"-I'm not trying to, no, don't make this about me, what were you doing at club one time fight scene? Why did you almost kill that guard? What drugs did you take to make yourself this big? Where were you last night, Shit-" Alice paused unnaturally, seemingly realizing that she had misspoken.

And there was one thing she said that made Mr. Valen take a step back mentally. 'She saw me that night?'

Now the sudden suspension made perfect sense.

Looking towards Alice, Mr. Valen sighed slightly, his brows raised in confusion, "what are you talking about? It seems you've had too much to drink."

"Don't turn this around on me, I'm not drunk," Alice spoke sharply, before raising a her glass to drink the last of its contents.

Mr. Valen simply stared at her, his face expressionlsss as he thought, 'Looser lips, slurred speech, diminishing survival instincts, you're either drunk, Alice, or retarded and I know you're not retarded.'

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Alice tilted her head at his gaze, her eyes narrowed at Mr. Valen.

Mr. Valen on the other hand, scooted closer to Alice, sitting right next to her as he spoke, his words grim. "Let us say I was the killer, now that you have revealed yourself to me what is stopping me from hurting you or your sister?"

"There's people here, you can't do anything to me-"

"There were also people at the club," Mr. Valen smiled slightly, cutting Alice short.

The drunk woman quieted down at his words, her eyes narrowed in warriness. "I have to go now," she then spoke.

"And leave your audience behind," Mr. Valen intoned, drawing even closer to her, "the only element that ensures your safety?"

"Y-you-"

"Hahahaha," Mr. Valen suddenly burst out into a deep chuckle at Alice's response, his sudden laugh confusing the woman greatly.

"Look at your face," Mr. Valen spoke amid deep breaths, the sound of his laughter decreasing as he spoke, "I seriously have no idea what you're talking about, I have never been to a club before, and as for last night if I was killing anyone it would be in my dreams."

"W-wait what? Seriously?" Alice spoke, her eyes still narrowed in skepticism.

"You can ask my roommate," Mr. Valen nodded at her, his gaze scanning the room as he thought, 'Though Lofi wasn't around when I slept off, I didn't ask him what time he arrived too.'

"T-then what about your unreasonable growth, how do you explain that?" Alice shot back after a bit of thought.

"How is that even related, I didn't realize killing people granted growth boosts," Mr. Valen spoke, his gaze on the drunk woman before him as he said. "My word Alice, you're quite the conspiracy theorist."

"Then-" Alice cut herself short, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she realized that she had been chasing ghost. 'That face at the club, though it looked like Valen I have no proof it was actually him, and the killings they started long before Valen was even a student here, even though this third one is different.'

"Waiter," she then shouted, beaconing a nearby waiter (a dark haired man wearing an apron).

The dark -haired waiter, (hearing her calm) made his way through the table with a kind of haste that caught Mr. Valen's attention.

And when he reached his eyes fixed on Alice, a slow, appreciative smile spreading across his face as he took in her flustered, pretty features.

"Something I can help you with?" he then asked, his voice smooth as he deliberately leaned into her space, placing a hand on the back of her chair.

As he spokez his gaze flickerd towards the hooded figure that was Mr. Valen, an unidentifiable look flashing in his eyes as he noticed Alice's empty glass. "Ohh you want another drink?" He asked enthusiasticly.

"Ehh, yeah," Alice's spoke emotionlessly, appearing more like her normal self as she spoke. "Put it on-"

"No, don't worry about the bill, it's on the house," he spoke, puffing out his defined chest like nineties cartoon character, his voice growing bolder. "We take care of our favorite patrons here, especially the ones who look like they need a friend, and after you and your friends bought up a storm here last time you've earned it."

'Hmm, they've been here before?' Mr. Valen thought, imagining that Vincent was the one who took care of the bills.

Mr. Valen then took note of the fraternity logo on his chest, and sure enough.

"We've got a coed fraternity here at RD one of the best, sponsored by the Rutherford noble family," the waiter spoke, his words cut short by Alice who shook her head.

