The Shamus Austin Mall-Net

"Interesting," Hyde responded to Sleuth, nodding slightly. "I don't think I'd be so interested in a hunting dog, myself... just not my cup of tea, you see. There are certain shepherd breeds I'm quite fond of, though. My career used to keep me busy, too, but as I'm sure you can guess... not so much, any more." Just as the conversation had earlier put her in a good mood, she now seemed to be a bit upset once again.

Her frown widened a bit as Sleuth continued in response to CurlGurl. "I... w-well, the state of my romantic life aside, I hope you don't assume I have any such aversion to men, either! If I haven't made this clear, we are very new acquaintances." The Navi flushed lightly, not certain why she was being so teased. "I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to go around making propositions of 'shagging' with every handsome man one meets, either," the Navi chided a bit more judgmentally (and, likely, quite confusingly, for anyone who wasn't aware of her personality swings and memory gaps).

Missing information as she was, Hyde thought she had a pretty clear understanding from CurlGurl as to where her relationship status with BoneMan stood in relation to Effy's. The Navi gave her what was intended as a sympathetic smile. "Thank you, my dear. We'll let you know if that visit becomes necessary."

Hyde continued glancing around curiously at all the stores as they passed through, on their way to the pawn shop. She didn't have much experience with this type of mall stroll herself, so she was quite enthusiastically taking in all the sights. That didn't necessarily broadcast on her face, though, which maintained its somewhat vacant smile as she cast her gaze around.

Naturally, the pawn shop was a microcosm of the unknown that she had already been observing, and she would have been content to simply browse the shelves for quite a while, had Sleuth not hurried them to their next spot of questioning. She sidled in next to Sleuth and was content to let the detective Navi do the questioning. She started a bit at the notion that they were lesbian lovers, however, and her usual lack of expression registered a hushed gasp as she was pulled in close.

Her large hat had shuffled a bit in the motion. As a result, Hyde now seemed more than pleased to go along with Sleuth's game... so much so that her hand did not stop at simply slinking around the Navi's waist. Rather, she intended to go for a fresh and full grope of a cheek, confident that Sleuth had put herself in a position where she couldn't really back out now. "Yes! Even well-equipped and happily involved girls like us have need of toys, my friend! Of course, this one is quite a toy in and of herself, but I speak of something, a bit more... hm," the Navi stopped, as though trying to come up with a tactful way of phrasing what she was thinking of. "Phallic, I suppose you'd say! Do you have any especially creative ones?"

As much as Curly was confused by the switch in conversation from clearly innuendo-laden, to what honestly sounded far more innocent and earnestly a discussion about pets, what she really came away with was an especially confused look for Hyde, grinning in an off-balance way and shaking her head in wave of golden curls. The switch from her improperly probing and indecently implying chatter, to the shyer, more reserved lady left only one response on the shorter girl's lips.

"You're a weird lady, Miss Hyde." It was said with as much a smirk as one could hope, showing that it was meant well enough and in good humour, but it would still probably seem an odd conclusion to reach, from the infrequent Sane-Hyde perspective.

As one might have suspected, there were no overtly adult stores in sight in the general bazaar area, though one or two seemed to the stands for trading erotic e-pubs or adult oriented web-comics. Inside 'Tickets Please', the store seemed to be broken into two main section; one part held shelves that were filled with simple data records, each representing a real-world item that was available for sale, while the other half looked more like a regular pawn shop, full of interesting trinkets and jewellery, books, tapes, shelf-fillers, children's toys, and a couple of larger items as well. Behind the counter was another set of shelves secured more safely behind a more sophisticated electronic barrier, apparently containing items that had not passed their claim date yet.

The navi at the counter turned and smiled brightly as the trio approached him, greeting them each in a bright, if neutral voice, that each of them had probably heard on a hundred other standard and non-customised NormalNavis before him.

"Hello! Welcome to Tickets Please! What can I—" Sleuth got right to her questions, and the navi curtailed his greeting to listen to her instead. After she finished, and Hyde added her own personal brand of uncomfortable detail, the navi... nodded and smiled, apparently unfazed.
"Not much call for equipment of that nature second hand or from pawn, even here in the net world. There are a couple of things, and we have a fair amount of reading material and videos as well, if you'd like to see them. I'll show you what we've got, just a moment!"

As expected, material of that nature was kept under the counter rather than on the shelves. The shop navi shuffled under the display for a moment, bringing out a broad tray that held several items, then turned about and reached through the security field to retrieve one more, and set it alongside.
"The items on the tray are available for immediate sale. The one on my left is still under bond, but will be available if it isn't claimed by the end of the week." He spread his hands over the artefacts on offer, then placed his hands behind his back for the ladies to examine them.

It was a motley assortment on the tray; a wavy clear glass toy that had no branding or maker's mark, but couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a dildo; a wireless bead toy, in pink, that consisted of an egg about two inches round, and a control box with an activation button and a single sliding wheel; a larger green vibrator that had a rabbit stimulator and quite a pronounced end curve on the main body, bearing the 'Navibrations' brand logo on the hilt; lastly a device that looked rather more like the opposite of the others, and was potentially designed for males. The one off the tray, disappointingly, was a magic wand toy; it had a large broad head and setting control on the body of the device, and was not the sort of toy designed for insertion at all, which clearly removed it from being a disguised configuration of their goal completely.

While the women examined the offerings, Curly wandered away a little, looking through the rest of the store's contents. A sharp mind might conclude either that she wasn't so interested in looking, compared to her previous enthusiasm, because she felt nothing here would hold a candle to her newest friend... or else possibly because the girl already knew exactly what was on offer here, and had seen them before. The store navi answered Sleuth's other question in the mean time.
"They do have a slightly broader list of inventory in this particular area, up above. The physical world has much more call for these items, though even then, most are very reluctant to consider purchasing such things second hand. The offer rate is not very high, as a result, because they rarely re-sell, if the bond should expire. I can show you the database entries for the inventory they have that is available for purchase, but I'm afraid I can't show you any physical items that are still under bond." Having given the information asked of him, the store navi smiled and glanced between Sleuth and Hyde, patently waiting to see if either of them were interested in anything. Considering that Curly still had her new friend with her, secreted away in its little pouch, it would be possible to ask if the shop keep had seen anything like it before, however, given that he didn't handle real-world items that were still in bond, the chances were unlikely.

"Oh, come now, Miss Hyde! You've got your conditions and I have mine. You have mood-swings and possibly alcoholism; I have obsessive curiosity and a strong desire to do 'the wild thing.' Everyone has their conditions and their vices," Sleuth laughed off her partner's chiding. "You're an odd duck, that's for sure," she agreed with Curly, before the trio reached the store and began their questioning. No sooner had they begun than Hyde followed her lead, playing the part of her partner with special enthusiasm by grabbing a handful of one of her butt-cheeks; her slacks provided little barrier as Hyde's fingers dug in, since Sleuth's lower body was one of her less thickly coated parts. The detective gave a wry smirk, thinking to herself that she'd kicked the bee-hive despite her earlier warning to herself; she really preferred being the dirty, goofy one in a team-up. "Very subtle, my dear girl! Yes, something of that nature."

She listened with interest to the Tickets Please worker (owner?) as he answered their inquiries, inserting her own comments here and there. "Oh, of course not. I was simply thinking that someone might have sold something unopened," she agreed with the tender. There was raunchy and then there was gross; reusing an unknown person's sex toy was definitely in the latter category. None of what was on display really resembled what they were looking for, but then, she hadn't expected it to; after all, the net component was safe and sound. It was the outer-world component that had been lost. The manager offered a few more points of insight, some which seemed particularly important to the purpose of her investigation. The most important was that such items wouldn't fetch much of a price at the Tickets Please real-world pawn shop... if someone had gone through the effort of stealing the item in the first place, they'd want a good resale value out of it. There was little to no chance they'd have sold it for a negligible sum, even if they wanted to get rid of it quickly.

"No, I think I've seen what I need to see. Sorry to take up your time," Sleuth finished, tipping her hat and patting Hyde on the shoulder to indicate it was time to go. "You've been helpful. I'm only sorry we couldn't make a purchase today, but maybe next time. Ta-ta!"

Though leaving without browsing any further was probably rude, Sleuth had realized that the store was a dead-end; there weren't going to get any useful information here. Well, there was only one logical thing to do now (or so her curiosity told her); she moved to grab Curly from where she was idly browsing merchandise and placed her hands upon her guide's shoulders. "Curly, dearest! Let's go see Effy," she urged, smiling and trying to look friendly rather than damnably nosy. "You don't mind, do you? Nor you, Miss Hyde?" the detective asked.

