Posted by Captain Eela Dasca (Lt. Governor) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)

Posted by Civilian Karilan Massat (Owner, Quill and Parchment Books) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)

Posted by Civilian Rafael Torres (Resident) in The Quill & Parchment: TMODJ (PRSIM)
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Eela nodded and gestured that she was coming in. Torres opened the door more and she slipped in. “I’m actually here to see you Mr. Torres. We need to talk. Back room, now,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. Eela set off towards the back, her heeled boots sounding on the wood floors and didn’t look back, fully expecting him to follow.

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov.

Karilan appeared from inside the coffee bar, a confused look on their face. “Eela? What’s wrong?” they asked and then looked from her to Rafael and back. “What’s going on?” Their tone was one of concern, but there was also an edge to it.

Massat, Owner, Quill and Parchment Books

Just as confused as Karilan, Raf began walking backwards and shrugged before turning and following the woman to the back room.

He stepped into the back room and she stood there with an almost blank expression on her face except for a very deep focus in her hazel eyes. She could see how this woman had been a Starfleet captain. She had presence, and it was a commanding one in this moment. “If I can help, I will,” he said softly, not sure what to make of this strange occurrence.

Eela took a step forward and took him in intently. “You can help by telling me exactly what you and Dash talked about at your lunch. Leave nothing out.”

Torres frowned. “Our lunch? I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

“Maybe nothing, but maybe everything. Humour me,” she said, though her tone deepened and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it.

Her heart raced slightly but he took a steadying breath. “Umm, it was pretty straight forward. We caught up a bit. I told him I had had a rough year, he told me about his family, about his sister, all who I know. Umm, and then I asked him if he could help me out with trying to find a job, because things were complicated for me. We had a bit of a difficult moment but he was good enough to say he’s try. That’s how I met Karilan,” he said, gesturing to the Deltan.

“And there was nothing else?” Dasca asked.

Torres shook his head. “No. You can ask Dash yourself. It was a very straightforward conversation.”

For a brief moment, something shifted in the woman’s expression and then it was gone. “If I could ask him, I would, but I can’t, Mr. Torres.” She pressed her lips together for a moment, sucked in a breath and when she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. “Dash was found dead in his apartment a little while ago.”

~Rafal Torres & Eela Dasca

Blood drained from his face and Raf stood there, forgetting to breath for a moment. Dead? Dash was dead?

“EELA!” Karilan almost yelled from the doorway. She stepped forward and put herself between Dasca and Torres. She looked at her friend and said “You can’t do this, Eela. No. You need to go. Now.” and she began to usher her friend almost bodily to the door. “Mr. Torres, please see the Dasinian Dark Roast is put by the brewer. It has been most popular.” and she moved Eela back out of the small room before taking her arm in her hand and half-guiding-half-pulling her towards the door.

Eela didn’t resist and really it felt like she was out of her body in this moment. And yet… her mind was still focused on what Dash was going to tell her today.

“You can’t do this, Eela.” they said softly. “It’s entirely out of bounds. You are not a police officer and you are not a detective. And Mr. Torres is not a suspect. I’m sorry, Eela. I cannot imagine how you feel right now. But I won’t allow you to follow this path here. Not like this. Call me later. But do not put you or him in a position like this again. If anyone connected to the investigation needs to talk to Mr. Torres, they can do so in the presence of my solicitor.”

She blinked, her thoughts suddenly a jumble. Karilan didn’t understand. It wasn’t about her. This was about Dash. About Oed.

As they reached the door, Karilan stepped in front of Eela and looked at her. She didn’t say anything, she just put a hand to her cheek and let her feelings of care and grief for her friend flow through the contact. “I am here for you, Eela. For you. But I won’t let you get yourself in trouble… not even for this.”

Karilan

There was no grief, no strong emotions of any kind flowing through Eela Dasca, except for determination.

Eela shook her head ever so slightly. “It doesn’t matter,” she said flatly. “Don’t you see? This is bigger than him, than us. The attaché to the Federation Ambassador is dead and we have a diplomatic contingent of Vren on this planet that we’re supposed to be negotiating with. Dash was struggling with something lately. Something he was going to tell me today. I am the Lieutenant Governor. I have to protect Oed, be several steps ahead before everything collapses down around us. The answer is right in front of us- every cell in my body tells me so. Yes, there will be an investigation, and sooner than any of us will like, this news will be made public. But this is not some everyday sad piece of news. It. Will. Rock. Oed, Karilan. I have precious little time before that happens, and believe it or not, I’m not out to get in the way or compromise anything.” This was another event in a string of strange ones she was still trying to make sense of. Were they all connected, or was it just coincidence?

~Eela Dasca, Lt. Gov. in Shock?

Raf had taken a moment to gather himself before grabbing the crate of dark roast beans Karilan had asked for. He brought them to the coffee counter and slipped behind, pulling the bags out of the crate. He watched the pair interact and it didn’t take much for Raf to understand that she was the one Dash had been seeing. Somehow that made perfect sense, knowing Dash. He went back to pulling the beans out.

Dash. Dash was dead. How? Why?! It made no sense. Unless…

He looked back to Karilan and the Lieutenant Governor and he thought back to the things he knew about Dash. Had he told her about his past? All of it? Somehow, that one detail he doubted Dash would have told anyone other than Dash and one other person. Then there were the ones involved. Well… shit. Had Dash gotten himself into more trouble? He wanted to say something, to call out and share with her what she wanted to know. Would that be betraying his old friend? Would it make any difference at all? The hell if Raf knew.

~Rafael Torres