Under a Neon Moon (Josie)

[Felix Arnaud]

(Back at Hammel...)

As Felix put the last book back in its proper place, he breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the fact that he had managed to get all the kids out at seven sharp for once, they had managed to leave a pretty sizable mess It had taken him the better part of forty minutes to get everything straight to the point where he felt justified leaving, and that was moving fast enough to collect a couple of pretty new bruises. Normally he didn't rush his work, but one of his co-workers had begged him to change shifts with them, and so his shift had been extended from six hours to twelve. Twelve of the the busiest hours he'd had in this job outside of exam times, no less, and he was far more ready than normal to get gone. The only bright side was that he now had the next day off, and with that came the opportunity to blow off some steam without having to deal with alarm clocks or hangover cures in the morning.

The brunet shrugged his heavy winter coat on over a dark red flannel shirt, and took a second to adjust the scarf around his neck. The window in the hall door told him that the rest of the building had been pretty much evacuated; chances were he was the last non-emergency staff member at Hammel. That figured; classes had stopped hours ago. The only reason for students to still be here was the library, and he had shut that down. It wasn't exams, so the computer lab closed with the library. With the lights most off, he was willing to bet that even the maintenance staff had... aw, hell. I was supposed to meet up with Josie. Didn't think it would take this long to clean up. And if the light are off, she's probably already gone...

"Guess there's no help for it," Felix muttered to himself as he pushed open the door, and the hurried motion that had carried on from his work almost caused him to walk past the person standing in the hall.

"Oh! Hi!" Felix's movement was arrested, and he turned around, eyes taking a second to focus on the woman who had startled him. "Sorry, I... kinda figured I was alone in the building. Didn't think anyone else would be here this late."

[Josie Raines]

In contrast, Josie's shift had ended right on time for once. Maybe being winter, with the sun going down so early and the sports teams practicing inside, there were just fewer bodies to trail slush and mud everywhere; maybe there someone new on staff whose power was manipulating surfaces to repel grime. Whatever it was, she didn't feel like questioning her luck. It meant she had time to change into street clothes before swinging by the library.

..And parking it for a while, apparently, since Felix didn't seem to be sharing that luck. Josie supposed she could go in, pass the time chatting while he finished up. It was a library, not a dungeon, after all. But she decided against it, instead choosing to wait outside and play on her phone. To catch a breath before they headed off into the night, she told herself.

"What, you forget about me?" Josie chided when he finally appeared, nearly blasting past her on his way out the door. She pulled an exaggerated pout, knowing it wasn't subtle enough to be mistaken for real hurt. "That's harsh, Felix. A real punch to the gut." Bending down, Josie grabbed the handles of the small duffel at her feet and slung it over her shoulder. "Tell you what, buy the first round an' I'll forgive you."

[Felix Arnaud]

Felix grinned as he realized the person who had startled him was none other than the one he was looking for. He really had been worried that she might have left without him, though he supposed that was a little ridiculous of him. Josie might not always be the softest person he knew, but at the end of the day she was good people, and he didn't think she'd have just left him flapping in the wind without at least letting him know.

"Well," Felix replied, affecting a long-suffering tone, "some of us don't have cushy jobs like you. I had to pick up books alllll daaaay, an' it was real hard." It took only a second for the haughty facade to break, and he huffed out a short laugh, his grin breaking out into a genuine smile that made the edges of his eyes crinkle up. "But I suppose if your forgiveness is that cheap, I can afford it this once." Fumbling with his coat, the demi-librarian pulled out his own phone, thumbing through to find the number to the local cab company. "Tell ya what, I'll even let ya complain about your workday all the way to the bar if you promise to play a game'r two of pool with me."

-----

(Present time, at the bar)

Felix walked through the front door, mouthing a hello to the bouncer at the door and showing his ID. He needn't have bothered; the guy recognized him and waved him past, and Felix quickly shrugged off his coat, dropping it on the back of a bar chair. The place was doing a brisk trade, but there was still enough free space at the bar that he could sit an not worry about being overwhelmed by motion. He managed to get the bartender's attention quickly, ordering two beers and a shot of whiskey.

Only once that was done did he settle down and let out a long sigh, leaning back as best he could in his chair and closing his eyes, giving his physical sight a rest. "Thank god I don't have to work tomorrow," he muttered, voice barely audible above the music. He turned his head more or less in Josie's direction, raising an eyebrow and cracking his eyes open. "What about you? You plannin' on goin' in tomorrow with a hangover, or do ya actually have a morning free?"

[Josie Raines]

Josie, on the other hand, caught the bouncer's attention for a brief moment. Not being a regular like Felix, she was expected to flash her ID for entry. Which wasn't a problem - even at her usual haunts, she tended to get stopped. Maybe her height was the issue. Josie personally felt she looked her age, but whatever. She could keep her ID on her, didn't hurt her any. The delay it caused was minor, but enough that when she took a seat, Felix was already ordering.

"Nah, I have a late shift tomorrow," she replied, leaning her elbows on the unpolished bar. Shame smoking was banned in bars these days - Josie was too young to remember when it wasn't, but they'd walked past a few smokers on the way in and the smell had her itching for a cigarette. Later, she decided. They'd only just sat down. "A late night won't kill me."

