(9:20:43 PM) Midnight Lady: “Thank you again Mr. Fox,” his still upset client said after passing over the check and standing up. “You did a good job. If we need your services again…” With a last nod the man went out of the detectives offices and into the autumn night.
(9:22:55 PM) Sebastian: Sebastian Fox ran his hands over his face before he leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. One case down, one to go. Who knew this tiny, secluded little island would be filled with so much riff raff. Kicking off from his chair, it rolled to a corner where he poured himself a drink. Good old bourbon.
(9:25:32 PM) Midnight Lady: “Um, excuse me sir,” a hesitant sounding voice said softly behind him. Peculiarly he did not hear his door open, nor the sound of foot steps upon the wooden floor before the voice spoke.
(9:27:00 PM) Sebastian: He turned, wondering who had the soft step, but found no one to be there. A few glances this way and that, Sebastian shrugged. Tossing it up to a late night and a lack of liquor.
(9:29:08 PM) Midnight Lady: “You’re Sebastian Fox, the detective. Correct?” A flicker in the lights, perhaps even from outside, but it looked as though a shadow moved from the corner of his office.
(9:33:20 PM) Sebastian: “That’d be me.” Not a soul. He must have been living in this town for far too long. Instead of being baffled by a voice that didn’t have a source – he made sure the radio was flipped off – Sebastian was more vexxed about it talking after hours. Warily looking around still, he poured his bourbon and took a sip. “We’re closed, lady.” It was definitely a lady, that much her surmised.
(9:36:34 PM) Midnight Lady: “Time, oh, I don’t know,” there was a long pause and defiantly this time the shadow in the corner moved, coming closer to the desk. There was a vague human form, head and shoulders, and it reached the ground. That was it though. “I’m not sure when I got here, or how.”
(9:39:08 PM) Sebastian: Sebastian went ahead and drank down the entire glass of bourbon in one swallow before setting it down hard on his desk. He was gonna need it. Eyeing the shadow, more to make sure it was actually there, he leaned back in his chair. “Aw’right. We’ll start with the basics… You got here two minutes ago. Have a name?”
(9:42:05 PM) Midnight Lady: There was another silence. The shadow even seemed to shift, possibly shrink slightly. Before Sebastian could start getting frustrated she spoke up. “I’m sure I have one, but for now I haven’t one to give you.”
(9:45:15 PM) Sebastian: A clear look of annoyance was on his face as he ran his hand through his hair. “Lady, you’re telling me you just showed up here out of the blue and don’t have a clue who you are and where you came from? …Do you even know that you’re… uh.” He gestured a hand at the shadow. Not even sure if the shadow could see anything.
(9:48:56 PM) Midnight Lady: “What I am?” There was a mocking ting to her voice, but it was inwardly directed. “No detective, I don’t know what I am. I am afraid all I am sure of at the moment is that I need help, and you,” there might have been a sigh had the thing before him breathed. “You have a good reputation. And no, I don’t know how I know that either.”
(9:53:25 PM) Sebastian: “Nice to know I’m unforgetable.” Sebastian retorted with hint of humor and a smirk. It was short lived though. Here was this shadow, needing… something. And he didn’t have a damn clue where to start. Or if he’d even be payed. A man has bills to think of. “Don’t know what I can do about it without somewhere to start…” he confessed after a moment. “I’m not -that- good.”
(9:57:23 PM) Midnight Lady: The shadow shifted a bit, still a bit undefined in shape, but the nodding of the head was unmistakable. “That’s understandable. Thank you for not just out right saying no.” There was relief in the voice, and it was clear that there had been tension in the voice up until now.
(10:02:58 PM) Sebastian: He just accepted a job from a shadow, and he didn’t even know what the job was yet. Ah well, there was bound to be worse jobs in this town. “Sleep on it. …if you sleep. I’ll think of something in the mornin’.”
(10:07:21 PM) Midnight Lady: “I suppose we will find out if I sleep.” The shadowed moved over to the window. Was she looking out into the night street of the small island city? “Elswen?” Without facial features or even easy to recognize body movement it was difficult with just the voice alone to determine if she was curious, hopeful or confused by what she saw outside.
(10:09:08 PM) Sebastian: “You know something’ at least.” Sebastian was curious, but he was also tired. He leaned forward on his desk, sliding over some of his paperwork and the pictures from his current case. A couple gazes at the shadow, he shook his head. Naw… not the same girl. There was a height difference.
(10:11:24 PM) Midnight Lady: Silently, because whatever else she was she was a shadow, the mysterious female went over beside his chair. “Not for the man that just left here, right?”
(10:12:48 PM) Sebastian: “Nope. Just finished up his case.” Sebastian slid the papers to the side, never liking the idea of a snoop looking in on his casework, shadow or not. “Nothing to be concerning you, ‘less you suddenly remembered something useful.”
