The town library is a comfortable place, a neat little building with a few small wings. Large windows let the sun pour in during the day, splashing and puddling on reading tables and the colourful spines of books upright on endless shelves and trolleys, with chandeliers overhead standing ready to light the rooms when darkness creeps into the sky. The floors are polished wood, old, but strong, faded blue streams of carpet running peaceably along the paths most traveled, footfalls softened to a quiet hush.
A practical place, the town's reading preferences run toward historical topics, facts, new skills, with very little in the way of fantasy and science fiction. A pointed lack, in fact, except the oddity of an entire shelf devoted to copies of the harshest, oldest fairy tales written.
The circulation desk is a small, but pretty nook built for a single librarian to keep an eye on all who enter and exit the papery nirvana
Alex is actually competent at free handing a town map and makes it fairly legible as to where she means even without many labels. It helps that Basil is particularly good at interpreting, of course. She looks up at him as he sits and offers a quiet smile, head still slightly canted to the left. "White. Um, Alex White." There's a brief glance at the charm bracelet on her left wrist as she speaks. It is engraved with the name 'Alexandria Marie White' in plain print. "Oh, you know the place? Great." The relief is almost palpable as that sweet smile brightens further. "May I ask what this is for?" Now the pen is just idling against the page, leaving small black scratches as proof of its presence.
Basil extended a hand out. Long fingers like polished mahogany extended to her. "Basil. Most just call me Basil unless they are very much in trouble." That summery amused him to no end, but it was, for what purpose it served, to be entirely true. His head tilted, braids swinging a bit like a stage curtain. "As I am looking to more permanently move back up here and hate business traffic in my own foyer I thought I'd invest into an office what suits me."
"It makes sense. I don't think I've ever seen dreads that chic before." The expression that Alex wears is sly as she reaches out to take the offer d hand. Hers is a lighter shade but one that matches the rich mahogany of Basil's fingers. The girl's nails are buffed, trimmed, and polished without quite having the sheen of the full manicure treatment. She takes care of herself. Her skin is soft. She shakes firmly with the average strength of a wiry, undersized college girl, and then settles back into her seat. "Nice to meet you, Basil." Alex's voice is quiet but- upbeat. Warm. "What do you do? Honestly, about the only office I need is a good workshop. Wires and batteries. Table space." She shrugs.
Basil tilted his head taking the compliment, the smile hung a moment longer. "There was a very talented woman whom I sadly could not pay enough to relocate to allow for easy upkeep. Sadly with the snow Vermont gets there was no convincing her. As for my business," He laughed with a shake of his head and folding his arms. "Finance. Terribly dull, I know, but it -is- a rush to see all those little commas at the end of the day. The things we want and the things we need at any appreciable length are sadly free."
"Mmm. Finance? I like commas as much as the next gal but I don't think I could handle, you know. Dealing with the, er..." Alex trails off, a frown starting across her expressive features a she concentrates on whatever it was she was trying to recall. "Finance laws," the girl states vaguely before adding sheepishly, "I could be a- you know. I could handle books, I guess I'm better at numbers than actually talking," she finishes drily.
Basil dipped his head to the side and seemed to at least find some agreement with her. "People lie, numbers do not. Math? Formula? Those do not change like like people. They stay reliable." The well-dressed gent looked curiously at the book in front of her and squint, "What... are you studying over there anyhow?"
"Oh, it's-" Alex glances down at the book in front of her for a second before continuing with, "Electrical engineering. Controlling electromagnetism to create tools. This text is on- self-powered servomechanisms and programmable object manipulation... things." She scowls for a second as she fails to come up with a name for what she is discussing. The pen is lifted and gestured through the air in front of her as if to emphasize her words. A very natural habit to see it done. She shrugs then, curls bouncing as she moves. "It's... lot of math, really." She trails off slowly, blue eyes still on Basil.
Basil left his curiosity sit with Alex for a while. He was not an engineer, but those siloed into one language of thought sometimes had translation to those that did not speak in the same patterns. He concluded the right thing for entirely wrong reasons. There was a not, "I imagine it must. The laws of all physics stand on math as it were. Do you have a internship in your field yet?" He wasn't a scientist, but he was... curious.
"No. Not yet..." Alex shakes her head in a flurry of wild tresses and then gives a soft laugh. "Soon, I hope, but I've been busy with other things outside of school. Just working on stuff in my spare time so far." She takes a deep breath then, leaning back in her seat and slowly exhaling. "Classwork, though." The young woman tucks her pen away into her bag once more and starts to neatly gather up her books. "I would love to talk some more but- I have to work soon. I hope you find the office you were looking for."
Basil reached into his vest as if the gesture itself were a formal event. He passed her a card that had a clean Copperplate font between two bard that read Basil. A. Utridge and under it the worlds I'Financial Investor' and it had a phone number neatly printed on the back. No address, no nothing. "I appreciate the help. By month's end if you want to consider subsidizing your tuition I might have opportunity to help you point yourself in that direction. Not a destination, a means." He nodded and gave her a smile as a parting salutation fishing his phone out. "A pleasure meeting you Ms. White."
Alex scans the card over and blinks before giving a nod. Then the girl comes to her feet, slides into her coat, slings the canvas duffel over her shoulder and stretches, arching her back until just a hint of midriff is showing. She's very skinny, though not enough that she's actually showing any of her ribs. After this Alex grasps one strap on the bag, tucks the card into an inner coat pocket and turns to walk away into the Library with a wave.
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