A New Chapter [Claire/Griffin] - CLOSED

[greenpanda]

"Just a little more to the-- no no! The other-- LEFT!" Claire's voice bounced off the walls of the newest wing of the museum. They were setting up a brand new display, paying homage to the Native Americans who once inhabited the grounds that the city was built on. The female, who held the job title of secretary at the museum but did so much more, was currently the person left in charge of making sure nothing was broken and the movers put everything where it belonged. With a clipboard in her hands with a drawn out floor plan of where everything was suppose to go she supervised. "Hey! What's with the tiki ma- are we in Hawaii? Does this look like a Somalian display? No. This clearly states we were to get a totem not a tiki. TO-TUHM." She said breaking down the syllables to be sure they heard her clearly.

The female wasn't usually so obnoxious, but after getting three wrong shipments and a buffalo head with a broken horn, she'd finally had enough and was at her breaking point. Of course the real person who was in charge was nowhere to be found and it was all left up to her. "Okay, guys. How about we just take five? Or ten.. twenty, even! I just.. I need some fresh air and a bottle of percocet." She mumbled, knowing that she wouldn't actually need the painkilling drug, but it sounded like it could be a good idea right about now. "Twenty minute break and then we'll pick up where we left off. Cool? Is everybody cool with that? Okay, good. Great." She nodded and gave them a thumbs up before she turned around and her heels clicked on the tiled floor, heading out of that particular wing.

The rest of the museum was open to the public, letting them roam freely or even take a tour which would give them more information. Claire had never actually taken the tour and had no idea what was even ON the tour. However, she knew a lot about the museum between research and papers she'd done while she was in college. She was a history buff but never found a career field that interested her enough until the museum came along. She was careful not to bump into anyone, knowing they were too preoccupied staring with dull expressions at various pieces of art and historical pieces. After dodging everyone, feeling like sometimes the museum was like an obstacle course when it was open, she found herself at the main doors and with a push let the bright sunshine pour inside. She felt the sun on her skin, warming it and making her feel good. She stepped outside and headed off to the side, not wanting to go down the steps to the sidewalk but not wanting to block the door either.

Claire was wearing a loosely fitting canary yellow blouse with a belt tied around her waist, keeping the shirt in place and skin tight black pants that bunched up at the ankles with a pair of heels. In the pocket of her pants she pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open and going through her contacts. She reached the one she'd been searching for, a Dr. Ackles, and highlighted it before pushing send. She paced back and forth slowly, her tongue moving around in her mouth and the tip touching a tooth close to the back of her mouth. "..a..aa-ow." She said, knowing that she had to get that tooth looked at and soon. The phone rang several times before the receptionist to the office picked up on the other line. "Yes! Yes, hello? Hi! I need.. to make an appointment with Dr. Ackles. I think I might have a bad toot-- Claire. Claire McLeester. I'm a patient of Dr. Ackles' I've been there befo-- Thursday? Okay. Thursday at 1:45. Got it. Thank you so much. Okay bye." She wasn't exactly thrilled to go to the dentist, but if her tooth didn't stop that aching before Thursday she'd have to go.

The female snapped her phone shut and went to put it back in her pocket but ended up snagging the cell on the fabric and instead of it slipping into her pocket, she ended up losing her grip and it fell onto the hot concrete and came apart into three pieces. "Ohh.. oh that's just.. just great." Claire said, knowing that she wasn't talking to anyone but herself, and nodded to confirm that what she said was true. "Yep. Perfect." She bent down and began to pick up the pieces, trying to put them back together while she kept her balance so she wouldn't fall. Keeping her balance wasn't difficult at all though and she stayed in the crouched position and when she snapped the final piece into place she stood up straight again.

"This day just.. gets better and better, doesn't it?" She said softly to herself and squinted to keep the sun out of her eyes, looking out towards the streets to watch the cars passing by. She still had the clipboard in her free hand, pocketing the cell phone and making sure it went in this time before she started to fan herself with the board. It was July and man was it hot! "Okay, breaks over." Claire muttered and turned a little too fast back towards the front door while it was swinging open, but she was fast enough to jump back with her hands up. "Easy, tiger!" She commented to the person who swung the door, who gave her a look in return and then headed down the stairs. She stood there watching the person with narrowed eyes before scoffing and opening the door once more, heading back inside. She had to get back to that new wing.

