03.2023 | WELCOME BACK! Hello friends old and new! I'm so excited to welcome you all back to SITW! I've made some changes to the plot and added the ability to play supernatural charcaters! So come and check it out! I can't wait to jump back into this little town with all of you!
A strange history surrounds the town, it is a place where mysterious and supernatural things have been known to happen. The reputation of the town reguarly draws in visitors and newcomers alike. While some residents avidly believe in the supernatural, others are far more skeptical. What do you believe?
Having lived in Sweetwater for a few years, Halah was already very familiar with what the town had to offer in form of entertainment. So it wasn’t at all surprising to find her wandering about town for her day off. Sure, she could have found herself some fun at home, but where was the fun in that?
It only took her about fifteen minutes, but she ended up deciding to check out the Aesthete Galeria & Studios. While she wasn’t technically an art enthusiast, she was all about people. Watching them in their different elements, like the artists on display at the gallery. It was fun to see them talk about their work and even more enjoyable to casually suggest to someone they should buy something so she could watch that exchange. It was a fun little game she liked to play, to entertain herself when she was feeling bored and a little mischievous.
Hal walked up to the reception counter, a charming smile on her red lips, sandals clicking lightly on the wood floors with each step. Her jet black hair left down and simple today, white and floral dress hugging her petite frame perfectly. “Hello, can I trouble you for a pamphlet on the featured artists?”
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 16, 2023 8:07:03 GMT
"It's fucking freezing out, lady," West exclaimed, the words almost a question of her sanity. West eyed the short floral (was that what women called a sun dress?) scrap of clothing she was wearing. Definitely only because it was 28F outside and not at all because she was showing off half her thighs. Either way, he looked and didn't care if she noticed.
The receptionist himself was dressed nicer than his usual wrinkled shirt and jacket, instead sporting a light blue and white patterned dress shirt underneath a blue grey sweater. He still insisted on jeans and on not tucking his shirt in. Not like anyone was around to see anyway. The Galeria was a 'fine art' institution, he had been informed, so he was expected to fit into that. Whatever it meant. He had plenty of 'business casual' style clothes that his parents had bought him over the years and he wasn't using them for anything else.
West leaned back in the chair and indicated the flyers sitting in a holder at the front of the desk. He decided he recognized her from somewhere but he wasn't sure where. He'd like to know though, since she was more than pleasing to look at. If a little crazy. "The Galeria showcases art from local artist Giacomo Ettore. Occasionally others." To be honest, while he knew they weren't specifically featuring anyone else, he honestly wasn't sure if there was anyone else being featured. Sometimes some of the photographers submitted things that Gia liked, but he was here to facilitate people buying art or organizing a visit. And even then, he was glorified security guard.
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 17, 2023 15:08:52 GMT
The confusion on her face at the unfiltered opinion from the young man at the receptionist desk, quickly faded to one of amusement as she looked down at her attire and gently cleared her throat. “What can I say, I enjoy being cold.” Her tone wasn’t one of playfulness, in fact; one might classify it as sensual. She always struggled as the weather transitioned into the colder months to remember to dress more appropriately. But she could generally talk her way out of any odd opinions directed toward her, with a little persuasion on her part.
Light brown eyes took in the young man, his slightly disheveled appearance to his work clothes just seemed to suit him. He only seemed a touch out of place, but he didn’t look like he cared all that much. Hal looked at the fliers and gave a soft nod, picking up one to give it a once over before her eyes returned to him. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a vaguely familiar face; she had to have seen him either around town or possibly at the library, either way she didn’t know him more personally than that. At least, for now. Hal was always looking for more playthings. The thought causing her red lips to curve into a soft smile.
“Fascinating, is the artist on site today?” She asked with a raised brow, gaze breaking away from him to glance around slightly.
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 17, 2023 16:59:29 GMT
West raised any eyebrow, half standing up from his seat to look over the desk and check out her footwear. Yup, classic 'open toed shoes in the winter' type. He shook his head, though her tone did finally catch up to him. Was she...flirting with him? Granted he was no expert, but that was some of the strangest flirting he had ever heard. "Suit yourself," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair as he subconsciously noticed her looking him over. Even when he tried to make his hair presentable, it wasn't. It was less that he preferred it wild and more that he preferred to use his time elsewhere.
