Welcoming New Employees

Who: Alejandro and Jocelyn
Where: Babylon
When: Early afternoon

The second day back behind a bar again wasn't quite as shiny and exciting as the first, but Alejandro was okay with that. It was work, it was bringing in money, and it was safe, and he was perfectly happy with that for a while. He didn't have a lot of customers, so early in the day, but that meant he could get to know the bar a little better, make sure he had everything's place memorized.

Right then, though, he was just leaning absently on the bartop, wondering when he ought to go back to visit Melia, trying not to think about that stupid toy block he'd bought that morning-- and subsequently and pointedly left at home before work-- and waiting for someone to call for another drink.

Jocelyn finally tore herself away from the roses to venture downstairs and search for a familiar face to draw into conversation. She glanced around the patrons of Babylon before glancing over at the bar to see who was working. Surprise flickered inside of her as she recognize the guy outside of Nevermore - Alex? And with a smile, she wandered over toward him, sliding up onto the stool. "Well, hello again. I didn't expect to see you here."

Alejandro hadn't been looking for someone to come in the other doors, from deeper in Babylon, so it took her actually coming into his field of vision to catch his attention. He blinked, sitting up straighter. "Jocelyn?" Then he smiled. "I work here, as of a couple days ago." The very day he'd met her, actually. "Don't tell me you, do, too."

"I do," she replied, settling comfortably before she folded her arms on the bar top. "Small town, isn't it?" And now she was curious as to what exactly Alex was, given he'd found Babylon, and was not an employee of the establishment. "How are you liking it so far?"

"Very small," Alejandro agreed, a little amused, now, by running into someone he knew who worked at the same place. "It's not bad. Pay is stupidly good, co-workers aren't too stupid-- and pretty," he added with a grin and a nod to Jocelyn. "Lot of weird people come in, but hey, makes it interesting, right?"

She nodded, glancing over her shoulder at those eating and drinking behind her. "To say the least." Jocelyn shifted her gaze back to Alex. "Practically every day is eventful, but it's the weekends that I see the most interesting clientele. You get to know the regulars fairly quickly, and some people you see once, and then never again. Passing through, I suppose. But I have to say, I've had some incredibly strange, and complex conversations down here before. And while I doubt you do, you really can't let anything you hear surprise you," she added with a pointed look.

"I've already had about three people straight-out tell me they're regulars," Alejandro smirked. "And a good bartender never looks surprised. Just understanding." If doling out blood to people who were obviously vampires wouldn't shake him, he doubted anything would. Well, unless someone came out and said they were a demon, but he really didn't know what he'd do if that happened... no violence in Babylon, after all. "So what do you do here?" he asked curiously. "And can I get you anything?"

"Understanding, or at least interested," Jocelyn replied with a grin. Even in her own profession, there were always a few here and there that spilled their deepest, darkest secrets either during, or after sex. It was truly bizarre, but she supposed everyone had their own way of dealing with problems. "I work upstairs, for Eris." She drummed her fingernails on the bar top, wondering if he was aware of that part of Babylon yet. "I'll have a water, if you don't mind. I'm not a big drinker, especially not this early."

Alejandro gave her a brows-raised look but he got her a water, anyway. "Upstairs, huh? Privately for Eris, or, you know, something else?"

"Privately," Jocelyn said, taking the water with a grateful smile. He was new to the place, but if he didn't know about the other aspects of Babylon yet, he would shortly. She took a sip and set the water back down on the bar. "I come down here often though. I like people watching. Or, you know, bothering the bartender with random, useless conversation."

"It's a slow afternoon," Alejandro grinned. "I can handle a little random, useless conversation. So what brought you here? Interesting place that it is, and all." Bartenders asked questions, after all. It was in the job description. It gave him a convenient excuse to do so when he wanted to, even if it also meant he had to when he didn't want to sometimes. He was in a much better mood today than he had been when he'd met her before, though, and he was curious.

"I needed a job, and Eris offered me one." A simple answer - and truthful. "And I like Marquette. Small towns always seem to have this atmosphere about them. Certain people who may seem completely normal on the surface are usually harboring some deep, dark secret and I absolutely adore that sense of mystery about this place." Her lips quirked into a smile. "Or maybe I've seen way too many movies. I don't know. I find it easier to make connections in a small town than a bigger city." Of course she was still struggling to make those connections, but at least she was trying.

Alejandro chuckled at her. "Making connections, that I'll give you. Don't know about deep, dark secrets in a small town like this, since in my experience everyone knows everything about everyone else in small towns. But if you're looking for those, I bet Babylon's the place to find them, so you're in the right place."

She shook her head quickly, leaning in toward him with a conspiratorial gleam in her eyes. "No, see, I've come to realize that it may seem like everyone knows everyone else's business. Sure, you got some of the gossipy types, the nosy neighbors and everything. But I think there's much more to a town like this than you would think. Stuff that goes beyond who's having an affair with the milkman," she said with a wide grin. "Unless you really try, I don't think anyone really knows everything about everyone else. Babylon, secrets are obviously there, though not as hidden because well, they're here aren't they? It's out there," she continued, waving her hand to the door, "that really interests me." Jocelyn paused and then settled back in her seat. "You must think I'm completely mental now, don't you?"

