The Pen is Mightier

(ooc - this is open)

He was supposed to be out and about, enjoying his eternal youth in the bars and clubs of Nachton - how he had ended up wiling his evening away on a letter instead was beyond him. Oh, he could follow the sequence of events that had led him here, but each event seemed inexplicable now, as he stood on the looming steps of the Nachton Library.

One shouldn't, Palmer mused as he ascended, need to visit the library just to write a letter to one's creator, but this was a very important letter - a make or break sort of deal. He wasn't quite ready to tell Thaddeus what he was up to, but he'd go about it just the same. He told himself that he was holding back because his friend didn't need this sort of trouble right now, and it had nothing to do with his own misgivings regarding pulling the political strings of Anantya.

Never very good at lying to himself, Palmer smiled and shook his head as he pushed open the library doors. He had a fine evening with Eudemian Ethics and several sheets of paper ahead of him.

Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig Jameson walked up the staircase with his companion, whistling a sharp and happy tune. It wasn't anything he could actually recall, just some tune that put a spring in his step. The weather was finally changing over to fabulous April showers and the promise of spring was very apparent. Taking two steps at a time, he leisurely climbed to the next floor and stopped on the landing as he waited for his friend.

'You of all people should be taking those three at a time. You're slowing down, for shame.' His companions blank yet sour expression made him chuckle as he looked around the second floor. Reaching up, Brig rubbed his right thumb across his bottom lip and surveyed the area for potential ex-Mrs. Jamesons.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammerthynn slowly ascended the stairs, narrowing his eyes at his offensive whistler. The sharp whistling echoed off the walls, reverberating into his ears. Brig was already checking out the second level floor, searching for good looking women who may, or may not, be attached - with him it didn't really matter. With a sour face and monotone voice, he replied.

'I don't think a library is a good place to search out a trusted mate, Brig.'
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig smiled at a dark haired woman who walked by, endangering herself with a smile. His head followed as he reached out and grabbed Hammer's shirt, pulling him next to him to watch the young lady.

'One doesn't search for a trusted mate, my friend. That adventure is a process which is long, arduous and fraught with intrigue, alcohol and much bare skin.'

Hammer grumbled something about college students being a quarter of his age to which Brig herumphed and then walked swiftly to catch up with said adventure. At six foot five and two hundred and eighty pounds, Brig was a tall, solidly built man who seemed to float on his feet. Many years as a military officer in the Kadzait corp had honed his leading abilities as well as his charming disposition. Even your enemy can be fine company over a hearty fifth of scotch.

Running his hand over his short reddish graying hair, Brig caught up to the dark haired woman and introduced himself happily.
Palmer 16 years ago
Palmer flipped over his legal pad (because real men didn’t use stationary) and stared down at another blank page, finding he was no further than when he started writing this damnable letter. He couldn’t sound too preachy but he had to be clear. He had to make Blaine aware of the situation but at the same time steer his interest away from direct involvement. It was, he thought, a nearly impossible task, likely to be bungled in his otherwise very capable hands.

And no one else could write this letter.

Giving an uncharacteristic sigh, he stood and stretched his legs, wandering through the non fiction section to the paperbacks resting on round racks in the middle of the second floor. Maybe Tom Clancy could provide insight where Aristotle had failed – after all, he was an intrigue author, right? He chuckled sardonically and spun the rack, humming an approximation of ‘The Candy Man’ as he looked for promising titles.

His already tuneless humming was made more cacophonous, though, by the sound of another aspiring musician in their midst. It wasn’t a tune he recognized, though it was familiar enough that he thought he should. Palmer looked up, seeking the source, and spotted two men coming up the stairwell.

Or rather, his mind corrected, two –freaking huge- guys. Palmer was usually very ‘people are people’, but even he thought it would be unwise to mess with them, friendly humming or not.

It appeared, however, that they were fated to cross paths. The one with the red hair was headed for the table Palmer had just abandoned – the table where, incidentally, a rather attractive woman had decided to settle in, shoving his notebook to one side. He had a feeling this wouldn’t end well if it ended up looking like he was trying to put a move on the girl and hesitated, not wanting to look like he was c-blocking some random guy’s action just because he needed his notebook back.

