Defiant Dare (Plot Advancement)

[Lepa]

Riki sighed as he stared down at his half filled glass. He drummed his fingers on the bar counter, recalling the day's earlier events. His routine soccer mom evasion took a hard turn into the paranormal, and now he was left with a load of existential dread. He'd never denied the existence of ghosts, but he had a hard time believing it. The thought of his coworkers pranking him had crossed his mind a few times, but... that wasn't like them, he thought. He shifted his gaze to the haunting photo he'd laid out. He had... so many questions. If ghosts were real, then was the afterlife real? What would happen to him when he inevitably died? Would he end up like Mr. Cyrus...? Was there truly a force that would weigh the morality of his actions and determine-

"...You're here early."

"Oh..." Riki shifted his weight, slowly sitting up at the sound of Casey's voice. "...Yeah." He gave a small, tired nod, though he hadn't bothered to glance Casey's way.

Casey raised a brow as he approached. No quips? No comical jabs at his expense? Not even a wisecrack? Sure, he wasn't as obnoxious when Ricky wasn't around, but the lack of energy in Riki's response told Casey that something was wrong. He glanced at the glass clasped in Riki's hand. That wasn't like him... He didn't drink much to begin with, and when he did, it was never this early.

"...Rough day?" Casey asked, pulling up a barstool beside him.

"Yeah... You could say that." Riki took another sip. "Figured Ricky wouldn't mind me pouring myself a glass." He frowned, staring down at the photo.

Casey sighed. "...Okay man," He leaned forward on the counter. "I wasn't gonna ask, but I can't stand ya bein' all mopey like this." He rested his cheek on his palm. "What happened?"

[Lepa]

"...Do you believe in ghosts?"

"...What?" Casey sat up. "Is... this a set up?" He squinted in suspicion. "Where are you goin' with this?"

Riki sighed. "Genuine question. No tricks. Just... take a look." He glanced away from Casey as he slid the photo towards him. "...And please be careful with it."

Casey squinted again at the image. "What am I lookin' at here?" He frowned. Riki didn't answer. Casey could only look long and hard at the photo. A man stood next to... a strange outline of an apparition. "...This legit?" He looked up, raising a brow.

"Yeah..." Riki took another drink. "Admittedly, I didn't see it myself, but..." He let out another sigh. "My coworkers... one of them took the picture. I thought maybe they were pranking me, but neither of them are the type to pull something like that."

"That you know of."

Riki turned to stare at him.

"You put up that same front, y'know." Casey folded his arms. "And I know you can be a lil' shit sometimes." He raised his brow again. "...Why're ya letting yerself fall for somethin' like this so easy?"

"But... boss!" Riki pressed his hands against the counter.

"Did ya actually see any ghost?"

"Well...!" Riki began defiantly, but he quickly cast his gaze downward. "No... but..."

Casey frowned, his brow furrowing. "How d'ya know this thing ain't edited?" He tapped a finger on the edge of the photo.

"Because it's a polaroid!" Riki looked back, thumping a fist downward. "It prints immediately after you take the image! You can't edit those!"

"And did ya see him take this photo?"

Riki didn't answer. He hadn't. He hadn't actually seen anything... He'd only gone on his coworkers' word. He didn't even bother to bring up the scratches on Levi's arm; for all he knew, the man could've done that himself. Was... was it really all an elaborate prank? He only knew Levi and Julian as acquaintances... The more he thought about it, the more Casey's logic felt sound.

...But would they really use their deceased principal for a joke?

[Lepa]

"Boss," Riki began quietly, but there was a growing firmness in his voice. "I don't think my coworkers would be heartless enough to spread rumors about the school being haunted by its dead principal."

"...Hrm." Casey muttered. He was about to counter with "as far as you know," but he thought better of it. The tone in Riki's voice warned Casey to not make such thoughtless accusations. He supposed this revelation put it in a different light. "...Well," he began. "I suppose ya do know 'em better than I do." He conceded. "...Sorry."

"No... no, it's fine," Riki sighed again. He took another sip. "I'm... still having trouble believing it myself, so... I don't blame you for being skeptical." He cracked a weak smile. "We... We actually talked about gathering evidence of it." He frowned. "They're thinking of convincing them to shut the school down so no one else gets hurt."

"No one else?"

"Oh... yeah." Riki hadn't mentioned that. "The guy in the picture," he tapped on the photo. "He got his arm scratched up by the damn thing."

"...I see..." Casey trailed off. He held his tongue again. He remained skeptical, but... it wasn't really an issue worth fighting over. Besides, if this whole thing got Riki depressed about it, debating about whether it was real or not wouldn't help much.

[Lepa]

"Ey, yo!" Ricky called from across the warehouse. He jogged over to his friends. "Well, well, well! Someone playing hooky?" He grinned, spotting Riki.

"Take it easy, Rick," Casey warned.

"Yeah, man... not today," Riki sighed, finishing up his drink. Ricky immediately took notice of this.

"Oh. Shit dude, something happen at school?" He frowned, circling behind the bar. Ricky glanced at Casey, expecting a brief summary, but he shook his head and motioned to Riki. Casey didn't want his skepticism to result in a halfassed retelling for Ricky to make fun of.