While she kept her same grin, Hyde also kept quiet as the shopkeeper continued to peddle his wares. It was becoming apparent to Hyde that she wasn't going to be able to get a good rise out of Sleuth with any manner of simply acting like a fearless, bawdy lesbian lover. Furthermore, she was dismayed to see she wasn't even getting a bat of an eye from the shopkeeper. Much like Sleuth, she was convinced that there wasn't much useful to get out of a place like this.

The Navi turned and followed Sleuth with unusual silence, contemplating what she might be able to do to stir up a reaction. The Navi finally settled on something as Sleuth was attempting to head out with CurlGurl. "I agree! Time is of the essence, so we ought to head to the next place quickly. I'll be happy to head out of such a filthy den of thievery, at any rate!" The Navi gave a laugh and tried to speak just loud enough so she would be heard by the shopkeeper. "And frankly, Sleuth, I'm a bit surprised you're going to let this goose walk off with your egg, in the first place. More forgiving than I'd be if some crook was trying to pawn my personal pleasure toy, that's for sure."

As if dodging a punch, the Navi quickly took a swill of her blue liquid and returned to her calmer self. Pocketing the bottle again, the Navi turned to face Sleuth. "But, I'd been meaning to ask, earlier... what was that about 'possible alcoholism?' That's a terrible thing to say about someone you've only just met!" The Navi didn't seem too upset, but it was hard to tell with her typically vacant expression. Hyde was thinking that she might have some things to warn Sleuth about in that same vein regarding tobacco use (and sexually transmitted diseases, although Hyde would certainly never say that out loud). "Oh, right! I'm thinking in terms of human physiology... a Navi doesn't really end up getting either of those things in typical cases."

The Navi sighed, regretting that she was thinking such mean thoughts about her new acquaintance in the first place. "Maybe it's the case that I'm not fitting in? I didn't expect my dizzy spells would be such an impediment to normal interaction..." The Navi put some serious effort into trying to think if there were any diagnosed symptoms of her illness that she might not be remembering, but try as she might, nothing came to mind.

As the problem-solving duo rapidly deduced their lack of interest in this particular location, the shop-keep simply nodded and stowed the items that he had displayed before, then smiled and waved for them both, wishing them all a pleasant day, and the hope that they would come by again. It was likely that he wasn't remaining unfazed by either woman's behaviour by strength character, so much as the opposite; he was a simple navi with a simple purpose, and quite possibly lacked the advancement necessary to be visibly perturbed or embarrassed. So it was that, while Hyde's extra comments drew brief looks from the one or two other shoppers in the bazaar, but no particular reaction from the shop navi at whom they were directed. Oh well.

Curly didn't mind being led outside again, her interest in the store's goods only passing, but Sleuth's sudden request to make straight back towards the health and beauty section right away drew a startled look from the girl. she looked to Sleuth, then to Hyde, uncertain about whether she'd find any back-up, before answering towards Sleuth again.

"Ah, already? I mean, right, right now? You, um, you don't want to go around to any of the other shops first? I mean, we haven't checked out the home and garden section, or, or the food court, or the electronics section!" Her ringlets bounced quite vigorously, along with certain other unrestrained aspects of her, as she darted along beside the other two. Despite her earlier offer, the girl seemed quite surprised and hesitant to be taken up on it so immediately. With a wince she raced ahead a few steps to face them both and stand in front.

"It's just, ah... Ok I was coy about it before but the thing is, Effy is, like, my best friend in this whole place." CurlGurl was holding her hands out, pleading now as she spoke, and her cheeks had gone pink. "I love her to pieces, but, the thing is... Ah... She, um, she doesn't know." Her eyes dropped and one foot shuffled slightly again. "Um, about BoneMan and I. I'm kinda snuggly with everyone, just, in general, you know? So she thinks that's all there is to it. If she knew he and I... you know... she'd freak out." When she looked up again, it was clear that the girl had started to feel quite desperate about the situation, eyes begging and biting her lip

"I know you're both trying to help Damson, and everything, but if I take you to Effy, you can't bring any of that into it. I'm just worried, because you two have both been all... implying, and everything, you know? Just promise me. Promise you won't let on, or say anything. Please?" As much as the girl was standing with her hands out as thought to bar their way, there wasn't much she could actually do to stop them really; both women knew what store FleetFoot worked in, and where it was, after all, but the gesture itself was still entreating both women to a level of tactfulness that it was clear Curly herself wasn't sure either of them were actually capable of.

Sleuth hadn't seen someone other than her be such an intentional rabble-rouser as Hyde was in all her life; she prided herself on being a professional botherer, as was necessary to draw information out of people, so she felt a strange mix of respect and annoyance at Hyde's ability to do it herself. "My friend's a bit silly in the head. This is a respectable place of business! On the level, with nothing amiss at all to speak of," Sleuth reassured anyone who happened to be listening in, feeling very out-of-place doing damage control. Thankfully, the shopkeeper seemed remarkably laissez-faire about their attitudes, this recent outburst included, for which she was very grateful. Ordinarily, she liked for people to sweat a little when she tried to pull a reaction out of them, but in this case, she wasn't the one pulling and there was no useful reaction that could be pulled out regardless. "Oh dear, Miss Hyde. You'd properly ruin any mystery you were placed into! How can anyone expect to resolve anything with such a constant foil to progress about?" she sighed, giving Hyde a bop atop the head with the firm side of the lens-head of her cane, regardless of her already having turned back to normal.

The detective looked down at her partner, raising one eyebrow quizzically as Hyde protested her latest label. It appeared that the memory lapses accompanying Hyde's transformations were rather severe indeed, if she didn't realize she'd constantly been draining her flask this morning. "I'm just saying! It's a bit early to be nursing the bottle," she shrugged. "Then again, I suppose it's a bit early to be talking about shagging quite as much as I have been as well," the tall woman admitted, raising both hands in a gesture of defeat.

Now looking back to Curley, she realized that the girl, in spite of her earlier willingness to comply, now seemed very eager to table the idea of meeting Effy altogether. This only increased Sleuth's curiosity, to the point that she thought she might be watering at the mouth a little. Trying hard not to look like some sort of buzzard or carnivore, Sleuth gave an empathetic smile and leaned on her cane. It turned out that her original theory hadn't been quite correct: Effy, BoneMan, and Curly weren't all together in an open relationship that would allow in stragglers. Rather, the three were friends, but the sexual relationship mapped out would look like a triangle missing its bottom. The girls were both funning around with BoneMan, but neither was funning around with another girl (at least not in this particular relationship). "S-So juicy! I've stumbled into some seriously delectable bonus intrigue! It's only a shame that I shan't be able to write a memoir about any of this! she thought to herself. Despite her otherwise amiable gestures, the fire blazing in her eyes now could easily set Damson on edge.

Sleuth moved forward, wanting to pat Curly on the head, but instead settling for placing one gloved hand upon her shoulder, gesturing a thumbs-up with the other. "I understand your trepidation, my dear Gurl- those who enjoy private relationships such as this have a vested interest in keeping them as private as possible. As such, I am neither surprised nor offended that you should experience some difficulty placing your trust in myself and the unpredictable Miss Hyde, given our track record thus far. However! I have some experience dealing in targets who absolutely must not be offended, which I will put to use here in a very... careful, calculated, and perhaps cursory investigation. After all, it's hardly likely Miss Effy is involved; I still may pick up a clue when interviewing her, though," Sleuth added. "As for Miss Hyde here, I believe I know a good way to keep her quiet that she ought to enjoy as well!"

Thinking quickly, reached out one hand to her partner. "Your belt, please. Come, don't be difficult! This is for our mutual friend," the detective chuckled, waiting until Hyde handed it over. Once she was given it, she would, without hesitation, wrap the belt around the lower half of Hyde's head, tightening it in the back, so that the centerpiece holding her emblem would rest somewhat uncomfortably in the girl's mouth. "There we are! Now, even if we look a bit sexual, I don't believe that any of that should rub off on you, especially if you don't accompany us inside. More importantly, this will keep Miss Hyde from speaking out and complicating the situation. And I'll avoid asking anything that might in any way imply that sort of connection between you and BoneMan. Detective's honor!" she announced, giving a two-finger salute with a dashing grin. "See, this is misdirection! Trust me, the only sex on anyone's mind will be my potential relationship with my bondage slave here," Sleuth further assured Curly, giving the black-caped ally a quick pat-pat where she assumed the butt beneath her cape was. "Hopefully she's into this sort of thing! Not everyone is. She'll probably go along easier if she is. If she's not, we'll know in just a moment."

