Completed Parenting For Dummies

[Ricky Maze]

Parenting For Dummies
Spring 88th, 513 AV; 11th Bell

Ricky finally finished buttoning his jacket of the Uniform, finally glad that he would be heading back on duty today. He still had an hour before he needed to report in to the Offices, which is why he figured he would save himself time now by getting dressed and doing a bit of research. Last night he and Tel talked more about the baby, so far she still had the occasional sickness but they seemed to lessen a bit. She had been visiting a doctor from time to time for a check up, and given the estimated time she was practically getting to her tenth week. This made Ricky think that he needed to do a bit of reading, and so he figured the library would be an excellent place to find some sort of book that would help him out.

"Everytime I see you in that uniform." Telion remarked as she rested on the bed, the both of them woke up around the same time. Last night being a night Ricky would've only thought a dream, dream he didn't want to ever wake up from. Surprisingly the dream still continued it seems, as he found himself relaxed and pleased to see their relationship was still the same as last night.

"What? Ya like me in this uniform?" He remarked with a grin, as he took a seat next to her.

"It definitely looks good on you." She teased with a chuckle, as he went in for a kiss.

"I take that as a compliment." He retorted with a smirk, Ricky stood up and walked to the door. Telion wished for him to have a good day and have fun with work, and Ricky gave a wink to her before he closed the door. Hannah seemed to be leaving her room too, as Ricky caught her closing the door to the room that once belonged to Telion. "Oh, Ricky. Nice work last night, you practically had her screaming." She teased him as his face flushed completely red with a grin, a laugh followed when she saw him blush badly.

"Were the stone walls not thick enough?" He inquired a bit nervously.

"Oh they were, I had to listen closely through the cracks to hear the whole thing." A laugh and smile came on her face as she patted him on the shoulder. "I'm only messing with you air head, you did good patching things up though. I gotta go now so don't be a stranger."

"Yeah... Ya too." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he waved bye to her. 'I hope we weren't that loud.' He headed onward through the other room, down the stair case into the big hall, and out the entryway into the city. It took about ten chimes to arrive at the Library at the pace he kept, and when he entered to meet the smell of dusty old tomes he definitely knew he was in the right place. Ricky went onward to look at some random shelves, not a single clue on where he should begin to find this book he needed for parenting.

[Castor Riley]

Castor walked languidlly around the Library's stacks, at peace amongst the books. He had started his shift at 9th bell, and had begun his rounds, looking for people in need of guidance. Even after almost a full season at the library, he still had difficulty navigating it. He scoffed inwardly at the ridiculous assertion he had once made to Lisaelis that within a day he'd know where everything was; every head librarian, it seemed, had chosen to arrange the library by a different method, and none had had either the man-power or the resources to apply these changes as completely uniformly as they desired. Thus it was truly an adventure, roaming the stacks and reading the titles. You never knew what sort of literary treasure might lie hidden, forgotten amongst the dust in the less popular sections. He exited the stacks and went into the main corridor, absently looking around for anyone that seemed in need of assistance. The 11th bell was always the busiest, he had found. People felt rested and ready to face the behemoth of knowledge that was the library. It was only the more hardcore scholars that ventured in after the 17th bell. On top of that, now that the end of the season was close, a multitude of students from the University were constantly streaming in, finishing their assignments frantically before their deadlines. Castor felt a twinge of anxiety at that thought. He wondered whether he'd done enough towards his own degree with all that he'd taken on this season. He shook the thought from his mind and returned to his search in earnest. He ignored the students; they either already knew what they wanted, or else they would lose no time in coming to a librarian for assistance. Since none were approaching him, he assumed they would be fine, for the time being anyway. Instead Castor focused on people from the city, who were most likely to wander aimlessly, unsure of what to do. His eyes were drawn to a Wave Guardsman, who seemed very out of place in the library. He did not seem to be on any official business, yet he was wearing his uniform. Plus, as part of the University, the Wright Memorial Library fell outside of the jurisdiction, as it were, of the Wave Guard. Castor could see the man poking around in the Autobiography section, and felt that he should probably offer his help, in case it was needed. It was such a curious sight, after all, and Castor had always been such a curious person. He approached the man. "Good day, ser" he offered, "might I be of assistance?"

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky ran his finger along the shelf of bookes as he searched along the titles of books, each spine had shown age on each colored cover as some of the titles were worn out. One book stood out to Ricky as the title piqued his curiosity. '"Laviku's Trident." Wonder what the summary says. ' He chuckled as he turned it over to read the faded print. 'Avalis loved no other being but her Laviku, but she hadn't counted on the powers he possessed. Can Laviku penetrate the ice cold defenses of the Divine Seeress? Will she be prepared to face the full blast of his... ferocity?' He began to blush again as he casually returned the book to its original place. 'I think Hannah would "love" to read that...' He mused as he moved on with his search, it was then a staff member of the library happened to approach him. Or he guess the man was part of the staff, he acted like it to say the least.