As she spoke the bartender reappeared, plunking a pair of open bottles in front of them. Josie took here with a "cheers" while the man poured Felix's shot.

"Little bastards run you that hard today?" she asked after a couple sips. Realistically Josie knew most of the students weren't much trouble - and even if they were, she didn't really have room to talk - but she'd never had qualms about shit-talking them off the clock.

[Felix Arnaud]

"Nah, I have a late shift tomorrow. A late night won't kill me."

Felix smiled, nodding even though his head had turned to a more comfortable angle, not facing Josie anymore. "I dunno, drink enough and ya might wish it had." He ran his finger along the lip of the bottle in front of him, focusing on the stream of caramel-colored liquid being poured into the shot glass. From inside the stream he could see the bar he was sitting at, as well as him and Josie, painted in a pallet of yellow and light brown and refracted in abstract patterns he found fascinating.

"Little bastards run you that hard today?"

His coworker's words, however, snapped him out of his short fugue, and he started a bit before propping his head up with a hand. The truth was, despite the difficulty and length of his work day, it hadn't been the bad behavior of the kids (which wasn't that bad anyway) that made him want to start his night with a dose of the good stuff. Partially, it was because he was worried that without it he might fall asleep on his feet before he got a good buzz going. On the other hand... well, no. That was a good enough reason for now. Besides, he knew that Josie wasn't the type to want to listen to other people's problems, and he didn't like to talk about his own anyway.

Felix accepted the shot from the bartender, taking it down easily enough. It wasn't exactly top shelf liquor, but the brunet had never been picky anyway, and in any case the burn on the way down helped to dispel some of the winter cold that still stuck to him. He plopped the shotglass down on the bar, upside down, and affected a long sigh, slumping in a clearly exaggerated manner and grinning in Josie's general direction.

"You know I caught some kid trying to make a playing-card castle with books today? He had it three tiers tall by the time I caught him in the stacks, it was almost kind of impressive."

[Josie Raines]

Starting immediately with both a beer and a shot, while not their usual, wasn't enough for Josie to consider cause for alarm. It was even tame, compared to the benders she sometimes went on after a rough day. But then, those were typically reserved for her solo nights out. She liked Felix well enough, but they were coworkers, and that meant he didn't need to know just how much of a sloppy mess she could be.

So it was more the slouch and the sigh that caught Josie's attention, rather than his choice of drink. Was Felix planning to unload? she wondered briefly - now that would be a change. But no, she realized with relief, when he grinned and went on. If something was truly bothering him, well, booze tended to out, but for now they could just enjoy a little small talk.

"You know I caught some kid trying to make a playing-card castle with books today? He had it three tiers tall by the time I caught him in the stacks, it was almost kind of impressive."

Josie barked a laugh at the image - she pictured the kid, uninterrupted, standing on a teetering pile of books to reach high enough and add the final touch to a structure that had risen much higher than three tiers.

"That's not really fair though, is it?" she pointed out, taking another swig and then setting her drink down. She pressed her fingertips together, forming a peaked angle. "Like, with cards, you have to get the two juust right to stand each other up, but a book, you just stand it on its covers. Takes out half the work." Not that Josie had that much experience messing with books during the mandatory study periods back in school. Her? Nooo.

[Felix Arnaud]

Felix took a sip of his beer, frowning as the leftover burn from the whiskey made it more bitter than he had expected. He really wasn't one for hard liquor, and he was starting to question the choice he had (apparently) made to get drunk tonight. He didn't think Josie was the type who would judge him for that, but that didn't make him any less worried about acting the ass. Usually when he got really drunk it was at home alone, and the only person he could embarrass himself in front of was his cat.

"Like, with cards, you have to get the two juust right to stand each other up,
but a book, you just stand it on its covers. Takes out half the work."

The brunet grinned widely, and held up his own arms, fists closed. "No, he actually did it like cards. He had pulled a bunch of those old hardcover Hardy Boys books off the shelves, and made little teepees with them, like you're supposed to." He put his elbows on the bar and brought his arms together to make a triangle, with the knuckles of his fists resting against each other. "And then of course, when I made him put them back, they were all in the wrong order, and half of them were upside down. I couldn't tell if he was trying to spite me, or if it really just didn't occur to him to do it right."

[Josie Raines]

"And then of course, when I made him put them back, they were all in the wrong order, and half of them were upside down. I couldn't tell if he was trying to spite me, or if it really just didn't occur to him to do it right."

"You're kinder'n I woulda been, Josie told him. "If I caught a kid pulling something like that I woulda stood an' watched while I made him put it right.

It was mostly bluster, of course. In her own line of work, Josie encountered kids like that often enough; kids abandoning spills and whatnot. On occasion (much rarer than one would think, judging by her gripes), the culprit would shrug and trot out what was quickly becoming her least favorite phrase: "Whatever, that's your job." That's when she wanted most to throw a mop at them and live the dream. But they were right, it was her job, and she meant to keep it for a while.

Didn't mean she didn't need a little help now and again, though.

"Hey, can I get a shot here too?" Josie asked once the barkeep had made his way back to their end. No sense in letting Felix have all the fun. "Rum please."