Coughing into her fist, Sleuth figured she'd stick her nose in where it didn't belong just once more. "I should say, though; if at all possible, you should try exploring a relationship of non-exclusivity with Effy, work out your differences, and all join together in a healthy, open companionship! After all, 'couples' and 'marriage' are all so old-fashioned... it's just for the insecure. You're an open-minded woman and your friend may be more open than you think! Well, perhaps I'll re-evaluate that after I speak to her... But, my point being, it would solve so many problems and, well, group sex is crackerjack, Curly. If you like the ones you're with, that is. Just something to think about! I won't make it a part of my mission or anything, don't worry," she waved off whatever concern Curly would surely be showing at this point. "Let's head out now," she finished, giving Hyde another quick slap on the bottom to indicate she ought to move.

Assuming Curly was up for allowing Sleuth near her friend, Sleuth would head there with her now, as far as Curly wanted to go, anyways. "One more question, now that it occurs to me. There's no chance Effy already knows, is there? Or that her operator might?" she asked quietly, trying to keep discrete. "You're quite sure she's in the dark?" It was a stretch, but there was always the remote possibility that the operator had somehow been incensed into crime as a way of getting back at Curly and her operator, although that barely made sense even in her own head. It would be quite a long-shot to say there was any chance the missing massager was related to Curly's hidden affair with BoneMan.

Hyde frowned deeply again, unsure as to why she was being called a "constant foil to progress." "Such an abrasive personality, she seems to have... however, I suspect that's all part of the character she fosters to more effectively get under the skin of her interrogation targets." So giving Sleuth both too much and too little benefit of the doubt, Hyde casually reached from her bottle again and took a drag. Orange fires lit in her eyes for less than a second before Sleuth brought a cane down on the Navi's head, snuffing the fires out. Disgruntled, she put the flask back to her hip.

The medical Navi listened to CurlGurl with a sympathetic ear. "That's quite a situation to be in with both your partner and your best friend... while I can't judge one way or the other, I urge you to confide in a professional or unrelated friend, rather than keeping such a thing to yourself. It's not healthy to harbor secrets, after all. Of course, in this case, you can count on us to be confidential. Although she's normally quite the free spirit, I'm sure you've seen, I'm certain Ms. Sleuth... ah, my belt?" A look of confusion briefly registered on the Navi's face, but she did as she was bidden. She removed the flask with one hand, putting it to her mouth and holding it with her lips. With the other hand, she removed the bag from her hip and set it on the ground.

As the light of mischief was back in her eyes, Hyde decided to make an embarrassingly public show of actually removing the belt. She whipped it off quickly in a flash of red. Holding it behind her with two hands, and clenching the bottle in grinning teeth, the Navi flossed it back and forth in the small of her back while shimmying her shoulders at her partner. Having parted her cape to remove her belt, the gesture called attention to her sizable chest, which was barely restrained by her jacket

Of course, the joke ended up being on her moments later. Without time to consider what was happening, the belt was snatched from her, the flask was pulled from her mouth, and her belt was put in its place. Shock registered in her eyes, as she found herself trying to work the emblem around with her tongue and teeth. Ultimately, the best she could do was finish with her large top teeth clenched over the front, and her tongue shifting uncomfortably against the back in an effort to keep it from going more horizontal.

It wasn't so much a matter of whether Hyde did or didn't enjoy the concept as the fact that she didn't have any time to prepare for it. She wasn't given much time to think, either, as Sleuth made an advance on their convincing lesbian partner appearance by messing with her behind.

Hyde was finding it hard to think about her usual mischief in this situation, but she managed. Right now, she thought she would play it misleadingly tame. If she could convince Sleuth that her plan was on track and that her schemes were contained, it would be all the sweeter when she broke out for the ultimate payday.

On that note, there was still a bit she could do. The Navi reached in the medicine bag at her feet and pulled out a stethoscope. She caught Sleuth with her eyes and motioned to the stethoscope cord, then turned around and placed her fists behind her back, one wrist above the other. For the sake of convenience, she dismissed the medical bag and flask, having no convenient way to carry them.

Whether Sleuth did or didn't tie her hands, Hyde moved forward when prodded, letting out a muffled shout behind her gag and not bothering to restrain two streams of drool that were starting to issue from the corners of her open mouth.

CurlGurl's spread arms loosened a little bit as both women did something to reassure her that they could, against all possible expectations, remain taciturn on the issue. Her slight relief didn't last long though; in particular the way Sleuth kept talking on, and on, about her secret very clearly began to make the girl feel all the more uncomfortable again. Even so, she allowed the detective to take her shoulder in comfort and attempted an admittedly rather unstable and worried grin for her.

What happened next, however, turned her look of uncertain worry into one of near panic. She drew back, not quite sure how to deal with the sudden case of impromptu bondage that the odd couple had apparently decided to go in for, bringing her hands together and waving them palms out at the two, as though trying to say that that really wasn't necessary, while words seemed to be deserting her. She swallowed once and stammered, blushing bright again and utterly pole-axed by the combination of Sleuth's bizarre suggestions, and Hyde's teasing willingness to go along with it.

Those so inclined might find it a little amusing, if the situation wasn't actually more serious than it seemed: earlier in their morning, curly had been all too eager to discuss the merits of certain adult activities and the tools one might use for them, with a couple of new colleagues that she viewed as 'safe', but having the pairs obviously rampant lesbian BDSM tendencies put on display in front of her were quite clearly a line too far of the otherwise bubbly and enthusiastic girl.

"I, no, that's, Um, that..." She shook her head, stuck in an almost amusingly similar state of stumbling discomfort as her far more reserved operator had been earlier. There was little for it though, and her shoulders slumped in defeat: Sleuth wanted to interview FleetFoot, and the hair specialist was well aware that she couldn't actually stop them from doing so, and that any further attempt to forbid it would only look suspicious, and most likely spur the detective to even greater determination. "This is a bad idea..." she mumbled towards the floor, sounding like she was close to tears.

Looking up again she passed her eyes over the odd couple, grimaced slightly, then visibly composed herself, doing her best to shake off the embarrassment she was feeling on behalf of the shameless duo.

"This way..." She nodded and led on again, having done all she could to protect both her friendship and her relationship from the pair. As they made the trek back up towards the health and beauty section of the shopping complex, they found themselves on the slow-moving escalator again and CurlGurl simply leaned on the rail this time, instead of sitting on it as she had before. Her long ringlets swayed as she shook her head slowly. A number of others passing by as they went were beginning to give very odd stares, but she was doing her best to ignore them.

"No, no I don't think... I'm sure there's no way she could have found out. I mean, if she had... if she had I'd know about it, that's for sure." She sighed softly, folding her arms. this had the unfortunate effect of lifting and pushing up her chest all the more noticeably, lacking any proper support as it was, but Curly didn't seem too aware of the fact. "I guess... it would be nice, if we could be open about it, and not have to keep secrets. It's not.. well, it's not like either of us are encroaching on the other's territory, really..." The pink spots at her cheeks bloomed again, though she didn't elaborate. "But Effy wouldn't understand. She's kinda straight-laced, you know? Maybe we could work something out... but... what if we couldn't?" When she looked between them ,she was immediately put off again by Hyde's unfortunate predicament and cast her eyes quickly away. "I couldn't bear to lose her friendship. I can't risk it." It was the problem that many on the edge of such a relationship found themselves, and Curly seemed to have no brighter ideas for resolving it than most others did, save another worried sigh.


They were walking back through the health and beauty section of the complex a short while later, swinging past Curly's own shop and heading further along to the shop they were aiming for. Their guide had apparently nixed the idea of sending them in alone, over escorting them; perhaps she felt that, no matter how things appeared, her secret would be safer if she was there to keep a careful eye on the pair.

Pedi-joy itself was, as the name might have suggested, a foot-care speciality store that also appeared to stock a wide selection of sporting shoes and runners. The sign above the entrance was picked out in pink letters, one a pale blue backing, with a stylised running foot in red at the end of the name, complete with flaring mercurial wings in white, and speed-lines forming an underline on the name. As well as serving as the electronic outlet for the physical store, this shop also boldly proclaimed, in a small advertising sign near the entrance, that it could cater perfectly fitted foot-wear to any navi with a need, with a further disclaimer in finer print that it dealt only in accessories and fashion for navis, and could not provide functional shoe programs; an unfortunate, but understandably necessary qualification.

