Keynan has a minion!

the Opulent Blob Kitty

The Masquerade Ball in Ziara city was Keynan’s favorite event of the year. The energy, the crowds, and of course, the dancing.

The Jollin adjusted his brown vest with a paw, making sure the cream colored puffed-tie was centered. With the white sleeves complimenting his snazzy vest, he could walk into any room and not feel over or under dressed. He felt at ease, which might also have to do with all the good food and samples of vintage wine from the previous hour.

As another song started up, Keynan’s ears perked up as the Jollin scanned the vast ballroom. While the domed ceiling was open to the peaceful stars, the scene below was a vast synchronized swirling of dance partners of all species and types. Surely there was someone he could rescue from a horrid dancer.

Halfway through one song, he spied a rather glum Kerubi, her dance partner clearly stepping on her toes..

“Might I cut in?” He smoothly asked, taking one of her paws to then spin the fellow Subetean away from the offending dancer. Standing on his hind legs, Keynan easily sent the dancer for another spin, then settling into a slow back and forth waltz.

“Sorry for the abrupt entrance, but I know one’s toes can only take so much. And I’d say a lovely lady deserves at least one decent dance.” The Jollin whispered, sending the now giggling Kerubi into a twirl. Her cream cheeks definitely bore a slight blush at his compliment, a smile having replaced the downcast look. As the dance ended, she whispered a soft ‘thank you,’ and then was off into the crowd once again. 

With a slight sigh, Keynan straightened his vest as he tried to chase a frown off his features. Finding love at a masquerade ball was perhaps a cursed affair, everyone wearing literal and perhaps figurative masks. But it had seemed to work out a few times.. A ‘few’ being hopeful dates that only one of them intended to be a one night stand apparently. But, at least he had his work to keep busy afterwards. Hopefully not tonight though. Being a detective with all these individuals and the beautiful chaos? That’d be a nightmare.

To his surprise, a rather striking snow-white Jollin sauntered up to him, drink in hand. She casually handed the glass to the surprised detective, giving her tail a slight flick. “I know it’s not tradition, but may I have this next dance? You seem to know your way around the floor.” Her silky voice had Keynan’s attention immediately.Of course, that had nothing to do with the fact she clearly knew her hips would make him pause. 

Not fair.

“I…of course.” He replied, somehow managing to keep his composure. Just as he was about to take a sip, the song began. Setting the glass down on a nearby table, he spun the other Jollin into a graceful twirl. She certainly knew how to dance as well, easily matching each of his moves without much prompting. It was a nice change to have someone as quick on their feet as he was. The song was over far too quickly, and the Jollin simply gave him a wink as she gave a slight curtsey.

“Hmm. Maybe I’ll snag you for another dance tonight.” She whispered with a smile.

“I didn’t catch your name, miss..?” Keynan asked with a bow of his own.

“Treat me to another dance later on, and I’ll tell you.”

And with that she was gone, lost in the crowd.What an intriguing individual.And certainly beautiful…something she clearly was aware of.

Keynan sat out the next song, sipping on a different drink since the other one had gone missing during the piece. The next waltz found the Jollin approached by another individual, his eyes narrowing slightly.

While he was flattered to be approached by two rather attractive Jollin’s in but a few moments, something clearly was going on. Her fur was a splotchy grey and white pattern, leading up to the black tips on her ears.

“Care to join me in a dance?” She purred, once again catching Keynan off guard.

He was not used to this. The positions were usually reversed.

Not that he minded in the slightest though. He had been expecting another wave of suspicion, but her request seemed rather genuine. A slight wavering indicated some hidden nerves perhaps?

He took her outstretched paw, and swung her into an easy position as they both balanced on their hindquarters. Just like the other, she was a competent dancer, and Keynan found himself enjoying the activity as his suspicions eased.But, as the song began to wind down, he had to ask..

“Permit me if I may be so bold, but I doubt that was a metal tumor I felt on your waist.”

