Welcome to Gaia! ::

The library was silent, as usual. The bookshelves towered, omnipresent, casting their shadows across the floor. The library was a fairly large and imposing room, but right now it only contained one person. That one person was seated at one of the desks by the bookshelved walls, staring down at an old book in his hands. The patron was Chris.

His clever fingers delicately turned the book over a few times. Lyndexer. This piece of literature was particularly rare; it was one of Lyndexer's journals. There were lots of rumors about it... but Chris was about to explore this book for himself.

He cracked open the cover, and the pages glowed ominously, lighting up his face as he stared down at it with curious eyes...

Chris looked over at John, momentarily distracted from his book. "Ah, hello," he said, changing from one monocle lens to the other. He was wearing his techno-mage specs again, and a dress shirt with a vest. A bag was slung around him, and a small sword hung at his back; he usually never went anywhere without a weapon. "Sure, of course you can sit... after all, you own the place." This statement was followed by an exaggerated sweeping gesture, which indicated that the whole surrounding area was John's.

"Not to mention, I'm eternally grateful to you..." Chris held up the book, still open, its pages alight with a blue pulsing glow. "I've been looking for this journal for some time, and you got it for me. Thank you for that." He made a small nod at John's copy. "Got one yourself, I see?" There was a clicking noise; Chris was changing lenses again. "Have you taken a close look at it, perchance?"

"Well, it's not an easy read," Chris said, kicking back in his chair, his arms behind his head. "The lights sometimes make it hard to read, you know?" Being a vampire, Chris wasn't a big fan of 'blindingly bright'. "It's obviously got some unusual properties..."

The front legs of the chair thumped back on the ground. Chris leaned forward, his eyeglasses clicking again as they shifted from one lens to the next. "I don't know, it vexes me. Sometimes I think I can get something out of it, and the next minute, it seems like it's impossible to read..." He idly flipped around the pages. "I heard that if you give it time, it becomes more legible... but it's still frustrating." He was scowling. "Lyndexer..."

"Patience is a virtue, I guess," Chris sighed, looking down at his book. The glowing pages... they were taunting him. Just give it time, he told himself... give it time...

"Oh, this?" Chris pointed at the monocle. "Yeah, this is the techno-mage model." As if to demonstrate, he flipped around a few lenses. "A headache? Not more of a headache than I bet YOU had, the way you drank that whole glass back at the lounge..." He chuckled, jabbing his friend in the arm. It was the metal arm. Flicking his hand slightly, he played it off cool. "But... yeah, it's got a few... well, I can't tell you the specifics. That wouldn't be any fun, you see. Let's just say it's useful."

After a moment's pause, Chris stood up. "Well, I'm not going to wear out my eyes trying to read Lyndexer right now," he announced. "But I've got a few books I'd like to take a look at. You know much about our selection, John? It is YOUR library, after all..."

Chris rubbed his hand. "Yeah, yeah... don't worry, I didn't hurt anything." He glanced over at the captain with a bemused look on his face. "Oh, and it's not a problem... I figured you might be a little lost. Truth is, even I don't know my way around here... though I bet Ally knows where everything is."

He paused, turning slowly to get a three-hundred-and-sixty degree view of the area. "Well, I'm probably gonna grab a few books so that I can do some light reading. I just finished The Lusty Scoundrel, so I'm looking for another piece of literature to move on to..." Chris adjusted the strap on his back. "You much of a reader nowadays?"

Chris narrowed his eyes. "Hey," he replied, "The Lusty Scoundrel does a very thorough investigation into human interaction too, you know..."

He looked away. "Anyways, come with me." Chris started walking away and motioned to John to move with him. "I'm looking for one book in particular, and I think it's this way." He headed down one of the aisles, scanning the rows of books along the way, his monocle whirring as it shifted lenses with a click, click, click...

"No, not it..." Chris was examining the row of book spines along one of the shelves. "Not it, not it, not it... c'mon, we have to have it here, it's a classic..."

He knelt down, and stared looking at one of the lower rows. "Not it, not it, not it... aha! Here we are!" He pulled out the book and held it up; a satisfied expression rested upon his face. Chris went over and rejoined his friend, displaying his book as he sauntered down the aisle. "Finally found it. The book's called Moby Bruce. You've heard of it, right? It's about how Captain Ara was chasing after a giant landshark..." He turned the book over in his hand, skimming the back cover. "I've heard it's supposed to be quite good..."

"Yeah, a giant landshark," Chris repeated with a nod. "I'm hoping it will live up to my expectations." He turned the book over and looked at the inside cover. "Yeah, it might be the same Ara, or it could be a different one... I won't know until I read it, you know?"

After flipping through the inside cover-flap of Moby Bruce, Chris looked over at John. "You gonna pick up a book for yourself while we're here? Got an author you like or something?"