(10:16:50 PM) Midnight Lady: “No, I’m afraid at the moment I’m very much a blank canvas.” There was more she wanted to say, but it wasn’t anything that would help the detective figure out who she was. All it was was emotions, the anxiety, the frustration, the curiosity, and beyond all of that the fear. A fear she felt could swallow her up like a large shadow that she wouldn’t find herself out of again.
(10:23:45 PM) Sebastian: Sebastian stuffed his paperwork in to a folder and stashed it away in to his desk. He’d still cast a wary glance her way ever so often, but for the most part he stepped around the shadow as he put things away and snatched up his coat. “You’re not gonna be lurkin’ around here all the time are ya? Not gonna be easy workin’ with a shadow on my back.”
(10:27:34 PM) Midnight Lady: “Would you rather not know I was lurking?” After all she couldn’t just go home. She didn’t know where home was. Hell she wasn’t even sure where she had been before she came into this office. “Of course, who’s to say I’ll even be around in the morning.” That frightened her to the core. What if she became nothing after this. No! She wasn’t going to just disappear.
(10:29:46 PM) Sebastian: He hesitated. If only because it was all too easy to imagine what it’d be like to be so disconnected that you felt nonexistant. It gave him the heebie-jeebies. “Aw’right… I can get that. Just… stay out of my case files.”
(10:33:04 PM) Midnight Lady: “That’s fine,” while she was mildly curious, it wasn’t polite to snoop for snooping sake. “I suppose this is a bit odd for you.”
(10:34:02 PM) Sebastian: “It’s not every day some midnight lady walks in to my office askin’ for a favor, that’s for damn sure.”
(10:38:13 PM) Midnight Lady: “I know I can’t promise you payment, but I will do what I can to pay you back by whatever means I have, just as soon as we know what those are,” the last of her words trailing off to but a whisper as she followed the detective out of his office. It was very hard not to be depressed right now. She knew nothing, even the detective seemed unsure how he could help. The shadow tried to not focus too much inwardly. Instead she tried to study the surroundings.
(10:41:37 PM) Sebastian: “Don’t go getting all emotional. Last thing I need is some teary-eyed dame making my nights awkward.” It was walking down the sidewalk after locking up his office that he realized she shadow was still tagging along. He swallowed a groan.
(10:44:21 PM) Midnight Lady: “Of course,” she said softly, reasserting her opinion that she needed to try to keep her feelings to herself, which she had a hunch wasn’t something she liked doing around those she trusted. So she trusted the detective? That remained to be seen.
(9:22:55 PM) Sebastian: Sebastian Fox ran his hands over his face before he leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. One case down, one to go. Who knew this tiny, secluded little island would be filled with so much riff raff. Kicking off from his chair, it rolled to a corner where he poured himself a drink. Good old bourbon.
(9:25:32 PM) Midnight Lady: “Um, excuse me sir,” a hesitant sounding voice said softly behind him. Peculiarly he did not hear his door open, nor the sound of foot steps upon the wooden floor before the voice spoke.
(9:27:00 PM) Sebastian: He turned, wondering who had the soft step, but found no one to be there. A few glances this way and that, Sebastian shrugged. Tossing it up to a late night and a lack of liquor.
(9:29:08 PM) Midnight Lady: “You’re Sebastian Fox, the detective. Correct?” A flicker in the lights, perhaps even from outside, but it looked as though a shadow moved from the corner of his office.
(9:33:20 PM) Sebastian: “That’d be me.” Not a soul. He must have been living in this town for far too long. Instead of being baffled by a voice that didn’t have a source – he made sure the radio was flipped off – Sebastian was more vexxed about it talking after hours. Warily looking around still, he poured his bourbon and took a sip. “We’re closed, lady.” It was definitely a lady, that much her surmised.
(9:36:34 PM) Midnight Lady: “Time, oh, I don’t know,” there was a long pause and defiantly this time the shadow in the corner moved, coming closer to the desk. There was a vague human form, head and shoulders, and it reached the ground. That was it though. “I’m not sure when I got here, or how.”
(9:39:08 PM) Sebastian: Sebastian went ahead and drank down the entire glass of bourbon in one swallow before setting it down hard on his desk. He was gonna need it. Eyeing the shadow, more to make sure it was actually there, he leaned back in his chair. “Aw’right. We’ll start with the basics… You got here two minutes ago. Have a name?”
(9:42:05 PM) Midnight Lady: There was another silence. The shadow even seemed to shift, possibly shrink slightly. Before Sebastian could start getting frustrated she spoke up. “I’m sure I have one, but for now I haven’t one to give you.”
(9:45:15 PM) Sebastian: A clear look of annoyance was on his face as he ran his hand through his hair. “Lady, you’re telling me you just showed up here out of the blue and don’t have a clue who you are and where you came from? …Do you even know that you’re… uh.” He gestured a hand at the shadow. Not even sure if the shadow could see anything.
