RE: YOUR BRAINS , asher

[JASON G. COX]

A lot of people dreaded getting up in the morning. They hated their job, hated the people they worked with, hated everything. Jay was not one of those people. Jay loved his job and everything about it. He enjoyed getting up and ready, and having conversations with the officers and other employees as he headed to the elevator to come down to the lab. The lab, for all intents and purposes, was his. Yes, the police department owned it, but Jason was, so far, the only full-time worker in it. He could do what he wanted with it. It was his man-cave. In fact, on the outside of the lab door, he had hung a sign: Beware of Attack Dwarf! Most people who had never met him assumed it was some sort of nerdy thing, or an inside joke, but then they saw him, and understood. Jay was, in fact, a dwarf- Achondroplasic, to be specific. But that never stopped him before, and it wouldn't now. He might have trouble reaching things on the top shelf, but he would climb on the table or use a ladder when he needed to. It was not, to him, a disability.

The lab was Jay's sanctuary. As usual, he said hi to the people upstairs who were already at work, then got in the elevator and came down, unlocking the door and heading inside. There was a stack of manila folders on the desk in the far back, and Jay walked right over to it, slid on his lab coat, and grabbed one off the top. Then he walked back out to the main lab and pressed the "play" button on the stereo under the workbench, which started blasting Ozzy. Jay enjoyed being able to do whatever he wanted in his lab. Sure, he still had to do actual work, but how he went about it was up to him. He could blast music if he wanted, and nobody could stop him. Jay climbed onto his rolly chair and pushed himself across the room, sticking the evidence in the GC/MS for testing, then pressing buttons to start the process.

[CHARITY A. LeMAY]

Asher had gotten up bright and early that morning to prepare to go to her new job. Though getting up bright and early was just something she did. Even when she had nothing to do or was taking a day off to sleep and relax she was up by nine at the latest. She'd followed the morning routine she'd had since college and then headed off to work. She was excited about the new job, the fact that she loved what she did only helped her want to go there and she'd been on time, early even... and then spent the next half-hour talking with the Chief of Police, who she'd not expected to be there, about her new job and duties and exactly how much work they ever really had. She'd gotten through that talk with lots of mhmming and nodding her head like she really cared. All she wanted to do was get down to her new 'office' and take a look around. She'd already been warned she'd been working with someone else but she hadn't found out anything about her new co-worker... another thing she was seriously looking forwards too.

Escaping the chief with a hurried "I should probably get to work" she stepped into the elevator and pressed the down button. As the elevator descended into her new work area she adjusted her skirt and shifted the strap of her leather messenger bag she took a deep breath and thought positive thoughts. She loved new places and new people so she wasn't worried too much about what was to come but it wasn't really an old and familiar situation. New home and a new job.... before school had been her job and she knew that she was good in school but working... in a real place... with real people and without a professor. She was excited sure but saying she wasn't nervous would have been a bold lie. She wouldn't lie to herself, the rest of the world... well she wasn't concerned with what they thought about her.

Stepping out of the elevator her flats created a soft shushing sound as she walked towards the lab. The first thing she noticed was the loud music, the second was the warning sign. The sign cause her to pause, taking a moment to re-read it before shrugging it off and continuing on her way. One last deep breath to put on her game face and she stepped inside looking around. The first, and only, person she saw was a man. A little man. A man she assumed was her new co-worker only by the fact that he was working. "Um... HELLO?!" She called trying to pitch her voice over the blaring music.

[JASON G. COX]

Jay was not an easily-startled guy. In fact, he had what could be defined as "nerves of steel." This developed over years of being stared at and made fun of being he was a Little Person. Kids could be cruel; it was clear fairly early on that Jay was a lot smaller than his peers. His brothers, even the younger one, always did their best to defend him, but Jay usually tried to do it himself. He was a tough guy. People coming into his lab never startled him; he was used to it by now. Even if people didn't need him to run a test, they occasionally came down to talk to him, which he enjoyed when he wasn't busy.

