[active/closed]

[badatfetch]

Who: Toboe and Mello
Where: Sewing room then moving to the journey room
When: Night 004
What: It's a finding things party!
Warnings: Mello's existence. Toboe derp.

Comments

And I am starting a new chain so it doesn't get squished on the side of the page.

[is_not_number1]

Mello quirked an eyebrow in response to the affirmation. Unbelievably dense or not, the kid had at least been right about the tapes, and he had to admit that was tremendously helpful.

While he had never owned a dog, he supposed that having Toboe around was probably damn close.

The tapes, however, were more important than however dimwitted or capable at tracking scents Toboe might have been. This guy might have been in possession of more, but hardly sounded as though he was especially familiar with them. In that case, it would probably be a safe bet to assume that he had found them here as well; it seemed incredibly unlikely that they would have belonged to him if he didn't know what they were.

"Excellent," Mello commented, smirking in some satisfaction. "See, we found this in the room with the mannequins." He fished the tape out of his jacket pocket and held it out so that the guy could look. "I wanted to find out if there were any more." He paused for a moment to glance back down at Toboe, snickering. "And apparently, dog boy over here was able to sniff yours out."

[badatfetch]

Toboe puffed out his cheeks in child-like aggravation.

"I'm not a dog!"

Luckily he was able to keep himself from correcting the blond, and he figured even to a human being compared to a dog was offensive. After all... dogs were... dogs. While he didn't mind talking to them, there was just a negative stigma about being compared to a dog. They were owned for one thing. He wasn't! He did what he wanted!

... he just happen to want to be around humans. To protect them, that's all.

[passed_torch]

...Which didn't actually rule out "wolf", although he still wasn't sure where that was coming from; he LOOKED like a normal boy - werewolf? Tracking something like that by scent wouldn't be normal...

Eh, if it was important, he'd figure it out sooner or later.

"We'd found four of them between the study and the basement - as well as this." Returning the tape to the bag for now, he pulled out the device that'd played them back. "With some other clues getting moved around between night and day, it didn't seem safe to leave it where I'd found it; never did manage to search the upper levels to see if there were more." He held it out, an offer to see what was on the tape Mello had found.

[is_not_number1]

Well. Apparently, being compared to a dog offended the kid. The only response Mello gave to his protest before abandoning the subject in favour of the tapes, however, was another smirk.

It helped that this guy had searched the lower levels as well, although Mello had no idea how thoroughly he might have done so. The fact that he'd found four tapes, though, was significant enough on its own.

"You've listened to them?" Even if he had seemed unsure about what the term cassette tape meant, the fact that he had deemed the tape player worthy enough to hold onto meant there was a perfectly good chance he knew what it did. Mello began to move to take it from the guy; but nearly as soon as he'd started, he lowered his hand again, shaking his head in refusal. "Let's search the second story to see if there are any left first," he decided, gesturing towards Toboe. "If we've got him, we should be able to clear the rest of the house relatively quickly."

[badatfetch]

Toboe kept his pout while the two chatted. He didn't like being treated like he wasn't there, or like he was a kid, and he had a name. After all that he had half a mind to turn his nose up at helping the humans now but...

Well, he knew he couldn't really just walk away. They needed his help and this place was dangerous for humans. However, that didn't mean he had to look particularly happy about it... really he could have been a bit nicer about all this. After all he broke the fake human's arm, and helped find the... well... whatever it was he was looking for...

[passed_torch]

Giotto nodded; as unpleasant as what they had was - between some of the implications and an entire tape of tools and screaming, nevermind the one about the dead coming back...

"I did - as much as some of it was as much unsettling as helpful."

"And a sharp nose will certainly help." He nodded to the ...er...wolf...boy... speaking perfectly honestly - not a trace of sarcasm or disbelief. "I - don't believe I've caught either of your names - I'm Giotto." He held out a hand in courtesy; may as well have a clue who he was wandering around this place with.

[is_not_number1]

"Unsettling," Mello commented; though his tone was still sharp, he almost sounded thoughtful. Of course the recordings would be unsettling. Nearly everything that he'd found in this place had been at least so much. "I can hardly say that I'm surprised. But how so?"

He shoved the tape back into his pocket before accepting the handshake. "Mello," he replied, nodding briefly in response to Giotto's own introduction, and then turned back to face the kid, who seemed for some reason to have taken rather abruptly to sulking. Mello couldn't say that he was entirely sure why; he didn't think he'd been that insulting, but who the hell knew? Either way, it hardly mattered. "You can find out if there are any more?"

[badatfetch]

Toboe stands off to the side and waits for the humans to do that hand shaking thing... he was sort of unsure if he was supposed to do it too, but he figured they didn't need him to try it. It would be good to get him name out though, he did like getting to know people, and now he knew everyone's name! This was clearly a step in the right direction and he brightens up quite a bit.

"I'm Toboe!"

He waits until he's addressed before he starts moving again, once again with a little spring in his step. "Yeah sure! It won't be too hard I think!"

And he turns to lead the group down the hall a bit, since he hadn't smelled any more the way they had come from. Toboe cautiously pokes his head into the first few doors on the top floor... and got nothing until the journey bedroom. It was faint, and luckily hadn't been lost by the Scent of Giotto and his bag. He pulls back from the door and points inside.

"There's one in here!"

[passed_torch]

He followed along - at least with names, although the "wolf? boy?" confusion seemed like it would continue for now without any good answer.

"I think they're from before this place - went completely mad."

Of course, it'd be easier to just listen - and Toboe's call was a good punctuation as he caught up to the ...er...wolf...boy. "We should be able to just listen to them all at once when they're found."

[is_not_number1]

Before this place went completely mad?

That certainly sounded interesting. While he hadn't seen anything to suggest it, Mello had assumed-- by default, perhaps-- that this place had always been completely mad.

"I'll have to hear them when we've finished searching," he said with a nod.

He took a couple of steps into the bedroom, gesturing to indicate that Toboe should proceed as well. "Then go ahead."

[badatfetch]

Toboe crept in, looking around for a moment to make sure nothing was there. All seemed to be fine, so he wandered in further. He could smell it faintly... with some old paper-like smell. It didn't take him too long to hone in on the table with the maps, and thus, discover another tape.

"I found it!"

And he gently picks it up, walking back over to the humans with a big pleased smile on his face and handed over his prize. Hopefully he did well and they would praise him!

[passed_torch]

He'd only briefly poked his head in this room before, and hadn't ever taken the time to properly explore - something he was thinking he needed to fix, although now might not be the time.

Particularly not when they had such a fast tracker; he was really beginning to wonder about the "Boy/Wolf" confusion, but it was a good kind of wondering - whether he was a wolf, a human, or some kind of mix, having a wolf's nose was a useful asset.

"Wonderful! This should go much faster than before."

He spared a glance at the maps in a moment of longing curiosity; depending on what Mello had planned, he'd have to come back to look over those.

[is_not_number1]

Giotto was, by all means, right; while Mello had initially been sceptical of the kid's proclaimed abilities, it hadn't taken long for him to decide that they were practically invaluable here. While there didn't seem to be any shortage of things hidden around the place, the house's enormity made it unfortunately difficult to keep track of them; that would, however, have been made infinitely less of a pain in the ass if locating them was this easy.

For all the intelligence he lacked, Toboe was proving himself to be surprisingly useful.

"Thank you," Mello replied, giving the kid a curt nod and taking the tape to pocket it. He leaned back against the doorway and peered back down the hall at the last couple of doors before sharply pointing in their direction as an unmistakable suggestion that they move on.