[Introduction] This truth drives me into madness/I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away...

[suture_guy]

Maybe it was the lighting, Stein thought, as he stared somewhat blankly at the screen of his desktop, at the new design he was devising, a replacement headbolt to counteract the increasing bouts of madness he was experiencing. Marie had been after him to "cheer up" his living space, adding more lights and hints of color, and while he was inclined

Comments

[only_paul]

We suspect at one point or another Dr. Stein will want to revisit the lieu of his arrival. In which case, he will not find it deserted, but rather occupied by a young man, lost in study, books open and strewn all over the place, pen in hand, scrambling some notes furiously.

[suture_guy]

Now that Stein has started to settle in, he's likely ready to see how well-stocked the library is here, and to see if if will allow him to resume one of the several research threads he was spinning at once.

He's in search of the occult/demonology section, when he spies the young man at work: reminds him of himself when he was younger, hitting the books.

"Are you preparing for a class that you're giving, or studying for one you're taking?" a deadpan voice asks, and if Paul looks up, he'll spy a tall, slim, pale fellow in white...

Nope, not that one, unless that one went in for some very strange body modifications, along with losing a couple inches off his height and his shoulders somehow turned narrower, plus his hair is a shade darker and a lot mussier.

[only_paul]

Good thing Stein comes with scent - it reassures Paul immediately: vampires are... mostly odorless, he's found.

"Who might be asking?"

And why, is the undercurrent.

[suture_guy]

"I hope I wasn't barging in: I'm a newcomer and I was finding my way about the library," he says. Thankfully, he smells of cigarette smoke and disinfectant and old books (unlike someone else who...probably doesn't smell of anything). "I'm Doctor Franken Stein: I was looking for the demonology section, but I think I'm a bit turned around."

[in_summer_leaf]

If Dr. Stein starts poking around the basement, he might find Hisoka at the doorway of Muraki's office and lab. Hisoka is actually looking for Muraki. He will open his mouth to greet the pale doctor and then realize that, oops, this is somebody else. "Ah, hello, sir?"

[suture_guy]

Stein's in the process of carving out a nook for himself in the lab, and he's on his way downstairs with a manual typewriter that he found in a closet. He'd rather it was a laptop, but this will do.

He might pause, eyeing the young man curiously. "Hello. Are you a lab worker here?" he asks.

[in_summer_leaf]

"No, I just know Dr. Muraki, a guy who spends a lot of time here," he answers. "My name's Hisoka Kurosaki. You're new, obviously?"

[suture_guy]

"Yes, I quite literally fell into this place recently," he says, setting the typewriter onto one of the desks before turning to Hisoka. "I'm Dr. Franken Stein."