Participants:
| Scene Title | The Star And The Fool |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Two of Hokuto's Major Arcana meet to discuss the strategy for defeating Voldemort - err, You-Know-Who - err, the Nightmare Man. |
| Date | December 30, 2009 |
Nestled in the heart of the main street marketplace, the Ichihara Bookstore is an old and crooked structure pressed between two newer high-rise tenement buildings. The old glass windows and creaking wooden door on the shop's front give it a rustic and old-world feel. Catering to both antique books and newer prints, the narrow aisles and tall shelves are packed full of literature. A single shelf for periodicals lies near the front counter, while signage both out front by the register and in the back of the store indicates that tarot card reading is done on-site at request for ten dollars per reading.
Behind the old and weathered wooden counter that contains the register and a small stack of reserved books, a narrow wooden staircase leads upwards to a black wooden door with peeling paint, revealing red paint in narrow strips beneath, a rope crossing in front of that door hangs with a small sign that reads, "Private".
Some things have changed at the bookstore since a certain reporter took over. The HELP NEEDED sign has vanished, instead replaced by another sign, which is placed on the front door. It started out as a joke, but apparently he took it one step further.
MORE CUSTOMERS WANTED
It doesn't hurt to advertise, right? Corbin's also taken down the tarot reading sign, at least set it aside and face down so people don't ask about it. The most he could have done with it would have been guessing. The woman who used to give them would never even finish reading his cards, so he can't even rightly fake it. The white cat rests on top of a bookshelf that has a hole big enough for him, but he's twisted in a way that most would wonder how it could ever be comfortable. Much less how he could be asleep while twisted like that. But he is asleep. And he snores. Go figure.
Despite the sign, there are no new customers. The store's close to closing, with a few hours left, and the Company Agent/Reporter stands in front of a set of shelves, looking at the titles and trying to figure out exactly how Hokuto organized things. "These sections need to be labeled or something," he can't help but mutter.
Helena opens the door - letting it jingle jangle to signal her entrance, and then ducks her blonde head in. "Corbin?" she calls out, and flashes a brief, tired smile. "You home?" Of course he is.
"Damn, for a second I thought the sign worked," Corbin says, shoving one of the books back further on the shelf. "I'm here— just trying to figure out how Hokuto organized things. If we manage to get some customers, it would help if I know where anything is."
"I gather it's not anything visibly logical like grouped by subject, then shelved by author?" Helena steps in further, closing the door behind her. "Did you try ISBN numbers?" Moving further in, she takes a look around. "I found Hokuto in my dreams last night." She tells him, getting right into the thick of things.
"You'd think it'd be logical, but…" Corbin trails off, and then moves around so he can better see the small blonde woman. The Face of Phoenix. With some good news. "Really? I had speculated she was using her ability while unconscious, but I wasn't sure until now." He hesitates a moment, before scratching lightly at his forehead. "Did she seem okay?"
"It was…kind of hard to tell." Helena admits. "She looked like she was in control, though? She's doing what she can to fight You-Know-Who." Like he's fucking Voldemort. But names have power, like Mama Petrelli told her so.
"Good, I knew she'd do everything she could, all I can do is make sure this store doesn't collapse while she's gone," Corbin says, shifting his hand to run through his hair. "I ended up hiring a couple people to help out."
"Cool." Helena says, but that seems a distraction to her as she adds, "She somehow managed to create this sort of…Grand Central Station for other people's dreams that I can go through, try to help them face the him." she explains. "I'm going to try for the first time tonight."
"I didn't know she could do that," Corbin admits, laughing a little. "Then again, until now she probably never needed to do anything like that." Known her for so long and it still seems he learns something new. "I hope that helps. It's certainly better than anything I could come up with." Especially since the bosslady didn't like it.
"I do too." Helena admits. "There are risks, but I've taken risks before, and managed to live through them even when they didn't turn out so well for me."
"I'd be interested to hear those stories sometime," Corbin admits, already coming up with questions in his head. "That exclusive interview. If you're still willing to do it."
"I don't know how exclusive it is, seeing as I'm willing to talk to any reporter properly vetted and willing to take the risk to talk to me, but sure." Helena says, "But you more or less have both of those covered. Did you want to do it now, or some other time? "
"Surely there's some things you're not willing to tell every reporter who wants to take the risk," Corbin says, but he can imagine. He knows there's things he definitely won't be asking. Details that will be left out no matter what. "I was hoping to record it, cause voice and face can tell stories just as much as the words themselves. I don't have the camera yet."
Helena nods. "Okay." she says. "You let me know, yeah?" she says, smiling faintly. "Assuming I make it, I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how my first dream contact went."