A
large brick building, unimaginatively rectangular, built in the classic
uninterestingly angular style of the 1960s. The building is typical of the time
- ugly, boring, nightmarishly inefficient to run, prone to leaks in its pancake
flat roof. But it was cheap to build. So now, some 40 years later, the place
smells a little musty, the curious combination of scents that arise when books
are kept slightly damper than is really good for them. And there are thousands
of books on every topic imaginable. There are a number of computers with
internet access available, although like the building they were purchased based
solely on price, so naturally they run windows, which means naturally half of
them don't work at all, despite weekly reloads. The whole library is like this:
A for effort, but only a C - or less - for execution.
------
Some people might think
that finding Maggott within the Library, even one not quite the epitome of
'Upper Class', is a bit of a longshot. Amongst things, however, that is what he
*wants*. Walking from the Sanctuary towards the Brotherhood Safehouse, he got
more and more bitter about the whole situation until he just fed the stupid
piece of paper to Eany and decided to just go on his own. Stupid 'help the
Mutant' campaigns are a bunch of bull to those who really need it. Pfft,
'control your worms and you can come back' they say. They should try it! But
that's beside the point. The bitterly cold weather was gnawing at Maggott as
per usual, who after once more depositing Eany and Meany in a dumpster outside
with stern orders 'Not to move or I'll huck you in the harbor' like he said so
many times, he entered the minor-warmth of the puttering Library proper.
He's backed away into one of the
corners, directly by the upper-level College books. He has shed his oversized,
awkward coat at the Lobby (Basically tossing it on the counter by the girl and
saying he'd be back for it while walking off), wearing plain jeans and a
slightly tight white shirt. So he looks as normal as one of his size can be,
essentially, which is good when your paranoid about people in the News finding
you. Maybe he shouldn't of fed it to Eany... Ah well, once more, they'd not
look in here. And there might be, hmm, interesting people around...
Currently at the tiny table, he has
a book of Quantum Physics open in front of him. Only, inside it is a much
smaller red book about 'How to Read' meant for people in the Sixth Grade. He's
got a stern look of concentration, biting his lower lip while reading it. The
fact the words are small enough and simple enough do fare him better then it
might, but by all outward appearances he very well could be concentrating
enough to pick apart those insane theories within the bounds of the book he
just randomly picked out...
Rahne
has been in the library for awhile now, but has had trouble picking out just
what she'd like to read. She stands over in the fiction section, scanning the
shelves slowly and methodically. She stands on her tiptoes to read the higher
shelves - although the top two are still far beyond her reach - then crouches
down to read the bottom ones, before moving down to the next section. Finally,
with a slight gleam to her eye, she sets upon one which seems to catch her
attention. She casts a quick look back over her shoulder, tongue pinched
lightly between her teeth, before she grabs it from its resting spot.
Tucking
the hard-bound novel under her arm, the tiny young woman takes a quick look
around, spotting an empty spot, which just happens to be at Maggott's table.
Walking silently, she makes her way over to it, standing behind the chair
across from him, book still clutched firmly under her arm. "Y'mind?"
she asks in a soft whisper, barely audible even in the quiet of the room. A
faint blush touches her cheeks as she nods at the empty seat.
Maggott really is entirely oblivious
to Rahne's presence, as she slowly picks out her books; His original idea of
what kind of girls might frequent such a place were actually lost when he found
himself actually *reading*. Damn, this might actually help alot... Maybe he can
steal the book and hide it in an all-"Eh?" he states, barely hearing
the whisper and looking up from his scrunched position on the chair towards
Rahne. He abruptly looks just as nervous, eyes wide and startled while he slams
the upright book shut. It doesn't close completely, as if something's jammed
inside, but from Rahne's viewpoint it's most likely his thumb.
"Oh... No, sit away." he
states, smiling warmly while gesturing with his free hand. That was unexpected
if nothing else... He does lean slightly forward while looking at the brooch
about her neck, like he's mumbling something in his mind. Blinking while
leaning back, he smiles awkwardly again before slowly cricking open his book a
small inch and trying to peer into it. Nope, not working... He'd totally die if
he ever got caught reading a child's book. Especially by a pretty cute girl.
Rahne
flushes further, though she does offer a shy smile at the offer. She pulls the
chair out with her free hand and quickly sinks down into it. Her book is set
down face-down on the table so that she can remove her cape and rest it over
the back of the chair. The cover can't be seen until she picks it up and cracks
it open to read, at which time it is revealed that she's decided upon 'The Bell
Jar'. The man's somewhat curious behaviour gets only the briefest of glances
from Rahne before she flushes again and casts her eyes back to her book.
