(no subject)

[constantprisoner]

 A. Kensington, Early July.

[If he's being honest, Sirius isn't sure how he's going to repay Annie and her grandmother for the hiding place. It's been nice to be able to lay low and stay out of sight for a few days, not having to worry if he's smelling vampires as he walks down the street or wonder if they know what he is. But, after a few days, Sirius finds he starts to feel restless. He doesn't like being cooped up in a house all day, even if it the smarter thing to do. Even though the house is hardly a prison, it starts to feel that way and Sirius finds he needs to get outside. 

Maybe just a walk around the block, as a dog. A loveable stray going for a sniff in a back lane isn't anything out of the ordinary, is it? Safety be damned, he needs this. He won't be gone long, he justifies to himself. Just enough to stretch his legs and get some fresh air.

Needless to say, there's a large black dog wandering around the neighbourhood now. Mostly he's keeping his attention to fire hydrants and trees, while resisting the urge to chase some squirrels or birds.]

B. [Hillingdon, Mid-July]

[Sirius is once again at the job board, surreptitiously checking to see if his wanted poster has made it's way back on to the board, but also to see if there's any jobs available. He hasn't been doing too many bounties, since he's not strictly a hunter, but there's often a small one around that helps to keep the money coming in. And he likes having money, it's been very helpful. It's unfortunate that most of them have to do with vampires these days, which is something he'd rather not deal with.

Eventually he grows bored of this and makes his way into the kitchen, looking for something to do or someone to talk with, before settling on seeing if there's anything to eat about. Or possibly cause trouble for the next person to open that cupboard.]

C. [Wildcard]

[Have another idea or would like something specific? Go ahead or let me know.]

Comments

a

[anniesgonemad]

[Annie doesn't care about Sirius paying her back. Neither does her grandmother. As far as they're concerned, they have plenty of space in their home, and not giving it to those in need is a huge waste. But she knows Sirius will try to pay her back all the same. Though, as she's told him, it's not needed.

She's on her way back from spending the night with Finnick, walking down the street on her way back from the tube, when she notices the dog.

She's actually never seen Sirius in his dog form before.]

Oh, hullo there, [she coos, looking at the dog.] Are you lost, puppy?

[constantprisoner]

[Of all the people he had to run into on his little jaunt, it had to be the person with whom he was staying. Thankfully she didn't recognize him, but he still had to come up with a way to break off, and run back so that it never looked like he was gone. How to do that?

Still, keeping up the act, he walks over to her, looking up at her curiously and giving a wag of his tail.]

[anniesgonemad]

Hello, [she says, and stoops so she can give him a good pat on the head.] You're a friendly pup, aren't you?

[She's not her usual timid self around the animal- more the way she is around people she knows well. Sirius would have noticed it in how she interacts with her grandmother, or Finnick, even. People are something else entirely, and she always has her guard up.]

What's your name- d'you have a collar? [she starts to look for it.]

[constantprisoner]

[He does not have a collar and might be leaning into the pets, because there are some things about being a dog that are hard to ignore.

He wags his tail again, surprised at how she seems a bit more confident when talking to him. He glances around, as if trying to indicate that he's just a stray. Though a loveable one.]

[anniesgonemad]

[Annie, forgetting to feel silly, looks towards the directions the stray had looked. Nope, nothing there.]

Poor thing. I hope someone's looking for you.

[constantprisoner]

[Well, he's with the one person who would probably worry. Anyone else, he's wary of. Although, that does give him something of an idea. He nudges at Annie's hand as if he wants her to follow him and heads off a few steps down the street.]

[anniesgonemad]

What's going on? [She returns to standing, and pads down the street after him.] Where're we going?

[constantprisoner]

[Sirius is not entirely sure, outside of the fact that he's going for a walk and bringing Annie with him, but that's what makes the adventure fun.

He wanders down to the end of the block, tail still wagging and seems to be looking around, as if deciding which way to go. Like he's got a good scent.]

[anniesgonemad]

[Annie probably shouldn't be wandering around with a strange dog. But he's harmless, and if she can help him find his owner, all the better.] Lead the way.

[constantprisoner]

[Sirius almost seems to nod before stopping himself at the last second, since that is probably not canine behaviour. He heads off down the street, stopping to sniff at the base of a tree.]

[anniesgonemad]

[She wouldn't have been sure- she'd never owned a dog, just a kitten, growing up. But, blissfully unaware, she trots after him.]

[constantprisoner]

[After a few more stops, mostly to inspect a fire hydrant and tell a few pigeons off, Sirius starts to think this might be the place to start his daring his escape, by which he means losing Annie and feeling very badly about it, but rushing back so that he can shift back and make it seem like he never left.

And so he starts looking for a good place to do that, like an alley.]

[anniesgonemad]

[An alley, great. Annie can only hope it's a shortcut- and the second the thought comes into her mind, she's already berating herself. Here she was, following a stray dog like she was Alison following the Black Bunny down the rabbit hole. She knew places like Fantasticland existed- the other realm, to name one. But she wasn't in a hurry to get there.

