I could a tale unfold - 18

Kirk and Ross remained pretty much locked in their own thoughts, and their own exhaustion, as they made their way back to the apartment. It wasn't until they were undressed and in bed that they finally started talking about what had happened, both of them suddenly more awake than tired.

"What good is it going to do to find out who killed him?" Kirk asked as he lay staring up at the ceiling, hands behind his head.

"If there's any truth to all this ghost stuff, he can't find final peace, I guess, until he knows what happened. He seems to know why already, just as you said, not who."

Kirk nodded, turning to look at Ross. "How do we do this, then?"

"I suppose, research for starters. See if we can find out anything about him. Hell, we should have asked if he worked at the theater back then. If so, there could be some record of him in the files."

"That's a long shot, even if we can find them. We should search for his name online too. It would be interesting to find out if this feud he was talking about was important enough to make the news back then or if it was just some 'my family hates your family' thing."

Ross rolled over to get a pen and paper from the bedside table then sat up, stifling a yawn as he did. "Notes of things to find out from him," he said when Kirk cocked an eyebrow. "Ask if he worked at the theater, if the families knew that he and whoever the other kid was... and we need his name"—he paused to write that down.

"Knew what, that they were gay? I sort of doubt they advertised it back then."

"Exactly, so if someone found out—and from what little he put down about what happened it sounded as if someone might have—that would be a definite motive for murder, more than their just being friends."

Kirk shuddered. "If that was the motive to kill him, well it makes me damned glad we weren't alive a hundred years ago."

"You and me both," Ross agreed as he yawned, and yawned again.

"Let's get some sleep," Kirk suggested, taking the notepad away from Ross, leaning across him to set it on the nightstand and turn off the light.

"If I had a bit more energy." Ross wrapped one arm around Kirk, kissing him.

"If it was three hours earlier." With a chuckle, Kirk returned the kiss, rested his head on Ross's shoulder, and promptly fell asleep. Ross smiled as he drifted off as well.