Private Finished The Violet Pentagon

Colten uncrossed his legs and recrossed them on the other side, his tail lightly flicking for no apparent reason. "It may be difficult to believe, but it is entirely possible someone is deceiving you and even the school authorities. Possibly someone who dislikes me or demons in general- we've had a rash of anti-demon sentiments recently. There are a wide range of deception based abilities that could have been involved. There are also many other things of which we know even less about. Other dimensions, memory alterations, cloning, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately I am not allowed on school grounds at the moment so I cannot investigate the area very closely."

At that his sighed and he looked over to his assistant. "Tea for two, if you would be so kind."

Then Colten's gaze shifted back towards the lapel pin. "Wait, you believe this 'other me' dropped that pin? How much have you handled it since then? Perhaps..." he trailed off as he ruminated about potential options that such a thing might open up for locating the real culprit.

Colten certainly didn't have the ability to track the owner of the pin, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible for someone he had working for him to do so. He shook his head slightly. "Not me specifically but I did arrange for a few... helping hands to come try to track down who has been interfering with my image and standing here. I cannot guarantee anything but a demon with tracking abilities might possibly be able to track them easier if they had a belonging of theirs. The less other people have handled it the better though, i'm afraid."

He leaned over to the side, enough so that he'd probably have risked falling if not for his tail acting as a counterbalance, and slid open a small drawer on an end table to retrieve a spare handkerchief. "Here, place the pin in this so you're not in contact with it anymore. I'm assuming me taking it to them myself would leave you suspicious that I might be trying to dispose of evidence though. Hmm." How best to handle this? The easiest way would be to just call them in to immediately examine the pin. But, well, not all demons were as polite and respectful as Colten. Doubly an issue if we are talking about a far too curious human who might try to pry too much.

Colten had set the handkerchief down on top of the table and let Alby decide what to do with the pin. Obviously trying to insist on any particular action might make it seem even more suspicious so he waited patiently and calmly. But sure enough the boy did hand it over, placing it on the displayed piece of cloth.

"I'm quite aware of your skepticism. And I can honestly see why you might upset someone like me. But I do so enjoy the 'innocent until proven guilty' sentiment here. I did not get drunk and rough you up and you are wise to realize that something far more serious is afoot," he agreed. Who knows what might happen if the person or persons causing trouble might do something extremely bad. Although impersonating Colten was extremely high up there on his own personal list of bad things. But that was his pride talking.

Before Alby could get too close to the door he was stopped by Colten's assistant who was waiting there with a tea kettle. "I suppose that tea for two will have to wait a moment, Adonia. I'm sure our guest didn't intend to wander unescorted through my home so i'm afraid you'll have to help him find his way safely out," Mr Morey called out to Adonia but also phrased it in such a way that it was clear to Alby who was in charge at the moment.

"Be careful how you investigate these things Mr. Alby. There are dangerous and powerful people here on the island."

Adonia was ready to escort Alby if he wished to leave. Colten clearly wasn't interested in doing so himself. He was staring curiously at the pin without touching it.

Colten wasn't typically a mean person. But he was insulted each time Alby mentioned how the man might have gotten wasted and took to beating up teenagers. Insulting the pride of a Pride Demon was bound to make them grumpy and he was no exception. But he just nodded and let the young guest leave in the company of his assistant.

He didn't dignify the order Alby gave him with a response.

Adonia stoically escorted the curious Alby back through the same halls they had traversed as they entered the Manor, letting him take a casual pace but she did not seem too interested in giving him opportunities to stop and gawk. As they made their way out he would have gotten a glimpse of a bronze-skinned girl with a lower half that appeared to be house centipede-like as she scurried around a corner and out of sight doing some sort of task or another.