Not without Finnick.] Is it much further? [She asks out-loud, and then remembers that she's still talking to a dog. Maybe she is as crazy as people think she is.]

B

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy hadn't even known the teacher had been murdered when police had shown up to question him. Still, from things that were said when they were talking to him, he knew that things looked very bad for him and his dad. They were still gathering more evidence before making any official arrests related to the case, but that wasn't really helping his dad at the moment. Namely because his dad punched the officer. Not that Roddy could blame him, since he only did it because they were making Roddy sound like a criminal, but assaulting an officer was still a legitimate reason for arrest.

He'd tried contacting people at his old school, but even the girl he'd dated when he went there seemed to think he probably did it, which was enough to convince him that that was well and truly over. He'd tried contacting the one person who had seen him at the party on the night of the murder (at least, the only one who had seen him out of his mask), but he'd apparently left town.

It was starting to feel like the universe was conspiring against him lately, and so Roddy decided to seek out the one person he knew who had experience with this sort of thing.

"Sirius?" he asked when he spotted him at the job board. The Hillingdon House had been the one place he'd known to look for him, so the Hillingdon House was where he went. "I need your help."

[constantprisoner]

"Roddy," he said in reply, cocking his head curiously. The fact that someone needed his help was certainly new. In the past, that had usually meant cause trouble for someone in a way that would likely inconvenience them (and provide hilarity for others). These days, it was usually him volunteer rather than anyone seeking him out.

"What can I do for you?"

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy hesitated, putting his thoughts together. He wasn't really sure what he expected Sirius to do, but he figured since he had experience with this sort of thing, he'd be able to give advice, at least.

"Something happened at this school I used to go to. Something bad. And someone made it look like either me or my dad did it, and I'm not really sure what I should do."

Wow, way to be vague, Roddy.

[constantprisoner]

"So, you're being framed for something, huh?"

He certainly does have experience in those matters. Although he can't say that his example is one to follow, all things considered.

"Generally, I'd just say to lie low and be honest if anyone asks questions. Although how bad are we looking at?"

[roddy_reinigen]

"Really bad."

He took a moment before he could build up to saying what it was. It felt so strange acknowledging that someone he'd known had been murdered brutally.

"Someone killed the teacher. They filled his car with rats, then threw the cages in the bushes. The cages said 'Geiger Pest Control', so they had to have stolen them from our yard. Apparently he had a heart attack or something when the rats swarmed over him."

He felt almost numb as he recounted what he'd heard.

"It was the teacher that got me kicked out."

So it looked pretty bad. Motive and murder weapon could both be tied to Roddy and his father.

"I saw Kyle the night they said it happened, but I haven't seen Kyle since. If I can't get a hold of him...and my dad doesn't even have an alibi. He was out in the woods."

[constantprisoner]

Sirius's expression shifts from easy going to a more concerned expression as Roddy tells his story.

"Yeah, that falls into the pretty bad category."

There's a silence as he considers what to ask next.

"Based on what you've told me, that's a pretty neat frame job they've got. I'm assuming the police are involved already?"

[roddy_reinigen]

"Yeah. They've already arrested my dad, although that was mostly because he punched one of them for implying I might have done it."

His dad could have a bit of a temper, although that temper was mostly directed toward anyone who tried to mess with Roddy. While Roddy appreciated the fact that his dad cared so much, it could be a bit of a problem when it meant his dad was in jail now.

[constantprisoner]

"Better than being arrested for the murder outright, but that will likely be against him to. And just to double check, there is no way you could have done it?"

As fas as Sirius was concerned, it was easier to act if you had no doubt in your own mind about the state of your innocence.

[roddy_reinigen]

"Of course I couldn't have done it!" he said, sounding a little offended at the suggestion. "Not even counting he fact that I'd remember doing something like that, I was DJing that night. At an illegal rave. And as a gimmick I wore a foam cat head most of the night in case it got raided, although now I wish I didn't, because that would have at least gotten me a few more witnesses."

And he certainly would rather get in trouble for a milder crime that he actually did than be framed for a more severe crime that he had nothing to do with.

[constantprisoner]

"Just had to check," Sirius replied, satisfied with the answer and Roddy's indignant reply. "But at this rave, surely there are some people who can vouch for you?"

The people who hired him are the first that come to Sirius's mind, or anyone else who may have interacted directly with him. Unless that's where the illegal part comes into play.

"It sounds like tracking down this Kyle fellow might be the place to start though."

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy calmed down a little when Sirius said he was just checking. Granted, he still wondered what Sirius had meant by that, seeing as the question of whether you murdered someone with rats wasn't really something that one could very well not know. But maybe, Roddy considered, he just was wondering if there was something specific placing Roddy somewhere else. Like whether he was at a rave, as opposed to doing something in the woods, or at home alone, where it would be difficult to prove he was there.

"There are," he agreed, "The hard part is getting them to agree to admit they set up an illegal rave. I'll see if I can get any of them to come forward if Kyle doesn't turn up."

[constantprisoner]

"That does present its own complications, but hopefully they'll come around to the idea."

Although, he supposed that an illegal rave might be the lesser of two evils in this case.

"Where did you see Kyle? Who is he, by the way?"