(9:48:56 PM) Midnight Lady: “What I am?” There was a mocking ting to her voice, but it was inwardly directed. “No detective, I don’t know what I am. I am afraid all I am sure of at the moment is that I need help, and you,” there might have been a sigh had the thing before him breathed. “You have a good reputation. And no, I don’t know how I know that either.”
(9:53:25 PM) Sebastian: “Nice to know I’m unforgetable.” Sebastian retorted with hint of humor and a smirk. It was short lived though. Here was this shadow, needing… something. And he didn’t have a damn clue where to start. Or if he’d even be payed. A man has bills to think of. “Don’t know what I can do about it without somewhere to start…” he confessed after a moment. “I’m not -that- good.”
(9:57:23 PM) Midnight Lady: The shadow shifted a bit, still a bit undefined in shape, but the nodding of the head was unmistakable. “That’s understandable. Thank you for not just out right saying no.” There was relief in the voice, and it was clear that there had been tension in the voice up until now.
(10:02:58 PM) Sebastian: He just accepted a job from a shadow, and he didn’t even know what the job was yet. Ah well, there was bound to be worse jobs in this town. “Sleep on it. …if you sleep. I’ll think of something in the mornin’.”
(10:07:21 PM) Midnight Lady: “I suppose we will find out if I sleep.” The shadowed moved over to the window. Was she looking out into the night street of the small island city? “Elswen?” Without facial features or even easy to recognize body movement it was difficult with just the voice alone to determine if she was curious, hopeful or confused by what she saw outside.
(10:09:08 PM) Sebastian: “You know something’ at least.” Sebastian was curious, but he was also tired. He leaned forward on his desk, sliding over some of his paperwork and the pictures from his current case. A couple gazes at the shadow, he shook his head. Naw… not the same girl. There was a height difference.
(10:11:24 PM) Midnight Lady: Silently, because whatever else she was she was a shadow, the mysterious female went over beside his chair. “Not for the man that just left here, right?”
(10:12:48 PM) Sebastian: “Nope. Just finished up his case.” Sebastian slid the papers to the side, never liking the idea of a snoop looking in on his casework, shadow or not. “Nothing to be concerning you, ‘less you suddenly remembered something useful.”
(10:16:50 PM) Midnight Lady: “No, I’m afraid at the moment I’m very much a blank canvas.” There was more she wanted to say, but it wasn’t anything that would help the detective figure out who she was. All it was was emotions, the anxiety, the frustration, the curiosity, and beyond all of that the fear. A fear she felt could swallow her up like a large shadow that she wouldn’t find herself out of again.
(10:23:45 PM) Sebastian: Sebastian stuffed his paperwork in to a folder and stashed it away in to his desk. He’d still cast a wary glance her way ever so often, but for the most part he stepped around the shadow as he put things away and snatched up his coat. “You’re not gonna be lurkin’ around here all the time are ya? Not gonna be easy workin’ with a shadow on my back.”
(10:27:34 PM) Midnight Lady: “Would you rather not know I was lurking?” After all she couldn’t just go home. She didn’t know where home was. Hell she wasn’t even sure where she had been before she came into this office. “Of course, who’s to say I’ll even be around in the morning.” That frightened her to the core. What if she became nothing after this. No! She wasn’t going to just disappear.
(10:29:46 PM) Sebastian: He hesitated. If only because it was all too easy to imagine what it’d be like to be so disconnected that you felt nonexistant. It gave him the heebie-jeebies. “Aw’right… I can get that. Just… stay out of my case files.”
(10:33:04 PM) Midnight Lady: “That’s fine,” while she was mildly curious, it wasn’t polite to snoop for snooping sake. “I suppose this is a bit odd for you.”
(10:34:02 PM) Sebastian: “It’s not every day some midnight lady walks in to my office askin’ for a favor, that’s for damn sure.”
(10:38:13 PM) Midnight Lady: “I know I can’t promise you payment, but I will do what I can to pay you back by whatever means I have, just as soon as we know what those are,” the last of her words trailing off to but a whisper as she followed the detective out of his office. It was very hard not to be depressed right now. She knew nothing, even the detective seemed unsure how he could help. The shadow tried to not focus too much inwardly. Instead she tried to study the surroundings.
(10:41:37 PM) Sebastian: “Don’t go getting all emotional. Last thing I need is some teary-eyed dame making my nights awkward.” It was walking down the sidewalk after locking up his office that he realized she shadow was still tagging along. He swallowed a groan.
(10:44:21 PM) Midnight Lady: “Of course,” she said softly, reasserting her opinion that she needed to try to keep her feelings to herself, which she had a hunch wasn’t something she liked doing around those she trusted. So she trusted the detective? That remained to be seen.