Chapter 13: A Lingering Feeling
The entire world was a happy blur. The remainder of Rainbow’s weekend was spent doing… nothing. After waking up mid-day following the party, she simply had no energy left for anything, and much to her relief, also had no obligations. Everything that had happened, good and bad, all that weight and stress, had finally ended. Sure, not every loose end was tied, but as she puttered around the penthouse, she couldn’t quite focus on any of that. There was just one, amazing fact left in her mind.
She took the day to finally properly calm down. Sure, there was plenty to trouble herself over still, between the tabloids, that damn pigeon, and planning for her shoot with Rarity, but today was a Sunday, and she didn’t feel like doing anything useful. Instead, she decided to just head to Ponyville and goof around all day, save for the minor effort she would have to put into weather work. It wasn’t so much a case of denying her situation as it was needing a chance to unwind after such the last few days had been such a mess.
Rainbow did everything in her power to have a normal, meaningless day. Any time worries tried to fill her mind, she let the most important fact of the last few days rush back to her. There might be plenty to be concerned with coming up, but that was all outweighed by the next big thing she had to look forward to.
She had a date this week.
Photo Finish woke easily at sunrise, having actually gotten to bed at a decent hour the night before. Feeling far more refreshed than she was used to, she sat up and looked around her cloudy bedroom, scratching her chin as she tried to think about what to do with the day. At the very least, she wanted to check on the progress of getting the magazine printed.
With a single strong flap of her wings, Photo lifted out of bed and glided into her kitchen, putting the coffee on instinctively as she contemplated. Checking on printing meant flying back to Canterlot today. Also, probably worth checking on the mail delivery while she was there. Sitting down with far more control than she could usually manage in the morning, Photo stared out the window and thought about her plans for the week. She’d left her scheduler in the penthouse, so that’s another thing to do.
The sound of birds chirping out her window caught her attention, but just as she was about to shrug it off, thoughts of that pigeon pushed their way into her mind. If it roosted in Fluttershy’s cottage, then… What, Fluttershy was spying on her? She couldn’t match that idea to the mare who just a few days prior had been so startled to see Photo that she bolted. Photo just hoped that she’d be able to figure that out on her own terms, and not be cornered by the revelation somehow.
An English muffin and a few cups of coffee later, Rainbow shook out her mane and stretched for a quick morning flight. Not the busiest day ahead of her, but she was probably going to spend a lot of time sitting at desks, and giving her wings a nice stretch before that seemed like a good plan. Rainbow dropped through her kitchen floor, casting little puffs of cloud in all directions, and let herself freefall for a moment just to get that spike of adrenaline. Just shy of the ground, she finally spread her wings and pulled up, watching the world whiz by as she made her way around Ponyville.
Dozens of little ponies going about their morning business passed by below her as she flew and thought. Just a normal day like any other, Ponyville moving right along despite the chaos that had been her life for the past few days. Hopefully, the week to come would be a little less hectic.
Below, bouncing toward town square, Dash spotted a familiar pink form. With a smile, she killed her speed and came in for a landing, “Heya, Pink. What’s up?”
“You were,” Pinkie Pie joked back, “now, I’d say….”
Dash cut Pinkie off before she took too much time to stare at the sky, “Up to anything today?”
A noncommittal shrug was Pinkie’s primary response, “Taking care of Pumpkin and Pound Cake this afternoon. Nothing much until then, though. What’s up?”
“The sky,” Rainbow smirked.
Pinkie Pie froze in place, a look of disgust on her face. She just… walked into her own joke. Even as Pinkie slowly hung her head, Rainbow was quietly snickering to herself. It wasn’t often Pinkie slipped up like that, and damned if Dash didn’t plan to savor it.
Shaking her head and making a floof of her mane, Pinkie recovered, “Hey, how’d your midnight rendezvous go?”
“No,” Dash pointed at Pinkie, her humor gone in a flash, “Stop it.”
Pinkie’s grin recovered, “The more you don’t tell me, the more I’ll assume.”
Dash rolled her eyes and tried to come up with a quick response to blow Pinkie off with, but… What could she say? As much as she wanted to just share her excitement with Pinkie, she knew she couldn't just let loose like that. She knew full well that anything she might say would get back to Rarity in the end. She’d have to both avoid slipping up and satisfy Pinkie with her response. Turning to look into the amused blue eyes staring at her, Rainbow didn’t really have an answer.
