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 Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:13 am
Tony frowned, but it wasn't an angry expression. It was teasing, since he knew very well that she must have donated the shelves. There was just no way for something that convenient to happen all on its own, just days after he and her had a very specific conversation about it. He had gone on about how much he loved those wooden shelves and now he had some new ones.
Not too difficult to see what had happened.
And the look of guilt on her face was perfect. He could tell she was just trying to pretend she wasn't responsible. He shook his head, though, not willing to buy it. He had her caught: and it was a nice change to have the upper hand for once.
"I was watching them install the shelves, trying to figure out who sent them. But now, it seems, I've figured it out. You really shouldn't have, Amara. I can only try and fathom how expensive they are, and to donate to a library of all things! Not that I don't really appreciate it, because I do, they're incredible pieces of furniture. But you really didn't have to."
He looked at her, leading the way absently to his little section of the library. It was in a room in the back, the door always closed but never locked. No one ever went in there, thinking it some off place section, which was fine by him. He would share with those brave enough to go in, but not go out of his way to let people use and perhaps mess up books from his personal collection.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:25 am
So, she was $#@$ed, as far as keeping up appearances went. "... Well, maybe I shouldn't have... but doesn't everyone want a legacy? Even if the don't put about who bought the shelves, I will know that they will be put to good use. So, I think it was worth it." In her opinion, it had been worth it to see the look on his face. "You can't deny that you enjoy them, because I know better. I saw you when I came in." He loved them, and Amara was happy about it. "Besides, if you can't do anything useful with your wealth, why have it at all? What is the point of having money if you always spend it selfishly?"
No point at all. It wasn't good for her to always use her money to buy shoes, and clothing. "I would've just spent the money on shoes anyway," she added, as if that made up for buying the shelves to begin with. "The community benefits from what goes in the Library, Tony. I think having nice furniture again will add to the experience, and you can't say that I'm wrong, can you?" Besides, he should wait until the entire shipment came in, and then he could complain at her.
Sulkily, like some kind of child caught with her hands in the cookie jar (and she might as well have been), she followed him as he lead her through the Library. "Seriously, it's not a big deal. Well. Maybe it is a big deal, but I think it's nice. And I'm probably going to come to the library more often, because I've got all kinds of work to do. I might as well enjoy something beautiful while I'm here, mightn't I?" It was her big expenditure for the season, and she didn't really plan on buying anything like it anytime soon.
Not that it was a big dip in the bucket, as it were. "Honestly, it's the first time I've really been able to find something so ... uniquely suited to someone before. So I'm glad of it." And he had better be glad of it, too. Curiously, she glanced around, trying to get a good idea of where they were going. If she remembered it, she could come find her way again sometime. Maybe he'd let her read to him again, and that would definitely be fun. She'd gotten a kick out of how he'd responded to it, really. It was hard not to when he was just so... adorable. Tony was entertaining to be around, and that was that.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:50 am
Tony sighed. He hated that she had some good points. It still felt like she was just being nice to him because she felt she owed him something, though. Just because he had taken care of her when she hurt her ankle, or because he was nice. It made him feel a bit guilty, because he hadn't done those things for any kind of return.
But then again, she did seem to have an honest interest in the library itself. Or was he just trying to justify keeping the shelves? He really wanted to, they looked brilliant, and they restored that back area to what it was before. Maybe it was sentimental... he didn't know. He just liked having that one little area that was old school, that smelled like wood and old books, that had a nice sitting area and looked like a fireplace might fit in perfectly. Everything else was all geared to the new age, for computers and students on the go and functional, adjustable metal shelving.
He liked that part of it, too, but the back room was just a little escape from all that. Something that wasn't changing with the times, though it had very nearly had to.
"Well, I don't consider the matter dropped but... it is nice, and I really do thank you on behalf of the library, and as far as I can for myself. It was a very generous thing to do."
He smiled at her, then moved to a door they had approached. He opened it, since it wasn't locked, and indicated that she could go in before him. It was his personal library, with wooden, though not ornate like the ones before, shelves and rows of books. They ranged in sizes and color, old and new, expensive and not. Some of the most expensive items of his collection were kept in glass cases around the room, but there weren't too many. Still, it was an impressive collection of books for one man. He had his many contacts at the library, patron donations, and purchases of his own as well as from the library to thank for that.
