TheMaster99

Château de La Lune

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Location: Château de La Lune: Foyer -> Evergreen Room
Skills: N/A

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Tony wasn’t totally sold on Sam’s suggestion of documenting everything he’d observed with the body - he probably shouldn’t be doing this at all, strictly speaking, and his medical license would mean nothing in France, and he wasn’t wearing gloves or even a shirt, for christ’s sake - but everyone else seemed to be in favor, so he did not argue. Sam asked if he truly believed that the teacher’s fate was merely an accident, but Tony was absolutely not willing to give his true opinion in front of Felix, not even in whispered conversation - so for the moment, he stuck to the facts. Once the photo session was done, Tony strode upstairs and past everyone still gathered near the stairs; if anyone tried to question him as he passed, he would look exasperated and answer, ”Look, I just woke up, I’m hungover, I haven’t even had a chance to shower yet. Ask me after breakfast.”

Walking down the hallway past all the bedrooms, the only thing on Tony’s mind is taking a nice, long shower after the terrible start to the day he’s had so far. Or perhaps more accurately, he’s fighting to avoid thinking about anything else until he’s alone. However, those thoughts are interrupted as he passes the Evergreen room - Constance’s room - and hears muffled sounds of… is she crying? For the briefest of moments Tony wonders whether he even has the energy to deal with this, but subconsciously he realizes that not only does he want to comfort her, but he doesn’t want to be alone with his thoughts right now, either. Mildly stunned by that realization, Tony stops in front of her door and tentatively knocks. ”Can I come in?”

Constance was holding the pillow against her chest as she sobbed before she heard the knocking on the door. She listened and thought before she got up, almost against her better judgement and opened the door. She looked up at Tony, stunning herself a bit as she answered. ”Please… come in. I… I’m not sure I want to be alone right now.”

With one look at her face, Tony closes the distance and pulls Constance into a hug, kicking the door closed behind him. To think that just minutes ago, his most pressing concern was a hangover, but now… this vacation was quickly becoming a disaster. ”What a shit morning,” he comments dryly.

Constance blinked a bit at surprise at the hug, but she pressed in close to Tony, and hugged him back. She found herself nuzzling in close, trusting him to see her at her worst when usually no one would see her like this. ”To think it started with such promise.” She muttered a bit into his chest.

”To think the only problem yesterday was a drunk asshole, but now…” Tony trails off. But in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn’t true. The blackmail on his desk was a far bigger problem than Lawrence, even if Tony had spent the night trying to avoid thinking about it. First the blackmail, now someone’s dead… could it be a coincidence? Tony was skeptical, but how could he tell anyone? Telling anyone how he was being blackmailed was simply not an option, but the situation has become too dangerous to keep ignoring it. Would anyone believe him if he refused to explain? And anyways, what possible connection is there with his blackmail and the teacher’s death? Tony’s mind raced as he continued holding Constance, trying to figure out what to say, how to explain his suspicions without saying too much.

Constance knew there was more going on… those photos she had burned and discarded were proof of that. However, could she trust Tony with that information? ”I… I thought about my father. I don’t know why. But when I saw her body like that, I thought of him, and how I had been rude to her by keeping her out of the bathroom yesterday and I just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

As he listened, Tony began gently rubbing her back. ”Nothing’s wrong with you,” he soothed. ”Death is a terrible thing for anyone to have to see, even moreso when you’re not expecting it. And especially when…” Tony pauses, then sighs. Here goes nothing…

”I don’t think it was an accident,” he whispers, almost inaudibly.

Constance’s eyes went wide and she pulled back a bit to look up at him. ”Are… are you saying someone killed her?”

Tony sighs again, meeting her gaze. ”I don’t know. But there’s too much weirdness going on, it can’t all be a coincidence. It really doesn’t make sense that we’d all be nominated for the same award, we’re all so different. Nothing has gone how I would’ve expected so far, yesterday was way more chaotic than any formal gathering I’ve seen before. And…” how do I tell her? Tony wonders. She can be trusted, I think… but that much? After a moment, he continues. ”Yesterday, there was something on my desk, that… didn’t belong.”

Constance could feel her heartbeat slow for a moment before starting to race at Tony’s words. He had noticed it as well, and at the mention of something that didn’t belong she could feel the color drain out of her face. ”Tony… Someone is blackmailing me.”

