Dallas Public Library
The library is a rather large building that extends two levels. Security gates at the entrance lead past a long rectangular circulation desk where patrons may check out or return books. Across from the circulation desk is large, archaic looking card catalogue beside which is a computer that is set up to locate books. Following the typical Dewey Decimal Classification System, the rows of shelves are laid out systematically, with large signs overhead so that patrons can find precisely what they are looking for. Study carols and tables line the walls, and one corner of the library is set aside for two separate lecture rooms that can booked for meetings.
The library is relatively calm on this Sunday. Most people are probably out celebrating the holiday. That means Mischa has been called in to fill another late afternoon/evening shift. He steps into the library and pulls his jacket off, rolling the sleeves of his shirt back to reveal the bandage on his left forearm. The cut in his hairline looks less raw than previous days and he seems functional enough. He steps behind the central desk of the library and does a long glance over to make sure nothing is amiss in his place of work before he starts checking for notes from the other librarians. Mischa finds little instruction — but he should know what to do by now, considering he's been working here for very nearly ten years. He glances towards one of the carts of books that has been left for him to file and pushes his glasses up on his nose.
Valentine's Day is a joke. Really. It is a just a holiday created by the card companies, and it is the one day of the year where a certain semi-famous singer nearly goes into hiding. One night stands are her deal, but even she isn't ignorant enough to try such things on this particular day. Women just get all hormonal, or something. So today has been dedicated to her work. Even the hardest working Nicole needs a break for some motivation. Her search leads her to the library, of all places. She can at least check out some campy romance novels for some motivation behind feelings since she obviously has none. As she walks in she hesitates, not familiar with the actual layout of the library. Looks like someone should visit a little more frequently. Looking lost, she stares at the man behind the counter as she debates whether or not to actually ask him for help.
Mischa is oblivious to Nicole for a long few moments. There are other notes here, but none specifically for him. That doesn't stop him from reading them though — just in case there's something he should know. Sifting through the notes, he reaches up to run his fingers through his hair. The freshly combed hair is now tousled sufficiently. Mischa puts the notes away and grabs the cart of books that he's been eyeing, bringing it out from behind the desk. When he sees Nicole looking rather last, he smiles easily at her. "Hello, miss. Is there something I could assist you with today?" He asks. His tone is quite kindly, and he seems serious enough. This is obviously someone who takes his job, well, seriously.
Everyone should take their jobs seriously; some jobs are just lame. A moment is taken to ensure that no one has actually recognized her as her stage identity before Nicole walks right up to the desk. There's no beating around the bush with this woman. "Yeah," she says, rather bluntly. She would be much sweeter if he were female. The shifter leans her side against the counter as she watches him and his cart. "What's the layout here, anyway?" At this point she has no real interest in the man, but then again she has no real interest in much.
If Mischa seems to sense any unfriendliness or curtness coming from Nicole, he doesn't seem to take it to heart. It's a metropolis; he's probably used to having patrons who are less than nice from time to time. "Ah, well." Mischa points towards the various sections, naming them off for her. "Over there we have reference and non-fiction, and then to your left is the fiction section. Children's is in the back…" But I'm fairly sure you're not looking for that, his tone says. Mischa takes in a breath and smiles kindly once more. "Is there something in particular that I could help you find? The Dewey Decimal can be a little tricky to navigate. Even when you do have help from the reference computers." He nods his head towards a row of computers that are being used mostly by listless students trying to dig up research for whatever papers and assignments they need to complete. A few suburban housewives surf the web while their children run amok in the kids' section.
"Yeah. Uh-huh." Nicole turns about as she eyes all of the sections. She's well aware of where she intends to go but admitting to it is another issue completely. "I'm just looking for some sort of inspiration, that's all." For a moment her grin turns almost animalistic in nature even though it isn't directed to him. When she /does/ actually turn back to him he will find her shaking her head. "Man, you look worse than one of my crew after a particularly rough night. You sure you want to be having this much fun looking like that?" While she isn't intending to be outright evil, there is certainly a lack of respect to her tone.