[CUPCAKE]

The museum was visited by all people of Scriptor Bay, but no race enjoyed the walls of the National Museum more than the Avisaille's. The museum was home to a plethora of information, both local and worldwide. Griffin himself recalled spending countless days there as a boy and every time they got a new exhibit he was there to check it out. In fact, many of his friends and family came to check them out. Having traveled around the world and having learned a great deal about many things, he liked seeing if the exhibits offered new and exciting information to swallow, like he were a hungry child in a bakery just waiting for that freshly baked loaf of bread to come out of the oven so he could devour it in one fell swoop.

Griffin knew the newest exhibit wasn't open yet, however he knew they were setting it up. What he would give to be a fly on the wall during one of those set ups! Seeing everything first before it was open to the public excited him and he briefly wondered why he didn't just work in the museum. He loved it enough, only he would soon find himself cramped coming in and being surrounded by the enclosed, windowless building all day. It would suffocate him in the end, he reminded himself, letting out a great deep sigh. The hours would be long, and the sunless depression would make him hate the place he loved in Scriptor Bay the most. He couldn't allow that to happen.

He could walk the museum blind and know exactly where he was going. Even when he roamed, he subconsiously always ended at the exhibits he liked the most. Today he was hovering maybe just a little too near the hall blocked off, though. He knew they were putting the exhibit together back there. He licked his lips and looked around like a child; dare he sneak a peak? He'd never done so before. In fact he remembered when they had a native american exhibit twenty years prior. He'd just come back to Scriptor Bay and it was the current exhibit. He was seething with excitement. What was the worst that would happen? He would get kicked out? Not permanently. He could even feign getting lost. He knew he couldn't really, especially since he was sure most of the staff recognized his face, but he finally decided it was worth a shot.

The young looking man made his way around the metal and crimson velor barrier and quickly made his way down the forbidden hall where he could hear people chatting. He wouldn't go all the way to it, merely watch from a distance. Maybe they would assume he worked at the museum?

When he caught his first glance at the figures to be in the display he couldn't help grinning like an idiot. It was the feeling he was sure most human children descried as Christmas morning! His heart swelled with the excitement of the moment; first to see the exhibit!

[WHISKEY]

"Headdress above the entryway, arrowhead display case on the east wall..." Claire was going over the layout that was on the clipboard again wanting to make sure she knew what to tell the working men when she got back to the closed off wing. Her heels clicked against the floor again, trying not to draw too much attention to herself since her footsteps seemed louder than everyone else's in the museum. Probably because she was hurrying. Leaving the men alone to move stuff was like a gun fight in a glass house. You knew something was bound to be broken. Of course the analogy was probably a little strong, but Claire felt it made the most sense.

"Okay time to get back to work and we need to get the headdress up on this wall above the door.." She was already instructing them before she was even in the wing, her eyes glued to the clipboard, her tongue moving across her bad tooth again and groaning softly to herself, her brows furrowing with how much it hurt. When she looked up she saw that the movers had decided to obviously take a longer break because they weren't even in there. However there was one person in there, someone who shouldn't be. "Excuse me? Hey, yeah you. Hiii." She gave him her best, biggest smile and waved her hand at him lightly. "I'm sorry but this wing isn't open for viewing yet. Hence the tarps over half of the displays and the abundance of dirt all over the floor." She wasn't trying to be rude, but more professional in her own way.

She hadn't even finished speaking and she was already looking around trying to figure out where everything was suppose to be and see what was in its right place so far. Claire didn't give the person a good enough look to really see who it actually was but she knew it wasn't a worker since she wasn't in any kind of uniform. Tour instructor or mover. And her boss wasn't there today but that didn't matter. Her boss was a short fat man with bad breath and awful hair.

..Crunch.. She felt something underneath her shoe and looked down to see that it was a piece of glass. Something was broken! Otherwise there wouldn't be broken glass on the floor! "Oh that's just- fantastic!" She muttered to herself and sighed.

[CUPCAKE]

Griffin had been so enthralled in looking at the display pieces, he didn't notice the footsteps right away, but when the girl began to speak he turned to look at her, not realizing at first that her words weren't directed at him. She shied away a little, but when she didn't seem to notice him, he felt a little more comfortable in his spot. It seemed like he wasn't caught until she spoke up again.

