Getting down to it (open)

Kyle moved across the library with his hands in his trouser pockets, looking side to side at nothing in particular. The library was a valued resource to a journalist, or rather it used to be. The internet had pretty much came, saw, and then conquered the archaic idea of reading out of books and newspapers, dying without a roar, but a whisper. He figured he had come to pay his respects.

Moving slowly he inhaled, smelling the musty book smell that anyone who was in the third grade could immediately recall. It was quiet, a little chilly, but relaxing and that's exactly what he needed. Well that and his library card renewed.

Walking into the periodical section, he spotted the information desk near the newspapers but there was no one behind it. Maybe it was automated, he wondered sadly. The only person nearby was a rather leggy red head doing obscene things to her pencil.

He put his elbows on the counter and pulled himself halfway over, checking the ground just in case because you never know. Sliding back down, he looked back at the red head who seemed preoccupied with her reading and cleared his throat.

"Uh, have you seen grandma here?" Kyle asked, clearly unaware if the librarian in question was actually a female, but in his experience, they mostly were women with really kinky sexual appetites. Yeah cougars! "I suppose no one comes here anymore to need someone here."

Nara looked up at the sound of someone at the desk. Her green eyes targeting through the filter of her lush lashes onto the man that had quite the hot butt. She returned her focus to the paper in front of her after that brief first impression continuing to scan for job openings. She'd already applied at the local paper itself with some of her portfolio of earlier work. However, the fact that she didn't have a college degree was going to make it difficult to get anything there that wasn't menial and boring. But it would be a foot in the door.

When the man asked the question about 'grandma', she looked up fully this time. Glancing at the desk, she shook her head with a shift of her red hair around her shoulders. "Nope. I heard someone over back in the shelves back that way earlier." She indicated the region of shelves of resources near the periodical and newspaper section.

Full lips curved into a smile. "Might be a ghost though or a new version of the story of Little Red Riding Hood coming to get me." She joked in reference to her own red hair and the usage of the word grandma. "Are you a woodsman come to protect me by any chance?" She teased quietly with a light humorous tone.

Sabine walked into the library in a bit of a daze, moving around on basic autopilot. She was still fuming over the latest story to be written about her. Some stupid actor that she had done a recent perfume and cologne ad campaign with had joked to the press that she had broken his heart. It wouldn't have been a big deal if he had let it go after that. But no, he couldn't let a bad joke die. He had to drag it out. So now people thought they had been dating and that she was a cold and heartless bitch who valued her career more than the boyfriend who obviously loved her. That's ridiculous! I have much better taste than that. I hate actors.

Trying not to get too distracted by her thoughts, Sabine walked to the counter and set the stack of books down. With books like, City Ghosts, Deco and Chains: Haunted Tales of the 1920's, and Nachton, Where the Dead Never Leave, her reading selection probably hadn't helped her mood any. Oddly enough, her that last one turned out to be about vampires and the author's belief that they were real and living in Nachton. Sabine had laughed at that one. The only vampires in the city were probably the metaphorical ones.

When the man spoke, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Sabine silently chided herself for being so jumpy. She was in a public library, there was bound to be some public present. She was about to respond with a 'Dude, I just walked in the door' when another female voice answered. Relieved, she went back to stuffing the books in the return slot.

After returning the books, Sabine looked around for the card catalog. She wanted to see what newspapers they had on file for the 20's and 30's. The card catalog turned out to be not far from the opposite side of the counter. Walking between the two conversing toward the drawers filled with cards, she made her apologies.

"Excuse me. I just need to walk past. Sorry.�

Kyle raised his eyebrows at the red head's friendly flirting. He considered his appearance: dark blue suit and tie, long unkempt black hair that apparently looked as if it was intentional (man he needed a haircut), and he knew he looked like he hadn't eaten in a week, but he wasn't about to sneeze at a pretty girl's flirting.

"Believe me, I'm not the hero type." Kyle reached up and touched his tie, snorting. "I just need a freakin library card renewed."

Another woman passed between them and Kyle's eyes watched her as she politely excused herself. Standing straight from his slouched position against the counter, he mumbled a polite, "Excuse me," and watched her move toward the card catalogs.

Nara's gaze flickered over to the woman with the books. She wasn't able to see the titles from where she sat however. The guy in the suit that had leaned over the counter earlier to peer back behind it showing his backside nicely, responded and Nara chuckled. "Too bad. Not enough heroes anymore."

With the passing of the woman between them Nara nodded politely at the apology. "No problem."

She then looked back to the man. "Is there a bell or something for service? Libraries back home generally have something like that." She suggested. "I haven't lived here long enough to know how it works in this one though. Sorry." She glanced at the woman that had gone to the card catalog. "Maybe she knows how to get their attention."

