❦ you strangle people with a piercing stare

[stressbaking]

It was another unexciting night in Ned's newly unexciting life. He swept up the Pie Hole and waved to Olive as she retreated upstairs, a lame smile tugging at his lips. Everyone was gone and he couldn't be more grateful. Every smile takes another piece from him; each pleasant word, each attempt at pretending it was all okay. Okay is the furthest

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[askedtobe]

Peter had only managed a marginal amount of sleep, not that he was surprised. With or without caffeine, sleep was a nightly battle, and one that he never looked forward to. Especially not when he was looking forward to the next day, which was even more of a rarity. And instead of fighting sleep because of dreams, he fought it because of how badly he wanted it so that the next day could hurry up and arrive

[askedtobe]

"Without the shopping, what more could a tourist want. And I think I like that name better than just calling it a museum." Faint amusement hung to his tone, even though his forcing a smile didn't seem too terribly worthwhile at the moment. Not because he didn't want to be, but because making himself tell any kind of lie was out of the question, even if it came only in the form of a smile.

His own attention was pulled up and away from the sidewalk, however, back to his own quiet sightseeing while they walked. He had to admit, he really did like the place. It was undoubtedly different, in a way that no other place he'd been to before was, and Ned fit far better than he did. But he liked it all the same for its obvious quirkiness. In the same way that some people probably thought they could spend months in New York just enjoying the sights, he was sure he could do the same here, just reveling in the feel of it all.

[stressbaking]

"There's a gift shop," he amended, trying to surreptitiously follow Peter's gaze when he could. "I like it better too. And it's not exactly like a museum, though I'm not sure if I could tell you why." He seemed to consider that a moment, looking directly over at Peter before returning to their route.

He had never really done this before, shown someone the city. Chuck had seen it, and even with him, but they were always chasing murderers. Which was exciting and nice in its own way, but the lack of urgency in Peter's presence is comforting, and Ned can feel himself already becoming attached to the feeling.

[askedtobe]

Peter seemed to be constantly chasing after Ned's looks, and eventually he almost had to laugh, shaking his head and going right back to his own casual glancing around. "Guess i'll see why when I get there."

The passerby's on the street even caught his attention, a rare feat unto itself. New York had taught him to keep his gaze straight ahead and not to make eye contact, but he felt underdressed. Not that he was going to be changing that fact anytime soon, it just sparked his curiosity, making him tip his head as he watched people disappear behind them. For a moment, Peter considered just blurting out the fact that this was just going to make him want to leave even less, but he swallowed the sentiment, smiling faintly down at the sidewalk.

[stressbaking]

"I guess so." Ned flashed a lopsided grin down at his shoes, leading at a quick but leisurely pace. "I haven't been since they reopened." He said it before he realized, but he quickly decided that it didn't matter if Peter knew.

"There was a murder there last year." He shrugged as though it meant nothing to him, and especially as if he weren't directly involved in the solving of said murder. He hadn't touched the murder victim or heard his story, or caught the perp as he tried to kill Emerson; none of it had happened, and for the sake of this conversation, Ned hadn't been involved with the shopping window murder either.

It was only an omission, and yet it felt like a lie. And much more so than when he'd hidden his gift from Randy and Olive. While usually he would prefer not to share these things at all, Peter made him feel as though he should, and even made him want to. But he bit his lip softl before he could divulge any more.

[askedtobe]

Well- that certainly hadn't been something Peter had expected to hear. Not that he went around expecting to hear about murders in the first place, but even so. To go from talking about silly window displays to murders was a little bit jarring, and his eyebrows rose, once again bringing his attention over to Ned

[stressbaking]

He was systematically running through the case in his head, trying to bring forth only the relevant information, and only share what had been released to the press. "It's a long story really," he began, managing to only look a little uneasy. "But it all starts with the Legend of Merle McQuoddy, the owner of the Papen County Lighthouse who was stranded at sea. He lived on a deserted island for years before being spotted by a gay cruise ship and brought back to his wife, Nora. He came back.. a little different, and the next day Nora was dead." Ned thought about leaving it at that, but it really wasn't fair to Merle so he took a breath and went on. "But it turned out to be Anabelle Vandersloop, jealous lover of the man Nora was in love with, a PCHS board member named Gus."