His cheeks flushed just a little as she spoke to him. "My apologies." He called out to her in a gentle voice. The feathers hidden beneath his loose fitting button down shirt bristled slightly as they did in tense situations. "I only wanted to peak." He knew it wasn't much of a case, and that wouldn't get him a chance to stay there, but he at least wanted to explain himself. "I love the new exhib..." He could see she wasn't paying attention to him, but rather something on the ground.

Griffin licked his lips. He should go. He knew he should before he upset the curator, but now that he was there he had a yearning to stay. It was unlike him to be bold in any way, but today was different. Today he was going to see the new exhibit before it was open to the public! Unless he was escorted out by security first.

He took a cautious step forward, trying to be nonthreatening, which he was, and looked at the broken glass on the floor. "Would you like help?" He offered in a soft, soothing voice. He saw the broken glass on the floor and looked back at the young lady. "It would be my pleasure to act as a volunteer for you if you needed one this afternoon. Get things set up and cleaned the way they need to be.." It was a long shot, he knew that, but he was optimistic. He offered the bait, and he waited to see if she would bite. Worse case scenario, he would wait to see the display next week with the public, but if that were the case he would be the very first one in line.

[WHISKEY]

Claire was on the verge of a melt down. WHAT had they broken?! Her attention was on the ground, tucking her hair behind her ears and dropping the clipboard on the ground so she could look around for any more broken glass. "There has to be more broken glass somewhere around here." She said still not looking at the stranger but she did hear everything he said. She thought about what he said, processing what he said and then staring intently down at the ground. "Unless you're strong enough to move some of the exhibits then I don't think you'll be much help."

She spotted another piece of glass "AHA!" she said loudly, her voice echoing through the wing. She bent down and picked up the piece and inspected it. She still was unsure what it came from and stood up quickly. "Good help is so hard to find." Claire said to the piece of glass sternly before turning around and looking at the person for the first time since she'd noticed he'd been in there. "Hey I've seen you before." The female tilted her head to the side and gave him a good look, her eyes narrowing recalling seeing his face around the museum a few times before. "You're here a lot, aren't you?" She asked, waving the shard of glass and pointing at him with it casually.

"Yeah.. yeah I've seen you around before." Claire nodded, not waiting for a response from the man. On the days she actually manned the front desk she'd have days where it was drastically slow and she would just sit there and watch the people that were in there if she didn't have a book with her to read. And this guy had come in a lot, which was strange. Not a lot of people came to the museum that often. "Are you like, an art collector or something? A buyer? Planning a big heist?" She asked suspiciously, her eyes squinting at him and still waving the piece of glass around. Last thing she needed was some thief helping her put the displays up, or if he was a buyer then he really shouldn't be in there especially with her. She wasn't the one he'd have to talk to. "Because if you're any of those, come back on Tuesday. It's my day off."

[CUPCAKE]

He wasn't sure if she had heard what he was saying or not. He was certain she wasn't paying attention to him at first, but he thought he had her attention the second round. He was about to accept defeat when she spoke up again. Was he strong enough to move some of the things around? He looked down at himself. He was strong for an Avisaille, if that mean anything to anyone, but that likely wouldn't help an awful lot when it came to the bigger parts of the collection.

When she finally looked at him he wasn't sure what to do. She'd seen him before? That wasn't a surprise. He arched his brows and looked over his shoulder playfully as if to silently ask 'Who, me?' before letting his dusty eyes return to the girl. As the questions about his intentions poured from her mouth he couldn't help but grin at her. She was funny.

"Well, I was planning on stealing parts of this exhibit." The man said a little playfully, folding his hands behind his back as he gave her an innocent look with his eyes. Would she believe him? "I guess I could come back and finish the job on Tuesday." As he said it he knew he should probably clarify that he wasn't being serious. Last thing he needed was for security to be waiting for him on Tuesday if he just happened to be coming to the museum that day.

To be clear he shook his head, his tone calm and peaceful. "I'm sorry." He apologized softly. "I have no intention to take anything the doesn't belong to me, and I certainly don't want to buy anything. I do collect, though..." His tone was still slow and casual, showing he was being nonthreatening. "I collect knowledge. This place... it's full of it. That's why you see me so often. You can learn plenty from books, but a book can never remind me of the sheer size of the Tyrannosaurus Rex or allow me to see other creatures before my time first hand. It's alright that they're replicas. I'm a visual man."

