[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]"you'll be the first to know," assuming she doesn't ever leave the morgue again. given her line of work, hours can sometimes stretch into days. death waits for no one and drea simply listens to the call.

it's closer to being paraded around than a tour, really, but she doesn't mind too much. her attention drifts between corridors and rooms, head turning to gaze. there's sections she'll never need to know, sure, but it's helpful to remember the route. where to walk, where to turn, where to exit. she charts it in her mind and files it away for safekeeping.

"don't bother you unless it's to complain?" she lets out a soft laugh. "i'll make a list for you, then." color-coded, maybe, in order from highest to lowest priority.

Rory Faust

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]thankfully, he slows his pace enough beneath her touch. her fingers squeeze slightly in gratitude and loosen, as if they’re going to fall away with the slightest movement.

somehow, her hand doesn’t quite leave yet.

”it’d depend,” she turns her head to glance at him, to flash mild teeth. ”it’s only my first day here… too soon to make a judgement yet.” aka it’s too soon to tell if she’d prefer quiet and small to busy and big.

her free hand waves in thought, as if gesturing to the patient rooms as they pass.

”as long as there’s a morgue and a job for me to do, i won’t really complain,” a pause, paired with lips spreading wider for more teeth. ”not much, anyway.”

Rory Faust

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]ah, right. another reason to hate first days: being toured around like a teenager on a school trip. sometimes, she wonders if it’d be better to just let her fend for herself… maybe give her a map and say good luck, colleague.

you know, she tries to hide the amusement, she really does. it’s just… that’s the first time she’s ever heard someone call the morgue a workstation. at least she didn’t outright laugh, right?

”thank you,” she murmurs. and then, he’s setting a pace that’s fast for her tiny ass legs. it’s not easy keeping pace when you’re barely hitting 5’2”.

drea doesn’t think when she trots to keep up, doesn’t even bother to consider the consequences when one of her hands reaches to wrap fingers around his bicep.

”not necessarily,” she wouldn’t fully classify it as nerves, per say. maybe somewhere more along the lines of frustrated over a lack of familiarity. ”although this is definitely bigger than my last job.”

Rory Faust

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]somehow, she didn’t quite expect him to already be looking for her. if anything, she assumed he’d stop by the morgue and introduce himself when he had time.

it seems, however, circumstance had other plans.

”yes, drea oddmund.”

she flashes a small smile, conscious of not scowling just yet. it comes across awkward but every expression of emotion does for drea oddmund.

”it’s a pleasure, rory,” she murmurs, squeezing his hand softly when he reaches before releasing. and then, she’s raising an eyebrow slightly, head tilting in confusion. ”you were looking for me?”

Rory Faust

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]she mulls over the reasoning, chewing on it until she can feel it between her teeth. eventually, she raises her head a little, staring at him with a single blue eye.

”a version of you does, if you use that theory,” she offers. there’s a pause, as if she’s weighing her words before ushering them out. ”but perhaps death leaves stains on every version.” it’s too out there for her to grasp fully but she tries, if only to give it some consideration.

the flash of teeth follows his chuckle, amusement slowly bleeding between the gaps.

”why just you, hm?” is there a reason or is he merely openly trying to irritate her?

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]quantum immortality is a theory she doesn’t dabble in, if only because she deals with death daily. she sees the end, sees the rigor mortis set in and cling to muscles and bones. she cracks open rib cages and hauls out organs for causes needed and not once does it occur to her that it could all be different versions. she stiffens slightly at the thought.

”why do you believe that?” she pries for reasonings with her fingers, prodding as if he’ll give her as much details as an autopsy could. and maybe he will or maybe he won’t. she doesn’t linger much longer on the thought, either way.

a snort escapes, amusement etching into the muscles of her face.

”no, definitely not,” she muses after a moment. ”must just be you, vollans.”

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]she had been expecting another body in the morgue today, sure, but not his. it's rare enough that a living person wanders down here, let alone a damn prince. is she supposed to curtsy now?

he offers a gloved hand and she's extending her own reluctantly, offering nothing more than a soft shake before dropping the appendage back to her side. "a pleasure," she echoes. he touches on her last name, on her heritage, and she's fighting off a scowl. instead, she settles on indifference because, well, that's easier to not offend with, right? "it is. ballonlea, to be exact."

her attention turns, then, to regard the lycanroc at his side. whatever good appearances she's been attempting to maintain falter and she's scrunching her nose, lips settling into a firm line.

"okay, you brought a dog into my morgue because...?"

Remiel Calcifet

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]oh, well that's interesting. she tilts her head to one side and flashes teeth.

"and what experiments did you have in mind, hm?" perhaps she can add them to her resume. she is, after all, vying for head medical examiner soon.

any amusement she had falls into irritation. her arms rise, cross over her chest, and she's left looking like a pouting toddler.

"how is that cute?" she huffs. "what, does that mean you one of those guys that bullied the girls he liked in elementary school?"

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]first days: the bane of her existence.

it’s uncomfortable being a new face in a place with established connections. between that, the eye patch, and fiery hair, she sticks out like a sore thumb.

at least no one will bother her in the morgue, right? that is, if she can ever find the damn place. heaving out an annoyed sigh, she taps the shoulder of the nearest person, words already escaping her mouth before they even fully turn.

”sorry, can you help me locate the morgue?”

Rory Faust

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]somehow, the thought of experimenting on him brings mild amusement. a laugh escapes and she's leaving seriousness behind for a moment, peeling back layers to show mild flashes of personality.

"would you prefer i did?" it could be arranged if he were willing, really.

the rolling of an eye follows and she's heaving out a dramatic sigh.

"unfortunately," she retorts. and then, she's fixing him with an almost intense stare. "i'm starting to think you hate me or something."

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]"tests," she offers simply. and then, her nose scrunches at another thought. "what else did you think i meant?"

his lean is met with one of her own, coffee cup abandoned on the table. her eyes narrow in a challenge as silence follows.

a snicker escapes, then, and she's baring her teeth at him.

"not unless you annoy the fuck outta me, vollans."

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]a sip of coffee allows her time to mull over the answers he provides. caffeine slowly oiling the gears in her head enough for them to begin to churn. and then, she's flashing a soft smile, perhaps a first for her features.

"you better not," she murmurs. there's a mild fondness to her tone, one she mostly ignores. "i'll kill you myself if you come anywhere near my morgue again." and mostly, she means it. an idea rises, then, and she's plucking it from her mind to usher it out into the open.

"if you want to see if i can find any answers, though, i could work out a deal or something?"

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","drea"]

[attr="class","drea b"]

[attr="class","drea i"]she understands, kind of. well, what led up to his death, anyway. there's still pieces missing, ones she needs to lay out a crime board in her mind. red strings connect the tidbits of information he feeds her but they're jumbled, out of place and not quite connected. at the top sits alive? in her messy handwriting, circled three times for emphasis.

"do you know how you came back?" she questions softly, voice barely above a whisper. there's a tentative vibration to it, as if she doesn't quite want to push him, as if she's afraid of the consequences if she does.

her fingers thrum gently against the counter, one hand still loosely wrapped around her coffee cup. and after a moment of silence, of guilt slowly beginning to rise, she considers before sighing softly. "you don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

LANCE VOLLANS