Consulting an Expert

Synopsis

February 25, 2005 - Michael visits Orion at the museum of art after hours to help him identify a few artifacts from when Michael was still alive.



Setting

Dallas Museum of Art:

The museum is large and grandiose, separated into different sections and containing many archaeological finds as well as works of art. The museum contains several works of art, sculptures, artifacts, and weapons. Each is divided into its separate section and each display has a neat descriptor next to the items. Security guards stand at the main entrance and are scattered throughout the museum.


Cast

Michael:
Standing at 5'7 and somewhat on the slender side this man appears to be in his middle years, his short cut blond hair's just starting to grey and his deepset blue eyes are ringed with wrinkles. He's clean shaven and extremely neat, apart from the signs of age he appears in good shape, and had strong well defined features.

Dressed casually the man wears a dark grey shirt, under a black jacket, blue faded jeans and a pair of black boots.

___

Orion:
You see a man in his mid thirties who stands a little over six feet and weighs approximately 180 pounds. One can tell by looking at him that he works out regularly. His face is rugged but attractive, usually with a couple of days worth of stubble on his cheek. His hair is brownish red and cropped short, spiking up a bit on top. His eyes are deep gold and appear to be almost an unnatural shade. He bears a tattoo of a paw print on his left upper arm. When the man speaks, he has a very distinct Irish accent. It is strong, but not to the point that he is difficult to understand.

The man is wearing a white lab coat over a green dress shirt and brown pants. He has brown boots on and a silver watch on his right wrist. His ears are each pierced with a silver ring, and he has mirrored sunglasses pushed up on his head.



Scene

The museum is large and grandiose, separated into different sections and containing many archaeological finds as well as works of art. The museum contains several works of art, sculptures, artifacts, and weapons. Each is divided into its separate section and each display has a neat descriptor next to the items. Security guards stand at the main entrance and are scattered throughout the museum. The security has been properly forewarned by Orion however, that he is expecting a specialist to stop by after hours. When he arrives they are to page him and send the guest to the Mediterranean wing.

That is what Orion had told them to do if he was not around. He is fairly close to the main entrance right now however, tidying up a few African displays that he put up earlier today. The man is wearing a white lab coat with the name "Dr. Donnelly" sewn onto the left breast. The doctor looks a bit disheveled right now and appears not to have slept very much over the past few nights.

___

Michael walks into the Museum with his usual confidence, he seems to turn his attention to certain pieces with moderate interest, although once he spots Orion he heads to him with a quick step. "Good evening Doctor, it finds you well I hope?"

___

Orion shakes his head and mutters something about the Masai before hearing Michael's voice and turning to find him much closer than he had expected. "Oh! My you certainly do move quietly, don't you?" He steps down from the display he is standing in and smiles at the vampire. "I am doing well tonight. Glad that tonight should be less restless than the past few." He points to a skylight through which the waning moon can be seen. "Thank you again for coming. Would you like to see the artifacts directly or would you care to look around the museum first? I know that we are generally closed by the time you would be able to enter."

___

Smiling slightly Michael glances around the room. "If you don't mind, perhaps I could take the tour, once I've seen the artifacts?" He smiles just a little. "My wife lost a bracelet once, I recall I told her it would turn up." He grins very faintly. "I have found irony certainly does have a sense of humour at times."

___

Orion nods. “Alright then, if you’d follow me we’ll go to the back area of the Mediterranean Section of the museum.” He begins walking toward the west wing of the museum. “I hope you don’t mind the cold, we keep the back rooms chilly to keep pests down. I have the collection waiting back there for now. I don’t want to put anything on display until I have identified all of the pieces to the best of my ability.” They pass through the Africa section and move into an Egyptian area. The Mediterranian section is just beyond that.

___

Shaking his head Michael smiles. "The cold doesn't bother me. At least not until long after it does most." He frowns a little, his expression thoughtful. "Just how many artifacts do you have?"