He had a feeling he was talking to much. She didn't seem like she would be interested in what he had to say considering how busy she was. Instead he let his eyes go to the floor, spotting another piece of glass. He quickly reached down to grab it. "Found another one.."

[WHISKEY]

Claire's felt like her mind was swimming between the thoughts of the current exhibit, her other duties that she still had to do before the day was done, a guy who spent too much time at the museum and her bad tooth. "Augh! ..ow." She made a face that showed her discomfort, her mouth opening and her tongue touching the tooth that ached and causing her cheek to protrude when her tongue moved between her gums and her cheek. "You'd think they'd get it right the first time." She muttered and shook her head, still not able to believe she had to wait so long for the dentist appointment.

Snapping back to what was going on around her she stopped messing with the bad tooth with her tongue and looked at the current problem she was facing; the stranger. She watched him, her eyes growing wide at certain things he said, listening to him rambling on about what seemed to be a passion of his. He didn't look like a burglar in her eyes, and if he was then well.. she just hoped he waited until Tuesday! "You know that's all really great. Really. Like it's superb." She nodded, giving him a smile but it was obvious there was a hint of sarcasm there. "But I really need to get this done. I mean it's not really my job to do it, but since there's nobody else to do it I'm sort of stuck with it. I don't think it's a good idea if you're in here it could get us both in trouble and right now I'm still trying to pay off this outfit which you'd think wouldn't cost that much since they probably use more material to make a scrunchii than they did this shirt, but still." She knew she was the one rambling now, her hands getting animated and waving around with her words before she finally stopped and moved her hair away from her face and behind her ear.

She regretted buying such pricey clothes, since they seemed to max out her 'emergencies only' credit card. But that bright yellow top was an emergency. She didn't have anything that shade of yellow! And the pants? Well the pants went well with the heels which made her look taller and her legs look nice! It was a high price to pay to look nice, and she was a sucker for it unfortunately. She kept her eyes back on the floor, open and searching for some more missing glass when she heard the guy say he found another. Her attention went back to him and stuck her hand out so he could give it to her. "I'll throw it out." She said softly, realizing he was serious about wanting to help her. Who the hell, aside from her, ever went to a museum and actually found it fascinating enough to help out?!

"The displays against the walls with the tarps on them need to be dusted. And the tarps taken off, obviously. You can't really dust something when its covered." Claire said in her way of hinting that if he wanted to stay and see the exhibit being put together, that was his chance to do it.

[CUPCAKE]

He was patient as she put him down, not expecting anything less. He even bowed his head gently as if he were shaming himself, and in a way he was. He shouldn't have even come back there. Griffin knew better; one he wasn't allowed, it was forbidden, and two even if he didn't get in trouble, they certainly wouldn't allow some strange man to help put a display up. There was too much risk involved in making such a careless decision. What if he broke something? Who would the blame land on? He knew he as a patron of the city would likely be asked to leave and possibly escorted out permanently, but furthermore the young girl in front of him would likely lose her job. He was glad, in a sad way, that she was letting him down semi-gently.

Until she told him to dust the displays.

He looked up, the rational in his mind dissipating for the moment as his greatest wish was possibly being granted. He would get to dust the displays? Of course he would be careful. Griffin would never put this woman's job on the line, especially after the gift she was granting him. His feathers bristled once more. He felt the harness tighten a bit with the sheer excitement of it all! Even as he got so excited, he knew how very silly e was being, like a child, a human child no less, but he couldn't help it. He was about to dust the display cases of the new exhibit which wasn't open to the public yet!

"I won't cause any trouble." He promised gently, reaching his hand out and offering the piece of glass to her. "And the blouse is lovely." He assured in his quiet, gentle voice. He bowed his head respectfully to her before moving to the display case. His fingers practically shook with excitement as he reached for the tarp, pulling it off.

He looked at the display of Native American objects. Bowls, arrowheads, tiny idols carved from wood and stone. They were spectacular and he admired them quietly for a moment. The information wasn't put up yet, but he simply enjoyed taking in the view for a moment, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. It was truly beautiful. A long breath escaped his lungs and he looked around, finally finding the cleaning supplies so he could begin the task of readying the display for the public eye, forgetting someone else was even in there with him.

