Rigo was very pleased with himself as he securely transported his surprise through the museum, and his occasionally-skipping feet proclaimed it. He smiled jovially at the guards and other museum staff he passed and they made an attempt at returning the gesture but none of them fully made eye contact, they were all quickly taken by looking with puzzlement at the humming machine/box he was carrying, trying to figure out what it was. Since it was a cube - about the size of a milk crate - made of smooth black plastic, none of them could see into it to realise that he was, in fact, simply transporting one of the museum's very precious rare books back to the curator who'd entrusted him with its restoration, Dr Jenna Hall (not that she enjoyed being known by her title).
She wasn't expecting him to be finished for another week yet, but he'd been particularly fascinated by the technique for creating the glue to repair the torn vellum in the book and he'd rushed ahead with it. Now, he was carrying the completed project through the museum in his specially-crafted vacuum-sealed transport case to surprise her!
The top of the case opened up like a normal box to reveal the ancient occupant sitting within on a padded bed of black velvet three quarters of the way down. Of course, the locks on the case would only be released once the code was typed into the keypad that was situated on one side, beside the control panel and display window that declared the box was currently operating at twenty degrees Celcius and thirty percent humidity (the optimum storage conditions for vellum). Beneath, lay the complicated system of air conditioner, de-humidifier, computer control centre and the battery that ran it all, piping the exact concoction of air into the box through vents up each of the sides. He generally had this little box plugged into the wall to charge it before he needed to transport anything small in it; he had a much larger chamber that worked in much the same way set up in his home on the east side to work on his projects in.
Rigo knew his way around the museum quite well by now; he'd slowly built up a relationship with Jenna over the past ten months or so. He hadn't intended to get back into this side of things when he'd arrived in the city looking for a fresh (anonymous) start, but... self control wasn't one of his strong points. Especially when he was tantalised with safety, acceptance and being able to drop his guard. This understanding came to him when he'd met the Curator of the Ancient Artefacts Department, been identified as a vampire by her and realised she was supernatural herself. He hadn't come to this city for any particular reason but he was stunned to have met so many of his kind and have smelled so many other, mysterious species since he'd got here. It had relaxed him, to be able to talk to a curator comfortably about the life he'd lived, though he was still wary.
He'd made a game of not telling Jenna anything about himself outright - like his age, he'd only ever referenced it by saying, 'Oh, I'm older than this, I had one for years!' when she gave him something to restore for her. She knew he was over a thousand but she hadn't yet managed to find something from his exact era; he had the impression she rather enjoyed the little game of trying to pinpoint his details in such a way. The night she'd handed him a two thousand year old vase and he'd told her with twinkling eyes that he'd never seen one because it was before his time he'd actually seen a spark of triumph in her expression, in fact. They weren't exactly best friends, but they'd had some interesting professional discussions and Jenna was an avid listener whenever he chose to speak about the techniques he used to restore things or what he'd learned in his life time. He wasn't sure whether he looked forward to or dreaded the night she became bold enough to ask him direct questions; he was sure to keep things professional to stretch the time between out so he wouldn't have to face it yet.
With these thoughts in his mind, he was the one who became surprised when he rounded the corner and entered the corridor that led to Jenna's office. A young vampire was not far beyond him but, instead of continuing to walk by, he quite suddenly pressed himself against the wall and... tried to look inconspicuous? Rigo's steps faltered and slowed as he cocked an eyebrow and gave the pretty young thing a curious look, wondering what on Earth was going on. In fact, he turned to look over his shoulder to check that there wasn't something or someone behind him (there wasn't) before his gaze fell to his box and then down along his body. He wasn't wearing anything unusual - some black jeans, black lace up leather shoes (not shiny or polished), a pale blue T-shirt beneath a dark blue button up shirt (buttoned over his navel only, sleeves rolled up to his elbows), beneath a black vest (unbuttoned) and some leather straps on one wrist, nothing out of the ordinary - so he decided it had to be his box freaking the boy out.
"Don't worry," he assured Ichabod, beaming a comforting smile the young man's way, "it's not a bomb. It's just a book!" he said of his humming black cube, resuming his walking until he was before the young vampire and sort of thrusting it towards him in order to prove its safey before he pulled it back against his body, a hand either side of the large container. He looked very pleased with himself to have solved this mystery and explained it so swiftly.
