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 Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 8:34 pm
Tony was a very nice guy, but Parker did not expect the enthusiastic response he received. Maybe it was mixed up with relief that he hadn't pressed the issue of the librarian dating? Who knew. Parker just cracked a grin and rubbed awkwardly at his arm. Talking about Dani still made him uncomfortable. She was a part of his life that he blocked with both arms, curling her to his chest and ignoring all others. When she visited the apartment, he hardly talk to Tate. A double date? Why? It would only take away from his Dani time. To put it simply, Parker was an obsessed teenager in love. The grin turned sheepish, but didn't leave his lips. "She's great, you'd like her. Everyone likes her." That was Parker's rose-colored glasses talking. His beloved girlfriend had a similar tendency to rub people the wrong way as he did. "I think she's... good for me. She's really happy all the time." If they were going to talk about her, Parker reasoned he might as well show her too. Reaching into his back pocket, Parker pulled a wrinkled picture from one of the flaps. "Here, I have a picture." He held it out to Tony. "It's from awhile ago. We were in one of those ridiculous photo booths in the mall." He laughed, awkwardly. It was like show and tell in the library. "I feel stupid showing it, like old people with their kids."
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 9:20 am
Tony grinned as Parker spoke so highly of this Dani, glad that she seemed to make him so happy. It was about time someone did, really. Tony did his best to be a friend and stand in authority figure, but he knew he was just a librarian in the end, and it made him very relieved, and happy, to see that Parker was having some success in his life.
"She sounds great!" he said, laughing a bit. He knew the teenager was probably putting her on a pedestal, but why not let him. After all, she was his girlfriend: he was obligated to think highly of her, and it was good to see that he did.
He hadn't expected the boy to show him a picture, though, and chuckled slightly as he moved to look. He patted Parker on the shoulder when he said he felt stupid.
"Don't! It's not a bad thing to have a picture of someone you care about. And anyway, now I know what she looks like. I'm glad you're happy about her, and I hope things keep going well for you. It's good to see, I have to say."
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 1:51 pm
Dani was the best thing going on in his life. Being a senshi had given him purpose, but getting his a** kicked night after night was starting to feel aimless. Where was the organization? Where was the direction? Sailor MuCephi had mentioned something about a senshi meeting, but that was before his time. Derp could only do so much, and in all of his patrolling, he had never seen a Moon Princess, unless Black Lady counted. And Parker couldn't be sure she was telling the truth.
Parker took the photo back, tucking it away into his wallet. He was always awkward about these kind of personal exchanges, but Tony never made it an issue. It was one of the many reasons the pessimistic boy had maintained their casual mentor-pupil relationship of sorts. "Yeah, things are," he paused, "going. They're going." A shrug rolled over his shoulders.
Out of habit, he raked a hand through his hair. "What were you studying up there anyway?"
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Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 11:12 pm
"Ah..." Tony said, nodding his head slowly. "Going is good. I'm glad to hear it." He chuckled, sincere. It was very heartening to see the usually fairly down in the dumps young man with a happy glint in his eye. He chuckled, dropping the subject.
He didn't want to embarrass him.
"Oh, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should answer. According to the paper, senshi were like terrorists, and he wasn't sure what opinion Parker might hold of them. As far as Tony was concerned, of course, they were life safers. And not just because Virgo had saved his life.
Though that certainly got him thinking about it.
He just thought that young people who gave their lives to protecting others, even if it caused some collateral damage and put their own lives in danger, was a noble thing. A good thing, though it might not abide by the laws of the city or state. Vigilantism, maybe, but not terrorism.
But what did he know? He had only met Virgo, and the papers didn't really reveal anything to him, as slanted in their stance on the whole situation as they were.
"Just... some of the strange attacks and things that have been happening around here. I was wondering if anyone else had been targeted by the gang that attacked me. As it turns out, looking for bad news in the newspaper is like searching the library for 'books'."
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 6:54 pm
Strange attacks? Tony was researching the oddities of Destiny City, how strange. He knew the librarian to be a curious man, but it still surprised him. He saw Tony in a category from his past, a past that did not include senshi or youma or Negaverse. It was odd to feel the shades of his life blurring together.
Jarring, really.
Parker checked his watch. He should go soon. He'd be meeting Dani over at the Shufflepuck and then they would go to his apartment in East Heights to watch a movie. Before he left, he wanted to make sure Tony was okay.
The question was... how to ask?
Raking a hand through his hair yet again, Parker leaned back on the desk, tracing his gaze across the neat lines of books stacked on carts ready to be reshelved. "Tony," he said, buying some time. "You aren't in any kind of trouble, are you?" If the librarian was in need of protection, Parker would be there to help him.
He just couldn't offer that out right.
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 10:09 am
Tony looked at Parker, frowning thoughtfully at the question. He had been expecting the boy to ask him if he could go, since Parker had been checking his watch and Tony surmised he had some place better to be. With his girlfriend, perhaps. Any place other than the library.
He offered a smile and a laugh, shrugging his shoulders as best he could.
"No, no trouble," he said. Was he in trouble? He didn't think so. He was in over his head, perhaps, learning about things he really had no business even knowing about, but that couldn't be helped. After Virgo had saved him and informed him of some things, he couldn't help but be interested in all this senshi/negaverse stuff. She was his only good source, however: the papers made everything seem evil and inexplicable. They weren't able to cover things in a way that might be useful to those who knew what might be going on.
The mass public would believe what the media told them, but he imagined those who were actually in contact with senshi or even the negaverse knew better than what the reporters were willing to print.
"Why do you ask? You don't have to worry about me, I'm sure the attack in the parking lot was just a one off thing."
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:34 pm
Tony didn't really give anything away and so Parker softened. Well, at least he softened as much as he was capable of softening. "Nothing is just one off thing in Destiny City," he said. The question dangled in the air between them. Parker knew he should say something, but he couldn't find the words.
Before, he would have come out with whatever was on his mind, but now that he was a senshi, Parker had to be more careful. He couldn't ever drop too much information. It put not only himself at risk, but also those he cared about -- people like Dani.
As if on cue, his cellphone buzzed. It was a text from Dani. She had a special chime so that he knew it was her. "I should be going," Parker said, moving toward the exit. "It was good seeing you again. In one piece, mostly." He smiled, but it was cocked in one corner of his mouth, hardly a smile at all.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:32 pm
Tony smiled for both of them, nodding when the cellphone went off. It must have been his girlfriend, he supposed. He chuckled, very happy for the young man.
"You go have fun, then. I'll take care of those books you brought back. And thank you for doing that, I wouldn't have liked them going missing. And it was good catching up with you!"
He grinned and then motioned for the kid to get out of there and go do whatever it was teenagers liked to do these days. Feeling a bit old at that thought, he returned to the newspapers he had been reading, taking a seat in the shelter of the office to resume his work.
Carol and the student workers could still manage things elsewhere.
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