His response is just a simple glare, shouting, "Stop hitting me with it, too! It isn't fucking funny!" But he gets into his car anyways. If she left a dent in his car with that cane, it was gone. No more cane. Because he loved this car.
Just to show off how much he loved it and how totally GREAT it was, he honked the horn. That and he just wanted to see her reaction. This could definitely be used against annoying Pyropes. Yes. Good defense. Very good defense.
She so wasn't going to buy it.
And she definitely didn't seem too fazed by it, either. But what he didn't know was that he had pretty thoroughly freaked her out. Her grip on the cane tightened and each muscle stiffened, but she refused to show how much he startled her.
No way was she going to let him know how much she hated loud and sudden noises.
So instead of saying anything about it, she casually slips into the passenger seat and buckles up. "Onwards, to our 'not a date'!" She grins wide at him, prods his arm just to mess with him (and maybe get back at him a little for that damned car horn), then buries her nose in the file. Once she was in the zone, pretty much nothing could bother her.
"Wait, you're wearing a seat-belt?!" He was staring at her, making a face. "Those are for wusses. We're ON THE JOB. We need to be able to jump out and kick some ass at any minute, you can't wear a SEATBELT."
Nothing except loud Karkats going on about… Seatbelts? Coming back to reality at his shouting, she raises an eyebrow at him. The Sheriff. Sheriff being the keyword in that. And he was telling her to not wear a seatbelt. "We're just grabbing some food before going to my apartment. Besides, it's the law, Mr. Sheriff. So on the job or not, unless we're heading to some kind of shooting, I'm buckling up." She decides to end this with sticking out her tongue like the totally matured PI she is.
He just grumbles and starts up the car, not even bothering with responding to that. "Can we just get drive through or something? I don't want to waste anymore time than we have to here."
"Aw, but Karrrrklesssss! That's such a shiiiiitty date!" She whines at him, then grins. Oh yes, she was definitely going to enjoy this.
"You know WHAT?! I GIVE UP. What did YOU have in mind then?! And it's NOT. A DATE." Karkat clenched his hands on the steering wheel and grit his teeth, getting thoroughly fed up with her. His face was red again, but this time it was frustration and not embarrassment.
Angering him was always was too easy, he had an incredibly short fuse. Pretty much anything deserved to be yelled at, according to him.
"Hehehe, chill, Karkles. I'm just messing with you. Fast food sounds goods. I've gotta get up to date on this case, anyways." She taps the file sitting on her lap, grin a little less mischievous and sharp. "Now quit being all adorable and red! It makes me wanna piss you off more." The sharpness and edge is back to the grin, and her lips just stretch further. She wasn't kidding, either.
While most people would get angry back at him or just plain exasperated, Terezi Pyrope found it to be one of the most adorable things in the world.
At this point, Karkat had pretty much decided they were doing fast food anyways, and was already pulling into the drive through. "Just order or something." He had calmed down, but was still pretty stiff and tense. But there was no way he was going to let her get her sick pleasure from him. Nope.
"I'll take whatever, just shush. I'm reading." Her face is back in the file, her nose working in overdrive and a look of deep concentration set on her face. She had gone back into her little world, ignoring anything outside of the file and absorbing as much as she could from inside it.
Once again, Karkat felt a small tug on his face. Specifically the lip region. She was pretty cute when she was that concentrated. He wasn't even going to bother trying to deny it.
Instead of trying to come up with something fantastical, he just ordered a fuckton of chicken nuggets. Nobody could go wrong with chicken nuggets. There was no way she was going to be able to yell at him for chicken nuggets.
The nuggets made him invincible and yell-at-proof.
He decided to focus on the rest of the order and got a few sodas, not even bothering with thinking about what kinds she may or may not want. He also made sure to pay. Because what kind of shitty date would this be if he didn't pay for it?
A pretty terrible shitty date. That's what.
