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 Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:56 am
The boy's eyes were so wide as he looked around the large building, gently pushing his glasses up with one dainty finger as they had fallen when his jaw had dropped. Never in his life had he seen so many books. It was unbelievable. He looked up at his mother as she smiled down at him, nudging him to the children's section where there would be many books with mostly pictures for him to enjoy. The woman smiled gently at her boy, "Go ahead and pick out any books you want sweetie." she said, ruffling his hair as she turned around, still near him, to look at a few books herself.
Pippin scoured the shelves, though he was looking on the wrong side unknowingly. Looking through the shelves he chose a random book, though he wasn't exactly able to read the title the book for older children read Nancy Drew. He stared at it for a moment, flipping through as he was confused where the pictures went.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:06 pm
Anthony approached the building holding his daughter's hand. He had not brought the girl to the public library since she had arrived, but her penchant for spending her allowance on books brought him to the conclusion that this was the best idea. They made it to the desk first to register Europa for her very own library card, and then off she went to the "young adult" section. There were books there that she had no interest in, but there were others she knew were kept there for some ungodly reason. She was not a young adult yet, after all! As she entered the section she crossed by a very confused-looking little boy holding a familiarly yellow book.
"I like that one," she said with a smile as she passed him, heading for the other Nancy Drews.
Content that his daughter wasn't going to stumble upon the erotic novel collection, Anthony wandered off to find something of his own. No mysteries this time, he decided. They were also so unrealistic! It was unfortunate how few fantasy novels were written for adults...
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:29 pm
Pippin had continued to scour the pages, looking for pictures but somehow managing to miss every single one. His face was still twisted with confusion until his headwings perked up and he turned his head quickly at the voice of another. "Huh? Oh, I've never read it..." he said, feeling rather foolish because he hadn't really read much. He had always wanted, but couldn't for obvious reasons. His mother read to him often though at least. "Er, what's it about?" he said, not wanting to seem rude for any reason.
Celi let out a long sigh, looking the shelves over for any book that would temporarily release her mind from the stress of trying to be the best parent in the world. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple, unknowingly walking into someone else in the aisle. "Oh my gosh I am so sorry!" she said, blushing fiercly. She felt rather silly, not usually running into random strangers.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:34 pm
How well-spoken for a toddler! Europa ran through the titles of the Drew books on the shelf and plucked out two that she knew she hadn't read yet. She spoke as she looked them over and returned to sat at a table near the little boy.
"That one isss...oh! The clock. An Inn explodes and Nancy has to help the owner. She's not hurt or anything, just messed up in the head." She finished looking over the books she had chosen and placed them on the table. She crossed her arms and leaned beside them, smiling down to the toddler.
"What're you lookin' for?"
- - -
Anthony maintained his footing and just laughed slightly at the apparently frazzled young woman. He shook his head and held up a hand.
"Not at all. It's half my fault anyway." He politely turned back to the shelf, still smiling softly.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:58 pm
Pippin nodded gently, doing his very very best to be polite. His mother had taught him many things, and manners was one of them. He was taught to speak very properly and behave like a gentleman as much as possible. "Oh, that's cool." he said in response to her quick synopsis of the story. "I'm glad she wasn't hurt at least." he added.
When he was asked what he was looking for the boy actually had to think for a moment, then when he answered his cheeks flushed lightly, "Um... picture books..." he said, setting the book that was mainly text back on the shelf where it came from. He felt like such a... well... little kid. Rightfully so, but he wished he wasn't somehow embarrassed by it like he was.
~
Celi smiled brightly at the young man, "I guess I should watch where I'm going more." she said with a nervous laugh. The woman wasn't used to small little awkward social situations, only the big and glamorous ones. "My name is Celi." she said, holding out a daintly hand.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 9:00 am
Europa was, surprisingly, rather excited at the notion of finding picture books. She had loved them herself, as a little kid, what with their big colorful landscapes and sparse bold words. It wasn't acceptable to read them any more, she knew. She'd get made fun of if she was caught with one. She still had the few drawings in Nancy Drew, though, and now a little friend to help find some!
"Ooh! Ooh! I know just the one!" she said perhaps a bit too loudly for a library. She scampered to the section she had first found it in and could only hope it was still there.
"AHA!"
She plopped down right in the aisle, sitting indian-style.
"Found it!"
- - -
Anthony only gave an amused "hm" at the woman's first statement, but offering her name caused him to turn and gently take her hand. He shook it rather than kissed it, considering the position in which it had been offered, and smiled brightly.
"Anthony. Are you from town? I don't think I've seen you before..." And him not knowing someone was sort of a big deal, in his line of work.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:24 pm
Pippin was rather surprised and overjoyed that the older girl hadn't made fun of him for his picture books. He always thought he sounded so dorky whenever he spoke about anything and that kids would look down upon him. Especially the ones that seemed so cool.
