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 Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:10 pm
RP Session
Participants: Lutra, Ardea, and whoever else wants to join in
Plot: Lutra runs into Ardea in the library
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:11 pm
Lutra pushed open the door to the Library with one hand, carried a few books in her other arm. A few pieces of paper covered with scribbles almost escaped her as she entered the library and she snatched at them, then held them in her mouth while she sifted through the books and put them back in their proper places on the shelves.
She located a few of her favorite books and took them over to a group of chairs where the lighting was the best. Two of them were more technical books, and she set those aside to take back to her workshop. The other was a fluffy romance story, and she curled up with it, hiding the cover from view by propping it against her legs.
It wouldn't do for someone to catch her reading that, she thought. They'd think she was just a silly little girl. Not that she felt little anymore... she still felt awkward now, though she'd mostly gotten used to her new size. But for now, she could sit and read and not think.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:31 pm
Ardea's cold was clearing up quite nicely, and the road to recovery had been far better than he had originally thought. Tea outside while reading had to be the best medicine of all. And he was surprised at how productive the time had been as well: the book of records through which he had been slogging in his chambers seemed far easier to read out in the natural light. As a result, he was finally finished with it.
The heron fey returned to the library with the thick leatherbound tome held against his chest so that he could replace it on the shelves and retreive the next volume. He was quite surprised to see another in the library, though.
Not exactly feeling confident enough in himself to actually go out and talk to someone, Ardea attempted to evade the lady's line of vision, so he could make his book exchange as quickly as possible and just leave. But his cold was not quite gone yet, and just as he was about to slip around the corner between two shelves, Ardea coughed once in spite of an effort to stop it.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:47 pm
Sitting in the sunlight and absorbed in her book, Lutra didn't notice the sounds of someone else entering the library. It wasn't until she heard a muffled sounding cough that she froze, startled. Who was there, slipping in so quietly she hadn't heard a thing? Were they here first, had they been watching her?
"...Hello?" she said warily, eyes darting across the library, scanning until her gaze landed on a familiar figure, almost out of sight behind a shelf. Her expression relaxed into a faint smile. "Oh. It's you... Ardea," she said. "You startled me, a little bit."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:54 pm
All hopes of stealth gone, Ardea stepped back into the wider aisle where he could see the lady. "Hello," he replied, shifting his grip on the heavy book. The fey was quite baffled by how she knew his name, though; he was sure he had never seen her before.
"I apologize, miss, but... what was your name?" Ardea asked, inwardly wincing at having to ask. If she knew him, then he should know her. "I have been out of the loop a while, and cannot quite recall."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:00 pm
Lutra's eyes widened slightly and she glanced down at herself. No wonder he didn't remember her... would she have to reintroduce herself to everyone now that she looked so different? Interacting was different, now, too. She remembered Ardea as being so much taller than she, but from where she was sitting she thought he was only about her current height.
"Oh," she said. "Um." She shifted the book down, further out of sight. "Lutra," she managed finally. "It's okay that you forgot, though," she added quickly.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:20 pm
Ardea's smiled a bit more genuinely as he caught the lady's name. "Ah, Miss Lutra, my apologies," he told her, leaning against the end of the bookshelf. "I really have been gone a long time," the fey sighed, then asked, "How are you?"
He could recall that she had been full of questions the last time he had seen her; while he was not particularly against the idea of answering more of her inquiries now if she had any, his usual social anxiety caused him to shift his feet a bit.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:34 pm
He'd been gone somewhere? She wondered what had been going on since she'd shut herself away in her room, or in the various 'safe places' she'd made for herself throughout the grounds. She hardly knew what to say now. She waved away his apology, it was surely not his fault she'd been hiding out ever since she'd grown.
"I'm fine, I was just reading." Lutra said, though it was obvious, nodding at the books around her. "Um. You were gone... where?" He was fidgeting, she noticed, and said, "Oh, if you're busy, don't feel like you have to talk to me, honest. Or you could sit down. There are plenty of chairs."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:04 pm
"Uhm, I have time to chat," he replied awkwardly, glancing down at the heavy book in his hands. "Let me go put this on the shelf, then I can join you."