Out
of the corner of her eye, she spots another empty seat across from an old lady
who appears to be dozing over a mystery novel and Rahne lightly curses herself
for not choosing that spot instead. Then perhaps she could actually concentrate
on reading instead of having to spend all of her time willing her cheeks to
stop going so red.
Given all of his effort in
attempting to not be noticed that he is reading his book as well, Maggott can't
really help but glance at Rahne a number of times. He really can't quite place
her age; He's always been horrible around that, and he hasn't seen anyone but
really old ladies -that- short before. Not to mention her perpetual state of
blush... So instead of horribly hitting on her and causing her to turn into a
tomatoe, for the time being he eases up enough to prop his book striaght-up,
cover pointing towards Rahne as he goes back to reading the proper way to mouth
syllables. Even now a few of the most basic words he doesn't know; Bite? What
the heck is a bite? He knows Hap, Chew, Gnaw, but that's as close as he gets.
Grumble. Biting his lower lip some more, he turns the page obliviously despite
the fact the book itself doesn't seem to change whatsoever. La la la...
Rahne
finally manages to get done the first page, although if anyone were to ask her
what it was about, she'd have to think twice to answer. But still, her eyes
have moved over every word on the page, and so she flips it slowly, and moves
onto the next. She's about halfway down it before she realizes she's only been
going through the motions and not actually taking any of it in. And so, with a
soft sigh, she shakes her head and resolves herself to concentrate - he's just
a /guy/ and he's not even paying her any attention... Is he? She quickly
glances up from her book at him and seems relieved to find him focusing on his
own book. She only now notices what the book is, and her eyebrows go up
slightly, mildly impressed. With another resolved shake of her head, she flips
back to the beginning of her book and starts over, this time attempting to
actually concentrate. She leans forward in her chair, eyes narrowing just
slightly as she tosses her head to flip her flaming hair back over her
shoulder, only to have it fall forward again.
Scratching his head a bit, Maggott
might feel incredibly stupid that he is having a slight bit of trouble with
teaching himself this minor crap if he had ever set a foot into school a day of
his life. As it lies, he's probably way better off then someone else who wasn't
even properly home schooled. He is mouthing out some thi8ngs to himself as he
reads when Rahne glances up, although his eyes are assuredly going far from the
lightspeed many who peruse such scriptures tend to adopt. Finally looking up a
moment, his eyes stay upon Rahne a number of moments before he decides to
speak. He's fairly social after all. "What book that?" he states,
bringing his voice down to a nice, Library-low level. He forgets a spot of
grammar, but it may or may not be noticed. He doesn't glance back down to his
book after speaking that, instead keeping it leveled upon the redhead's face.
Rahne
jumps just slightly at the question, her gaze casting up from the page upon
which she'd just re-started as her cheeks again begin to take on a pink-ish
tinge. "Oh, ach, tis 'The Bell Jar' ... by, ah, Sylvia Plath," she
stammers out in reply, as she glances back down at her book as if to make sure
that's really what it is. And indeed, that's what it says along the top of the
page, so she'll stick with that answer. Looking back up now, she tries to think
of something further to say. "Physics, eih?" is the best she can come
up with, and she cringes slightly as she assumes that a rather dense thing to
say.
Raising his eyebrows slightly,
Maggott hasn't really heard that accent before. It intrigues him if nothing
else, all things considered. Nodding his head along with her, pulling the
corner of the physics page half-over as if peeking (Which he is, at a rather
large diagram) before placing it back in a bored gesture. "Haven't heard
of it..." he states honestly, scrunching his forehead at the next part of
his hidden book. When she states something about Physics, he looks up blanky.
"Isit?" he states very questioningly, from his facial expression
having no idea what she's talking about. He just found a table and snatched a
book, he hasn't even looked at what's inside of it yet. He tried to read one
word and got a headache.
Rahne
glances back down at her novel, squinting her eyes just slightly as if trying
to think. "Cannae quite say," she admits in a slow drawl, her voice
still kept low - perhaps even more so than the setting calls for. "I
havnae had much chance to get inta it. From what all I can recall, though, s'a
right dour tale abou' a girl, based on Sylvia Plath a bi'." So lost in her
thoughts, she almost forgotten to be shy for a moment, although that comes
flooding back as she winds to a close, and she again goes pink and shuts her
mouth rather firmly, certain she's said more than he wanted to know.
