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 Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:39 am
It was quiet and hushed in the library, and he felt relaxed and calm among the towering shelves that hid him in the corner of the room, away from the more popular Teen Adult section and the nosier children’s section. Far from the magazines that usually had a group of adults lounging around to pass the time, he found a table all his own and set his piles on either side. Part of him said he should be doing homework, having been neglecting his class work for a few days, but there were some answers in life more important than those assigned by his teachers.
Brow furrowed, he flipped through books, checking glossaries for words like ‘death’, ‘monsters’, ‘knights’, and anything related to fighter’s fright. While some might find it endearing that he was deeply involved in the fairy tale books and references to knights spread out around him, he wasn’t reading for entertainment. While he loved fairy tales, had a good collection back at home, he as looking for something. Being under the service of a (General) King and Queen, he decided to step back and look into stories where knights under the service of their kingdom handled the possibility of death and seeing their comrades fall to impossible creatures. Sadly, after a few hours, he had found nothing. Sir Gaiwain had been afraid of the Green Knight, but had went anyways without little mention of his state of mind, his sense of duty pushing him forward. Beowulf never seemed to suffer a moment of hesitation or even a moment to glance back at the bloody mess that was once his friend as he plunged forward with his sword or even bare hands to take on anything he faced, monster or man. Reading epics had the downfall that it didn’t really portray a human but a hero, and he was left sighing and setting his hands, then his head, down on a book in defeat. It was either this or talking to some war veterans, and he’d rather deal with flawless, fictitious heroes than senile ones.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:48 pm
"Alright, you and I are friends today, right? I saw you play nice with that other man. So just... behave yourself, okay?"
The vending machine didn't respond.
Tony put in his dollar carefully, the soft hum of the machine telling him that it wasn't shredding the bill, at least. It had done that before. Change clinked down into the return when he pressed the button for his drink. Fifteen cents, just like he was supposed to get. That was a good sign. He took the change and pocketed it, smiling confidently.
It faded, though, as the machine continued to whirr, but nothing was dispensed.
"Oh, come on!"
The machine would not budge in its decision to spite Tony, however, even after a swift kick that left Tony's foot sore. Now, with fifteen cents jingling mockingly in his pocket, Tony stalked out of the vending room and back toward his ultimate goal of the Circulation desk.
He stopped, though, when he spotted a young man nearby in a very familiar posture. Sitting at a table, head on a pile of books. That, Tony knew from years of experience, was the frustrated posture of someone who could not find what they were looking for.
"Do you need any help?" he asked gently, not wanting to startle him. He had his name tag on, one of the few times he remembered to wear it, so at least it wasn't like he was some stranger coming up randomly.
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:18 pm
There was the heavy sent of glossy paperbacks that came to him and the fabric softener of his shirt as he sat there, head bowed and just closing his eyes to the darkness enclosed between his arms and the book. It wasn’t productive, helpful, and wasn’t getting him anywhere, but it was giving his eyes a break and giving his frustrations a moment to ease off a moment before he decided either to keep trying or to just place all the books back on the drop off section in the library to be sorted by the staff. That was when he heard he heard the man.
Pulling his head up, he looked around before he spotted the plainly dressed librarian looking at him with concern. The question was typical, almost the universal catchphrase of all librarians, and he glanced at his pile of books, both open and closed, and then back at the man. “I was looking for something.” Obviously, or else no one would be in the library. It was WHAT he was looking for that was important. It was phrasing it that was the tricky part. “I was looking through books on knights, and was wondering if they had any code or feelings regarding the death of another knight. Like, how they felt about it or what did they do when a friend of the same kingdom died.” He closed one of the books on medieval history where he had been reading a chapter on knights when he looked back up. “..it’s for a research paper.” Sometimes being a student was the best cover.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 11:11 am
Tony, not surprised to hear the boy was looking for something, nodded patiently. He offered a reassuring smile, silently replying 'well, I can help with that', as he looked at him with a bit more interest. Canting his head to the side, he listened as the patron went on.
"Ah!" Tony couldn't keep his face from splitting into a grin. "Have you been to the back section on this floor?" He knew the boy hadn't. No one ventured back there, because they thought it was off limits. There was a door, after all: usually you didn't have to pass through doors in a library to get to the books. If you did, that was probably a stock room or something.
Tony kept them in a room to themselves because they were special. To him, at least. A collection he had amassed over time, and continued to add to through his own and through library resources, which was all completely made clear to the Administration of the building, and they allowed him to do as he wanted.
"Legends of knights and things like that has always been of particular interest to me. We keep some repeat volumes or general knowledge books out here in the main library, but there's another section just for books on this very topic."
