If Arthur had been looking for much in terms of agreement from the others, he’d have be disappointed, but with everyone newly busy with their portion of their first assignment he figured hey could use some slack. Hogan did vocalize some sort of response, though his mustached compatriot did not quite know what to make of his hissing. Still, Arthur guessed that the sentient reptile would be putting up a fuss if he disagreed with the planned course of action, so he took the vaguely alarming noise as a sort of assurance. “I’ll just, ah, go and grab a van, then.”

A few minutes later an unmarked white van came to a stop by the curb in front of the Speedwagon Foundation building, and Arthur stepped out to throw wide the back doors. With a dubious look he eyed the enormous creature basking not too far away and the elevated bumper Hogan was destined to ascend.  “Hmm…” An idea hit the man, and while not one he felt to be wise, it did seem the most practical route to take. Holding out a hand to Hogan, Arthur told him, “Don’t think you’ll be able to climb in, but if you don’t mind I could have my Stand put you in. It’ll be quick and easy, I promise.”  If Hogan felt disinclined, the only other course Arthur could imagine was leaving him behind, though perhaps for such a simple and thumb-intensive task that would not be a bad thing.

Hogan watched the van draw closer, his mouth lay agape to let any excess heat vent from his body. This wasn’t Hogan’s special van so there wasn’t an easy way to get in, fortunately though Arthur proposed a [i]quick[/i] and [i]easy[/i] solution. Those being two of Hogan’s favorite things he was more than agreeable to the idea. Sure he had literally zero idea of what this man’s Stand could do but that wasn’t an issue, the reptile had confidence that this human was somewhat capable. Hogan then slowly closed his mouth and just looked at Arthur, slowly moving his head up and down. 

A broad smile stretched over Arthur’s face. “Great! I’ll get straight to it, then. Hopefully no random users in the area, though I suppose that would make our job easier…” The large man murmured an indistinguishable phrase into his whiskers, and the air behind him shivered. From behind his back a giant shape unfurled, sleek and angular, a dark-silver titan’s upper half. The curved spires that reached up from the sides of where its neck would be neatly framed its absent head, but nevertheless an odd feeling creeped across the crocodile when he peered into that empty space. It was the untraceable instinct that something was there, like a black creature in front of a black background, watching unseen.

The Stand reached out, and with its hydrant-thick arms gathered up Hogan as best it could. With gentleness but little ceremony it deposited the reptile in the back of the van, then disappeared from sight. The feeling of something unknown lurking about, however, persisted for a while longer. For his part, Arthur seemed to ignore it, waiting by until he could close the back doors and then pile into the driver’s seat. Another moment and the odd pair was off.

[hr]

Due to the traffic, as well as difficulties finding parking, getting to the library took longer than expected. Even when Arthur did find an open lot, he embroiled himself in a somewhat frustrating delay at its entrance because of his lack of familiarity with American currency and its slight variations on the color green. Nevertheless, the odd pair did finally arrive within walking distance of their destination, though the idea of walking anywhere in a metropolis with a fifteen-foot reptile at his heels did not seem practical to Arthur. After exiting the parked vehicle the mustached man threw open the van’s back doors. “Now, Hogan,” he began, “I’m sorry to say I don’t think it’s a great idea to bring you with me through crowded streets into a library. So I found a spot at the back of the lot and backed in, so you can have the doors open and get some sun but not be seen and cause a panic or anything. You okay waiting here while I go in and use the computer?” Arthur attempted a supportive smile, having no real recourse if, for whatever reason, Hogan disagreed.

Hogan was pleased the vehicle had finally stopped moving, he hadn’t known until now but he was pretty sure he had slight motion sickness. Though aside from that he was fine just laying there in the back of the van. Hogan looked up as he heard Arthur get out of the driver seat and make his way around to the back of the van. A soft click signaled to the reptile that he was about to get some fresh air. Hogan looked at Arthur as the doors were opened up, and the man wasted no time in stating his concerns about Hogan wandering around in public and how he thought it’d be better for Hogan to stay with the van. And Hogan was inclined to agree, lacking both the ability to read books or use computers, furthermore he really didn’t want to. So again the scaly giant slowly nodded his head in agreement to what Arthur was saying.

Man, Hogan was really getting to like this guy, he did all the work!

With a nod of his own, followed by a cheery wave of farewell, Arthur set off. Though the streets bustled with activity, he made good time over the relatively short distance before him, and in no time at all ended up seated at one of the many desks inside the Library of Congress tapping away at the keyboard. The middle-aged man took a bit longer than most to get accustomed to how the setup and database system worked, but in less than twenty minutes he completed a list of every likely location he could find, the names scribbled on the back of a yellow book return slip. Confident that he now possessed enough information to begin a search, he labored to end the computer’s session before moseying on out of the place, stopping only to bid the personnel at the front desk goodbye.