At
his confusion about Physics, she too gets confused. "Yoor book? Phsycis,
innit?" Her eyebrows go up and she looks at him questioningly.
"S'what it says."
Maggott does nod along with her as
she speaks, liking the sound of her voice if nothing else. Fingering the hard
black binding, her confusion just gets him to blink a bit more in confusion as
well. Glancing around a moment, it finally sinks in it's -his- book; Slowly
turning the cover towards him, careful not to show her what's inside, he just
looks as blank as he did before. "Qu.. ayen...tam.. Physics." he
mouths out audibly. Smiling stupidly afterwards and rubbing the top of his
head, simple flick of his fingers putting the white strand of hair behind him,
he laughs a bit forcedly. "Fancy that." he states, as if it's a
surprise to him as well. Boy, he's not good at hiding stuff. Coughing into his
hand, he adds on a nice topic-changer with rapidfire efficiency. "So what
your name, hey?"
Rahne
furrows her brow slightly as the man reads aloud the title of her book, looking
once more confused, but she just nods and goes with it. "No' sure abou'
the Quantum part," she admits with a bit of a grin, ducking her head
slightly. But she picks up that he doesn't seem to want to linger on the topic
any longer, and just lets it go with a slight shrug. "Ach, I'm
Rahne," she offers softly, flush coming again to her cheeks without much
chance to fade from the time before. She hesitates, then wipes her hand across
her stomach before offering it across the table to him, seeming not entirely
certain if that's the right thing to do or not.
Laughing a bit about the title, he
was actually in the process of extending his own hand when Rahne does; So
rather then any awkwardness or slight pause, both hands meet and he gives a warm
shake before taking his hand back. "Interesting name." he comments,
probably using his largest word in his vocabulary at the same time while
thumbing through his book. Oddly enough, his own lecherous nature has died down
to his other frame of mind; That of someone who's actually a nice guy, if your
not drawing out Maggott's endless supply of bad pickup-lines. She reminds him
more of someone's little sister or whatnot, despite the unknown fact she's his
own age. He plods a few more words in his book, then stops to rub his eyes.
Ugh, now he's getting a headache. Least in here it's warm... And also odd is he
didn't offer his own name back to her either.
Rahne
smiles shyly, again ducking her head but this time turning it into a half-nod
in the process. "Aye, thank yeh," she replies, almost automatically,
to the compliment on her name. Silence falls for a moment, as she racks her
brains trying to think of something else to say. Or is the silence a hint that
he wants to get back to his reading? But then - he did start the conversation.
It would probably be rude of her to just go quiet... All of these thoughts
collide into one another in her mind, and she finally comes up with, "And
yoors? Name, I mean."
Maggott goes very quiet, but he's
staring still at Rahne. It's a very contemplative one, eyes going soft as if he
now has to think of what to say. He's called everyone he's ever met Maggott for
many years now, but it for once doesn't seem appropriate. Guess that's what he
gets for being surrounded by books. Still, he says it anyway.
"Maggott." comes out of his lips with a smile, and he shakes his
head. "Ag, bit of nickname. Grew on me, no?" he says while nodding
his head and turning the second book's page carefully, licking his thumb afterwards.
Rahne
wrinkles her nose just faintly at the name, blinking in surprise and almost
certain she'd heard wrong until he goes on to explain. "Ach, well, s'a
curious one, right enough," she comments with a small smile. "S'nice
to meet yeh, erm, Maggott." She hesitates slightly, taking a moment to get
used to actually calling someone such a name and them not minding.
Waving
a hand dismissively in the air, he just says with a slight frown, "Long
story. Bladdy boring one, too." Not true at all, but he'd prefer her not
to ask him why he was dubbed that. He's already bored at his little attempt at
teaching himselfto learn, and also inwardly wondering how long it's been; Maybe
fifteen, twenty minutes; The girls have an attention span that runs out at an
hour max. He still has some time, although whether she wants him to shut up or
not he similarly doesn't know. Stark contrast to Rahne in that viewpoint
though, he keeps talking until he's told to. "So what brings you to
Library? For school?"