"Of course not," Alejandro reassured her, then added with a grin of his own, "I just think you're fucking nosy. Why so much interest in secrets? Like who's having that affair with the milkman, or whatever." Random details in the lives of them, humans, the boring and the cruel. For all he knew, Jocelyn would turn out like the rest of them, and understanding that made life easier and didn't make him any less amiable, at the moment. He was, after all, enjoying the conversation. "I'd think Babylon-type secrets were more interesting then that."

She winced, though her smile refused to falter. "It's not about who's having an affair with the milkman. Like I said, it goes beyond that and it's not always about their secrets. People just interest me. What they've done, what's happened to them in their lives so far. What drives them. What makes them walk down the street and happen upon Babylon, for instance?" She took another drink to wet her throat, contemplating. "I love Babylon, but the point is, when people walk through the front door, already I instantly know something about them. They have something special, like you, like me. And it doesn't take much to figure out what that particular attribute might be. Out there, I don't know. Most people are much more closed off and I refuse to believe everyone airs their dirty laundry, so to speak, to the point where neighbors know every detail about each other. So maybe I am nosy. I can't help it. I have this insatiable curiosity about people sometimes."

Alejandro didn't like the notion of her guessing his 'particular attribute', if it was as she was suggesting and only the supernatural of some sort could find Babylon. Though trying to guess might be tricky, in his case. He laughed a little, anyway, at her defensiveness. "Well, see, that's different. That's not so much secrets as just wanting to know everything about everything, right?" He shrugged a little, smiling. "You find people interesting; so hey, more power to you. You don't have to justify yourself to me, if you like finding shit out."

Jocelyn rested her chin in her hand and studied him for a moment. Truth be told, she loved discovering secrets about people. Yes, she adored learning about people, realizing what made them tick - but the ones with the pasts, the ones hiding something...she was drawn to them. At least until she knew what it was they were hiding. "Yes, and if everything about everything involves those deep dark secrets, then it's even more appealing to me. I don't know. My mom used to say there was a wire knocked loose inside of me that completely short circuited common sense when it came to minding my own business." She sighed and then smiled. "What about you? I mean, what makes you special? If you don't mind me asking."

"And there it is again, not minding your own business," Alejandro pointed out, but with a grin that said he didn't really mind, despite his frantic internal attempt to come up with something to tell her. "You really want me to make it that easy for you? What if you're not interested in chatting once I'm not mysterious anymore?"

"We work together," Jocelyn pointed out. "So chances are, I'll be coming down here to annoy you for conversation, mysterious or not." Though he seemed a bit reluctant to tell her, which made her want to know all the more. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. I always enjoy trying to figure someone out."

Reluctant to tell, he most definitely was. "Conversation isn't annoying," Alejandro pointed out, right back, though admittedly sometimes it was. That just wasn't something to tell the pretty lady you worked with. He supposed he could just tell her the angel part, and leave off the Fallen, but even that sounded painfully close to the truth right then. "I'm curious what you'd guess," he continued with a smile. "Maybe I should leave you hanging for a while and see what you come up with."

"That's fine." Jocelyn laughed a bit and picked up her glass again, though she didn't take a drink. "I like digging a bit. I would take a wild guess right now, but I've learned a lot of the time people can surprise you, so I'll refrain."

"I'm certainly not going anywhere," Alejandro grinned. "Eris pays too well. So you've got plenty of time to make guess. Do I get to hear when you've decided you know what I am, or are you going to keep your guesses to yourself?"

She grinned and tilted her head to the side, pretending to consider it. "I'll let you know when I've come to a final decision. But when I make my guess, you have to be honest with me and tell me if I'm right or wrong. Deal?" It wouldn't be too hard to figure it out. All it would take is plenty of observation and some expertly worded questions.

"Deal," Alejandro agreed, and offered her his hand to shake on it, even. "Though I might have to come up with something for the end of your investigations, to celebrate your being right or wrong." He didn't honestly think she'd guess. After all, he wasn't much of an angel, or he wouldn't have Fallen, and how many people Fell, anyway? So he felt safe enough, for now.

Jocelyn took his hand and have it a firm shake. "Excellent. You've got time to think about it I suppose," she told him with a grin. "Just a warning though, I'm unusually determined." She winked at him and slipped off the stool to head back upstairs. "Especially when I find a challenge in something, which I happen to in this particular case."

"I'd wish you luck, but apparently you won't need it, so I'll just say, 'have fun'," Alejandro smirked.

"Luck is always on my side," Jocelyn replied with a playful grin. "But the fun part, I'm sure, will come just as easily. I'll catch you later, Alex."