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Post by casey on Nov 15, 2008 23:01:28 GMT -5
--open
The Research Center had long been a place where people went to discover new things. Particularly at the Academy, where new things awaited behind every corner. Of all the sections of the Research Center, perhaps the most used was the library. Students constantly needed to take advantage of the vast amount of materials offered for one reason or another. Of course, there were other activities you could do while in a library, but we'll leave those unmentioned for now.
Casey leaned back in an incredibly comfortable chair shoved in a remote corner of the library and tried to sleep. Lately he'd been forced into all-night missions, and usually fairly intense ones. The Academy was on to something in the outside world, and people were getting restless. This just meant more work for the already overworked Casey.
So the Agent took the opportunity to do some "research." He really did have to be there: he'd dropped off something for a research team, and was supposed to be searching the archives for information regarding a case. And he'd already found some information, it sat on a table next to him. But Casey figured he needed to actually rest every once in a while. Besides, people were supposed to be able to work things out in their dreams.
Therefore Casey napped.
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 17, 2008 23:09:05 GMT -5
Sevestra did not nap.
She was technically supposed to be out investigating ghost sightings, but they were really the easiest reports to fake, so there was little point in actually going. They nearly always turned out to be pranks, anyway.
The Shadow Police seemed to be grasping at straws recently, piling their nearly unlimited resources into every little hiccup in the 'natural order of things'. Of course, this just meant she was doing her job well, and in turn reinforced her belief that she was fine not actually going on her assigned mission.
So here she was at the very place the Shadow Police would be drooling over, if they knew it existed, doing actual research with her spare time, like a productive member of the Academy. The disgusted look she had the sleeping form of Casey fixated in between pages clearly added 'unlike some people' to the end of that thought.
In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if the glare's intensity actually managed to wake the poor man.
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Post by casey on Nov 18, 2008 1:03:33 GMT -5
Actually, Casey was pretty much immune to stern gazes. As a student, he'd learned to pretend they were going through him, vaporizing whomever sat behind him. As an Agent, he'd learned that ignoring them was simply the best way to go. People wanted a reacted to you when they did that, and Casey rarely wanted to give ti to them.
He did shift slightly as Sevestra drew close, as if he knew someone had drifted nearby. Reflexes, more than anything else. After all, he was a trained Agent, even if he was taking a cat nap.
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 18, 2008 13:56:52 GMT -5
Sevestra did not like being ignored unless she was specifically trying to go unnoticed, and she certainly was not doing so in this case (though she'd never admit that if someone came right out and questioned her). So the man's refusal to let her gaze alone send a message did nothing to help her opinion of him. Now he was lazy and bothersome, as far as she was concerned.
But as far as she could tell, the rules on the walls really only covered being loud and destroying Research Center property, and she had to admit, however begrudgingly, that he was doing neither by sleeping. And Sevestra Yysara always plays by the rules.
She found herself wishing the man would start snoring loudly so she could actually do something about him.
What she didn't notice was that she was spending more and more time glaring at him and less and less time actually doing research, to the point where she was being almost equally as unproductive as the sleeping Agent.
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Post by casey on Nov 18, 2008 22:13:11 GMT -5
Having not been prodded, poked, yelled at, had an object thrown at, been shocked, zapped, burned, fried, jolted, had water tossed at, or even talked to, Casey continued to sleep the sleep of the quite content. He greatly appreciated his little nap, as it gave him a break from the pressures of his job. It was a dreamless sleep though, without those fanciful images that so often intrude upon our rest. For Casey, this was a fortunate circumstance. His dreams would not be pleasant ones, the kind where you hugged tress made of sugar and danced with cute pink ponies. No, Casey was far more likely to have dreams where evil hobgoblins chased you to poke out your eyeballs with sharp needles. But he didn't have any dreams, so instead he simply rested contentedly.
He did shift every so often, his body adjusting to its chosen resting place. The human form isn't exactly meant to sleep in chairs, after all, though Casey had learned to sleep anywhere he could. A technique that was proving quite useful now.
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 19, 2008 16:32:11 GMT -5
Even the most patient, rule-abiding people have their breaking point. For Sevestra it was just after one of the shifts in position turned out to not be Casey waking up, but just him shifting to an even more comfortable position.
She stood from her own chair, closed her book silently, walked over to Casey, and...
...well, just glared at his some more.
She was practically standing right over him, now, but she hadn't really thought out how she'd go about waking him. Obviously it was her intention to interrupt his sleep, but she couldn't do it by being overly loud, because that would be breaking the library's rules, and wouldn't do it by any sort of physical means, because that would be breaking her personal rules. As far as she was concerned, the only reason to touch another person was if you were required to, and usually when she touched someone, it was to kill or disable them.