He was in the right business for collecting books.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 12:09 pm
It was fairly clear from the way that Tony was behaving that he wasn't entirely happy about her decision to help out the library. Well, she couldn't help that. It was done and gone, and she was not going to simply uproot the shelves just because he felt a little bad about them. It had been Amara's decision, and it still was. "Well... you may choose to not consider the matter dropped, but I do. Honestly, if you want to make it up to me somehow, you could just try going places with me? I could use a more stable friend than the ones that I occasionally meet while shopping. Especially someone who I can discuss literature with."
Amaravati was a very well educated young women, and a fairly intelligent one to boot. It was sometimes difficult for her to have the sorts of discussions that she would like to have with individuals of her own age. ... Not always, of course. There were plenty of teens with similar interests, but she was incredibly awkward with them. "And by going places, I mean... well, the park, and maybe the museum? Classical things. I don't usually have much of an outlet for that sort of thing."
So long as he seemed to be coming to terms with the shelves, that was all right. "Unless you don't have the soul of an artist in you somewhere, that is. In which case we could stick to book shops, coffee shops, and the like. Do you even visit book stores, Tony?" It was nice to fall back into a sense of comfort. She'd gone out on a limb, and had had no idea if she could crawl her way back. As it turned out, she hadn't needed to, because when she had inevitably fallen from the branch, he'd caught her. ... So to speak.
Okay, maybe waxing poetic wasn't the right thing for the time. Pausing in the doorway, she blinked, and just... stared for a long moment. "Wow," she said, lighting up at the sight of his collection. "That is... gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous." She moved over to one of the glass cases, bending slightly to look over it admiringly. Her fingers caressed the glass ever so slightly. "Tony, how do you get away with hiding all of this--" and her arm swept out to indicate the room,"-- in here?" Wow indeed. She moved over to the shelves, and began to scan over the spines of the books.
"What an amazing range you've got here." Really, they were nice books. Some of them seemed less, well, pricey than others, but that didn't matter. The worth of a book, after all, was certainly not in its price tag. "You said something about these books having to do with Arthurian legend, if I remember correctly." And he had. She was one hundred percent certain that he had. "I like the shelves." Book cases should always be made out of wood. "Metal ones just... well, they give off this metallic scent, and it's so wrong when combined with good paper and glue, and ink."
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 12:41 pm
Her offer made him nod slowly, a thin smile on his face. He sighed, relenting, though it was clear he wasn't as hesitant about it as he was pretending to be. "So long as you don't drag me any place embarrassing for an older librarian like myself, I suppose I wouldn't mind discussing literature with you. Though, I have to warn you, I mostly just read the books from my collection. Beyond that, reading isn't actually a past time I have... time... to indulge in."
Or the drive, really. He loved books. He loved sorting them and being around them, taking care of them and mending them when other people didn't. He liked looking at them and knowing they were there, even smelling that scent they all seemed to adopt once becoming a part of the library. But he didn't read very often. Go figure.
"Oh, no, museums and such are fine by me. I never visited any when I was younger, and now I'm very often too busy. But I would really like to, I think. I just didn't have the excuse. Huh. That's not very flattering. I'm not saying you're my excuse to go to the park or a museum but... uh. Hmm. I'll be quiet."
He laughed at himself inwardly, forcing himself into outward silence. It was well timed, as she was distracted from him by the books. He felt his pride swell a bit, glad she seemed to like what she saw.
"I think so, too," he said, when he commented about the smell of wood rather than metal. He preferred the more natural scent. The shelves weren't that impressive, just typical, plain wooden rectangles, but that was fine. The books were what was important. "And yes, mostly Arthurian. But there are other legends, and a section of epics and other... heroic things." He blushed a bit, feeling like a goon. He was just a big kid that liked stories about brave warrior heroes. But it was more than that, even if that was where it started.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 12:57 pm
Like a kid in a candy shop, Amaravati gleed over the books. "I think... that I'm in love," she said, with a soft laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to kidnap this library. You can't have it. ... Well. You can share. But it's just so lovely!" She picked up one book in particular, admiring the binding. "This one's pretty old, isn't it? ... Err, well, I meant that we can read books to each other, or something. And you can tell me all about those legends you like so much."
