[R] Library Games (Tony/Sydney) FIN

[Syusaki]

Following the Hot Wiring Accident (because it was just too wonderful to not have a name), Sydney had gained a new perspective on adults, particularly adults that were librarians and named Anthony Darrow. She had told the man that they would be seeing more of each other in the future and the girl intended to make this come true.

She trekked up the steps, one foot slowly moving in front of the other as she ascended into the library. Briefly looking around, the redhead spotted Mr. Darrow at the circulation desk. She grinned, but panic soon set in and she slid into the nearest aisle of books so as not to be spotted by the adult. Sydney wanted this to be a surprise!

Softly treading across the carpet, she slithered around the desk, crouching on her knees so as not to be seen by the librarian. Hidden underneath the countertop of the desk, Sydney listened to Mr. Darrow assist other students and adults alike with finding books while she ignored the incredulous stares she received.

After a period of silence she curiously poked her head above the counter before darting back under again. She looked above the counter. Dove under the counter. Above the counter. Under the counter. It wasn’t long until she began singing the Jaw’s theme.

“Duh nah. Duh nah. Duh nah. Duh nahhhhh. Duh nah duh nahhhhh!”

He had obviously noticed by now, but she didn’t give a damn. “Shark Sydney eats you!” she declared, fully extending her legs and reaching over to briefly shake his shoulders.

Ahhhhh. So fun.  

[Lithiasaur]

Anthony Darrow was less inclined to think fondly on the night he was caught hot wiring a car. He found it to be embarrassing, and perhaps a very clear indicator that he had lost his touch, and it was time to give things like that up. But as much as it could have been a deterrent from his inclination toward law breaking, it also fortified his resolve to do better.

Why not give it one more go? Prove to himself that he still could, even if he messed up once. Do something big. Go out with a bang, and then retire wholly into his life as an innocent, self minding librarian. Retreat into this simple existence and forget everything of his past. After one last hurrah?

He pondered it constantly, what he could do, what would be satisfying enough. Why he would do it. Why not just quit while he was ahead? He had nothing to prove to anyone: it was all for his own amusement wasn't it? It had all gotten a bit too complicated, and he shoved all thoughts on the subject out of his head today as he focused on work.

Not noticing the attacker under the counter, he went about his duties, checking out books and making casual conversation with the patrons as they told him about their day, or how hard or easy it was to find the book, or how glad they were to have finally tracked a copy down. The routine.

He looked up, though, when he heard a familiar voice singing the theme from jaws. He watched passively as she bobbed her way closer, then his hands sprang up in defense when she made to shake his shoulders, confused and half thinking she was attacking him.

It wouldn't be too unusual these days, to be attacked in the library.

"Sydney!" he yelped, shaking his head in shock, "what are you doing?"  

[Syusaki]

His reaction was priceless.

Sydney hadn’t been expecting Mr. Darrow to act so surprised, but she was glad he did. The look on his face was so hilarious she wanted to laugh, so she did.

“Hahahaha! Relax dude, don’t have a heart attack, okay? I’m not trying to do anything dangerous, if that’s what’s on your mind,” she answered with a wolfish grin. Eyes twinkled with endless amusement as she casually planted herself on the counter of the circulation desk. Her palms were pressed against the polished wood, slender fingers wrapped around the edge while she childishly swung her long legs back and forth. “I told you we’d be meeting each other more often~ Did you miss me~?” Sydney said in a sing-song.

Then she neatly slid off her impromptu seat and kneeled down, her arms lying side by side and her chin planted between the two limbs. As Sydney spoke she could feel the pressure she was putting on her arms. “Is a certain Mr. Darrow busy at the moment? Because a certain Sydney Martin would like to play games with him,” she inquired with a surprisingly serious and polite face.

Which made her look all that much sillier.  

[Lithiasaur]

"I'm not have a heart attack," Tony growled, almost defensively. Heart attacks were for old people, and he assumed that was what she was insinuating when she told him not to have one. Or she was just using a common phrase for surprise. Either way. "And I am not your dude."

He looked at her, baffled and frustrated, as she spoke. It was his understanding that she wouldn't be hassling him, though she had said she would come to the library more. Hadn't he come to a deal with her? She was not supposed to use catching him hotwiring her brother's car against him, and in exchange he had taught her how to do it. Mostly.

"Games?" he couldn't help but ask. He wasn't sure he liked the idea, though he imagined she would want to play something like tag. A literal game, just in the library. She seemed the energetic type, which Tony was not. He didn't even like to walk too much, and though he kept telling himself to go to the gym he continued to ignore the note.

He arched an eyebrow at her, contemplative.

"I am at work, so one would assume I'm busy. What kind of games could you possibly play in a library?" He just hoped he wouldn't regret asking. It did not mean he wanted to placate her in any way, he was just curious what she had in mind. Because, really, what could you do in a library besides read?  

[Syusaki]

“Why so serious? You know I’m only teasing,” Sydney replied with a cocked eyebrow and a beaming grin. “Awwww. Now why’s that? I like to think that we’re friends.” She slung her body forward, her arms sprawling across the table as a mischievous glint entered her eyes. “At least, now I do!” She slid off the desk, like a slithering snake. “Who would’ve thought I’d be visiting the library of my own accord? Mmhmmm. Not me!”

Sydney wasn’t trying to hassle him, if that was what Mr. Darrow thought. Oh no, hardly the case! Her actual intention was to just have a friendly conversation with the librarian, maybe play same games to entertain him a place as dull as a library. Then again, as Sydney thought about it more she mused that he was a librarian for a reason. He liked the stuffy silence and cold company of books! The redhead could not quite comprehend this discovery, but to each their own she supposed.

“Why yes, good sir. Games!” she repeated, gliding her way to the side of the desk where the entrance and exit was. “Don’t you want a change of pace?” