ax_main | Jester and Piotr - The Case of the Missing Sister Memories (Backdated)

Detective Jester meets with Piotr to interview him about the case.

Piotr's first Saturday in the mansion began much earlier than he'd planned, and he now knew, after four years of both of them having been forcibly denied sleep, that Nora was a morning person. It was a good thing he'd grown accustomed to waking up early to do chores while growing up on the farm, otherwise her relentless energy might have been the only thing driving him through their dawn hike and breakfast. All the same, he wouldn't have objected to another hour or two of sleep, so he was feeling a bit on the sluggish side when he wandered into the library early that afternoon.

He'd been planning to do a little studying, or browse the internet to catch up on current events, but an abandoned book lying on one of the tables caught his attention. Dungeons & Dragons... that was for that club Shen had mentioned, wasn't it? He took a seat and cracked the book open. Forty pages in his curiosity had become genuine interest, but he also felt a bit lost by what he'd read so far of some of the mechanics and terminology. He'd have to find out who was in the club and ask someone to help explain a few things. Perhaps they would even be willing to guide him through the process of creating a character.

But those were concerns for later. Right now he was content simply to go on reading.

It had just been two days since Jester had finally met Piotr, but things were moving fast. Nott had met him the day after, it turned out, and gotten a case out of him. Jester hadn't even gotten to that, and they'd spent a long time together! Maybe there was something true about the old saying about mixing business and feelings (unless you were in her mom's line of work, anyway).

So today, as she went around the school looking for Piotr, she had donned her fedora, and resolved to be professional about all this.

She could find him cute and distracting again when the case was over.

She finally spotted him in the library and stepped back behind a bookshelf immediately. Professional, right. The way she smoothed down her cute little dress was totally professional. She adjusted the hat on her head (thank you, Gilmore, for making it wearable with her horns) and stepped forward again, in a determined, professional stride over to the table where Piotr sat reading.

"Hi, Piotr," she told him, doing her best to sound level and serious and all those good things. "Nott says you've hired us."

Piotr lifted his eyes from the book and blinked at the sight of Jester. He'd known about the hats, of course, but that hadn't prepared him for the sight of her standing there all put together with it, and it momentarily left him a bit dumbfounded. He recovered quickly enough, however, and gave her a little smile. "Oh, hello there, Jester," he said. It was good to see her again, but she looked like she was here for business, so he opted not to make some idle remark, such as to compliment her on her look. Instead, he nodded, still feeling a slight bit embarrassed and worried about caving on his objections to hiring people to check on his own sister.

"Ah, yes," he said in answer. "Nott is very persuasive." She and Nora both. "I believe it was what she said about how much you would want to help that convinced me," he added. "I knew that to be true after what you told me about your home and family."

Jester, who had been about to congratulate him on such a smart move (they were the best detective agency on campus, after all), found the wind knocked out of her sails at his words. She hurried into a chair at the table with a grin. "Really?" Immediately, she changed her tone back to something less excited, and more earnest. "I mean, she was right. I do want to help you. You deserve the best possible reunion with your mystery sister."

"I appreciate that very much, Jester," Piotr said with a nod. "This is very important to me." He set the book aside so that it wouldn't be a distraction and turned his full attention to Jester. "Nott said you would be needing some information from me?" he said, folding his hands in front of him. "I will answer as best as I can."

"Yes!" Jester agreed, and put her pink backpack on the table to get a notebook out of it. On the cover was a sticker of their logo. The notebook barely had any notes in it, but to hide that fact, Jester opened it about the third of the way in, and pulled out a fluffy unicorn pen. "Right. Tell me the facts of the case. I know you've already told Nott! My colleague," she added, professionally. "But that was in a more casual setting, and I'd like to make sure we have it all straight."

"Okay," Piotr said. He drew in a deep breath though his nostrils to steady himself. He'd known this would be part of it. Not that it made it any easier, but he could still do this. At least it wasn't as hard anymore as it had been explaining it to TJ, or to the Professor. He released the breath. "Okay. What should I tell you first? What I know about her so far, or why we believe I cannot remember her?"

