[It doesn't seem that they've been away for very long, but then, the passage of time itself is questionable. After all, it'd looked like midday when they arrived and now the sun is sinking. Bruce is not alarmed by this outright because there is no reason to believe that Beacon obeys any other rules about day and night or the length of an hour. It's possible that the stairs are long, he hasn't seen them for himself. And the bell has stopped ringing, which means it's possible that they've found the cause. To pursue them in a pique of worry would probably hinder their progress.
He must, against his nature, trust them.
He doesn't hear the drumming of their feet on the stairs but perhaps it's a testament to light-footedness, or the insulation of the church- or distraction. Bruce isn't immediately visible to his companions but that's because he hasn't just paused over the strange streak of color. One hand reaches out and he touches the tip of two fingers to the edge of the mark, testing its wetness but also its texture. Any lingering scent.
Instead of upending the pew to examine it directly, Bruce's tendencies have been shaped by the people around him- who were, in no small number, detectives themselves. Whatever it is he's going to see, he wants to see it in context. So he sinks down onto hands and knees on the floor, lower now than the rows of seats around him, until he's all but laying on the ground- looking for the mark.]
no subject
He must, against his nature, trust them.
He doesn't hear the drumming of their feet on the stairs but perhaps it's a testament to light-footedness, or the insulation of the church- or distraction. Bruce isn't immediately visible to his companions but that's because he hasn't just paused over the strange streak of color. One hand reaches out and he touches the tip of two fingers to the edge of the mark, testing its wetness but also its texture. Any lingering scent.
Instead of upending the pew to examine it directly, Bruce's tendencies have been shaped by the people around him- who were, in no small number, detectives themselves. Whatever it is he's going to see, he wants to see it in context. So he sinks down onto hands and knees on the floor, lower now than the rows of seats around him, until he's all but laying on the ground- looking for the mark.]