Alice seemingly bored out of her mind by the words of the frat boy struggled to maintain her blank expression, her figure shrinking under the new attention. "No, no, I was just-"

"Don't be shy," the waiter pressed, mistaking her annoyance for bashfulness, a charming grin on his face as he pulled out a pen from his apron, before scribbling on a cocktail napkin. In the next moment, he slid it towards her. "I'll be right back with your drink, in the meantime you can call me if you need... Anything else," he winked walking away.

'How charming, a flawless execution of the pretty boy architype,' Mr. Valen nodded seemingly impressed by the waiter. 'Though I find that such a personality would be incompatible for Alice and her Jade beauty architype.'

Thinking back to when he had first met her, during his high school days, he let a low amused sound escape his lips, his relaxed posture a stark contrast to the waiter's posturing.

Turning to Alice, his eyes, (glinting with mocking laughter) met Alice's embarrassed ones, the silent exchange ending in Alice looking away, not quite knowing what to say.

'Shit I should have just left, why did I order a drink, now I have to live down this awkward moment,' Alice thought to herself.

Meanwhile, shaking his head Mr. Valen picked up the napkin between his two fingers, examining the scribbled numbers with a curious gaze.

He then placed it in front of Alice with a thud, his voice a soft, gutteral number that was for her alone.

"My, my, Alice," he said, a subtle, widening smile playing on his lips. "I must admit, I'm a little disappointed. I didn't take you for one to so openly leverage the currency of your charms."

"Shut up," Alice shoved an elbow at Mr. Valen's side but she realized to surprise that it was like hitting a flessy wall.

It just didn't make sense.

"But Valen?" Her voice rang out, as she looked up at the man before her, her form growing closer. "Did you take steroids or something? No, even steroids don't work this fast right?"

'She's still not dropping it?' Mr. Valen thought, his mind scrambling for answers, until it clicked.

"Well, there is something that happened to me," Mr. Valen spoke, his tone growing hushed. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone-"

"I won't," Alice spoke her form straightening like some girl scout, her blue eyes almost shimmering like a curious kitten's.

Mr. Valen chuckled at that looked but his grim tone did not faulter, rather he spoke. "You remember that lady at the party, the one I left with?"

"Yeah that lady I don't remember her name but I know who you're talking about," Alice nodded.

"Well she drugged me," Mr. Valen shrugged, his words causing Alice to narrow her eyes but before she could chime in, he added once more. "She then left me at another district, and when I woke up I was alone in an incompleted building, and my body had changed."

"What!" Alice gasped, seemingly invested in the story, her voice coming in deep gasped. "How did your body change, what did she do-"

"Here's you're drink and I added in some crakers as well so do you need anything else?" The frat guy spoke, his voice interrupting the discussion.

Alice, seemingly annoyed by this, turned to look at him, a small frown appearing on her lips as she spoke, "No I don't need anything else."

"Em, alright, so I'll be expecting your call," he spoke as he walked away, prompting Alice to sigh in resignation.

Mr. Valen had already begun eating the crakers from the bowl while watching the short interaction between the two people.

"Would you stop staring at me like some kind of interesting movie," Alice said to Mr. Valen sighing slightly as she added. "I swear he's worse than Derald."

"Ohh I forgot to even ask how are you and Derald progressing," Mr. Valen asked, rather curious as to the nature of their relationship.

"We broke up before it even started," Alice spoke, shrugging, "he was too much of a slob so we didn't work out."

"Wasn't that obvious from the beginning?" Mr. Valen asked, his brows raised.

"Yeah it was but I thought it'd be interesting since he's rich," Alice answered, her gaze growing distant. "Everything around me just seems so dull that it's nice to change pace once in a while you know?"

"I don't know," Mr. Valen shook his head completely disregarding her theory. 'Intresting is just a dance word for abnormal, abnormal means not normal I don't like not normal.'

"So, this story, continue," Alice said, throwing a cracker in her mouth, her actions promoting a smile on Mr. Valen's face.

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