bakerstreet | ( picture prompt meme )

[The young man behind the reception looks up when he walks in, dark eyes quickly surveying Finch. He has a very androgynous beauty to him and wears his died brown hair tucked behind his ears and in a very short ponytail.

Jackie might not really be in this trade any more - hasn't been in a few years, really, he just works here at times to keep an eye on certain people and developments - but he still has the eyes of keen judgement that you need to develop to spot trouble from a mile away.

Not that he would really need them to tell that this guy isn't a guest. The sign in the window said that the hotel is full, everyone has already arrived, and the guy has no luggage with him to boot.]

Yes?

[ There's a quality to Finch -- a constant buzz of restlessness, eyes averted unless he really has to look at the receptionist, engage, paint the picture of someone you can count on. Needless to say it'll be a challenge; Finch only ever gets to work in places where social interaction is way down on the list of requirements. A hotel has plenty of positions that fit the bill, right? He'll just have to hope for the best and see, assuming he's given the time of day to make a case. ]

Mm. Yes. Hi. Good evening. I'm here for a job. I'm looking for a job.

[ He's nodding, making that effort to keep his eyes on Jackie. ]

You have an interview? [Even though this would be a strange time for it.]

...Or an application?

[He's pretty sure there's an online form somewhere for that, but really, he doesn't know. He started working here years ago, before online application forms really were a thing.]

Uhm. Hm. No. No.

[ No to the interview, no to the application. ]

Do you need people to work here. I do many things. But I don't have a degree.

[...wow, this guy is bad at selling himself.

He should just send him away, but fresh blood is always good - literally - and besides it might be hilarious to sic the shift manager on him.

Jackie fishes a "I will be back shortly" sign out from under the counter to set it on the tabletop and comes out from behind it.]

Let's see if Katarina has something for you.

[ Finch may be many things, but he's also aware that the majority of the time, it isn't easy to just walk in and ask if they'll give him a job. It's great when they do turn out to have something on the spot, on when they promise the interview in a day or two, assuming Finch will not have found something else by then.

When he's told to follow to see a Katarina, all he does is nod and comply. ]

[Jackie leads Finch down a few corridors and down a flight of stairs, and they're clearly in the staff area now. And then he knocks at a door, and when nobody answers, checks if it is locked.

It isn't, so he pushes the door open and pokes his head inside.]

Hey, Katarina, I-

[He stops abruptly.

That's...] FUCK.

[He takes a step back, and then another, cursing and suddenly very, very nervous, and if Finch looks over his shoulder, he'll see a woman lying lifelessly on the ground. Someone has clearly gone through everything in the room - drawers are torn open, paperwork strewn around. A few drops of blood are on the ground, and bruises show that the woman struggled against something, but there is no obvious cause of death. If she is dead. (She is.)]

[ You'd think that Finch would have a normal reaction to seeing a dead body. Stressed as he always seems to be, panic should be easy to set in, making him back away in frozen shock, mumbling to himself and taking off as soon as he remembered how to move his legs.

But that's not what happens. Finch does look over Jackie's shoulder, and while he feels disturbed at seeing a dead woman when all he wanted as a job, it's. Weird.

That's it; that's what he thinks. Weird. ]

She's dead.

[ Yes, thank you, Finch. ]

...

[Jackie opens his mouth to say something, closes it again, opens it once more, and then adds an equally helpful statememnt to Finch's:]

SOMEONE KILLED HER!

[When? He's not good at this, he can't tell those things very well, but there's a bad person who he's pretty sure lost a lot of blood that isn't present any more. Which would not freak him out nearly as much if it was not generally agreed on that this establishment is off limits due to complicated political reasons, which in turn means that...

Well, this is probably the start of major trouble and shifts. Unless it was some independent.]

Hell, hell, hell, hell.

What should I do, I can't just leave her like this-

Uhm. I don't know. [ Jackie could be panicking enough to ask him what to do, because Finch has been a presence for the last five minutes and knows for a fact that his quest for a job hadn't included -- this. Not necessarily coming up to a murder scene, but handling a situation where people might be looking to him for guidance and leadership. The best he can offer? ] Call the police. Yes, you should call the police. That's the best thing you can do in this situation.

[ Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wonders -- how inappropriate would it be to take a little bit of the essence she has left? ]

No, no, no.

[He shakes his head and after a moment realizes that... ah. What to say.]

No, we have to get rid of the body, no police here. We don't want that kind of trouble here, it's bad for the business, you see, we don't want police getting in the way of guests, this place is so very off limits, we can't let this become an incident, we'd absolutely be on the losing end- [he's 100% talking to himself now] it's better if nobody learns...

You don't happen to know how to make a body vanish? We really can't use the issues this kind of insult is trying to create so if we can act like it never happened...

[The problem with asking anyone in his pack is that that'd go across clan lines, and that's the exact issue at hand, if he's not completely mistaken. One of the big clans trying shitstir, to finally get rid of his own, at least in this city. There have been signs all over.]