Jester frowned - at herself, not him. She'd been so focused on professionalism she hadn't paused to think about how hard this might be for him. She put her pen down for now, and reached out with her hand, to squeeze his. "Just tell me the story," she said, her voice softer now. "However you like."

The comforting pressure of her hand on his was exactly what he needed at that moment. The quiet storm of emotions inside him stilled, and he gave Jester a grateful smile. Now that he thought about it, Nora was so open about her life she'd probably told Jester most of what had happened already. He wouldn't be telling that story so much as just... putting it in his own words. Somehow thinking of it that way did make it a little easier. He unthreaded his fingers and gently placed his other hand over hers. "Thank you, Jester," he said.

He gave it a moment of thought and said, "This is what I do remember. I remember the farm where I grew up. A collective farm near Lake Baikal, in Siberia. I remember my parents. Papa's name is Nikolai and Mama's name is Alexandra. I had an older brother, Mikhail. He died when I was thirteen. I discovered my power the day I found out he would never come home." His eyes flicked to where the unicorn pen was resting and belatedly realized Jester's hand was still trapped between his. "Oh," he said, and lifted his hand away with an apologetic look and a blush. She was going to need that hand to take notes, after all.

Jester gave him a small, grateful smile, and maybe her cheeks were a little bluer than normal, but she only picked up her pen to start writing things down. Professional, Jester. Still, first she told him, "I'm really sorry about your brother, Piotr."

"Thank you," Piotr said with a slow nod. "He was the best big brother I could have ever wished for."

Now that Jester was able to take the notes she needed, Piotr went through the rest of what he remembered from before he was captured. He did his best to keep things simple and brief. To focus only on what was relevant. But it became increasingly clear as he did so that there were other holes in his memory. He would start to mention something, only to come to a halt as a piece that belonged failed to come to mind. Or he'd simply have a nagging feeling as he spoke, and he'd trail off in doubt and a bit of frustration. "I apologize," he said. "That is all I can remember about the farm." He looked down at the table, face darkening slightly. "But after that, when Nora and I were taken. All that I remember clearly."

Jester watched him with obvious sympathy for a moment, then told him, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Or anything that isn't relevant."

Piotr swallowed hard and nodded. "Thank you," he said, voice growing a bit rough. "I am trying, but it is still very difficult to talk about. What I can tell you is that they used machines to... freeze us in time, I suppose is a good way to describe it. Every day they did this, and I do not know how long they would leave us there, but it was always difficult to think for a while when they took us out. I am concerned this is the reason I do not remember my sister."

Jester took a couple more notes and nodded her aknowledgment. "Thank you. Now, can you tell me what TJ said exactly?"

Piotr's eyebrows rose. He didn't recall mentioning TJ to Nott. Nora might have mentioned it, though. She probably had. Or they were already tracking down clues, which was fast work if that was the case. "She said her name is Illyana," he began without hesitation. He'd comitted every word of what TJ said about her to memory. He still thought of snow whenever he said that name out loud. Why? Did that mean something? "She is a student at the school and TJ is not sure if she knows about me. She has not spoken to her much, but it sounded like she knew another version of her, just as she knew another version of me." She also seemed very concerned about that for some reason, but that could have nothing to do with the one here, so he decided to leave that part out.

"She called her my kid sister, and said she had disappeared, perhaps. And something about... Limbo? That is the part I understood the least."

"Limbo," Jester echoed. Appropriately thoughtfully, she hoped! She wrote down the name and underlined it twice. "We'll speak with her. And with Illyana, but we'll be discreet when we do that."

"Please," Piotr agreed with a nod as he felt that same doubts and worries as yesterday looming over him again. "I do not want any of this to upset her." He let that hang for a bit before he continued. "I have heard she joined the school when it first opened, and she is roommates with Vex. Also Nott mentioned she is blonde, that she spends time with Caleb and that she does magic, apparently."

He lowered his eyes and swallowed hard. In a very small voice he said, "And there is one other thing."

