whateveritwas
Is cozypunk a thing?
The diner's fluorescent lights flickered just slightly as the few occupants sat relatively still, each having selected a table suitably far away from the others. Most of the inhabitants were what you would expect to see at a 24-hour eatery after hours in a rather run-down part of town. A shift-worker nursing a steaming cup of coffee and a sandwich, a slightly twitchy young man waiting for someone. However, one figure, seated at a table by the with her back to the wall near the establishment's one outlet, looked rather out of place as she pecked away on her laptop. A cell phone was seated on the table, transmitting a signal to the headset hooked around one ear. She took a long sip of the mug of black coffee on the table before her before shaking her head.
"Well, yes," she said softly, a slight edge to her voice as she scrolled idly through the documents on the screen. "I understand, Greg, but you can't just keep- I mean, this isn't really my expertise, you know?" Grumbling, she leaned forward, a few strands of her coppery hair drifting down from the stern bun at the base of her neck. "Where I just got back, too- yeah. Mmhmm. You're getting the next project here, though. I need to finish this- have a good night." Her steely gray eyes darted once around the diner before returning to the screen as she terminated the call. She was dressed neatly, wearing a light blue blouse under a black blazer and pencil skirt. Even her makeup was tasteful- nothing too unnatural beyond a touch of eyeliner and mascara.
From all outward appearances, one would assume she was an office worker who, for some unfathomable reason had chosen this dingy place to finish up her duties for the night. A few details were a little bit off, but she trusted this place as one that was relatively free of that sort of close observation. Idly, she toyed with the ring- an odd creation of wire and a large, raw crystalline point- on the middle finger of her right hand, scanning down through the checklist on her screen. Most of the boxes went unchecked on the final page except the one at the top marked "Results inconclusive." She jotted down a quick note underneath- "Old lady's cat died, then she heard scratching at her door every night. Another cat spotted leaving after scratching noise was heard. Quite probably not ghosts-" before saving the document and sending it off. The majority of calls Isabel Price was sent on ended up being inconclusive- after all, most posts on the local forums about mysterious orbs and unusual creatures were from local crackpots who had had a bit too much and were too eager to see something. That wasn't too much of a problem for her- after all, it meant there were no problems and a lot less paperwork to deal with.
This next one, though, sounded a touch more legitimate. Usually someone else with medical knowledge would have gone to inspect the bodies that had been found to get a legitimate reading on whether there was any signs of supernatural activity. Isabel, however, had transferred this job while interning for the police department, and thus didn't have enough clearance to do her own investigation on the bodies. They were certainly dead, and they looked like they had been attacked by vampires, but that was all she really knew beyond eyewitness reports. Swiftly, she folded up her laptop and slid it into the backpack on the seat beside her before getting to her feet. She was rather tall, about 5'10 in her practical black flat shoes, and rather skinny. She had cultivated a stern, austere look, which she found helped when conducting investigations. Briefly, she glanced at the clock on the wall- 11:18 PM. With a brief nod to herself, she finished the cup of coffee, left a few coins on the table as a tip to the waitress who was leaning against the counter and texting, and started out into the chilly night.
"Well, yes," she said softly, a slight edge to her voice as she scrolled idly through the documents on the screen. "I understand, Greg, but you can't just keep- I mean, this isn't really my expertise, you know?" Grumbling, she leaned forward, a few strands of her coppery hair drifting down from the stern bun at the base of her neck. "Where I just got back, too- yeah. Mmhmm. You're getting the next project here, though. I need to finish this- have a good night." Her steely gray eyes darted once around the diner before returning to the screen as she terminated the call. She was dressed neatly, wearing a light blue blouse under a black blazer and pencil skirt. Even her makeup was tasteful- nothing too unnatural beyond a touch of eyeliner and mascara.
From all outward appearances, one would assume she was an office worker who, for some unfathomable reason had chosen this dingy place to finish up her duties for the night. A few details were a little bit off, but she trusted this place as one that was relatively free of that sort of close observation. Idly, she toyed with the ring- an odd creation of wire and a large, raw crystalline point- on the middle finger of her right hand, scanning down through the checklist on her screen. Most of the boxes went unchecked on the final page except the one at the top marked "Results inconclusive." She jotted down a quick note underneath- "Old lady's cat died, then she heard scratching at her door every night. Another cat spotted leaving after scratching noise was heard. Quite probably not ghosts-" before saving the document and sending it off. The majority of calls Isabel Price was sent on ended up being inconclusive- after all, most posts on the local forums about mysterious orbs and unusual creatures were from local crackpots who had had a bit too much and were too eager to see something. That wasn't too much of a problem for her- after all, it meant there were no problems and a lot less paperwork to deal with.
This next one, though, sounded a touch more legitimate. Usually someone else with medical knowledge would have gone to inspect the bodies that had been found to get a legitimate reading on whether there was any signs of supernatural activity. Isabel, however, had transferred this job while interning for the police department, and thus didn't have enough clearance to do her own investigation on the bodies. They were certainly dead, and they looked like they had been attacked by vampires, but that was all she really knew beyond eyewitness reports. Swiftly, she folded up her laptop and slid it into the backpack on the seat beside her before getting to her feet. She was rather tall, about 5'10 in her practical black flat shoes, and rather skinny. She had cultivated a stern, austere look, which she found helped when conducting investigations. Briefly, she glanced at the clock on the wall- 11:18 PM. With a brief nod to herself, she finished the cup of coffee, left a few coins on the table as a tip to the waitress who was leaning against the counter and texting, and started out into the chilly night.
