Edgehaven Yard

[Nicholas Wright]

A large, old building sat near the centre of the town. Several windows still broken, but the new scaffolding up around it showed that it wouldn't stay that way. Edgehaven Yard had been nearly wiped off the map over ten years ago in a vampire raid, and the Edgehaven Police Department had collapsed with it.

Except for five. Five officers were all that remained, but with a newfound source of funding (the Captain didn't like to talk about who it came from) coupled with the fact that they might have sort of blown up their last station a tiny little bit had led to the reopening of the grand hub of policing.

Of course, Captain Wright would have been against it a few months ago. But ever since a certain hurricane had swept his life upside down, he'd found a reawakened sense of responsibility, and was once again trying to do his job, despite having given up a long time ago.

Not that he was doing it very well. In fact, if there was one thing Wright had gotten good at in the past few months, it was avoiding his responsibilities. And by that, he meant avoiding one certain Eleri Mortymer. Which he was doing right now by being 'on patrol'. 'On patrol' was his favourite excuse to avoid the mountains of paperwork. Apparently, they even had new applicants coming in, wanting to join the EHPD. It was a whole new world to him. He'd have to conduct interviews. Him! Not to mention he had been at the Yard when it... well, he didn't like spending too much time there, he could leave it at that.

So right now, he was huddled in a small archway, rain thundering down on his old battered hat. He didn't mind it. Some of the best days of his life had been spent huddled in the dark night (as much as any time could be called the night), waiting for time to pass. You could really be alone with your thoughts Plus it helped him perfect the art of standing still. It was only the other week a thief on the run had stopped to rest against something, only to lean directly on the perfectly still Wright. After he grabbed him, the poor thief left one heck of a mess on the pavement, Wright recalled...

He sighed. It'd been long enough. He'd have to get back, or Eleri would burn down the town looking for him. He casually walked back through the rain, at the perfect copper pace. That pace you could only master when you had nowhere to go or get to, and were walking for the sake of walking. It was something coppers mastered and very few other people.

He eventually got back to the Yard and walked in, taking off his dripping hat.
"Okay, okay." He sighed to the room in general, knowing Eleri was about to pounce him from somewhere. "What responsibility have I missed this time?"

[Eleri Mortymer]

Eleri shoved her hair out of her eyes roughly and laid down her pen. She hated paperwork. She'd thought about dumping it on Hadrian, but she knew she'd end up going through it after him to make sure he'd done it right. She stood up and carried the papers over to a filing cabinet in the corner of the room. There'd been so much of it since they moved into the new building.

She filed the papers and straightened her uniform. The new ones had finally arrived, and she'd managed to coerce Wright into wearing his, althought she had the distinct impression he wasn't happy about it.

"Where the hell is he, anyway?" She muttered, slamming the drawer shut. He'd taken to being 'on patrol' recently, although she sort of knew he was just avoiding her incase she gave him something to do. Well, he'd better be back soon. She thought to herself.

She wandered into an ajoining room, where there stood a small table with a kettle, several mugs and various tea-making supplies. She filled the kettle from a sink on the wall and switched it on. Just as she did so, she heard the door open and shut, footsteps and then Wright's voice.

"Oh, the usual. Paperwork, meetings, paying the builders, interview prep..." She replied, entering the first room again. She eyed the dripping hat in Wright's hand. "Honestly." She said, shaking her head. "If you insist on going out in the rain, at least wear a coat or take an umbrella or something." She nodded towards the quickly-forming puddle by Wright's feet.

She shook her head again, walked over and removed the hat from his hands and placed it on a nearby radiator. "And to think I wanted carpet in here..." She said to herself.

[Hadrian Beaumont]

Hadrian peered out from the door to the basement, he'd pretty much set himself up a little gadjet space down there to work on their equipment, fixing, repairing, remaking, modifying it to handle the more interesting criminals of the Edgehaven persuasion.

"I hear the Kettle get turned on?" He asked, "And the captain come in." He added as an after thought, he was still incredibly amused and slightly disturbed by his mother's.... fondness for his boss, something which had resulted in the Edgehaven Yard being rebuilt - though that probably had a lot more to do with her infinite well of patience finally running dry with the demon attack, she wanted justice and since vigilantee wasn't her style she was doing it the lawful way with whatever law she could find. The fact that she happened to think Nicolas Wright was attractive in that gross 'I haven't washed for a week and i sleep with a bottle as though it were my infant child' kind of way. Which really wasn't attractive, hence Hadrian's confusion and what was he thinking about again? Oh yea.

