Roughly four in the morning they arrived at the city morgue . Dave suppressed a yawn as he led Pyrope down the empty hall to where the bodies were kept. The moonlight cast an eerie glow through the frosted windows and their echoing footsteps further impacted the emptiness of the building. Dave found the tapping of the Legislator's cane comforting, in a strange hypnotic way. He paused only long enough to open the door for the troll before entering silently behind her. Rose had been kind enough to leave a note for Dave in the files, she had given him earlier, listing the location of the body for any future scrutiny.

Pyrope leaned her walking cane against the examination table and reached into her bag pulling out some latex gloves, and hastily put them on. Dave watched her carefully as she began her examination of the body. He had never seen someone place their head so close to a stiff. She began to run her long spindly fingers over nearly every bruise on the body, pausing in certain areas that she found interesting. She flinched when she brushed over his face and horns, a look of sadness washed over her face, a look Dave almost missed.

I wonder how they mourn their own.

His mind drifted away as he leaned against the wall and watched herobscene display of examination.

And here I thought having to work with a normal partner was bad enough, I get stuck spending a night in Corpseville with the devil herself looking like she's sniffing up a fat turkey during a Thanksgiving feast. He suddenly felt a little sick at that thought, and tried to think of nicer things.

"You claimed there was no identification…" she began. "It's right here." She turned the victim's head and pointed to a part of his neck right below the ear, where a tattoo of the zodiac symbol taurus was located.

"Yah, it's a tattoo. One thing our people have in common."

"No, it's his identification." She pulled out a portable machine that looked like a scanner. She pressed a button when she held it over the tattoo, it emitted a beep.

"Geez, do all of you have tattoo identifications like barcodes on cereal boxes."

"Yes" she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

He noticed her neck was bare of tattoos. His curiosity was piqued. "So where's yours?"

"Wouldn't you like to know…?" She flashed him a devious look.

Dave felt uncomfortable for having asked such a question. "Well, what's his price-tag?"

The troll paused, reading the line of text the little scanner was flashing across the screen."His name is Tavros Nitram, a brown blood. He would be no one of consequence below. I have seen work like this before." She gestured to his fake limbs. "There are few trolls who possess such craftsmanship, I may be able to get into contact with the one who made him his prosthetics. If I can reach this troll, we may go and question them about possible clients later." She turned back to her work, commenting on the gashes and the discoloration of his skin.

She paused once and frowned, frustrated over something that he didn't understand. The confusion passed, and she returned to her work with no further comments.

Dave waited impatiently for the Legislacerator to finish. His patience waning he chipped in, "Look, all the reports indicate suicide. There was no struggle in the room. No evidence of another person living in the apartment. There were no marks or bruises which indicates that he must have jumped of his own accord. All I need you to do is agree with me and you can even catch the next train back to...wherever it is you come from."

Pyrope stopped her inspection and tilted her head in thought. "It is true, he did jump of his own accord, but it wasn't a suicide." She got closer to the troll's head and stuck out her tongue and gave it a quick lick.

Dave cringed, internally. This was getting more disturbing by the minute.

She pulled her head up, "No, this was something more. He was not himself when he fell, it was caused by something, or someone, else."

"You got all that by licking a dead body, did you?" He saw her eyebrows rise above her red glasses at his question.

"Of course! He carries the stench of murder," She stated in a matter of fact voiceher head held high.

Dave just stared at her blankly. "Wow, okay wonderful evidence we have here. The corpse stinks, that's what corpses do when they're rotting." Dave stifled another yawn. "Alright, I'm going to step outside let me know when you are done."

He left the body to the troll and checked his phone for any messages when he was outside the room. Rose had texted him:

TT: I hope you found the body upon your arrival. Please be sure that you put it back into cold storage. If you do not, I guarantee I will be less cooperative when you come crawling back to me for help.

TT: John also wishes for you to wear something nice. Apparently, the Green Cube is a higher end club and he does not wish to get kicked out or asked to leave due to inappropriate dress.