[WHISKEY]

The man's compliment threw Claire off guard and she gave him a blank look first before her lips curled into a smile. "Oh. Thank you." She said, her bashful side coming out as her cheeks flushed a light pinkish hue. "This old thing, I mean.. psh c'mon." She waved her hand at him as if she were trying to dismiss it even though she knew she just said that it was expensive just a moment ago. Well, she got nervous when she was complimented! Especially when the compliment came from someone as pretty looking as the stranger. He looked like he belonged in a painting himself! Or even a sculptor would do nice.. one of the 'clothes optional' sorts.

Claire's eyes went wide, realizing she was thinking of a perfect stranger without clothes on and realized that was something her mother or sister would do! Sure, she liked to play around with guys sometimes but it was only with their heads. She never actually tried to take their clothes off with her mind. That was a surefire sign that she was over worked. "The tarps can just go against the wall. As long as there's walking room because we throw them out anyway." The female looked around and scooped up another shard of glass trying to put her head back in her work when she found the item that had broken. "..oh come on!" She said sharply more to herself than to the other person and bent down to pick up the object. When she straightened up again she held the item in both hands, it was the casing that held an old peace pipe. It was a long and narrow case, wood on three sides and glass for the actual display. Only the glass was jagged and the pieces that weren't on the floor had broken and gone inside the case, entangling with a brown feather that was tied to the end of the pipe with leather.

Claire stared at the peace pipe in silence for what had to be at least a full sixty seconds before her eyes finally looked up and around. "Those movers aren't back yet." She stated and realized they either took off or they were still taking a break. Either way they weren't moving things. At least she had SOME help even if he wasn't getting paid for it. "SO. Mystery man you have a name? Or should I just call you the helpful stranger?"

[CUPCAKE]

Griffin heard the girl grumbling about something or other behind him and turned his head a bit to watch her. He could see she had found what was broken and shook his head sadly for her. It was a shame really that anyone could be so careless in the museum, and worse that this poor young woman had to deal with it. Regardless, he was grateful to be there. He hung the tarps as directed and slowly dusted and cleaned each case, his mind in a fuzz admiring the beautiful old artifacts. When these things had been made, his ancestors had still been in Augustacia. They had no idea what was about to become of them and the generations that followed. Simply thinking about it made Griffin a little sad. They had been torn from a home that had been bountiful in beauty and freedom and thrust into a land where they would be forced to conceal their true selves for the rest of eternity, damning their children and children's children to do the same. But they would be heroes, and they would be Guardians, and there was certainly no higher honor. No Avisaille would complain about the task. Surely they didn't know what sort of life they were missing out on, but what they did know was, despite the secret they kept from society, their lives were beautiful and purposeful. Everything they needed, including a place where they could let their wings free, was right there in the city, and what wasn't could easily be found within the world, even if it were thousands of miles away.

All these thoughts ran through his mind as he dusted and looked at the artifacts. He didn't even want to really touch them, just the fact that he was not only able to see them, but also able to make the displays presentable for others to see, was enough to keep him content with the moment.

He heard her call out to him, pulling him from his thoughts as he turned to look over at her. "Mystery man?" He repeated and then gave a kind smile. "You may call me helpful stranger if you like." He said in a slow voice as if he were southern, though there was no southern drawl, "But those who know me call me Griffin Cartwright." He watched her for another moment and then turned to the case, starting to clean again before stopping and turning back. "And what may I call you?"

[WHISKEY]

"Those who know you, huh?" Claire asked him and set the broken display down on top of a glass case that had already been dusted off. "That makes you less mysterious." She said with just the slight hint of sarcasm, dropping the glass shards inside the broken display knowing she'd have to clean it up and fix the peace pipe later on and hope that her boss didn't find out. He'd can her for sure!

She ran her fingers through her hair loosely, causing it to fall over her shoulder and lay there gently. Her eyes were on Griffin, staring at him with mild regard to what kind of person he was and who his supposed people were. Who even said that in this lifetime? 'Those who know me' sounded like something her great grandfather would have said. At least that's what she would have pictured him saying if she had known him. She felt like telling him 'times have changed, pops' but knew that wouldn't be the nicest thing for her to say. Instead she nodded her head a little, bobbing it from side to side and crossing her arms. Then she decided she didn't want her arms crossed, shrugged and dropped them back down to her sides in a nervous kind of way. "Well those who know me call me Claire. And if we're going with last names, its McLeester. Not one of the better last names, I'll tell you that much." Her eyes scanned the room not wanting to look directly at Griffin while she spoke. It was always easier to talk when you weren't making eye contact. Your nerves didn't jump out of your skin and scream in agonizing pain when you didn't make eye contact. She could if she wanted, she just chose not to. At least not right then.

