Some Bad News

He had been told about this, too. That once things were done--once things were said and done, the message passed on, that there would be an after. There would be tears in the after, or near-tears, and even if Hwum wasn't the victim in the case, her feelings still mattered.

"Is there anyone you'd like me to call for you? Getting this kind of news is upsetting." Not can be, because it was. Anyone would be upset. "And it might be better if you had someone here with you." Family. Friends. Someone. He was just praying that she wasn't going to say the person I was closest too was Broen.

Angelo frowned, looking over her. He didn't like the idea of her being alone, but he wasn't willing to push in case the answer was really there's no one. That was the worst case scenario. Someone who'd lost someone, who had no one to lean to. Suicide--and that was the most obvious answer, even if it wasn't confirmed--had a tendency to inspire copy cats.

That was the last thing he wanted.

"No, it isn't necessary. I am... I am very strong." Which was the understatement of the fucking century. "I can carry whatever needs to be carried. If you'd like to help pack things, you can. Were you in his room often...?" That would certainly change things.

He hadn't been, but he made a note anyway. Mostly, he was wondering if her helping back stuff up would be relevant, or if it'd just feel like she was violating his privacy. That said, it was fairly obvious what the answer was after she said so, and he nodded to her out of sheer instinct.

"Alright," he said after a moment. "I'm going to go pack his things then. I'll leave it empty enough that the school can handle the rest. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask, alright?" He'd wait for confirmation before heading into Broen's room, letting himself in to get to work.

Angelo wouldn't have blamed her for crying. That was normal. He didn't even register it half the time. Didn't think of it the same way other people did. Didn't go oh, you shouldn't cry.

Crying was normal.

He had known Broen, even if he hadn't considered him a friend, and he was careful as he went through the room, methodically picking through the whole space. Clothes went in one bag, odds and ends in another bag. His laptop...? Angelo shoved that in a third bag to hand back to the school. His phone had been with the body and was still sitting in evidence. There wasn't that much actual stuff, and he was under the general impression that the whole thing was going to be a three-grocery-bag-job until he opened the closet and actually let out a yelp.

There was--for a brief moment--a person sitting in the bottom of the closet, their legs folded up to the chest.

And then the reality sunk in, and Angelo realized it wasn't a person. It was a suit of gaudy red power armor, a crown perched atop its head, empty of any occupant.

Why the hell was that in the bottom of his closet?

He took a second to compose himself when Hwum burst in, and he winced. Had she heard that? She'd defnitely heard that. She probably couldn't even - actually, if she could see in low light, the closet with its suit of armor might actually be partially visible, as bathed in shadows as it was.

"It's fine. Just - opened the closet and thought he'd hid a goddamn body in there." He supposed it was technically possible there was a body in the suit, but as far as he knew Crawford was still in jail...

Just to be sure he reached forward, pulling the helmet off to make sure there wasn't anything hidden inside.

"It'll be a bit clunky, but I think I can manage everything I found in one go. And - again, if you need anything, just hit me up, alright?"