[Library] Amid walls of books (Leigo)

[Fiera]

25 Summer 512 Most of the afternoon Fiera had spent tirelessly sorting returned books while Augusta attempted to stealthily watch her out of the corner of her heavily made-up eyes, as if waiting for Fiera to make a mistake. The woman – who was, as well as the senior librarian, Fiera’s mentor – had an unrelenting hatred for all things Kelvic and seemed bent on making as many snide remarks as possible about Fiera’s mental capacity. Had she not realised that Augusta, among other things, wanted her fired, Fiera might have long been in exile and Augusta, destined to spend the rest of her life as a cripple. Now, Fiera found just found her superiors ignorance comical. Despite that, she was hugely relieved when Augusta finished her shift and went home, leaving the almost deserted library under Fiera’s supervision. With the portly librarian gone, Fiera relaxed. She blew out a few candles which had burned low in their holders and replaced them, so that they no longer cast frightening shadows on the walls and shelves. Then, Fiera turned to the large stack of books that Augusta had left for her to sort and place back onto the correct shelf. She worked systematically, marking the tome off as ‘returned’ in a large, flat notebook before putting it into the correct pile. Occasionally, Fiera would pause to examine the contents of a promising book. If she deemed the book worthy to read, she would jot down the title onto a sheet of paper and continue sorting. Slowly, the main stack of books was divided into five smaller piles; history, magical theory, geography, diaries and philosophy – all in alphabetical order. Arms full with books, Fiera teetered her way to the historical section of the library, glaring at the statues, which seemed to follow her with their eyes. Averting her eyes from the path proved a bad idea as she promptly bumped into a bookshelf and dropped the books she was holding. Uttering a few of her choicest swear words, she bent to pick them up. Some students – those who were not asleep on their papers – turned to look at her with quizzical expressions, but Fiera ignored them. Nice. Watch out for those statues, they bite too! There really wasn’t much point in being sarcastic to oneself and so Fiera just focused on alphabetising the books once more. Z, being at the bottom of the stack, came first. That’s Zeltivian Guide... Where did that come from? She thought. The Zeltivian Guide should have been in the ‘geography’ pile. Interesting book. What does it write? She opened the thin, battered copy. At first Fiera couldn’t make sense of the twisted lines that it showed. They appeared to form a map of the city, including the outer reaches. She could tell the map was old, because half of the piers and some of the newer buildings were missing. Apart from that, there were also places Fiera had never seen before. They would need to be explored, of course. She pocketed the treasure and went back to picking up her books. No one would miss it.

[Leigo]

The boy made way through the towering shelves with a candle in his hand. Even though the boy suggested the familiar to release himself and move around freely for a bit, Onuo declined. There was little chance for anyone to catch them this time of night and even less chance anyone would take it seriously even if they were caught. This time a night students were either asleep or way too deep in their own business to be disturbed by an icicle that happens to fly by. That Rudolph something character’s book was missing as far as he could tell. Perhaps someone else took it? No matter, asking the librarian was always a safe bet. So instead of trying to locate the book, he tried to find a man or woman tasked with guarding the place during the night. It didn’t take him long to notice a girl compiling books back into the shelf. Onuo seemed like it was going to say something, but the creature stopped itself, amused. Not wasting time on questioning the alien’s motives for the time being, Leigo slowly neared this person. It was a girl. “Excuse me, miss, could you please take a look at the register concerning…. You?” Whatever it was he had tried to say, it wasn’t coming out anytime soon.

[Fiera]

Fiera brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and adjusted her robes. Why is it that only now she became aware of how cold she was and all the other uncomfortable aspects of her existence? God damn it! It’s just a book, no one will notice, there are about twenty thousand more in this very room! So why was she feeling so worried about stealing it? Just to calm her nerves, she resolved to look it up later in the register and erase all evidence of its existence. Footsteps. Her eyes widened and but she kept them firmly focused on the book she was sliding onto the shelf. Had they seen her take the book? No. No, no one had seen her. It was just a student, on their way out of the library, and rightfully so, midnight had long passed. No such luck, the footsteps slowed as they approached her. The non-accusatory tone of the words surprised her, and she looked up into the face of the speaker. If possible, her blue eyes widened even further. What were the odds? It was Leigo. Recovering quickly, she smiled and tried to joke, although it might have turned into more of a rave in her nervous state. “As far as I am aware, there really isn’t anything in the register concerning me” she smirked, “well, apart from, you know, a bunch of books on Kelvics…” Fiera reassured herself with checking if the stolen book was visible; it was not. That calmed her a little.