I do not have time to deal with this shit. Dave thought to himself leaning against a wall and shut his eyes. So much had happened and he now had the shittiest feeling that this case was far from over. I just need rest my eyes for a second.

Dave felt someone was looming over him. Dave opened his eyes to see Pyrope standing before him when felt a presence looming over him. His body twitched, and inwardly, he cursed himself for dropping his guard around her.

"Is it sleeping time for the human night owl?" Pyrope giggle as she nudged his side with her cane.

"I wasn't sleeping, just resting my eyes and thinking about the case. Take a chill pill and stop poking me with that cane. I don't know where it's been or how many dead bodies and orifices you've pried that into." Dave said, as he pushed Pyrope's cane away.

She cocked her head to the side as she returned her cane to her side. "If you are going to rest your eyes again then how will I grab your attention?"

"A simple 'Hey' would do, you know like a normal person."

"Hey?"

"Sup? See works like that. Keep working on that. You've passed lesson one, now we can go onto lesson two, how to not scare small animals and little children within a 5 foot radius."

"Okay okay. Such a smart-ass," She giggled. "So, I was checking the body..."

"And?" Dave interrupted not wanting to hear an in-depth explanation. "I hope you've come to a definitive conclusion." Dave questioned.

Pyrope gave him another toothy grin. "I am convinced that it was murder."

Gritting his teeth, Dave sighed heavily. "Murder. You base that off the smell of a corpse? Can't you just say it was a suicide and we can both can go back to our normal jobs. On our own turf?"

"No. Honestly, Mr. Strider, it is obvious to me that you yourself have doubts about what has happened here."

Dave stared at her for a moment, knowing deep down he'd be crooked detective if he denied her words. "Just when I thought I was going to have a life again. More things to lose sleep over..." He muttered under his breath.

"Speaking of sleep Mr. Strider. I do believe it is about time for your sun to be showing itself, so if you could drop me off at my accommodation…?"

"God, it's morning already." He said with a little drag in his voice. "What a lousy evening." He went back to the examination room to return the body to cold storage, as per Rose's request. Pyrope continued to watch him, creeping him out the entire time.

Back at his car, Dave once again opened the door to let Pyrope in without incident. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, before asking where she was staying. "Where are you staying?"

"Oh, yes." She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a piece of paper with large red font on it giving it a lick. "I will be staying at the Wayward Vagabond Hotel. Do you know where this place is? I was assured that it is a decent human habitat." Dave refocused on the road once she brought the paper to her face.

Dave looked exasperated. "I know exactly where it is, let's just say it's not out of my way."

Pyrope wrinkled her nose. She leaned close to him and sniffed his neck.

Dave's hair bristled and his body tensed up "What the fuck, cut that shit out!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

Pyrope sat back in her seat, a smirk playing on her lips. Dave decided to keep his eyes on the road and ignore the weird troll who sat beside him.

He drove as quickly as he could to the run-down hotel in the shady part of Dersetown. He felt a little sorry that she had to stay at such a crappy hotel. The streets were mostly empty, with some light traffic. A light drizzle had resumed, falling steadily.

Pyrope turned her attention to the window, once again pressing her face to the passengers side window like an excited puppy. "It smells so fresh. I have read about rain, I never thought it would smell like this." She paused and averted her gaze from the window, concentrating on the dials and knobs in the door of Dave's car. She rolled down the window causing rain to spray her head scarf and the rest of the passenger side of the car. Dave rolled up her window with the controls on his door and locked it after that. They passed through downtown, out of the nice neighborhoods and into the rougher side of town. Pyrope wrinkled her nose. "This area smells different than where we just were. It smells musty and dark, reminds me of home,"

As the light of dawn started to slowly creep over the city, he pulled sharply into the hotel's run down car park.

"Here we are, Wayward Vagabond Hotel." Dave thought it was one of the worse places someone could stay, but he wasn't going to say it.