“It’s…” Rainbow struggled, “complicated?”
Almost instantly she could tell that was the wrong answer to give, as Pinkie’s eyes went wide with intrigue, “Well then, that’s interesting. Good luck with it, I suppose.”
Rainbow wilted, “That only got you more nosey, didn’t it?”
“Pretty much,” Pinkie admitted with a grin.
Sighing, Rainbow grumbled, “I have some things to do today, I should get going.”
“Tell her I said ‘hi,’” Pinkie smiled as she turned to trot off.
“Will do,” Dash replied dejectedly.
After a few more laps around Ponyville and some time to think, Rainbow came to realize that she really, really needed to talk to somepony about everything that had happened. After nearly spilling the beans to Pinkie, she knew she couldn't just hold it in anymore, and she knew just the mare who would love to hear it all. With a slight shift of her wings, she changed course toward the library.
Immediately on landing and opening the front door, Rainbow was greeted by a yawn and a lazy wave from her lavender friend, “Good morning, Dash.”
“Heh, morning Twi,” she chuckled back, “Just waking up?”
“Hey, it’s not my fault my sleep schedule got messed up,” Twilight joked, trotting happily over to Rainbow.
Dash chuckled, “You could have gone to sleep at a decent hour and worked in the morning.”
Twilight blinked at Dash like the idea had never occurred to her, nodding sagely in her sleepy state and joking back, “You know, I’m not sure I ever tried that. Maybe next time. Anyway, how’d the party go? I was hoping to ask you yesterday, but I guess you were busy?”
“Well,” Rainbow grinned, slowly filling with a certain pride, “I suppose you could say things went good.”
“Went well,” Twilight corrected on reflex. After a brief pause, she started to catch onto the hint in Rainbow’s tone and sat down, resting her chin on her hoof gossipishly, “So what happened?”
With no onset but a quick glance to make sure they were alone, Rainbow set into telling Twilight everything that happened, her mind racing with the events once again. From the moment she walked into the party to the moment that she stepped out the door, Rainbow’s train of thought bounced around in no particular order, hitting all of the high points and glazing over all of the missteps and kept secrets. Despite everything, she could only look back on the party with joy and bubbly excitement.
As the story trailed off, Twilight sat back to try and process what she had just heard, her mind reeling from the information overload, yet able to smile and reply to the one, huge fact, “Rainbow, I’m so happy for you! To think that she was the one to ask you out, that’s… well, shocking, to be honest.”
“Ha, please,” Rainbow smugged back, “Of course she did. Who wouldn’t? I’m awesome.”
Twilight snorted out a laugh before settling into a happy smile and leaning over to offer a friendly hug to the mare beside her, “Well, good luck with the next step. What day’s the date?”
After a little squirming in complaint, Dash grudgingly accepted the hug, “Yeah, thanks, I- well, I shouldn’t need luck, but… let’s not jinx myself. But yeah, it’s this th- fri- wait…”
Rainbow went blank, staring into space. She couldn’t have. Yet, as she thought about it… She was in such a blur of excitement that they hadn’t actually chosen a night for the date. She sighed in self disappointment and flopped her chin onto Twilight’s shoulder.
Piecing things together, Twilight reassuringly offered, “Well, it’s a great excuse to see her again without looking needy.”
Sitting back upright with a grin, Rainbow pointed at her friend, “You know, this is why I keep you. You’re smart.”
“Obviously the only reason,” Twilight teased back.
After a drawn out pause to pretend to think, Rainbow corrected, “You also have good tea.”
Twilight shoved Dash away playfully before standing, “Well hey, you feel like sticking around? I was about to make t-”
Rainbow’s massive grin of triumph was enough to cut Twilight off and make her realize exactly what she’d just said. Twilight let out a long, breathy sigh as she stood, not wanting to acknowledge the situation. She just silently stepped off to put a kettle on before wandering back into the room.
“Hey, I did want to ask you about the locket a bit,” Rainbow remarked on her return, half out of vested interest and half to offer a change of subject.
Interest piqued, Twilight tilted her head, “Sure, what do you need to know?”
“So like,” Rainbow asked, “Why does it give me your cutie mark?”
Twilight pulled back in a moment of confusion before slapping her head to her hoof, “I… put it in as a placeholder. I was going to ask you what you wanted, but… Wow. I could fix it if you want.”
