Case 2: Getting to Know P / Closed-ish to Philip and Shotaro

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro's first night in jail wasn't a good one. Whether he was awake or asleep, all he could think about was the Boss and if only he'd just listened to him. They might still be in prison, or hell, the Boss could be in here with them. But he'd be alive. That would be the most important part of it.

When the announcement woke him up the next morning, he felt like just rolling over again and sleeping in. But his mind went to Philip next door. He didn't know what was going through that kid's head, but he at least wasn't alone.

He pushed himself up out of bed, and took a minute or two to make himself presentable. Appearances were important for a detective on the rise, after all. He still was sore about his missing hat, but he would fix that before too long. And that masquerade thing sounded interesting enough. Or maybe superheroes? The shop would probably have clues for that little mystery. And he had a tip box to check.

He left his cell, and headed next door to Philip's. He leaned against the wall and knocked on his door. "Good morning, Neighbor. Wanna go for a walk with me?"

Comments

[tanteiotaku]

He'd had heard about some people being capable of some impressive things over these last few years but dying not being permanent was a bit beyond what he'd ever heard of. "No way! That's impossible!"

[decideformyself]

"I thought so too, but I can see no reason for him to have been lying to me." He smiled halfway and added, "Not that I'm eager to test the hypothesis."

[tanteiotaku]

"Other than he's an inmate in the highest-security and craziest damn prison ever engineered," Shotaro replied. "But then again, so are you and I." There were many different paths that lead people here. Shotaro was going to try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but he didn't want to see Philip trust the wrong person and get hurt.

[decideformyself]

"Precisely. I'm not going to go out of my way to confirm his statement." Philip shrugged. "But should it turn out to be true, then we can save more CP to purchase a sentence reduction."

And now in the prison itself. He continued on toward the common room. He hadn't seen Shotaro's requests box before; that should be interesting.

[tanteiotaku]

The box definitely stood out in the room. It was bright purple with bits of black and read "Hidari Detective Agency Tip Box" on the top and the note just below the slot read: "Need help? Know someone that does? See something weird you want someone to look into? Leave me a note here!"

"Alright! Day one of the Hidari Detective Agency!" He flicked off the top of the box with a flourish.

It was empty.

[decideformyself]

Philip was actually a bit disappointed to see it empty. He'd been wondering what sorts of requests prisoners might have for an imprisoned detective.

"This isn't very secure," he remarked.

[tanteiotaku]

"It's the best I could come up with quickly yesterday. Maybe I can get something with a key on it later..." He put the lid back in place and huffed. He was ready to get started.

"Well, on to the store to solve the mystery of what the Warden is planning." He'd shaken off the disappointment fairly easy. So soon would have been too much to hope for. People had to trust him first.

[decideformyself]

"How do you think the store will help?" Philip asked in confusion.

[tanteiotaku]

He shrugged. "Just a hunch," he answered. Because where else would the costumes be? And for someone that claims to not know the layout he sure is finding his way around just fine. Details, details.

[decideformyself]

Yeah, that's interesting, Shotaro. In fact...

"Do you know the way to the shop?" Philip inquired.

[tanteiotaku]

He turned and looked to Philip. Oh. Right. "More questions later, I can smell coffee coming from this way." And he headed for the cafeteria.

[decideformyself]

He raised an eyebrow, but turned to follow. This detective was highly intriguing.

Besides, Philip could always use more data points for his research into friendship.

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro would have plenty of those to offer. "Did you want some?" he asked, heading to the line to get what he came here for.

[decideformyself]

Philip pulled his CP card out of his pocket and stared quizzically at it. On the one hand, saving money up was a goal worth trying to meet, but on the other... it was a new experience, and he was supposed to be having those now.

So why not live a little?

"Sure," he replied, following Shotaro.

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro closed his hand around Philip's with the CP card. "This first one's on me." He insisted, and got a pair of coffees.

[decideformyself]

He blinked in surprise. There was no reason he could think of to offer up one's own CP for another person... but all the same, he wasn't going to object. "Very well." He slid his card back into his pocket.

Once coffeeinated, Philip found a table to sit down at. He cautiously took a sip, wincing at the hot liquid. "Should I wait until it has cooled?"

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro leaned back in the chair to enjoy his coffee, legs crossed at the knees. "If you want to." Shotaro started straight into his, because he was more used to it. "You're going black too, huh?"

[decideformyself]

"Black?" Yeah he has no idea that things go in coffee.

[tanteiotaku]

He shrugged. "Some people like to put cream and sugar in it," he told him. Objectively speaking, this is better than what he was used to making for himself. But not by too much. "The hard-boiled detective has n need of it, though."

[decideformyself]

At that, Philip's eyes flew wide open. "Wait here for a second, please."

And then he got up, headed back to the line, and returned with four more cups and varying amounts of cream and sugar. "This warrants further investigation."

[tanteiotaku]

Oh no, what had he set off? He was about to say something, but decided against it, and let him find out for himself. That's how the Boss would have him do it, anyway.

"Take it easy, or you won't be able to sleep tonight," he finally cautioned him.

[decideformyself]

Philip glanced up, sipping from the control cup -- the "black" coffee. "It's still early," he replied simply. "Plus, it's not as though caffeine is the only ingredient. How potent could the stimulant effect be?"

Famous last words.

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro was fairly sure he was going to find out just what kind of effect caffeine was going to have on his new neighbor. He likely didn't have any tolerance for it at all.

He would certainly never have to worry about being bored in prison with Philip around.

[decideformyself]

He nursed his first cup, still unused to the hot temperature, then started in with a bit of sugar and cream in his second. The third had only sugar; the fourth, only cream; and the fifth had ample amounts of both, until the coffee was practically overflowing out of the cup.

"That was incredible," he gushed once he was finished.

[tanteiotaku]

Watching Philip investigate the coffee was a bit surreal. He didn't really want to interrupt him, so he just made his way through his coffee, and slid the cup over for Philip to use for whatever purpose he may devise for it.

"Did you figure out how you like it?"