"And thank you." She nodded and looked over to the broken display. "For.. helping out. We're on the fringe of hiring some more people, since we're short staffed. One of the tour guides came in one morning after eating questionable fungus and thought that the giant tree sculpture was a latrine. Needless to say, after a 'random' drug testing of all employees about sixty-four percent are now unemployed." Claire offered and finally looked over at him, her lips pursed together but grinning a little. "And even though this is totally grounds to get me written up, thank you. A thousand times, thank you. Even if it is just dusting. Every bit helps." She offered to show she wasn't a tool. Even though when she was stressed and wigging out she sometimes could be.

[CUPCAKE]

He offered a small, meek smile at her words. Had he said something wrong? Did he seem more mysterious now? He didn't know how, he gave her his name. If anything that ought to have calmed her some, but it hadn't. "Claire." He repeated softly with a slight head nod, storing the information in his mind. He wouldn't forget it. He probably had seen her there before but had been so enthralled in the exhibits he hadn't noticed. He would notice her now. Perhaps no one else, but he would certainly now. "Claire McLeester sounds like a very nice name." He offered when she bashed the second part of her name. He knew Cartwright had been a name given to the first Avisaille in his family to come through the portal, so it wasn't truly his name, really. It was a sham in a sense, but he liked it. McLeester, at least, had been hers. She owned it, her family owned it. Of course he couldn't share that with her.

His smile grew again when she thanked him, glad that he could be of some assistance, and more glad that he had broken museum rules to see the exhibit. "It's an honor to help." He said in his smooth, gentle voice. "There's little else I would rather be doing." He gave a small chuckle, knowing most would find this comment ridiculous. There was a million things most people in the museum would rather be doing, he was sure the entire staff would prefer doing something else, but he wasn't staff. Though her mention of them hiring peaked his interest once more.

"Are they hiring very part time?" He asked, surprising himself as the words came out. Could he work there? Would he truly want to? He would LOVE to! But no windows... if he only did a couple hours of tours it wouldn't be so bad. He was in there all the time anyway, he could certainly handle it. Besides, if it didn't work out he could always leave. "If I were staff I could help with the displays without you risking your job." The very thought made his heart flutter and his feathers bristle. He could help with all the displays! He looked at her hopefully.

[WHISKEY]

Man, this guy was good. Not only was he helping her with setting up the displays but he was also complimenting her name. Claire couldn't keep from looking at him and watching him. She had pretty good instincts when it came to people and almost always went with her gut feeling. Except once. When her gut told her to stay away from the Chinese takeout restaurant down the street from her apartment and she ended up getting it anyway to find a dead rat in the little white to go carton. She never ate from there again, and only a couple of weeks later she'd passed it on her way to the college campus and noticed it had been shut down. Now it was a dry cleaning business. Which she would bet anything that they still had rats. No way did she use them.

Claire blinked a couple of times coming back from her runaway thoughts that went completely off topic! "Well I'm sure I could find an application somewhere in the back office. If you want. I mean, you don't have to fill one out. Not like this is the most thrilling job there is out there." She ranted, rolling her eyes and the clipboard going in circular motions as she animated her words with her hands. It was a habit she'd had since she was young. "Put me down as a reference and I'll put a good word in for you. Plus I get money for getting someone hired." She told him bluntly but offered a little bit of a smile this time. "I don't know how part time you want, but like I said. We're short staffed I'm sure Bob will take anyone." She seemed to emphasize Bob's name, dramatically saying it and sticking her lips out as she did in a comical sort of way. God, she hated Bob.

"I'll tell you what." She started out saying and set the clipboard down on one of the displays that he had yet to dust off. "How about I go get that application, and that way if its on you I can say you're a temp in case any big wigs decide to drop in and be nosy? Hm?" She offered and held up a finger. "I'll be back in a minute. You just have to put it in your back pocket.." She was desperate for help, and he was already ten times better than the movers. He at least didn't break anything yet! On her way out her left foot snagged against one of the tarps that were on the floor and she stumbled forward but caught herself in time and did a little hop. She turned to look at him to see if he'd seen, clearly embarrassed. She gave a thumbs up, grabbed the bottom of her blouse and tugged on it taking quick awkward shuffling steps out of the wing!

