The Rabbit Hole of a Painting

[Amur]

Miskatonic Art Gallery
Alderaan
19:00 Local Time
Theme​

What started as just a normal trip to have coffee and discuss the local comings and goings for life for the Sith Kalanda and Amur spiraled into a full blown mystery. A dead nobleman, a hoarder's apartment, a mysterious book with a vague suicide note, and a receipt from an art gallery. It was all the enticing clues one could ask for but no answers. That was the thing, this wasn't something that could be witnessed and then chalked up among the slew peculiarities for the day. No, this demanded attention, this puzzle would be constantly at work in the back of the mind.

Finding the truth quickly became an obsession for the Scorched Acolyte as it began to scratch and itch at the back of her mind. No matter how hard she tried no explanation would be satisfactory unless it's was clear and concrete. She wasn't going to take a haphazard excuse or fabrication.

It was night time now with Amur and her companion Kalanda. She was growing fond of her with every minute they spent together, and yet that was just a nice detail of the greater mystery. They stood outside the grand doors of the Miskatonic Art Gallery ready find the next clue to the mystery.

"This place closes in an hour, so either we find what we want quick or we convince the owner to 'extend' closing time for just us." Amur said to Kalanda there was a bit of snark in her comment but the tone was quickly morphing into a determination. A type that said that something was going to happen no matter what.

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Kalanda scowled as she looked over the gallery before her. For some reason, she was expecting it to be grander, or maybe just more suspicious? She couldn't put her finger on it, but she was currently disappointed by what she was looking at. "You know, I'll be honest, when we find that clue, I was picturing the gallery to be more...mysterious perhaps?" The night was still young, or well it was going to be, as the pair looked outside of the building for the time being. Sadly this was a rather time sensitive ordeal, so the sooner they got a move on the better. Still, she had one of the only acolytes in the empire she could tolerate by her side, so things were looking up.

"If your going to suggest that I flirt with some man, I'm going to suggest we knock him unconscious instead." Kalanda added to her companions words, wanting it to be known where she was drawing the line at. Yes they needed extra time, but Kalanda also had dignity, and she wasn't going to waste it on a few underlings. She looked to her masked friend with a small grin, as she was curious what manner of plans her fellow acolyte could scheme up. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm just dying to see what's inside." She was rather ready to go ahead and kick the doors in, see what skeletons were hiding in the closet; hopefully this place would prove as fruitful as that dead nobles house.

@Caught in Strangereal

 

[Amur]

The Sith just stared down the interior letting the words of her compatriot enter her skull. She wasn't going to just trust it's normal exterior no. If someone is into some shady business and your leads take you to a normal run down place that's when you get suspicious. She saw before trying to track down illegal money and laundering following the paper trail, and if whoever owned the establishment was somehow involved in this odd conspiracy they would want to keep it unassuming at a eye glance. You often need to dig under the floorboards and through ledgers with places like this.

A low chuckle came from the scorched acolyte. At her second comment asking if she would have to resort to seduction. Amur already figured she wasn't the type to try, more like the type to pin someone to a wall and choke them out. That was a thing about working with people part of it was finding out their boundaries to problem solving. What they are willing to do, where their standards lie and where you can coerce and using that to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Hon, If you did stoop yourself that low to flirt I'd be disappointed." Most of the times if she called someone Hon, darling or dearie she was being demeaning especially if it was to a man she wanted to emasculate. Though it was clear through the tone of her voice that it wasn't that. She actually meant it in a charming way, she was growing fond of this curious girl and would definitely want to see what lyeth beneath the surface.

She would open the door and let Kalanda in first all with a pleasant "After you". An electronic chime buzzed softly in the main lobby area which had a young woman who looked to be roughly between Amur and Kalanda's age sitting behind a desk. Her hair arranged into a messy bun with the occasional strain of hair defiantly jutting out and it was clear despite the makeup that bags where under her eyes and she was struggling to stay awake. Her eyes drooped shut and a silent yawn emanated from her lips as she almost faded to the unconscious world. Until a visible jolt stirred her out of slumber. She caught sight of the Two Sith entering the gallery. It was quiet with not a single additional soul in the area or atleast that was what it felt like.

Amur would exchange a side glance with Kalanda as she walked up to the desk. She could feel a sense of panic stir from the receptionist who likely wasn't expecting anyone to arrive at this hour much less two obvious Sith. Amur wasn't ready to jump to a conclusion just yet given that her reaction was pretty normal for somone who just caught sleeping on the job by two Sith.

"Good evening, Sorry we came so abruptly and at an unusual time. Tell me do you know why we're here?" Amur would ask with a catch at the end to see how she would react. If something was up Amur would try to draw it out of her."