Jester did not like the sound of Piotr's voice then. He was big and strong, and he shouldn't sound so small. It tugged at her heart in a way that made her want to make things better, only she had no idea how. By solving the case, of course, but that would take time, and she wanted to make things better now. She held back a sigh, frustrated with herself, and focused on Piotr again, sympathy filling her eyes, and her voice when she told him, quietly, "You can tell me, Piotr."

Piotr lifted his eyes back up to meet Jester's and nodded slowly. "I tried calling my parents. I wanted to let them know I was okay, and how much I missed them. And I thought, perhaps, they could tell me about my sister." He pressed his lips together and swallowed again. "They did not believe it was me, and they became very angry." He pinched his eyes shut and took another deep breath. Focus. He just needed to give Jester the information she needed, and she was right, it was okay to tell her. He could see in her eyes how much she wanted to help. "Right before they hung up they said something about two years ago. That is when the school opened, yes? I cannot help thinking perhaps there is a connection." Was it because of what TJ said, about her possibly disappearing? But then why...? He'd thought about it so much since that call, and still none of it made any sense to him. But, then, maybe that was because it was him, and the emotions were still too raw. Someone like Jester might be able to figure it out in ways he couldn't.

Jester made a quick note of that, parents: 2 yrs???, but then she put the pen down. She pressed her hands together in her lap behind the table and looked at him with wide, serious eyes. "Thank you for telling me. We'll look into it. But now... I think you need a hug, Piotr." So she took her hat off as she stood, and put it on her chair before walking around the table to give him that hug.

Piotr rose up to accept the hug without hesitation, squeezing tight and, for just a moment, burying his head into her shoulder. "Thank you, Jester," he said, making sure to compose himself as quickly as possible. He hated being like this, and was more grateful than words could express that he had Nora, TJ and now Jester to confide in and support him through this. He released her and gave Jester a serious, almost desperate look. "I cannot lose my sister too," he said. "Not when I have only just found out she exists."

At his words, Jester hugged him even more tightly. She was strong, but she wasn't afraid of hurting him. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen, Piotr." She started rubbing circles on his back, the way her mother did to her when she was upset. It didn't matter how much shorter than him she was; she would do everything she could to be the warm, comforting presence Marion Lavorre usually was to her. "And your parents will calm down. They're probably afraid because they don't understand. Nott and I will figure it out, and you can explain it to them."

Piotr gave Jester another squeeze, lighter this time, and gazed down at her, blue eyes warm with gratitude and a glimmer of hope. He'd spent hours since the call going over it in his head, wondering what had happened, wondering why it had happened, fearful that he'd said something wrong. Trying to think of some way, any way to fix things, but he felt helpless to do anything. His voice was steady again as he said, "Do you really think it is possible?"

"Of course," Jester told him, craning her neck to look up into his face. In other circumstances, this would have been such a romantic moment. But her thoughts were solely focused on his pain just now, and on her responsibility as a detective. "Nott and I are the very best detectives on campus. We'll figure it out, no problem."

Piotr didn't doubt Jester's sincerity whatsoever, and how he wanted to believe she was right. He seized upon that flicker of hope and clutched it to his heart as he allowed himself a faint smile. "It would mean so much to me, Jester. Thank you." It was then he realized the position they were still in and, cheeks rapidly warming, loosened his arms. "And, ah, thank you for the hug as well. You were right. I did need one just then."

Jester dropped her arms from around him and stepped back a little, but she smiled up at him. "Any time you need one, Piotr."

"I appreciate that very much, Jester," Piotr said with a nod. He gripped the back of the chair behind him and pressed his lips together. "...Do you think I am being foolish?" he asked. "About my sister?"

"Foolish how?" Jester asked with a small frown. "It makes sense to want to know more about her! It's good planning. I think it's very wise, actually."

Piotr considered that. It made him feel better to hear that, but he wanted to treat the answer with the same level of seriousness he was giving the matter as a whole. And the look on Jester's face was sincere, which showed she wasn't just saying it to make him feel better. Pushing his doubts aside for the moment, he smiled. "Ti umniy," he said, enunciating the words for her benefit. "I hope she will feel the same way."

