It was an odd dichotomy, really. On one hand, she was quite glad that the other had called her back this time. Especially since it had included an invitation to a party that was right up her alley. Or, given the status of it all, right up her promenade would be better. This was an occasion much more befitting her perceived station than her last date at least. No underground fighting and hotdogs, but instead refined people wearing expensive dresses. Granted, she only had one of those available at the time herself which she had hustled out of an particularly wealthy mark. But she took quite the good care of it, so the façade could be kept up quite easily.
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It was well-maintained and clean, maybe a few seasons old in terms of fashion, but she had chosen something outside of the then-current selection to begin with. A white, armless piece, which gradually shifted into a faint purple towards the ankle-height skirt. A bow on the hip and a partially see-through window below the neck acted as accents, breaking up the seeming monotony of the dress. Violet thought it looked quite well. And she loved looking good to begin with, which put her into a fairly good mood as she approached the other on this still relatively warm pre-autumn night.
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Walking at a leisurely, yet purposeful stride she did not want to seem to be rushing. Instead, she greeted her date with a genuine, yet muted smile, befitting someone of her station. “Good evening, Elaine. I am glad to see you again.” And there wasn’t a hint of deception of this. After what they went through at the ocean, she had felt a bit odd around this one. But certainly not in a bad way.
If possible, she would seek to take the other’s hands into her own while facing her, if only briefly. “You do look good like this. But also a bit distraught. Is everything alright?” This was a happy occasion, after all, but the other had seemed a bit too focused looking at her phone when she’d come into vision. Judging by what had happened to them on the ocean, Vio could not help but ask, really.
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+ ooc notes

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A curtsey. Wonderful. She had always known that the other had class and was cute, of course, but seeing it in action was all the more delightful. Violet did enjoy parleying with people on a similar wavelength than herself. It was something that she had sensed during the speed-dating, one of the reasons as to why this girl had been the only one that day to receive her number. During their trip to the bottom of the sea she had seen a different side of Elaine’s, of course, a less superficial one which was coming through now. Honestly, she put more import on that in the end.
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The former was what made the other a nice date to go out with. The latter was what made her someone Vio at least thought she could talk to, so she did that in earnest. “I have been doing reasonably well since that day. It would be a lie to say that I don’t still think of what we learned down there every now and then. But since I wouldn’t even know where to start doing something about it, I decided to instead try and live on as I would.” Especially since that helped her cope with her realization that maybe she wasn’t quite as content to just be Violet as she had told herself she was. But for the time being, she would remain. After all, in many ways she was way too deep into that particular lie to just start letting it unravel to begin with.
[break][break]
Going on a date with a detective was probably not the best way to do that. But in this particular case, she was decidedly throwing caution to the wind. “Though I have to say that this will probably help as well. Doing something useful, structured. But I also have to reiterate: you can also simply call me over if you want to talk or just spend time together. I would enjoy that, too. Might be a bit blunt just to say that, but you do seem like the kind of person who would want to not burden others, or to get too caught up with things or yourself to consider it. So, I figured I’d just say it.” Violet added a smile to these words. Maybe she was being a bit assertive here, but that was just her old persona bleeding through a bit. And she figured if the other disliked her how she was, then things would not be meant to work out anyway.
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+ Elaine Highland

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“I would like that,” she replied – and it meant a lot more than it might initially appear, really. Violet was not exactly the kind of person who would be entertained by just having some afternoon tea, most of the time. But that was for marks or people she did not know at all. But with someone like this, whom she felt like she could actually be open with, at least to an extent? It seemed like a pleasant prospect indeed. Really, that was something she could use these days.
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Though this little mission of theirs was one of those useful things as well. It was right up her alley, though she naturally would have liked some more information ahead of time. Just winging it was also her style, yes, but she did kind of want to impress her partner/date, so she wanted all the advantages. Vio was needy like that, sometimes. “I probably would have found out anyway,” she boasted, though it really wasn’t much in her opinion. One would have to be particularly inattentive to not notice one’s date working a case, after all. She had had enough mildly distracted ones to recognize one so severely off.[break][break]
Naturally, she allowed the other to lead her and nodded at the prospect of gaining information along the way. “I can’t say that I ever worked a case in this way, so to speak. But I know my way around parties and I like to think that I am one of the smart ones. I will certainly be able to be of help. I do expect praise if I do, of course.” Vio chuckled, saying that. But she definitely meant it, too. Praise was her biggest weakness, after all.
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Well, that was kind of cute. So far, she had not really seen this energetic side of the other. Sure, brooding and controlled was cool and all, but when it came to people, nothing beat a bright smile. Which she requited with a slight one. Yeah, she was kind of an hypocrite at times. Then again, no one had told her that it was cute, so she had an excuse. One she perpetuated by not praising the other, too. So, yeah, hypocrisy. “I would prefer not to be blasted though. But I am certain you will keep me safe, too,” she instead replied, just casually moving herself into a slightly inferior position. It was just how she operated, really. By now, she did it without even thinking about it, too. Which probably was not a good thing, but it did work sometimes.
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Plus, she was being pulled away without much time to think or speak, so that was all well and good. Vio took a good look around as she was being led in. Partly, to just take in the scenery, but also to take note of escape routes and the like. That was just the professional thing to do as far as she was concerned, really.[break][break]
The same kind of professional courtesy was extended to the client, whom she observed carefully. Typical politician kind, in her opinion. Made up well enough to hide the age but muted in choice of hair colour and dress, fitting in with the crowd without wishing to become the centre of attention. People like that hardly needed to, after all. She was already the reason for at least some of the people to be here. Did not have to dress up like a peacock to gain attention.
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Then again, they, too, were here because of the lady. Violet gave a brief bow in greeting and a nod in response. “A good evening to you, Councilwoman Aleina,” she started, dodging the Mrs and Ms question right out of the gate by using the official title. “Violet Fairbanks. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, though it is kind of sad it has to be under such circumstances.” And the immediate direct towards the reason they were here, before too many inquiries would come her way. It was not meant to deceive, really. Just nature.

