“Vincent Åsmund, that’s a lovely name Vincent. Should I call you Mr. Åsmund, Mrs. Åsmund or neither, I believe you referred to yourself as a she as well as a he but it could’ve just been a trick of the mind.” She puts down the chai and thinks of what to say about the book. “I really don’t know what every part of it is about, I’ve only deciphered little bits and pieces of it, I’m not even sure if it’s in this language or not. It seems to be a very old book though, I’ve discovered a few secrets within it and much of what seem to be riddles.” She shakes her head. “Whether it, or at least part of it is about the correspondence is undiscovered, well at least to me. I don’t remember how I got it, and after I acquired it and tried to find some sources of the book but none showed up.” She slips the book farther into her coat. “I’ll have to remember to sit down and read one of your books when I get the time though dear, you seem like a brilliant writer.”
She looks over to the american. “Oh? Fascinating! By the way… I don’t quite remember if I got your name dear, so what might I call you?” she tilts her head curiously at them with a grin.
She blinks at the question they asked Lenore and thought about it herself, tapping her chin while Soobrah watches with mild interest.
Lenore closes his eyes for a moment to think, then replies " If I were to wager a guess at your riddle, I’d have to answer with The Wind, I must say it is good to meet someone else with a taste for riddles, the best this one can come up with wouldn’t fool a zailor." He gestures with his head towards McQuin.
"Hey, mine aren’t that bad." He shot back to his Raven companion."
"Oh? Then why don’t you tell us all the one you came up with yesterday?" The raven challenged.
"Err… I’d rather not…"
“Come on now, McQuin! Surely it can’t be that bad!” The American laughs with a surprising warmth. “And as for my name, friends, I didn’t give it. I’m Jackie Pink, or Jack, or just Pink, as you prefer.” They doff their hat in a self-consciously gallant manner.
"Ehh, well alright but it’s more of a world problem then a riddle. A man is accused of being an arsonist and burning down a salon since his foot prints were found near the scene of the crime he becomes the prime suspect, so the constables investigate his lodgings. Inside they find matches, a tinder box and a box full of coal. Is the man guilty or innocent?" Decro then coughs stiffly after speaking.
The little scientist smiles at the American. “Charming surname you have, I rather like it!” she chirps, then turns her attention to Decro, tilting her head slightly and thinking about the riddle. “Well, logically, given the ample amount of evidence against him he’s probably to be found guilty whether he did it or not.”
Pink trades a glance with the raven, then sighs. “It depends whether he’s in good standing with the community and those in power. It’s not enough evidence, but I’ve been, ahem, that is, people have been convicted on less.”
Lenore ruffles his feathers with annoyance and the American laughs. “But the bird’s right. It’s less of a riddle and more of a hypothetical situation.”
“Oh. Vincent will do just fine. He works suitably.” He’d take a long sip before feeling something land on his shoulder. It was Caesar, looking as pompous as ever. Vince would look back at Udorie and raise an eyebrow. “Show me some parts of it-- or tell me a few vocally, if you prefer.” The man would be restraining utter excitement. “As for my books…” he’d give a shrug. “They’re alright, I suppose. My upcoming one will blow the Bazaar’s socks off, though!”
Vorcast blinks and nods slightly. “An excellent point, Mister Pink! Though from a technically stand point, they may apprehend him for probable cause either way.”
Soobrah blinks and finally spoke up. “Me thinks the human would be left be lest they find something to truly tie him to the burning. Or the nasty constables would take him anyway.”
"Good observations all, the man is in fact innocent; Since the box was full of coal it would mean that the man had not started a fire, else he would be missing some. You see Lenore it wasn’t as bad as you thought it was."
Lenore simply scoffs.
McQuin continues "Anyway I was wondering, what do all of you do as a profession?"