Tony’s breath hitched. What?

Château de La Lune

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Location: Château de La Lune: Lavender Room -> Foyer
Skills: N/A

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As Tony made it back to his room without incident, he was starting to notice more and more of a commotion in the hallway, but he tried to ignore it. Does nobody value a full night’s sleep around here? he wondered grumpily. He barely managed to get to the bathroom, have a sip of water, and pop a tylenol before he heard more screaming from outside, and… was that ‘doctor’ I heard? For the love of god, not now…

Alas, moments later there was a commotion at his door.

Sam made his way over towards where Rhi had designated as Tony's room. Rapping at the door with his knuckles for the man to wake up and answer him. ”Hey! Mr. Tony sir? We have a situation downstairs or well down the stairs to like the bottom!”

Tony sighed, turning off the faucet. ”I swear, if this fucking guy got his nose broken again I’m not dealing with it this time,” he called out as he headed to the door. As he opened it and saw Sam in nothing but his underwear, Tony blinked and took a step back. ”Where’s your clothes?” he asked, although to be fair he was only wearing the dress pants he’d brought back from Constance’s room himself; he hadn’t bothered putting anything else on yet.

Sam looked down at his body. Both Constance and Tony had made remarks on his lack of clothing. Clearly they deserved each other, but now was neither the time nor place for these kinds of questions. ”Dude, I just woke up to a blood curdling scream and ran out of bed. Be glad I was too lazy to sleep in the nude last night or you might be seeing a whole other picture right now.”

With his headache still lingering, Tony wasn’t in the mood to argue. ”Sure, whatever. So what’s this situation? Please tell me it’s not Lawrence again.”

”Ew no. Hard to say who, but a girl is laying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. She isn't moving…so…anyways a doctor would be greatly appreciated.”

Tony’s expression became grim as Sam explained. When he finished, Tony nodded. ”Let’s go, then.” He followed Sam to the top of the stairs, where a small crowd had started to form. At the bottom of the stairs, Tony saw it: the woman’s lifeless body (the teacher, he thinks?), accompanied by the butler, Felix and, naturally, Elenore. Tony squeezed his way past everyone and swiftly descended the stairs. ”What happened?” he asked them as he knelt down beside her.

“I am unsure. One of the maids found her.” Felix told Tony. “She is the one who screamed, that summoned me.”

“Gordon asked her in the kitchen and she said that the woman was already there when she found her. She did touch mademoiselle Tanner, but the...texture was wrong.” Elenore took up explaining as Felix had only been with the body since it had been found.

As Tony listened, Tony reached down to feel for a pulse, although it seemed pretty redundant. Sure enough, he felt nothing except cold skin. He tentatively attempted to move her limbs, but they were stiff. Maybe he hadn’t paid enough attention during the lectures that covered the topic of death, or maybe he couldn’t think clearly enough due to his headache, but either way he had no hope of determining an approximate time of death. After all, he was no coroner - he only ever worked on patients who were living, or occasionally ones that had very recently passed if they were organ donors.

”She’s been here a while, I couldn’t guess how long exactly but long enough for rigor mortis to be setting in,” Tony observed out loud.

“Gordon is trying to contact the mainland but he has not yet,” Elenore said. “Can we move her?”

Tony nodded. ”I’d like to look her over a bit if you don’t mind, who knows how long it will take to get a coroner here and there can be things that become less… apparent, if too much time has passed. The others don’t need to see this, though,” he responded. He might not have thought anything of this under normal circumstances, but… well, given the documents he had found in his room, he wasn’t prepared to chalk this up as an accident yet. He needed some answers.

“Very well. Examine as you deem necessary. After, Felix will get her moved into the cool storage in the basement.” Elenore and Felix met glances and he nodded in agreement.

Tony nodded, then began examining more closely. He may not be a coroner, but he did know the human body well - almost certainly better than anyone else on this island. Keeping his movements slow and deliberate, he gradually identified various injuries. He couldn’t be sure without x-rays - or more intrusive examinations than he was willing to perform at the moment - but there were some bones he was pretty confident were broken, although none had broken the skin. After carefully rolling the body on its side, he could see a massive traumatic wound on the back of her head. None of these injuries were clear red flags, they could all easily be attributed to the explanation that seemed readily available: a particularly bad fall down the stairs. Yet, the possibility of foul play lingered in his head. Things had been weird here almost since the moment they arrived, but this was easily the worst sign he’d seen so far that this vacation was a mistake.

