Rumor Has It

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Inu was about to end his morning rounds when he noticed something strange: Ray was slipping out of the room that had been given to the prisoner. It was against regulation to be in there unless something was wrong. Did Eddy pull a strange stunt again, was there medical care needed or was there another option. His eyes narrowed at the Rookies disappearing form, if something was indeed wrong it would show up in the report so why bother to ask. With a shrug and a sharp gaze he continued his way to the break room, maybe Victor would know. He was the one that resided over the other guards but also had night shift, which made him the most knowledgeable, supposedly.

Victor inhaled the sweet scent of the coffee as it filled the room. He had been watching the dark brown liquid drip into the pot for a few minutes now, sleepy after a full night of working. Just another hour after the break and then he could go home to his bed. He looked over at the line dirty coffee mugs and found his, the one with the little chip in it. The chair he had been sitting on creaked as he stood up to go rinse it out. Maybe he should wash it as well? He looked inside it. Nah, good for another round at least.

Inu walked into the break room silently, there was no need to announce his presence yet. Instead of saying anything, he leaned on the doorframe. A small smirk was toying on his lips as he watched the burly man shuffling to get his coffee. No one was more dedicated than Victor in Inu’s eyes. No matter how late the man stayed up the prior night, he was always here in the morning.

The coffee scent got even stronger as he poured the coffee from the pot into his mug and went back to sit at the little kitchen table the boss kindly had bought for them upon his request. It made these mornings so much better. He looked over at the figure that had entered and gave a small nod when he saw the familiar face. Normally he wasn’t the guy to be very talkative in the morning, but he could make an exception for Inu. At least after a few sips of his coffee.

“ Good morning, Victor. How was watch last night?” Inu slowly pushed off the frame to stride into the room. Maybe he’d get himself some coffee too, as for now he took a seat across from the other guard, “This morning I noticed Ray walking out of the prisoners room, was something wrong?”

He jumped straight to the point, it was no use cutting around the corners when he wanted answers.

Victor furrowed his brows, taking a sip of the strong, black coffee before answering. The coffee wasn’t strong enough for him until a spoon would stand up in it. At least that’s what the joke about his coffee taste said.
“This morning? I heard him in there last night,” he said, putting his mug down on the table. Ray should have been back on post way before this morning, shouldn’t he?  “The prisoner was screaming and stuff, so I assumed the boss had asked him to do something, but this morning? That’s a long time…”

Inu tilted his head back in thought,” How odd.”

He murmured under his breath to himself, none of that seemed to add up. Especially when Victor was the first one to know when the boss gave orders. It was the man’s job to make sure the other guards were doing what they were supposed to be doing. So if there was no trouble and the boss hadn’t said anything then….Inu’s mind went silent as a scowl spread across his face, ”Screaming you said?”

“Sounded… almost like he was…” Victor’s voice trailed off before he could finish his sentence and his face twisted into a frown. “That fucker.”
He shook his head disapprovingly, taking another sip of his coffee. “Literally fucker. Shit. Maybe I should tell the boss?”

“ Do you think Ray would really do that. He seemed so nice and understanding,” True Inu didn’t know Ray really well so he couldn’t actually make judgement on the rookies character. But he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt first, unless Victor thought differently. He worked more closely with Ray. “ Especially without consent?”

“Might be an act. You never know,” Victor mumbled, swallowing another gulp of coffee. He felt almost betrayed, or at least tricked, by the fresh addition to the guard force. The trust he had put in this boy, a weakling with a clever mind finding gaps in the market. He hadn’t exactly been the ultimate guard material, but Victor had chosen to take him in anyway - only to be fooled like that? He didn’t like the turn that was taking, and he knew that if it was the case that Ray was sleeping with the prisoner, with or without consent, it would come back to bite HIS ass as well. “We don’t have any actual proof, though. I don’t know, the boss will probably be annoyed if we accuse him without proof.”

“ Innocent until proven guilty, I suppose. We’ll investigate it for the boss then. I do not see him pleased with any scenario,” Inu looked back to Victor, searching his features to see what course of action he planned on. He would follow where Victor led.

“More like very suspicious until proven otherwise,” Victor mumbled, shaking his head. “Very suspicious.”
He stood up to refill his coffee mug. He needed another mug for this stupid situation.
“I should have checked it out last night. The prisoner sounded like he was in pain,” Victor groaned in annoyance. How could he be so blind? Deaf? “I hope we’re wrong, but… what else could it be, you know?”

“ My guesses are as good as yours. I don’t see any reasons or logical answers as to why or  what happened .”Inu cracked his neck, thinking of what options they possibly had. How could they prove it, or disprove it?

“ Maybe we should ask the prisoner himself if something happened, although I do doubt he’d tell us anything. Also he isn’t safe, he did choke me.”

He rubbed his throat awkwardly.

“His responses are unreliable at best,” Victor agreed, rubbing his forehead. It was too early to deal with this. “I say we just… see what happens. Keep an eye out. I mean, what else can we do, right?”

Inu nodded slightly as he listened, it was a hard call to make,” I’ll keep an eye out then, if we get hard evidence I will confront it head on.”

He couldn’t stand the idea of something actually going on between the two if it was against one of their wills.  

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