“Too late now,” Dash replied, “Rarity saw it.”
“That’s…” Twilight clicked her tongue, “less than optimal. Was it a problem?”
Rainbow shook her head, “Nah, not as much as my other question.”
Immediately concerned, Twilight asked, “Well, out with it then.”
Trying to form a cohesive sentence, Rainbow replied, “So like… how hot is bad? I mean, something happened and it got kinda…”
Twilight followed Rainbow’s gesture as she pointed to the slightly curled hairs of her coat, “Oh geez, the amulet did this? What did you do to it?”
Rainbow chuckled awkwardly and tried to deflect from telling the full story, “Well… it was an accident with somepony using magic.”
“To burn hair, it must have gotten up to… two hundred thirty degrees,” Twilight noted, her mind falling into trivia and math, “For it to have gotten that hot… oh wow, you’re lucky it didn’t fail on you. That’s well past what I’d have trusted it to absorb.”
Letting out a nervous chuckle at her luck, Rainbow mumbled, “Well… I suppose it was worth it, then.”
“Worth what?” Twilight asked innocently.
Dash blanched, maintaining a poor attempt at a straight face, “Nothing.”
“Rainbow,” Twilight’s eyes narrowed, “what happened?”
“Nothing too important,” Dash lied back.
“Rainbow.”
Dash tried to shrug it off, “It all worked out in the end.”
“What did you do, Rainbow?” Twilight’s tone came out in motherly disapproval.
“It’s fine,” she retorted.
Twilight just held her stare, years of scolding Spike in full evidence, “Rai- Photo. What did you do?”
Rainbow let out a deep sigh that noticeably shifted accent as it went on, culminating in Photo mumbling out, “Rarity grabbed ze amulet and I slapped her.”
Twilight blinked in surprise, but her cold condemnation didn’t waver, “Really, though? Like, do you seriously have something against her? First the whole Fluttershy fiasco and now th-”
“It’s not like I did it on purpose,” Photo blurted out, “I panicked.”
“You need to make it up to her,” Twilight plainly stated.
Photo exhaled deeply, “Ja, I know.”
The whistle of a tea kettle echoed from the kitchen, and Twilight offered one more point before stepping off, “I didn’t mean to get like that, but… come on. You can’t just… do things like that.”
“It… was ze only option,” Photo attempted as excuse, “I’m not happy with it, but…”
Twilight just shook her head and left to get the tea ready, leaving Photo to her thoughts. Making it up to Rarity would be awkward, but at least she’d have some opportunities coming up. She just hoped that the photo shoot would be able to go well enough despite the… circumstances. Twilight quickly wandered back in with the steeping teapot and sat down beside her, clearly reading the contemplative mood and just letting her be.
Eventually, as the tea flowed and time passed, the conversation shifted back to something more normal. As amazing and shocking as everything had been that night… well life had to move on as usual now. Work, chores, commute, it was still a daily life, just with the shining promise of yet another wonderful night to come.
As the tea ran out, Rainbow grumbled, “I still feel like such an idiot for not setting a date for the… well, the date.”
Twilight chuckled at that, “Well hey, between that and work I’m sure you have plenty on your plate, but you’re welcome to stick around for a bit if you like. I was about to reorganize the non-fiction stacks and I could us-”
“Work!” Rainbow abruptly blurted, springing to her hooves in a panic, “I need to check on… things! Meetings! Gotta dash!”
Before Twilight had a chance to reply, Rainbow was already out the door, leaving behind little but a contrail and a few blue feathers. As boring as the day’s work was about to be, it sure as hell would be better than that.
By the time Photo got back to her penthouse and clicked her door lock shut, the sun was already dipping low in the sky. The act of simply going to check on the progress of readying the magazine for print had become an hours long affair, with editors and journalists all seeking her advice and suggestions on little details of their work. As tiring and time consuming as it was, Photo took some level of comfort in being involved in the minutia of the magazine’s development. It was her name on the line, after all.
Dropping down on the couch and sliding off her goggles, Photo stared at the far wall. Something about collapsing in the air conditioning after a long, warm walk always felt fantastic, but she was still on edge. For easily the dozenth time that day, she nervously held her locket with the soft sole of her hoof, wanting to be certain it was still working okay. She honestly couldn’t tell if it was actually warmer than usual, if she was just imagining it, or if her hoof was just cold, so she let out a sigh and slumped farther against the couch.