Without waiting for Dave, Pyrope quickly tried to get out of his car. Dave watched, amused, as she fumbled with the car door. Finally getting the door open, she hastily made her way into the hotel, successfully getting through the swinging door. Sighing, he slowly left his car and followed the troll inside.

He found her standing in the middle of the lobby, gaping at the ceiling.

"The manager's desk is this way," Dave said as he approached her and caught her lightly by the elbow. Pyrope flinched at his touch, but continued in the direction Dave was pulling her. She didn't speak until he led her to the where she could get her key. As soon as they arrived at the counter Dave let go of Pyrope's elbow and returned his hand to his pocket. He then noticed that one of her horns was showing. "Holy shit, adjust your headwrap!"

Pyrope frowned as she fumbled with arranging the scarf on her head. "There! Do I look like the human girls in your world?" She did a rather good job of imitating his vapid girl imitation, falsetto and everything.

"Not even in the slightest," he said with a deadpan face holding in a smile.

He approached the front desk searching for someone who worked there, anxious that he was about to pass her off to someone else as their problem. He stopped in front of the main desk and rang the small bell that rested on his desk.

"The manager should be here shortly. Since you were given this address I assume he knows you are coming." With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the front door.

He was about halfway to the door before he heard hysterical screaming coming from behind him. He whirled around to see the man behind the counter armed with a baseball bat while his partner (god, he hated that word) cackled madly. Dave rushed back quickly, flashing the man his police badge in an effort to calm the crazed man down. He pushed Pyrope behind his back. Some words and more than enough money was exchanged before he ushered her out the door by the elbow.

"I don't even want to know what you did to cause that guy to go after you with a bat," he spat as he slammed the car door shut.

All Pyrope could do was offer a shrug and a meek smile. "It was quickly decided, Mr. Strider that his facilities were not suitable for my habitation."

At this hour, Dave didn't care what had happened, but he did care about where he was going to leave the Alternian for the day. Battling time as the sky continued to lightened, they were disappointed to see that all the other hotels in the immediate vicinity either had no vacancy or had shut down long ago. Dave was becoming more irritated at each no vacancy sign. He pondered what they were thinking, sending the most ill-equipped and unprepared troll in the universe to the surface. Even a little make-up or human acting school would have helped in a big way. He cast Pyrope a sidelong glance. Ok, maybe a lot of make-up and acting school. How in the world was he going to solve this case let alone even walk around town with this psychopath as his partner. His wallet wasn't big enough to silence every person who flipped out. Tired and defeated, he had no choice but to drive to Derseflats, his own apartment complex.

He kept his head down as he shuffled his new partner into the apartment complex. There was no one around and Dave breathed a sigh of relief when he finally got her to the elevator.

The elevator, of course, wasn't working as usual, so Dave carried Terezi Pyrope's heavy luggage up all six flights of stairs, to his apartment. His partner followed easily behind him with a smaller bag clutched tightly to her chest. He reluctantly unlocked the front door, steeling himself for the very unwelcomed invasion of his personal space, hoping that perhaps she'd maybe at least have some courtesy in the someone else's home. She stopped just short of his door, pointing and mouthing off some nonsense about his apartment number containing the "numeral of the prophets". He impatiently but gently pushed her into the room, noticing that her head wrap had slipped, again, exposing her horns to anyone who happened to be in the hallway. Luckily, his neighbors were late risers on a saturday morning. Turning back to the room after locking the door, Dave was stunned at the sight of a very alien looking girl quickly rummaging through his living room touching everything in reach. By the time Dave had recovered from his shock, he had to pry an expensive camera that she had picked up, out of her hands. But soon as he set one thing down, she'd picked up another, a chain reaction that resulted in them toppling the stack of empty apple juice cartons and shattering the gathered whiskey bottles off the nearby table.

"Now just hold up. I wasn't expecting to accommodate the ambassador of Snooptown. Geez, are you always like this?"

"Your place feels like it's been ransacked and smells like a disaster."

