Friday, December 15, 2006

   Cream Filling & Nougat: Half-Julkalender (Chapter V)
[Anyone else noticing that Cream and Nougat are being real assholes lately? Man . . . fun times . . .]


"Whadayathink, cops, security, or the guy himself?" Nougat asked, knowing it really did not matter who had just come through the door. Cream shook his head apathetically in response.
"So, you wanna try to go out off the balcony and drop three floors, or go have a conversation?" the younger detective asked.
"To hell with jumping!" Nougat answered immediately, amusing Cream despite the situation. "Let's go have a chat with whomever's here. It'll save us the trouble of hunting him down . . . I mean, if it is him . . ."

With a shrug and another hard sigh but masked with smiles, the two of them headed down the stairs, out of the master bedroom and back into the living room on the ground floor. Standing just inside the front door was a tall man in a suit and trench coat with broad shoulders, knuckles white and teeth clenched. Cream and Nougat remained as neutral as possible as they stepped down the final steps, trying to not appear afraid or aggressive.
"Who the hell are you and why are you in my house?" the man said slowly, staring intently at the two of them.
"Mr. Carbono, I presume?" Nougat asked, lifting his hands slightly off from his sides and turning his palms ever so slightly towards the new face.
"You're in no position to be asking me questions!" he shot back.
"Okay," Nougat said, raising his left hand while reaching to his back pocket with his right, "I'm Detective Nougat, behind me is Detective Filling . . . right now I'm reaching for my wallet so I can show you my badge . . ." Cream took the hint and smoothly reached for his wallet as well.

Hidrato calmed down slightly as he stepped closer to inspect the two badges - only slightly, however.
"I've done nothing wrong," he stated, "why have you two broke-. . ." Hidrato cut himself off before he said something he feared he might regret. ". . . so why are you two here?"

"Your daughter Vezel disappeared from your ex-wife's house earlier this evening," Nougat said.
"What?!" Hidrato exclaimed, stepping back. Flashing glances between the two men in front of him, Hidrato tensed up once again.
"You think I kidnapped her or something?" he asked, putting together the clues before him. Nougat ignored his question directly.
"Where've you been tonight?" he asked; Cream just kept watching Hidrato carefully.

"Late night at work," Hidrato said. "I was there until five-thirty . . . you can call my office if you need to confirm that." Cream started reaching back for the long notepad in his coat, but Nougat motioned for him to ignore it - all the while, he never took his eyes away from Hidrato. "Afterwards, I was just at the shops nearby looking for some quick Christmas presents until I got called by the security company saying that my alarm had gone off . . . then I rushed back here."
"Kinda gutsy, don't you think?"
"It's my house." Nougat and Hidrato locked eyes solidly.

"Where do you work?" Nougat asked.
"Dolsky and Mil Law Firm," Hidrato answered.
"Guess that makes us on the same team," Nougat commented without changing his expression a single time. "What do you do?"
"Paralegal."
"Under which lawyer?"
"Guingab."

Nougat paused for a moment, seemingly never losing focus.
"What were your names again?" Hidrato asked.
"Nougat, and Filling," the detective answered. "Considering reporting us for break and enter? 'Cause you can, you know." Cream immediately felt a jolt of anxiety through his spine at the thought.
"We'll see," Hidrato replied, tightening the corner of his mouth to an almost-smile. Cream quickly shook the nervous feeling out of his body and continued watching the quite calm Hidrato.

"What do you know about Vezel's disappearance so far?" Hidrato asked.
"For purposes of this investigation, I'd rather ask you some more questions first," Nougat said back. Hidrato begrudgingly nodded.
"When was the last time you saw Vezel?"
"Three weeks ago, it was on a Saturday."
"Did you speak with her at all after that?"
"Yes, over the phone last Monday night."
"What did you two talk about?"

Hidrato let his jaw drop slightly and he rolled his eyes, frustrated.
"Is this honestly important to know?" he asked.
"Yes," Nougat answered right after. Hidrato closed his eyes and sighed as he quickly thought back.
"I don't know," he said, "how school was for her, how her mother was doing, when we might hang out again some time . . . just normal stuff like that."
"So when did you two decide to see each other again?"
"Alright, that is getting too personal!"

Hidrato stormed towards the kitchen and to the telephone on the counter.
"This answer might give us insight to what she was thinking!" Nougat said before Hidrato could pick up the phone; instead, his shoulders slumped and he clenched his hands repeatedly. Upon his eventual turning around, Cream and Nougat were presented with a very different looking Hidrato Carbono from before. Now he was definitely scared.
"We didn't plan anything yet," he finally answered, a clear waver in his voice. "Both her mother and I are pretty busy during the week and she has to be in bed early enough for school, so she and I wouldn't have any real decent amount of time to spend together." He leaned against the kitchen counter harder as he spoke. "Also, neither of us have the time to pick her up or drop her off at the moment, so she'd have no ride . . ."

Cream nudged his partner from behind.
"I think he's had enough for now," he said quietly, "we should go." Nougat nodded in agreement.
"Mister Carbono," he said, "thanks for your time . . . and sorry about tresspassing and everything . . ." Hidrato hurried a nod in acceptance.
"You find my daughter and we'll call it even," he said before pausing to recompose himself not unlike his ex-wife earlier in the night. "And if I can be of any more help . . ."
"We should be okay for now," Cream interjected, speaking clearly for the first time in a while.

As the two detectives made their way back out of the townhouse, Nougat stopped and turned around again.
"If Vezel were outside on the street by herself, would she manage?" he asked. Hidrato scoffed.
"What are you talking about?! She's only seven!" Nougat blinked and lowered his head slightly.
"Sorry . . . never mind. Good night, Mister Carbono - and I promise, we'll find your daughter."

Back outdoors, Cream shivered and pulled his trench coat tighter around himself; again, Nougat smirked.
"So," the older detective said once they were well away from Hidrato's townhouse, "doth thine eyes deceive, or no?" Cream grinned.
"I don't think the guy did it," he answered back. "Breathing rate, eye placement, body language . . . I'd say he was more concerned that there were two strangers standing in his house . . . I mean, apart from the whole thing where he was definitely surprised to hear his girl was missing . . ."
"Yeah," Nougat affirmed, "I think he's clean too . . . so what now?"

Leaving the outer gate of the townhouse complex, the two detectives saw a pair of police officers heading their way.
"You two here about the security system?" Cream called out.
"Yes, detective, we are," answered one.
"We did it," Cream said, still keeping his arms close to his body.
"I'm sorry?" the uniformed officer said.
"We took care of the call."
"Oh . . ."

The two officers insisted on going in anyway, so Cream and Nougat shrugged and continued on towards the car.

"Hell of a walk if you don't have a ride," Cream said, still shivering slightly.
"Yeah . . ." Nougat agreed. As the two arrived at the car - and almost slipped past it on the slushy sidewalk - Nougat zoned out slightly to the chagrin of the freezing Cream.
"Yo, old man! Doors!" he said impatiently. Nougat shook his head out and let them both in.

"Hey Whip'," he said after turning the ignition "would a seven year old be able to walk this distance?"
"Are you seriously considering that?!" Cream asked incredulously. Nougat shrugged.
"I'll get back to you on that one . . . . . so where we going now?"


[Cream Filling & Nougat Trivia (because Red suggested it): By how many years is Nougat older than Cream?]
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