[open] bars & bookstores

[specifiercity]

ONE

Arthur has visited a number of used book stores in the past year. Sometimes he wanders into them when he has a few minutes to spare on his way to and from the train, and on occasion he makes a point to visit one and sift through their collections to find something interesting. He'll read just about anything, but his old client taught him what to look for in everything from old fairytales to modern journals, how to see the clues left behind by the supernatural world that no one would pick up on if they didn't already know. Arthur is accumulating a small bookshelf's worth of books with high-lighted passages, with everything from children's nursery rhymes to new journalism from the 60's and 70's.

That's where he is now, standing outside of a small storefront on a sunny day, looking down at a bin of cheap books for something that he might be able to analyze just for fun. It'd be a shame if someone were to interrupt him.

TWO

Arthur's not a guy who hangs out at a bar alone for an hour by choice. Maybe this is obvious by his slouched posture and frown as he stares down at the remainder of his second beer, some shitty draught that seemed a safe choice when he arrived. Having politely rebuffed all of the bartender's attempts at conversation, he must look stood up - and he has been, only not for a date. He was supposed to meet a witch here, someone who could offer a bit of a different insight into what's been going on with Circle Midnight, but she never showed.

He knows he can't expect everyone to be perfectly punctual, but Arthur's in the process of giving up hope that she'll ever walk in. He checks his phone to confirm that it has indeed been fifty eight minutes since he sat down, and then he sighs as he puts it back in his pocket. Guess it's time to polish off this crappy beer that he paid too much for and then head out - that is, unless someone else happens to distract him.

WILDCARD

[Please hit me up if you'd like a different situation!]

Comments

[specifiercity]

Arthur glances up at Heiji and then shakes his head as he looks back down at the books.

"Just something to read. Preferably something nonfiction but I'm not too picky."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Oh yeah? My friend gave me a book about cadavers recently. It's real interesting -- starts out with the bodies surgeons practice procedures on and goes from there."

But what kind of person would honestly enjoy reading about cadavers? That was the real question here.

[specifiercity]

"Yeah? They find anything weird?"

That's where Arthur's interest lies. Anomalies. He pushes a couple books to the side and then stops to examine another - some romance mystery novel with a wolf man on the front.

[detectiveofthewest]

Was removing people's heads and putting them in little roaster pans for surgeons to practice on weird? Hmm. Heiji decided not; after all, it seemed to be a fairly well-administered practice.

"It does go over some of the more gruesome anecdotes about how the study of anatomy got started. Graverobbing, f'rinstance, and there was that bit on operating theater..."

Maybe Arthur liked werewolf romance. Maybe that was a thing.

[specifiercity]

Arthur doesn't like werewolf romance. After a moment's deliberation, he tosses it aside to keep looking. He glances up at Heiji, giving him a half-smile before looking down at the books again.

"Sounds like something I might find interesting. You remember the name?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"'Stiff'," said Heiji, flashing Arthur a quick smile back. "Hey, you got something against smouldering werewolf firefighters with perfect abs?"

The title on the cover, upon closer examination, was Hot Dogs and Hot Nights. A+.