Smiling, she glanced over at him. "Why does it not surprise me that you like to read about heroes?" Heroic Tony, rescuing her from the big bad elevator, and the shelf? Yes, that did sound like him. "I'll bet that somewhere in there is a boy who just wants to play hero. Tell me that I'm wrong, I dare you." She tapped his chest to emphasize her point, but then went back to admiring the volume in her hand. "I do love books, you know. I just... never imagined being in a Library would be like this."
That it would be magical. "I'm glad that you're all right with museums and whatnot, because if you weren't, I don't know who I would have to con into taking me. Really, no one likes to go to the museum these days." Well, maybe Khalla did, but Amara wasn't quite sure that she wanted to go with Khalla just yet. Who knew how long she'd end up staying if she did? ... Still, it was a thought. It was definitely a thought. "Oooh, you know what else? We could go to the zoo. Do you like animals, Tony?"
"I can't wait to show you my little library. It's not like this, you know. Not nearly so big. I've got... maybe two book cases, or so? Four at most. They're all set up in the room attached to my bedroom. The main library at home is ... much more extensive, of course, but you would hardly find it interesting, I'm sure. We do have some of the classics, of course, but a lot of what's there is in Hindi." Anthony didn't seem like the kind of guy who read in Hindi, so that was out of the question. "Still, it's worth a look. But this is grand. And honestly, embarrassing for you? You're not exactly dried up, you know. Learn to live a little, silly man."
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 2:12 pm
Tony chuckled, watching her. He was very glads she seemed impressed, his pride very contented and relieved of the worries he had faced before. Maybe he was just being placated, but even so... that worked for him. He smiled, following her as she spoke, nodding when she asked about the book and if it was old.
"You're not wrong," he laughed, now very much blushing about it. He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head bashfully, almost to the point of scuffing his feet on the floor. So he liked to play hero? People should do it more often. He moved his hand over where she had tapped him, still chuckling awkwardly.
"The Zoo? I suppose so. I have a hamster. That's about as close to animals as I have gotten. But I like him well enough," he grinned, knowing full well the Zoo did not have hamsters and it wasn't even close to being the same thing. But he did love his pet, so he had a soft spot for animals in general.
"That sounds very nice," Tony said, "the library, I mean. Living a little too, I suppose, but ah. Well. We'll see about that."
He let her explore the library as she wanted, leaning back against a wall. He liked the room, his little getaway, and was proud of the books he had amassed so far. He had lent a couple out to a boy, but he was sure they would come back eventually. He had seemed like a trustworthy young man.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 2:49 pm
A smile tugged at the corners of Amara's lips as she looked over the book. "It's really quite nice, you know. All of this." It was adorable that he wanted to play hero, but the fact that he managed to play it off, well. That was interesting. She wondered what it would be like to ... to save people like that. Only, she wasn't saving people, was she? She was killing them. A chill coiled up her spine, and she pushed the thought forcibly away. After all, it was what she needed to do. It was for the greater good.
For the greater good. With that disquieting thought in mind, she forced herself back on topic, shaking off that sense of foreboding. "I have a kitten at home. She's an Egyptian mau, and she's rather adorable. Absolutely trouble through and through, though." Hamsters were a lot less inclined toward creating chaos, she thought. There was, of course, no way to prove this, however.
"... Well, yes. It is nice. It's nice, and sort of... staid." The point of the library wasn't to be exciting, though, so she made no further comment on that vein. "I like this room. I like this room a lot. It's got a sort of ambiance to it, don't you think?" They chatted like that for some time, and Amaravati honestly would not have noticed that it was time for her to go except that the alarm on her phone went off, informing her that it was time to swing by her parents' place so that she could help her mother with dinner.
"Tony! It was lovely to see you again, truly. You'll have to come by some time, all right? Give me a ring. You've got my phone number somewhere, don't you?" Abandoning all dignity in favor being girlish and silly, she grabbed him up in a tight hug. "Really. I cannot thank you enough. You really did keep me sane in the elevator. No matter how much your Library might hate me, I think I'll be back soon to visit." Tearing herself away from the Librarian (and friend!), she headed out the door as fast as her bum leg could carry her. "Thanks again!"
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