"Let me rephrase that: do you wanna sleep in the street?"

"A cardboard box would have been more hospitable."

"Well, if you hadn't freaked out the manger… Just sit here on the couch. Give me a minute. And for the love of all things sacred, don't touch anything."

Dave quickly picked up the clutter in his living room and either shoved it in his hall closet closet, already overpacked with various things he'd collected over the years, or threw it into his room. A small stuffed orange man, one of the smuppets his brother had given to him, fell out and landed by Pyrope's feet. She picked up the plushie curiously to examine it, giving it a good squeeze.

"Give me that."

"What is it?"

"It's none of your business is what it is."

"Boorrring." she quickly tossed the puppet at Dave causing him to fumble with it for a moment.

Looking up after putting the puppet back in its place he cringed as he saw the troll staring at the katana that was display on the mantle. He had a sickening image of her skewering him in his sleep when she suddenly turned away from the sword, without touching it, and back to her bags.

Shaking his head, he went back to his bedroom to find some blankets and a spare pillow in his closet, and dumped them unceremoniously by her side when he found them. "Bathroom's over there, grab whatever you want from the kitchen if you're hungry, ask me if you need anything, and stop going into my stuff."

Dave retreated into his bedroom, nearly collapsed face first onto his bed. He wished that this was all some sick joke. The situation was getting progressively worse: first the weird case, then being assigned a partner, only to find out it was weird troll girl partner, and now having to share his living quarters with her. Exhausted, frustrated, and worst of all, being pushed to his breaking point, more than he'd ever imagined, he stared at the pillow in a daze. The pillow offered no advice. Maybe the shower would be a better talker. He peeked into the living room and saw the troll was bent over her suitcase. He decided that a shower might not be such a great idea. Last thing he wanted was to be found dead, naked, partly devoured in a compromised position due to a mysterious troll attack. But then, goddammit, this was his place he would not be a prisoner in his own room.

Making sure he locked his bathroom door, he threw his shirt in the hamper and hung up the rest of his clothes. Placing his sunglasses at the edge of the bathroom counter he jumped in the shower, trying to scrub off this entire night. Once done, he stepped out and had pulled on this pajama bottoms when he heard a loud crash from the living room.

He tentatively pushed open the door of his living room. The entire place was dark yet he felt like he was being watched. He could not see her, but wanted to assume that she was asleep and that crash was just her settling in with her "things". He turned back around and shut the door to his room. relaxing his tense shoulders he turned towards his bed.

Pyrope's toothy grin greeted him inches from his face. "HOLY SHIT! What the hell are doing?" Dave felt he must have jumped several feet in the air.

"You smell very nice." She took a step toward him her head cocked to the side.

Dave was just about to retort when he brought his hand to his face. He then realized a very important accessory was missing from his face. He reached for another pair at the top of the nearby dresser.

"Oh, you remembered your dark glasses," she voiced with disappointment. "One day Strider, I will know all your delicious secrets!"

"What's your fuckin' deal?" Dave glared at her, but his icy stare did nothing to phase the blind troll. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"

"Well there was this murder.." Pyrope started as she gracefully sat on his bed.

"In this room! Why are YOU in MY room" he said through gritted teeth not bothering to control his temper.

"I thought that would be obvious to a detective, wouldn't you have thought, roomie." Terezi pulled the scarf that was wrapped around her head. "I came to give you your scarf back, even though it smells like delicious red apples." She reluctantly handed him the scarf, and turned her head as if surveying his bedroom. "Although, there are many tantalizing scents here as well."

"Damn it. No. That's it, I'm done. Just get out of here." Dave was too tired to argue anymore. This had been too long of a night and his brain had just shut down. "I need to sleep. We will deal with this in the..." he paused glaring at a nearby clock, "later." He pushed her out of his bedroom and shut the door, making sure to locked it tight and put a chair in the handle for extra precaution. He could still see her grin burned into the backs of his eyelids as he attempted to go to sleep.