"Electricians called, they're pulling out, don't think that they'll be protected enough to do the wiring for this place. I've got most of it done but it'll take a while longer, I'm no electrician so... don't.... plug anything in yet. Aside from the kettle, I made sure that one was alright." of course he had, they needed tea to function and to keep Wright away from the booze.

[Nicholas Wright]

Wright gave a casual shrug, countering his list of responsibilities from Eleri.
"Paperwork, that's your thing, meetings, hey, we're having one now, meeting adjorned, paying the builders, Hadrian's sorting that out, interview prep, I'll do it on the night....we're all good." He grinned as Eleri took his hat. He rolled his eyes at the idea of an umbrella. He was a police officer, and a captain! Umbrellas just wouldn't look right.

"Whaddyamean they pulled out!?" Wright snapped at Hadrian. "We were paying them, right? That's it. We pay them, they do the wirey stuff." 'Wirey stuff' was about the extent of how Wright understood anything Hadrian did. "Well, you'd better get those UV lights working in the cells, or else we'll have The Edgehaven Yard Massacre 2: This Time It's Us on our hands."

He half walked, half skidded across the wet floor, and headed for his desk. He didn't do anything there, certainly no paperwork, but he liked the position of authority. Plus he had a bottle of whiskey in his draw.

He slumped down and put his feet up on the desk, having to look over a pile of un-Eleri'd paperwork to see the others.
"So, what's wrong with this new recruit to want to join us?" He asked.

[Eleri Mortymer]

Eleri looked over her shoulder as Hadrian appeared from the basement. "You sure you're not part lycan with that hearing?" She asked him with a smile. She turned to Wright. "I'll let you off most of it, but the interview candidate should be here fairly soon, so at the very least put some dry clothes on!" She scolded him.

She whipped around as Hadrian explained about the electrician, knocking Wright's hat of the radiator as she did. She picked it up with a scowl. "They pulled out?" She asked, sharing Wright's indignance. She sighed. "Well, like the captain said, we need those UV lights."

She rolled her eyes at Wright, picked his hat up off the floor and disappeared into the tea room again as the kettle clicked off. A minute later, she reappeared again, balancing three cups of steaming tea between her hands. She set them down on her desk, handed one to Hadrian and set another in front of Wright, after clearing a space among the paperwork. She'd taken to using his desk as a sort of over-large in-tray because, well, Wright wasn't going to use it. Except as a footrest. She batted his feet off the desk.

"It's not a footstool. And it's clean. Don't you dare get mud on there." She told him sharply, fixing him with a Look. She disappeared into the tea room again and came back with an arm full of kitchen roll, which she laid over the puddle where Wright had been stood. She felt a bit like his mother sometimes.

"New recruit... let's see..." She said, standing up and binning the soggy kitchen roll. She retrieved some paper from her own desk, perched herself on the edge and scanned it quickly, sipping her tea. "As far as I can tell, nothing. In fact, she seems almost perfect..." She said, a hint of bitterness creeping into her voice.

"Myra Everett. Greek by birth, brought up mostly over here, trained in gymnastics and firearms, great analytical skills...." She sipped her tea again and laid the papers down. "Quite why she wants to join us, I have no idea, but there we are."

[Hadrian Beaumont]

Hadrian sipped gratefully at his tea, he'd been working on the system breakers and back-up systems for the cells and the fire alarms, "Maybe she's like me. Hot on intelligence, not so much with the common sense." He suggested, rolling his shoulders tiredly and nodding to the other two, "I'll get the wiring done, its just a matter of making sure it isn't going to turn off if there's a mysterious power failure. I've got them on seperate..." He looked at the others and sighed, "I made sure that if our lights go out, theirs don't." He simplified.

[Myra Everett]

Myra Everett stared up at the Edgehaven building silently, one hand clenching and unclenching absentmindedly in the dark material of her blazer. To the occasional passerby, she would look like a woman on her way to an interview - simple but neatly cut black blazer with a silvery fitted shirt underneath, bootcut black trousers and simple black boots with a small heel to give her petite stature a little more height. She knew it wasn't original, but it worked and that was what mattered.

Besides, she needed to get a job as soon as possible, and good impressions had to be made. Especially as she was hoping to void the stereotypical nine-to-five behind a desk jobs and do something worthwhile and, most important, something that kept her active on the odd occasion. It was also something of a personal goal - her sudden confrontation with vampires, werewolves and the many different versions of that existed in Edgehaven had been something of a personal affront to her well seated logic, and she figured the best way to get over it was to try and work with it directly. So she'd put in an application at the Edgehaven Police Department.

She must've done something right, or she wouldn't be stood outside staring at the building like it was going to come alive and attack her if she made a sudden movement. Interviews always did make her a little nervous.