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+ Elaine Highland

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A trusted partner of hers? That phrasing saw Violet mentally perk up. She…guessed that there was some trust established between them. At least she felt like she could trust the other enough to help with an endeavor like this. But she had not exactly succinctly put it to a point like that.
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And it was really rare to hear someone say something like that to her or about her in her presence. Hence, the faint blush on her face and her being quiet while her partner handled the client for the time being. That was also because Violet was not sure she fully agreed with that woman, but knew that things could hardly be changed now. So debating matters was kind of pointless.
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Besides, that woman did not matter beyond being client and target. She was not going to act in any capacity that would truly impact their task beyond what was already done. So, it was better to focus on their own work for the time being. And in order to do that, she kept a covert eye out as they talked to see if anyone paid special attention to them. After all, if someone wanted to kill her, foreign elements approaching her at this prime of an opportunity would raise an eyebrow.
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Yet, either their target did not notice or was good enough to not be noticed. Either way, she could not tell. Best focus on her partner and the little anecdote she brought to the floor. “That certainly would be a spectacular way to do it. Yet, that would also need a lot of prep time and access. Easier to do when you are the one controlling the situation. But since our dear client has set everything up and on reasonably short notice, I guess it would be something more ad-hoc and flexible to do. Especially since this is such a good opportunity and includes all potential culprits. You would really want to be able to do it in a way that can quickly and easily be pinned on someone else, right? Especially on a rival in a two-for-one kind of deal.” Naturally, being praised quite a bit so far, Vio all but immediately got carried away in this morbid discussion without even really noticing.
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+ Elaine Highland

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There was but a light shrug. At the end of the day, they could do little more but overthink this in some capacity without further input, so theorizing was probably pointless. Vio was no detective. Whie she did try to act on logic as best as she could, intuition was her weapon of choice still. It had quite a chance to backfire, of course, but when it worked, it worked best in her opinion. Which probably was what mattered most right then.
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“Indeed. And it is probably best if we did not spend too much time near you, least we make it obvious that something might be going on here,” Vio replied, before describing a brief curtsy, indicating that she was still exchanging some form of pleasantries. “Would not want potential rabble-rousers to be too guarded around us, after all. So, if you would excuse us~.” Saying that, she would try to hook her arm under Elaine’s and carefully move them both away from the one who had painted a target onto her back. There was no way to have fun while being too close to that one, after all.
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“Though I do suppose that you already have some form of plan, correct?” Her follow-up would come more quietly, once they were a few feet removed from the target.
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+ Elaine Highland

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“I wonder about one thing,” Violet started, though she was actually quite intent on hindering the detective’s line of thought, rather than assisting it. But that was just in her nature. She had to tease, at least a little. Otherwise things just got too dour. Though she was also a firm believer in that thinking too stringently about things tended to narrow one’s mind to the possibilities one might see when distracted. It was all about that outside the box thinking that especially employers liked to rave on about. Only they did it wrong and she did it right. [break]
At least she liked to think that. “The sensible thing would have been to have us meet up together an hour earlier, so that you did not have to expose all over yourself like that in here. I wonder if you wanted to surprise or impress me more by having all of this being rather sudden, rather than setting up in a stuffy hotel room first.” It was more of a casual musing, but she did like to see what the other would say to this. If nothing else, it might sharpen her sensibilities to what working together did entail.
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Though she also did not exactly want to be mean here. For once. “Don’t take me wrong though. I dearly appreciate you trusting me enough to bring me along for this.” That was what she just let stand there in order to make her position clear as day, while she started to look around the room once more. “I think talking to them will be useless. Mostly because I still think that none of them will actually go for the kill themselves. These people have money. And when you have money, you pay others to do the work while you get to watch and reap the rewards. My gut tells me that we are not the only ones in this as a duo.” Getting an idea, she chuckles to herself, briefly, before shifting her gaze – away from the guests, towards the staff. “Thing is, any of those names are too big to move around without notice. But especially with things being shifted around, if only a little, they probably keep in touch with their accomplice. Who would be someone beneath notice.” Vio briefly took the other’s hand and shifted them a bit sideways – so that Elaine could see a waiter speaking to an elderly gentleman behind her. She frankly did not know whether or not that was one of the people on the list. Just the general principle.[break]
“Do you see what I mean?” Once again, she chuckled, simply because of what she did not say there. Namely the implication that Elaine would have to not be distracted by her own face to see what was going on.
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+ Elaine Highland

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