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Kalanda flashed the acolyte a smile, a genuine one at that. This girl was just on her level, and Kalanda was loving it. Typically people would just take her off hand comments about violence as actual threats; which to be fair, she was about half serious when stating those aloud. She liked being called 'Hon', sounded rather endearing. She was going to keep this one; she was certainly more interesting than the rest of the rabble she had encountered. "Well darling, if you must know, I reserve my flirtations only for those who are deserving." She was just as curious about Amur as the woman was of her.

The duo would make their way towards the museum, as Kalanda would give a pleasant nod to Amur as she held the door for her. "And they say chivalry is dead." She would jest, as the pair would find a themselves staring at a rather bored, but now slightly intimidated clerk. She poor girl looked frightened, though Kalanda couldn't exactly blame her for that. Not like the pair were going to hurt the poor thing after all, they just wanted questions. "To...see the gallary?" The girl asked, leaning slightly away from the pair, as she was clearly uncomfortable with this situation. Amur wouldn't get the impression she was hiding anything, least not from the nervous reaction. "That's not a bad guess, what do you think, dearie?" Kalanda asked, canting her head towards Amur. She wondered what her fellow acolyte wanted with the woman, probably just checking to see if they were being watched. Which given how odd all of this was, Kalanda couldn't fault her for that.

@Caught in Strangereal

 

[Amur]

"Tsk tsk- You're right so far. We visited the home of a rather interesting fellow. Nothing special, bit of a hermit but we saw this absolutely gorgeous painting. I just couldn't stop looking at it. He gave us a receipt of his purchase and told us to go here. I was wondering if you had more paintings by this artist." Amur told the receptionist, conveintently omitting the fact that he plunged himself out of a window out of insanity. It was the still that same day so while word and news was spreading there was still a good chance she wouldn't have heard about it. It was clear that she wasn't immediately in on anything but still if there was anything she saw or noticed she would want to keep hidden the Sith would be ready to sniff it out. She wanted to see how the woman performed at unease. Partly because it would likely result in more clues coming up and also because there was always a bit of fun to it. Like a cat playing with it's catch.

The clerk took the receipt and looked at it for a bit quickly typing in a product code into the holonet system. Her eyes visibly widened again upon seeing the image of the painting. "Oh, uh oh that. Yeah we um have more of those if you want to look. You uh want to... uh"

"Yes I would like to look at them. Come on get your tongue untangled. Could you show us."

"Uh... sure" The woman would get up and start leading them into the gallery a nice ornate area that had a certain antique charm to it. Her pace was quite clearly brisk and she wanted these Sith out of here as soon as possible. Still nothing up yet. Going past through most of the gallery it being your typical affair nothing that stood out. Though in the back there was an area labeled "Featured Outsiders". Entering it the two would be transported into a collection of paintings that were nothing like they ever expected from paintings.

"Well you ready Hon?" Amur would say to Kalanda standing and would do something that just felt natural in the moment and wrapped her right arm around her back. Ready to delve into the unknown.

@Algarus

 

[Kalanda Tishire]

Kalanda let Amur girl the poor woman, finding it rather amusing to see the acolyte at work. Her methods weren't that different than Kalanda's own, though she was just a tad more abrasive, Kalanda saw the true wit on display was just manifesting itself. Kalanda chose instead to sense the surface thoughts of the woman, curious what she was thinking, though it became rather obvious that she was terrified of the pair. It was a natural thing of course, given the appearance of the two women they weren't exactly welcoming sights.

When the girl would get up to lead the pair through the gallery, Kalanda would walk alongside Amur, wondering where this was going to lead. Clearly there were more of these unusual paintings, and frankly if they were as interesting as the last set she had seen, well...she wanted to see more of them, and so did Amur for that matter. As the pair walked, Kalanda leaned in to the woman, speaking so only the two of them could hear. "I think you scared the poor thing. She's nearly trembling right now." She mused, not exactly caring about how the poor clerk felt, but just making small talk. Reaching the doors labeled for the exhibit, Kalanda could only wonder what awaited her. A pleasant surprise occurred, as Amur linked her around her back. Kalanda glanced to the arm wrapped around her, then to Amur, flashing the woman a rather amused expression. She wasn't sure what to make of this at the moment, but there would be time to discuss this later. "Oh certainly, darling." Kalanda commented, playing along by leaning into her fellow acolyte just a tad. The clerk seemed to halt at the start of the exhibit, perhaps not wanting to be drug along by the two Sith, as they stepped into an alien collection of art. One painting depicted a beautiful landscape with it's skies being torn asunder by an alien entity. There was another one that she couldn't make head or tails of this second painting. At first it looked like a random display of colors and shapes, but the longer Kalanda looked at it, she began to see a scene of pure horror dance across the canvas. There were several others of course, but not all of them would have the same effect on the Sith Acolyte. That entrancing sensation was there, at least for her. "If you don't need me, I'll just...wait right here..." The clerk muttered, as she attempted to back out and away from the pair, but that was up for Amur to decide on.

@Caught in Strangereal