However, she refused to stand there looking like an idiot, so she said, in the most commanding voice she could manage (which was pretty damn commanding), "Wake up."
She also did something very un-Sevestra; she kicked the leg of his chair, moving it back a few inches. It was a testament to how much this guy was bothering her.
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Post by casey on Nov 19, 2008 23:10:30 GMT -5
Suddenly Casey heard something cut through his peaceful sleep. A harsh, commanding tone. One that his superiors would utilize, or perhaps one a significant other would employ. Either way, it jerked Casey awake.
The kick to the chair only helped.
The Agent fumbled and flailed for a few moments, eventually coming to his feet and standing at something resembling attention. Along the way, his features slipped a little, an unfortunate side effect to being caught by surprise.
Once he realized that he didn't recognize his awakener, and that she was merely a highly attractive woman, he relaxed into a smile.
"Sorry, was I snoring or something?" he asked. He rubbed the back of his head and looked around for the "research" he'd been doing. Ah, there, on the table! He scooped up a couple of papers, holding them up for Sevestra to see.
"Yeah, I was researching this and I must've nodded off or something," he half-lied. He tried to look properly abashed at being caught "slacking off." "Again, sorry about that."
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 21, 2008 17:53:59 GMT -5
His original reaction was promising; he woke up like a true slacker. There was something weird about his face, but she could easily ignore that and was ready to give him a good telling off.
That is, until he spoke. Interrupting was really not her thing. It was very obviously rude, it was uncalled for, and it usually required raising your voice; something which she would not be doing any time soon. So she decided to let the man ramble on, dish out whatever lousy excuse it was he came up with for napping instead of working, and tell him off when he finally finished.
Of course, then he went and apologized, and told her he had been doing research.
"No," she admitted, because he really hadn't been snoring, much to her chagrin. She suddenly felt as if 'you were sleeping' wasn't exactly the best reason to wake the guy up. But she wouldn't look like a fool, no, she wasn't giving up that easily.
"You work for the Academy, right? I don't think they hired you to nap."
A little harsh, maybe, but she wasn't about to let up just to spare some grunt's feelings.
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Post by casey on Nov 21, 2008 18:13:37 GMT -5
The girl certainly was pretty enough, right up until she opened her mouth. Casey rubbed his bleary eyes and tried to ascertain the identity of this new arrival. She didn't strike him as being immediately familiar, and for a few heartbeats he worried about another potential attack. Meeting Scythe had put the Agent on edge, understandably so.
"It's more like the Academy works me," admitted Casey. He rose to his feet, stretching one last time. Then he focused his attention on Sevestra. "I'm Casey Blythe, Agent, specializing in searching. I don't think I've seen you around here before?"
He also extended a friendly hand in greeting, pasting a smile on his face. Might as well be polite and all that, at least until she tried to rip his face off.
Please don't be another war dragon, I don't think I could handle that right now.
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 22, 2008 14:54:21 GMT -5
Something flashed dangerously in Sevestra's eyes as she stared straight into, or perhaps even through, Casey's. She didn't appreciate him dodging the subject, but the infernal rules and standards she followed blindly dictated that since she hadn't asked him a direct question about the sleeping itself, he wasn't required to answer. And he had answered her actual question.
Her hands were tied.
She nearly raised an eyebrow, unbidden, when he told her what his position was. She couldn't understand how someone like him had managed to even gain, let alone hold, such a position with so little work ethic. It made her worry about just how low the Academy's standards were set, and more than anything, the unfairness of it all pissed her off.
A man who fell asleep while doing research could still be an Agent, whereas she worked her hardest without pause and received no extra credit for it, no commendation for a job well done. Sure, there was the occasional stiff 'congratulations' when she finished a mission, but they really didn't care whether she came out unscathed or mangled, dead or alive, so long as the mission was completed, and they just send her on another mission right after, regardless of her condition. Even though she gave the Academy her all, they treated her just like any other grunt.
She was not any other grunt. She was...
"Double Agent Sevestra Yysara, Shadow Police Infiltration Unit," she said stiffly, shaking the man's hand briefly. She would rather have not touched him, but to ignore the hand would have been outright rude. At least she was wearing gloves. "I should be going. We both have work to do."
She didn't particularly care if the man had seen her around before or not, and seeing as it wasn't exactly a direct question, she didn't feel the need to answer. She just wanted to get back to more important things. Like anything not this.
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Post by casey on Nov 23, 2008 17:48:56 GMT -5
Something about the way Sevestra looked at him was familiar to Casey. Generally people underestimated the ex-Wingrose, and usually with good reason. He didn't exactly project confidence and assurance. Of course, that was mostly an act, as he really did have a stellar success record. Though that did have a lot to do with his way with children, who were the most often retrieved.
