[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 looks down at the hand on his knee, and if he weren't drunk he'd give her a 'no' and just be done with it. As it is, he is a bit drunk, and he has to contemplate it again, but he arrives at the same conclusion.

He gives her another glance up and down, as if considering, but his smile has faded into something far more sober than he feels. "I'm sorry, it's just not in the cards tonight."

[stauncherhearted]

She tries not to frown. "You sure?" She offers again, blinking her false lashes slowly. "We can just talk, if you'd rather." But her time was available at an hourly rate.

[specifiercity]

"I'm sure," he says. He twists and takes his leather jacket off the back of his stool, slipping off of it one foot at a time.

"I think it's time for me to go home anyway. It was nice meeting you, Nancy."

[stauncherhearted]

At least he's kind about it. She just nods, letting go of his leg and turning back to the bar.

"Right. Lovely to meet you, too." Though they likely wouldn't run into each other again. She finishes her gin. Maybe it's time for her to go home, too.