”I’m no coroner, and I’m sure they will draw their own conclusions. But everything I see would be consistent with a particularly bad fall down these stairs. What caused her to fall, if that is what happened, I couldn’t say.” Bowing his head, he continued, ”Whatever the case may be, she is in a better place now. May she rest in peace,” he finished, making the sign of the cross on himself before standing.

“Qu'elle repose en paix,” Elenore said. “Thank you for looking, Doctor.” She looked at Felix. “Felix,” Elenore nods and heads back up the other set of stairs. For now Felix places the sheet over Renee.

“I’ll get her moved to a secure and cool place,” Felix said.

”Of course. If you need anything else from me, or the coroner whenever they can make it here, I’m sure it won’t be hard to find me,” Tony said, solemnly. He had plenty more to say, but not here and not now.

“You will likely be asked to participate in a conversation with the coroner when they arrive,” Felix said.

Tony nodded. ”No problem. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go freshen up… after answering all the questions I’m sure I’m about to get swarmed with.” Tony looked down at the now-covered body for another moment, before heading back up the stairs to face everyone waiting at the top.

Château de La Lune

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

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Upon waking up, the first thing that Tony became aware of was that his head felt like someone was beating on it like a drum. He didn’t immediately understand why, but it was brutal. He also felt rather tired and weak in general; the little bit of rational thought he could initially gather was enough to deduce that he was almost certainly hung over, but otherwise his headache dominated his senses. The second thing he eventually became aware of was that he was not alone in the room.

Constance was finishing tying up some work out shoes when she realized that Tony was stirring in her bed. ”Oh, good morning.” She finished tying up the knot and then moved to sit on the edge of the bed. ”Sorry if it sounds like I’m kicking you out, but I’m planning on leaving my room and doing some of my usual morning workout routine. I did let you sleep as long as I could.” She offered him a small smile.

Tony groaned, struggling to keep up with the conversation as memories of the previous night started coming back to him. ”What time is it?” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to focus on Constance despite his splitting headache.

”It’s about 8 AM. Are you going to be alright?” Constance tilted her head a bit as she looked at Tony, and then stood up and started to stretch a bit.

”Just hungover,” he replied, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. God, why did I drink so much? Tony mentally chastised himself. ”Why so early?” he added, doing a better job of sounding normal. Even without a hangover to deal with, 8am was early by Tony’s standards, not to mention the jetlag. A perk of being a surgeon and not working a normal 9-5, he supposed.

”Oh, I usually wake up earlier at home, but I got up early so I can get in some work out time before the day’s activities. I know there is not much planned, but I do wish to mingle. Can’t work out and mingle at the same time. If you want to stay in bed, I guess you can do that. I am going to leave though.”

”I think we managed to do both,” Tony replied with a smile - slightly forced through the pain in his head - as he reached out to lightly squeeze her thigh. ”I’ll see myself out, I just need a minute. See you later, though?”

”Mmmm we did~ I’ll see you later. Take as long as you need.” Constance leaned over and kissed him softly on the temple before heading out of her room.

Tony watched her leave, and found himself wishing that Constance was not so devoted to her morning routine. Oh well, there would always be later. As soon as the door closed he burrowed himself back into the pillows, in a fruitless attempt to dull his headache. He knew that above all, what he needed right now was water, but unfortunately he had been far too preoccupied with Constance to think about that last night. Stupid, he thought, but he’d deal with that in a minute. For now he tried to distract his brain by replaying the events of the previous night in his mind, trying to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything important. Arriving at the chateau, and discovering that someone here seemed to know his darkest secrets. Chatting with Lawrence, who proved himself to be a tactless asshole at dinner. Fixing his nose, only for it to be rebroken not long afterwards because he refused to listen. The strange conversation with the magician, who he still wasn’t sure about. Suspicion towards Elenore as the most likely culprit of his blackmail. His night with Constance. Fortunately, everything seemed to be there; Tony could not find any gaps in his memory. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was what had woken him up so early. Was it Constance untangling herself from his arms and getting ready to start her day? Was it his headache? Or was it something else? He wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem important. Could be worse, then, he concluded.