"No idea," he said unhelpfully. West didn't really know Giacomo all that well but as his boss, he figured he should just hand out his whereabouts to strangers. Townie or not. Besides, the guy was a bit...eccentric and West equated that with being a recluse, true or not. While it might be funny to mess with him and send some local admirer after the man, West really needed to hold a job. If just for recreational funds.
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 17, 2023 20:33:51 GMT
Hal didn’t seem at all to mind his checking out her choice of shoes, though she did find it amusing. She chuckled a little as she ran a hand through her dark locks. “Oh, I always do.” She said passively, folding up a flier and tucking it in her pocket.
Hal couldn’t help but wonder why he seemed familiar, and it finally hit her. He was one of the Vandersons. She saw him around the library whenever he decided to check out books for school projects, but aside from that she didn’t know much about him. Halah didn’t keep up with the town politics; preferring to learn things in her own ways. It was more fun.
“Well, do you have any recommendations on pieces that are worth seeing, or do you just ‘work’ here?” She added air quotes to ‘work’ with an amused smile.
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 17, 2023 21:28:42 GMT
The woman's response was odd but he wasn't that interested. People in Sweetwater were weird. He'd long gotten over that fact.
"I don't 'just work here,' I work here," he said, making a clear distinction of enunciation between the air quote sarcasm dismissiveness and the lack of them. "Mr. Ettore's most recent work along with other local artists is the left wing." As opposed to the older works from the owner's collection in the right. The gallery housed artist studios as well, for use by various locals, but beyond having names and IDs for who should be using what facilities, West knew very little about anyone who activity used them yet.
He hadn't worked here long enough to have any piece on display grab his attention personally. And besides, art was one of those...subjective things. Something one person liked, another hated, and something that said one thing to them said the opposite to the other. Much like school reading lists, West hated when someone told anyone else what something should mean to them. It was one thing to talk about the artist's attempt at meaning. Entirely another to discuss how things came across to any one reader. He looked back up to realize she was still standing there. Maybe it was hearing her speak a bit longer and picking up on the slight accent that he didn't recognize. Or maybe her uncouth clothing had just thrown him off before, but he was suddenly struck by how...exotic she was. "Is there something else I can help you with?"
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 18, 2023 21:28:47 GMT
She gave a gentle nod to his words, a bemused smile pulling across her red lips as she made not effort to hide the way her eyes searched him for a moment. It had been a a minute since she toyed with anyone, and she’d be lying is she said this one didn’t strike her fancy. Though mostly because he seemed to be more entertaining than most the younger guys she’d encountered around town.
Hal let her eyes wander off in the direction of the art for a moment before shrugging lightly and her light brown eyes falling back onto him. Her eyebrow curved up slightly as she considered what to say. “Oh, I’m sure there’s plenty you could help me with, you look quite… capable.” Her tone was quite suggestive, and almost melodic. She smiled playfully at the young man. “Tell me, what do you like to do for fun?”
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 19, 2023 4:02:53 GMT
West sat back in his chair, settling into his desk space once again and prepared to pull his phone back out so he could watch Twitch while he worked. Er, listen to it. He technically had other actual work to do, but really most normal days weren't that difficult. Only the woman didn't leave him to his work or his not work and took his dismissive obligatory question seriously.
Initially, the implication of her words went over his head. But there was...something about the way she said it, be it her tone or the words she used or her raised eyebrow, he wasn't quite sure. But at that smile, he did finally understand. He was entirely capable. Of what though he wasn't sure, but she was right, he could definitely help her. Which started with answering her question a lot more truthfully than he normally would have. He leaned back in his chair and returned her smile with a smirk. "Weed, video games, taking my motorcycle for drives when it's not freezing cold out, and reading science fiction." Why had he said that out loud? The last bit even more than the bit about smoking.
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 19, 2023 4:27:27 GMT
Hal knew different people required different levels of suggestion or effort to get them to open up, so she wasn’t sure if she’d need to put more effort into her prying. But the way he began to share made her smile turned a bit more devilish as she leaned against his desk, gently clicking her nails against the glass. There was a look of delight in her light brown eyes at the success of her melodic questioning. God, she loved being a siren.
“Thats right, you’re the Vanderson with the interesting reading preferences… West, isn’t it?” She looked around, the Galeria wasn’t all the busy, and no one was near enough to really five any notice to them, aside from the stray glances at her petite frame leaned against the desk. “I’m Halah, but you may call me Hal. So West, why don’t you show me your favorite piece in the Galeria?” Again, her sweet song-song voice urging him to bet persuaded to show her what she wanted.
