Memories of the Night Before

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 5:41am by Ignatius & Raven Mattel
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:32pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Paradise
Timeline: ~0200, Day After the Murder

Sauntering through the Casino lobby, Raven Mattel and Ignatius were still a little buzzed from last night. They danced and strolled through the morning crowds, looking slightly at odds with everyone else in their formal black-tie attire. Raven had reattached her dress after flinging it into the crowd during an impromptu performance - and not for the first time last night - and was now walking arm in arm with Ignatius, still in his full tuxedo. Raven, who was a tall person out of drag - had her high-heels on again and was towering over a lot of the people around them, causing quite the spectacle.

"A wonderful evening." She commented, dipping her head to look at her dancing partner.

"An adventure." Ignatius declare cooly as ever. "What else could one expect."

"Oh and meeting Madam Kroll?" Raven beamed, referring to the Ferengi singer that had performed at the Casino last night. Herself and the clothier had met Kroll at an after-party in the Entertainment district, where the two performers naturally got along. So much so, Kroll invited Raven and Ignatius back to the Casino as her guests.

"She's a fan of yours now." Ignatius replied, giving her a smile. "Naturally."

Raven shrugged, "Well, of course."

The duo passed through the Casino entrance and into the Entertainment district, heading towards the transport cubes. After a long and eventful evening, it was time for these social butterflies to head back home to the Pandora - and to bed.

Natalia recognized the two civilians as connected to the Pandora as they passed. "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Raven gaven an exaggerated sigh, "Yes, I did perform an exclusive show with Madam Kroll last night in the Private Member's club. Yes, she did ask me to do three encores. No, I'm not available for performances, I'm contracted to work with Mr. Mindo."

Natalia just stared at the woman for a beat, "Ma'am, I am Lieutenant Parrino from the USS Pandora and I am investigating a murder aboard this station. You do not have to answer my questions, yet I have reason to believe you two may have seen something that could aide my investigation. Are you willing to answer my questions at this time?" Natalia rattled off the Article 31 rights advisement.

Raven reach out to Ignatius and found his hand already searching for hers, the two friends held onto each other. "A murder?" Raven gasped, her face turning from flippant fun to deadly serious. "One of our people?"

"Not on the Pandora, yet as you can imagine, it is very important to gather evidence. Did you see anything suspicious last night?" Natalia asked neutrally.

Ignatius and Raven simultaneously let out a long, drawn breath, which whistled between their lips.

"Umm." Raven pondered, looking to the ceiling.

"Hmmm." Ignatius mused, his mouth pursed in concentration.

"Oh! I suspect Madam Kroll lip-syncs." Raven suddenly said, shocking Ignatius to the core. She held up her hands in a sign of innocence. "I saw the lips move out of time with the song, what can I say? I'm not going to drag that henny in public, I know it must be tiring to do a three-hour show six times a week. Girl's got to get herself a better manager."

"True." Ignatius nodded, before tilting his head to the side. "But I assume the Lieutenant means suspicious in relation to the murder."

"She murdered that song." Raven quipped in a low tone. "No, we didn't see nobody kill anyone."

"What about that group of marines?" Ignatius wondered, "They got kicked out of the first bar we were in with Fick. One of them seemed to be in quite a heated discussion with the Guards."

Natalia's hope for any useful information quickly disappeared. "Do you recall what the marine was angry about?"

"They were drunk and causing a scene." Raven replied with a slight shrug. "I think they objected to being thrown out of the bar, it almost ended up in a fight."

Ignatius nodded, "Remember, we were watching the light show on the roof? Someone there told me the Marines had gotten into a brawl, but that could have just been station gossip."

"Ooh the light show was so pretty." Raven mused, smiling, "I've never seen anything like it. What time was that, midnight?"

"Yes. Oh, wait no. They had to delay it because your three encores held up Madam Kroll." Ignatius answered, "It was about 1 am. That's when I heard the gossip."

"I see," Natalia pursed her lips, realizing these two were hopeless. "If you hear anything about the murder or recall something of last night, please let me know," she concluded.

"You know," Raven squared her eyes at the Lieutenant. "You might want to less of this -" She pulled her face down into a sour frown "And more of this - " she smiled, and fluttered her eyes, "When you're talking to people."

Ignatius shook his head, "It's the colouring. Not enough colouring on her cheeks." He pointed directly to the Lieutenant's face. "Depressing."

Natalia was a bit offended which only steeled her expression more. "You two get back to your cabins safely," she shot at them before turning to go.

She had been one of the prettiest girls when she grew up. It is true, she stopped wearing so much makeup while in uniform, which was natural in Starfleet. A part of her felt relieved though. Her entire life, people only saw a pretty face and now... this was the first time her face did not help her. Natalia was unsure how she felt as her emotions fluttered with the new feeling.

"Ohh. We've offended." Ignatius murmured, a frown forming on his usually placid face. "We apologise, Lieutenant. We're just cheeky and giddy from a crazy night. We're letting our egos do the talking."

Raven nodded, "All mouth and no sense, as my drag mother used to say." She gave a curtsey as best as she could in her tight gown, "I'm so sorry."

Natalia just turned and shot a blank look at them.

"We'll go now," Ignatius said to Raven, as he wrapped his arm around hers and directed her to keep walking. As they strolled away, he commented, "You know, when you think about it, gender politics is still a serious issue in Starfleet. It's not her fault she has to appear less feminine to fit in."

"Well it is a military organisation." Raven said as casually as one would discuss the weather. "But, I blame the pantsuits. They're intended to force women to conform into an inherently patriarchal organisation."

"But women have been wearing pants since Coco Chanel." Ignatius argued as they walked. "It's the design of the pantsuits. I don't know how many times I've told Nyx that he looks like a character out of a science-fiction holo-novel, but does he change the uniform?"

"No!" The two agreed in unison. Thankfully the rest of the conversation drifted out of earshot as they disappeared into the crowd.

Natalia heard the bantering of the two... they wouldn't be any help. She decided to go find Griffin or Smith to see if they had anything new, while keeping an eye out for any other Pandora crew.