The interior of the shop held a few shelves in the central area that contained a variety of day-to-day foot-care products; moisturisers, emery boards, manicure sets, and a selection of over-the-counter ailment treatments. Most of these were digital instances for proof of purchase in the actual store, or for making orders, rather than products for navis; rare was the navi that might have genuine foot problems, apparently. Around the sides, there were several low benches for tyring on shoes, and the walls themselves were lined with a broad selection, though most were sporting in nature.

The purchase counter was to the right as they entered, and the woman behind it exclaimed brightly as Curly led her worrisome allies inside. As she darted around the counter, the others would see that she was of an average height for a navi, and athletically built; her proportions, in fact, were more or less the marathon-runner's ideal, and her hair, long and brown, was done in a thick, simple braid that reached to the base of her shoulder-blades. The woman's skin was a tan olive colour, vaguely sunned, and together with brown eyes, she had a distinctly mediterranean look to her. She was dressed in white running shorts and a well-fitted grey sports bra that restrained to allow very little movement of her healthy average chest at all as she darted forward to grab Curly up in a quick hug, lifting the shorter girl easily off the ground. The woman was wearing a pair of low-fit running shoes that gave room for the small, yet impressive mercury ankle-wings she bore. They remained arched as she moved, but small flickers here and there showed them to be fully functional and active.

"Curls! Good morning sweety! How are... Ah... Oh, ah..." Aaaand she let the other girl slide back to the ground rather quickly, as she eyes fell on the pair behind her. Her mouth gaped a little before she recovered herself, blinking rapidly, then looked down at her friend, and back to Sleuth and Hyde.

"Um, Good- good morning, are you two with CurlGurl, or are you looking for some footwear?" She seemed far too stunned by what she was seeing to work out whether to greet them as friends of a friend, or as potential customers. Fortunately, Curly saved her the difficulty quickly, doing her best to giggle away the awkwardness of the situation as she hugged her friend back and snuggled against her for a moment.

"Morning Effy! Um, These two are detectives." She decided to follow the line that Sleuth herself had used earlier, perhaps because it was the only thing she could think of immediately. She stood away again, holding the other woman's hands with her own for an extra second or two, before gesturing between them all. "They're investigating something from over in the Gloria, and I'm showing them around." Try as she might, there was no disguising that the current situation of the two 'detectives', was more than a little uncomfortable, but then, it might be more suspicious if she could hide it; Effy was also not sure how best to tiptoe around that particular elephant, so instead she just nodded and put her hand out to Sleuth.

"Okay... Sorry, hi, I'm FleetFoot. Friends call me 'FF' or 'Effy'. Um, what can I help you, ah, both, with today?" She seemed to stumble over her words, not sure how to address them, or who to address, exactly, but she still tried to smile, while casting sympathetic glances to her friend in between.

Sleuth smirked awkwardly as Hyde made a show of pulling off the belt for her, despite having just been hesitant to agree to it moments ago. The parting of Hyde's cape proved two things: it proved Hyde had some good things going for her, once one got past the teeth and the split personality, and perhaps more importantly, it proved that Hyde was the type of dresser who really needed her cape in order to project an air of decency. It seemed as though the miscreant wasn't going to raise a stink about having been thus subdued; rather, she provided Sleuth the means to further restrain her, offering up her wrists. "Why, thank you, my dear girl! Honestly, Curly, have you ever seen anyone be such a good sport about being restricted like this? It makes my job easier, that's for bloody certain!" the detective applauded, grabbing the stethoscope and adeptly using it to tie Hyde's hands together. The more bondage she inflicted upon her partner, the worse things would look, but the safer she'd feel that things weren't going to explode into inexplicable chaos as a result of the devil's advocate that emerged every now and again. "She looks as though she's happy too. Peachy," Sleuth finished, although she'd rather not Hyde be quite that content with the bondage.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like Curly was particularly appreciative of her efforts. "Some people just want to have their tart and eat it besides! Doesn't she know that she can't have both expert detective work and the normalcy afforded by not having to hang around flagrantly exhibitionist bondage fetishists? The two are a package!" Sleuth thought to herself jokingly, acknowledging that it made perfect sense for the pair's mutual client to have serious misgivings seeing their behavior. She'd probably have said it out loud, but she was already pushing her luck in the teasing Curly department. "N-Now now, ahem," Sleuth chuckled, putting on a big grin that begged, "wait, don't fire us just yet." "This will go more smoothly than you imagine, you'll see! Your friend is likely to see it all as a big, amusing rib. Friends do that sort of thing now and again! Ha ha ha! Why, I once solved the mystery of a ghost house, culminating in a battle with a belligerent HeelNavi and a Life Virus, while deprived of all but my skivvies! You'll see that sometimes looks can be deceiving when it comes to one's capability to carry out effective detective work," she finished with a wink, failing to mention that she was only in her bra and panties during that particular mission because she had discarded them for getting a bit moist, mostly out of boredom. "Isn't that right, Miss Hyde?" Sleuth added, putting on a patronizing smile and motioning to her partner, who would not be able to return speech right now regardless.

Sleuth was always happy to be the subject of interest, even if it was for negative reasons, and posed confidently along with her partner as they rode the escalator together, looking eye-catching and ridiculous. Based on Curly's words, it sounded as though pursuing any sort of nice, comfortable sexual relationship that would involve her, her gal-pal, and her gal-pal's boy-toy, was going to be a non-option... Curly seemed pretty doubtful that her friend could be understanding about it. Most people would probably think that was normal, reasoning "cheating is wrong." Sleuth, on the other hand, tut-tutted and shook her head. "Such a shame," she muttered, thinking that if only the two girls understood how fun it could be to compete in a friendly game with a girl-friend, trying to pleasure one guy, they would both jump right on it, literally and metaphorically. "But it sounds like you're quite sure she doesn't know and will be better off not knowing. I'll keep that in mind." At this point, Sleuth was keeping her voice very quiet, since she would have no way of knowing who Effy was until CurlGurl pointed her out directly.

It appeared that Curly was going to brave the adventure together with the two of them, or otherwise didn't trust the detectives being on their own; Sleuth smiled and shrugged. "Have it your way!" she conceded, thinking that if she was being honest with herself, it would be fun to watch Curly shiver and shake regardless (she was a bit mean-spirited, in her love for watching other people sweat, especially cute ones). So long as it didn't get her fired or ruin Curly's friendship forever, of course. She took in the sights, having a genuine passion for fashion, even if her passion was mostly limited to three categories: brown, outerwear for men, and underwear for women. Some shoes were brown and stylish, however, so she knew she'd find something to excite her if she looked long enough. Unfortunately (for all involved), she'd come here not to shoe-shop, but to investigate.

Speaking of brown and fashionable, Effy's aesthetic immediately appealed to Sleuth: the hues of chocolate brown, burnt brown, and so on, combined with conservative hair and sporty clothing, was a win in her book. She thought Curly could stand to learn a bit about cleaning up from her friend here, but said nothing about it. "Can't I be a detective who's also interested in some fancy new shoes?" Sleuth giggled along, acting like she was one of the girls, despite having arrived with a bondage slave close-in-toe. "Oh, I can see it in your eyes, dear! You're thinking that it's a bit odd for me to be walking around with my partner in such a state? Good Miss FleetFoot, gentle Effy, you must know that the two of us are progressives of the modern era! The net holds all types, all types, my dear! This is just a way that my lovely Miss Hyde chooses to express herself. My name is Sleuth, by the way, charmed to meet you," she continued, extending one gloved hand while holding her cane with the other.

"Yes, Curly here was showing us around the mall, as I have a hunch there may be parallels here in the Shamus Austin that can compare directly to recent crimes at the Gloria Scott. The two may be correlated even more directly: criminals working both avenues, spreading a wide net of villainy. You can never be certain!" the detective posed, raising one stiff finger to punctuate her exclamation. "Specifically, we've got some sort of kleptomaniac, making off with personal items. I've already pumped Curly here for all of the information I can, but you might be the better one to ask, since you do have much more physical inventory here and in the outer world than I imagine she does, being a hair-dresser. Tell me: do you have a problem with shop-lifters?" She made a show of bringing up a small screen to write upon, hoping to inspire at least a little confidence that her interest here was genuine and professional. "If you have had some trouble, has the security here been helpful in responding? And if you know about your operator's experiences with the same, that would be useful. I could always ask the security directly and draw from what they tell me, but... you know how it is. Personal pride and all that. Just as I would expound forever upon my thrilling cases and expert mystery-solving skills, so would they likely paint a rosier picture of themselves than is due. Don't worry, I've every intention to keep what you say confidential and hidden from all, with the exception of Curly here. You can also choose not to answer, if you feel uncomfortable doing so."