His hovering, incidentally, brought him to a stop right next to the even larger man the red head had come in with. Well, that worked out perfectly then – he couldn’t get around this house of a man anyway, so he could just announce his presence and his purpose..


“Hi,” he said, directing his speech upward. Jesus Christ this guy was huge! “Excuse me, I just need to grab my notebook.” He flashed a smile that he hoped was innocent but probably wasn’t, waiting for the human Mack truck to move out of his way.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
rHammer rolled his good eye and moved away from Brig, beginning his slow walk down the aisles of books. Immediately he felt drawn to old history and physics, but he kept walking as he listened to the murmurs of voices and pages being turned. Who still used libraries, he wondered. With technology rapidly engulfing the world's sense of culture and attention, books seem to fall to the wayside; hello to e-books and magazines. Still, Hammer strolled leisurely past the non fiction towards the paperback section.

The name of a book caught his eye and he stepped into an aisle, pulling the book off the shelf. He opened it, immediately cracking the new spine and permitting himself a soft smile. There was something about the fine crease of a new book spine that made him all warm and fuzzy. Laughter coming from Brig and his table companion caught his attention and he turned his back again into the aisle when someone spoke behind him.

Turning, he gave the voice an appraising look; one would rather think it was an annoyed, angry sneer by the look of his remaining eye and its scarred partner. Notebook, he said. Hammer looked back again and saw one sitting on the table next to Brig. Hammer offered no friendly smile, no hand shake or even a half hearted grunt, he clenched his jaw and took a small step back, small for him - two for anyone else, and snapped the book shut with his large hand.

Quietly, almost certainly not loud enough for anyone as far as Brig was from them, Hammer said his name just above a whisper.


'Brig.'
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig chuckled, flirting heavily with the dark haired woman. By this point, and we're talking all of maybe five minutes, Brig had already captured enough of her interest that she permitted the 6'5 moose of a man with red hair, the privilege of entwining said dark hair in his hand.

He was perched on the table, leaning toward the girl, playing with a lock of her long, black hair in his hand, ignoring the fact that he was in a library and statistically the odds of finding a girl here weren't any better than finding one at a supermarket. However, this did not deter Brig as he let go of the hair and took his hand in hers, remarking on how soft and delicate they were.

'Brig.'

Immediately Brig's attention broke off from the girl and his head turned in the direction of Hammer's voice. It may have been barely above a whisper, but he did not need to hear his Beta's voice loudly to know when he needed his attention. Brig went from charming devil to alert commander in about 1 second flat.

He lifted his chin and furrowed his eyebrows at Hammerthynn. His beta hooked a thumb out and pointed it toward a lone notebook on the table, then Hammer tipped his head in the direction of the man in front of him. Immediately the smile returned and Brig scooped up the notebook.

Walking over to Hammer, he stood next to him, no doubt giving the smaller man quite the eyeful and politely held it out to him.


'Sorry, this yours?'
Palmer 16 years ago
Palmer straightened his posture when the tower o’ dude looked his way, trying to gather up a little more height. He realized rather quickly, though, that in an intimidation contest he would lose spectacularly unless he relied on his abilities. The guy had a –missing eye-, for Pete’s sake; that trumped any innate scary factor he might possess. Palmer was willing to bet that this one wasn’t accustomed to unwanted company; most sensible people probably left him the hell alone.

Grateful that he wasn’t the least bit sensible, he continued to radiate his normal ‘let’s be pals’ sort of vibe, holding out his hand when the man growled out what seemed to be an introduction. He held out a hand, ready to introduce himself in return, when the huge freakin dude looked away. He played off the gesture by running his hand over his bald head instead, feeling like an idiot and wondering what was going on here; he couldn’t see over the wall’s shoulder. It would appear some kind of exchange had occurred; the red headed gentleman left his perch by the lovely lady and came over, his notebook in hand. What was this, a wrestler’s convention or something? Bemused, his smile broadened and he spoke with his usual profusion of southern manners and hospitality.