Gathering his strength, Tony sat up in the bed. As much as he’d love to spend the next 4 hours sleeping off this hangover, it didn’t seem like he had much choice but to get up at this point. Trying his best to ignore his throbbing head, he got out of bed and collected the various articles of clothing that had been strewn across the room the night before. He put on his boxers and pants but didn’t bother with the rest, deciding that was enough modesty for the short walk to his own room. After a moment of internal debate, Tony decided to head back to his room via the lounge, rather than the hallway; he figured it was less likely that anyone would be in the lounge at this early hour, thus less chance of anyone seeing him in this unpresentable state.

Of course, it wouldn’t be long before Tony found out that someone seeing him as a hungover mess should be the least of his concerns on this fateful morning. For now, though, he remained ignorant.

Château de La Lune

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

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As they entered the lounge, Tony slowly looked around the room. Immediately to their left was a lowered section of the room, with a fireplace in the corner and a bookshelf on the opposite side. Past that was an exit to what might be a balcony, then a second fireplace in the far corner with a few chairs gathered around it. The far wall was covered in windows, while the right wall was covered with doors - presumably leading to the bedrooms. In the middle of the room was a table with chairs gathered around it.

”So, where would you like to sit?” Tony asked.

Constance looked around the room, taking in where the chairs were before replying. ”How about around the table, so we can set our drinks down?”

Tony nodded. ”Works for me,” he replied as they walked towards the table. He pulled out a chair for her, and after she sat down he took the chair to her left, sitting down a bit more heavily than he’d intended. Their night of drinking was starting to catch up to him. He took another sip of scotch before setting the glass down on the table.

”Oh, thank you.” She sat down in the chair he pulled out for her and then set her drink down on the table. She looked over at Tony and relaxed a bit into her chair and stretched her legs out. Thankfully, no one else was in the lounge, so she figured she could dispense with the pretense a bit. They had been making overt overtures at one another over dinner, and well, the night was still young. ”So, anyone I should be worried about?”

Tony laughs at the sudden tone shift. I guess we’re cutting to the chase now, he thought. ”No, hasn’t been anyone for a year now. You? I’m sure there must be plenty of guys sending flowers to your dressing room after every performance,” he added cheekily.

”Oh plenty of men and women sending flowers, but I’m not pursuing anything serious at the moment. I want to achieve prima ballerina before I start seriously dating. So for now, there’s no one.” Constance had to grin as she heard that there was no one in his life at the moment. That made her next move easier. She got up and out of her chair and then sat herself in his lap and draped her arms around him. ”Hope you don’t mind.~” She practically purred out.

Compared to how the rest of the night had gone, Constance’s sudden forwardness was a surprise… but a welcome one. Tony smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist. ”Not at all. Although if you’re not planning on dating anyone yet, that means we only have just a few short days,” he points out, slowly bringing his face a bit closer to hers as he speaks.

”Well, what’s more thrilling than a little vacation fun?” Constance slowly brought her own face a bit closer and looked him over. She leaned up and bridged that gap, and let her lips meet his, kissing him softly.

Tony leaned into it, pulling her tighter against him. After a few seconds, he pulls back from her lips slightly, taking a breath. ”I’ve been looking forward to that all night,” he said, smiling, before leaning in to kiss her again, more passionately than the first.

Constance blushed deeply as he said that he had been looking forward to that all night and leaned in to meet his kiss. She let her passion meet his as she melted into the kiss. After a bit she broke the kiss with a soft sound and looked up at him. ”My room, or yours?”

”Definitely yours. I hate the theme of my room,” Tony replied without hesitation, briefly glaring at the door that presumably led to his room. Releasing his hold on her so she could escape his lap, he looked at his glass of scotch on the table and saw there wasn’t much left. With a shrug, he grabbed it and drank the rest in one go, before setting the glass back down and fixing his eyes back on Constance, taking a moment to enjoy the view.

”Works for me.” Constance stood up and then escaped his lap, and picked up her own drink and finished it up. She then slipped her arm around him and went to lead him towards her room.