She was feeling good about her line of questioning so far; the only question was whether Hyde, who she'd been mostly neglecting so far, was going to let her get away with being a professional for once.

For the most part, Hyde was actually being well-behaved all the way from their starting location, along the escalator, and across the mall. Her hands bound and her mouth gagged, she seemed basically content to rock on her heels and listen to the uncomfortable conversation between Sleuth and Curlz.

That was only her body language, though. Her face was nearly frozen in an ecstatic grin. Passerbys would probably attribute that to a kinky and erotic reaction to being paraded around in her current state, but her partners would more likely associate it with a more sickening notion. There was no way to look at the face without the underlying subtext: "Can you trust me? I'm being quiet now, I'm being a good girl... but just wait. When the moment's the worst, I'll throw the match on the gasoline and burn it all down..."

Indeed, Hyde was thinking as much throughout the whole trip. It was that same thought and expression, nearly singularly, which inhabited her mind as she made Effy's acquaintance. She gave her only the faintest hint of a nod upon their meeting.

"Hyde!" she suddenly heard, as Jacky's face and whispered voice came into view for the Navi alone. "I have some big news... um... I take it this isn't a good time to talk?"

The Navi kept her creepy grin on and just barely shook her head. Taking that notion at face value, her operator gulped, closed the video link, and left the Navi to her business.

Despite her best efforts, FleetFoot couldn't keep her eyes from darting back and forth between the highly distracting couple. When Sleuth took time out specifically to confirm that everything was, indeed, the way it seemed, and not just some joke or play, this seemed to make her all the more uncomfortable and she ended up glancing towards CurlGurl for help in between alternating her gaze with Sleuth, and the floor, and doing her very best not to look at Hyde at all.

"E-Even so... I'm sure some things are really better, um... better kept private..." She mumbled, more to the ground than anyone in particular, before recovering herself. Eventually, she decided to focus her attention on Sleuth entirely, and pretend the rest of the uncomfortable scene simply wasn't a thing. This seemed to work, and she manage to shake off her discomfort.

"Ah, anyway... There's always a little bit of shrinkage, I suppose. Physical world or net, you can't really avoid it, but I'd say we're generally quite under the two percent acceptable average for speciality businesses." she leaned back on the counter, folding her arms over her chest and pursing her lips for a moment. The action let her eyes wander to Hyde again and she immediately snapped them back to Sleuth.

"Uhm... the last time we had anything major taken, I think, was when someone made a break for it from Janette's store, wearing one of our very expensive pair of runners. The guards on the entrances caught him, though. I think the navi that runs the internal security net must have paged them when he made a break for it... that was... some time last month, I think?"

"I don't get much in the way of data theft here, though occasionally a navi tries to jack out while they're trying on a pair of shoes." She chuckled softly and shook her had then glanced at curly and rolled her eyes. "Some folk still don't realise that products and accessories like that won't leave the store until the vendor has transferred the permissions." Curly managed a soft giggle back, though it was still an obvious strain for her to wear her upbeat mask amidst the amount of danger she clearly felt like the situation was in.
"At least shoes don't make a mess when someone tries that... Last year I had a lady who tried to run with an armful of volume increasers and conditioners... they ended up spilling all over the floor when she disappeared and they stayed put!" The tale made her giggle somewhat more genuine for a brief while, and Effy wrinkled her nose with a grin, putting one arm about Curly's shoulders for a moment and giving a squeeze.

"Poor dear. I remember you complaining about that..." At the gesture, Curly turned inwards to hug the other woman back properly. The difference in their stature might have made the action a little racy, given where the shorter girl's face ended up pressed for a moment or two, if not for the fact that it seemed neither woman actually thought of other women in that way, for themselves. They broke from the brief affection after a second and Effy continued.

"But no, there hasn't been anything of note really recently, I'm sorry. Things are generally pretty safe here, even in the physical shopping complex. I know Janette gets bored a fair bit, and often ducks away for a few minutes here and there, to get some fresh air, or whatever it is she gets up to... with no problems." The woman paused and put a finger to her mouth thoughtfully for a moment. "Though, if she thinks she'll be away for more than ten minutes or so, she'll normally either lock up, or get someone else to cover for her." Another brief glance down to CurlGurl led to a quick wink. "Your Damson is usually the one she ropes in for that these days, since she's only a few shops over... though leaves you a bit stranded while she's away, doesn't it dear?"

Overall it sounded like a fairly normal business report so far. Jacky's big news went ignored for the time being, and the ticking time bomb that was Hyde remained a dangerous threat of ruining everything, but for now, at least, the only one still unaware of that tension was Effy.

"Perhaps you're right, Miss Foot! Perhaps you're right," Sleuth chuckled, perhaps choosing an annoying nickname for her new acquaintance just to antagonize her. "Still, I say fie and fiddle! Miss Hyde and I are just as much into social experimentation as we are new-age romance; this is the sort of itch that isn't scratched if one confines everything to the darkness, behind closed doors!" Part of that was true, at least: both she and her partner were suckers for social experiments, of a sort. It was hard to keep Sleuth off of a topic once she knew it pushed buttons, and it appeared that Effy was going to have a hard time getting her to shut up about the scandalous relationship. Still, the detective did quiet down long enough to listen to what Effy had to say regarding her theft question. She wrote down what she could, although none of the answers sounded particularly pertinent to her investigation... It wouldn't hurt to be thorough, though, or at least to appear to be for the sake of professionalism and keeping up her cover. As she turned back to the pair, having half-listened to stories of past theft, a cheeky grin spread back across her face. Outwardly, it might look like mirth over the lovely vision of girlish bonding, but in reality, she was just taken aback by the arousing spectacle of Curly and Effy together; the more she watched them hug, the more she felt like she had a secret duty to make the triangle relationship with them and BoneMan work somehow. Still, unless a good opportunity presented itself, she wasn't going to make headway there.

The next bit of information actually sounded a lot more useful: Janette would, apparently, have a very good, regular opportunity to, virtually whenever she wished, get Damson away from How-Do-You-Doo in order to watch her store instead, while securing a time slot to sneak inside Damson's vacant store. "Juicy! I hope it's a lead," Sleuth giggled internally, although a bit of her excitement might be showing in her eyes as well. With new thoughts occupying her mind, the detective allowed her gloved hand to reach up the nape of Hyde's neck and begin massaging her hair beneath her hat, like one might absent-mindedly scratch one's pet dog. Sleuth seemed to have done it enough by this point that she was getting a hang of finding the nicest, most soothing spots to rub, at least, but didn't seem to worry that the overly affectionate gesture might be bothering anyone. Now outwardly giggling, Sleuth decided to try to appear like more of a gal pal, in order to hide the meaning of her upcoming questions; she ceased writing, as well, for that purpose. "Sounds like Janette and Damson are pretty good friends, although maybe Janette's the teaser in that relationship, if she's tricking poor Damson into watching the shop so often!" she joked. "How about it, do those two get up to any trouble? Like, for instance, has Janette ever, I don't know, hid any of Damson's things from her? From what Curly's told me of her operator, she seems like the loveable but fretful sort; I'm sure you'd get a good kick out of it if you played a prank on her!"

Another theory had begun to form in Sleuth's head... a preposterous one, which she planned to stamp out right away, if possible. Could Janette have taken Damson's massager, either out of morbid curiosity at seeing an unseen side of her gal pal, or possibly as a prank on her unfortunate friend? If so, there might be an easier-than-anticipated resolution to this case, one which hopefully wouldn't involve reporting anyone to authorities.

Hyde grinned (well, as much as she could, anyway) at the fact that everyone seemed to be trying to converse around her. In her mind, that would make it all the sweeter when she finally burst the secret bubble. She would be licking her lips if she was physically capable of doing so at the moment. Instead, her saliva simply picked up, now a thin but steady trickle from one edge of her mouth. She worked her tongue against the back of the emblem in her mouth with anticipation... the emblem would muffle her voice, but not silence it. She thought she had enough freedom that she could drop the bomb just when the moment was worst.