“Oh, now I didn’t mean for you to get up! Here I was trying to get to that without interrupting your conversation!” Still smiling, he accepted the offered notebook and held out his hand in it’s place. “But yes, it is mine – thank you for returning it and I –do- apologize for the interruption.”

Spreading the smile out between the two men, he quickly corrected his assumptions – One-Eye hadn’t been introducing himself, but calling for his friend, albeit quietly. The other one just looked more like a Brig. Not that he could venture a guess as to the other one’s name; in fact, it seemed perfectly reasonable that he might not have one. He looked like the sort of guy that people just call Mr. Big or something, just to have something to address him by.
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig chuckled at how he and Hammerthynn must have appeared to the other man. One large one eyed and less than cordial beast of a man and his equally large friend hovering over him. Brig did not like to use his height as an advantage over meeting new people, so he fell back on his relaxed self hoping Hammer would not scare, or eat, the darker man.

Brig shook his head.
'No interruption,' he leaned in a little and winked, 'already managed her name and number anyway. I'll just stalk her down later and have her for breakfast!' He nudged Hammer with his elbow who raised an eyebrow and clenched his jaw in response.

Holding his hand out, Brig introduced himself and Hammer.
'I am Brian Jameson, but everyone calls me Brig. This one eyed mute here is Iov Hammerthynn. Don't shake hands with him though, he bites.' Brig flashed his brightest smile and nearly giggled as he felt Hammer tense up next to him.

Good times.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammer sighed as Brig introduced them both. With a slow blink he acknowledged his best friend's ridiculous sense of humor. Always the straight man, Hammer offered no jokes or stories, he merely stood stoically next to Brig, both towering over the unafraid man. At least he didn't appear to be worried about having two very large men crowding him into the deserted library aisle. The 'deer in the head lights' look usually happened about now, but Hammer really could care less whether the man fled or stayed, but he preferred the former.

Using his tongue, he sucked his canine causing his lip to snarl up for a moment thus effectively completing Hammer's warm welcome.
Palmer 16 years ago
“Palmer Calhoun,” Palmer replied, giving Brig’s hand a firm shake. It was a fitting nickname, he thought – the phrase ‘you get that for size or looks?’ popped into his mind, and his smile broadened. It would probably take three Palmers to make a Brig. “From Charleston.” He probably could have left that off but it explained his accent and if he were lucky they might reciprocate.

He held up both hands at Brig’s warning, keeping them clear of dangerous biting giants. Even so, that beaming smile could not be brought down quite so easily.

“Ah, you want to be careful with that – never know who will bite back! No handshaking it is, but a pleasure to meet you just the same!”

Hmm, didn’t seem like this Iov fellow really appreciated light hearted banter, though he supposed that he might just hide it well. After all, he’d come in with Brig, who seemed pleasant enough to make up for his buddy’s lack of…personality. In any case, he thought he’d done a good job of returning the signals; Palmer thought it fairly obvious from their hints that they were all the same, though quite possibly from different clans. Was there a clan full of…really huge guys? He considered asking outright, now that they had the cloak and dagger nonsense out of the way, but Thaddeus would kill him.

“Thank you again for the notebook, and I’m glad I didn’t disturb you too terribly much.” Okay, maybe he –had- disturbed Cyclops, but he figured if this guy were seriously pissed he’d know about it pretty quickly.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
The dark man's quip about biting back was not lost on Hammer and again he slowly blinked at the man. Hammer took a moment to look around, his good eye appraising the area around him and then again he narrowed at the smaller man.

'My colleague exaggerates of course, Mr. Calhoun. The States just take some getting used to - America's pop culture although not as liberated as Europe, still has particular nuisances as both Mr. Jameson and I are noticing.'
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig nodded and touched his lips with his hand. 'Hardly, Hammer - I've seen you eat!' Brig then tucked his right hand into his sleeve and clamped down with his jaw. Whether Mr. Calhoun saw it as funny as Brig thought it was would determine the path of their conversation.

Pulling his hand back out, he adjusted his sleeve and continued the conversation as was his custom with Hammer. His cousin only spoke when he felt it was necessary - or rather when he felt like it.