With the new food in the car and the aroma pretty much filling the entire thing, Terezi finds her nose straying from the file to sniff longingly at the air. Whenever this happens, she shakes her head and goes back to the file, determined to take in as much as she could.
God damnit, that was her stomach. Come on, Pyrope, ignore it and just go on with- Oh hey look. "Ethnicity isn't an issue, because this woman was Caucasian. But around the same age." Okay, so that was a bit of an issue. Because that wasn't a connection. And they seriously needed a connection.
Karkat had parked the car a while ago, wondering when she was going to realize. But when he heard her stomach growl, he wasted no time in shoving a nugget into her mouth while she was talking. "We've been at your place for a few minutes now you know." The drive from the drive through to her apartment hadn't been that long, they were pretty close. "Are you going to come enjoy your shitty excuse for a date or what?! Bring the file. You can catch me up on it AFTER we make sure you don't starve to death."
Terezi just blinks, blushing more than she wants and more than she would admit. Did he just…? She takes a moment to clear her head, then tries to respond. Right. Food. She quickly eats it, practically swallowing the nuggets whole in her embarrassment. "Right. Sorry. I tend to forget about food." She pops another three into her mouth, sliding out of the car. "Thish guy ish really in'eresh'ing." Swallow, Pyrope.
And ignore the date thing. She really hadn't expected that to come back and bite her in the ass. Damnit.
"So what's he killing for? Any similarities in living arrangements? Jobs? Relationships?" Karkat found himself feeling pretty smug about getting her to blush. He didn't even bother with trying to hide it, either. Shit man, he was on a roll today.
He had to remind himself to NOT blow it by doing a flying cartwheel out of his current 'smooth as fuck police-officer' mode. Maybe that'd be better achieved by actually paying attention and not letting himself get absorbed by his win.
"Both were, according to all sources, single, but this first woman… Her friends said they were worried. Apparently she had been acting odd for a while, and her apartment was only a few months old, too. Both had pretty high-end jobs, but the second had much better living arrangements. Though it's obvious she could have afforded better. Personal life wise, I can't seem to find a connection between the two…" She takes a break by grabbing a few more nuggets. Those are pretty much swallowed whole as well in her attempt to get some food into her stomach.
When was the last time she ate? She really had to keep better track of that. Fainting on the job was generally frowned upon.
"Then of course there's the whole deal with the stab marks." Right, okay, focus Pyrope. Listen to him, no matter how grating his voice can be. "I'm still waiting for the autopsy on victim number two to come in but unfortunately our only DECENT autopsy… ist… or whatever the hell they're called has been out so we're stuck with a group of incompetent baboons given a dead body and told to poke it with sharp objects. Basically we're probably not getting results on that shit until our other girl gets back from her little unannounced vacation. Maybe we COULD have gotten one of the officers to take a quick look if a nosey little PI who had been sniffing around the crime scene had let any of my damn officers get near the dead body to BEGIN with." He was sipping his soda casually, as if he hadn't just accused her of being a major player in them not being able to find anything.
She was busy eating more chicken nuggets, only half listening and completely tuning him out when he started to get all pissy about her. "Geezus fuck Terezi, forget to eat again or some shit like that?" His eyebrow was raised, part of him wondering how she could eat that fast and NOT choke. Another part was trying to fight back the concern that managed to slip into his voice.
"Hey! I was doing my job! Unlike you doughnut lovers, I actually have to solve cases to get money. You guys just sit on your butts all day." She pops a few more nuggets, taking a sip of her soda. Well, at least it wasn't diet. If it was a diet soda, somebody would be dead. "And yes, I did. You know I always do that whenever it comes to a case." She glances over at him, flashing a grin. "Why? Does someone happen to care?"
"Now you're just throwing stereotypes at me. Doughnuts taste like shit! And actually we have a lot of really badass take-down missions!" He took a few of the nuggets and decided to drown them in barbecue sauce before popping them into his mouth. "Well you should at least make an EFFORT to remember to eat something so I don't have to keep buying you food all the damn time!"