The Navi had been so excited about the upcoming opportunity that she hadn't been paying attention to what was going on around her. She attempted to jerk her head away from Sleuth at the last moment, which simply made her hat fall off and onto the floor and revealed her evidently scratch-worthy scalp.

Hyde remained stunned for a moment, believing the situation she was in to be similar to a previous one: Sleuth had taken advantage of one of her faint moments to parade her around, claiming they were in a romantic relationship and defaming her character. Deciding she was going to speak up about it this time, she was instead horrified to find her tongue rapping against an object in her mouth. A stunned look crossed her eyes. Needless to say, unable to see what was around her head, the Navi's next impulse was to reach for it. That action was completely impossible, as well.

Quite obviously struggling against her constraints, the fire which had left the Navi's eyes all crept even more strongly into her face. The most frustrating part, she found, was that with things as they were, she actually couldn't stop the string of drooling she had begun earlier. The three gathered were treated to the sound of her attempting to suck the spittle back into her mouth.

In her current state, Hyde found that she was actually unable to think of a little nicety or excuse other than meanness or perversion on Sleuth's part that had put her in this state. As such, she was determined she wasn't simply going to play along as she had earlier. "That said... my arms are tied," she thought to herself, making the pun unintentionally and without humor.

Ultimately, she just ended up struggling with her bound arms and shouting muffled objections around her mouthpiece. This may have at least had the effect of making it clear to the others that she wasn't in this position by choice... then again, it might just look to them like she was feeling especially turned on and was squirming in ecstasy.

The more Sleuth chatted about her in-one's-face kinky relations with her well behaved sub, the more awkwardly uncomfortable about the whole situation FleetFoot grew. At one point she glanced down to Curly and forgot herself long enough to murmur to the other woman.

"Clurly dear, how in the world did you get roped into this? I know you complain about how bored you get when Damson leaves you, but really..." It was a quiet aside, but not nearly disguised enough for her guests to miss, and Effy seemed to realise it a moment later, blushing as she looked up again and trying to pretend she hadn't just insulted them both.

The odd juxtaposition of each strange circumstance beside the other meant that Effy wasn't really prepared to respond to girlish gossip talk from the woman who was busy parading her bed life in front of others She tried, instead, to calm herself, unconsciously fanning one hand at her cheek.

"Well, um, Janette might occasionally enjoy the odd good-natured joke, I suppose, but Damson is too precious a dear for that... I'm sure she'd feel it was unsporting to play a trick on her. It would be like kicking a puppy!" This time she did mange a soft chuckle, but only for a brief moment. On one hand the navi seemed to imply it was unlikely her operator might have taken it a a prank, but that didn't seem to rule out surprised curiosity, as far as Sleuth's pondering went. It was about this time that Hyde began to really struggle and show her dislike of the situation, and as much as she'd tried to ignore it before, while the bound woman was quiet and well behaved... it suddenly became exponentially harder to pretend nothing was there, once the woman began to struggle.

FleetFoot had continued trying to say something more, but her words stammered and broke off unintelligible each time she started, and her gaze was dragged unwillingly to the other woman. At last she couldn't really deal with it any more and she winced leaning away slightly, and slipping one arm about CurlGurl, as though she might be seriously contemplating hiding behind the shorter girl.

"Ah.. um.. Is... is... Is she, uhm... all right?" Was about the best the foot specialist could manage.

Sleuth continued smiling, now stepping forward with an energetic wave of her finger in the air, to interrupt Fleetfoot's voicing of her concerns. "Now, now! You're good friends with Curly here, aren't you? Then you must understand her caring and helpful nature! Regardless of my vices, or those of my partner, or the standards of society that the two of us might violate, she was determined to offer her service as our guide around the mall! That's a selflessness that we should all aspire to!" she announced dramatically, puffing out her already distracting chest. Hyde had begun squirming now, clearly with discomfort; seeming to deny this, Sleuth shook her head and wagged her finger again, this time in a 'tut-tut' gesture. "She's fine. There's always a little bit of pleasure in misery, in this kind of relationship. You know how it is?" she asked, raising her hands in an overly aloof gesture of uncaring. For how much she was applauding Curly's sense of understanding and kind behavior, she didn't seem willing to extend that same courtesy herself. "Anyway! Moreover, to my point: cherish your friendship!"

She shut up once Fleetfoot began answering her questions again, instead opting to take notes, although there wasn't much new or useful information to be had. Almost as soon as it started, Hyde's struggling became too distracting for any of the three to keep ignoring. "Ah, well, it seems she wants a break," Sleuth chuckled, grabbing her hands to Hyde's shoulders. "Why don't you give us just a moment? After all, things can't be all fun, sunshine, rainbows, and sado/masochism all the time! Breaks are essential," she laughed, dragging Hyde away from the others. Hopefully, the other navi wouldn't resist, given that she should be just as eager to get out of her bondage getup.

Once she'd located a private spot, she'd remove the belt from around Hyde's mouth, then get to work untying her hands. "I'm very sorry, dear girl, but perhaps a little bit more of this and you'd acquire a taste! That said, you must understand, your split personality is just too much to deal with at this point in time. I desire your companionship, but I can't risk your alter ego spilling the beans on our dear girl's missing stirring rod," she spoke in a quiet, almost motherly voice, whispering to her supposed lover. "If there is no way to keep it in check, then I simply can't have you talking to the others. You understand? If you'd like me to bind your mouth more comfortably, I'm sure I can find a way to, so that you'll be saved the spittle, but I absolutely must not have you blurting out anything that will get the two of us fired before we can see this mystery to its conclusion. And I'm making such wonderful progress with the girls, don't you think?!" she laughed, sounding excited; she might be overestimating the progress she was making. "You see, common enemies unite uncertain friends. Seeing the relationship the two of us have, those girls must be valuing their own friendship even greater, perhaps thinking, 'well, if I had to shag with a woman, I'd want it to be someone normal, like you, friend!' Don't you think that's what they might be thinking?"

Regardless of whether Hyde agreed with her assumption or not, Sleuth would hold off the full untying of Hyde's hands until she was pretty certain Hyde wasn't going to blurt out anything that needed to stay hidden. "Take a moment to re-acclimate yourself, perhaps suggesting how I can make this bondage more comfortable for you! After all, while I'm a frequent sexual deviant, I haven't had a ton of experience being the dominant one in that sort of relationship, thus, my knot tying might be a bit rough, my hand too forceful. I want this to be a good experience for you too..." she whispered in Hyde's ear, pushing her breasts against Hyde's back and suggestively wrapping her hand around Hyde's waist, to rest on her stomach. "Just kidding!" she laughed again, although it was hard to tell if that was the truth or not. "Regardless, let me know what we need to do to make this work, while you're still in your right mind, so that we can go back out there and continue our investigation. I don't know if you know it or not... but your other self is very, very tricky to deal with. That's why I'm considering a gag essential for this. Just let me know which gag you prefer! I can simply use one of these quality gloves I wear, or perhaps you have something else you'd like to bite down on? I could even use my panties or yours, if you'll give me a moment to find a closet~"

That probably wasn't helping. "Ahem. Yes, just tell me what would be best," she coughed. "Oh! And perhaps, while you're not gagged, we should see if you can communicate with your operator and ask her to send whatever she has, while giving her our notes so far as well? I'd love to compare notes with her. It seems Jocelyne isn't really watching her PET, so I can't ask her at the moment... not that she'd be much good for help, regardless," Sleuth finished.

The medical Navi continued to protest Sleuth's prohibitive prescription, fiddling with her bonds and complaining behind her gag until Sleuth really had no choice but to take her aside. She willingly followed Sleuth away, thankful to find that her legs, at least were not bound. She gave a further sigh of relief as the emblem gag was removed. In a desperate and unladylike move, she wiped the corners of her mouth on the shoulders of her cape, as they were the only thing she could readily reach.

Hyde was still breathing heavily and looking dismayed, and didn't seem to be able to muster up a response (or really even a proper reaction) to what Sleuth was saying at first. Frankly, she no longer had any idea what Sleuth was trying to accomplish. Something about getting Curly and Effy to shag each other? Hyde was half-convinced that the Sleuth had bound her because she didn't want a voice of reason stepping in.

