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 Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:49 pm
 He'd tried to study for awhile. Really, he had. He'd made pretty good progress on his homework, too. But then he'd needed to go fetch some notes from his other notebook to polish it off. Turned out, that notebook was buried under a few other notebooks, which were buried under a few layers of clothes, which was buried under some magazines and a spiffy looking book he'd taken out of the library. Something about a kid who found out he was more than just a normal kid, which wasn't really anything that outrageous. But the way the author had worded it made it seem like he'd put an interesting spin on things, so he'd decided to give it a shot.
Except by that point, Sam had sort of forgotten he had it. And it was a little overdue - roughly two weeks, in fact. He cringed, making a mental note for what was probably the thousandth time that he really should be keeping better track of these things. At least try and keep them all in the same place. To add insult to injury, when he took another quick scan of his room, he realized there were two more scattered around. Another from two weeks ago, and the last from three weeks back.
Great job, he thought to himself with a roll of his eyes and a wistful sigh. Right. Time for a quick trip to the library, he guessed. Key word being 'quick'. He could only imagine the kind of look the librarian was going to give him when she realized. Yikes.
Easily slipping into his shoes, it wasn't long at all before Sam was out the door, his tiny stack of books tucked neatly (for once) under his arm.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:21 pm
The French section in the library truly had been a Godsend. Sébastien had spent all of his free time in the library, reading whatever he could find on the shelves labelled "multilingual', though he had to admit that some of that time was spent reorganizing the shelves so that all the French books were together. Whoever decided that they should be grouped alphabetically? He certainly thought it was a bad idea, which was why he had done his very best to rectify it, even if he had to redo the whole shelf every week.
Of course, the librarian was not too fond of him, and he was certain this was why she hadn't allowed him to take more than five French books with him. It had hardly been fair, especially since he'd been taking them to a club meeting, but she had been firm and no amount of foot stomping got him his way. The only way to get her back was to keep the books longer than their due date, and the French boy had done just that.
He'd forgotten, however, that if he wanted to take out more books he'd have to bring them back. A small oversight, but it was manageable. All he would have to do was go later in the day when perhaps she was off duty. Stacking all five of his books, he proceeded out of his dorm room, only to notice that his neighbour was also leaving, a stack of books under his arm. Nice chance!
"Ah! Are you going to zee library?" Sébastien shifted the books in his arms. Perhaps he wouldn't get into so much trouble if he went with a friend.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:38 pm
For an instant, his vibrant eyes widened just a fraction out of surprise - but the shock quickly gave way to a lopsided, inviting smile. "Hey! Ah. Caught me red-handed. What gave it away?" he teased, shifting the books' weight from one arm to the other.
Good. He'd caught the looks the librarian liked to throw poor Sébastien's way whenever she got half a chance. Really, Sam didn't understand why. Maybe the guy was sort of loud, yeah, and you'd hear more about France from him in five minutes than you'd get from any teacher in your school career. Didn't mean he was a bad guy. Just... passionate. Yeah, there was a good word for it. Couldn't fault a guy too much for just loving his country, right?
But in any case. Long story short. Librarian didn't like either one of them. Strength in numbers, right? If they both went at the same time, she couldn't focus all that harpy wrath on each of them like she'd so love to do. "You too?" he asked hopefully, eyeing the stack his neighbor had clutched tight. French stuff. Gasp, the shock. It was almost too much for him to bear.
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:58 pm
"Zhe books," Sébastien replied instantly, only to realize that Sam was probably making a joke. These darn English and their strange sense of humour. He was beginning to think he would never understand them. Still, he laughed anyways, hoping to smooth over his error and continue on to more important things, like how they were going to make it out of the library without a good tongue lashing. He wasn't sure if his neighbour was bringing back book on time, but he had a sneaking suspicion that both he and Sam were in the same boat. Nothing said "oops I've been caught" quite like a surprised face.
At the question he nodded, nodding his head towards the books in his arms. "Oui. I 'ave been 'olding zhese books for a long time now, but I must give zhem back if I want to take out more." Damned librarian. He ought to report her for racism against French people. Sébastien totally believed she was going to penalize him extra just because of his home country. It was definitely not because he was loud and obnoxious in the library. Nope, definitely not that.
"I am thinking she is not going to be pleased that I am bringing zhem back late." He made a face, before tipping his head to try and figure out what Sam was bringing with him. No French books? A pity. "You are returning some of your own books, no?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:14 pm
Sam laughed right along with him, shaking his head. Whether the other boy really got the joke or not, sometimes a blunt answer like that was more hilarious than someone simply playing along.