Myra rummaged in her bag for a second, and pulled out a chapstick from her bag and slicked a little across her lips - a nervous habit of licking her lips meant she and sore lips were not strangers in any sense of the word - and ran a hand through her dark hair, before opening the door to the station and stepping inside quickly.

[Eleri Mortymer]

Eleri nodded to Hadrian. "Maybe." She replied with a smile. She secretly hoped that Myra had some kind of massive character flaw that meant they wouldn't hire her - she'd gotten used to being the only woman around. Well, there was Elizabeth, but she wasn't actually in the police. And besides, she helped to keep Wright in check. When she wasn't flirting with him. She smiled at Hadrian again. "Thanks, Hadrian." She said. The young man was suprisingly helpful, considering the amout of money his family owned. Eleri had always thought that rich people were selfish snobs. Just goes to show I guess. She thought.


She sipped her tea again and sighed. Then she heard footsteps outside and felt a strange sense of unease and nervousness. She drained her tea, set the empty mug down, hopped off her desk and smoothed her shirt down.

"I think she's here." She informed Hadrian and Wright. She strode over to Wright, swatted at his feet again and sighed. "At least try to behave." She told him, shooting him another Look. She knew that if they were about to hire someone new they'd have to learn what Wright was like eventually, but she wanted to at least make a good first impression.

She turned as she heard the door open and gave the figure in the doorway what she hoped was a welcoming smile. She took in the womans smart appearance, and the nervous expression on her face. She got the distinct impression that she was new to Edgehaven, and that nobody had actually told her about the police yet. Well that explains the application... she thought.

She pushed the thought out of her mind. Judging on sight was one of her worst habits. She pushed the thoughts out her mind. Task at hand she thought. She tucked her hair behind her ears, gave Wright a quick glance, and extended a hand to the woman.

"Miss Everett?" She asked.

[Nicholas Wright]

Wright (who hadn't, of course, changed out of his battered wet uniform), grinned and put his feet back up on the desk, like someone watching a show. He didn't have to say anything. Not yet, anyway. He wanted to see how Eleri and the newcomer handled each other first. Nobody ever figured Wright was the captain the first time they saw him, and he had fun watching what personal comments people would make before they realised it was the captain of police they'd been talking about. Small amusements were often the best.

He took a swig of tea like it was a shot of whiskey, and tried to imagine it was. He had sworn off drinking recently, trying to face his responsibilities with a clear head. It had been a lot harder than he thought, and every time he thought he was getting better he found himself reaching for that bottle of whiskey in his desk. He could have gotten rid of it, but then he'd have to admit failure to himself. Tea was a rubbish substitute, but at least it kept his mind clear.

He observed the new recruit with the mind of a copper. She was short, probably keen on overcompensating. Smartly dressed, but in an interview, everybody would be. She had a slightly confident stance by his reckoning, despite obvious nerves, a sign of her firearms training. You would be nervous, but not frightened, with that kind of training under your belt.

His eyes wandered to the desk, and he found himself wondering if his shoes were dirty enough to really annoy Eleri. They were old and battered, just like he liked them, but he wasn't sure they were dirty enough to really irritate her. Shame. He'd have to walk down some spectacularly dirty alleys later on just to really make sure she got annoyed...

[Myra Everett]

Shutting the door behind her with a click that seemed to ring in the silence following Eleri's greeting, Myra inclined her head towards the other woman and accepted her handshake with little hesitation. Yes, she was nervous, but that didn't meet she had to shake and stammer her way through this interview. She took a deep mental breath, before responding,

"Yes, that's me," she said simply, keeping a steady eye-contact with Eleri until the handshake ended. She took the opportunity to glance around the room quickly at the other occupants and give Eleri herself a very quick, non-intrusive study. Something about the woman made her feel uneasy, but not in a bad way. More like she could tell she was being judged a little by everyone in the room - something she expected, given the position she was in. However, she'd spent 14 years of her life being judged on things she did in the gymnastic circuit, so she wasn't so fazed. Same principle, different location really.

She tilted her head minutely, but didn't say anything else. She'd introduced herself, and that was the first hurdle over and done with. Logically, she could either expect a few introductions from the other people in the room, or for the interview itself to begin.

[Eleri Mortymer]

Eleri nodded herself, and took her hand back. "I'm Sergeant Eleri Mortymer, that's Corporal Hadrian Beaumont" she said, indicating Hadrian, "and that's Captain Nicholas Wright." She said, turning around to indicate Wright. She saw his feet on the desk again and gave him a Look. She also noticed him contemplating his shoes. You just dare... she thought to herself, guessing what he was thinking.

