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Sunday wasn't a very busy day for the Library, but Esme didn't mind that. After all, it meant that she had more time to read whatever book she was currently working on that week. Since there was currently patrons, she was seated in one of the lounge chairs reading. Her attire today was a black turtleneck and a pair of dark jeans with matching boots. Her necklace and bracelet with their occultish symbols both present. Her hair was left down and the book she was reading seemed to be some kind of mystery novel judging by the cover. She had been the head librarian for nearly 4 years now - so was fairly familiar with any who frequented the library in their down time.
Yazmin may not be a regular borrower of books, but she does frequent the library often. Mainly to draw people though there is some book reading too. Seated at one of the tables - clad in sneakers, torn jeans, and a sweater - she is currently sketching the librarian. Eyes on the blonde as her pencil moves rapidly over her sketch pad. A book sits on the table in front of her - 'Colorado Aliens: They Have Been and They Will Again'.
A regular? Maybe back when he was in junior high. Perusing his way through an adjacent aisle, he glances over at Yazmin and nods at her choice of material. "Must be tough on them with all the mountains, finding a decent place to land."
Esme looked over towards Yazmin and Frank, recognizing the girl but not so much the man. Her head tilted and after a moment longer she closed her book and rose back to her feet. Curious about the topic of conversation. "I'm sure they have specific places carved out for them to land." She mused as she peeked over at the book and offered them both a smile. "How are you both doing today?"
"They don't need to land, they have cities under the mountains already. Been there forever" Yazmin deadpans in reply. "At least according to the book. The author's disappeared. Probably silenced for knowing too much. You know how it is." She is sketching Esme's necklace with some detail now. A quirk of a brow at the designs of that jewelry - they look interesting. As the librarian comes over, and ruins her sketch, Yazmin nods up to her. "Or what she said. I like your necklace. What is that design? I'm doing fine." Her tone flat - she doesn't smile often.
Frank glances over at Esme and— well, he starts to say something, but then Yazmin pipes up at about the same time. "Probably some of both," he agrees. "Thank you, I'm just browsing for now. Cattle mutilations, speaking of."
Esme looked down at her necklace and then back to them, she smiled again. "Thank you. It's custom. I had it made when I was living in Los Angeles." She explained, touching it for a moment and then letting her hand fall back to her side. "Cattle mutilations, hm? We have a few books, though I think they might be under the science fiction upstairs. The other volunteers send to go on instinct instead of following the dewy decimal system." She gave a little wave of her hand. "I haven't done an inspection yet."
"Cattle mutilations? Man…that's so old hat. I mean, it happens, sure, but is it always aliens? Why travel light years to kill cattle? Hmm…I wonder, if on their world, the cattle took over and the aliens rebelled and roam the universe looking for the cattle that escaped." Yazmin shrugs. "I dunno. Could be." A tilt of her head as she looks over the necklace in a little more detail. "You're a witch? Cool. Unless you've pacted with Satan and are looking for young girls to sacrifice."
Frank inclines his head to Esme, pulling up a chair and considering. "I think you count as a young woman by now, so you should be okay. And it's not /them/ that kill the cattle, it's their human servants. Routine loyalty test, you know."
Esme took a seat of her own as she listened to Yazmin explain, "Honestly I've never been on the Alien train. I mean, I believe they could be out there - anything is possible. If ghosts and demons walk among us - then beings from another planet definitely could. But I haven't really dwelled on the topic." She thought it over and nodded. "Something like that, minus the pact with Satan. That's more headache than it's worth. I've looked into it." She nodded and looked to Frank. "So is it just because cattle is an easy thing to kill? Easier to kill than another person? And that's why the aliens want their servants to kill the cattle only?"
"Not much of a loyalty check. Kill a defenseless animal" Yazmin shrugs, "But your explanation is as good as any." She nods to Esme. "Aliens could be demons. Demons could be aliens. It's how you perceive things. Oh, I'm Yazmin. Yazmin Smith. Being a witch must be cool." Another shrug for Frank. "I guess I'm not a girl anymore. Thanks for pointing out my age."
"Hey now, you don't look a day over forty," the man teases. She probably won't take that any worse, right? "Frank McGaffigan, good to meet you. And it's not that it's difficult, it's the part about leaving them out to be noticed. That way, they make sure they need something."
