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 Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:13 pm
"Nah, we'll take my car. That's how it goes, isn't it? The person asking gets to drive?" he stood, taking two of the books and holding them close to his chest. "So. I'm buying." He led Lori out into the parking lot and to his car. It was a small, midnight blue convertible. "It makes a lot of noise," he warned Lori. "The person I bought it from said it'd boost my reputation at school. No idea what he meant." He'd already been working for the library when he'd bought it.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:18 pm
Lori could do nothing but hold the book to his chest. His eyes opened wide and his brows raised. The person who asked drove and paid? Was this... a date? He stood there in shock, watching Luca head out and then followed him out to the parking lot. Date?! Was this a date?!
"...well I guess you have a young face." Made noise like roared? Like reputation with the ladies hot blue car? His hatchback would weep with insufficiency. "Nice." When was the last time someone had asked him out? Was that even what this was.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:24 pm
"Yeah. No one ever suspects I'm over one hundred," he grinned at Lori. "Somehow they seem to forget I've worked there so long. And New people start, of course I don't tell them." he opened the car door for Lori, waiting for the elf to sit. "So what do you feel like?" he asked. "Starbucks, local cafe? We could act as crazy as we like in Starbucks. They'd think we we're being obnoxious."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:28 pm
"I have a hell of a baby face myself," Lori admitted. He felt awkward taking a seat in Luca's car. It was so... shiny. And they were strangers! Did he just... open the door for him? Uh.
"Oh, um. Anything. Anything is good." He drew glances in cafes. It was fine, though. As long as the tables were clean. "You, uh... is this...?" A date? A nerdy date?
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:32 pm
"Uh, yeah," Luca said, answering Lori's unasked question. "I know a good one." He started the car, and as promised, when they left the parking lot it was loud. The elf at the wheel made a face. "I'm thinking about trading it in. The noise is awful. Even when I'm going slow!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:38 pm
A slow grin spread over Lori's face. A date. Holy hell. He'd come to get some books and he was going on a date. "Seriously? There are people who would kill for this car! It's hot!" Err. "I mean, it's a hot car! If you don't like it, by all means. I old-manned my way out of convertibles a lifetime ago. You don't notice people looking at the car?" He motioned out the windows. "I've aged out. I just use my dog."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:51 pm
Luca considered that for a long moment, before grinning at him. "You like it?" he asked. "Really? I'll keep it then." Especially if it got people's interest, like Lori said. "I've never really paid attention," he admitted. "Too busy thinking about things," he gestured to the book Lori was holding. "I like dogs," he said. "Haven't got one, but I like them."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:57 pm
Lori laughed. One vote up and he was keeping the car. Well then. Maybe this guy really was interested?
"Yeah, driving is pretty relaxing." He got lost in thought a lot himself, at least when he wasn't trying desperately to distract Maia. "Yeah? She's a rescue. A red dobie. She had some problems at first but we worked through them." Clearly this was a man fond of his dog. "So. Do you have any idea where these books came from?" They could bond over books, he was sure of that.
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:03 pm
"Yeah," Luca agreed with a smile. "I've always considered adopting, but I never have the time. I think I'd forget, or something. I tune everything out when I'm interested in something." It was a bad habit, and he wanted to break it.
"Humans didn't write these," the elf said immediately. "Magic preserved them, the pages would be crumbling. They're thin pages, they should have crumbled when I first opened them. I think..." And here he hesitated, "I think they come straight from the fae."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:07 pm
"I'm fae myself," Lori said. There were all types of Elves, and they all had their own string of letters and numbers for identification. "There's a lot more than us, though. I've never seen a book stamped like this, but that doesn't really mean anything. I don't think they're just older than you, than us, I think they're... man, if they were ancient." He opened a volume to inspect it again, running a gentle finger down the page.
"Where did they come from before the library, though? Do you even know? Or does nobody know?" Ooh, a mystery.
"If these are fae they can't live on shelves. People can't have these."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:48 pm
"And you don't recognize this?" Luca looked to Lori in surprise. "I've never seen anything like this, either. I wonder if it magically translates, or something... If it's so old, why is it in english?" The elf shook his head, clearly baffled.
"Someone donated them to us, saying they were to be shared with the community. I don't think they knew what they had. Or if they did, they knew you guys would be involved."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:54 pm
"But then why not bring them straight to us? And no, I've only ever seen hand-written ledgers. Maybe it's... maybe it's not in English? I mean, if it's old but it's not dust, who says it's actually what we're seeing? If it's more recent than modern English, though, I can't say this would mean too much." They had access to most if not all large communities of fae and communal entities. Wouldn't they have mentioned something?
Then again, maybe this person knew the Bureau would keep it under lock and key.
"...this looks like a historical text. It reads like modern English but the names don't match-- HAH. A-ha, look! No, no keep your eyes on the road, I'll show you when we get there." A spate of text in an ancient dialect, a word with no English equivalent, but one he was certain they could decode.
"I don't think this is in English. Just to us."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:00 pm
Luca eventually reached the small cafe and parked, looking immediately to the book Lori had open. "It's not in english?" he asked, blinking. Why would it be english to them, and not their native language?
He leaned over to peer at the page. "Then what language is it really in?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:10 pm
"Not Gaelic, not Old Fae" Lori said, shaking his head. Then it'd show up in Gaelic for him, wouldn't it? "Not unless it depends on the location? So it'd be English here, Norwegian in Norway, Chinese in China. We could figure it out. I have a colleague who might be able to see it in a different way." Just because Dari saw everything in a different way.
"Look at that, though. That's definitely a word, and it's definitely not English." He pointed to a jumble of what was probably letters mid-sentence. "I mean, I have no idea what that is."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:15 pm
"Not elvish, either," Luca provided, shaking his head and staring at the page. "I've seen something like that before, though... That word." He opened one of the other books and turned the pages to the one he was looking for and pointed to the word in question. "There, it shows up a lot in this one. I wonder what it means." Maybe they'd have to go to a linguist. "Do you have any language experts where you work?"
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