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It was a rather typical day in Minrathous. Pouring with rain, humid and loud. And Neve Gallus was standing in an alley staring at bloodstains and a body. She had questioned the witnesses, and deduced that the victim had been a notable patron of the Cinder Vault.
Naturally, he had run afoul of one of the criminal organisations in the city, though thankfully not the Threads, from what Elek had told her anyway. She trusted him, or at least trusted his information. On the surface, it just seemed like a stabbing, like any other she had dealt with. Trying not to think about how depressing the thought "a stabbing like any other" was, Neve took another look at the body, this time examining his wounds. While she had been told it was a stabbing, the wounds didn't seem consistent with that of a knife or a dagger.
He had an exit wound on his back, matching the entry wound on his front, but normally daggers aren't long enough to go through a person all the way. Not to mention that the exit wound being higher than the entry wound. Neve stared closer at the wounds. Ordinarily something this simple wouldn't have stumped her but if she were to be completely honest, Neve was hungry. Starving, really. Rather surreptitiously, her stomach saw fit to grumble at that exact moment.
Neve wanted nothing more than to grab some fried fish from Hal's, but leaving a body in an alley to go eat something was considered a faux pas in most detective circles. Neve chuckled. Bel would be mortified if she found out Neve had left a crime scene to go eat instead of solving the crime. She could hear her already:
Neve! That's not how things go in the serials! She'd say.
Bel, you know it isn't like the serials. Neve would gently remind her.
Yes, but the romance! the mystery! You can't interrupt that because you're hungry, Neve! Neve smiled as she finished playing the hypothetical conversation in her head. Even when afar, her sister always brought a smile to her face. Shaking herself from the reverie, Neve heard the sound of someone approaching.
She turned to look, seeing her Trouble approaching, with what looked a lot like bags of food. Greasy food. Greasy fish. Luci finished crossing the distance between them and kissed Neve in greeting. When the two women parted, Neve smiled even wider. "Trouble, what are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining."
Luci held up the paper bags. "You didn't have breakfast this morning."
Venhedis. That was true. "Of course I did-"
Luci tilted her head. "Neve. I can tell. So, I brought some fish from Hal's after figuring out where you were at."
She held the bag out to Neve. Neve took it, taking in the scent of fried fish and vegetables. It was her favourite from Hal's, one of his skewers, and Luci had brought her two. Neve took a bite, savouring the greasiness and the seasonings, the texture of the fish, all of it. As familiar as it was welcome, Neve devoured the skewers with a ravenous hunger, while her wife ate hers with far more grace, looking at Neve with a bemused, but affectionate expression.
"Amata, you know you need to eat breakfast. And lunch. You know I'll always be ready to make it for you too."
Neve sighed. Years together, and she still had so much trouble asking something of her Trouble. "I know, amata, I know. But you were sleeping so peacefully. I didn't want to wake you this morning."
Luci smiled. "As sweet as that is, you still need to eat as much as anyone. Now, what's going on with here?" She gestured to the crime scene, which had Neve had almost forgotten during the conversation with her wife.
"A stabbing, but the wounds are inconsistent with daggers. I don't know why, but I can't seem to figure it out."
"Would your issue with deducting have to do with hunger, my love?"
Neve rolled her eyes affectionately. "Most likely. Would you like to take a look, Trouble?"
Luci leaned down to examine the wounds on the body. "Well, a dagger wasn't used to kill this man. He was killed with a sword. A curved one, actually. Like what Venatori use."
Neve blinked. "I suppose if anyone knows swords best, its you. But the Venatori are all but finished."
"We hope. Those cockroaches are always crawling out of the woodwork again."
Neve thought on what she knew of the victim and where he was killed, now adding how he was killed.
Luci was looking at her, verdant eyes full of affection. "You have something, don't you?"
"Maybe. Come on."
Neve turned to leave, Luci following close behind. "So, aren't you thankful you aren't going to be fighting Venatori on an empty stomach?"
Neve chuckled. "Case isn't over yet, Trouble."
The two women moved through their city, their investigations taking them towards a brighter dawn for Minrathous and Tevinter, always.