Nara's west Texas accent was strong, but shouldn't be hard to understand. "I have to admit I'm impressed. Not many people do the library thing anymore." She didn't have internet at home yet. One of those things that needed money which required a job. Thus the reason she was here. She had thought to use the computer lab later to search, but liked reading the paper for local news and information first.

Kyle sighed unhappily and turned back toward the counter. He pulled himself up and over, sliding back far enough to poke his head into any drawers underneath the counter. Odds are there was a security camera watching him and they could send someone over, renew his card, and then escort him out. Granted that would probably result in being banned from the library...kind of defeats the purpose really...so Kyle slid back onto his feet and rested his arm on the counter top.

"Negative. No bell. No dead body either." His eyes narrowed. Blinking he realized he was being impolite - not that he usually cared about that type of thing - but she did say she was new to town.

"Sorry, I'm Kyle," he said, stepping forward and holding his hand out.

Sabine looked up from her search when the other woman referenced her in their conversation. Most people seemed rather surprised that she could read. It was doubtful any would think she could find her way around a library. Of course, aside from the leather jacket, she did look a little more tame than usual. Turning to answer the red head, she was just in time to see the man sprawled over the counter. As small grin spread across her lips as she leaned back and watched his antics.

When the show was over, Sabine turned to the other woman to answer her question.

"It's a library, make some noise.�

She shrugged and walked over to a nearby table. Removing her jacket to reveal a black bustier over tight leather pants, she draped over a chair. Pulling her hair out of the messy updo it had been twisted into, she was careful not to get it caught on the slim studded belt that was wrapped loosely around her wrist. The majority of her shoulder length hair was a rich mahogany, while the lower third was dyed in multiple shades ranging from blond to red. It was clear the intention was to resemble flames. Sabine ran her fingers through her hair, tousling it to free it further from its earlier style before turning and walking back toward the man at the counter.

"Heh. Now it looks like we have the same stylist.�

She stopped herself from telling him that 'Hangover Chic' was in. Sabine lifted herself up so that she was sitting on the counter.

"Nice ass by the way. I am sure we both appreciate you waving it about for us.�

With a quick wink to the redhead, Sabine proceeded to stand on the counter. The four inch heels of her boots clicked on the counter as she stood. After a quick look around, she grinned and began to shout.

"Hey Library Lady! This guy needs his card renewed!�

Laughing about the no dead body comment. She like the humor. The guy was hot and had a personality. Nara reached forward to shake his hand.

"Nara." She smiled. "You are a step ahead of me. I haven't even gotten a card yet." She indicated the table around her which had nothing but the papers on it, which like the books the other woman had brought in would indicate she had the ability to understand what was written.

"No books. Just here to check out the local papers and see about using the computers if they will allow someone without a card to do so. If not, then I'll have to join you in the search for the one to get one. Job hunting." She admitted with a shrug.

"Necessary evil if I want to eat and keep my apartment. Doubt they'd let me camp out here." That the other woman had actual books to return made Nara think she had more experience with the library than she herself had. Wouldn't take much, since this was her first visit.

"Yeah, I was finding it rather a nice view." She winked at Kyle with a quirk of her lips. Nara leaned back in the chair, letting her interest in the want ads slip away with a laugh, as the other woman with the interesting hair coloring got up on the counter. Glancing at Kyle, she indicated the other woman with a chuckle.

"They'd have to be dead to not see that. Or on a break, or sneaking a quicky in the stacks with some hottie. In that case, if it is some grandmother type she'll likely be a looong while. I know I would be taking my time, if it were me. And I'm young and vibrant."

That was twice now his butt was the topic of the conversation. He made note of it, but was impressed with himself, considering he had lost at least thirty pounds since his Eternity addiction. Boredom and annoyance crept into his features as Nara pointed out that, despite a woman in stilettos standing on the counter, there was still no one in sight.

Kyle looked up at the the aforementioned female and sighed. He was definitely getting kicked out of this place. Ignoring the two women for the moment, Kyle twisted around, looking again for someone as he scratched at his jaw.

"Well yeah, that would either get us the library lady or the crotchety security guard," he said absently. "I just want a card," he said in a loud voice to no one in particular.

Sabine looked down at the man who 'just wanted a card'. What he had in the nice ass department, he clearly lacked in humor. And, the whining and drama over a library card was a bit much. How many times did he mention it? Definitely not my type. Sabine climbed down from the counter. Once her feet were again on the ground, she did a quick check to make certain all articles of clothing were in place and covering appropriate body parts. Satisfied, she turned to the angry man with a card deficiency.

"Hey man, sorry. I didn't realize the apocalypse was upon us.�

Walking away, she returned to the table and chair where her jacket had been left. She had discovered that the old newspapers that she needed were scanned onto micro fiche. Now, she too needed the library lady. She took a seat at the table and decided to wait.

