"Please. Take. A rest".
Inference's words repeated many times in her mind as she went along with the "plan" the detective created for her that day. She knew her friend needed some time to calm down after the last incident they had, but still, she couldn't help but sigh as her heart ached by thinking this was probably the first time the detective raised his voice to her. "It isn't fair", was what she thought when she couldn't even have the chance to explain herself or even apologize, and now she was stuck in a place to "check" when she didn't receive a concrete note of what was expected of her. Lady Truth thought maybe it was because Inference just wanted to get rid of her for a few hours, which was fair considering how mad he was while suddenly giving her a note with a direction and nothing else, but at the same time, letting aside whatever just happened, this was still her opportunity to prove how much she learned by sticking to that grumpy man's side.
She crossed her arms in a dramatic way as she walked away while repeating in her mind "I'll prove it to you, you'll need to listen to me next time", while checking the address from time to time.
When she saw quite a small crowd in front of a theater, she knew it was the right place.
One ticket, an innocent smile and she was ready.
The place was huge, something curious by how the entrance seemed to be through a pretty closed and long corridor, it was intriguing yet well decorated. Lady Truth wasn’t much of a theater enjoyer, but she knew a few things, just like how the surroundings could affect one’s perception. In her own words, it wasn’t really comfortable, but instead it led to many expectations, what kind of place could be at the end?
She was surprised by a sudden noise, it was a loud crash just when she entered the main hall, but the guests paid no mind.
“Weird”, she thought, but continued to find the seat she was assigned to. Once she accommodated, the detective’s assistant sighed while thinking about that weird noise, which clearly came from behind the stage. It wasn’t like she could just enter and ask, even if she wanted to (which she would normally do, it wasn’t like she was doing something illegal, but she knew being cautious was more important, after all, there was a reason why they received that invitation). As a plus, the way the other guests didn't seem to care about it just made things more confusing yet intriguing.
Near the stage was a tall man, white hair and red eyes, one covered by the same hair, but he also had a few strands of black hair, kind of a similar style that she associated the most with the man that gave Inference a headache just by hearing his name.
Before she could even think about getting close or even recognize who that was, the lights were off. She sighed, trying to remind herself that after all this wasn’t a part of the plan she should get frustrated by. What made a theater engage with their audience wasn’t just how meticulous they were by the place’s looks or the actors and actresses that followed a script (which she respected and admire), it was the first image that they had to caught the guests attention, and what she saw made her heart go faster than she could ever imagine. Even she was surprised by the sudden attention the lead actress stole from everyone, including herself. The play was about pirates. The actress that caught her attention had blue hair and quite a tight uniform, along with a small backpack that seemed like some kind of big doll. Art department really worked hard to recreate every scenario and detail, and even the makeup and clothes fitted pretty well with the story, but even if she tried to concentrate on something else, her eyes always ended up landing on that beautiful woman's charismatic acting skills. Truth felt like the world around her stopped for a few seconds, and she didn’t wake up until she reminded herself that she needed to breathe. She was pretty sure she heard that voice before, but those eyes never reflected such a passion like how she did at that moment. Truth never was completely passionate about art like others were, but even if she knew she could be exaggerating, the words she heard from someone else finally resonated with her, what real art meant, the feeling that provided inspiration to many, she finally understood what Succubus once tried to explain to her. Even if she didn’t notice it, she was blushing by this sudden realization, a natural reaction to her sudden beating heart and her cloudy mind that didn’t wake up until the curtains fell down.
It was shocking, she never thought someone could literally steal someone else’s mind like that. As the few guests clapped, her hands clenched around her seat. It took her a few minutes while her eyes traveled around, the man in a corner seemed to keep being frustrated, eyes with clear frustration as he sighed heavily, just as if he was expecting this to end soon, and she couldn’t relate more to that, grabbing hard the note Inference gave her as she read it again and again. There was no need in letting feelings interfere with another case, she needed to be professional after all.
The small crowd was almost gone now, she got close to the mysterious man while giving her a nice smile. He seemed cautious and tired, looking away immediately.
"Sorry, sir, may I as—".
"The show is over".
"I know that, I just wanted to know if—"
"The. Show. Is. Over".
This was pretty familiar to her, actually. If it was Inference asking, things could have gone way different, but Truth also knew how to pick on someone's good side.
"Wow, is that an Iris flower? They're not that common to see, you really must have a good eye to have one!"
The man's expression changed, it softened a little as he finally looked back at her, nodding slowly.
"It's such a fine specimen too! I never thought I would see someone else wearing one, gardeners tend to use it for more proper matters, but I think not sharing a flower with the world it's just a shame, don't you think so too? Each one may fit different meanings and places, but they deserve all the attention and love anyone could give them! There's more than just pure looks, though. Irises are so elegant and strong, I think they have more to share than just their first impression".
Those words struck the man in a strange way, at first he seemed more relieved, but then his face changed, he frowned and looked away. His voice was softer.
“...I don’t think they fit everyone either”.
Truth smiled by the small progress.
“That 's true too. Not everyone has the exact eye to appreciate it”.
He huffed and mumbled something in a soft and low voice.
“Mr. Kreiss, I think she understood already, but thanks for finding her”.
Both, “Kreiss” and Truth looked to the source of the sudden yet soft voice. Once Truth’s eyes met hers, she felt once more a weird flutter inside. The lead actress stood in an elegant way, a bag in her hand as she seemed to still have most part of her role’s outfit on. Truth tried to ignore this weird feeling inside as she looked at her with curious eyes that made the other woman send a soft chuckle towards her.
“If I’m correct, you should be the detective we commissioned for today’s play, right?”.
Even the way she accommodated the wig while her lips moved slowly, generating a comfortable and polite talk just gave her the idea of quite a shy demeanor, but she still was very professional, Truth was taking fast notes on her mind with every few details she could gather, but for once she asked herself if this was just a part of the woman’s charisma or just her thinking too much too avoid many other thoughts that seemed to collide.
“Yes, I am!”.
Her own voice was quite too cheerful as she extended her arm in her direction, reminding herself to keep at least her usual cheerful persona, one that easily fell down once the actress used both hands to take hers between, a slight gentle shake before her gaze went down, then slowly up, as well as her voice.
“It’s a shame to say that it’s a bit late to ask for help…”.
She blinked twice, remembering the loud noise that occurred before the start of the play.
“We thought hiring a detective and a few bodyguards would be enough to take care of the opening act, but we really require your service now”.
The woman’s deep blue eyes had a genuine mix of fear and sadness, even though she still seemed so calm. The little shift and how her hands shake just a little made Truth feel nostalgic for a few seconds, but keeping the act, she just nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.
“Leave it to me”.