Whisperwind's Comb

[Hap]

Somehow Ridley's low estimation of Mike hadn't been anywhere near low enough. It was almost impressive, honestly. Also probably solid evidence that Mike was only responding to what Ridley said and did in the loosest possible terms, because no-one who talked like that would look at a hairy fat guy with painted nails and an obvious predilection for pink and react with anything but disdain.

That was... probably good? At least, it meant there were probably limited ways Ridley could screw this up, as long as he resisted the urge to call Mike an asshole and throw his drink at him for a second time.

More to the point: Hey, Andre, what the fuck? Ridley felt he could be forgiven for the minimal attention he'd paid to Mike until now, given that he was preoccupied with the dungeon situation, but Andre had presumably spent enough time talking with the guy to be willing to invite him back to his flat. And no matter how indifferent Ridley's responses had been, whatever Andre had said in this situation must have been at least somewhat approving for Mike to feel comfortable talking so openly about domestic violence.

It didn't fit with the guy Ridley knew at all.

How old was Andre? Around Ridley's age, he thought, but he couldn't remember if he'd ever actually asked. Mike had called this Wyndon, but Ridley remembered Andre saying he lived in Kanto. Maybe this was a memory from a few years ago? People could change over time.

But change that much?

Or maybe he'd been mistaken in assuming this was Andre's memory to begin with.

"Yeah, well, women be crazy," Ridley said. He hopped to his feet. "Man, think I'll have a beer after all, you know?"

It was a thin excuse to move around the flat a little. If he could find a letter, a bill, anything with a name on it...

He'd just have to hope the dungeon didn't reset him again the second he moved away. Ridley was trying to co-operate; he just wanted to check this one thing.

 

[canisaries]

"Go right ahead," Mike said. He took another sip of his beer.

As Ridley looked around, he would find a stack of letters on a drawer next to the front door. Reading the text on the envelopes would confirm that this was the apartment of one Andre Duval.

"Well, I gotta take a leak," Mike said, getting up. He stepped away, behind a corner and out of view, and there was a sound of a door opening and closing. A lock clacked, too.

And the moment it did, the third drawer on the right under the kitchen counter gained color. It was a deep brown, and its handle looked like brass.

 

[Hap]

So this was Andre's memory, then. That would have been a neat explanation for everything which didn't add up about it, but on the plus side at least Ridley didn't have to deal with a third party gatecrashing the dungeon.

And Andre had been waiting for Mike to leave so he could do... what, exactly?

(Ugh, how much did Ridley want to bet that Mile wasn't going to wash his hands after he pissed?)

Ridley grabbed the drawer handle, at the last moment checking his instinct to yank it open. Instead he pulled smooth and steady. Silent.

 

[canisaries]

At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary - just some kitchen utensils, all of them colorless. At the very back of the drawer, however, were three transparent ziplock bags with a small amount of fine, white powder inside each. There was a stripe along each lock - gray for two of them further back, and green for the one in front. It seemed like the bag with the green stripe also reflected slightly yellow light. It was, then, in color, while the others were not.