Tony stood up, letting her lead him. He found himself needing to focus on walking to make sure he wouldn’t stumble and make himself look like an idiot at the worst possible moment. Some water would probably be a good idea, but currently he had much higher priorities. Following her into the room, he briefly looked around. ”Yeah, much better than mine,” he mused before turning around and closing the door behind him.

Château de La Lune

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

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While Tony's conversation with Constance continued, they both got distracted for a moment by the commotion happening at the bar. Once he put the pieces together that Lawrence had once again earned himself a broken nose by being a drunken ass, Tony scowled briefly before recomposing himself. Violence interrupting a formal dinner might have been a bit inappropriate in his opinion - even if deserved - but as far as he was concerned, Lawrence should consider himself quite fortunate that a very broken nose is the extent of his consequences this time. If that asshole had actually listened to even a single thing I said, this wouldn't have happened. I'm not fixing it this time, Tony thought to himself as he watched the drama die down.

With silent curses about stupid patients ignoring his medical advice playing through his mind, Tony reached for his glass to take another sip of scotch... then remembered that it was already empty. If it could be heard, the part of his mind that was suspicious about blackmail would probably be screaming cautions against getting drunk, but at least for tonight Tony intended to continue ignoring it; the idea of another drink seemed much more appealing than worrying about the danger that envelope had put him in.

Tony turned back towards Constance, holding up his empty glass. "I think I'm going to have one more, would you like me to get you another glass too while I'm there?" Constance gave her assent, and with a smile and a nod Tony got up and made his way back to the bar. Along the way he noticed the suspicious magician talking to some of the other nominees - Millicent, he thought, although his mind was fuzzy enough to not be quite certain - but he didn't dwell on it. Mostly, he was thinking about his plans for the rest of the night which had him in a good mood, and he intended to keep it that way.

Arriving at the bar, Tony set his empty glass down as Leon looked up from the drink he was mixing. "Another scotch please, Leon, and more champagne for Constance," he requested, gesturing towards their table. Leon nodded his acknowledgement as he finished the drink he was working on. As he waited for their drinks, Tony heard some snippets of conversations throughout the room, but pretty much all of it went in one ear and out the other. Once their drinks had been poured he thanked Leon, treated himself to another sip of the delicious Glenfiddich, then returned to his companion that hopefully he'd be spending plenty more time with tonight.

Château de La Lune

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

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Almost immediately after Elenore announced the end of dinner, Constance followed through on inviting him for drinks; Tony was more than happy to agree. He led her over to the rec room, making small talk along the way. As he entered the room, he saw that a few La Lunes had already made their way over… with a suppressed sigh, he noticed that Lawrence was one of them. Clearly, his medical advice had been promptly disregarded. Whatever, not his problem - he already did his part.

After receiving his scotch, Tony thanked Leon and went off to find Constance. It didn't take long to find her; it seems she had secured them a secluded corner table. That suited him well: a chance to have some alone time with her, without anyone overhearing them.

”I'm glad we came straight here, because this table definitely wouldn't have lasted long,” Tony commented as he sat down across from Constance.

”Oh, I’m sure it would have been snatched up in an instance by someone else. I’m glad I could grab it for us.” Constance offered him a smile and raised her glass.

Tony returned the gesture with a smile, clinking their glasses before taking a sip of his scotch. So far over the course of the night he'd tried to avoid the subject, but finally he was speaking in private - and he'd had a few drinks at this point - so he asked, ”So… I'm not the only one noticing how weird all of this has been so far, right?”

Constance’s smile faltered for a moment as he asked that, before she lowered her glass and took a sip of her champagne. She seemed to be thinking for a moment, as if calculating before responding. ”I have noticed a few oddities here and there, yes. Like the nominees… not a one of us are from the same field, unless you count entertainment as a broad field. But then, it still doesn’t quite add up, does it?”

”Not quite,” Tony agreed. ”After all, I'm certainly not an entertainer. And there's plenty of other strange things happening… but let's not dwell on it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining things,” he continued, taking another sip of scotch. ”How did you get into dancing?” he asked, changing the subject to more pleasant topics.

”Ah, both my parents were dancers, both ballet. It was only natural I followed in their pointe shoes, as it seems. Especially since I lost my father at a young age.” She sighed softly at that before looking back at Tony. ”And you, how did you get into your medical field?”

