[flashback] rare days. (hadrian, lillis & caelum)

[Caelum]

70th of Spring, 507 AV

It was a rare day off from the university clinic and Caelum was balancing on top of a rickety, wheeled ladder, stretching for a leather bound book. Sunlight streamed through the shop windows and he could hear the light clatter that meant Lillis had dropped another copper bottomed pan in their flat above stairs. Dust motes floated in buttery slats of light and the familiar, reassuring scents of old paper and ink, leather and dust and knowledge pervaded the antique book shop.

Earlier he had sent a note to Hadrian that his order had come in from the Spires, but somewhere between he had gotten caught up in an intense researching of archaic mage-craft. It had left ink splattered over his hands, molten eyes squinting in attempts to translate fine and faded script and sunk his consciousness into a state that had little to do with the reality surrounding him. Thoughts pinged and scattered against the insides of his skull, coalescing only to spiral back out again into endless tangents. Paper was spilled over one of the wide, oak wood tables in an uncharacteristic disarray, he typically being very exact about the organization and compilation of his notes.

The brass bells Lillis had hung on the shop door jangled, startling Caelum with their herald, and he was forced to catch his balance against the rough edge of a bookshelf. The book tumbled to the ground, landing with an explosive smack, and he swore vehemently under his breath.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian hulloo'd his greeting, tromping into the shop, following the tell-tale tongue spitting mumbled curses. It was the easiest way to find Caelum. He didn't swear properly to Hadrian's mind, but then again, Hadrian spent an inordinate amount of time in dive bars full of sailors, so he was used to a whole other sort of blue streak.

"Don't fall," he suggested helpfully. "I don't know how to fix a broken neck."

With his typical shyke-eating grin, he crouched down to pick up the fallen book. Of course, he couldn't let a book pass out of his hands without at least leafing through it to determine its interest level.

"What is thi--oh!"

And then it would require something to lure his attention away from the old text.

[Lillis]

The clamoring of the copper kettle that she'd sent crashing to the hardwood was not noise enough to keep her from hearing the smack of the book against the floor downstairs. And so -- put entirely off of the idea of tea now that the kettle was dented -- she wiped her hands on the front of her smock (no doubt leaving an array of colors from the remnants of paint that seemed always to live on her fingertips), tucked green- and blue-streaked blond curls behind her ear and proceeded to make her way down the stairs.

Untying the strings of the smock, she left it slung unceremoniously over the banister and made her way through the door that was the front door to their flat and the back door to their shop.

She appeared, then, behind the counter, looking altogether too colorful for an antique book store, and peered up at Caelum. "Well, I'm glad at least you're upright." She glanced around, cobalt eyes falling on the stranger, whom she greeted with a smile and a passing 'hallo', before her gaze continued over the expanse of the room. "What fell?"

[Caelum]

"I did manage not to break my neck," Caelum muttered, still balancing on top of the ladder, an elbow hooked through one of the rungs. It allowed him to twist around somewhat, a rueful smile lighting his mouth as he peered down at Lillis, covered in paint, and Hadrian, absorbed in a book.

They were both so terribly much themselves, it was both amusing and wonderful.

"That book Hadrian's going to steal if we don't watch him like a hawk," he pointed at the book in his friend's hand. "Hadrian? A moment? I'd like to introduce you to Lillis."

A shift of a foot and he began his descent.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian had looked up from the book to offer a 'hallo' back. His smile was ever so slightly nervous. His friendship with Caelum was unique, and he wasn't sure how to act with Lillis; he could only hope they would get along. The colors in her hair caught his eye for a moment, but he was careful not to stare. Women liked a few stares, of course, but he didn't know if Caelum would be one of those guys where his woman was concerned.

As to the book, he pulled a bottle of Benshiran wine out of his satchel. It was a host gift, but it never hurt to negotiate.

"Trade you?"

[Lillis]

oocSo sorry about my prolonged absence -- the end of the semester ate/continues to eat my brain. But now that all but one major project is done and I have decided that I do not want to, nor do I need to, go to rehearsals for my show that opens next week... I am back to writing!

"Oooh," she cooed when her eyes befell the wine Hadrian proffered. Was it gauche to snatch the bottle right out of his hand so that she could examine the label? Perhaps a little, but she smiled a smile that lit her eyes to sparkling as she cradled the bottle gently in both paint-smeared hands. "You should say yes to the trade, I think." She set the bottle on a table between herself and Hadrian, locking her eyes on his face. "Particularly because I've just used up the last of the tea leaves. And by used up, I do mean spilled..."