Rapunzel <J. Valeska>

0.5

Daisy comes out of the bathroom smiling, feeling cleaner than she ever has before. The sink water was so smooth and soft against her hands, unlike the water in sinks and showers at the community centers where she used to do her business. The soap was even softer, and warmly enveloped her hands in a delicate lavender scent that still lingers about them.

Her smile flutters a moment and disappears when she sees her daddy standing shell shocked in the middle of the room. She follows his gaze and finds it's stopped on the notepad she drew on, which now rests on the floor. Confused, Daisy coughs lightly to get his attention, not sure how else to do so.

Instantly, he seems to snap out of his trance and transforms into the bouncing persona he was before. Jerome grins widely and bends down, efficiently picking up the notepad.

"Daddy's so clumsy, he knocked this off the bed when he came to bring breakfast," he chuckles leisurely, examining the picture. "This some friend of yours, sweet pea?"

Daisy nods eagerly, making sure she has his focus before she signs P-E-P-P-E-R.

"Oh, so this is the Pepper that slut—I mean, lady—last night was going on about? Are you two very close? How long have you known her?" Jerome questions, trying to figure out just how much damage has been done.

The smaller girl nods once more, holding up three fingers.

"Oh, so you've known her three weeks?" He asks. Daisy shakes her head, stretching out her hands to indicate longer.

"Three months?" Another head shake. "Three years?"

Finally, Jerome receives another nod, the girl giggling lightly at his flabbergasted tone and look. Sadly, due to her lack of functioning vocal chords they just come out as little puffs of air.

Jerome is taken aback, not only by the connection Daisy must have had with Pepper (that he so ruthlessly shattered the night previous) and that his new toy isn't capable of actual laughter. Both ideas are upsetting to him in their own right, but the former is certainly more concerning at the moment.

Naturally, the next thing Daisy is going to ask of him is to help her find the girl, whose body is resting who knows where. He isn't sure how he's going to go about handling that situation at all, but he definitely needs to ask Galavan where the girl's body is so he can check to be sure he actually killed his dolly's best buddy.

"So, I assume you want me to help you locate her, since she was absent last night?" Jerome guesses, smirking in a faint attempt to mask any tells he may be showing on his face. He still isn't quite as good at the lying game as he'd like, after all.

Daisy nods and practically skips over to him, holding up clasped hands to convey her desire for his help.

Man, wouldn't she look gorgeous begging on her knees for my—

Focus, Jerome! Sex fantasies after we make sure she's not gonna run off.

"Do you know Pepper's address? I don't want you going back out to look for her—not with that Sal creep the fake ginger was talking about. And I wouldn't know where to look. But I can help you write a letter to her and then we can send it to let her know you're safe!" Jerome suggests brightly.

She gives him a thumbs up, seeing as Pepper had spent many a time drilling their address into her head in case she ever got lost or something.

Jerome grins in response and carefully tears off the top page of the notepad, opening the drawer of the side table and sliding the picture inside for safe keeping. He then plops down on the bed with a sigh, visibly bouncing before he settles on the mattress. He swings his legs over the edge so he's sitting on the edge of the bed and pats his lap emphatically.