Tony’s small smile at the shoes comment faded with the following sentence. ”I'm sorry to hear that,” he consoled. ”I'm sure he'd be happy to see you following in their footsteps, though. As for me.. I'd love to say it was an overwhelming desire to help people and save lives, but honestly, it's much less selfless than that. My parents struggled to make ends meet, and my childhood wasn't much to write home about. I wanted a better life for myself, and for my kids at some point down the road. Surgery was interesting to me, and would be a good opportunity to build a better life, so I did everything I could to make it into a good school.” Tony took another sip of scotch, reflecting for a moment. ”I am glad that my work allows me to help others, but it's more of an added bonus, really,” he finished.

”Thank you.” Constance was use to condolences, and listened as Tony spoke. She gently rested her head on her hand as she did so, and nodded as he spoke. ”There is nothing wrong in wanting a better life for yourself. Or even your children. It seems you have done that for yourself, so, cheers.” She held up her glass again and offered him another smile.

Tony smiled in return. ”Cheers,” he echoed as he raised his own glass again, before taking another sip. Looking down, he was slightly surprised to see he'd already put a considerable dent in his drink. Time flies and all that, he supposed. ”So what shows have you performed in? Anything I might recognize? I must admit I don't know too much about ballet,”

”Oh, I’ve performed in quite a few shows, but of those that you might recognize, I’ve done Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Nutcracker. I’ve been dancing almost as long as I could walk. Though I’ve yet to achieve a prima role yet. That’s my next goal.” Constance sighed softly as she took another sip of her champagne.

”I'm sure you'll get there soon,” Tony replied. ”I'd say that winning the award might help, if not for the fact that unfortunately I intend to be the winner,” he added with an apologetic smile.

”Awwww, well I hope you won’t be too disappointed when I turn out to be the winner then.” Constance just smiled again, clearly not wanting to give up the idea of the award too easily.

Tony smiled, swirling his drink for a moment before deciding fuck it and downing the remainder in one shot. ”Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see which one of us is right, then,” he said with a slight chuckle.

Tony had been somewhat faking the appearance of being at ease that he hoped he had given at dinner, but there was nothing fake about it now. Maybe it was Constance, maybe it was the alcohol.. maybe it was both. Either way, this was nice; a good distraction from the nightmare he found on his desk earlier. Hopefully, this distraction was far from over.

Château de La Lune

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

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As the cheese platters were cleared to make room for dessert, Tony was curious what the chef had prepared to finish what had been an excellent dinner. When he saw that it would be tiramisu, he became… apprehensive. It wasn’t that he thought it would be terrible - the chef (Gordon, was it?) had already proven himself to be very talented. But… this was an Italian dish. Over the years, Tony has eaten at many of the greatest Italian restaurants in New York City, Miami, and elsewhere across the globe. He’s had countless amazing variations of tiramisu. Hell, some of them have cost more than many people might pay for an entire dinner. So his expectations were very high, and would a Frenchman really be up to the task?

Hesitantly, he took a bite. Then, smiling, he quickly had a second. No, this wasn’t the best he’s had, but by God was it close. Better than I would’ve expected from a Frenchman, he thought. He was so distracted by these thoughts about the tiramisu that at first, he didn’t realize that someone was talking to him.

Looking up, he realized it was the woman he’d previously noticed interrogating half the table. Apparently, she’d decided it was his turn.

Tony didn’t trust her.

Something about the way she was interrogating everyone like this dinner was a murder mystery just didn’t add up. He hadn’t thought that any nominees could be involved in his blackmail, but was that really true? Certainly no nominee could be the one to place the envelope on his desk, but was it impossible that none of them were in on it? No… it’s not, he decided.

So, carefully keeping his expression as normal as he could, he faced her question. What did he think? Well, frankly this dinner had been the most awkward event he’d been to since… that night. But even if he trusted her, courtesy would forbid him from saying that - and he didn’t trust her. So instead, he politely commented on how good the food was then turned the question back on her. But if he expected to read anything from her reply, he was left disappointed. As a surgeon he understood the human body better than most, but in Millicent he saw nothing that might give her thoughts or feelings away. Maybe, just maybe, he noticed the slightest narrowing of her eyes, but even of that he couldn’t be sure. At this point, there were two things Tony was sure of. One: she was very good at this. Two: if he couldn’t be even better, he might be fucked. Even if she didn’t already know them, Tony felt like she could eventually figure out his deepest, darkest secrets if she wanted to… and that wasn’t acceptable.

