Event Finished A little like our fathers

Alma was easy to find, which was a relief. Jude had enough going on, and with it being the literal last day of elections... Even without sleeping, he was short on time. He had to finish his campaign, had to meet up with Elisa, had to... well, he still had all his normal stuff. Homework didn't pause just because you were running for student council.

He waited until there wasn't anyone directly around her, sliding in beside her at the table. He paused, nearly forgetting, and then gave her a small smile, leaning over to give her a quick peck on the cheek.

Boyfriend, right. Not just someone coming to Alma for advice.

"I actually wanted to ask some... sort-of-election advice," he said. Jude wasn't whispering. His voice was soft, but he wasn't whispering, because people paid attention to whispering. There were enough people moving around that no one would bat an eye at them talking.

"Did your election have... shady stuff going on?"

With a severed head? Poisoning students? The look of horror was definitely on his face, and he had to work to get himself back under control so everyone didn't start staring. It was harder than it seemed, considering the literal bomb that had just been dropped on him, and saying that...

Well, maybe the secret wasn't so innocent.

"I know one of the others running for elections is hiding something big," Jude admitted. "I don't know what it is just yet, but... I want to find out. I wasn't even planning on really winning, but looking at all this..."

Jude wasn't quite looking at Alma, staring instead at no one in particular, straight ahead to avoid drawing too much attention.

"I'm not sure I want her in the president's seat."

Jesus? But she di- Oh. Oh, he was -

Oh. Somehow, he should have seen that coming.

Jude let himself be towed off without a word of protest, even if he was kind of surprised by the intensity she was showing. Maybe he shouldn't have been. Alma was pretty intense, and in a lot of ways it was just part of her charm. He didn't even know she'd been involved in elections back then, but he supposed 'I was around when some crazy guy poisoned people' wasn't exactly first date talk.

"I don't think it's that bad," Jude said, before quickly adding a "probably."

Then he took a moment, collected his thoughts, and started to talk.

"I'd met Elisa a few times at the community center. I didn't really think much of it. She has, however, the exact same powers as Eli, if you've met him. Like, identical. Which isn't that weird, but whatever. Well, during her speech she mentioned being new, and I figured it'd be nice to get to know her, so I talked with her, only... when she talked to me, she said she wasn't new. She said she'd been here a while, but had recently changed up her style to attract more attention. The entire conversation was... really weird. So I... I did what my dad would do. Right as we were parting ways, I said it was good speaking with her, but that I hoped no one else would find her secret out."

"I don't know," Jude admitted. "That kind of crossed my mind. Only if that was it, why not just... do that? Why do this whole elaborate lying thing? That was kind of my worry. Because I know it's normal and exploration and all that, but..."

He trailed off, staring into space for a moment before his eyes snapped back to Alma.

"But I don't know why. And she wants to talk with me, apparently. Probably to suss out what I know. If it was just that, why... why lie? Why pretend to be someone entirely knew? Just say 'none of you know me very much' and leave it unclear. Lie by omission to protect yourself. But instead she's actively lying, and it feels... dishonest? Like, lying about being new as a talking point in her speech, when really... if that's Eli, he's been around for a year. She's been around for a year."

He? She? Jude couldn't decide.

Going for the throat was kind of funny imagery, considering what Alma was. Even so, the situation was pretty serious, so Jude did his best to step down on the urge to say did you intend that pun?

"I'm going to talk with her tonight," Jude said. "And I'm going to just... play my cards close to my chest. Don't let on that I don't actually know. And if I get a chance? I'll ask her why. Because for anything short of actual murder, it's a valid enough question."

And he sure as hell hoped it wasn't an actual murder.

Despite the relative seriousness, Jude couldn't help but give Alma a small smile.

"It'll be good to be on council with you, you know."