He chose to ignore her last remark, deciding to just stretch out and- Wait. Have they just been standing here eating in the parking lot the entire damn time?
"Hey, are we going inside or what? It's freezing out here."
"Hehehe, what? Can't take a little cold?" Terezi nudges him playfully, giggling to herself before leading him up to her apartment/office. She had enough money to move her office somewhere proper, like an actual office space, but she was just too lazy. This was close and cozy and that's all that mattered. She grabs the door, holding it wide and grinning at him. "Babies first."
"It's not that I can't DEAL with the cold, it's that I don't LIKE it." He continues to grumble about how he isn't a baby and that he can deal with cold situations, shuffling inside and looking around.
"Yes, of course." She follows him in, grinning wide. "Just put the food on the table. I'll be right back, I gotta grab the second victim's file from my office." She shuts the door and makes sure it's locked before going to her 'office'. It's really just a side room, cluttered with files lying about messily. It only takes her a second to grab the right one, heading back over to him, lazily waving it. "See what you can find." She holds the file out for him, pretty much challenging him.
In the time it took her to go get the file, Karkat had seated himself at a fairly messy table, staring at what part of her office he could see. "How do you even find shit in here?! It's like you don't even TRY to stay organized." He didn't really care all that much, he was really just complaining for the sake of complaining.
To shut himself up before she went after him, he snatched the file and began to read.
But of course that doesn't work.
"I'm blind, genius. I can't exactly keep organized. Besides, each of these files has a distinct scent." She walks back over to him, leaving her office the way it was, and pats his head. He chooses to ignore that, not wanting to give her something to get off on. "Hehehe, thank you for the food, though! But really, try a little harder on our next date."
She grins and plops down across from him, popping a few more nuggets.
"Being blind has never stopped you before." Karkat was already busy scheming how he was going to get into her apartment to clean the entire place. And how she was going to NOT notice. The PI that apparently can sniff out any kind of discrepancy.
Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. It was TEREZI here. He'd know if he moved a chair an inch to the left.
Though it'd be pretty funny to watch her try and figure things out.
She'd definitely be confused as fuck.
"And I just think you're picky because this was a TOP NOTCH meal for a date. Five fucking stars. I gave the entire 100 fucking percent amount of effort on this." After that little rant, he continued to look through the file. The victims' parents could have some information… That'll go on his to-do list.
Terezi rolls her eyes, sipping some more of her soda as she 'watches' him. Her 'watching' is mainly blank staring, her dead eyes not even blinking. After a while of this, she decides to speak up. "Apparently you've never been on a date." To keep him from being able to go on some kind of rant about how he's been on plenty and other bullshit she'd never believe, she quickly changes the topic back to their case.
Which is what they're supposed to be working on anyways. "But what do you think so far? Similarities? Differences? When is he likely to strike again?"
"For your information, Pyrope, I go on PLENTY of dates." Of course he was lying. He was never what ANYONE would consider a 'ladies' man'. That just wasn't how Karkat Vantas worked. He really couldn't stand people in general. And ASKING for a person to subject him to torture? Having to listen to their problems for hours on end? The very thought of it made him want to gag. And it took way less effort to just stay inside and avoid humanity.
So Terezi had been right about the rant, just most of it was mental. He didn't want to deal with whatever her insane response would be.
"The thing that's bugging me the most was the income. If that first one had money, where was it GOING? I think we need to contact the bank. There might have been an account linked to hers that the money could be transferring to. Considering there's only been two murders we don't know when or even IF he's going to strike again." Considering this a serial killer case was probably jumping the gun, now that he thought about it.
But whatever, he didn't think anything was official in the books yet.
"The first was two days ago so we'll give it until another few days to determine that. Also, did anyone talk to the asshole living above victim number two? Put him on the suspect list. It could be a start."