So when Jay heard someone shouting over his music, he leaned down to turn the volume way down- though it was still on, just really soft- before pivoting the chair and looking to see who the voice belonged to. He blinked at her. She didn't seem to have a file for him, and he hasn't been informed of any new hires. "It's too early to be giving tours right now," he told her. "And I don't trust anyone with the the Starship Enterprise crew." Jay sometimes failed to remember that not everyone instantly knew he was talking about 'his' lab equipment. Every machine, microscope and other tool had a name.

"Look, you really can't be down here..." Jay really was a social guy, but it was early, and he hadn't had any caffeine yet because he woke up with barely enough time to get here, let alone stop at Starbucks. So he was a grumpy little guy. Only slightly, though. He just didn't like strange people in his lab.

[CHARITY A. LeMAY]

Asher raised her eye brows at the Starship Enterprise comment, a bit confused but ready to roll with it if her new co-worker was crazy. She'd probably try to pick his brains at some point but hell, she was insanely interested in how the human mind worked. When he started in on the tours she laughed. "I'm sorry, I work here. A tour would be nice but I'll figure out my way around without it," she said and crossed the room to him, holding out her hand. "Asher LeMay. I got hired as a lab tech down here."

She would have been shaking in her flats if she hadn't already decided she was going to keep her confidence up and just roll with the punches. She was not going to let anything get in the way of her doing what she loved. "I don't have all my official stuff yet since it's my first day but I promise I really am supposed to be here." She knew that she was supposed to be there. It was her job, it was what she'd been in school to learn how to do for so long.

She wasn't exactly dressed officially. Black flats, black pencil skirt that ended just above her knees. Under her jacket she wore a red v-neck t-shirt. She'd thrown on the pencil skirt because it was her first day but she tended to like to air on the side of non-form fitting skirts. She could deal with tight jeans but when it came to skirts she liked them to not hug every inch of her thigh on the way down. Either way, she'd wanted to look nice but not like she was set to be some fucking secretary. She was way to fucking skilled for that.

[JASON G. COX]

Jay looked at her, skeptical, for a second. He was a naturally skeptical person, not one to believe what he was told simply because he was being it. He'd learned, in his many years of life, that just because someone sounded honest didn't mean they were. After all, he was a lab tech, not a psychologist, or lie detector, or anyone trained to spot lies. He ran tests, that was about it. But, he was also not so skeptical that he never believed anything at all. He had to consider the situation. He was in the basement of a police station. The only way to access the lab was by the elevator or stairs, from upstairs, or the service bay that they brought in cars through, which was loud enough to where Jay would have heard it if that opened, especially by breaking in. Police generally didn't let some strange person wander through the station and come downstairs. He paused for a second, looking Asher over, then nodded, with a giant smile.

"Alright," he said, seeming to accept the information. If nothing else, he'd keep an eye on her, just in case she was just some random creeper. Jay slip off his chair and waddled over to Asher, looking up at her. "I've been working solo since I got here, so I'm not used to having anyone else around." He held up a hand to shake, and grinned a little. "It'll be nice to not have to climb onto the table to reach stuff all the time." He wouldn't dream of making her grab things for him all the time, but surely once in a while, if he was busy, she could grab stuff for him, rather than make him take the time to climb up and get it himself. "Welcome to the man-cave."

[CHARITY A. LeMAY]

"Awesome. What can I do?" She asked and set down her bag by her feet looking around her new work place excitedly. Her new co-worker seemed nice enough but even if he hadn't she'd have gotten over it. She liked her work enough that she wouldn't be upset if he wasn't happy with her being there. She had the job and she would do her job damn well. "I'm eager to get to work, tired of just sitting around on my ass," she said and looked towards Jay with a smile. Since the move to Hell, Alaska all she'd been doing was sitting on her ass or putting her new home together so she wouldn't go stir crazy. She'd just wanted to get to work but they'd been polite and given her the time to settle in a little bit.

Asher was happy that she'd been accepted by her new co-worker. She'd have worked without that but she always felt like she was walking on egg shells with new people. She liked to not feel like that, she liked to feel normal and like she really belonged wherever she was. It was one of the reasons she liked working down in the lab. She was often alone and even if she wasn't exactly alone she didn't have a ton of people around her, judging her every move and her appearance, speech, and methods.