"Don't laugh." Riki prefaced. "But... long story short, we're.... pretty sure there's a ghost haunting the damn place."

Ricky blinked. "Uhh... seriously?" He folded his arms. "Aaaand... you know this... how, exactly?" He tilted his head, though Riki passed him the photo before he could finish his question. "...Woah." He paused, then grinned. "Spooky!"

"No, seriously," Riki frowned. "It's... It's supposedly the principal who died in the Templar attack."

Ricky's excitement quickly dropped at the morbid mention. "Oh." He frowned again, then examined the picture once more. "Like... are you sure, though?"

"I already had that talk with him," Casey interrupted.

"What I am sure of is that my coworkers wouldn't lie to me about a tragedy," Riki eyed his "twin" seriously.

"Okay, okay..." Ricky lifted his hands as if he were surrendering. "I get it, I get it. No jokes," he shrugged. He then leaned forward on the counter across from Riki. "So... what time are we going?"

He looked up at him. "...What?"

"To the school!"

[Lepa]

Riki stared back incredulously. "Are... Are you seriously making this joke...?"

"No! I'm not joking! I'm being serious," Ricky frowned. "I seriously wanna see the ghost!"

"...Dude..." Riki couldn't help but facepalm. "This... this actually serious! It's not some fun tourist attraction!" He pressed his hands against the counter again. "We're talking about the supernatural here! You don't know what this thing is capable of!" His brow furrowed. "And if this ghost is really him, it's nothing like the man he was! Who knows what happened to him?! I'm not f*cking with that shit!"

"Oh, I understand that-"

Riki slammed his hands down, shooting to his feet. "Like hell you do!"

"Okay, okay! You don't have to come!" Ricky held his hands up again. "But I still wanna see what it's all about!" Before Riki could protest further, Ricky shot a look towards Casey. "C'mon, Boss! What time we leaving? "

"I ain't goin'."

"Aw, whaaaat?" Ricky sang in high pitched disbelief. "C'mon! It'll be fun!"

"It most certainly will not!" Riki growled. "I know we do some stupid shit sometimes, but at least we know what to expect when we do it!"

"I just think it's a waste'a time," Casey admitted. He didn't want to outright say he still didn't believe Riki, but if there was nothing there, then it really was a waste of time. Worst case scenario, they get caught for trespassing on school grounds for some wild rumor, and they'd all look like idiots. And if there was a ghost... Well, Casey was secretly in agreement with Riki. He didn't deny their existence, but he wasn't about to go messing with one.

"Awww, c'mon, Boss!" Ricky frowned in exaggeration. "Don't make me go by myself!"

"No one's making you, idiot!"

"I said I ain't goin'," Casey rolled his eyes, getting off of his bar stool. "Like I said, it's just a waste'a time," He waved a hand dismissively as he headed towards his trailer.

"Whassamatter, Boss?" Ricky called out to him. "Chicken?"

[Lepa]

Casey stopped walking. He slowly looked over his shoulder.

"What was that?"

He'd turned around in time to see Riki trying to strangle Ricky.

"Ricky you sonuvabitch-" He growled, clenching a fistful of Ricky's shirt collar. Challenging Casey as a coward was one of the OHaras' easiest, tried and true tactics used to rile him up, but for once, Riki found himself just as irritated by it and sought to shut up his partner in crime. He didn't actually want to hurt Ricky though, so all it resulted in was a bunch of angry shoving. Ricky on the other hand, even while unsteadily trying to keep his balance, kept his attention on Casey.

"You heard me!" Ricky smiled a smug, childish grin.

"Don't you f*cking listen to him, Boss!" Riki called out over his shoulder. "Messing with the dead and ending up dead isn't worth proving a point!"

Casey approached the pair, his demeanor now a quiet fierceness that emulated with every step. His once dismissive, laid back expression now burned with the serious determination of a man whose pride had been challenged.

"...Well?"

"Boss, don't!"

"Shut up!" He barked. "Riki's right. I know what yer tryin' to do!" Casey growled. As much as it annoyed him, he had to put his pride aside. "I ain't fallin' for it!"

"Yeah, 'cause you're scared, ain'tcha?" Ricky grinned again. Riki gave him a particularly hard shove that knocked them both to the floor. "Oof!"

"Oh my god, shut up!"

"Don't worry! I'll go by myself!" He called out from behind the counter, clearly struggling with Riki trying to cover his mouth. "And then I'm gonna come back unscathed and be like, "Hey guys! Did you know that the Boss is scared of going into buildings after dark-"

Casey took in a deep breath, trying to contain himself. "Shut up, Ricky," he said as flat and steadily as possible.

"C'mon, Boss!" Ricky called out even louder. "Do it! Do it, I dare ya!"

Another measured response. "Shut up, Ricky."

"I'm daring ya, boss! You won't! I know you won't! No balls! You ain't got the balls to-"

"SHUT UP, RICKY!" Casey kicked at the bar. He grit his teeth as he glanced down at the photo once more. His eyes narrowed. "...Fine. Fine! Oh my god, fine! I'll f*ckin' show ya, ya lil' shit!" He slammed a burning fist down on the counter. "We're leavin' at dusk!"