His remark actually caused the Jollin to snort in laughter, covering her muzzle briefly. She took a deep breath as they moved into the next song, shifting slightly to whisper in his ear.

“Well. Aren’t you the observant one? But serves me right for being lax. Well, we got a tip that this dance might be used as a distraction for a murder or two. There’s a lot of important individuals here, many with enemies.” She explained as they danced.

“We? So.. Subeatean Intelligence Agency?” The detective quipped back softly as he spun the fellow investigator into a twirl. She nodded, becoming a bit more at ease now that the fact was revealed.

“Most of the time. I like to bounce around though. Oh, and I probably don’t even have to extend the invitation."

Keynan now let out a genuine chuckle, a wide, slightly cocky smile on his features as they danced.

“Oh no. I worked for the SIA on one case. One! And then they want me on their payroll. No thank you. Although I am flattered they picked one of their prettiest agents to extend the offer again. What is your name by the way?”

His comment caused the Jollin to sputter slightly; and she glared at him over slightly reddened cheeks. Judging from how easy it was to make her flustered, this agent wasn’t a veteran. That made it extra fun though.

“Just call me Revy.” She finally said, and Keynan couldn’t help but grin.

“Revy? Like the holiday maybe? Something about a revolution?”

“Oh shut it.” She grumbled. “They weren’t kidding about the cheeky flirt description..”

At this the Jollin lit up, and Keynan bowed as the song ended.

“That’s the description the SIA has on me? I’m flattered! I’ll have to work on that though.” He whispered, even though his grin threatened to split his face in two.

“Well, it was nice to meet and dance with you Revy, but you should probably get back to looking for anything suspicious.”

A slightly iced-over glare was tossed Keynan’s way, her tail smacking his nose as she turned to meander back onto the dance floor.

“I was watching.” Revy grumbled out of the corner of her mouth.

Keynan couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched the junior agent leave, then making his way to the refreshment table. The SIA had been trying to recruit him for years, and while the offers padded his ego, he preferred having his own private firm.He was about to sample a rather lovely looking sandwich when a shrill scream sounded out across the large room. The music abruptly cut out, and a circle of onlookers formed around the distraught individual. On the edge of the dancing floor a rather large purple Charlie had fallen out of his chair.

Said Charlie wasn’t moving though; hence the screaming of the teal Clawson sitting to his right. 

Pushing his way through the crowd, Keynan took a brief look at all the individuals, then moved onto the Charlie. It might just be a case of some stuck food, especially considering the numerous plates and glasses on the table.

A quick pulse check revealed that if food was the culprit, it had won. But Revy’s tip had Keynan’s hackles up. A slight bit of blue foam was visible around the Charlie’s mouth…

A murder on my holiday. Of course.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Revy stared at Keynan and sighed, shaking her head at seeing the Charlie.

“Alright everyone, probably just choked on some food. Let’s make room.” She called out, the crowd backing away slightly. Keynan pulled a small device from his vest and swung it across the scene a few times, then backing off as some medical staff quickly carried off the large Subetean. Dancing resumed at a more cautious pace, but Keynan pulled Revy aside into the bordering hallways. Pillars extended to the ceiling, glass providing a beautiful view of the outside. But, more importantly, they were fairly alone.

“We both know that wasn’t a choking case.” Keynan remarked, leaning on a railing as he looked outside, Revy doing the same at his side.

“The tips were right, but I didn’t even get a chance to get a close look. We’ll have to see what the autopsy is. I was just assigned to look out for suspicious behavior. Thus far, I’ve only seen nervous dates. And yourself of course.”

“Har har. But who was that guy?”

Revy pulled out a small handheld phone, looking at the results and shrugged. "A simple business owner. Nothing spectacular...”Keynan drummed his paws on the railing at her words. Who would murder a business owner? A disgruntled customer perhaps?

Pulling out the small digital camera, the Keynan scrolled through the footage, Revy looking over his shoulder curiously.“Revy. I have never been to any event where medics were under a minute away, have you?” He asked curiously.