He grinned, indicating for the student to follow him.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:07 am
Ladon had negative feelings about back rooms. Usually these had signs that strictly prohibited anyone other than members of staff to enter with the unwritten threat that there would be dire consequences if anyone should break the rule. It also had the sort of shadiness to it that he associated with the other-18 curtain at the movie rental place, which said that this was somewhere decent, respectable people did not go. In either case, teenage boys did not go in back rooms whenever they felt a itch to do so, and he looked at the librarian up and down to decide if walking into a back room with a complete stranger was smart. He watched the news, and he was given the gift of suspicion early in life.
While looking at someone wasn’t the best way to figure out if you should remotely trust someone, he was at his limit. If help was provided, he’d risk it this once to see if the librarian could show him what he was looking for. “Okay.” Rising up, he took a step but paused, looking back at the mess of books he had spilling across the table. Reaching over, he quickly set the books into two neat piles, not wanting to show the other man he was being careless. Done, he followed after.
Around this part of the library, you could smell the faint decay of books and glue, and all the books had those dark, fading covers that reminded you of weathered tombstones. This is where the door was, and he slowly followed Tony, as his name tag said, into the back.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 1:44 pm
Completely oblivious to being scrutinized by the boy, or the implications of inviting him to a back room alone, he patiently waited for him to get up. He fully expected him to do so, after all: he was offering some help to an obviously frustrating situation. It was a good thing.
He smiled thoughtfully when Ladon cleaned up his books a bit, liking that level of respect. Most students didn't show it, leaving their materials everywhere and then abandoning books on desks or tables, or in chairs or on the floor, when they were done with them. Most books never made it to the green shelves that were scattered all over the library for the specific purpose of putting used but not checked out books on for reshelving.
Tony approached the door like it was a portal to a much better place, opening it slowly and turning on the light inside before stepping in. He looked back, to make sure the boy was still following, before gesturing at the smaller, but packed shelves inside.
"These are all about legends and knights, epic stories and heroes. If you need to find something on any of those things, hopefully we'll have something in here. The computer there is good for topic searches, but browsing some of the archives might be interesting, too."
He chuckled, feeling nerdy, "you said you were looking for topics like knights and death? Ceremonies or rituals thereof? I think you'll definitely find something on that in here."
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 2:16 pm
Ladon had been very proud of his collection of fairy tales and epics at home from folk tales and epic poems to reference material that he found interesting. Having about half a shelf full, he thought he was doing pretty well for himself as far as his collection went.
Ladon was mistaken.
This room topped the cake and even added frosting roses! The walls around him were pressed in, packed tightly with books upon books of reading material. Not a single window broke the rows upon rows of multicolored spines, all space dedicated solely to reading. The tiny room had a air of secrecy, that these were valuable, important, and that only a select few could venture here. If this was true or not, he did not know, as he would much rather entertain the idea of being as privileged as he felt right now.
It almost didn’t matter anymore that he was looking for a specific topic as he could instead reach out and read about any topic that was sure to hold his attention for hours. Even now, he strained to make out some of the titles from the aged spines further off. “Rituals and codes of conduct. Like, say, if someone killed their comrade. Would they feel a sense of duty to go after that person, even if it would mean that they could jeopardize others if they lost.” He curled his finger in, telling his hands that he could not slip over and start pulling them off the shelves.
“Why isn’t this shown to everyone? I feel ripped off now.” Ladon wasn’t angry. It had no place in this small sanctuary. He just wished he knew this was here, say, a year ago when he could have just wasted away hours reading. His eyes had been away from the librarian since he entered the room, and while he didn’t mean to be disrespectful, he was eyeing the shelves like a starving wolf noticed a tender, spring calf. It wasn’t until he noticed he hadn’t made eye contact since entering that he looked back up at him sheepishly.
“Is this your collection?” Ladon had no idea if librarians could have their own collection. It was like going to a store and when they didn’t have anything meeting your expectations, they let you in on a secret and took you in the back to show you the REAL goods. There was a sense of confidentiality by being here.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 3:14 pm
Tony was looking at his beloved books and didn't notice that the boy, whose name he still didn't know, was not looking at him either. He glanced at him, though when he spoke.
"Ripped off?" Tony echoed, laughing, "at a free lending library? That's a bit entitled of you." He was kidding, but he got the point. It wasn't fair, really, to keep books off to the side. Though nothing said not to come in, usually no one did. And he kind of made it so no one would want to, with the out of the way location and closed door.