Jester made a curious face, tail shifting behind her in puzzlement. "What did you say? I don't think Russian and Serbian are all that close, really."

No, he suspected they weren't. "It means 'you are very smart,'" Piotr said. "Ti umniy," he repeated, speaking clearly. He arched one brow slightly. "You did say you wanted me to teach you some Russian, yes?"

"Yes!" Jester immediately confirmed, and tried to repeat the words. "Ti umniy?"

Piotr smiled and nodded. "Yes, Ti umniy," he said one final time. For a moment he just looked down at her face, becoming a little lost in it. He shifted a bit, taking the chair he was still gripping with him. It let out a brief, low squeak as the legs slid a tiny bit along the floor. The noise jerked him back to reality. "Ah, so," he said, releasing the chair and clearing his throat a little. "What will you want me to do?" he asked. "While you and Nott conduct your investigation?"

Had that just been a moment? Jester felt tingly down to the soles of her feet at the thought that it might have been. But she had to be professional again, so she pulled herself together. "Ah, yes! Um... Nothing? Nothing would probably be best. We'll do our best to work quickly."

Nothing. That, at least, was something he believed he could manage. It wasn't too different from what he'd been already been doing, much to Nora's (and admittedly his own) concern. "Okay," he said, nodding slowly. "I will leave it to you."

"We'll work quickly," Jester repeated, eager earnestness obvious on her face. "I promise."

"I am confident you will," Piotr said, because that was true. He could see her sincerity in the way she looked at him. "Thank you, Jester. I am already feeling better knowing you are helping me with this."

Jester held his gaze, smiled, felt her cheeks heat up, and reminded herself to be professional. "Good! It is what we're here for." She walked back around the table to retrieve her hat and don it once again. "Is there anything else you can think of that we would need to know?"

Piotr understood that the interview was basically over, and couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of disappointment. It didn't seem like they'd spent nearly as much time together as they had on Thursday. But she was on the job and being very professional. "I wish there-" he paused, a look of uncertainty on his face. "Well, it is probably nothing, but..."

But what did he have to lose?

"...whenever I say her name, I think of snow. I have no idea why, or if it means anything."

Jester made one last note, then closed her notebook and looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you. For trusting me - us - with this."

Piotr's smile was both soft and earnest. "You understand how important this is to me," he said. She could take that to mean both her and Nott if she wanted. It was equally true in either case. "I could not imagine trusting something like this to anyone else."

And now she wanted to hug him again, but perhaps more for herself than for him, this time around. Jester's professional expression went soft as she smiled at him. "We won't disappoint you."

Piotr nodded. He didn't doubt that one bit, but his smile did tighten a little as he lifted his eyes toward some far-off point. "And I hope I will not disappoint her."

"I don't think you could ever disappoint anyone, Piotr," Jester assured him, her tone as soft as her expression now.

That drew Piotr's attention right back to her, and though his smile was still small, it was also warm with gratitude. She'd said exactly what he needed to hear at that moment. "You are a good friend, Jester," he said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jester told him, feeling her cheeks grow hot again. She turned to her stuff, to put it back in her bag. "I will go find Nott and we will get started right away!" They were on a deadline, after all; it wouldn't be long at all before she flew back home to visit her mother.

Piotr nodded as he watched her prepare to leave. "I will look forward to the next time we see each other."

Jester's movements slowed as she looked up at him, a soft smile on her face. "So will I, Piotr." And then, before her cheeks could catch fire, she grabbed her backpack and headed off. "See you really soon!"

She was really cute and pretty, Piotr thought as he watched her retreat to the exit. He shouldn't be thinking things like that when she was working, though, right? Jester would probably not like it if she knew. Like he wasn't respecting her professionalism.

"See you soon," he said, feeling foolish as he lifted his hand to his shoulder for a little good-bye wave. And then, a moment later, she was gone.