[Leigo]

The librarian suddenly got awkward around him. Was it something he did? Leigo couldnt' really tell. For gods' sake, why were women so petching complicated. In her own clumsiness she still managed to reveal something terribly shocking to the man. Well, not exactly shocking – but it would explain things. So she was a Kelvic. Taking the fact in slowly, Leigo slowly started realizing just how it was she rowed beside him with so little effort that day at sea. „Yes“ he squeezed barely „So you usually tell people about your more primal side or?“ the question was left hanging. Boy giving only a nod and a curt smile. He wasn't overly fond of this idea – a beast in the single most enlightening place on Mizahar. Somehow he liked her more back there in the water when they were both drowning and survival was the only thing they cared for. She still wasn't a human in his eyes, but he couldn't think her a mere beast. Not her. A beast would've bested the shark, a beast wouldn't have been so mortal. „It reminds me, miss, I never got the pleasure of hearing your name. Mine is Leigo.“ Somewhat formal, he surprised even himself. Still, curiosity was a thing to be trifled with.

[Fiera]

Oh. This was horrible. A combination of drowsiness and nerves had led her to reveal more than she had planned. Fiera wanted to hit herself. What was WRONG with her today? First the statues, then the book, and now this? No. Perhaps it is better this way. It saves the rather awkward ‘Yes, I'm Kelvic, didn’t you know?’ phrase later on. She didn’t catch herself on this thought; why did she assume there was going to be a later on? Fiera shrugged, but didn’t answer his question. She knew what he was thinking. Not many people were overjoyed to find that a Kelvic was standing next to them. Fiera wouldn’t have even been surprised if the man just turned around and left. That would hurt. A lot. Then, she smiled; he hadn’t left. “Leigo…” she said softly, as if testing how it sounds, “Fiera. That’s my name.” She slid the last book onto its shelf and turned to face Leigo. He was taller than her, such that she had to tilt her head up slightly to look him in the face. Some emotion made her heart beat a little faster, although the only way she could explain it to herself was to compare it to gratitude. He’d saved her life, after all. She tried to suppress the foreign feeling, worried that it was hindering her ability to think clearly. Completely at lost as to what to say, Fiera tried the first thing that came to her mind, “Did - Did you want me to help you find a certain book?” Help. She wanted to help him. That wasn’t good. That sounded suspiciously like a certain bond she had sworn to avoid. Quite suddenly she knew what that feeling was, and she didn’t like it. Oh. This was horrible indeed. OOC : Ok, so Fiera is now considering Leigo as a possible mate… If you ever wanted to have a Kelvic bond to him, this is your chance (although, they’d probably have to explore their relationship over multiple threads before the bond actually happens). Otherwise, it shouldn’t affect our role play – she would just suppress her attraction to him out of fear of rejection. Hope you don't mind

[Leigo]

oocWhy not? It wouldn't hurt to try. I'm just surprised, that's all. Never would've considered Leigo likeable in that general direction. She looked at him for what seemed a long time and then she smiled. There was something in her gaze that made the boy uneasy. It wasn’t usual for people to stare at him for so long – it wasn’t very pleasant. He didn’t say anything though. Leigo wasn’t very good with his people? He wasn’t sure he could deal with hers either. “Fiera” he nodded in recognition, looking down at her, trying to avoid those awkward long glares. Ah, yes, the book – thank Ukalas for having mentioned it. The girl gave him something more than awkward silence to work with. “Yes, a book. I was looking for some help concerning auristics. I’ve found this one book that seemed to know what it was talking about… but… no luck finding it now. Could you please check for me, it’s called ‘Auristics something’, and it was written by some guy Greenberg.” He paused. “I’m grateful for your help.”