He looked up at the new girl, his eyes a bit wide, "R-really?" he said, rather surprised at her willingness to help him in his search. As she ran to get it he watched carefully through his spectacles, still watching as she ran back and sat.
Walking up to her he seated himself by her side, curious as to what book she had chosen.
~
The woman flashed a gorgeous smile at the adult next to her, "Yes, I am. I live in bit of a secluded neighborhood though, so that could be why we've never met." she smiled again, this man seemed nice. For a moment her eyes flickered over to Pippin, seeing him sitting with a girl, obviously a spawn. "Aww." she said softly, not even aware the the man near her was the father of said spawn.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:30 pm
The book was called "Arathia" and didn't do much but detail the flora and fauna of this make-believe world called Arathia. All of the illustrations spanned two pages and were wonderfully bright and complex. There were birds, lizards, strange giraffes, everything possible. It had been Europa's favorite book when she was Pippin's age.
- - -
"Ah," Anthony nodded, and then followed the woman's gaze. Hmm?
"Is that, perchance, your son?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:40 pm
Pippin had to readjust his glasses after having a 'this is awesome' face. Pushing them up his mouth gaped just slightly as he looked at all of the vibrant pages in the book the girl held in her lap. Wait... the girl... he didn't know her name! "I-I'm sorry, I'm Pippin!" he said, feeling rather rude and foolish, though his attention was still slightly captivated by the book.
~
Celi turned to the man once more as she replied to his question, "Oh, yes. Well... in a sense. He's a very... special child, just the like girl next to him seems to be." she said, still oblivious to the connection between the two.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:45 pm
Europa laughed. Good job, they'd both totally forgotten to introduce themselves! She handed the book to the boy then before replying.
"I'm Europa."
- - -
Anthony arched a brow and nodded. Special indeed!
"A spawn, no doubt?" he asked, crouching to a low shelf and giving the books a cursory glance before finishing his thought.
"The girl next to him is my daughter."
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:12 pm
Pippin nodded slightly, taking in the name and hoping he would remember it. He would feel bad if he didn't, it would be very impolite and it might make his mother sad. He didn't want that. Okay, well, maybe she wouldn't be sad, but he'd rather make her proud of him.
"I like this book. It's pretty." he said with a half of a smile, trying to keep up conversation until it was apparent the other wanted to leave.
~
"Oh my really! She's so adorable, and seems so well behaved too." Celi complimented, seeing the girl being so nice to her own son.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:54 am
Europa nodded and read over the boy's shoulder, quite enjoying this little blast from the past. Her old, battered, library-bought copy sat in the back of her book case at home, where nobody else would be able to see it.
"I'm glad! I do too. It was my favorite when I was your age, and that wasn't a long time ago."
- - -
"Ahaa~ Most of the time, yes, she is," Anthony half-laughed. He preferred to not think about her infrequent rages, really. They were dangerous and rather rude most of the time.
"Chastity and wrath, so what can you do?" He selected a book from his low shelf and stood again, watching the children.
"They get along well."
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:32 am
Pippin was rather captivated and calmed at the moment. He was completely content being nestled on the floor with someone reading to him while he looked at the beautiful pictures. Reading was one of his favorite things to do, aside from when he got a chance to play with some of his friends.
"Really? You look older to me." he said, hoping she would take that as more of a compliment than an offense. Man, he couldn't wait until he was older. He was going to have so much fun, and try and be as cool as possible like Cody or Europa!
~
"Oh wow, she certainly seems rather calm at the moment. I'm sure when the wrath shows itself it must be terrible. He's Envy and Humility." she spoke softly, smiling at the man below her, "But it seems you've done such a fine job raising her. They do seem to get along quite well don't they?"
Celi bit her lip, trying not to squee at the fact that Pippin was socializing again and seemed so happy.
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:42 am
"I am, silly!" Europa giggled, "but not by much. I'm just a kid." She wasn't aware of her own maturity most days, and barely ever realized her own height.
"Hey, do you want me to read to you? We could go over to the big chair, and I could read to you."
- - -
"Envy and Humility? Tcch, what an unfortunate combination," Anthony frowned. Really, how had a child like that not just gone totally insane?
"In honesty, I've yet to see a child Europa does not get along with. She's going to a sleep-over later this week, though. We'll see how well that goes."
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:36 am
Pippin blushed, feeling rather silly after she pointed out her age. "Oh, I should have known." he said, slightly nervously. All uncomfortable feelings vanished though when Europa popped that special question.
"Really? You wanna read to me? Yeah!" he said, grinning as he once again pushed his spectacles up. His mother was the only one who ever read to him! This girl was so nice!
~
"Yes, it is rather sad. It causes some issues. It's so hard to raise him alone but we get by." a slight saddened look spread, but was quickly taken away by her own will, "But there's nothing we can do about the combinations. They're all still darling and we love them." the woman's natural optimism around other shined through once more.
"A sleepover? How fun!"
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