"You do realize that most cities this size have multiple libraries. You could try one of the satellites. Just a thought.�

An entirely different thought suddenly occurred to her. The other woman, Nara, had mentioned that she was in need of a job. Sabine happened to own a themed hotel and Jazz club. She could use an assistant, for the research if nothing else. Of course not everyone could stomach the theme of this particular hotel. There was no harm in making the offer.

"Did I hear correctly? You are looking for a job? I own the themed attraction known as The Haunted. It is in the old Wyndem-Price hotel. It is currently closed while we make some renovations. At the same time, my band and I are working on our next album. I could use an assistant, at least for a few weeks. If you are interested.�

Almost as an afterthought she added, "My stage name is Phoenyx, but you can call me Sabine.�

At Kyle's irritated sounding tone, Nara gave a wince. She had thought it was funny. She shrugged it off though. After the other woman spoke about the other branches of the library, Nara nodded.

"Besides it won't be you they come after if they do send security, though if they have cameras you climbing over the counter earlier might make them take a second look at you." She grinned and indicated the other woman. "If they can take their eyes off her." She meant it as a kind of compliment to the other woman. She was eye catching to say the least.

At the question about the job, Nara nodded. "I'm planning to look into a writing job, but don't have the credentials to pull it off yet. Figure write a few things to submit to the papers I'll start getting my foot in the door. However, rent comes first."

She tilted her head with interest at the description of the job that might be in the offering. "Sounds cool. Would I have to purchase special clothing to wear to work for this place?"

She extended her hand. "My name's Nara Baker. Nice to meet you. And I'd love the job. Mind if I use my experiences to work on some articles for the job I'm working toward after you don't need my services any longer while I'm with you?"

Kyle smugly grinned as the little vixen on the counter as she climbed down in those ridiculous shoes. He wasn't sure why both of them had even commented on his ass, bulbous and still round despite his weight loss, but with the one with the bad dye job seemed to be taking back her weirdly interested attention. Her comment as she finally made it down only cracked Kyle up. Maybe he wasn't paying the proper attention to her, but impressing that one wasn't on his to-do list for the day.

"But it is the Apocalypse. I NEED A CARD," he whined again, quite happily, actually. Leaning back onto the counter with his elbows, he watched as the female with an odd way of being 'helpful' offered Nara a job.

People seemed to always think that the tailoring of his suit had something to do with his disposition. Kyle was a whiner, and damn proud of it; he wasn't a hero or really even a nice guy. He was addicted to an underground illegal substance and living out of hotel rooms. If tri-color hair chick wanted him to flirt, he just wasn't feeling it. Nara on the other hand...

"Hey, she's offering you a job. I bet working for her will be fun!"

Kyle batted his eyelashes and grinned.

With a chuckle, Kyle nodded politely at the women and decided to search for a little old librarian elsewhere.

"Good luck with your job search, Nara." Kyle turned to leave and then stopped. Walking back to Nara at her table, he dug into his pocket and pulled out one of his rather bent up, dirty business cards he still carried in his pockets.

"I'm a journalist at Nachton Time." He put the business card on the table and tapped it. "Tell them I sent you if you're looking for some freelance. Maybe I'll see you around."

With a wave, he walked off, whining under his breath for his needed library card. He had been polite for as long as humanly possible.


((Kyle out - pending responses))

Sabine resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his declaration of the apocalypse. She half expected him to stamp his foot. Thankfully he didn't, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to keep from laughing. The man, Kyle, was all but forgotten as she turned to Nara and smiled. The compliment didn't go unnoticed, and was probably one of the deciding factors in offering her the job. She knew that it was a little vain of her, but she didn't care.

Before Sabine could answer Nara's questions or tell her more about what she had in mind for the job, Kyle put in his two cents worth. She wasn't entirely sure if he was being sincere or sarcastic. Though given her own responses to him, and the batting of eyelashes, she was leaning towards sarcasm. Rather than question his daddy issues, just in case, she turned to Nara keeping her face neutral. In a complete deadpan, she replied.

"No, traveling with a rock band and doing research for a haunted hotel is incredibly dull. You are going to be really bored.�

Turning to Kyle, she grinned devilishly. The whining aside, the banter between them had been amusing. When he had left them alone, she couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"I don't know about you, but I got the impression that he needed a library card.�

With that, she went back to trying to answer a few of Nara's questions.

"No, you wouldn't have to wear anything special. And sure, so long as you aren't writing for the gossip columns, I suppose you can write about your experiences. My personal life and that of the band members would be off limits of though.�

After a brief pause, Sabine remembered a movie that she had seen.