Realizing it wasn't the most linear story, he sighed, shooting an apologetic look at Peter. Olive had actually solved that case, in truth, using her own unrequited feelings for the pie maker to guide her way. It didn't leave the best taste in Ned's mouth.

[askedtobe]

Peter followed along easily enough for someone who knew nothing at all about the area, or the people involved. Which was to say that while the story wasn't the easiest to understand, Peter knew a thing or two about complicated lives. For something less than a second, it made Peter wonder where he'd even start if he was to end up talking about himself, because once he started, wouldn't he have to explain everything?

Back to the story at hand, Peter brushed aside the silent apology. "Kind of impressed you remembered that much about it a year later." Lifting an eyebrow, Peter chanced a searching, lopsided smile up at Ned. His suspicions had been arisen, but he had no intention of saying anything else apart from that, letting his gaze slide away and land on the street ahead.

[stressbaking]

Ned already had the answer prepared, and it was as true as it was dodging. "I'm friends with the best Private Investigator in Papen County, Emerson Cod. He's a regular."

[askedtobe]

Peter couldn't help the grin that snuck in under the wire, ducking his face down as smiled. "I love that you guys have PI's." When instead, Peter got special branches of the government. He couldn't decide if he was jealous or amused, so he settled somewhere in-between.

[stressbaking]

Peter's grin is contagious, and Ned found himself catching it fast. "I guess there wouldn't be much use for a PI in New York. Especially not for a murder." It felt like a compliment, despite the fact that Peter didn't know Ned and Emerson had often worked together in the past. If he were to look back in the papers, he could find that part out for himself, but as it was Ned didn't want to spoil the moment.

[askedtobe]

It felt only marginally odd to be grinning about this exact subject, but he couldn't help it. Somehow it was endearing, in its own way. "You'd think, but with all the stuff that goes unsolved? They could probably use a good PI or two." For the time being, Peter didn't have any intention of hunting through old newspapers, he was actually content to take things at face value.

[stressbaking]

There would probably be a lot more unsolved cases, if it weren't for Ned and his magic finger. "Unfortunately for them, I don't think Emerson is leaving any time soon."

They were already coming on a stark brick building that stretched up into the weatherless sky. The brass-embossed sign out front proclaimed it to be the Papen County Historical Society Museum.

[askedtobe]

"Probably don't deserve him, anyway," Peter's voice dwindled off as he turned his attention up onto the building instead. It wasn't much to look at, but the same could really be said for a lot of buildings. It was still enough to capture his focus, only emboldening Peter to want to go inside and actually see what the boring facade was hiding.

[stressbaking]

"I'm not even sure we do," Ned said just as idly, already heading up the grand granite steps. He supposed that it wasn't a lot to look at, from the outside, but inside held Papen's every secret. Well, every except one.

He led Peter into the building that was bigger on the inside than it even looked from the out. Pausing on the carpet, he gestured for Peter to follow, allowing the camera to automatically take their picture. He even smiled a bit for it.

[askedtobe]

Peter shrugged, his gaze bouncing over to Ned momentarily at the sound of his voice. "Hey, even small city's should get to have something." And then his focus was skittering off again, doing his own quiet investigative work in a way.

Not exactly having enough time to work himself up to a real live smile before his picture was taken, Peter wasn't overly concerned by the matter. He was far too interested in getting to look around. He had to admit, the thought of getting to find out more about this place without asking every question under the sun was appealing. Peter still couldn't stave off the desire to know more and the prospect itself was what managed to make him smile, more than anything.