She turned back to Myra. She was impressed with the way she acted so confident, although she wouldn't admit it."So.. welcome to Edgehaven Yard. As you can see, we're still under construction..." Suddenly everything she'd prepared left her. It was probably the calm composure of the woman in front of her that unnerved her. She wasn't used it it.

"Please, sit down." She said, indicating an empty chair she'd placed infront of her desk. She moved around to sit in her own chair and quickly glanced down at the page infront of her, highly aware that she wasn't acting as professionally as she'd like.

"So." She started, looking up. "What made you want to join the EHPD?"

[Myra Everett]

Myra's lips quirked very minutely at the silent look of exasperation on Eleri's face, and she peered over at Wright as well, her small, amused smile widening very slightly as she spotted the Captain with his shoes on the desk. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the 'Captain', but then again, she hadn't known what to expect in the first place. This was certainly more interesting than what she'd pictured - stereotypical views, she'd admit.

She took the offerred seat, and set her bag down on the floor, propped against the chair legs before furrowing her brow slightly as she contemplated the question she'd just been asked. Myra wasn't one for long and flowery speeches, or, really, talking too much in general. She was, however, aware that speaking in her usual manner, with as few words as possible, was no way to endear herself to people who she wanted to hire her.

"...I wanted to do something in which I could have the opportunity to make use of my abilities," she paused slightly, figuring she didn't need to elaborate on her firearms and gymnastics training, as it was on the CV she'd handed in, "My father recommended checking out places such as the town's police force if that was what I wanted to do, so I took his advice. He was correct, and I doubt I'd have much use for firearms at a nine to five desk job."

She halted for a second, before her lip curled into another half smile, and she folded her hands in her lap,

"Also, if I'm going to be one hundred per cent honest; I'm somewhat new to this town and...well. I'll admit to be a woman of science more than a woman of the occult, so the sudden and apparently everyday appearance of vampires, lycans and the variations of left me a little...surprised." Her smile widened for a moment, before disappearing and she spoke seriously again, "Rather than sit around being surprised, I decided finding a position where I would be more likely to deal with vampires and lycans on a semi-regular basis. I like to understand things, you see Miss Mortymer, rather than judge them without knowing them first."

[Eleri Mortymer]

Eleri smiled. She noted the brief smile that flashed across Myra's face and guessed she hadn't pegged Wright as the captain. That said, not many did at first glance.

She listened to Myra's response with interest. It was a good answer, she had to admit that much. She was also amused at the 'semi-regular basis' comment. "Well, sounds like you've come to the right place." She said with a small smile. "You'll definately be dealing with vampires and such around here."

She couldn't help feeling that Myra's last comment was a personal dig, but she ignored it and glanced down at the sheet on her desk again. "Have you ever used firearms in a professional capacity before, or just in a recreational context?" Did that sound too wordy? She wondered. Ah well, too late now.

[Myra Everett]

[[OOC: Quick note, I didn't realise until after I'd posted that it could seem like Myra was taking a jab at Eleri. She doesn't mean it in that way, but I kinda like how it turned out anyway.]]

Myra had been expecting a question on this, and luckily it didn't require a lot of thought to answer.

"Recreational," she said simply, "My father has a license and taught me how to handle a gun." Simple and to the point; she didn't need to flesh out her answer for this one unless asked too, or if she was asked any more in depth questions about how well she could aim or anything. She resisted the urge to roll her shoulder slightly, and hoped that if she was asked to demonstrate her skill, it wouldn't be using anything too powerful. She hadn't practised with firearms in a few weeks, and could feel herself getting a little stiff in the shoulder. She didn't fancy handling anything with a fierce kickback right now.

[Eleri Mortymer]

((OOC: Hah, no worries. I like it too 'Specially cuz Eleri's all paranoid at the mo XD))

"Fair enough." Eleri replied. "We'll probably need to see you handle one at some point, but that can wait." Myra was handling herself well, and had obviously prepared for these sort of questions. Eleri wondered if she'd prepared for the rest. Time to see if she's Edgehaven police material.

"Ok, these questions might seem a little odd, but bear with me." She smiled. "Obviously the first thing we need to know is how much you already know about Edgehaven and its inhabitants. Don't worry if you don't know much, you'll get full training on how to deal with different races, naturally." She paused, tucked a wandering strand of hair behind her ear, and continued. "The second thing is how adaptable you are. One of the main dangers of this job is close contact with criminals, some of whom have some... unique abilities. Could you, for example, remain calm in front of a lycan who was resisting arrest if you'd lost your weapon?"

She wondered if this was throwing too much at the woman at once, but then she had to be sure Myra would be able to handle herself this well on the job. And besides, it paled in comparison to the unusal way she and Hadrian had been recruited.