"Perception is everything." she agreed and chuckled. "Nice to officially meet you both. Esme Ryerson." She leaned on the table and nodded again. "Hm, I suppose. Since we're talking alien behavior, What's your take on crop circles then?"
"Government conspiracy. Crop circles are fake to take away the focus on real activities" Yazmin replies before a playful glare at Frank over her age. "So, these alien servants, they're a Fifth Column when the invasion comes?" She starts sketching again, this time a drawing of Frank. "Either of you check out any of the local haunted places?"
"Some of them are," Frank agrees, "but the Arecibo response, down by the Chibolton telescope? I think that was real. I've been keeping tabs on the planet search, see if any systems turn up that match the layout." Yeah, that might be a few years off yet. "And yeah, I've started to, just had to wait for the Halloween rush to come and go."
<FS3> Yazmin rolls Reaction+Drawing: Good Success. (7 5 1 1 8 3 5 4 5 1 8)
Yazmin finishes her sketch of Frank, showing it off to him - it's quite good. "Maybe we could all go check one out? Like a Scooby Doo gang or something?" And then Esme is called away - she is working after all. "Where were you thinking of going?" she asks Frank. "You got the right equipment and stuff? Not something I can really afford."
Frank arches a brow at the drawing. "Hey, you got my good side," he says. "Well, there's that one abandoned motel, but it's further out. I was thinking the creek where those kids went missing in the 70s, all you really need for that is a tent and some basic camping gear."
"Have you got a tent and basic camping gear? I don't" Yazmin smirks before tearing off the Frank page and offering it over. "For you, help you remember when you were young and handsome. It might not last long" she deadpans. "When do you plan on going? Might be Esme's thing too."
"I've already forgotten," Frank replies, shaking his head as he accepts the drawing. "Well, I've got a tent, I've got /some/ gear but I'd probably want a little extra for a work trip. Next weekend, maybe?"
Yazmin plucks the drawing back to scribble her phone number on the back before returning it. "Call me. We might be able to make a party out of it. You seen any ghosts? Got photos or anything?"
Oh, has he got /photos/! Frank takes out his phone, swiping and tapping until he brings up a group of nighttime shots. "Here's some from the south side. See there in the corner?" That could be a ghost, or it could just be a nightlight reflecting off a smudge on the lens.
Yazmin peers over the photos, nodding sadly as she does so. "Yeah, they're tricky bastards. Always making sure they that they can be mistaken for more mundane things. Makes it really hard. Are they mundane things, or are they something supernatural trying to look mundane? And why do they hide like that? What do they have to be afraid of? Exorcism?"
Frank shrugs. "Maybe once in a while, but mostly I think they're just afraid of people trampling on their old stuff trying to pull off an exorcism. Or hurting themselves. They mean well, most of them."
"I doubt the demons mean well" Yazmin smirks, "But I'm no expert. How long you been tracking this stuff down? Do you blog? What name do you use? Sorry for so many questions, but I promise I'm not an agent checking up on you. Which is what an agent would say I guess. But I'm not. Just interested in seeing the truth."
"Recently, yeah. I'm with the Signal, you can look it up." Frank takes out his wallet and fishes out a battered business card, one of a handful. "Nah, an agent would just get straight to the strong-arming. How'd you get into this stuff?"
Yazmin takes the card and looks over it. "The Signal? I think I've heard of that. Didn't know it was local." She slips the card away. "I read a lot when I was younger. All the good stuff about aliens and monsters. Convinced me it was real. It totally made sense, you know? Still does. What about you? Why are you so interested?"
Frank shakes his head. "You're lucky, I wish I would have started off in the right direction. I spent a couple years covering regular news… well, I say 'news', more like 'whose drama is making the Knights of Columbus annual bingo night fall apart'. At the same time, I just saw too many /things/ here and there, I knew that was my real calling."
"Don't know if I was lucky. It meant I spent most of my time without friends, teased, bullied, and swapped from one loser family to another" Yazmin replies before thinking on this. "Yeah, I guess that is pretty lucky, actually. Better than being brain dead like everyone else. Who were you working for when you did the lies?"
"Well, yeah, it's a mixed bag…" Frank shrugs. "I was with the Courier before this. And I temped for the Window once, but that was just cold-calling offering subscriptions for a few days, so it doesn't really count. They went out of business about a year later, anyway."
"I guess you weren't very good at selling subscriptions" Yazmin smirks, her sketching now turned to aliens of various types and breeds. "How many readers you have now? For the Signal? Hear back from the a lot of them? I bet they have stories to tell."