"Hehehe, roger!" Terezi takes the rest of the nuggets and stands, feeling pretty satisfied. Of course she could definitely eat more. One thing about being a Terezi was that you would never, ever be completely filled.
Ever.
It was pretty impossible. "I should have his number somewhere in my office… It must have fallen out of the file. Go ahead and call up the bank, let them know I need to smell all her records. Even before she moved back to that dinky little apartment." She didn't really want to admit it, but the way he dealt with things… It was impressive.
As much of an annoying pain as he could be, it was obvious he was a damn fine cop.
And no. Fine in only one way. And not in that way.
Shut up.
Karkat already had his cell phone out and ready to call the bank, not noticing as Terezi disappears to go do… Whatever blind PIs did when on the phone with potential suspects. Or, at this point, maybe the prime suspect? For killing the second victim, at least.
Alright Vantas, let's see if this piece of shit wants to work. And it was a piece of shit. It wasn't a high-tech Android or iPhone or anything like that. It was a dial pad. One of the old fashioned ones with the nine key function being the only option.
His last (first and only) touch screen had pissed him off so much he threw it at the wall until it worked. He still maintains that it was the phone's fault it wasn't unlocking and not the fact that he couldn't remember the password.
The guy at the phone store had refused to sell him a new one once he saw the state of the previous one.
Remembering he had a job he was supposed to be doing, he set to work on calling up the bank, leaning back and getting ready for a loud and shout happy argument with whatever retard picked up the phone.
Without really meaning to, his gaze went to Terezi, still on the phone and going through the usual dumbass processes people are always put through. Or is it just the cops and such they always put through hell? In any case, he was really starting to get uncomfortable with the amount of times he's looked over at her tonight.
Maybe calling this all a date WASN'T such a shitty idea.
After feeling his eyes on her yet again, Terezi takes a break from rifling through her office to look back at him, eyebrow quirked. After a second, she decides to mess with him a bit. How do you mess with the Sheriff? You wink at him. With her glasses sliding down her nose a bit, just enough shows for it to be obvious what she's doing. WITHOUT showing off her eyes. As much as she loves her blindness, her eyes… Well, that's a bit of a different thing for a different time.
Subconsciously, she's counting the number of times he's looked over at her since they split up, and the number makes a slight blush form on her cheeks. Alright, Pyrope, back to the files. Don't let him see a blush. Blush? What blush? There was no blush here.
Nopenopenope, just a private investigator looking for a number to call. Oh, hey, number. Where were you hiding, you little bitch?
Keeping her back to him, Terezi dials the 'friend', deciding the easiest way to get information was by 'inviting' him over to her place for a bit of 'comfort'. More often than not, they bought it.
Even if she hadn't turned away, there was no way Karkat would've seen her blushing. He was too busy looking away, embarrassed at getting caught. Shit. Shitshitshit. His face was probably glowing at this point and the only thing going through his head was how the fuck did she know?! Had she known this entire time?! God DAMNIT.
He cursed under his breath, not getting any of it. Everything about liking this chick seemed like a bad idea. Since the beginning they were nothing but rivals. No matter WHAT he did, she was always a step ahead. So how come he liked her so damn much?! It wasn't FAIR.
His inner ranting was quickly cut short by the guy on the phone clearing his throat. Right. Job to do. Get the information from the bank. Except he couldn't because apparently things like this were confidential, even to the fucking Sheriff. The information Karkat did manage to get out of the banker (it was all completely willing, no threatening involved at all) was extremely limited.
But he did manage to learn that victim number two's account had indeed been linked to another's. The first victim's account was on it's own, but apparently the day before the girl's murder a man had come in with her bank card and took out a certain sum of money. The same amount that was taken from number two's. Except he didn't know what that sum was because a certain banker apparently couldn't even tell him that.
That bit of information was pretty interesting, though.
