extra, extra, read all about it

hearing that she did good work was always welcome, as eilonwy put so much of her time and herself into what she did. it felt worth it, when they praised her. "no problem. i can take this little guy somewhere safe? unless there's something else you're having problems with,"

Still holding the beetle and extending his hands back toward Eilonwy, Hal nodded. "Please do. He can go back to his friends and start outliving me right now." He smiled. "Thank you again for everything. I'll err on the side of caution and call you if something like this comes up." But he couldn't promise he would not freak out if a shoe-sized arachnid scuttled into his apartment. "I'll just run out and call in best expert in town."

Hal: I knew that half an hour ago.

As Hal began rambling about the history of Greywood (God, could this day get any worse?), Ruby tuned him out entirely. Yes, she was perhaps being paranoid, but she was also famished, and a hungry vampire lead to misery for all people around. The more she considered, the more Ruby believed her best option was to compel him to explain his exact findings, bite hm, and then compel him to forget her entirely.

"Only a couple of months. Being a shop owner isn't really my thing, but fashion is fun, isn't it?" Ruby said, casually leaning against the wall. "Why don't you show me how the clothes fit? Anything to your liking?"

"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work." Hal hoped she would find her way or a new opportunity if the store didn't make her happy. "Life is too short to commit to something you don't enjoy." He knew that much, at least. No other career appealed to him. At her question, Hal straightened the new jacket and stepped outside, fiddling with the sleeves. "This one looks good. If it comes in other colors, I'll take them all."

"What do you think?"

Charlie sighed as he shook his head slightly before he looked around the room, looking at the few officers that were working today before he eyes fell back onto Hal. "You do that." Charlie said as he looked at the card Hal put down on another desk. "If you find that someone, then well done too you. But you really should think about I said, not everything needs to published."

"No, he finds talking to the press a waste of time." Charlie said as he shrugged a little. "You guys are all the same, you are very good at publishing what you want to hear and not what the story is."

Hal had to laugh.

"He sounds old-fashioned. These days, a free press separates us from places where information is restricted. I'm sorry you feel that way and would like to meet whichever journalists gave you that impression, but thinking every one of us is the same is naive." Hal drew a step back from the desks. "Thank you for your time, sir. It was illuminating."

"I've never tried it, but I don't think it could possibly turn you into one." There were limits to magic. At least, there certainly should be. Witches couldn't have all the power, actually creating the vampires and wolves and faeries and what not. Right? "That would be interesting, though. Maybe it turns you for the night. You're welcome to give it a try and find out." Nate watched the other curiously, the way he seemed...unconvinced by it all. He couldn't have possibly gotten into Greywood without some belief and good intentions in regards to the supernatural world. But then again - magic had it's limits...

"Well, would swallowing kryptonite be that terrible? Probably wouldn't taste very good, I suppose. Unless you're claiming to be Superman? In that case, it wouldn't be very fun I'm sure..."

"I am a reporter," Hal joked. He couldn't pretend that hadn't been a small part of his motivation to write. Exploring his backyard as a boy and digging up enough rocks to build another house, he wondered if he could unearth a meteorite that would give him powers. "I could be Superman, but I go by Hal Soyer these days. What's your name?"

"An editor of what?" She asked, cocking her head to the side, still trying to suppress her laughter. "Oh, okay, a meeting about the town. Right, because that's normal." Maybe he was some kind of architect, she thought to herself, trying to understand who this man was specifically.

"Is your head okay?" Talia asked once she'd finally calmed down from the amusement of the situation she had inadvertently (purposefully) caused. "You haven't disturbed me at all. In fact, you've totally made my day," she said cheerfully. "Please sit! You can treat me to another if I can treat you to my number." Smooth, Talia, real smooth. He was cute! And fun to prank, an ideal combo.

"A local newspaper. It's pretty normal. Who better to ask about a town you just moved to than someone who covers it regularly?" He didn't take these kind of observations personally. Reporting was engaging at its best and invasive at its worst. Until recently, Hal was not someone who put down roots. His line of work would always be seen closer to the latter. "Maybe he started to think like you do and ghosted me?"

Hal smiled. It was hard not to! "I'll heal. Thank you." Not needing a second invitation, he claimed the seat opposite her and slid his notebook to the side. "Can I get a name with the number, or will I need to slip on a banana peel first?" Anything for a story...

"Yeah. Strange." Uriel's brow quirked, the only change in his face through the conversation so far. "How do you like it so far? Staying in one place?"

Uriel questioned how much he should tell this stranger. How much he should get into the fact that he wasn't here by choice, and that the forces that be had placed him here as some sort of witness protection. But it wasn't like talking about Nana was going to hurt anyone. "I didn't really come here by choice. I was sort of moved against my will. I'd rather be back in Oregon, on the farm. I don't know anyone here. It's hard to make friends with people I have nothing in common with."

"I haven't decided." Hal might like the people, his neighborhood, and the places he visited around the town thus far...so did that mean he liked Greywood as a whole? It was too early to tell. "I'm keeping an open mind. I like to learn as many details about one thing or another before I consider how I feel about them. It's slow but rewarding."