___

Orion stops at a electronic lock and pulls a key card out of his pocket. He slides it through a card slot and the door opens with a beep. “Oh? Not too many from the era that you were interested in, at least not too many that I would like you to look at. Most of our artifacts are domestic items. A few tools, some pottery, a couple of pieces of furniture. I do have a couple of weapons and articles of jewelry that appear to have had ceremonial importance however. Not many. Maybe five or six in total.”

___

Nodding Michael follows Orion with a slight shrug. "In truth, while the period in question holds special importance to me, I am quite happy to look at anything you may need help with, my knowledge is a little limited outside of Europe, but I am quite extensively aware of most day to day items, and art from Europe… from roughly the Sixth Century through to the Seventeenth, since that is when I came to the Colonies… as they were then."

___

Orion leads Michael down a short hallway. Motion lights above them turn on as they move toward the storage vault. “I would appreciate any information you could share. To speak with someone who has been around to see some of these items in the real world. This is a rare experience.” He opens another door with his keycard and steps inside, a wave of cool air hitting the two of them. “Here, I have them lain out for you.” On the main table are a sword with writing on it, a gold bracelet with gems in it, a silver necklace, a mirror, and an armor chest plate with a matching helmet. On a few tables around the outer rim of the room are a few mundane items from the same time period. “Please be careful if you handle the items. I know the necklace is true silver.”

___

Nodding Michael picks up the sword, his smile faint, and obviously nostalgic. "I held this once… it had passed hands several times by then of course." He laughs his expression thoughtful. "My King Baduila showed it to me, he told me some grand story that had spread of how it was used by Theodoric the Great to slay a dozen guards and Odoacer at a banquet to celebrate peace. Of course in that version Theodoric was the betrayed hero. I was a scholar and historian. I knew of course that in reality the sword was never used to draw blood, at least not at that point, but it was at that banquet that Theodoric killed Odoacer." He smiles as he places the sword back down, he removes a pen and paper jotting down a translation of the inscription almost as though he were reading it in English. "There are of course parts that don't translate well, but that is as good as you'll find I suspect." He smiles as he hands the paper to Orion. "The other pieces are of less importance, although not by much. The bracelet, and necklace are both well made, they'd have been presented to important people, the necklace was religious in nature, although I'm not sure which… there was a great deal of tolarance." He smiles. "The rest was fairly common, the armor was that of an officer, but otherwise nothing exceptional."

___

Orion himself is jotting down a few notes as Michael speaks, taking the paper as it is handed to him. "Thank you very much. And yes, this sword was associated with a few treasures linked to King Baduila. In fact I believe all of these items are from a find specific to that king." He glances at the necklace and bracelet. "I'm sure I can figure out which religion the necklace is important to now that I know what to look for. Religious mythology is one of my strong points." He nods to the armor as well. "Alright and if the armor is just standard mail then I'll have it placed in the armory room." He makes a few more notations and places his paper pad on the table with the artifacts. "I'll keep this here. I have a tendency to sit down my clipboard and forget where I put it." He sticks his pen in his coat pocket. "Thank you again. Your few minutes of insight just saved me months of research."

___

Smiling slightly Michael nods. "It was my pleasure Doctor, it's not often I'm not the oldest thing in the room, it was refreshing." He frowns slightly, looking at the armour. "And of course there are memories associated with some of the items." He smiles. "I would suggest you begin looking into early Christian cults, many of the Ostrogothic religions were former pagans attempts to understand Christianty, they led to some… interesting ideas."

___

Orion chuckles at Michael’s mention of not being the oldest item in the room. “Yes, I can imagine that would be an interesting feeling for one such as yourself.” He nods at the mention of the cults, “Yes well, Christianity is a confusing religion to an outsider. Especially to an outsider who at one time believed in many gods.” He walks over and makes a few more notations on his clipboard. “I’ll start going through some of our older texts tomorrow.” The man turns back to Michael. “So, you would like to see some of the museum? Where would you prefer to start? Artifacts or art? We also are storing a few taxidermies here for the Museum of Modern History if you would care to see that.” He takes Michael around the museum, showing him various displays and discussing art and history until slightly before dawn.

~ Fin ~

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