With this in mind, he thought carefully about his answer to her follow-up question before responding. Deciding that the best lies always had an element of truth to them, he gave an answer that technically was a truthful reflection of his thoughts, without actually saying anything meaningful. Or at least, so he hoped. In truth, he was starting to think there was nothing he wanted more than to forget this trip ever happened. But until it was over, that was a luxury he could not afford. Until then, Tony decided he would need to watch Millicent closely. It couldn’t be a coincidence that someone that seemed remarkably talented at reading people could be in the same group of nominees as him.

Looking at his glass of wine, the logical part of his mind screamed that he should probably stop drinking. A glass of scotch before dinner, several glasses of wine - four? - during dinner, and the expectation of more drinks later in the night… this seemed like a very dangerous place to risk getting drunk. And yet…

Fuck it. I didn’t sign up for this shit, Tony thought.

And so he drank.

Château de La Lune

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

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As the various conversations around the table began to dwindle, the tension in the room became palpable. In some ways, it made sense. It was pretty clear to Tony that this dinner hadn't exactly gone according to plan, and everyone probably knew it - Lawrence making an ass of himself, a nominee punching him, that same nominee feeling ill and needing to leave early, and so on. Then there was the fact that it felt like half of the nominees were completely out of their element at a formal dinner, behaving in ways he'd never seen at similar events in the past - in ways that would probably have them not get invited to future occasions, if not actually kicked out altogether. Not to mention the fact that the seating chart was made laughably awkward by the massive gaps now present across the table, making it exceptionally difficult for many of them to make conversation.

Yet in other ways, the tension was becoming another confusing piece of the puzzle that this trip had turned into. Between the rudeness of some family members and the lack of conversation from others, it kind of seemed like most of them didn't really even want to be here, playing host to a bunch of strangers they can barely relate to. Based on conversations overheard, it sounded like at least a couple of them don't even stay here for most of the year. So if all these people didn't want to be here, why were they? Additionally, although in some ways it made sense that some of the nominees were acting weird - they clearly weren't the types to attend this sort of thing normally - some of the behavior just didn't make sense. One of the women at the other end of the table seemed particularly interrogative. Why did it seem like everyone was focused on questioning the La Lunes about the awards, and not just making friendly small talk? Tony had a good reason for doing it, of course - someone here, most likely Elenore, was trying to blackmail him with something that could easily be the end of far more than just his award-winning prospects. But why was everyone else acting strangely?

Something wasn't adding up, that's for sure. Tony just didn't know what part of the equation he was missing. There was one equation he did fully understand though: cheese + wine = delicious. He'd always appreciated the simple truth that was good food; sure, you could make a meal as complicated as possible if you want, but you could also reduce a meal to its simplest form and a good pairing would still taste great. And this cheese (he assembled another combination from the cheese board) with this wine (he took another sip) was a great pairing. If only everything else could be so simple.

Château de La Lune

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

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Tony continued enjoying his steak, listening to the conversations he could hear around him. He couldn’t hear the other end of the table super well with all the other conversations happening, but it sounded like the nominees over there had eked out a few more details about the awards. Apparently people could be nominated either by the community - so, anyone? - or by members of the family. Elenore, as the matriarch, seemed to be the sole decision maker regarding who makes the shortlist. As far he was concerned, this only reinforced his previous assumption that she must be aware of the folder that was left on his desk; if she’d spent an appreciable amount of time curating the shortlist of nominees, surely no one would dare risk her wrath if they were caught meddling with a nominee. This still leaves many unanswered questions, though. Is it a coincidence that she put him on the shortlist and they found that information about him, or could it be that he was shortlisted because of it? I am the most qualified nominee, as far as I can tell, but logically it seems unlikely to be a total coincidence, he thought.

Now seemed as good a time as any to try to fish for more clues, but it would have to be done carefully. Tony took a sip of wine then turned his attention to Elenore. ”So, Mrs. La Lune, these awards have been running for many years now. Surely you must have a favorite out of all the previous winners? Perhaps the most successful, or the most charming, or maybe the most unique?” he asked, trying to ease her into some conversation.