Sparing a glance at the pile of mail she’d grabbed from downstairs, she reached out to flip through them quickly. Adverts, bills, and one personal letter written in a familiar, flowing script. Photo glanced around the room for something to open Rarity’s letter with, eventually locating a letter opener and slipping it between the layers of the envelope. It was at that moment that she froze, a wave of tension going through her before she managed to remind herself that Rarity had already clearly forgiven her for the events of two nights prior. Still, she hesitated.
The sound of the paper being sliced open was reminiscent of pulling a bandage all at once, and Photo slid out the page within. Sure enough, it was nothing to be afraid of, just a confirmation of dates she would be free to meet and plan. Nodding to herself, Photo stood to go find her scheduler and see what worked for her. With the last minute crunch to get the month’s magazine out, her upcoming schedule was pretty limited, but seemed almost entirely free right after. By the looks of it, the only day good for the both of them was the day the magazine finally released. With a disappointed grumble at not having a day to relax, she set quickly into drafting up a reply.
Quill out, paper on desk, Photo just stared blankly. It should be a simple letter. Just tell her when you’ll be free. No need to bring up anything unnecessary. Just short, to the point, and matter of fact. Photo looked over the letter from Rarity once more. With all of the flowery prose stripped away, it was a simple statement of schedule and a desire to work together. She just had to do the same. Just write a normal letter.
Photo shook her head, trying to clear the guilt lingering in the back of her mind and just be her normal self. She buzzed her lips in frustration, realizing quite how much Twilight’s reprimands had shaken her. Setting aside her stray thoughts, she just wrote the barest response and sealed it up.
She really needed to settle down, to let the stress melt off of her. Something about spending an entire day of doing nothing productive had left her more stressed than she’d started. She needed to do something, anything, to start working towards her goals and start feeling like anything was being achieved. She had ponies counting on her the world over to stay functional and not let herself fall into a cycle of distraction and guilt. Photo decided she needed some outdoor air, stepping out onto her patio and gently shutting the door behind her to keep the cool inside. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the setting sun, counting another day near done. At least she’d managed to get her work duties done, even if she’d seen no progress in the rest of her life. With a chuckle, she sat down on one of the patio cushions and stared skyward, watching the clouds and birds drift by. She just needed to get over the shock of a sudden relationship and get back in her groove.
All she had to do was figure out how to balance two social lives and two jobs. How hard could it be?
Photo groggily opened her eyes, apparently having fallen asleep on her patio. She knew something had woke her up, but couldn’t honestly remember what it was. Standing awkwardly from her nest on the patio cushion, she looked around blearily. It must have been rather late, given that the only light was a nearly full moon overhead and the dull glow of light pollution from the city below. She grumbled and dusted off her dress, trying to flatten the creases that had formed from laying so awkwardly for so long.
Something felt off. Photo slowly looked around the garden, the moon lighting the area in a platinum glow. A gentle breeze shook the plants around her, but nothing else moved. Far below, the sounds of late night revelers wandering between the businesses and pubs of Canterlot made up the remainder of the sound in the air. Yet despite everything obvious to her senses being normal, something still felt off.
Something woke her up. A sound? She looked back into her apartment suddenly. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing to be seen, no lights on, no activity. Stretching, she stepped through the open door and into the cool of her home, closing it reflexively behind her. Still a little nervous, though she couldn’t tell why, Photo found herself checking her rooms for anything strange. Once again, that paranoia of hers was screaming that something had gone horribly wrong, but she couldn’t tell what, and she couldn’t hear anything over the air conditioning whirring away.
She looked up at one of the vents, a little confused that it was making so much noise. Usually, it had no problem keeping the penthouse at temperature, since she was so good about keeping the doors cl-
Photo froze in place. Slowly, she turned to face the patio door, the door she had just came through, the door that she had now closed twice despite only opening once. The adrenaline hit her harder than she had felt in a long time. In a blur, she was gone, out the unlocked front door and barreling down the stairs away from her apartment.
Security was called, the rooms and closets searched, and the space was checked to see if anything was missing. Despite the two guards beside her, Photo was shaken. She didn’t feel safe in her own home anymore. They didn’t find anypony still there, but what they found missing left Photo shaken.
Somepony had taken her old disguise.