[Fiera]

OOCWell, he did save her life... Apparently Fiera finds that attractive Fiera couldn’t understand people. She couldn’t understand Leigo. When he had recognised her, had he not sounded at least slightly pleased? Now the man seemed highly uncomfortable about something, shifting his eyes and avoiding her stare where he could. One thing she had learned was that many people found her rather disconcerting, though she had very little clue as to why. “Greenberg? Mazer Greenberg?” How lucky. Last season, she had upended the library in search of anything that could help her with Auristics. In the end, nothing did, but she had found many interesting books in the process. Fiera was sure the Greenburg’s book was on loan, but she checked the register anyway, “Yes, that book’s out on loan at the moment. If you like, I can recommend a book for studying Auristics. If you don’t mind me asking, sir, are you currently studying at the university?” She felt more comfortable once she had slipped into her ‘professional’ self, backed by a long list of generic phrases Augusta had made sure she memorised. Still, Fiera hated the added sweetness in her tone and the rapid beating of her heart. Quite expectantly, Fiera thought of Nakita. She would know what to do, what to say. Nakita had always understood boys. Once again, Fiera found herself missing her best friend.

[Leigo]

Stealing glimpses of the girl whenever he could without being locked into that awkward stare, Leigo realized something. She seemed to be just as uncomfortable as he, good, so he wasn’t imagining things. This made him feel less secluded. Proceeding to nod at Fiera’s words, the boy had little idea as to how those other books could help him. In truth Leigo really studied magic only once and it wasn’t from a book, books were good when you already knew how to do it. They were the backbone of practice, but as far as initiation went he hated the buggers. “I’d appreciate any help you could provide me with” he paused, looking at her a bit longer this time “It’s just Leigo, miss. The added sir makes me feel creepy and old.” In truth, the blond probably had his creepy moments, but he was by no means old. Fiera could have just as easily asked him to call her by name, and he would. Last thing he wanted to do is to increase the already present tension. "And no, I'm currently not studying at the University." Leigo added finally upon remembering the question.

[Fiera]

There was something people did that made other people comfortable around them, but for the life of her, Fiera couldn’t figure it out. She’d smiled, talked as openly as she could manage, and as Nakita had once told her, even took interest in the others’ affairs. There really wasn’t much else she could do. Fiera remained unfazed, however, taking this opportunity to conduct a simple experiment, with the aim of making Leigo relax. “Alright, then it’s just Fiera, too,” this time, she didn’t have to fake the grin, “anyway, we have quite a few books that may assist you” Any other topic and she wouldn’t have been so confident. It was easy, Fiera just had to figure out books that covered similar aspects of Auristics to Greenberg’s book – which was the basics, hardly delving into the more confusing and possibly dangerous practises. Fiera led him to the very back of the library and pulled a few books from the shelves, naming each as she thrust them into his hands, “’Simple Auristics’, Rigar Fishbone; a relatively easy guide, though I’ve been told much of his theorising is utter stupidity. ‘A higher sense’, Casey Grey; she focuses mainly on the practical uses. ‘And then there was Auristics’, Kaghtan Melnikov; this one reviews the history of the subject, and is awfully dreary – many readers don’t get past the first page.” Fiera stopped to take a breath, surprised at how good her memory was. Then again, she had read each of the books about three times. Heart beating at about twice its average speed, Fiera glanced up at Leigo, and then quickly averted her eyes; she too didn’t like being watched when she was thinking. Keeping her eyes trained on the bookshelf, Fiera added in an agonizingly hopeful tone, “If you need help studying any of these, just ask me”

[Leigo]

Acknowledging her words, Leigo followed Fiera to the far end of the library. She seemed to know what she was doing, so he just stood idly as the pile of books in his hands grew. He surely wasn’t going to read all of them, but it was nice to have someone who could provide insight like that. The girl seemed confident and it made the boy feel less awkward, for a change. “Thank you, this is sure to…” he stopped weighing something in his head as the books pressed equally across his arms. “Well, I guess I could use a study partner.” Another awkward pause “Unless you’re busy, of course!” more hastened that it was intended to be, Leigo felt uncomfortable again. Why, he couldn’t tell. It wasn’t his fault, was it? It was funny, really. This library was probably the only place on earth, right after a few classrooms where he felt comfortable with asking for and receiving help. Funny – they could’ve drowned back there in the waves because he didn’t want to call out to anyone. She didn’t know that, but he very well did. Averting his gaze from the girl and to the awfully interesting shelf she kept staring at, the boy couldn’t find anything particularly imposing. Therefore she must’ve been doing the same thing he was – whatever that was.