"It is my collection," he said, nodding slowly, "I've been amassing it for some time, through donations and the wonderful thing that is the internet. I purchased quite a few of these with my own money, as well. The ones supplied to or by the library, specifically, are available for check out the normal way, but my personal books are a bit different. You can still take them out, though, if you need them."
He smiled, looking at the books again. walking over, he traced his hands over the spines, thoughtful. He recalled the specifics Ladon had drawn out earlier, though he had been sidetracked by the rest of the conversation.
"The knights had a code of honor," he said, moving to the computer to run a search for 'death' and 'ceremony', as a starting point, "To never do outrage, or murder. Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels, ah, for love or worldly goods. Their duty was to the loyalty they were sworn to: their people, and their King." He tried to recall more of Le Morte d'Arthur, but it had, shamefully, been a while since he had read it.
"Ah, here, I've pulled up a few books. Everything in here is in order by author. Easier to search for. You can use the computer to look up keywords." It seemed he spent a lot of time keeping his personal library in order.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:04 pm
Being in a room filled with books upon books who had pages upon pages of ideals, a code of ideals that were held through persistence, sacrifice, and dedication, always made him feel as if he had more potential as a person than just someone destined to work from 9 to 5 till retirement. It was the same feeling he got when he read adventure stories, where people who trained and worked hard met the rewards at the end of all their effort, or that they at least came to a end that exploded in the light of flashing shield, sword, and occasionally a good set of monster jaws, with glory and fame.
“It’s impressive. I only have a few books but you! You have a entire, well, library.” Fitting considering where they were at and who this man was. Maybe there was one perk to being a librarian, and that was hoarding your own personal collection and keeping it away like the Batman of Literature.
Back to the matter, he moved over to look at the screen. “I know a few things on my own, but I wasn’t entirely sure what the code of conduct would be for something like this.” Like this being his life. He paused a moment and looked back at the towering shelves around him, pressing in and looming as they stared at him. In comparison to all these tales, these legends and the people that were hailed as heroes, he was nothing. In the face of danger, these men (and sometimes women), fought bravely and to the last breath no matter how impossible the odds. He froze, and then ran for his life. If he’d been written into the pages, he would have been used as an example of what not to do, a coward with his tail between his legs, and would have probably gotten his just desserts in the end. He couldn’t have done what was right before, but maybe he could fix it now. He just needed a little guidance from the people he most admired.
“They handled themselves so perfectly in the face of danger. No matter what, everything just seemed to fix itself in the end, because of how well they handled the situation and their own instincts.” It was clear there was envy in his voice. Feeling a surge of sickness plague him once more, he looked back at the older man. “You must really like them.”
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:46 pm
Tony smiled, nodding, "well, I probably have a few more years of collecting than you do. Not to mention strange resources. Working in a library does have its advantages." He rubbed the back of his neck almost shyly, like talking about his personal library embarrassed him somehow. He was very proud of it, but it was something he liked.
"I'm sure yours will grow, though. They always do." He looked around at his books, smiling distantly for a moment.
Tony shook his head when the young man spoke next though, "not all the time. That's, I think, what I like so much about this tales. Particularly Arthurian legends. There are so many different interpretations, each writer tinged by the times and conditions they were living in. Some tales are triumphant and beautiful, when those same characters in other tales suffer greatly before they find some kind of redemption."
He smiled.
"A human being is multi-faceted, and nothing is ever cut and dry. Even knights, who pledge themselves to loyalty and bravery, face fear and temptation. Some give in. Some, like Sir Galahad, are pure, perfect. But even that is a lonely, trying existence," he chuckled there, knowing his was babbling like, really, a fan girl, "So, ah, yes, I do very much like them. These stories."
It was a pathetic attempt to sum up and come back to the question. He blushed a bit, "I should really let you research, instead of babbling your ear off, Mister, ah...?"
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:24 pm
Ladon didn’t often use the word cute to describe anyone. This was a word he attached to adorable stuffed animals, stickers, and a roll of fabric that had just the right pattern. Ribbons, lace, and all manner of soft decoration were things he considered cute. A blush, however, was something that made him feel embarrassed for the person, and for him to be there to make them embarrassed. It was one of the few times where he looked at someone’s expression, the eyes that didn’t have the courage to look up and the clear on-the-shoulder emotions of being a bit bashful that got to him, and for once, he was startled that the first word that came to mind was ‘cute’. What also got to him was that these were things he often did himself, and he could sense a slightly better understanding why as why so many people had called him cute in the past.