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,068 users online
1,954,188 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh mah frick frack snick snack!
Oh no, now either Colgate, Fleetfoot, or Trixie can impersonate her!
Or, more rationally, if they go to the press she can just claim that the informer made the wig/tail themselves modeled after her "real" hair.
Besides, how can you claim she wears a wig when you can pull on her current hair and it doesn't come off?
Oh my sassafraz! (Sorry for the vulgarity)
She could just claim it was a halloween thing that didn't take off, yea?
Uh oh.
My money's on Pinkie.
~Skeeter The Lurker
"a normal, meaningless say"
"day"?
"as Pinkie slowly hang her head"
"hung"?
7644933 The problem is that the press is not at all a rational thing, and for some reason when it comes to celebrities people seem to loose all sense of rationality.
Syay just hit the fan.
This part pritty much proves my theary that Rainbow Dash has Multipule Personality Disorder in this fic. Especially with the accent shift when Photo's personality takes control.
7645077 I'd actually be more worried about attempted Identity Theft if I were in her place.
A white wig and strap-on tail by themselves are hardly compelling evidence to her hidden identity, especially now that she has the Locket (though I would look into some way to either add a "notice me not" effect to it, or some way to make it more difficult to remove from her person forcefully). The wig and tail were quietly stolen by a thief in the night, rather than someone exposing her publicly by forcefully removing them, and if whoever stole them tries to discredit her by bringing them out now all she needs to do is simply deny she knows anything about them and carry on as if it isn't worth her time (while secretly plotting to completely Ruin the tabloids and paparazzi who have made it their life's mission to make hers hell). Furthermore, in such a case, they would be more stupid than they're coming off as at present if they press the issue that the wig and tail were found in and taken from her penthouse, as they would be admitting to not only breaking and entering but also theft, and then they would have to answer to the long arm of Equestrian Law, which Photo may consider as a fair trade for admitting she owned the wig if it gets them off her back. Then all she would need to do is make up some excuse that the fakes are backups in case of accidents should something happen to her "real" hair, or that something happened to her hair in the past, and she used the fakes to keep up appearances and held on to them after it grew back... Come to think of it she might be able to use that excuse in the first place if she spins it right...
Hmmmmmmmmm......
Her dual identities are currently both semi-protected by a blanket of Refuge in Audacity, as nopony sane (outside of those who know either of her identities personally enough to start recognizing the tells, such as Rarity) would connect either identity to the other simply by her mannerisms and publicly professed interests under either identity. Photo Finish (
) is a Fashion Authority Guru with a reputation across Equestria, while Rainbow Dash (
) is publicly acknowledged in a much smaller (though growing) circle as the Fastest Pegasus Alive and one of the most skilled fliers in Equestria, and to most, the assumption of the necessary time and energy required to achieve either of these feats would be mutually exclusive. Her Notoriety as either identity currently protects her from suspicion from the general public, as anypony who would declaim her as a fraud will be brushed off as a conspiracy theorist. If the tabloids attempt to publish articles to this affect, they would be opening themselves to being publicly Roasted under Libel suits from Photo, as they lack Hard Evidence and coming out as being a Pegasus would be a small sacrifice under such circumstances if it distracts ponies from her dual identities. And lets face it, her reputations as either are much more highly regarded than theirs, so she would have the support of the public behind her too. 
Somepony trying to impersonate her, however, opens up a whole other can or worms, as they could potentially do a Lot of damage to her reputation and/or business before the imposter is exposed. She'll just have to be careful to check her alibis and make sure she knows how to prove her identity to those who she needs to... even should her disguise fail...
Yeah, seriously, the less people that blame Rainbow for slapping Rarity, the better. It was Rarity's fault, and I haven't heard anyone besides her say so.
Also, ain't this a fine pickle. Someone's hyper stalking Photo.
7645347 I was starting to think that, but I was more thinking that she was somehow developing one. Something to do with the two lives starting to share the same social circles.
I'm not so sure she has multiple personalities myself actually.
I read an interesting article not too long ago about how multilingual individuals actually develop different behavior patterns for each language they can speak. When they switch to a different language the way they act can actually change depending on the expected culture and nuances related to each language.
While switching between her normal voice and Photo's strong accent is a bit removed from actually being multilingual. Rainbow has exhibited differences in her behavior depending on what ponies from her two social circles expect from which pony they know her as. With Rainbow being the actual individual while Photo has been more of a persona she slipped into for her alternate lifestyle.
