Bookin' It! (Howard tries to research the medallion), OPEN Options

[Necrom]

Howard stepped into the bookshop & with a quick scan around took in the rows of books before him. He nodded a greeting to the person behind the counter, then moved to the row closest to him & began slowly reading the titles.

The Ventrue had learned of the place the night before while researching the mysterious medallion now in his possession via the 'net. Not able to find anything of use with the general search options, Howard instead had to find places within the city that may have some clues to the origin of the artifact. Besides the Grant Museum (which he planned on going to tomorrow night), Read Between the Lines seemed the best choice amoung poor options.

Howard was up immediately after sunset to give him as much time as possible before the store closed. However, traffic was worse then expected & he'd arrived later then expected. Still, he had some time... He noticed there were a couple of other patrons with their noses in books, neither of which bothered to glance up to look at him.

For a few minutes, he continued searching unsuccessfully. Without moving, the person behind the counter asked loudly enough to hear: "Can I help you with anything?"

Howard stepped out of the row he was in to make eye contact. With a small smile, he replied: "Not at the moment, thank you.", then returned to his searching.

"If I don't find something soon, I will have to ask for help." he thought to himself.

[Circe]

"Try the back corners." Circe whispered softly, straining to get a book down from the shelf just out of her reach. She bounced back on her heels and smiled at the man who was currently hunched over the rows of books as if rying to make them part ranks. She had come here in search of something to entertain her, seeing as how her last foray into the city life had ended in a somewhat...not so nice manner.
"Most of the really good books, at least the ones worth reading in my opinion, are always hidden in the dusty corners where people refuse to look." She flipped the pages of the book she had just pulled down, looking for anything that would really irritate her as she read and finding a minimum of anything overly irritating she wandered off to another shelf, hoping to find a few more books that she wouldn't mind burning through. She went to the horror section, for some reason the amount of time people spent on vampire's amused her, and occasionally seeing one of the mortal authors get close to the truth was exhilirating, although she did think Vampire's were simply evolved humans who in the end led really dull lives.

She poked her head around the corner and watched him exam each book title by title and stifled a giggle.

[Necrom]

Howard looked up from his searching to look at the young woman whispering to him. As she streched for a book that look out of reach for her, he briefly considered retrieving it for her. Before he could move, she got it herself.

Having no luck finding what he wanted, the Ventrue decided to try the woman's suggestion. "Thank you." he said quietly as he went to the back of the shop to find those untouched corners of shelves.

Howard found a particularly dusty section & resumed his search. Noticing the woman peer around a corner at him, he gave her a quick, bland smile then turned back to what he was doing.

[Circe]

Circe retreated with her books to the counter and paid for them, before going off to find the man with the blank face. Finding him becoming covered with dust she couldn't help but laugh.

"What is it that you are looking for?" She frequented many bookstores and had found they all seem to follow the same sorting style, especially those that didn't really have a sorting style at all. She waited patiently for his reply, bouncing lightly from foot to foot, trying to figure out why someone who looked more like a business man should be rooting around in a musty old store.

"My name is Circe." She said by way of introduction as she stuck her hand out to shake his.

[Necrom]

Fingers now covered in dust, Howard was beginning to lose patience. He turned & was about to go to the counter for help, when the woman asked what he was looking for. Suspecting he'd never see her again after tonight, he didn't see the need to lie. "I'm looking for a book on symbols." Howard pulled a handkerchief out of his front pocket & wiped the dirt off his hands. Front his inside pocket, he pulled out a few photos & showed them to the woman. They were of a gold medallion with a symbol engraved upon its face, which was safely hidden at the Ventrue's haven.

"I've recently come into possession of this...thing & I'm trying to learn more about it."

Circe then introduced herself & put out her hand. Howard looked at her hand for a moment, briefly wondering if she was hitting on him. He then slipped the smile she saw before back on & took her hand into his. "Howard." He noticed her touch was cold, like his.

It could be she just had cold hands...

[Circe]

((Sorry, I kinda forgot my laptop existed for a bit, gotta love school))

"Hmm, I think you might be looking in the wrong bookstore hun. Places like this usually don't carry this kind of stuff."

SHe looked around at the hanging signs and the ultra bright interior of the bookstore, a concept she never understood. Beverly hills, beautiful ritzy and way way to bright, but then again, humans liked bright, made them feel safe.

"If you want to find anything about old stuff, like these symbols, you are going to have to try museums, or possibly find a private collector. Sorry, I'm being a know-it-all again." She laughed nervously and handed him back his pictures

She looked around again, taking in the pale faux wood shelves, fairly groaning with the bright glossy binds of the latest fad diets, the occasional "heavy" reading material contrasted greatly with the tabloid magazines that dotted the endcaps. She rolled her eyes, wondering what had possesed her to come to the ritzy end of town to buy books in the middle of the night...oh yeah, normal places weren't open this late and if she wanted books she had to order them or have them picked up for her during normal operating hours. She looked back at the man rummaging among the books and cocked her head to the side.

"So why are you hunting for symbols on some dusty old relic? Don't you have cronies to do that for you?" She didn't mean it to be rude, but most business men had secretaries and people to do their running around for them, since they were always busy planning some hostile take over.

[Necrom]

Howard's smile became slightly sincere at Circe's nervous laugh. "Perhaps you're right, about this place. I need to check though. I'm going to ask the clerk."

In response to her cronies question, Howard paused then said: "I'm more of a do-it-yourself person. Excuse me." The Ventrue then went & spoke to the person behind the counter, a clean cut looking manboy in his early 20s. Howard followed as he led him to a shelf near the front of the shop. After several seconds of searching, the young man handed a book to Howard, who quickly looked it over. They then marched back to the counter, where Howard bought the book.

Howard considered leaving, but decided to show his find to Circe. Not looking hopeful, he revealed the cover. It was a new publication, probably released in the wake of one of Dan Brown's bestsellers. "This is all they have." Then after a moment added: "You're probably right about the museum."

[Circe]

((Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, I totally forgot I owned a computer for a little while there...my bad))

She looked at the cover of the book and raised an eyebrow, it was a half decent book, she had seen it once before a long time ago and looked through it, the pictures were pretty but meant nothing to her."There is a good museum over near San Jose, its a history museum, they should be able to help you, although you may have to request them to stay open since they close kind of early." She wrote down the name of the museum on a scrap of paper and handed it to Howard.
"Ask for Jhonathan Mercury, he is the curator there, and has a love of puzzles and codes, so he could point you to some better information. I'll see you around Howie." She flashed him a peace sign and flounced out of the bookstore whistling to herself.

((braindead, sorry.))

[Necrom]

(OOC: No worries...)

Howard took the piece of paper from Circe & smiled. "Thank you." He then gave her a quick wave as she walked out the door.

When she was gone, Howard looked at the scrap skeptically. Thinking for a moment, he decided to Google the museum & this person when he returned to his haven. It couldn't be a worse lead than the almost certainly useless book he'd just bought.

With a nod to the young man who helped him, Howard stepped back out into the night.

THREAD CLOSED