Begrudgingly (and still totally willingly) the banker agreed to email additional information about the second victim's account, and hopefully a name for the linked one. He doubted any of this was actually going to happen, but it was worth a shot.
And apparently the bank's security camera was shit, since it reset on a daily basis. Everything from the day before was recorded over. Basically it was a useless piece of shit. Maybe he should tell the banker that.
"Sounds like a useless piece of shit." Was that a click? Yeah, that was definitely the dial tone. Way to go, dumbass, the guy had hung up. Figuring calling back would be useless at this point, he just leaned back and looked out the window. Fuck, when did it get so late?
Oh well, maybe Terezi would have better luck. Since his great conversation was over, he tuned in to whatever she was talking about.
"Well, my condolences anyways. Thank you for giving me some information~ And if you ever feel like getting an update on the case, or if you think you know something, just call me back. Bye now~" God how she hated doing that. But the best part about the ploy being turned down? Getting to hang up and just glare at the phone. While that certainly helped her feel a bit better, it also meant she didn't get too much information.
Even with a lot of flirting, she hadn't gotten much information from the guy. Either he didn't know jack shit, or he was hiding something. It was probably the former, he didn't sound smart enough for the latter. Or smart in general.
"Tell me you got something!" She heads back to where Karkat was, doing her best to keep the annoyance out of her voice. It's a miserable failure. So instead she takes deep breaths to try and calm herself, tapping her cane to the table legs. No, she wasn't going to sit down. She was going to pace and tap at the table and make herself calm.
"The people who work there are asswipes. The most they gave me was that one of the victims was transferring money to another account on a frequent basis. There was nothing up with the other one besides the fact that apparently some guy had been going in and collecting money from it himself with her card. Are you sure her friends said she wasn't in a relationship? The bankers said they'd email me information about the account the other girl was transferring money to but I don't think they're going to do SHIT. We're on our own here. Maybe one of us could go there in person and see if they're anymore cooperative upfront." After a bit of a pause, in which Terezi is completely silent, he adds something else. "How about you? Is the guy still on our suspect list?"
Her response is to growl and plop into a chair. Their situation definitely wasn't good. The trail was getting colder and they were getting less and less information. "I have no idea. I think that guy is safe, he's just desperate to get laid is all. At least, I don't think he's likely to kill two girls. Doesn't sound like it." If the guy wasn't even able to get himself a proper girlfriend and learn how to actually talk on a phone, she may've still had some suspicion. It's tempting to slam her face onto the table. Very tempting. It's beckoning. It's calling to her. It'd be the perfect place for a few stress hits. Maybe a few groans of utter despair.
No, bad Pyrope. C'mon, resist! You still have other options to look at! Dead ends are completely normal! Usually later, though. This was probably the first time she'd hit a dead end just hours after starting a case.
"Yeah, let's just try an upfront approach. Maybe they'll give the blind PI some sympathy?"
"You don't come across as someone who needs sympathy." He had to respect her for the ways she dealt with the blindness. It was pretty damn impressive. He often forgot. It wasn't something he'd ever admit to her, though. Ever. "And just forget about the asshole, we can see if any of her other neighbors will be more helpful."
At the thought of putting on the show of being blind, Terezi's face split into a grin. She followed Karkat's words and forgot pretty much everything about the guy from the phone. Her mind was set on fooling the bankers with the blind girl thing. It'd be tricky, because too convincing would mean they wouldn't believe her just because she'd seem too weak to be a proper detective. Too unconvincing and it'd be obvious she was just playing and didn't really have any issues at all.
If it came down to it, she could always just remove the glasses. But she'd much rather avoid that. Too many awkward questions.
"Yeah, but they don't know that! I mean, I can pull off a really good blind person act. Hehehe, haven't you seen before?" She lightly taps her foot to his shin, grinning. He probably didn't, since she's never really acted like a 'proper blind girl'. "And from what it sounds like, most of her friends did live around her. I wonder why no one's said anything…"
"No, I haven't, because around me you're always just a sassy little shit." There was no real venom behind his words; it might have even been a joke. A little fed up with that shit eating grin of hers, he pushed her foot away. "Maybe someone told them not to talk."
