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[againsttherules]

The door opens, and a young man walks through. He's carrying a thick pile of loose papers.

"Hmmm, I was wondering when this place would show up again."

Jack West has just walked into the bar again. He doesn't hesitate to head over to the bar, get himself a pint of water, before heading for a booth, to sit down and work.

Probably wouldn't mind a distraction, given the look on his face.

[tiny tag: Jack West jr]

[ooc: open until it scrolls. Jack has wound up bartending, but will still be heading to a corner to get some work done when his shift finishes. Both bartending and this are still open for slow-time threads if people want to tag in.]

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[interrogoiterum]

At the bar as he gets his water, sits a Latina woman with a fedora angled slightly down over her face as she eats. It's not that she's of a mind to initiate conversations, it's just that he comes close enough that it's just manners to push her hat back and nod hello.

[againsttherules]

Jack's rather distracted as moves the stack to one hand in order to grab his drink. He notices the woman, but as he goes to return her nod, his papers all fall out of his hands and scatter all over the floor.

"Oh Blast! Just as well they're numbered."

[interrogoiterum]

Renee doesn't laugh.

She does smirk at his misfortune, but makes up for it by dismounting her barstool and moving to help him gather them up.

"Hate it when that happens."

[againsttherules]

"Don't we all."

He gathers a bundle up and places them with the few leaves he was able to keep in his hand, which naturally, got placed securely on the bar.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee grabs a few loose sheets that somehow ended up behind a stool, and shakes them back straight using the edge of the bar before handing them to him.

"Anything important?"

[againsttherules]

Jack smiles at that.

"Dissertation. Got to get this last set of edits done before my supervisor kills me for missing the deadline."

[interrogoiterum]

"Like a thesis?"

She glances at the page to confirm. "Good luck. What's it on?"

[againsttherules]

"Yep, a mini-thesis for undergraduates."

And here we hand-wave a title - something about Ancient Egypt.

He shifts the stacks to find the title page. It's dated March 31 1989, and clearly scribbled all over in two sets of handwriting.

[interrogoiterum]

"Egypt, huh?"

No one from Ancient Egypt has tried to kill Renee. She'll use that as a reason to not hate it.

"At least you can use the timeslip here to get it done quickly."

[againsttherules]

"Yeah, Egypt. Fascinating culture, genius builders, all things considered"

And the inventors of all kinds of deadly traps Jack's going to come to hate, but he doesn't know that (yet).

"This is true. Jack West, by the way"
He doesn't know whether she saw his name on the title page of his dissertation (it's totally there, I most definitely did not forget to mention that detail last tag) but he figures it's polite to introduce himself anyway.

Having got what looks like most of his sheets of paper, up off the floor, Jack starts sorting them into order again.

[interrogoiterum]

"Renee Montoya," she offers in return. "Nice to meet you."

She can't help sorting his dissertation, really, so she sits back on her stool, instead.

[againsttherules]

"And you. So, asides from hanging around here, what do you do?"

The sorting continues uneventfully.

[interrogoiterum]

Renee's smirk is a trifle rueful. Certainly not all that enthusiastic about answering the question. But she will answer it, as much as he wants to ask.

"I'm a PI. Of sorts.

[a1enzo]

A green, plastic-looking youth ambles by, people-watching.

"That looks like a homework expression."

[againsttherules]

"It is, of sorts." Jack replies without looking up from his editing.

[a1enzo]

"What sorts?"

It also looks like a rather-do-something-else expression. Same thing, really.

[againsttherules]

"University dissertation."

It's at this point that Jack feels it might be appropriate to see who exactly he's conversing with, so he looks up.

He promptly does a double take. And gives Enzo a look. Confusion is the order of the day right now...

[a1enzo]

Enzo tries to deadpan, not very successfully: "I've got something in my teeth, don't I?"

[againsttherules]

"Ummm, errr, no, I don't think you do." Jack stammers back, blinking furiously.

[a1enzo]

"Well, I know I'm big, but it doesn't usually get that much of a reaction."

Reeeeally having trouble keeping that straight face.

[againsttherules]

"Yeah, but, green human..."

He's getting somewhere with processing Enzo's appearance. Whether his unspoken deductions are anywhere near accurate though, is another matter.

[a1enzo]

"Dude, who said I'm human?"

The texture is definitely wrong. So are other little details, like the apparent lack of nostrils.

[againsttherules]

"No one, true. Still, green humanoid. I guess I shouldn't necessarily be suprised, given where I am, but..."

[a1enzo]

"Yeah, I know, I felt the same way when I first came here and everyone was all just brown and beige."

Bo-ring.

[againsttherules]

"So, we've established that you're not human. What are you? if you don't mind the question?"