Chapter Text
Eli felt their chest heave as the curtains fell in front of them, costume sticking uncomfortably to their skin due to the hot lights shining on from above. Their legs shaking from the adrenaline from the performance. Even though it was only a minor role, it was the first time Eli had ever been on stage. He cast a look to his right, eyeing Ronald as he smiled at the audience.
As tired as they were, Eli knew their work for tonight was far from over. The cast slowly filtered off and moved backstage, some of the crew members staying back to help clean up the set.
“Good work newbie!” Sparrow laughed as he roughly hit Eli’s shoulder, a wide grin on his face.
Eli rubbed the back of their neck bashfully. “Thank you, it was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be.”
“Glad you thought so! I remember the first time I ever performed on the big stage, ohhh I nearly threw up in front of the entire audience” Sparrow’s ramble was cut short by Smarty Pants pulling him aside for something, Eli was grateful for the interruption. They didn’t have a lot of time before Scrooge returned to his office after bidding goodbye to all the guests from tonight.
Politely slipping past Phonograph before she had the chance to talk to them, with the excuse they needed to go to the bathroom,they started to make their way towards Scrooge's office.
Looking back to see if anyone was following them, and that the cost was clear. Eli took the stairs furthest away from the main area upstairs, waving with a small smile at the stagehands they passed on the way there.
With one more look around, They took the key they had stolen from the director earlier and entered the office, immediately scrunching their nose at the stale smell in the room.
“Would it kill them to open the windows once in a while.” they muttered.
Knowing time was not in their favour, Eli tried to think where the director might’ve put any traces of his misgivings.
First, the obvious and fast to check places.
Moving to the filing cabinet, they brushed their fingers over the documents, trying to find any that looked out of place, nothing. Wiping their dust covered gloves on their skirt they moved to the drawers, flipping through the contents as quickly as they could without being careless, the most they found were bills and logs that showed no signs of suspicions.
Eli groaned, time was running out and they found nothing, the night they had been preparing for since last month has brought up nothing.
“Think Eli think. Where woul-” A very out of place box caught their attention, one that looked significantly less dusty that everything else in the room. It couldn’t have been a money box, those were in the drawers. Grabbing a chair to help them reach it, they snatched it quickly, moving some random pieces of paper so they could open it. The latch on the box not being closed properly.
“Please, pleasepleas” Eli pulled out the first document they saw, eyes widening as they saw the contents. “Yes! This is exactly what they n-”
“Lunar phase?”
Eli felt their heart fill with dread, as a very familiar voice called out to them. Holding their breath, they didn’t look behind them, only gently closing the lid as they tucked the documents they were holding inbetween his underclothes and costume.
“I didn’t expect to find you skulking about here.” They could hear the mocking tone in Ronald’s voice. “Though someone as angelic as you was just too perfect to be true.” Ronald slowly walked towards Eli, hands tucked into pockets.
Eli turned to meet Ronald’s eyes, smiling gently.
“I didn’t expect you to follow me either, but here we are.” Eli pressed one finger to their cheek, as if they were thinking about something. Their other coming to rest on their hip, ready to grab the knife they had hidden beneath their robe at any sign of danger.
Ronald pushed past them, and they moved to the side so that they never stopped facing him directly. The actor brushed his hand over the box, tensing slightly.
“It’s a very nice box don’t you think?” Ronald smirked at Eli. “It would be a lot nicer if you returned what you took from them.”
“Unless you can provide better answers than those documents, I would rather not.”
Ronald paused for a second, contemplating, before lunging at Eli. Despite initiating it, Ronald had severely underrated the other as Eli managed to duck out of the way easily, kicking their foot out to trip the actor, taking advantage of the small stumble to use their body weight to slam Ronald against the desk, causing him to double over in pain, before he had the chance to recover he found himself pinned to the floor, wrists twisted behind his back and a knife pressed to the back of his neck.
“Your body language was way too obvious, if you’re going to do such a pathetic attack then at least take me off guard.” Eli taunted.
Norton knew he should be thrashing about, trying to get his co-worker(?) off him, but something in the sudden change of attitude and the taunting was making him feel fuzzy.
“So, what is the purpose of these documents, and why are you so eager to hide them? I knew there was some level of embezzlement with the profits but I’m so very curious to find out just who these payments are going too.” They pressed the knife deeper into Ronald’s skin, using the blunt side as to not cause any injury.
Norton gulped, before trying his hardest to make eye contact with Lunar phase.
“I’m not exactly allowed to tell you why as i'm sure you guessed.” Out of nowhere he swayed to the side, trying to use the momentum to throw the other off of him, only for his efforts to be in vain as he was shoved back to the floor. Eli’s knees pinning down his arms and the knife slicing into his throat ever so slightly.
Eli sighed in annoyance, dragging the tip of the knife up Ronald’s throat and tilting his chin up. They wondered how Ronald could still look so smug while behind threatened at knifepoint.
“I don’t have time to spare Ronald.” They hissed. “Give me answers or I'll cut that smirk off your face.”
Norton tried his hardest to stay strong, he really did, but the way Eli looked on top of him, the way their voice was actually so much lower when they weren’t putting on an act, was really, really making him want them to do unspeakable things to him right there.
“Since you asked so nicely,” Norton tried to struggle, only for the man above him to put more weight onto his wrists. “They are records of transactions, as if that wasn’t obvious, and I’m not even sure myself. I’m just paid to keep quiet and let things be swept under the rug.”