The American chuckles, then sneezes violently as one of the ubiquitous cats jumps into their lap. With a snarl and some choice words, the American grabs it by the scruff and moves to deposit the creature by the door. They return and retake their seat and a passing waiter refills their coffee. “Excuse me, friends. What was the question? Ah, yes, my profession. Well, I, uh…I suppose I’m between professions at the moment. I mostly do odd jobs these days. A Jack-of-All-Trades, you know.”
The little scientist nods a few times. “Ahh, that makes sense, such a small detail, I can’t believe I missed it!” she huffs a bit.
“My profession? I do research and assist with Forgotten Quarter expeditions, but for now I am between set professions sadly.”
“Read it to you? I could try I suppose but perhaps you might like to look at it.” (It’s the journal of Metaphysical Conjecture, I believe you can acquire it through the Devils somehow, I didn’t get it through them, or you can look it up.) She smiles broadly. “Well then I suppose I’ll have to be on the lookout for your next book. It might make history.” “So,” she says, “How long have you had a passion for writing.”
(Sorry this is late ^^’.)
He’d take the journal from her hand and read through for a few minutes. There’s a lot of furrowed and raised eyebrows during the process. “I’ve deciphered a few small bits. Most interesting.” He’d take a sip and then he’d laugh. “My books barely make the newspapers. Well, around 3 years. A year after I fell, I took up writing. It’s a hobby, but I’m planning to go fulltime-- Become a journalist first.”
A gentleman no one in the cafe has seen before puts his head in through the door, quickly surveys the gathering of persons two-footed, four-footed, winged and otherwise, and says "Anyone here order a pizza?" Before disappearing into the mist. Now, who the hell was he?
"Hmm, I hope you you’ll become a great writer. Then again, you might already be, I don’t know all that much of you." She sighs. "I fell around seven years ago, I was only fifteen, I don’t know what I was thinking by doing it anyways. It was a terrible decision for someone so young to come to the Neath." She sloshes around her tea. "I’ve been here for a while now, the hardest part was finding a way to live in the Neath in the beginning. It got easier as I got older." " How about you?" She cocks her head gently to the window. "Did anyone here actually order a pizza, I know I didn’t."
edited by Concede on 10/10/2015
“I was twenty-three when I fell. It’s been four years now.” He’d answer, delighted. “I started out in Spite, but quickly moved to Ladybones Road. Needless to say, I earned a place in society and the Bohemians, also making an impression upon the Constabulary.” He’d take a sip of his mint tea. “I’ve made it pretty far, but I’m just a… person of little consequence, for now. That reminds me, I’m having a stroll on Watchmaker’s Hill soon…”
“I’m still a person of little consequence as well, but I pay it no attention. I can move on at my own pace.” She smiles. “Ah, the Constables, they can be a good sort once you get to know them, but I suppose the same goes for criminals.” She waited for a moment and shrugged. “So you were pretty young when you arrived in the Neath as well, it’s odd, you’d think it’d be more uncommon to find people so young traveling down to the Neath.”
"I think I was about 20 when I came down to the neath, scandal and suspicion always seems to be my reasons for leaving somewhere. I found myself in London, and went on board a steamer out to Zee for about a year before the captain I was with retired and his son took the ship. I’m also still someone of little consequence but that shouldn’t be so for much longer. I have to say one of the stranger things I had to get used to done here was the wine, what do you all think of it?"
Vorcast listens and nods a bit. "I am getting close to being a person of some importance myself, though I am a slow going person, so it will take time." she chuckles. "Oh the wine? I thought it was dreadful at first, given my dislike for mushrooms, but I am used to it now, and helping Mister Wines with his revels and getting his favor does earn me some of the better vintages, so my tastes have changed. And, I had the genius idea to mix in some cherry juice that I got from a relicker, the cherries, not cherry juice. Made it better, it was a bottle of broken giants mind you." She clears her throat. "But enough of my drinking rambles, I think what took me the longest to get used to was… I think it was either knowing death is not certain here, or the rubbery men, both of those things still make me rather uneasy."
edited by Saravine on 10/12/2015