At her job announcement, Casey's eyebrows shot up. One of the double agents? For the Shadow Police, no less! Casey had once had to infiltrate their organization to retrieve some information, and he'd barely succeeded with that mission. Someone who could continually do so had his respect and admiration.
"That's a tough assignment," he admitted, nodding. "Usually those agents don't last more than a couple of months before they have to be rotated out. And you're fairly noticeable, what with the Faerie beauty and all. Must be tough keeping it all under wraps."
Casey hadn't even noticed the backhanded compliment he'd just given her. At least he was being respectful and not going all fanboy on the girl.
"Do you need an escort around the Academy?" he offered. "I don't spend a lot of time here, but I know my way around well enough. And I think I have what I need research wise."
He'd gotten what he needed hours ago, hence the catnap.
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 23, 2008 19:18:40 GMT -5
Sevestra was having a hard time being upset with this guy with him complimenting her. However, the fact that he was interfering with her anger managed to somehow, at the same time, make her even more mad at him. It was a paradox of emotion she wasn't able to get her head around, and she didn't like it. And all the compliment did was further arouse her suspicions.
"What makes you think I am a faerie?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Do I know you? Or more importantly, do you know me?"
She didn't like it when others knew more than she could, and the thought that he may have just made a guess based on her apparent good looks didn't even occur to her. In her eyes, everything this man did managed to be somehow detrimental to her state of being or just plain stupid.
"I don't need an escort. I'm just going to sit back down and get some research done. I know my way around the Academy anyway, thank you."
She felt the pressure to snap on the man ease up a little when he mentioned he had finished his research before his little nap, but she was still far from feeling friendly toward the man. Indeed, all she was waiting for to be rid of him from her life, hopefully forever, was for him to say goodbye.
She looked at him expectantly.
epic suck <<
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Post by casey on Nov 26, 2008 11:40:52 GMT -5
"You're not the only one with training," Casey smiled smugly. He waved a hand at Severstra's ears, nodding, "You can just make out some points of the ears there. And it was a bit of a guess based off looks, honestly. You're beautiful, and that's a common thing among Faerie women."
So is the pushy, controlling attitude, come to think of it. But Casey wasn't quite foolish enough to point that out. Not considering that Sevestra was already peeved at him, for some reason. And Casey still couldn't figure out why.
"I was just offering to escort," he shrugged, "you don't have to accept or anything. I'm just a bit interested in why you're here and all that. Last time I talked to somebody to a stranger to the Academy they tried to kill me and actually managed to kill a few people."
That had been loads of fun. Way to go, Scythe. Mr. McCreepy.
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Post by Ϛ Sevestra Yysara on Nov 26, 2008 19:27:34 GMT -5
Apparently she was not to get off so easily; the man just... kept... talking...
Completely ignoring the further comments about her beauty, Sevestra took a well-deserved moment to brood about her ears. She had, in the past, had them permanently rounded (something not many fae would be happy with her for), but they did still come to a point far more prominent than a human's should. It wasn't something easily noticeable, luckily, but it was still there, and it bothered her, especially when people pointed it out.
Of course, this only served to add fuel to the Casey-hating fire (which really didn't need much help burning at this point), and her pretty features just barely toed the borderline of an ugly scowl.
"I am here," she said clearly, "to do research. If I was going to start killing people, I would have let you sleep."
A lesser woman may have spat the world 'sleep'. Though that is not to say her tone of voice didn't make it quite acidic in nature. If Casey didn't get what she was upset about now, he probably never would.
But still she did not leave. Casey was, regrettably, a co-worker of sorts, and even if he wasn't, she would feel at least some responsibility to not leave until the conversation was officially over.
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Post by casey on Nov 27, 2008 10:22:49 GMT -5
Someone had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Sevestra was certainly pretty enough, but Casey didn't want anything to do with her. Not if she was going to act like this. Unless this was "that time of the month. " Even then, this was pretty intense, as Casey couldn't see that he'd done anything wrong, yet.
"If you were going to kill people, wouldn't you have killed me?" Casey pointed out. "Seeing as I was sleeping and an easy target and all. Unless you're big into the whole 'fair fight' scenario or something. Though I doubt it."
He looked around the library as if just noticing that they were, in fact, surrounded by research. This fact having now been confirmed, he smiled in a friendly manner at Sevestra yet again, "I don't suppose you'd like help with your research? I seem to have put you out or something, so it's the least I could do."
Though why exactly Casey had angered her was still beyond him. She seemed particularly put out that he'd been sleeping, but he wasn't a snorer. And she hadn't mentioned that. So why be angered at someone sleeping if they weren't connected to or bothering you?
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