Eli didn’t seem satisfied with his answer, but at least they moved away from his neck for now.
“Do you know where I could find out where these are going to?”
“I could tell you if you answered some of my own questions.”
Eli sat back, contemplating for a second, before remembering they had minimal time until Scrooge eventually came back to the office.
“Fine.” They hissed, still not moving from on top of Norton.
Norton smirked, ignoring the dirty look he got. “So, tell me. Is this the first time you’ve been on top?” He was instantly met with the knife digging into his skin again, harder than before. “Shit, shit, okay sorry.” Eli did not look amused. “Okay, okay, seriously pretending to be an aspiring actor for a month for a bunch of lousy documents seems way over the top, who set you up to this?”
“It’s not just for the documents Ronald, this is part of multiple investigations, and Baden did. He found some leads that lead to this place. Can’t say his methods were efficient or practical but either way i get paid at the end of the day.”
“Wait- Did you say Baden? As in Jose baden?” Norton’s eyes widened, having not heard that name in a matter of years.
“Yes?” Eli looked confused, Baden’s detective agency wasn’t exactly well known, with just them and around 6 other people working there. They didn’t expect for Ronald to know about it as the only connection between the two was between Bella and Ann, but even then Ann wasn’t part of the agency itself and just a close friend of theirs.
“Does Naib su- Inference work there still?”
“You know Naib?” Eli blinked, realising they got off topic. “Nevermind, I can ask you about this another time. As i’m sure you are very aware, we do not have much time until Scrooge comes back and this isn’t exactly a place I am keen of being found in”
“Where can I find more information on this, do you have any information on these people.”
“I don’t have any, but I know where you can get some.”
Now that was surprising, they had no idea what Ronald was hoping to achieve by helping them.
“What? Aren’t you supposed to be keeping this under wraps. Why are you offering to help?”
“Can’t a man offer to help out the goodness of his heart?” Norton chucked, instantly regretting it as the knife dug into his throat. Ouch. Eli winced and pulled the knife away, looking at him so suspiciously.
“If that man was anyone other than you, then i’d be a lot more willing to take you up on that offer. What would you get out of this Ronald?” They let go of one of his arms, ready to grab their knife when Ronald quickly snatched it back.
“Norton. Call me Norton.” Norton rubbed his neck, wincing at the pain. “And honestly? I just want to see Scrooge be torn to pieces, he has been doing more and more shit lately that’s been putting everyone here in danger and been taking more of our pay for himself. Smarty pants got jumped the other week and nearly ended up in the hospital.”
Norton slowly pushed himself up, Eli sliding down to be sitting on his thighs. “Scrooge has been threatening Commander and Kroto for months now, as well as myself. And frankly I’m sick of living through this bullshit but it’s not something I can solve myself without putting us in direct fire.” Norton looked to meet Eli’s eyes, their hood had fallen down at some point, showing off short brown hair, they looked so innocent in that moment, Norton nearly forgot that just seconds ago they had a knife ready to take his life at any moment.
“It’s… tempting to say the least, and it means that my investigations would go more smoothly.” Eli completated. “But how can I be sure you won’t sell me out the second you have the chance.”
“Well, I could tell you right now that Scrooge will be walking in any second now, and unless you want to be murdered within the next few days that you should follow me.”
Fuck. Eli cringed, not hearing the footsteps and clacking of the director’s cane until now. They had no choice did they.
“Fine. I trust you, but if you pull anything I won't hesitate to stab you.”
That’s all Norton needed, grabbing Eli by the waist as he hosted himself up, relishing in the small squeak of surprise, before placing them down. “This way.” Wrapping his hand around Eli’s wrist, he tugged them into the storage closet, pushing the both of them behind one of the shelves in the darkest corner, just in time to hear the front door click.
“Huh?” Eli held their breath as they heard Scrooge’s gruff voice, and fast pacing around the room. “Who?” Slam. They could barely make out thumps and slams and drawers opening, each loud noise making their heart race faster and faster. They could hear Norton’s heart with how close the actor held them to him.
“Scrooge dear? We have some guests at the front door, they request your presence immediately, something about business deals or whatnot.” Their saving grace came in the form of Madame Bella, calling out for the director from outside the room. She sounded bored.
After a few curses and threats, Scrooge yelled that he would be down in a moment, and that she should inform them to take a seat in the lounge and ask Phonograph to attend to them. Eli couldn’t make out anymore of the conversation.
It wasn’t until around 5 minutes after Scrooge had slammed the door close that they felt safe to speak.
“Was that enough?” Eli couldn’t see Norton’s face, but they had a feeling he was smirking.
“It was fine, but I’m keeping an eye on you.” The detective went to stand up, but found themself stuck in place by two arms around his waist. “Huh- What?”
“I’m not done with my questions detective.” Norton chucked, loosening his grip. “I would like to know one last thing.”
Eli sighed, making sure it was loud enough for the actor to hear. “Go on, out with it.”
“Could I ask you to dinner later? I’ll pay of course, but I would like to continue.. Questioning you in a place that wont threaten our livelihoods.” Eli could hear the implications of what Norton meant by ‘questioning’ in the way he purred those words into their ear, but knew under no circumstance that they should agree, they shou-
“If it’s for.. Well business purposes I don’t see why not.”
Eli could feel their regret manifest in the way Norton smirked against the skin of their ear.