It was all a part of her game. Hal loved to mess with people, but mostly she liked to see the things they never showed other people. To be privy to the secrets they didn’t quite want people to know about. It was thrilling.
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 19, 2023 4:53:35 GMT
The more she spoke, the more attention he paid to her. Not that he hadn't noticed exactly how sharp her nose was, or the exact hue of her lipstick before, but there was something else. So maybe he'd made fun of her general attire but she did look good in the sun dress. He looked back up as she said his name. He hadn't exactly been interested in who the woman was before, but now, he found himself wanting to ask. Only she filled in the blank for him.
He found himself nodding at her name and nickname. He would definitely do that. "Uh...I would, Hal, but I'm not really supposed to leave the front door unattended..." he pointed out a bit awkwardly. At least part of him understood what his job entailed and clearly wanted to do said job at least to some degree. He wasn't such a push over that one attractive older woman could just talk him out of his position. Besides, he didn't particularly want to show her. Of course, he did pay enough attention to the art that he had a favorite. He glanced over his shoulder at the local artist hall and then back to her.
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 19, 2023 5:33:44 GMT
Her perfectly manicured fingernails tapped away on the desk as she considered his words and gave a slight pout, almost disappointed with his response. But then again, she could relate. She maintained her job at the library, despite moments of boredom that the made her want to make suggestions to her patrons to make the day more entertaining. So while she was disappointed he didn’t just lead her to his favorite painting, she did find his resistance to her charms adorable.
Yes, he’d make a fun new pet. “Fair enough, wouldn’t want to cost you your job.” She said softly, casually glancing at her nails for a moment before raising a brow. “Well, how about to come and find me when you can take a break?” She gave a wink, eyes practically sparkling with delight.
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 19, 2023 5:58:48 GMT
Although he wasn't sure why, part of him was disappointed he hadn't caved to her ask. What was walking away from. The desk for a moment and showing one patron one piece of art? He could do that for her of all people. Nothing would happen. West nudged the thoughts away, focus drawn to Hal's nails drumming on the top level of the desk.
He was relieved when she let him off the hook for not fulfilling her request. He relaxed back in his chair again. "Probably wouldn't be my job but still,"he agreed. He was still knew and learning where the exact line was.
West's attention kept getting stuck on her nails, though he caught her wink as her words settled around him. He didn't usually take a break. "I will," he promised, glancing at the time on the computer. He'd have to find someone and ask if they could handle the desk for a bit but he had to meet up with her.
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 19, 2023 6:21:01 GMT
Hal would consider herself to have been behaving as of late, so she was definitely due for some fun. And she definitely fancied herself having a little fun with him. Though she was curious at the lack of his mentioning the typical young adult response of partying and sex for what he did in his free time. It made her curious to know why. And she’d make sure to find the time to ask. For now, she merely gave a smile.
“Better safe than sorry, I suppose.” She responded with a slight teasing smile, running a hand through her hair as she nodded. “You better.” again with the melodic tone, only this time she walked off toward a one side of the Galeria to admire the artwork.
Post by West Vanderson on Dec 20, 2023 4:51:08 GMT
Unfortunately, there wasn't just anyone around who could watch the desk. The Galeria wasn't exactly staffed to the nines and didn't need to be. West was the main worker here, after all. He still wasn't sure how he ended up the front face of the art gallery. Probably his charming smile.
He was stuck at the desk as usual. Which was fine at first, but the longer he went, the more his promise to the woman twisted in his gut. He had told her he would find her. And he would. He finally caved, not wanting to wait four hours for the end of his shift. Per OSHA, he got a lunch break. So he vacated the desk and moved away to look for Hal in the different wings.
West wasn't really sure what he would say, he just knew he had to find her.
Post by Halah ‘Hal’ Ramzi on Dec 20, 2023 5:22:31 GMT
While standing and admiring a rather lovely set of paintings, Hal couldn’t help but wonder just where the artist found their inspiration. She wasn’t all that artistically inclined herself but she’d enjoyed her fair share of them… they made for wonderful paramours.
The thought made her smile, knowing it had been a moment since she’d enjoyed her fun. She’d been behaving for the most part, and damn did that get boring. She made a clicking sound with her tongue and she continued to the next set of paintings and happened to glance up, noticing West had indeed left the front desk and appeared to be searching for her. How she loved when the prompting took hold and made her playthings more willing to be toyed with.