week 3 - hermann & mary - monday

[completelycrazy]

[In retrospect, Newt should've checked the yarn area first. It's not as Mary-aesthetic as a craft store, but it's like, craft store adjacent. And anyway, here she is, hanging out in yarn heaven. Cool.]

Found her. [He waves Hermann over with his free hand, and then heads down the aisle to meet her.]

Hey, Mary. You busy? I've got a present for you.

[Newt opens up the bundled up jacket he's been carrying around in one arm. It has a metric fuckload of temporary tattoos in it. He's got a stupid expectant grin on his face. Let's match??

Also Hermann is here.]

Comments

[withsadness]

I'm knitting!

[But she beams and puts it down to her side, so clearly she's not that busy. Like, how can she too busy for presents, anyway?]

Ohhhh, oooohh!! Those are all for me? All of them?

[byjove]

[Hermann did not participate in this shenanigan but he also isn't going to stand in the way of it. Whatever makes Mary happy, she deserves some cheer after. That.]

I didn't know you could knit. Full of hidden talents, aren't you?

[completelycrazy]

That's right, kiddo. Now you can look like me. [Which everyone wants to, of course. Anyway Newt's arms are in full display right now since he's just wearing a t-shirt. Enjoy the monsters, Mary.]

You want to go sit down somewhere quieter so we can get you tatted up? [#fatheroftheyear.] Bring your knitting stuff, too.

[withsadness]

Yay! Yaaaay!

[She's so fucking ready for this she can't wait. She's gonna look like the best punk ever??? Mary picks up all of her stuff to follow Newt where ever he wants to go, then turns toward Hermann.]

I didn't know before, but somebody taught me! I couldn't practice cause I didn't have anymore yarn but nooooow I can!

[byjove]

Someone here taught you?

[Color him surprised. How did they even find the materials?]

Who was that?

[completelycrazy]

[Newt, meanwhile, leads them over to the McDonald's so they'll at least have a little table to work with. It's not quite as private as Newt would like, but they should be able to spot anyone trying to eavesdrop. This would be so much easier if only the good guys spoke German??

Once they're at the table, he empties out his makeshift jacket bag so that Mary can take her pick of the goods.

And this knitting thing is cute and all but Hermann?? can? we focus????]

Me and Hermann got some good news the other day, Mary. These tattoos are still a present, but we wanted to share some intel with you, too.

[withsadness]

Can't tell! Friend code!

[Sometimes people are too tough to want to be known for teaching small cute girls how to knit. So Mary gets all comfortable at her table (with some nugs, because you gotta get nugs) and tries not to vibrate around too much.]

What kind of good news?

[byjove]

[Friend code. Sure. Anyway.]

Right. Max gave Newton a gift this week, or rather, a choice of gifts. What he ended up with was the chance to know if a single person was a Reaper. We used it on Caren, and were able to determine that she is, in fact, trustworthy.

[It's the only thing they've been sure of in weeks so, time to spread it around a little. In a really verbose way apparently.]

[completelycrazy]

[Newt nods, though wow Hermann way to steal his thunder?]

That's right. Max said the Composer picked me specifically because he liked what I'd been up to the week before. [#bragging, but no really he has a point here.] I think Monika and Clarke also got pins, and that's why we got that hint at the trial when Monika asked for a favor. Plus, uh, Max said someone picked the same pin as me, but they've since been, uh, erased, so... Sounds to me like Clarke used it on Ranpo.

[withsadness]

Oooh! Congratulations! That's incredible news, Newt!

[Mary claps her hands for him!!!]

You learned all of that? If that's true, how did Ranpo find out? Do you think maybe she told the wrong person?

[byjove]

That's a possibility. But she also may have chosen to confront him.

[He doesn't want to say "she maybe tried to kill him first".]

[completelycrazy]

Yeah, uh... I'm not sure how yet, but I think her death was related to both Ranpo's and Madara's. Most likely, she decided to take matters into her own hands. [He shrugs. It's a bummer, but.]

I get why she'd do that. Sitting on that sort of information could've been more dangerous in the long run. [...] For, uh, the group, anyway.

[withsadness]

Yeah, you're probably right...

[Though it seems like in the end the information was dangerous nonetheless.]

Poor Clarke...poor Madara. [A pause.] Did you find out anything else? We can trade! Secrets for secrets!

[byjove]

[Hermann looks over at Newt. Nah, whatever, he'll be fine with sharing with Mary.]

We found out that Chuuya, Caren's partner, is most likely not a Reaper either. She assured us she knew this for certain.

[completelycrazy]

[Yeah, Newt doesn't care about sharing this with the kiddo. He trusts her.

He does, however, cock an eyebrow at this "secret for secrets" thing.]

Wait, Mary, do you know some stuff too?

[withsadness]

I knooooow that reapers don't have entry fees.

[That's a Mary Fact!]

I found it out in a secret note. The note also said that something's unusual about our Reaper Game, but it didn't say what--except for that it's really long for some reason.

[byjove]

[Oh. That's what he asked the Composer about in his letter this morning. So this could serve as a fact check, to make sure the responses are true. But more importantly:]

No entry fees? We could use this. At trials. To suss out who is a Reaper. It'll be hard to prove for some, but not for others.

[The other thing is too vague to be useful, but he'll keep it in mind.]

Excellent work, Mary.