He listened intently from that point, licking his lips thoughtfully. So. Not only was Sébastien heading to the library, but he had his own mess of overdue books to contend with. Timing couldn't have been much better if he'd asked. "If by 'not pleased' you mean she's going to whip out her Medusa-glare on our sorry butts? Yeah." The pink-haired boy smiled brightly in spite of what he'd said. "You guessed right. Kind of... forgot about these for a few days, " he admitted.
Make that a few weeks. Details.
"We're heading the same place anyway - what do you say? You watch my back, I'll get your's - people would ask too many questions if she offed us both in our sleep, " he joked, flashing Sébastien a playful smile.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:35 pm
Medusa? Medusa… Oh! Greek monster. No wonder he didn't recognize the name immediately. She wasn't French. Though he couldn't remember for the life of him what was so special about this Medusa, Sam's use of the name seemed to imply that the librarian was pure evil. Truer words had never been spoken, and Sébastien was quick to nod his head in agreement.
"We are lucky zhat she cannot 'arm us with the 'ands. But 'er words are bad enough." But as long as she didn't take away his library privileges forever, he would be fine. They had to last him at least long enough to read the entire French section. Then she could do what she wanted with his library card. Sam seemed to be in the same tight spot, overdue books and all. He wasn't certain that his pink haired neighbour had the same track record that he did, but that was hardly important. So long as there was two of them to spread the anger around a little bit.
The French boy laughed, but returned Sam's smile. "As you English say, 'sounds like a plan!'" He adjusted his books again and started walking towards the staircase, hoping that Sam would follow. "I am hoping she is not 'offing us in our sleep' zhough. It would not be very nice." Death by a thousand paper cuts. Not so fun.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:26 pm
It was Sam's turn to nod along then. So true. Given that horrible screechy voice of her, along with that glare, she was more than just Medusa. It was like if Medusa and a Harpy had an ugly b*****d lovechild. Yup. That description about fit the librarian. (Or at least his vision of the librarian.) "Especially when those words can land us some detention time, " he murmured with a cringe. The only times he'd ever ended up in detention had been because of that horrible woman.
Wasn't fair, really. Maybe his handwriting kind of sucked, and maybe he misplaced homework sometimes, but all things considered, he was a good enough student. He didn't go around looking for trouble. Maybe trouble had a way of finding him sometimes, yeah, but everybody knew he was a good kid. But the librarian, man. Forget a book once and she was on your trail until the end.
Sam moved along after him with another soft bout of laughter. "You're telling me. Can you imagine the story we'd have to tell later? We're hanging out with all these war heroes and stuff, and we have to tell them that we suffered death by librarian. How lame would that be?"
Now that he had someone to go with, a hint of curiousity began to kick in. He knew how much Sébastien liked to talk about his culture anyway - so hey. What could it hurt to ask? "What are all those books about, anyway?" he questioned, tilting his head to a side.
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 9:02 am
“Detention! Pah! Zhere is nothing zhe librarian can do in detention zhat could be worse zhan zhe math teacher.” That was the only teacher that Sébastien was hesitant to piss off. He’d heard some very nasty rumours about what the old man made students do in detention and he was not about to risk his life and his dignity to test them. Though there was nothing that came before French pride in his mind, his life and his dignity were a very close second. Even Sam – despite not being French – could understand that, couldn’t he?
The French boy grinned broadly when his pink haired neighbour commented on their potentially lame death. At least he could tell his French companions that he’d been defending the honour of his country by ensuring that the French books were well organized and well taken care of. But Sam? What would he have to say? Clearly it would be best to avoid being killed by the librarian, if only for the sake of his friend. “It would not be a noble death, certainement.”
At the mention of his books his grin only widened. “Zhese? My friend, zhese are some of the books from the French section of the library! You did not know zhere was a French section?” Was he the only one who knew?
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:31 pm
Sam nodded quickly in empathy - he knew the stories about that horrid man as well as anyone else. "See, and people wonder why I never lose my math homework, " he murmured, shaking his head.
No, he couldn't help being sort of messy. ('Sort of' being sort of an understatement.) But put him under threat of loss of life and limb? Yeah. He found a way to go that extra mile to keep his math notebook up on a higher shelf, always. Maybe his papers still got stained or smeared sometimes, but at least he still always found a way to hand it in. Even if the guy never looked thrilled about it, he couldn't argue with it. But Sam swore he was just waiting for him to trip up somewhere. Like waiting in the shadows, ready to pounce - ugh. Gave him shivers just thinking about it.
The pink haired boy shook his head, vibrant eyes bright with curiosity. "No... is it new?" he asked, intrigued. He didn't remember seeing it there before. But then, maybe if he'd taken the time to explore the library a little more thoroughly... like it would have made a huge difference when he couldn't read it in the first place. It'd still be sort of neat if they had some books on learning French. Maybe he wouldn't be able to pick up on much, but he bet Sébastien would be ecstatic if he picked up a phrase or two. "What are those about? Are they fiction, history...?"
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