Rahne
offers a somewhat sheepish laugh, shaking her head as she reaches a hand up to
tuck her hair back behind her ear. "Ach, no. Jus' for ... fun," she
replies, wondering if that's quite the right way to put it. Well, she enjoys
reading, so why not? "I'm reading jus' for my own sake. Like to." She
shrugs slightly, idly running a hand over the cover of her book. "But
yoo're here for school then?" she guesses, especially given his reading
choice.
"Fun, eh?" Maggott states,
laughing slightly. The idea that books can somehow be amusing totally slip his
mind, but really he's not laughing at -her- in particular; Although it might
seem that way. "Really, vrot old Library as fun as old takkies. Why not go
to bioscope? Walk around with friends? Watch TV?" He frowns after saying
this, the realization that every one of those he's unable to do himself. Ah
well, he knows what's fun in his mind's eye at least. Which is mainly nothing,
that's why he's such a social monster. After she mentions school, he just
slowly shakes his head. What, is he reading Physics for kicks and giggles? O.o
Rahne
looks a little glum at the suggestions, as she shakes her head.
"Cannae," is all she offers in reply to those, no further explanation
given. "And I like reading," she states again, nodding with resolve,
though her cheeks do threaten to go to the same colour as her hair. "Ach -
work then? Yoo're a scientist?" she guesses, pleased to move the
conversation back to him. "A ... physi- cist?" It takes her a moment
to think of the right word, but she's fairly certain that's it.
"Aww. Why not? Pretty lekker
like you must be swarming with boykies, no?" He states it mainly in jest,
tapping the edge of his book upon the table repetitively in an attempt to
apparently help with his potent boredom. He's the inquisitive type, even if he
doesn't say much about himself unless very bluntly asked. Another dry shrug at
the mention that he might be a scientist, and he just rubs under his nose with
a finger, readjusting uncomfortably at a much more slouched position.
"Scientist? I wish. They not live..." He pauses a moment. "They
have loads of money, struesbob." That's one opportunity he never got for
more reasons then one.
And
watch those cheeks go flaming at that suggestion (or what she understands of
it, at least), now outstripping her hair by a few shades. Rahne bows her head
over her book, shaking it, though a shy smile plays at her lips, no matter how
hard she tries to keep it back. It takes her a few moments to recover to the
point where she can speak again, but she finally offers a strangled, "No'
hardly." She takes a few deep breaths, then nods at his observation.
"Aye, reckon tha's fair right. They probably deserve it too, to ken all
that."
Laughing a bit louder that he got
that much of a rise out of Rahne by that little mention, he shakes his head
with a little grin. "Look plenty fine enough from Maggott's eyes." he
teases once more, flipping through the pages of his book without much bothoring
to read it. Apparently he's either already bored, or finding the conversation
more amusing for the time being. He does frown at the mention of money that
Scientists get, not very subtly letting it drop unless Rahne brings it up once
more. He sometimes gets around five bucks if he's lucky, that he oddly enough
spends to get a treat for Eany or Meany if they are good... Call him stupid.
Rahne
obviously isn't very accustomed to these compliment things, and they seem to go
straight to her cheeks, although by now, it's really more her whole face that's
taken on the reddish hue. She mumbles something along the lines of a 'thank
you', although it's too quiet to actually make out the individual words. She
goes quiet again, idly fidgeting with her own book, flipping just the very
corners of the pages to make a quiet drumming noise as they flicker by.
"What, erm, what brings yeh here, then?" she asks, as its the only
thing that comes to mind. She's beginning to feel a bit stupid, just asking him
the same questions he's asked of her, but she never was much good at this whole
socialization thing.
Well, people probably don't get much
more opposite then Rahne and Japheth, all things considered. Even physically,
one's super-tall, dark, with white hair and the other tiny, finer with bright
red. Still, he at least stops joking her for the time being... Since he was
mainly joking, after all. Except the last one, it was rather true. Closing the
book and twirling it around, he hums thoughtfully. "Ag, guess my excuse no
better then yours. Bored, and cold outside." In retrospect he probably
shouldn't have mentioned the weather, since normally that has no factor in
ducking into a slightly damp library does it? Ah well, the hapless african man
isn't the king of observation or finesse. Especially when mid-twirl the red
book thuds out and lands to the side of the table. Quickly, Maggott grabs it
and sticks it on his lap, but if Rahne was paying attention she could likely
get a peek at the title; He turns insurmountably sheepish after that, and would
be redder then Rahne herself if he was capable of it. Heck, it's mildly
noticeable now.