All the same, whatever Sleuth was doing, she seemed adamant on the point of continuing to do it. Hyde wasn't in much of a position to complain, as the binding of her arms removed her leverage or ability to use any tools, should she want to. That said, she still had enough agency of mind to scramble away from her when Sleuth pressed in (a gesture the other Navi might have preferred Curly and Effy didn't see, if she wanted to keep this convincing). That motion left Hyde on her knees, facing away from Sleuth. She rolled in place to put her face-to-face with the other woman again, and had a moment to think that she wasn't really sure how to get back to her feet gracefully without help...

"Dear God, please no," she hissed in response to the notion that the underwear of either might be a suitable substitute.

As Hyde's mind raced to try and find a way out of her current predicament, Jacky's face popped into a viewscreen next to her. The operator glanced around at what she could see of the scene, frowning deeply. "This doesn't seem like as ideal of a time to converse as I'd hoped, Sleuth. I have some interesting information, but perhaps it should wait until you're away from concerned parties." The operator spoke in a low voice, adjusting her frames on her nose. "I'll relay the information on a personal channel to Hyde for now. At a later time, she can relay it to you. If you get a chance... can you please check in on Jocelyn and talk some sense into her? We became separated, which was useful in terms of gathering information. I fear that the situation has rapidly gotten out of hand in my absence, however..."

The operator coughed, crossing her arms and staring a moment longer. "Well. I'll leave you two to it," she finished, vanishing from the Net.

Hyde made a small, dejected groan, having been mere seconds away from asking Jacky to talk Sleuth out of whatever she was trying to do. She listened to her operator with half of her attention, devoting the rest to trying to find some way of complying with Sleuth's unreasonable demands that would not result in her own becoming unfit for marriage. Try as she might not to, she found herself mentally remarking that the negative space in Sleuth's admission seemed to confirm that she had some experience on the negative end. "Well, while I'd so love to help improve your working knowledge of the subject, you'll have to forgive me if I seek to pursue the bare minimum on this particular venture. I think the most appropriate way may be... if you could find some small article to stuff in the mouth, you could then secure the belt just in the crook between chin and lip. That way, you might press the emblem against the lips and prevent the thing from escaping... whilst avoiding stretching my lips so uncomfortably. Then, perhaps... if you have some experience on the matter, you may want to advise me on how one is supposed to enjoy such bloody awful torture! Ah, if you have any experience with it yourself, of course... sorry," she spoke sheepishly, finding herself apologizing in spite of herself. "I simply mean, if you truly aim to convince the others..."

The dark-haired Navi was blushing a beet-red shade of humiliation now, and kept her eyes screwed shut as she added one more request. "If possible, could I convince you to give me a sip of my medicinal tonic? You'd be surprised how your previous position has dried my mouth, so..." The Navi summoned her bottle to her feet, but was clearly incapable of accessing it herself.

After Hyde's shameful, shameful display of not really being that into bondage, Sleuth shook her head, mourning the pitiful scene but admitting that Hyde clearly did need some instruction in how to properly enjoy bondage. Jacky had come in with something important though: Sleuth had indeed been forgetting her duty to Jocelyn. "Oh, pish-tosh, I'm sure it's fine... after all, this mission was partially intended to give Jocelyn a sense of independence and responsibility for her own actions. I'm sure she's... well, knowing her, she's probably... okay, now that I think about it, I'd be surprised if some lucky and exploitative fellow hasn't gotten into her panties yet. You're right, I should check on her. I'll do so, riiiight once I get things sorted out with Miss Hyde here," she chuckled nervously. This was the first time in a long time where Jocelyn had ventured outside of the protective web of hidden security guards protecting the Gloria Scott Mall, but even then, Jocelyn did have the protection of being from a wealthy, well-connected family... That would only stop well-informed criminals from exploiting her too heavily. There were too many conditionals on that statement for her liking.

"Very well, then. You get the honor and privilege of tasting one of my gloves for that comment! I challenge you to a duel-" she began, whipping off one glove theatrically as though she intended to slap her partner with it. "Ho ho! No, I meant literally. You'll get to taste my glove literally. I wasn't joking when I said that it was a privilege, however! I'm not too proud to admit that I've been with many a partner, and yet few have I deigned to allow their bodily fluids to stain my hand-wear. I'm very particular about it, in most cases, and here sacrifice it only for the good of our mission and my fondness for you," she chuckled with a bit of malice, finding that in-her-right-mind Hyde was significantly more fun to tease than decidedly-out-of-her-mind Hyde. "A drink first? Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. The few times I consented to bondage, I was pretty drunk," she murmured, tilting the bottle carefully to Hyde's lips and allowing her some sips. "Perhaps I'll take a little myself!" she snickered, draining a sip or two as well. Regardless of the flavor, she'd continue. "That's good advice you've given, though; advice I'm happy to accept. Now, I don't have too much experience being submissive... you know, any further than acting that way for a fellow I especially fancied... but I'd imagine the key to enjoying this sort of thing is to revel in dehumanizing yourself. Of course, usually there's some level of trust involved, and clearly you do not trust me," she chortled, as if she had shown herself to be especially trusting. "But in order to enjoy dehumanizing yourself... well, in my personal experience... some stimulus is better than no stimulus. For instance, when blindfolded, one may crave the touch of another, even if it's a hard touch, just so as not to be alone with one's thoughts. Being alone: it's the great fear of all conscious beings, especially social creatures such as us navis. Submission can be a feeling of being wanted and being loved... Whatever you're put through, you do have that physical companionship and are thus not alone. Unless, of course, the tactic to further dehumanize you is to leave you alone, but that seems a bit cruel in my estimation. I don't plan on doing that! Well, listen to me ramble... Anyways, another way to enjoy it would be to become an exhibitionist! I'm that sort of person, myself. Skinny-dipping is a good way to foster a love of exhibitionism-"

At this point, FleetFoot and Curly were probably wondering what was taking the detectives so long. Were the two strange navis really trying to sort through their relationship issues here in the mall? They were actually doing exactly that, of course.

Having finished her tutorial on how to enjoy bondage, Sleuth fed her partner her wadded right-hand glove, then refastened the belt and emblem, this time being careful to let it rest as the doctor ordered. "There! Tidy as you please," she giggled, grabbing Hyde's hand and leading her back over. "So sorry about that, ladies! Our little break is over!" Hopefully, Curly and Effy were still waiting where they'd been left, although they had every reason both to run away during the intermission.

Unsurprisingly, Effy wasn't entirely sold on Sleuth's talk of the selfless and understanding nature of others, but at the prospect that she might be spared of their strangeness for a respite, she was more than willing to wait while the detective and her not-entirely consenting sub went off to have some, er, recovery time. Curly stayed with her, and as Sleuth led Hyde away, the two could be seen to be chatting close in, almost whispering to one another, no doubt comparing 'I know!'s about their odd guests. There was the occasional uncertain shrug, and the odd muffled giggle with hands to mouth while they caught up and tried not to morbidly watch the unfolding scene from afar. If they'd actually been close enough to hear, it might have actually proved once and for all that Sleuth and Hyde weren't actually what they appeared, but perhaps unfortunately, all that really got communicated was a certain amount of intimate rubbing and pressing, with hints of domination in between.

It seemed to take an unusual amount of time, considering that the pair had only indicated stepping away for a moment, in the middle of their supposedly important questioning, and towards the end of their exchange curly had stepped out from the store entrance to try and peek a bit further towards where the duo had retreated to. She managed to hear something about them trialling some exhibitionism next, and her cheeks coloured again. Oddly, she lifted her arms to fold them across her chest. It might not have been as impressively large as sleuth's, but she was still notable for her smaller build, and there was far less between her own goods and the open air than anyone else present. Apparently the girl was growing concerned about how likely it was that Sleuth and her toy were going to try to get everyone else in on their behaviour as well.

By the time the kinky ladies returned, Curly had retreated as well, and waved a little nervously.
"Ah, welcome back...? Feeling better now?" She seemed to feel like it was a strange thing to say, even in the situation, and her eyes ducked low. Fortunately, Effy managed to pick up with something of calmer attitude.

"Right, well, Where were we... Was there anything else you wanted to know about me, or Janette?" She had keyed on Curly's nervousness in the intervening seconds and rested one arm comfortingly around the girl's shoulder, rubbing slowly, which certainly did seem to go some way towards relaxing the girl.

Hyde winced visibly at the concept that the article of clothing that was about to enter her mouth had been exposed to bodily fluids, no matter how "few." She ran through it in her head: everything she new about human hygiene applied only variably to the Net world; Sleuth appeared to be a stickler about the cleanliness of her gloves; Hyde hadn't seen Sleuth touch anything gross since they'd entered the space... although it had been on some railings...

