The Restoration Protocol

6 || red-handed

"I should never have agreed to this."

"It isn't your fault, Mr. Valentine."

"Oh, it's absolutely my fault. Honestly, what kind of an idiot was I?? 'A festival'?? Yeah, and the rings just happened to have Prince Lotus's initials printed on the insides, but it's just a coincidence, they're just made to resemble — gimme a break, 'they're just replicas.' Sebastian, you greedy, thieving scumbag."

The small waiting area down at New Floravale's head police station is quiet, all save the mutterings of a seething, shaking Julian who hasn't stopped bouncing his leg since the moment the officer sat him down next to Mariko, Boey, and Soleil. They were taken in at slightly different times, and by different officers, of course, but after a brief discussion it was decided Sebastian would be questioned separately than the rest of them. That's where he is now. In the interrogation room just across from them, behind a door guarded by two men who haven't taken their eyes off Mariko for some reason since she was escorted into the building. And she hasn't stopped glaring at them in return. One of the guards is a lot more timid than the other, to her satisfaction, so her icy stare actually appears to be setting him on edge. She continues to intensify it. Virtual-video-game-dreamworld or not, they're still officers of the law, and since the arrest of her mother, Mariko has never cared for their type.

"If only my knife wasn't confiscated back at the Marble Dome," she murmurs after a long period of silence, causing Boey to flinch. "I coulda fought 'em. I coulda stabbed 'em."

"M-Mari, don't say stuff like that here!"

"Why not? What are they gonna do, arrest me?? We're already here."

"Still..."

"Miss Mari, I do think subtlety is of value right now," Julian whispers, shifting his gaze over to her. He keeps his leg bouncing, but digging his nails into his own arm helps relieve him enough to speak in a kinder tone. "Genuinely, if they ask anything about Sebastian, deny everything. If this is all to do with his act of thievery, I'm sure they'll at least let you three off after realizing you had nothing to do with it. Though I doubt they'll accept my story quite so readily..."

The officers haven't taken Julian's ring yet. But from what Mariko has learned from the man's furious ramblings, it belongs to Prince Lotus. As does the one Sebastian wears. Now whether Sebastian knowingly stole the rings out from under the prince's nose, or if he truly did obtain them secondhand under the impression that they were replicas, Mariko can't say. Julian certainly doesn't believe in the latter, that's for sure. Boey doesn't know what to think, either. And Soleil hasn't uttered a word since they arrived at the station.

Mariko finally brings herself to look at her. Soleil sits silently in the chair to her right, back hunched over, hood still raised and shielding most of her head from view. No one has asked her to remove it yet. And while she wishes that could be a relief to her, Mariko wonders if it's because they already know who's hiding beneath it. But how could they, she has to ask herself. It isn't as though New Floravale officers had seen them fleeing Wynsmith. She was under the impression no one saw them, which is why they had such an easy time making their escape to begin with. The only issue had been staying out of the patrolling officers' line of sight, which again, she thought they had done so successfully.

The door to the interrogation room opens suddenly and Mariko snaps to attention. It isn't Sebastian who greets them, sadly, but one of the two interrogators who had gone in with him. He motions them to enter the room. All four of them. So they do just that, all somewhat confused, as each had expected they would be questioned one at a time.

Sebastian waits inside at the small table set up in the very center of the room. No additional chairs besides those which the interrogators use are present, so Julian, Soleil, Boey, and Mariko have no choice but to stand off to the side as directed by the guard who had followed after them. Mariko bites her tongue as she stares at Sebastian. He looks...unbothered, as usual. Even though his are the only handcuffs which haven't been removed. Not intimidated in the least by the presence of authority, or by the prospect of being punished for his actions — like a teenage boy sitting in the principal's office, already knowing he would be let off the hook when this was all over. A smirk on his lips, he starts to click his tongue against his teeth as someone closes the door again.