'So what brings you here to our city's grand library, Mr. Calhoun? Research?' Brig pointed to the darker man's notebook with a grin. 'We're here doing the same in fact - did you know the city itself was founded during the birth of the country? Rather interesting and dark times back in the day, I hear.'

Calhoun's biting comment was not lost on Brig either.
Palmer 16 years ago
Was this guy actively trying to be as creepy as possible? What a curmudgeon! He could just picture him giving that one eyed squinty look to little kids who wandered into his yard. ‘Grr, get off my lawn before I eat ya!’ It was almost funny, though not so much in a laughing sort of way.

The ‘we’re not from around these parts’ explanation was a good one to cover any weirdness - he’d used it a few times himself, since he’d come to Nachton – and he gave Iov an understanding nod. He might have said more but Brig chose that moment to put in a gag at his friend’s expense – literally! Palmer made a show of inching a few steps away, his eyes going round and wide.


“You two are trouble!” he exclaimed, though by this point he was laughing; the gig was up. Still chuckling, he ran a hand over his head, thinking that there were probably very few people both willing and able to mess with either of these two gentlemen – no wonder Brig had to resort to teasing his gruff companion. “’Could take you two on the road, make myself millions!”

Shaking his head at Brig’s proposed explanation for his presence in the library, he quite bluntly admitted that “I’m just trying to make myself sound smarter than I am; I thought the atmosphere might prove inspiring. I was hoping I might absorb the knowledge by osmosis, but sadly it is not to be, so I’ve ended up cracking a few books in the process.” He gave a little shrug. “I hear that’s what they’re there for.”

He shook his head once again when Brig offered up his Nachton History Trivia, though he grinned good naturedly. “I had no idea! Just a little before my time,” he added, quite truthfully even if his tone was joking.

“So you’re researching the city, then?” He gave the pair a mischievous look. “If it were me I’d be doing my ‘research’ at the clubs; they have some good ones here.”
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammer nodded, the clubs in Nachton would indeed interesting as well as eventful. 'The new club Babylon proved to be exciting and eventful its opening night.' Hammer was referring to the murders that occurred during the Night Parade. The city itself was proving to be high drama, for sure.

Suddenly a familiar scent drifted by Hammer and his attention was immediately turned towards it. Without a word or a nod, he moved past Palmer and headed towards it.


((ooc - and he's off! out))
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
'You went to a club called Babylon without me?' Brig asked incredulously, but Hammer caught whiff of something and moved towards it immediately. With a sheepish grin, Brig explained his cousin's odd behavior.

'He'll do that - OCD and all, you know.' Brig too caught another scent nearby but it was not familiar to him, just another color in the myriad of scented colors in the library. It was female, that much he could tell, with the soft perfume wafting towards him - Brig immediately wondered if Hammer had actually met someone - on friendly terms, rather, not as lunch.

'Well Palmer, it was a pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the interruption and all that. Maybe we'll see you around.' The young female from before was still casting glances at his direction - he'd have to follow up on her as well. Brig held out his hand and nodded politely.

((ooc - out pending response and handshake =D )
Palmer 16 years ago
For the first time, Palmer’s expression turned uneasy as Iov spoke of the club he had all too recently visited. He’d missed the opening, but hadn’t missed the rumors surrounding the strip club – he’d just come a little late to the game.

He shook his head; Cyclops was most likely talking about something completely different. There was a lot more to that club than the murders that had taken place there. By the time Brig made his merry quip, he’d pushed aside his initial discomfort and even chuckled at the comment. Iov, it seemed, was less amused, and wandered off, presumably in search of a baby to eat. He gave Brig an open handed gesture of puzzlement; was it something he’d said? Brig quickly gave his friend’s excuses, but made to join him shortly thereafter – Palmer suspected to keep him out of trouble.


“The pleasure was all mine! And yes, I’m certain I’ll be returning…to Babylon, that is, the library I don’t know about!” He concluded with a chuckle as he shook Brig’s hand, thinking those two were an odd pair but seemed alright.

“Good luck,” He added, with a final nod as he headed back for his table. That letter wasn’t going to write itself, after all, but he was grateful for the break the two strangers had offered him.

/ooc Palmer out