Ardea slipped away down the aisle, then returned a minute or two later sans book. "I was just gone in my room, reading and such," the Heron told her once he had returned to her table. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, then folded his hands and rested them on the tabletop. "So. How have you been since I last saw you, Miss Lutra?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:30 pm
She hoped he wasn't just trying to be polite, or something like that. Lutra didn't mind having someone familiar to talk to right now, though. He wasn't acting like she looked, well, bad, anyway. Maybe she shouldn't stand up, she didn't want to tower over him. Would she? She hadn't really had a chance to properly compare herself.
She remained curled up in the chair, knees hugged to her chest. "I've been... busy," she said distantly. "Finding things out. Ways to get in and out of here, the castle. Other than the usual doors." At least, she didn't think anyone used the locked doors she'd been finding lately, at the ends of dusty and unused halls. "I made keys, sort of." She held up the ring of lockpicks that hung around her neck and smiled suddenly. "I can go nearly anywhere with them, or I'll be able to soon."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:04 pm
Ardea blinked at Lady Lutra's impressive set of keys, wondering how he should respond to that. A small part of him was deeply interested in the possibility of hidden books in the rooms she might be able to enter, but somehow, he did not feel it was proper to inquire into that any further.
"Very nice," he told her instead, dearly hoping that did not sound condescending. "I have read, er, a book or two about locksmithing. I might be able to find them on my shelves in my room if you are interested." The Heron fidgeted a bit, worrying himself over what she must think of his complete inexperience in the subject outside of what he had read.
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:53 pm
She let go of the chain, the keys falling neatly back into place, clinking softly. "I hope to have better ones soon, but they're nice for now. There are so many rooms here and no one to use them." She didn't mention that one of the reasons she'd explored all over was paranoia. If the sun fey didn't know a back door was there, couldn't someone get in unexpectedly? Although, after a while it was more the challenge of it than anything else.
"I would like to see those books, if you can find them without too much trouble. I expect you have quite a lot of books to look through." Yes, she rather thought he would anyway. Not many fey seemed to frequent the library, though she often spied one or two others in the gardens, or other places outside. Conscious of her own guilty pleasure that was romance and adventure stories, she asked, "But what are your favorites? Books, I mean."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 5:12 pm
Ardea glanced away, shrugging a little. "They would not be too hard to find if they are where I believe I left them last." He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling in his mind the spot on the shelf. "I do have a lot of books, though."
What Ardea was unprepared for was the question about his favorites. "Favorite... books?" the Heron repeated, having difficulty fathoming where to even begin to consider an answer to that question. After a few moments of looking genuinely confused, though, a smile spread across Ardea's features. "I do dearly love all of them, really. So much to learn. I could not pick a favorite one, or even several."
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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 7:55 pm
"Well, thank you, then." She could do with a couple new books to look at. She tried not to laugh at how confused he looked, as though no one had ever asked him that question before and he'd never thought of it until now.
She was feeling more at ease, less big and awkward and clumsy, especially right now, when she didn't have to move... only her legs were getting cramped. She'd have to shift position. The corner of The Romance of Cygnus and Aquilae was digging into her side. "All books? Er, even this kind?" She held it up as she stretched her legs; she flushed faintly. He seemed to know so much, all that book learning, but what about just for fun?
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 7:21 pm
It looked to Ardea like she nearly wanted to laugh at him. He had not said anything wrong, had he? Miss Lutra and everyone else in the castle must think him so strange for reading all the time.
Headwings drooping a bit with worry at what Miss Lutra thought of him, the Heron fey glanced at the title of the book she held. "Oh, fiction? I read them sometimes. They are fun, but not terribly useful," he said, then hurriedly added, "I still enjoy fiction, though. The stories are a nice escape."
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