Elenore smiled. It was the smile of someone reminiscing. “There was a young girl who was studying to become a librarian. She was quite skilled at repair of ancient manuscripts. She wrote me a letter a couple of years later telling me she had gotten her dream job at the Library of Congress. She had this light in her eyes when talking about books that was impossible to forget.”

Tony smiled politely in return. So her favorite was one who sounds highly qualified, which boded well for him. Although a small part of his mind wondered if he should be trusting anything she says at face value. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was struggling to think of clever enough ways to ask them without making it obvious what he’s fishing for. ”She does sound quite remarkable. I’m sure there must have been some misses over the years as well? A nominee that didn’t quite live up to expectations, or turned out to be not exactly who you thought they were?” There, that should do it.

“We have had a few that post nomination, post winning, have failed to live up to expectation. This award isn't supposed to stop people from doing what they love. It is meant to give them breathing room to do it. To excel at it. Hire people that they need to improve or take care of things. Whatever the money can do to help them become better at their chosen career. So many have used the money to be lazy, they stopped having drive. They stopped trying to improve.” She clicks her tongue disapprovingly. “Hopefully, this year's winner proves they know what to do with the windfall.”

Tony nodded, taking another sip of wine. ”That is some excellent advice, I’m sure we would all do well to remember it,” he replied. In the back of his mind, though, he was cursing. Damn it, that was too indirect.. she went in the total opposite direction from what I wanted. But I couldn’t be any more direct without giving away what I was looking for. I’m not going to get answers by asking… at least, not from her.

He turned his attention to the other nearby family members, participating in whatever small talk came his way. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Constance looking at him, slightly raising her glass to him. He returned the small salute in kind, with a subtle smile. At least there would be something to look forward to tonight.

Château de La Lune

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

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As Tony walked back towards his seat, he couldn’t help but hear a few whispered words of… Spanish? Maybe? “Spanish. Shit.” … “I… you…” Shaking his head at how incomprehensible the overheard conversation was, Tony quietly returned to his seat amidst various conversations without any further comments, except one: Beatrice leaning across the table to thank him for taking care of Lawrence, despite his behavior. “It’s no trouble,” Tony answered, smiling slightly. Looking around, he noticed that the table was noticeably split in half by the gap made by the absences of Agatha and Lawrence. “I didn’t expect my skills to be needed on this trip, but I’m more than happy to be of help. Hopefully he has the sense to regret his choices when he’s sober.”

Thankfully, it wasn’t long after Tony returned to his seat that the waitstaff came around to collect what was left of the salads, and delivered the main courses and their accompanying wines. The steak looked absolutely superb, cooked to perfection; and although he was no wine expert, he knew enough to know that you’re supposed to pair a red wine with a steak, and he had no doubt that it would be an incredible pairing. Taking a bite and a sip confirmed that his assumption was correct. ”My compliments to the chef,” he heard himself say to no one in particular.

“Oh Gordon is a wizard in the kitchen,” Beatrice informs Tony. “I'll make sure he gets your compliment.”

”I do have to say, everything has been incredible.”

Tony looked up as each of the women sitting across from him spoke in turn; first the middle-aged La Lune, then the young nominee that had steamed her clothes. ”Incredible is definitely the right word for it,” he agreed. ”I don’t believe we’ve properly introduced ourselves yet. I’m Tony, and you are..?”

”Oh, I’m Constance, Constance Monroe, a pleasure to meet you Tony. I do apologize for not being able to shake your hand, but a little hard from across the table.” She chuckled softly at that point.

Tony smiled politely in return. Her name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. ”It would indeed, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for that later,” he replied. Perhaps time for more than just handshakes too, he thought… She’s young, fit, good looking, and seemingly the only other nominee with even the slightest idea of how to act in polite company - he was trying his best to ignore the absurd behavior of the nominees on the other end of the table - so why not? Plus maybe at some point he’ll remember why her name sounds familiar. Damn it, he realized, another fucking mystery to figure out… this is getting ridiculous.

For the moment, Tony put the mysteries aside and focused on eating his steak. This, at least, was something straightforward. An excellent cut and perfectly cooked, full of flavor on its own; the only mystery was why anyone would think such a steak needs sauce. Wait… that’s another mystery. Damn it.