We all have our FOILbles. -- For prodigalmess

[bossyboiler]

Are you still interested in fencing?

The message was straightforward and direct as was the one that followed it.

I'm catering a special exhibition match this Sunday. I have two spare passes. It'll be fun. If you want them.

The details were then sent. The main event was a tournament put on by the United States Fencing Association. The exhibition matches on Sunday were fencers from France who were not fighting with foils. Sabers were involved but not the kind that most people expected.

Kate had been hired to provide cupcakes for the fencers and judges. She had done her research on the subject. Kate wanted to impress them with their order and the four cupcake flavors that she had brought with them were unique to this event. The Gray Jedi cupcake was an earl gray cake with a honey glaze and lemon buttercream. The Dark Side was a chocolate cake with dark chocolate buttercream that had a dash of cayenne and spice. The Light Side was a vanilla cupcake with a vanilla custard filling that was topped with a caramel buttercream. The Sith was a standard strawberry cupcake with strawberry swiss buttercream but there was a piece of candy glass in the shape of a red lightsaber.

After delivering the cupcakes and setting up the displays, Kate ventured out to watch the exhibitions. She stood out slightly in that, despite the fact that she was catering the event, she was wearing tailored slacks and a button up blouse with small cupcakes printed on it. Most of the people attending were in athleisure or jeans. Her brunette hair was pulled up in a high pony-tail and tied with a ribbon.

There was no way she was going to miss out on watching the matches.

Comments

[bossyboiler]

Her nose crinkles as she ponders his case. "But how? Wouldn't he start to smell?" Kate is now imagining all the gross things that come along with keeping a dead body. There is not a singular pleasant thought amongst them.

"Please tell me that you haven't had any run-ins with a cannibal?"

[prodigalmess]

"You'd be surprised how well bodies can be preserved these days," he tells her. "There was a case in Russia where a man kept the mummified remains of 26 girls and young women in his house." Malcolm shrugs. "But they would eventually start to decay, yes."

"I have," he says solemnly, "though that was an FBI case, not NYPD."

[bossyboiler]

It boggles her mind. Her nose crinkles again as she listens on in grim fascination.

"Malcolm, you're a psychologist. Where does this kind of behavior come from in humans? The mummification? The murder? Do you think the first humans had a concept of psychopathy?"

[prodigalmess]

He loves talking about things like this, and loves that Kate is asking him about them. Most people would just think that he's morbid and change the subject.

"It stems from wanting to keep something, to hold on to it. Maybe they experienced some kind of loss that affected them deeply," Malcolm says. "Sometimes it also has to do with protection, but mostly it's possession. Dahmer tried to do the same thing with his victims when he tried to turn them into zombies."

[bossyboiler]

"Yes but I mean in early humans. We don't see most animals hunt for sport or keep trinkets." Except for dolphins but the psychopathy of dolphins is a subject for another conversation. "Do you think it's a result of our higher brain functions? I don't think humanity is inherently selfish or cruel but somewhere, something must have gotten scrambled."

[prodigalmess]

"You're asking anthropological questions," he says, "which isn't my area of expertise, but I can still take a stab at it, knowing what I know now. It's possible that early humans assigned meaning to these objects. Serial killers do that. They keep trophies because when they see them or touch them, they can relive the experiences of killing those victims and how it felt for them to do so."

[bossyboiler]

"I suppose that I am." She's not sure. She's never had a conversation about murder and serial killers before. It's fascinating if a bit grim. "So, like how ancient people buried items with their dead?" Or maybe it's nothing like that at all. People are weird. Just when you think you've figured someone out, they up and change on you or abandon you completely but that is a story for another time. "I can't imagine killing someone and wanting to keep a memento."

[prodigalmess]

He hums in his throat. "I'm not really a historian or anthropologist, but I think people were often buried with items because those still living thought they might need them in the afterlife. The pharaoh's tombs of Ancient Egypt come to mind, or burying people with coins to pay the ferryman to cross the river Styx."

Malcolm smiles. "The reason you can't imagine wanting to keep a memento from killing someone is because you're not a psychopath." Aren't you glad, Kate?

[bossyboiler]

"How do you know I'm not a psychopath? I willingly went into the service industry." A pause before she adds, "No. You're right. I'm not any kind of path. I might be a masochist though."

[prodigalmess]

Malcolm smiles. "You don't exhibit any of the traits of a psychopath," he replies. "Though I agree that anyone working in the service industry might secretly be a masochist though."

He definitely could not work in any kind of restaurant. Working with people in that manner would probably push him over the edge.

[bossyboiler]

"I probably am. I'm surprised I haven't reacted violently to some of my customers. Don't get me wrong, the thought is definitely there sometimes." It's a wonder more people in the service industry don't commit violent crimes. Maybe they are all just gluttons for punishment. Maybe it's the training. Who knows.

"You should come by sometime."

[prodigalmess]

"I might," he tells her. Malcolm tends to like sweets. They're one of the few foods that he feels comfortable eating. They don't bleed and not all of them are overly rich. "Especially if everything you make is like those cupcakes you brought today."