"I had a minor car accident. Nothing to worry about." Now Mischa is quite positive the woman isn't worrying, or caring. But that's not exactly his problem, so he's willing to let it go. He continues to be as courteous as he possibly can. The animalistic grin is noted — it's somehow familiar in a strange way, though beyond a quirking of the brow, he doesn't respond otherwise. "Well, if you told me what kind of inspiration you're seeking, I might be of help." He looks Nicole up and down in an appraising manner, not a lecherous one whatsoever. "Are you an artist, perhaps? We have a number of reference materials on every major artistic period and movement you can think of."
The explanation causes her to just watch him. "Minor?" That is curious, indeed. "I'd take the night off. Leave. Who is going to notice if the library closes early? I mean, come on; it's a library." Obviously a library isn't all that important of a place. "You could totally go to a local bar looking like that and some drunk person would gladly take you home to take care of you." That thought, ironically, does give Nicole inspiration. "And yeah, I guess you could say that. Only I'm a writer. I'm just trying to find something to write that people might actually like." Somehow singing about world domination likely will not continue her fan base. "Vague, I know. S'why I thought I'd just browse."
Mischa lets out something of a small laugh, shrugging his shoulders easily at Nicole. "It was night before last. I'm on some Motrin, so…it's not that much of an issue." Mischa flushes crimson when Tala suggests that he go to a bar in the hopes of someone taking him home to nurse him back to health. He makes no immediate reference to what exactly HE did the past night, but simply clears his throat and bites his lip a bit. "A writer? Hmm. I guess that my suggestion would be to pick a book from two sections that you don't normally read and give them a try, then pick a few books from the sections that you do like. Ones you haven't read before, of course. It might offer some new perspective about things."
For a moment it might actually appear that she's caring about what he's saying. "Wait, you're that guy from the news, right? The accident, I mean." So that actually somewhat peaks her attention. Though that spark of life to her eyes doesn't really last all that long. What she does next, though, is notice the blush. "Oh, come on, man. Don't tell me that you're too bashful to go chase some tail. There's plenty of it out there!" Children are around, really? Nicole doesn't notice. "And not that kind of writer. Lyrics, mainly. So I'm just trying to get in the mood." Though the thought of writing is now second to further embarrassing this man.
The tall librarian winces somewhat. He's the first person that's actually mentioned the news blurb to him. "Yeah, that's me. Lucky to be alive… etcetera." Mischa reaches up to rub at the back of his neck shyly, biting on his lower lip again. He keeps one hand on the cart, the other moving to adjust his glasses. "The whole 'chase' thing isn't really my game…I'll leave that to the more skilled, proficient men and women of the city." Even saying that seems to have renewed his flush. A few of the frumpy housewives at the computer look up and stare at Nicole, making noises of disapproval. Thankfully the kids are towards the back, even if sound does carry exceptionally well in the library. "Please, your voice…" Mischa murmurs, giving a smile towards the computer users. Yes, yes, under control. "Oh. A lyricist? Then perhaps the books of poetry…"
Some people are prone to ignore the news - she loves to listen to it. After all, there's a good chance that she'll be in it somewhere. "Hey, you have to start making news somehow. Today it is your accident. Tomorrow? Who knows?" Yes, now the name of the game is to keep this librarian flustered. It's far too easy. "Well, you could always make it your game, at least once. No one starts out good at it. Besides, like I said, you'd have it easy right now. Maybe even could score more than one." Oh, someone is disapproving of Nicole? She glares at the women momentarily before looking back to Mischa. "Sorry, but I don't get paid to actually be quiet. People actually pay for me not to be, you know?" It may sound like an apologize but she's not going to change her demeanor. "Poetry? Perhaps. Make the ladies swoon and all that."
Oh dear. Nicole won't be disappointed with Mischa's reaction to her teasing. The man simply plays up to others' expectations that he's a walking blushball. "I could live the rest of my life without an experience like that." His voice is kept soft the entire conversation, especially now that the woman is talking about less than chaste matters in a rather public place. Even if they were alone, he would probably still be mortified. He doesn't bother to dignify her comments about scoring women with any response whatsoever, instead chosing to focus on his actual job. After all, it could probably get him in trouble to talk about those sorts of things on the job. Mischa furrows his brows when Nicole mentions not getting paid to be quiet. For a moment he laughs until he realizes she's serious. "Yes, well. We do have rules here, and if you can't follow them…but I do think poetry might be your best bet. Or we have quite a few biographies by known lyricists."