[CUPCAKE]

His body was calm and still as she spoke, mostly facing the display in which he was dusting, though his head and part of his torso turned to watch as Claire spoke to him. She talked a lot, he noted, and it seemed almost nervous. Was he making her uncomfortable? Griffin wasn't the best at detecting nonverbal, or verbal cues, but there was something definitely a little twitchy in the way she was talking now.

She was saying things faster than he could really reply to, and the corners of his lips turned up just a bit. Maybe it wasn't nerves. Perhaps Claire was just an impulsive talker. He'd recently met a young woman who had flitted from one topic to the next, only to find she had been a fellow Guardian. Nothing about Claire said 'bird', though. "I'd like an appli.." He finally squeezed in, but she cut him off. Griffin chuckled a little, only nodding as she came to each individual conclusion. He would fill out the application, he would put her as his reference, he would ensure the sweet young girl would get more money because of him.

He wasn't really doing it for the money, he was doing it because it was a love of his. Worst case scenario he would quit. Part of him knew the dangers behind it; too much facial exposure in the museum would mean he would eventually be forced to stop coming, but that was several years away, and he could find other ways of entertaining himself then. Or so he hoped..

He nodded when she went to get the application, watching as she tripped a little. His initial reaction was to step forward, his hand out as though he were about to run and help her up, but she caught herself, stopping him and catching the embarrassed look. He gave a polite smile, not amused by the near fall. He was glad she was alright! But before he could ask, she gave him two thumbs up and was out the door. Poor thing, he thought with a chuckle, shaking his head as he went back to the display which, in his opinion, looked magnificent. He nodded at it and then moved onto the next, waiting patiently for Claire to return.

[WHISKEY]

Claire's heels clicked again on the tiled floor as she headed for the information desk. It was currently empty which meant that Carl was probably taking his 'fab fifteen' as he liked to call it. There was nothing fabulous about fifteen whole whopping minutes of a break where you spent it sitting out behind the museum watching the men on the loading docks. Maybe if they weren't all old and didn't have hair all over their body yet were balding. That was a big maybe. She rolled her eyes at the thought of it and had to scoff and took the three steps that brought her up into the information booth which was round with three roller chairs and one counter that wrapped around all but the little space to enter the booth. There were drawers, and a few small monitors used for surveillance. She knew that the top drawer three in held Carl's magazine collection; Men's Health and Cosmo. Carl was a little flamboyant. Not that Claire ever cared since he always let her read the newest issues of Cosmo once he was done flipping through the articles. The articles were actually really funny, at least the confession ones.

The female started to open the drawers, at least the ones that she knew were filled with clutter. Some had papers, others held candy and unused staples. It wasn't until she was opening the sixth drawer that she finally found the applications. It was a generic application asking all the basic questions that Claire herself had purchased at an office supply store. So generic, that it was one pad of application forms all attached at the top. She had to fold it across the serrated lines and then tear it off, leaving little bumps where the paper had torn at the top. "Good enough." She said to herself and then stuffed the application pad back into the drawer and shut it. Her eyes glanced around the information booth and spotted a couple of plastic jacks and a rubber ball lying there. Another eventful day as a museum security guard. Go Carl!

Her eyes moved around to inspect the people that were moving through the museum. It was another slow day. They didn't get as much traffic as was expected with the previous display so they were hoping the newest one might grab a few newcomers. That reminded her she had to call the local elementary school and see if she could get them to schedule another field trip. Sure, it wasn't where a seven year old wanted to spend their day, but it made her boss happy that she made the stupid calls.

Claire finally stepped down out of the information booth, the application in hand and was en route back to the roped off wing. "Here we are. One crisp application just for you." She tugged at the top and bottom of the application between pinched fingers, pulling the paper tightly so he could give it a look almost as if she were displaying it for him. Not like she was Vanna White but the sudden thought sounded cool. "So just stuff this in your pocket." She let her eyes travel over him, noticing the way he was dressed and then resting her gaze on his face. "You know you didn't have to offer to help. Not that I don't appreciate it! Because I do. It's just nice to see someone else at least showing some compassion towards historical figures instead of treating them like any ordinary piece of furniture. You know?" She said and offered a smile, her voice softening, getting a little loud, but then softening again. Her smile went away and she just sort of looked at him, feeling the uncomfortable silence. No matter how short or long it would be, she felt its overwhelming presence.