Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ever was quiet for a shockingly long time -- his mouth actually closed for a while as he worked through the steps, and handed over the last book. He had to blink back into focus, already crossing his fingers that no one else would come over to check out books until Tony got back...

"I could help, if it is for an assignment." The words came out slowly, reluctantly, a little uncomfortable, so he went digging for a better joke -- but even that came out too dry. "It is kind of an area of expertise."

A blink, and then Ever finally lit up again, his eyebrows raised. It was nice to see his expression brighten like that, even if he did still look pale and exhausted: he was meant to be grinning, not scowling or locked into that vacant edge. This was more natural on him, more comfortable.

"...this is about me!" Surprisingly self-centered, sometimes. He pointed at Zac, waking up, straightening where he sat. A nice thought, but also potentially a frightening one: why was Zac so interested?

"Don't worry, shortie." The name came out easily teasing, again. "You're not the first man I've made question his preferences."

Ever's eyes darted to the watching crowd and he brought a finger up to his lips pointedly, hushing Zac and trying not to roll his own eyes. It really was way too easy. Any time he got actually frustrated with the kid, Ever just had to remember that any off-handed joke could send him into a fit of blushes...

"Uh huh. Be quiet, we're in a library." His tone was mock-stern, tutting, but...well, really, they needed to hush up before someone made a complaint. "I'm always a fan of people expanding their horizons, branching out, exploring...so."

So have at. He looked at the screen, blinking, and then took down Zac's name and address. Not terribly appropriate. "We can chat, if you want. I'd give you my number, but I don't really have one."

"Nah, not staying there anymore." It was absent, though, tossing off the statement with a quick shrug and a dismissive little gesture. Ever folded up Zac's information and tucked it into his shirt pocket before he looked up, closing down his window so that everything would be back to normal for the next checkout.

"I move around a lot." He swiped hair back out of his face, at that, and his expression might have been sheepish. A little guarded. "Here's probably a good place to check, though."

"In this case?" Ever let him worry about it, folding his arms across the counter and shrugging just a little at Zac. Maybe he was hunting for words, or maybe he was just dragging it out to drive him crazy. "In this case, it's about getting you at least curious about religion."

Boring. He made a face, not quite resting his chin on his arms, no matter how tired he still was.

And also the benefit of one simple fact: telling someone they looked like hell always made them remember just how s**t they really felt. Ever made a noise rolling his shoulders and trying not to focus on the parts of him that still ached, the better part of a week later.

"Flu, I thought, except no fever." Of course, that was approximating, but he was pretty sure he didn't have the fever...

"...I am pretty under weight." he latched onto that as the most useful thing Zac had said, finally leaning down against the counter and watching him with bright eyes.

"Underfed, underpaid, under appreciated." A mocking sort of drama, his head tipped to the side and tongue flicking out to wet dried lips, seriously pondering what to say this time. "You want to take care of that? You could buy me dinner..."

A little noise at that, shrugging, his head cocked and eyes flashing to the clock. He and Tony hadn't really talked about hours at length, and from what he knew of the man...well, he could probably leave any time and get away with it. Ever really, really like that about Tony.

"Uh. Whenever's dinner time. Unless you want to buy me lunch, too." He smiled at that, eyebrows raised meaningfully.