Stunned, he was nearly left speechless before he shook his head. “Ah…no. I really do enjoy all of this stuff. I’ve loved stories like this all my life. If someone locked me in this room for days, I would be just fine.” The voice was a little higher pitched than before, but Ladon caught it and kept the little flutters down. “Thanks for helping me. Uh, if I find something I want to take home, can I find you and ask?” If not, he might come here a lot just to read these books. Something to sit with at home would really pass the long, sleepless nights.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:30 pm
Tony nodded.
"Of course! You're free to take anything you want from in here. Just bring it down to the Circulation desk when you're ready. No rush. Just remember to shut the door behind you when you leave." He chuckled, knowing that sounded a bit fishy. He couldn't help but be protective of his books. He even locked the room up every night after closing, and sometimes forgot to open it the next day.
No one had noticed yet, though, so it was clearly not that big of a problem when it did happen.
He almost bowed with his nod as he retreated from the room to let the young man work. The librarian made to return to his desk, to get back to his duties. He imagined the young man would be up there a while yet. Hopefully his trust wasn't misplaced, and the boy didn't walk off with some of his expensive books, but Tony imagined a kid interested in knights that much couldn't do something like that.
Of course, that couldn't be entirely true. He adored such stories, clearly, and still went out and broke the law when the impulse took him.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 1:32 pm
Nodding, Ladon waited for Tony to leave before turning back to the monitor. Slowly sitting down, he looked at the screen, at the walls upon walls of books, and remembered the words the man had said, before breathing out. He’d come to the right place, and he felt that if he was going to find some direction, he’d find it here. With that, he leaned in and started to look for the inspiration, the words he needed, to move on.
It was hours before Ladon emerged from the room, two books in hand, and shutting the door behind him. He would have stayed longer, but it was going to get late, he was hungry, and his eyes felt as if they would fall out of his head if he kept reading anymore. Tonight had supplied him with resources, and he pressed the two books to his chest in the same manner someone might hold a beloved book of poetry or religious text. Groggy from emerging from the low light of the back room, he went to the Circulation desk to find Tony and set the two books on the counter for him to see, inspect, and give approval for him to borrow. While Ladon was a Negaverser, a person who was easily capable of taking all the best materials from Tony’s collection for himself, he also loved the knights as much as he did and wasn’t going to take them. This was mainly because he just didn’t have enough room or time to take them all, and he’d rather continue coming back here again and again if he could.
“I hope you don’t mind if I borrow these too. I really appreciate the help you gave me.” While Ladon had said it was help for a research paper, it was more than that, and his words seemed to hold a gravity to the importance in what the librarian had done. Ladon had an understanding of what he had to do, and now he just had to figure out how to go about it. There could be honor in the Negaverse, and he had to do something about what had happened, and that meant getting stronger. There was a lot to do, and he had to think of a plan.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 3:19 pm
Tony easily got caught up in the work of the day, the steady pulse of the library as people came to and moved away from the desk. They asked him about the computers, about books, papers they needed to write, things they couldn't find. They told him about an overflowing toilet, and paid for fines. He didn't really notice the hours slipping by, and didn't exactly forget or remember that he had left someone in with his collection. It was in the back of his mind but not something he was focusing on.
Tony looked up when the next books to appear on the desk were very familiar to him. He smiled.
"There you are!" He chuckled, glad about that. He was always in it to help, but he didn't want to get over proud of himself if it hadn't been all that useful to the young man. Sure, he had a couple books, but who was to say they weren't just ditch efforts?
He moved to record the books, making a note rather than checking them out through the computer system. He ran them through the desensitizer, and slid them back toward Ladon.
"I just need your name, for my note, and you're good to go. There's no, ah, technical due date on them. I'll call you if I start to worry about them."
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 4:43 pm
He gave a weak smile, watching as the books were not marked or given a card, and in turn, showing that they were clearly not books that were usually handed out. It was one thing to borrow from a library, but from a personal collection made the books valuable. How rare were they, and to what means did Tony work to get his hands on these so that now, later down the road, he was now holding them? The fact he even had the nerve to take this man on his offer and then stand here with two of them seemed too bold, too pushy for him, and he almost wanted to apologize, take them back, and just ask to come back later. Instead, he was given a paper and pen, and he leaned over and wrote his name, address, and number. It was a lot of information, something he wouldn’t have given away easily, but considering that they just met, he knew insurance was needed.
When he finished, he read the paper and then startled. “I’m sorry! I never gave you my name.” What a mistake on his part to not even introduce himself. “I’m Ladon Shepard. Thank you for helping me out with everything.” He held his hand out over the counter, tricky considering how short he was, and offered it to the librarian. “I promise I won’t take forever with these and take very good care of them while I have them.” He visibly winced at how loud his voice got in the quiet of the library, and he quickly apologized.
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