Rahne
nods at his explanation, not calling it into question. She knows how it can be
to only want to get 'indoors', regardless of how comfortable that indoors is.
"Ach aye. Library's a bonnie spot for ending the boredom," she agrees
with a nod, still a bit pink although it's obvious she's calming down. The
sudden movement of the red book catches her peripheral vision and her eyes
flicker over to it, lingering just long enough to catch what it is before
sharply looking away and making it yet more obvious that she caught the title.
She studies the surface of the table a few moments, until the book is out of
sight, then glances upwards without lifting her head, not saying anything about
it, but giving him a chance to offer an explanation should he want to.
About to say something related to
said boredom, the rather embaressing situation he just found himself in with
regards to the book just makes him rather speechless. Oops. Hrrm... Ah... What
to do in -this- situation?! He isn't quite sure if she saw the book, even as
she snapped her head away. Simply matching her gaze a moment, he attempts to
think of an explanation. "Placeholder." he offers dumbly, again
coughing into his hand. He just had to accidentally grab a book on Physics,
didn't he...
Rahne's
eyebrows goes up slightly, but she nods, her expression not betraying whether
she truly believes that or is just going with it to make things easier.
"I, erm, jus' use bit scraps o' paper, myself," she notes
conversationally, not intending for it to sound challenging in any way. She
just feels the need to say /something/ and again, she's at a complete loss as
to what.
Continuing to look slightly stupid,
and propping up the physics book as if he was now about to read where he had
it, he flips a couple pages with a blank expression. "Ahhh, was on the
chair... Didn't wanna tear page out, no?" He's obviously lying. If Rahne
was a block of stone, she'd be able to still add all this together. Then again,
he doesn't really look too well-off in the first place, so hey... Aww, look,
he's trying to pretend like he's reading. People don't make that type of 'WTF?'
facial expression when they peruse books for study, now do they?
"No,
you wouldnae want that," Rahne agrees slowly, in a tone that clearly shows
she's only humouring him, and her expression slowly begins to shift to show that
she really doesn't believe him, but really, really wants to. She goes a faint
bit pink, fidgeting in her chair. "Ach, you dinnae have to pretend. S'no
shame in it," she finally offers, her voice soft and her expression
sympathetic. Still, she gives him an opening to deny it once again, if he will,
but does her best to look understanding and non-judgemental.
Maggott nods his head decisively, as
if he too really, really wants to believe that she believes that he horribly,
horribly lied. But no, she saw through whatever horrible start of a ruse he
attempted to concocted, and makes a sour face at himself. His fingers grip the
book he has tightly, biting his lip and not quite sure what to make of the
situation. Well, he's apparently already nicely shown himself as a bumbling
fool who can't even read and is a bad liar, so that's about how bad things
normally get, isn't it? Carefully setting the book on the table then the red
book atop it, he stands up with a fake-looking stretch. "Ag, me bladdy
back hurts... I better be waddling on out..."
Rahne
blinks slowly, her eyes staying closed a moment longer than necessary, then
remaining cast downwards as the lids slowly flutter back. "Ach aye,"
she comments lowly, almost sighing the words. She blames herself in this for
not just going with it and letting him keep up the facade. Mentally chiding
herself, she attempts to look back up at him, but only makes it about to his
neck, before eyes are quickly cast back down. "T'was nice meeting you,
Maggott," she finally comes up with, in a tone that's soft but sincere.
Brushing off his chest a bit, he
does manage a bit of an embaressed smile. Scratching his head, he also says the
other reason he tried to conjure up in his head. "Just needa check on
something, too... Hope I catch you again." Arranging the books a bit more
carefully, he idly realizes the chances of randomly meeting any specific person
within so large a city is literally nil. "Ah.. I usually hang around this
part." he finally states, giving her a nod and another smile. Lingering
just a half-second more he sticks his hands into his pants pockets and starts
towards the lobby as his smile turns towards a frown. He still feels a bit
stupid, but more importantly he needs to see if Eany and Meany got bored yet. And
also, if someone stole his jacket...
Rahne
nods faintly, and though her head is still cast downwards, one can tell from
her forehead that likely her whole face has gone that lovely red shade again.
"Aye, see yeh. I'm ... here, often enough," she replies with another
slight nod, meaning the actual library as much as the area its in. As he
finally departs from her peripheral, she only now again attempts looking up,
and watches him go, before returning once more to Sylvia Plath; now much more
in the mood for it.