A man of no meager means

[simon_ash]

Characters: Simon Ash, Abby Scutio and Open
Rating: PG
Time Period: Modern
Location: Helicopter drop off and entrance
Relative Date: Day of Simon's Arrival
Status: Open to everyone. No pm necessary

Comments

[forensicjunkie]

A good chunk of time had passed since Abby's initial arrival. Well maybe not a good chunk, but even several days without the team or being able to get home was too long for her. Her days had been spend exploring the castle so far. Sadly no clues were yielded other than making the mystery deeper. She'd even found that strange room with the buttons but she was too cautious to press them alone

[simon_ash]

Simon was shocked out of his hypnosis by one of the strangest people he had ever seen. The woman was a crazy amalgam of goth and lab technician and it threw Simon off a bit.

"I suppose you are a fellow guest and not one of the help," Simon said after a short, wordless pause, "I seem to have overestimated the hospitality of this place and could use some assistance"

He held up the suit bags to the woman and winked, allowing a thin smile to appear on his face, "If you don't mind that is"

[forensicjunkie]

"Sure I can help! Guest isn't necessarily the word I'd use. Unwilling participant perhaps, or victim. But I haven't exactly been victimized. Yet. Actually the rooms and food and stuff have all been pretty nice for a mysterious castle. Not that I have others to compare it to, mind you."

As Abby started to ramble she realized that her usual overwhelming abundance of knowledge and information was probably not what this new fellow needed. She could almost hear Gibbs' voice in the back of her head with an annoyed tone. Taking the bag and draping it over an arm she then gestured around with the other.

"I'm not sure what they told you to get you here, but it was probably a scam. All my investigating has proved to show that this place is some kind of social experiment or something. Since no one was brought here by their own knowledge I can help but suspect nefarious purposes?" She paused.

"Annnd since that was a totally rotten way to welcome you here, let me at least introduce myself. Abby Sciuto, forensics expert for NCIS."

[simon_ash]

Simon takes his walking cane from the hand holding the violin case. The head of the cane is the shape of a lion's head and there seems to be a crease partway down.

"Well Abby," Simon said, "I am Simon Ash. Most Call me Mr. Ash but Simon works as well"

He leans in using the cane as support, "So you mean to tell me more people have been lured here?"

[forensicjunkie]

Abby was the nosy sort and wanted nothing more than to examine the cane fully, but she did her best to resist the urge. Instead she merely shifted back and forth in her platform boots while they talked. She couldn't help but wonder if there really was a violin in the case but she was sure that was just her paranoia talking. He was dressed real nice though, usually people like that could just hire a hit man if they wanted.

"Well, Simon, if that's okay and you're not used to only Mr. Ash, nice to meet you. Too bad the circumstances aren't so great. And yeah, you're one of many. From what I can gather, well over a dozen people have been brought so far. And more keep coming too. All brought by the spooky helicopter and all under false pretenses."

"Oh! And you made sure to keep that weird phone right? That's pretty much the only hint they give. There were some cryptic messages on mine when I arrived." Apparently Abby had been doing her research since her arrival.

[simon_ash]

"Weird phone..." Simon trailed off, taking his weight off the cane and putting it under his arm, he began fishing through the inside pockets until he discovered it, "That is strange. I don't actually remember anyone giving this to me. No wonder my suit felt rather heavy."

Simon creased his eyebrows. He was not pleased that this was slipped in his coat, and disturbed that he hadn't noticed. He would have to pay better attention in the future. The phone itself was unlike anything he'd seen before.

"Well there is little we can do outside," Simon said, "Let us find some place to put my things so we are less burdened."

[forensicjunkie]

Abby led the way into the castle as the talked. The place could be a little overwhelming but she'd managed to mostly get the hang of the layout. The phone however, that thing still stumped her. It would have been nice to have McGee around but she wasn't even sure he could figure the thing out.

"Yeah, it's more like a walkie talkie but you can send texts too. I tried to pull mine apart but it was so complicated I actually wasn't sure if I could get it back together. And normally I'm a whiz with technology." Abby was proud to admit her talents. "I'll still take it though, since my phone hasn't worked since the moment I got into that helicopter."

Eventually they began to stumble upon multiple rooms, many of which appeared vacant. "So I just sort of picked one and it worked out. The ones people aren't in appear immaculate so if one strikes your fancy I guess go for it!"