In that state of mind, it was, perhaps, understandable that Hyde didn't thank Sleuth for helping her out with the drink (not that she actually needed it, since, in her state of alarm and panic, the Navi had forgotten that Sleuth had not redone the knots binding her hands). The Navi gulped it down as much as she was given eagerly, smacking her lips slightly and leaving a bit of her dark lipstick on the rim of the bottle.

When Sleuth followed up with a swig of her own, she would no doubt be disappointed to find what she was drinking tasted very much like ordinary water. Due to the sinister nature of the substance, it would be easy to trick oneself into thinking there was the bitterness of medicine, or the heady, drunk buzz of alcohol. Anyone detecting either of those influences, however, would be getting drunk on the notion, rather than anything in the bottle.

Regardless, the bottles had done wonders for Hyde's attentiveness, and she listened as a captive audience. She was mentally debating if it was worth shouting out some secrets and frustrating Sleuth or Curlz right there, but she decided it really wasn't a choice moment. It seemed like Sleuth was going to write her a big, blank check to continue bothering their acquaintances, regardless. Furthermore, after Sleuth had taken her aside and tried to make this less distracting, bothering the other two more and disrupting the investigation might get the other Navi's goat as well, so she had no reason to complain.

That said, she found reason anyway. She didn't know for sure, but she suspected that due to her own annoying nature, Sleuth wasn't really aware of the limits normal people set on silliness. She wagered if she goaded Sleuth into continuing on the current path, she could very well get them thrown out of the store! "Wouldn't that be lovely?" The Navi set her face in a frown as Sleuth concluded her explanation. "Not being the expert, but putting in my two cents... it seems submission and domination is a two-way street. You say it would be cruel to tie someone up and then leave them, but is that not exactly what you've done? Simply forcing a person to wear a gag or binding their hands is forcing them into submission, but I'd hardly calling it dominating. I'm willing to do my part, but I simply must ask for a bit more enthusiasm on your part." Regardless of how Sleuth reacted to that, Hyde allowed herself to be re-gagged and led.

Hyde gave the two a thumbs up when asked about her current condition, probably more to alarm them at the fact that her hands were now free, more than anything. Then, like a child who simply couldn't be bothered to pay attention while grownups were talking, the Navi strolled over and started inspecting some sandals.

Any relief that Hyde had finally taken up a recent activity in the wake of a shoe store would soon be trampled as the Navi casually undid her cloak, draping it over the shoe rack as though it were a coat rack. Wordlessly, she further pulled her suspenders off of her shoulders. Even without her suspenders and belt, the shorts were tight enough to stay in place by clinging to the Navi's curves. With determination, however, Hyde crossed the next bridge. She hooked her thumbs in the sides of the shorts and shimmied them down, revealing the tight bikini bottom that stretched across her backside.

Thankfully, her train of exposure seemed to be at an end. Unfortunately, her train of tomfoolery did not. Again, with a casual grin playing at the corners of her mouth, the Navi picked up a sandal, turning it over in her hand. Had the outfit change somehow been a preparation for viewing the merchandise...?

It didn't appear to be so, as the Navi made a point to bend over on the rack, sticking her backside out towards the other three. She held the sandal back, clearly offering someone to take it. At the same time, she continued to observe the remaining sandal in front of her. If one didn't know better, one might think she was finally taking a genuine interest.

"Why, thank you! I had no idea your alternate personality was also a bondage guru. I'll be sure to keep your sage advice well in mind and give you a swift, hard kick in the bum if you're forgetting your place," Sleuth joked, only feeling satisfied once Hyde's mouth was gagged again. Her future in bondage was hardly Sleuth's concern, next to the distressing fact that Hyde had clearly transformed again. What had caused it? Perhaps the tepid, tasteless drink that Hyde had requested... she saw no other reason for Hyde to carry it, after all. "Interesting... Perhaps I'll do some tests later. Goodness knows it would be useful to know for my own purposes, even apart from it being a civic duty to protect other from the consequences of one of her ill-timed personality swaps," the detective pondered to herself.

Rejoining Curly and Effy, Sleuth gave the two a bright smile to try and reassure them. "As you can see, her disposition has improved significantly!" she laughed, referring to her partner. "She'd tell you as much if she wasn't occupied with her gag." At this point, her eyes eagerly darted back down to watch one of Effy's hands rubbing Damson's shoulder and she narrowly avoided licking her lips. "Don't think about lesbians. Don't get distracted! Focus, Sleuth. Investigation! Those girls will have plenty of time to be bi-curious on their own time. No need for me to get involved. Nature will provide. Focus, focus!" she remind herself, but her nature as a nosy pervert and lover of making cute, embarrassed people more cute and more embarrassed wasn't making it easy. In the confusion, she'd become so distracted that she'd forgotten what her next question ought to be, as well as the fact that she ought to keep an eye on her partner. "Uh... Hm... Yes, there should be another question..." she laughed, rubbing the back of her head with professional embarrassment. "Alright, here's a question: what about the cleaning crew, here at the Shamus Austin? From what I understand, there's usually some suspicion placed upon those in janitorial positions when crimes happen at shopping centers. After all, besides security, they're the ones with the easiest access to people's personal positions and, furthermore, have an excuse to go through people's possessions unbidden. You see, therefore, why I might cast suspicion over those over at the Gloria Scott! How are yours here, hm? I'm guessing you don't interact with them a lot, but are there any you know by name, who you could tell me more about? Do they have associated navis here on the network whom I could address more questions to?" she asked, writing away busily on the small screen she'd used earlier. Unfortunately, when her eyes looked back up, she'd probably see them focused on something behind her, rather than on answering her questions. "Is something-?" she asked, turning around quickly.

As it turned out, Hyde had apparently liked that "getting kicked in the bum" suggestion, as she was now performing an action worthy of getting her butt kicked and, furthermore, presenting it out to the group, as if begging someone to do it. Sleuth's smile widened into a threatening sneer. "Oh, dear, dear. Someone's being a bad doggy again," she murmured, strolling back over to her partner. She took the shoe from Hyde, then placed it back upon the shoe rack. "It would be a little improper to use that. After all, 'you break it in, you buy it,' as they say," she joked. She urgently wanted to place both hands upon Hyde's not inconsiderable buttocks, line her up, then punt her into a pile of shoes, but the only thing her current detective-work was missing was physical violence to tip it out of the territory of "a car crash I can't stop watching" into "I'm calling the cops." Instead, she grabbed Hyde's panties from behind, pulled the girl towards herself, then spun Hyde around and grinned menacingly into her partner's face at close range. "Excuse me, Miss Effy, Miss Damson. My investigation requires a brief detour." She grabbed back up Hyde's cloak, threw it over her, then gave her partner a moment to get herself straight. "I should have told you two originally, but my partner here has what they call 'a split personality.' She becomes a pervert who cannot be reconciled, a ne'er-do-well who lies obsessively and deserves punishment at every turn. I'm still diagnosing her full condition, but that's why I gagged her, and that's why she's been acting in such an uncouth manner. However!" she paused, raising one finger and moving her face closer to Hyde's again. "I've made a discovery. While your 'normal' self exists in a hazy state, perpetually unaware of what's just happened to her or what she's just done, you are always keenly aware of the best ways to cause trouble. There's no down time, no delay in consciousness... What I mean to say is that you're always awake, aren't you? It seems odd, that one of you would have unaware spells and the other wouldn't... In fact, I'll bet your other side has a very good memory! She could, perhaps, remember what's causing her to act this way in the first place? How about we run through it, hm, so that you can stop frightening the poor girls and I can stop covering my ass, worrying about your behavior?" she questioned threateningly.

Unfortunately, for all she knew, she had the wrong Hyde right now, in which case the girl would probably only wonder why she was in her underwear, why Sleuth was being mean to her, and so on. That was just the hard part of dealing with Hyde. The greatest dangers at this moment were two possibilities: one, that Effy would prefer hearing the truth and witnessing the ensuing commotion even less than she had watching the bondage play and strip show, and would proceed to kick them out. Two: that Hyde would use her exit strategy to free her tongue and spill the beans on either Damson's missing massager problem, Curly's scandalous affair with Effy's boyfriend, or both. In preparation of the latter, Sleuth spoke to the others again. "Remember, please, that this girl is a compulsive liar; you can't trust whatever wild things she might say," she informed them.