"The traveling with a rock band was pretty much been covered in the movie 'Almost Famous.' Though, the haunted hotel might be a new angle to write about.�

At the declaration that it was the Apocalypse, Nara chuckled with a grin and glance upward in humor. "And me without my good shoes." She added with a wink at Kyle.

When he wished her luck and gave her the card with yet another job offer, she gave him a radiant smile. "Thanks. I'll look you up." She took the card and watched him go flicking the edge of the card with her finger nail, before turning to bend down and put the card in her bag beside her chair.

She laughed as she came back to an upright position turning to look at Sabine. "Nah, I think you misunderstood. He didn't just need, he NEEDED the card. Makes you wonder what he was wanting to check out, doesn't it?" She thought suddenly glancing back in the direction he had headed out in before looking back to the woman with the job offer.

"I can understand that. Just the things that I find out as I do the research. This place is supposed to have some amazing stories. It would make a great series of articles about the stories and even exploring the places that they took place in. Working in your hotel as many times as I could, it would be free publicity as well." She paused with a wry look. "If I get them published that is."

She had to laugh. At least Nara had a sense of humor. Which, come to think of it, she was probably going to need. Sabine had a fairly twisted way of looking at things and solving problems. Standing on a counter and making noise in a library to get some help was actually rather tame by her standards. All things considered, she wondered what Nara would think when she learned that the haunted hotel was originally created to drive the man who stole her inheritance out of business. Oh well, there would be time enough to discuss that later.

"Medical books perhaps? For research on his next article of course.�

Joking aside, Sabine was relieved that Nara wasn't interested in writing trashy gossip articles. She had enough problems without it. Encouraged by Nara's interest in the local tales and folk lore, she decided to open up a bit more about her ideas for the business and why she was in the library.

"The city has a lot of old tales and fascinating lore. I used some as inspiration for the attractions when I created The Haunted. But, I was thinking it would be even better if I could find some tales and events directly related to the old Hotel.�

The Wyndem-Price hotel was very old. It was bound to have some sordid events, crimes of passion, and other happenings shrouded in mystery. That was Sabine's theory anyway. All she had to do was find them.

"Think about how much spookier it would be if you could look up something you saw at the hotel and found that it was a real person or even. Anyway, that is why I am here, to look through old newspapers to find any information and stories about the hotel. That would be one of the things I would need your help with. "

Sabine glanced at the other woman trying to gauge her response.

"I'll have to find his column and start reading it." She glanced at the paper laying there on the tabletop with her notebook and pen. She wasn't as worried about searching the ads now, with two offers in the works. "If he's that focused on getting something, I would imagine he focuses on the written word with as much energy." She liked reading other people's work.

The mention of various legends surrounding the town had Nara nodding. "Part of what brought me here in the first place. I figured that I could really get my teeth into something and get my work noticed."

"Oh yeaah. Having something you knew was real or factual in the place you stayed would be too awesome. Especially with all the real life tv shows about ghost hunters and all that. People want the chance to experience spooky mysterious events themselves." She agreed enthusiastically.

"I'd be glad to help with that, though I do need to know what kind of wages/salary we're talking. I've got rent and feeding myself to consider." She gave Sabine a questioning, yet hopeful look.

Sabine nodded absently as he cell phone vibrated signaling the arrival of a text message. Having a good idea who it was from and what it was about, she tried to convince herself not to look at the phone. And that was the problem, the more you told yourself not to look at something, the more you just had to look.

Sabine pulled the phone from her jacket pocket. A slow smile spread across her features as she read the words on the small screen. It wasn't the text she had been expecting but it still meant that she needed to leave. Turning to Nara, she smiled and offered her apologies.

"I'm sorry, it would appear that I have an impromptu meeting to go to. So, I won't be able to stay."

She paused briefly for moment to consider Nara's question.

"I am not the most trusting of people, so I have never had an assistant. But, I can check with my some of my friends to see what they pay theirs. Why don't you stop by the hotel at the beginning of next week. I am sure that between us, we can come up with something that is reasonable and meets your needs."

After writing the phone number and address to the hotel on a piece of paper for Nara, she left library.

(ooc: Phoenyx out)

Seeing the woman pull the phone out, Nara politely remained silent so as to allow Sabine the time needed to deal with business. Nara was the one without a job here. Sabine, it sounded like at least, had quite a busy life going. The smile seemed to indicate that it was good news. Nara was happy for that. Bad news could mean the job offer would be rescinded after all.

Hearing about the meeting, Nara nodded. "No problem. I totally understand. You've got a business to run." Taking the paper with the contact information on it, Nara read it over and glanced up. "Early next week. Got it. I'll be there." She smiled. "And thanks for the chance. I look forward to working with you if this works out."

(out)