"I don't think anyone was. I had a flat zero, the other guy /might/ have had a couple but… really, who wants to pay for a paper that's /just/ Bingo Drama stories?" Frank watches the latest sketch, squinting as he tries to work out which species she's going for. "Signal's got some real engagement, I hear back from about a dozen people regularly."
"Nice" Yazmin nods. "I bet most of them are fruit cakes though. Hard to keep the lunatics away from the truthseekers. Most people don't see the difference at all, but thankfully there are people like us who can." She appraises her sketches before deciding they are pretty good - time to move onto the next page. "Can I draw you something? Five bucks."
Frank nods, pulling a bill out of his wallet and passing it over. "How about a lycanthrope?" He leans back and considers. "Well, a couple of them might be, but the crazies don't stick around. Mostly they get all het up about one little detail that doesn't match their own beliefs, and then either you never hear from them again, or you have to block them."
Yazmin takes the money, nodding to the subject matter. "Full werewolf mode?" she asks, as that is usually what people want. "Ripping some young girls to bits?" she adds with the barest of smiles. "Or doing worse to some young girl. You'd be surprised what people ask for…or maybe you wouldn't be surprised. I have to block people out in real life too. Man they can talk shit."
Frank rolls his eyes. "If I wanted /that/, I would've just asked for yiffing." Of course he's at least passingly familiar with /that/ group. "And it's up to you, I want to see your take on it."
"Okay…full wolf it is." Yazmin gets to drawing, concentrating on the page but still finding time to converse with Frank; she just doesn't need to look at him while she does so. "I guess it's a lonely life for Truthseekers" she sighs. "This is where I come for company, though I work at 'A Likely Story' too. You know that place?"
A waggle of a hand in the air. "Sometimes, but when you meet someone that does get it, you don't forget easily. And it sounds like I /should/, from the name, what is it exactly?"
"Bookstore, run by Devi. She's a writer. Writes sci-fi novels, famous ones too" Yazmin explains. "Great boss too. Loves to cook for staff. I will not deny her this." She does look at him for a moment. "Found someone in the past? Sounds like a sad story coming." Yazmin returns to her drawing.
Frank nods to Yazmin. "I'll make sure to check it out, then. Easy to remember the name at least." A pause as he furrows his brow, then: "Oh, I get what you mean. No, I just meant believers in general. I'm not looking to mix it with my dating, that would probably just get messy in a hurry."
<FS3> Yazmin rolls Reaction+Drawing: Failure. (3 3 6 4 5 1 6 2 2 1 4)
"You're gonna have to mix it up one day. Why hide the good you're doing? If they don't understand, you probably don't want them" Yazmin decides before frowning at the drawing she's done. "Christ, it looks like a poodle. You can have this one for free." She tears off the page and hands it over, along with the five dollars. "I need to practice my werewolves."
Frank laughs a little and sets the drawing over with the other one. "Well, thanks. It's—" Yeah, no, he'd better just keep his mouth shut about that one. "And yeah, they'd have to be okay with it, I just mean I'm not really looking for someone who's into it themselves. Not in that way. Kind of like 'don't date at the office', you know?"
"So you don't want to date anyone that has the same interests? Interesting idea" Yazmin snorts in amusement. "I hope that works out for you." A nod to the drawing. "It's almost winter, use it to light a fire. I won't mind. You serious about hitting up that haunted gully next weekend?"
Frank rolls his eyes. "It's not my /only/ interest. It's not yours, either, you like drawing and that's only connected when you want it to be. And yeah, lemme make sure about it and then I'll let you and Esme know."
"True" Yazmin nods, "But it is a biggie to keep in the closet. You don't want to be there on the wedding night saying, 'Oh, by the way, hon, the caterers were aliens so I reported them to the CIA'. Could be the shortest marriage on record. Mind if I invite some other open minded people along?"
Frank says, "Yeah, exactly. They'd need to at least be supportive, even if it isn't their thing to go participate in directly, I mean I've probably got several of those if I sit and think about it a little. And yeah, that's fine, you've been into this long enough to know who to trust."
"Several? Lucky you." Yazmin begins packing up her gear. "I've got to do a stocktake before the Christmas rush. Yeah…that means working at night since it is the only time the store is shut. I look forward to that call…and seeing all your cool equipment."