Score. This is fun, at least it was, but it is getting a little too easy. "Are you kidding me? That's it; one night you're going to the Warehouse. You don't have to go too far but you're going to loosen up. My treat." She actually is in a position to say that even if he doesn't know it. The other women are just ignored. Nicole will simply tell them who she is if they ask and that will make everything better. It could make it worse but she has a PR agent to take care of such things. "Rules are meant to be broken. Look at people today. They're walking around even when dead, they can turn into animals. You know, not what you would expect." She may just have found the inspiration that she needs but Nicole nods all the same. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
"The Warehouse?" Yep, it's clear he's never even heard of it before. Mischa doesn't ask any dumb questions, though a million are floating through his head. What do they sell there? Is it an actual warehouse? Mischa reaches up to run his fingers through his hair, his leg bumping into the cart of books that's nearby. A few of them topple off the cart, and as he bends down to pick them up, he racks his head on the metal handle. Luckily it doesn't split the cut there open again. Instead, Mischa is just left looking embarrassed as he scoops his books up and puts them onto the cart, smiling at Nicole. "Turn into animals? I wouldn't know anything about THAT, but yes…vampires." He plays dumb for the moment. Not hard to believe, all things considered. Mischa starts to move towards the biographical section, electing to keep his mouth shut.
He really is out of touch with reality. "Yes, the Warehouse. A club that I regularly play at. I know some people, you can get the hookup." If it appears that she's hitting on him that is totally not the point. In fact, he's the wrong gender completely. There's more that she can say but Nicole instead is watching his body be a pinball. It doesn't cause her to wince at all, in fact she actually licks her lips. A cruel person Tala is. "Dude. You probably shouldn't be drinking. I think you'd end up worse than how you are now." The concern is completely false; in fact, she's already planning a drunken librarian. All the same the singer follows behind him. "If you think the dead can walk, you don't think that animals can be humans?" She shrugs her shoulders. "Perhaps a wild dream that I had. I likely have a wild imagination." Emphasis on wild.
If Nicole were even hitting on him, she'd have to be WAY more blunt. "Yeah, I don't drink very often." Precisely for these sorts of reasons. He rubs at his forehead a bit even as he nears the biographical section. "I'm not sure what I believe anymore, about the supernatural. I suppose it's always a distinct possibility." He gives a non-chalant shrug to Tala before turning to smile at her, motioning towards the biographies. "Well, here we are. Let me know if you need any help, won't you? Just ring the bell at the front of the desk or find me in the stacks…" A lot of children's books have been returned. Mischa doesn't look horridly excited at the prospect of it all.
"You have to build a tolerance. I'll teach you a few things." He really should not take her up on her offer or he's likely to learn a few things that he'd rather not. That feral smile returns as she follows him, fading only once he looks to her. "Life is complicated. It's best not to worry about it. I tend to stick to my own dreams and ideas." Nicole looks about, obviously unimpressed with the books. At least, that's the way that she'd rather appear. "Well, since you're so looking forward to your work…" Yes, that smile returns. "Let me ask you. If you were to compose a song, what would you write about?"
"If I were to compose a song?" Mischa stops and has to ponder this for a long moment. He can't say shapeshifting. And he's willing to bet that 'love' would be a craptastic answer for Nicole. "I guess about human nature. That always provides interesting fodder, doesn't it?" Mischa idly puts a book into the proper slot, leaning over into another aisle to do it. Luckily that doesn't seem to make him trip and fall again. "Well, if that's all for you…" Mischa starts to wander off with his cart, letting out a deep breath as he moves away from Tala. Someone else can man the counter — he's going to get lost in the wonderful world of shelving books for now.
It really would have been a riot if he had said love, or shapeshifting. Either way, he's made the point that he's quite done with this conversation. Nicole idly grabs one of the books, not even looking at what the book actually is. She then walks past Mischa to go check out. "I'm serious. I need to show you what life is like." Two tickets are tossed on his cart and she walks away. The tickets are to the next planned performance of her band. "Bring someone hot and I'll even be thankful." Then she waves him off as she checks out to leave.