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 Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:00 am
More bad luck for Parker. He'd woken up that morning to find one of his books missing. Jaimie hadn't done it, he knew that much. The boy had plenty of opportunities to mess with Parker's belongings; he wouldn't pick a random morning to steal a book. No... the disaster-prone boy knew that someone else was at work. He slipped into the hallway and followed a trail of ripped out pages to the bathroom. He found the book in the second stall, stuffed down into the pipes. "Typical," he said, pushing long black hair out of his face. There was a noise behind him -- administration. Parker was sentenced to two weeks of after school trash pick-up for clogging the toilet.
Typical.
He had an idea who had done it -- one of the boys from biology class who refused to believe in evolution. They might have argued with Parker, but he doubted they would argue with the logic of Darwin. And yet they had. It was no surprise to him when he saw that the book in the toilet was Origin of the Species. Great. It was a library book. One that he would now have to buy.
After rushing to finish his trash duty after class, Parker hopped on the subway, heading for the public library at the center of Destiny City. It had the best selection, and Parker loved getting lost in its deep rows. He swiped his card at the gate, dropping five thick books into the drop-off before crossing to the Help Desk. A squat woman -- whose name Parker had learned (though he never asked) was Sibyll -- stared at him over round glasses. "Oh, Mr. Damhnait, what can I do for you? I don't believe the books you requested are in yet." Parker gave her an apologetic smile and explained what happened to the book. Sibyll knew about what the boys at Hillworth did to him, but Parker wouldn't have her charity.
"Miss Sibyll, please, I insist on paying." They continued with this back and forth, him pushing her hands away and her insisting he not pay. People started to look. Finally, dropping his hands, he said, "I'm going to pick out some books, but I will be back to discuss this further." His tone wasn't cruel, but he sounded embarrassed. Parker hated charity. He glanced around, hoping no one had noticed. A few faces glanced back and he scowled. So they had noticed.
Shouldering his bag, he started off down the aisle in a huff.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:13 pm
Ah, the library~ what a wonderful place. Even as a child, she used to race through the aisles of the library back home, curl up in the big chairs in the kid corner, and cling to all the picture books she could, never mind those awesome mystery ghost stories she'd find in that section.
Now? While running wasn't a smart thing, and she was thankfully far beyond a little kid's reading level, she still felt so... at home in this place. White cane in hand, and sunglasses firmly in place on her face to keep people from getting creeped out further by her presence, she set to work trailing her sensitive finger tips along the spines of the books after being directed by a kind sounding woman at the Help Desk the school appointed driver had lead her to. After that though, she ditched the uniformed man and maneuvered herself to the correct aisle her requested variety of books would be in - paranormal science. Was in the science section. Huh. That was new. Usually she was flung into the fantasy area and that was that.
How nice though - this particular library also provided a few cases full of braille books, and the usual audio somewhere else in the building. Into the science section of wonderful raised bump filled books she started, smiling as she felt and "read" the titles of so many potentially wonderful reads -
When she blinked her empty eyes, turning her head towards what sounded like... an argument? "It's rude to throw such behavior around in a library," she grumbled, scowling as she tried to focus on finding her book.
And... try not to take home ten or twenty other volumes while she was at it.
At least the huffing voices stopped, though heavy footsteps somewhere nearby made her brow twitch. Seriously. Why must there be a bull in a china shop? It was getting harder to focus on what she was doing, multitasking to not only read all the spines she could touch to check for the one she wanted, but also make sure she wasn't going to trip over something on the ground, or that someone wasn't going to trip over her cane. Didn't need to injure anyone.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 6:24 pm
(( Is Lilith in her Crystal Academy uniform? If she is, he is going to be much meaner to her. So... it might make for a more pleasant RP if she isn't wearing it. XD ))
Parker liked Miss Sibyll just fine, but he would not let her coddle him -- not ever. This was not the first time that she tried to prevent him from paying for damaged books. She was one of the older ladies who wanted to take a special interest in a boy like Parker. After his dad's very public trial in Destiny City, she had tried to buy him food and little gifts. He avoided the library for weeks. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate her actions; he just didn't want them. What Miss Sibyll couldn't understand was how important independence was to Parker. He would not let a complete stranger try to hold his hand through life. He didn't need it.
Drawing one arm across his stomach, Parker pulled his messenger bag closer, eyes cast to the side. He felt embarrassed, cheeks flushing slightly. People had heard -- dammit. Picking his way down a random aisle, Parker was hardly looking where he was going. He glanced up just in time to see Lilith -- but too late to stop himself. Colliding right into her, Parker shot his arms out, trying to catch the pair of them before they fell to the ground. It resulted in an awkward bump-hug, only made more awkward by Parker's muttered, "Oh s**t!" upon impact. It was a flailing of tangled limbs, and it was entirely Parker's fault. Great.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:30 pm
(( Oh huh, didn't think about that XD She can be in regular clothes then, if only to make the meeting slightly nicer 8D Maybe at the end he can see her Crystal driver and go "Oh s**t-" all over again? XD ))
The footsteps were on the approach, but as tucked in against the bookcase as she was, Lilith was sure she was out of the way and totally unable to cause something bad to happen. Apparently though, to ensure this, she should have been in another aisle.
When the stranger got closer and closer, she didn't pay them any mind, instead grinning as she ran her fingers over a delightfully familiar set of bumps. It was the book she wanted, here and well. She'd just been reaching up to get it, her hand only brushing against it still, when a rather startling event happened - she was hit! The sudden contact make her yelp, turning to demand an apology from the offender... and in doing so, found the situation could get even worse. Someone's arms around her, she freaked, unable to help the small scream that flicked itself from her throat. At least she was able to keep herself from hitting whoever this was - this person's only saving grace was the curse they... rather, he, got out.
She was giving him the benefit of the doubt that this wasn't intentional, quickly trying to step back without falling out of her wedge sandals and to the ground. The denim skirt at least didn't restrict movement too badly, letting her try to take awkward movements away, the light teal (as according to what the tag on its hanger said) blouse not shielding her arms from the uncomfortable feeling of foreign fabrics. Lilith tried to push the guy away, though trying her best to not also hit him with her cane in the process. "Get away - please?" she added in a flurry of hands and cloth and awkwardly placed feet since both parties seemed to be having rather huge balance problems. She didn't want to be rude, but hey - personal space for the win.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:44 pm
(( Yesplz. ))
It wasn't often that Parker bumped into other people. He tended to pay attention to his surroundings well enough to avoid this awkwardness, but his conversation with Miss Sibyll had thrown everything off. And now he was basically holding a complete stranger in his arms. "Sorry, I..." he began, words unsure as he stepped away from the girl, hands slipping from her waist. "I'm... an idiot," he finished, shaking his head. If the situation was reversed, he would certainly think she was a fool; Parker had no intention of pretending like he was not the guilty party.
Taking a few steps back, he adjusted his bag at his waist, finally looking at the girl in the aisle. "I wasn't looking where I was going, sorry," he said again. It wasn't like Parker to be entirely apologetic, but this situation didn't have much gray area. He was at fault, and this girl had simply been caught in the crossfire. His gaze flickered across her face. There was something about her eyes, a fogginess that gave him pause. His eyes trailed down to her cane. Was she... blind? Parker knew better than to point it out, but it made him feel a little more guilty. "I didn't mean to scare you." He probably should have asked if she was all right, but it didn't occur to him. In fact, it was pretty remarkable that he had been as polite and apologetic as he had thus far. It was a rare moment of social grace for the usually dark and detached teenager.
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