The problem now is that her different social circles are starting to merge so she's having a harder time applying the correct behavior to the right situations. Hence how Twilight so easily tricked her into switching to Photo. It's likely that when her double life inevitably collapses on her and damage control is done she'll probably acknowledge Photo as a sort of public fashion persona.
Of course I am looking forward to that moment. Mostly to see all the different reactions among her two social circles (I can imagine Hoit's brain melting at the revelation). Plus I can imagine Rainbow herself settling into what was once Photo's domain since she would no longer have to worry about living a double life anymore.
7645347
No, she changed the context and forced Rainbow to change her behaviour to suit it. This is something everyone does naturally- you don't speak exactly the same way to your boss as you do your friends, or the same way you do to your parents as you do your boss, the context informs how you speak. In this case, Twilight used Rainbow's established characterisation of Photo as to the point to get Rainbow to admit by tricking her into switching the context in which she was speaking, and the accent naturally came with it because, well, if someone is speaking to photo then she needs to respond AS PHOTO. Besides which, there's no split in how Rainbow thinks about photo- if it was(or was developing into) a split personality I would expect Rainbow to say things like "photo did this" instead of "i did this".
I'd be curious just how deep this goes though- if someone made a comment directed "to" photo with no intention of receiving a response, would Rainbow slip up and respond as photo?
I've been waiting for this chapter forever! It's so good! I need the next one... QUICK!!!!
7645347 I'm not sure its multiple personality disorder, maybe its just that rainbow has lead a double life for so long that, she has literally become two people, she has sanctioned off a small part of her mind and labeled it 'Photo Finish' to put all her photo related stuff as well as her persona, and when addressed as Photo, she responds as Photo, when you play a role for so long that roll becomes part of who you are.
Its hard to pretend to be someone else, but its easier to be someone else.
7644994
I saw that too many times.
And that was the last straw that broke camel's back.
I have to ask.
Why, just WHY u put your nick in the end of any comment?
It's already there. Just above your comment.
Just WHY? for what purpose?
7646135
My profile page holds all the answers to that question.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Oh my God, did Fluttershy just break into Photo's condo? We already know she has slight stalkerish behavior with the pigeon but now she actually broke into where she lives. Then again, this could be a bit to bold for her, maybe if she broke in while Photo was out of the house instead of breaking in as she was asleep on the patio.
I really like how you make it as if they were almost two different ponies sharing the same body.
Great chapter, keep up the good work.
Well...this finally updated after me saying that it was dead at least 3 different times. I'm so happy!
I blame it on the pigion
Things are heating up.
Now if only the ADS COULD STOP SHOWING ME A 400LB WOMAN WHO 'MIRACULOUSLY' LIDT ALL THST WEIGHT IN A VIRAL VIDEO!
7648244
Lucky you. I just keep getting: HOT RUSSIAN WOMAN! YOU SINGLE LOSER, GET SOME HOT RUSSIAN WOMAN RIGHT HERE!
7648869
Now that woman is a hot single in my area.
With that weight, km not surprised. BIT WHY IS SHE STALKING ME!?
I love this story for the complexity you can achieve with two simultaneous character arcs. The small details are coming back around, and...I'm following this story for sure!
Seems Photo/Dash got a stalker on her case now
This is good stuff. I was a bit anxious it was going to descend into cliche when it got to the party, but I'm glad to see Photo/Dash didn't try to be an idiot about it. This is a pretty smart story, and that's something I can appreciate.
Woah! Good job with this chapter.
didn't notice this the first time I read this chapter, but when Photo flees her apartment at the end, it specifically states that her front door was unlocked when she dashed out, while in the previous scene it mentions that she locked it behind her...
Either the thief unlocked it to create misdirection after entering and leaving via the balcony... or that was their point of entry/egress, which means they would either have had to have come through the skylight over the stairwell (in which case, going through the balcony would have been easier, and we know they were there anyway), or they came through the door, and the building's security would have either have Had to have seen them and are lying to the Guards in the next chapter and are collaborating with the thief, or they were in dereliction of duty to their employer(s?) mandate and the thief sneaked while they weren't paying attention...
Either way, there will likely be an opening for a new security guard in that building pretty soon...
Ohohoho. The plot thickens.