She slowly nods, humor gone for the moment. Her grin dulls, then eventually turns into a small frown as she begins to think. "That's worrying… Especially if it's a serial killer case. That means any and all of them are at risk. If the killer finds any of them a liability, he will kill them. Type or not." Not only was this guy a 'serial killer', but he was most likely one without a type. Anyone in his way had to die. Anyone he saw expendable would die.
Just great.
"So do we talk to them or not? If you're right and he finds out they said something, they're dead." Karkat was just as nervous as she was about this. Fuck, if they did anything wrong, there could be another death. There could be several other deaths. Because of them. And that wasn't something that he wanted.
"We'll go through our other leads first, as limited as they are. I'm thinking that if the bank doesn't work, a trip to the first girl's apartment may work. If he really is OCD, then there's bound to be something to hint at… I don't know, something." She knows she sounds desperate and probably pretty crazy. But she is desperate. And maybe crazy.
She's just completely frustrated already. Only a few hours in and they're down to two leads. One of which is pretty much a dead end and the other one may be a literal dead end.
Maybe this was all just because she wasn't working on her own. Yeah, that was it. She didn't have the luxury of the peace and quiet and to work without having to listen to and deal with someone else.
Luxury?
Who was she kidding. She absolutely hated to work alone. It got too lonely too fast.
Taking note of her frustration, Karkat wanted to assure her that they'd be able to solve this. That she didn't have to worry and stress so much over it. As cheesy and clichéd as it sounded, he wanted nothing more than to pet her hair until that smile of hers was back.
Unfortunately, not only was Karkat Karkat and therefore incapable of doing anything like that, but this was also Terezi. He had no idea as to how she'd react to something like that. For all he knew she would beat him into the ground with that cane that she didn't need. Damn piece of shit cane.
"Yeah, maybe he fucking cleaned her house or something." Real smooth, Vantas. Way to be sensitive. Dipshit. "Listen. If he's really that neat then this fuckass isn't going to leave shit for us to find. We can try the bank again, you can pull your blind girl routine, but we need to talk to those people. He might be just as interested in cutting off loose ends if he's as OCD as we think. I bet he's just waiting for the right time I don't think they'd be any more in danger than they were right now if we talked to them." Well that was just even better. He's good with words, can't you tell?
Terezi slowly nods, trying to not sink into her pit of despair. So no matter what they did about the neighbors… They were pretty much dead if they didn't catch this guy. Shit. Why had she ever been interested by this case? Psychos were just that – psychos. They were psychotic. They'd kill innocent people just because they could. Because they were in their way.
"Alright… Sounds good." After a few seconds of recollecting herself, she manages to drag out some more energy. Just push aside the worry of innocent people being killed because of your questions. Come on, Pyrope. You can do this. "Lead the way to the car, Karkles! I'll clean up later."
Eh, she probably wasn't going to. Not unless he ended up coming over again. Which… Was actually pretty likely. Damn, looks like she'd have to clean. Sometime. Somehow.
Nah.
"It's getting kinda late, don't you think?" His head pretty heavy from all this too-serious talk and depressing outcomes no matter what they did, Karkat got up from his chair and went to go grab his jacket. Late or not, they still had to get things done. Especially if they were working to not only catch the killer but to also save several other people's lives. Because there wasn't a doubt in his mind that this guy was going to kill the loose ends.
Fuck.
"Eh, it should catch the bank people off guard." She shrugs and follows him out, pulling on her bright red jacket on the way. She absolutely loved this jacket. Karkat thought it was a hideous thing that should've never been created. But she didn't give a damn what he thought. "Either this is going to be an all-nighter, or we're going to pass out at-" She stops, suddenly seeming to realize something. "Are you going to spend the night?"