brendan wondered if it was too late to keep telling himself that a mermaid did this. He doubted mermaids had cellphones though.

Brendan looked to Sam as Tony asked Sam if it was the same number sending his text, and Brendan stared at the number trying to remember if it was the one that had texted Renee's phone. Did Millicent still have the phone on her? Could they compare? Maybe best to not do it with all these people around. He wanted to believe it wasn't one of them, that it was one of the rich folks or a supernatural creature, or anyone who wasn't watching, but he was no longer going to going to rely on that thought. It could very well be that one of the people here was some kind of imposter, watching them all and planning on who they wanted to take out next, so Brendan just silently looked at the number trying to memorize it as much as he could to compare it to the one that had texted Renee, when he got the chance.

He turned back towards Millicent. He tried to find the words to ask her if she'd found anything there but couldn't. It was too awful to speak out loud, so instead he quietly just took a step towards her, trying to see for himself.

Château de La Lune

Brendan smiled lightly at the revlation of who he was. At least he knew his makeup skills were good. He remembered how long it had taken him to get it right, how many times he'd woken up at four AM to put himself in drag, take a few secret pictures, and then get out of it before anyone else in the house was awake. He still had those old pictures. He wasn't proud of those makeup looks, and that was why kept the photos. To see how far they'd come. He remembered the first night he'd really gotten it right, finally mastered the conquer technique, tried a new kind of glue for his brows, spent more money then he should have on a brand new platinum blonde wig...God he loved the wig. It was the first time his drag looked the he wanted it too, the first time he'd felt confident enough to go out into the world as Ivanna. It was also the night he'd met Superfetch...

And speaking of Superfetch, the others were back on the topic of blackmail, it seemed. Brendon tried to pay attention. Someone, Brendan wasn't focused in enough to catch who, was trying to confirm that they were all being blackmailed. Brendan felt embarrassed, even just confirming that he was. He nodded his head and mumbled that he was. He knew just saying he was being blackmailed didn't give them all the details, but he still felt the heavy embarrassment. He kept getting close to forgetting it...

All of it was forgotten as he tuned back in again to find one of the others asking where Miguel had been, and pointing at something. Brendan looked.

Freshly dug dirt. And they were in a graveyard.

"Is that...?" Brendan said quietly.

Ugh. He hated this. It was scary. He didn't trust anyone except Millicent and she was a ways away. Would it be weird just to walk over to her now? He hesitated. He felt so alone. He stared at the ground. This was all so scary and he wanted to run. Despite everything that had happened with her, he started to wish Superfetch was there with him.

Château de La Lune

As Brendan made their way to the others, Felix appeared, offering umbrellas. Brendan took one, growing more uncertain about all this. Was this everyone gathering together? What if someone said something and the wrong person heard it, Had the others not realized that the killer could be part of this group?

They had waved to Ralph, but he had waved back without saying anything. It didn't seem likely he was going to he talking to Millicent and Brendan alone now, but maybe he could get his attention again after?

Brendan felt more nervous as they headed outside. He stayed by himself for the moment, just observing what was going on, and wishing he was just with the people he trusted and not this whole group. Going back inside now though, he could miss important info. Or risk being alone with the killer, if it did end up being one of the family members. He continued on, but with every step wished they were indoors.

Château de La Lune

Brendan stepped out into the foyer, seeing all the others going to each other His mind was still mostly on everything he'd just learned, with whatever had been going on with Renee. It was still strange to think all the weird stuff that had happened could have been fromm one of these people.

He turned back and saw Tony speaking with Millicent, saying something about everyone going outside. He decided to just go with the group, wanting to go back to Millicent but still needing to find Ralph. Brendan felt nervous at the thought of the whole group together. What if it was one of them? He trusted Millicent, and he wanted to trust anyone she trusted, but the whole group? Or maybe it was none of them. Maybe it was a staff, and there was still the mermaid theory. Maybe Brendan was freaking himself out over nothing.

He spotted Ralph and tried to push his fears aside, waving to get Ralph's attention as he approached.