That was always his intention, anyway, but not always true in practice.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Hal tried to tamper down his insatiable curiosity. The number of questions he had for Uriel was overwhelming. So many questions provoked from so few words. What happened in Oregon? Who was so dangerous to force Uriel to move for fear of his safety? No one Hal knew of. "Are you allowed to go back at some point?" WITSEC rules were strict. If this was the authority overseeing Uriel's life, he doubted it.

Had her eyes glazed over? He must've been rambling again. That was his cue to get moving. "Thank you, Ruby." He stepped past her into the dressing room and admired one of the suit jackets hanging next to the mirror for a moment. Hal wished he had her ability to diagnose the right look seemingly from thin air. "These will do nicely."

"Have you owned the shop long?" He asked from behind the curtain.

at the question, eilonwy shook her head. "i haven't," the fae explained. "me and this beetle are far more alike than me and you," it was true, once the glamour dropped she appeared distinctly more inhuman than most. she didn't look at hal as she spoke, watching the small creature move around his palms idly. "i talk to them, as well. that helps, you know, getting them to move on,"

Certain people had a way with animals. Some even met a colony of bees without protection, like the hives knew its keeper. Eilonwy was the same, although the manner of her approach to the field reminded him of plant lovers speaking to their succulents in the hopes of encouraging growth. But if it worked, if it was successful, who was Hal to question things? "You do good work, Eilonwy. Thank you for educating me."

He laughed. "Oh no, I'm a reporter. Being a chef wouldn't suit me. I couldn't be counted on to stay in the kitchen." He imagined he'd be out in the restaurant itself, talking to everyone who came in. "I cook as a hobby. There's a town club for it I keep meaning to join now that I think about it." He still undecided between that and the art club.

"A month longer than me." Hal was glad to know he was not the only obvious newcomer. "I can recommend a few places for you to go if you're interested." With food still on the brain, Hal gestured behind them. "Shall we try the Fable together?"

Hal shook Avery's hand with another smile. Another night in Greywood that kept him guessing. "My name is Hal. Keep talking about music and I may have to interview you."

Hal: Nothing, I guess. Just reminding us both of it.

Hal: I'm full of shit, remember?

"No, no - well. I mean, probably those as well. What bar doesn't have it's usual drunken fist fights time and again?" Alcohol and bad tempers never really mixed too well, did they? Especially in a place like Greywood with species that had temper tantrums from time to time. "But no, this place is known for their specialty tequilas. Supposedly they're special made for each species in town - but shit happens if you mix 'em up." He studied Hal curiously. Some species were easier to place than others, but he wasn't getting much of a read off of this guy. Granted that didn't mean much, he'd never been that overtly sensitive. "Probably wouldn't recommend trying the wolf or vampire blends if you're not fitting of those types - unless you're looking for an... interesting night, I imagine."

This was the third or fourth time Hal heard something from a presumed local that was slightly...off. 'Species'? 'Wolf or vampire blends'? He started to wonder if the town was by and large committed to giving new residents the runaround. If so, it was a good bit.

"Why not?" Hal asked, examining a menu with detailed warnings for each supposed species. "Turns you into one? Makes you feel like you swallowed a shot of Kryptonite?"

When another person walked in, Ruby sighed. After this man, she would close. "Hello," she greeted. "Well, if you beg, how could I possibly say no?" At least the man knew how to appeal to her, Ruby mused. "I'll get some outfits together that you can try on and you can tell me more about yourself." Once Ruby finished, she began looking through Celestials Boutique, and pulling items.

Charlie watched Hal place the card on another desk before he shook his head. "If the chief doesn't get back you, it's he's busy and has better things to do. Than waste time talking to a reporter."

In Hal's world, the best stories emerged from the center of an orbit no one spoke of. What appeared obvious to all was actually evident to few. Small towns and companies shared this way of thinking. Closing ranks did well for a time, sometimes even decades, but it could not last forever. Nothing did. Walls fell, people talked, ears rang. "I'll decide that," said Hal, but even he understood the message to steer clear of Da Silva. "Someone else might be willing to offer what you won't." That went for his secrets too.

"He finds speaking to the people he protects a waste of time?" Some members of law enforcement radiated this kind of energy but seldom admitted it. "Not a good look."

She made a face at his offer of reporting back to her about the country club. She had been in a few times with the Daughters of Circe, but unsurprisingly the way that had ended had extinguished any desire to go back. "Be serious. The only reason I'd be in a country club would be as a fake girlfriend to piss off someone's dad," Maya said. People around town were always trying to tell her that she cold be more than she had been, but there had to be a line somewhere. And her enjoying the country club crowd was beyond it.

Hal was sure he watched a plot just like that in a movie, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember it. "If you ever wanted to go with a friend, I wouldn't mind the company." Quicker than he expected, Hal finished his drink. "Onto the next," he joked.

"Where did you study entomology?" Hal asked, still gazing at the beetle. It was happy with Eilonwy, clicking softly. "Other pest control technicians I've met lack your finesse."