"G'day. I'm uh, lookin' for a book on babies or somethin' of a sort. Gotta little one on the way now so I'd like to know what to expect." He explained with a humble grin, slightly glad the man hadn't come by to see him reading the summary; certainly not a good way to make a first impression. He looked to the man with interest, and wondered if he would know where to find such books. Ricky definitely felr curious as to what other books may lie hidden, if he could find something as vulgar and out of the blue as that. The man was a shorter than Ricky but he wasn't definitely the lanky scholar type. This man had done enough work to put on some muscle, which made Ricky wonder if he was a scholar or not; considering most scholarly types don't have as strong of a frame most of the time. Nevertheless the bearded man was a welcomed stranger to this humble guard, or "Zeltivan Bear" as some preferred him by.

"Ye wouldn't happen to know where I could find a few good books would ya? Oh, my name's Ricky by the way, good to.meet ya mister..." He waited for the bearded man to finish with a name, a warm friendly grin present in his expression. Maybe this guy did know where to find such books and tomes or maybe he didn't, either way Ricky felt glad to meet a new person here before he started work again. It gave him a more excited reason to be back at work, another idea of a person he would find himself protecting in the future.

[Castor Riley]

When Castor heard the man's request he was rather taken aback. Babies? he thought to himself, incredulously, his eyes widening slightly. He quickly recovered though "Oh, congratulations, ser! I wish good health and a safe delivery on your family!" He considered the larger man. He was at least a head taller than him, or so, with an imposing frame. The word "bear" came to mind, but he certainly dared not say it. He did not seem older than 30, so perhaps a bit young for children? Castor warmed a bit then to the motivating desire behind the strange request, and resolved to try and help the man as best he could, rather than just send him on his way. "Well, Ricky, I'm Castor, a librarian with the Wright Memorial Library, and I'll do my best to help you find what you're looking for." he replied to the man's introduction. "Now then, about good books... Well, for one, there are no books in the library that are specifically about child care per se. The titles we carry are mostly of a scholarly nature, and quite frankly, scholarly interest in that area has been lacking, to say the least." he smiled at the joke. "However... Perhaps... Hmm... Please follow me." he said absently, slipping out of the "helpful librarian" attitude he'd been using. He started muttering to himself, as he strode off towards the stacks, trusting that Ricky would be following him: "Now, who was it?... She had that baby, on an expedition... Very informative... Had a laugh too, felt bad though... Was it in Falyndar?" He reached a crossroad, then remembered to actually include the interested party himself. "I can find you some books where people are taking care of their children as they do the things the scholars were interested in. I can do that much if you're interested." turning back to see if the man had actually followed him to begin with anyway.

[Ricky Maze]

"Well thank ya sir! That really means a lot to me." Ricky beamed with a scratch behind his head, a bit of a proud smile became present. He hadn't expected such a praiseful reaction from a stranger when he shared the news, such positive enthusiasm actually encouraged him when he heard it; so of course Ricky welcomed it with joy. He nodded and chuckled when Castor made his introduction and led him further back, the librarian had his undivided attention the whole time so Ricky found himself a bit curious as to what he was saying. When he heard there was no legitimate tome on expecting, disappointment came around for the first two ticks until Castor came up with an idea, or rather a suggestion, that could help. Thus Ricky followed him with an amused grin, as the two went on further into the library.

'Baby during expedition? Now that had to be risky!' He thought to himself as the idea felt dangerous, something he didn't want was to have his love go into labor in the middle of the wilderness. When Castor spoke to Ricky the guard's attention went completely back to the librarian, a warm smile still present on his face as he listened to the man. "Aye, that sounds as if it could work. Pretty sure any experience I get will be the same as their's, or close to it at least." He joked with a chuckle. Though he had a child on the way the simularity in experience would end there, as there was no possible way Telion would be out and about since Ricky is here to take care of her. "Definitely a good idea to read what they've written though, definitely will give me some insight." He admitted with an open mind. He wondered a bit about Castor, and who he was outside the walls of the library. He seemed to be a pretty positive person to be around, which to Ricky became a plus for one. Yet mystery still lingered around him, and Ricky made a mental note to get to know him some.

[Castor Riley]

Castor smiled apologetically and blushed a bit when he heard Ricky's initial response. The expedition notes might not be the best solution, or the most applicable to the man's situation, but it had been the best he could come up with to such an unusual request. When he continued though, showing an open mind in light of the limitations of available solutions, Castor returned to his task with renewed vigor. "Well then, ser, I'll do my best to get you that information." Now, If only I could remember where the Falyndar Travel Literature section was, that would be great he thought to himself. He closed his eyes then and thought back, conscious of how peculiar he must seem. He could faintly recall stumbling upon it one night as he'd been returning some books to their proper places one corridor over. The books had been about... "Eypharian Dance!" he exclaimed, brightly. He remembered where the Eypharian Culture section was at the very least, and headed that way. He felt he would surely be able to find the book with that as a starting point. As they walked, he thought he should ask the Wave Guard a few questions "So, how far along is your wife? I might have to get back to you with some other books if this one doesn't pan out" he smiled at Ricky, waiting for his response.