[ His brows are arched throughout Jackie's explanation and self-reasoning. Any direct and prolonged eye contact he's making now isn't forced; he really is absorbing the information, he just... has no idea what to do with it. ]

No. Should I? That doesn't sound right. It sounds like a crime. Do you know who killed her? You should definitely call the police... This isn't right. Not one bit.

[ It's his turn for incessant mumbling, shaking his head slowly. ]

No, no, I don't know. How would I know? It could be anyone - well, almost anyone, and the police wouldn't find them anyway.

And if they did... well, it wouldn't help anyone, least of all them which is really the smallest problem here, someone is trying to start a war! [He starts pacing and then abruptly heads out of the door.]

Stay here, don't move, I'll be back in a moment. I need to make a call.

It sounds like you know who killed this person. Or that you have a suspicion. This isn't right.

[ Or so he'll keep saying, without any vocal panic. Finch sounds like he might as well be trying to figure out an optical illusion, to make reason of it. ]

Why are you leaving me here? You said you wouldn't call the police. So who are you calling?

[ There's little to no chance that he ever answers 'yes' to these things, not unless every possible explanation has been exhausted to death. Unless Jackie goes ahead and takes off, he'll be stuck here for a while. ]

No, no, no, see- stay here.

It'll just be a moment.

[He gestures wildly and slowly backs away towards the door, and then turns and quickly walks down the corridor.

True to his word, he'll be back quite soon, but it still takes him a few minutes.]

Sorry [and he walks back in] I needed to call someone who's better equipped to deal with this, you know, this is so not my kind of ballpark...

[ In being left alone, Finch has more time to think -- rather, to speed through his thoughts, repeating, back-tacking, and finally deciding that whatever else happens to this body, it won't be good. Not that Finch has any noble belief that it is his duty to store her energy, but if that's a part of her that he can save...

Shortly after, it's done. He doesn't have to come that close to the corpse, let alone touch it. Aside from Jackie being his only company, nothing indicates that Finch was ever in this room.

Soon as Jackie returns, so does Finch's babbling. ]

Who is better equipped. What's going to happen. Are you going to kill me too.

[Jackie looks a lot less fussed when he returns. Chucking the responsibility at someone else always helps wonders with stress.]

A lot of people, really. I'm pretty young and not particularly good at all this politics shit, you know? Not the most well informed, either.

And this is going to be so much politics, man... Can't tell you what's going to happen if you don't want me to kill you. [He grins.] I mean, not that I know. Someone will come down in a bit to take care of the body.

Meanwhile. You know how to work a dishwasher and a food lift?

[ The look of concern increasing as Jackie continues, he stays silent even after the question, fingers tensing up, head turning slightly. Did he hear that right? Sometimes he's so distracted that he misses seconds (minutes) of time and has to adapt to an entirely new context once he's back. ]

Not with. Dead people. I don't think.

That's okay, there won't be any dead people there.

I mean, nobody properly dead at least, you never know how alive anyone is at this time of the night, right? [He pats Finch on the back.] Can't promise you more than a few hours, once there's a manager again you'll have to go through them, but on the other hand a few hours are a few hours, right?

I don't know what is happening here.

[ As in, what your business does; Finch isn't known for doing research before walking in and asking if they need someone who needs a job. Any job. ]

Neither do I.

But I know what your task will be. If you know your way around a hotel kitchen, you'll be fine. [He gestures for Finch to follow him and starts walking down the corridor.]

... Okay. [ He definitely does know that; it's a matter of who he'll be sharing it with and how much patience they'll have for Finch's... Finch-isms. ]

Will the police arrest me if they find out about the murder and you tell them that I knew about it. Are you going to say that I did it.

"We weren't going to mention you, so that part is up to you." The police won't get informed, but that is not something he'll tell Finch. He flashes the other man a grin, relaxing increasingly as they continue on. "We'll just say that I was alone when I found her.

All right, in here." He leads Finch into a perfectly regular hotel kitchen and gestures towards piles of dirty dishes. " Start there, and I'll come back in an hour and then we can see how far you've gotten and if you need another task."

[ Well... here he is, he supposes. Having just witnessed the aftermath of a murder, instead of calling the police, he got a job. Working in a kitchen.

... Is that how everyone else here got a job? If that woman was randomly dead and it's going to be covered up, what's going to happen to him? ]

Okay. Don't kill me, though. I'm serious. I don't want to die.

[ This counts as policy, right? ]

I'm not planning on killing you.

[He's not particularly hungry and Finch is way more useful as a dishwasher right now, okay. And also he has some principles. Don't hunt at work. He'd get in trouble.]

No, seriously, don't worry, you're as safe here as you ever are. ...Probably safer. I mean, no random kid on a motorbike will suddenly happen by to run you over, right?

[And with that he leaves Finch and returns a bit over an hour later. He has changed, and he looks significantly more tired.]

How's it going?

( picture prompt meme )

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No need to respond if it's been too long, I'm clearing out my inbox after exams

no worries!

Re: no worries!

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