“Other than a few extreme sports events, no..” Revy replied cautiously, grey brow furrowing in thought.

“So. We have a murder where the medics are ready to swoop in at a moment’s notice. That implies someone tipped them off, or for all we know, the medics were in on it. What hospital was the Charlie taken to?” Keynan asked, looking over to see Revy staring at her phone, having received a quick reply from headquarters.

“He.. wasn’t. Loaded into an ambulance and vanished off the grid. Ok, this is starting to spiral..” She hissed, massaging her temples with a paw. Keynan simply let out a hum, continuing to think.

“So. That confirms that whoever wanted to murder this individual wanted to leave no trace. No body means no autopsy. However, I can confirm it was poison from the foam on his mouth. Probably something dissolved into a drink or mixed into a dish.” The detective explained.

“However. We still don’t know who or why. I guess I’m helping the SIA on this one. I’ll need a general background on the individual. Just.. tell them to reinstate me for now.” Keynan grumbled. “And tell whoever your superior is that I still haven’t forgiven Officer Prancil for chugging that bottle of centuries-old red wine! Anyhow. As to who..”

The Jollin looked through the footage, scanning the onlookers and then the table itself. The closest glass was that of clear alcohol- likely the last thing the Charlie took a sip of. Strangely, it looked like-

Keynan’s eyes widened, and he looked more closely at the crowd gathered around the individual.

A certain snow-white individual stood out, and her expression was that of annoyance rather than shock.

“Revy. We need to leave. Now.” Keynan hissed, looking around briefly. His usual glass-half-full attitude had vanished in a puff of smoke as he realized who should have died.

“W-what? Alright..” Thankfully the junior agent followed at Keynan’s heels as he crept into another temporary side hallway, paper partitions set up from floor to ceiling.

“The glass next to the Charlie’s plate. It’s the same type and drink as the one a certain snow-white Jollin gave me. I never drank it since a song started. I set it down, and it was gone.” Keynan whispered as they crept down the hall.“It was meant for me.”

“Yes. And this time I’ll use a bit more of a direct method.” A familiar voice called out down the hall. 

Skidding to a halt, Keynan could barely see the outline of a familiar feminine figure in the darkness, holding what he assumed was a suppressed weapon.

Probably a dart gun. More poison. Can’t have everyone hear it, especially since-

“Well done though. I’ll give you credit for figuring it out so fast. It took me ages to-”

Mid-way though her sentence, Keynan promptly grabbed Revy around the waist and tackled the nearest wall. Said wall easily tore, since the decorative partitions were paper thin.

The pair easily tumbled through, Keynan then up and shoving through another temporary wall. The lack of a dart impact indicated the mysterious attacker wasn’t pursuing, and Keynan let out a sigh of relief.

“You alright?” He asked, offering a paw to Revy to help her up. 

“Yeah, thanks for the save by the way.” She replied, dusting herself off as they made their way back to the dance floor. 

“Of course. I’m glad she provided us the opening with that monologue.” He added, careful to scan his surroundings for any more assailants.

Once hidden among the crowd, it was a simple matter to sneak away once again and wait for Revy’s backup to arrive. Of course the assailant was long gone by then.

Keynan let out a sigh of relief as some undercover officers patrolled the hall in front of them, once again in one of the spacious side halls.

“Well. For a murder case, we don’t have too many answers. Whoever that was wants me dead, and I have no clue who they work for.” He mused.“But at least we’re alive. Suppose I’ll be helping the SIA for a bit.."

Revy nodded in thought, glancing over to Keynan curiously.“Oh? Well we can use the help. You do have the only evidence of the murder other than the security cameras.” The Jollin then looked at her phone as it started to buzz, waving to Keynan.“Be seeing you Keynan. Take care.”

He wave to the junior agent, then pulling out the small digital camera once again. Scrolling through the footage, the detective’s brow furrowed as a white-furred face appeared on the screen.

“Who are you.. and why do you want me dead?”

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Profile by Chelsea
Art by User not found: christ
Story by Frode