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky followed along with a simple grin as he listened to Castor, amused at how the librarian found the energy to search out the library once again. He became surprised and very much interested when Castor recalled something about "Ephyrian Dance" as he put it, a small chuckle could be heard as he led Ricky on. Then the question came along that Ricky hadn't expect to hear, how far along was Telion in her pregnacy.

"My wife?" He spaced for a moment as he realized that he and Telion weren't really married yet. Something he definitely considered doing, but hadn't gone into much planning just yet. "Oh! Well we aren't married just yet actually, I think she's gettin' 'round three months.Half way to it if I recall correctly." He spoke with enthusiasm once more as he felt a bit proud, he really didn't mind to share this with Castor since the guy seemed pretty positive about it. Ricky actually felt enough joy to where he could shout it to the whole city if he had to, because that's just how excited he felt on becoming a parent.

"Enlighten me a bit Castor sir, do ya have any family of yer own?" He wasn't sure if he overstepped any boundaries by asking such a personal question, but Ricky found that his curiosity could no longer be contained. At best if Castor didn't wish to open up to Ricky, then at least Ricky could understand and remain positive about their meeting. He did after all see to it that Ricky would find some sort of information that could help him a bit.

[Castor Riley]

The moment Castor heard the confusion in Ricky's "My wife?" he knew he'd committed a faux pas. A quick glance at the man's hands confirmed it for him; no wedding ring. Thankfully, Ricky seemed to be the kind of guy to take such things in stride, for he hardly paused before giving an enthusiastic reply, beaming with fatherly pride. Castor smiled to hear it in his voice. "Well, in that kind of time, I'll just compile a handbook myself" he said, jokingly. Ricky's next question took the wind out of Castor for a tick. He was thankful he'd been walking ahead and was turned away from Ricky when he'd asked it, for he'd whinced involuntarily having heard it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. If you ask personal questions, you'll be asked personal questions he chastised himself inwardly. Still, he felt he owed a proper response to Ricky, since the man had been so forthcoming with his own situation. Besides, it's not like he'd be meeting the man on a regular basis, and he seemed like such a nice person. Which is exactly why you shouldn't, perhaps, burden him with your own issues when he's so happy he thought. The silence was beginning to enter the awkward phase, so Castor made a quick decision. "Uhm... Well, I don't really have one, not anymore. My father... passed this past winter" he said, haltingly. "But hey, it's the circle of life, isn't it? One father dies and another is born" he continued with a cheer that he didn't really feel, staring ahead.

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky laughed at the joke Castor had made, and a mutual positive energy felt shared between them. 'Aye, he's a pretty swell guy when ya chat with 'em.' Ricky believed Castor was beginning to warm up to him for a chime there, that is until a brief silence came from the man. Most likely because of the question he asked about a family, Ricky felt pretty sure it had touched a soft spot somewhere in Castor. Then when the librarian replied Ricky's sky high mood descended just a bit, a reminder that a little more consideration for others around him would do well; after he'd heard Castor's reply. Although the man tried to lighten up with a cheer, Ricky really didn't seem convinced that the subject became dropped so easily.

Ricky picked up his pace so he could walk almost at Castor's side with a sincere expression on his face. "I'm sorry man, must be tough on ya. I know what its like to lose a pa." Ricky hoped he didn't impose by pressing the matter, he patted Castor on the shoulder gently a couple of times, in an effort to show he cared and understood. "If ya ever need a hand or someone to talk with, I'm yer go to guy. Alright?" He assured Castor with a lighr grin, shoulder the he happen to glance at Ricky.

[Castor Riley]

Ricky had sped up to walk alongside him, while he offered his condolences. The feeling of the man's patting of his shoulder caused Castor to have two internal reactions. The first was one of relief, to find a person who cared and to share with them this experience that he had yet to come to terms with. The second, was a raising of his internal defenses, the wall around his self that he had created to ward off attachments. He still couldn't decide which to give more credence to, which feeling to let control his interactions with the man. Then Ricky went on to say that he could talk to him whenever he needed to, which was really a deciding factor. It created a third reaction, another path that was neither defensive, nor attachment; it kindled his desire for knowledge. He considered the man mentally once more. He began to wonder, what kind of person this Wave Guard was, what it was like to be one, what he might know about the unseen currents of the city by the bay. Castor decided then to respond, smiling back at Ricky. "That would be great. I'd like that. Thank you, Ricky." Perhaps he could satisfy two of his drives at the same time. He just wasn't sure yet which the other would be. He looked up and around him then. "Well, it appears we have arrived! Now then, let me just figure out where that book would be and we can have a look and see if it's suitable." He walked down the corridor and moved one of the little ladders kept in each corridor towards the area he believed the book to be in, climbing a few rungs and angling his head to read the titles of the dusty tomes. He mumbled the names of some as he read. "Into the jungle... Tigers, tigers... Kidnapped by Myrians... Aha!" he finally exclaimed, triumphant. "Here we go! In the jungle and pregnant, by Lisa Turrell! It should be an entertaining read, the author has a certain tone about her that presents even the direst of her circumstances in a humorous light." He descended to the floor again and offered the book for Ricky to take. "Have a look, what do you think?" he asked, expectantly.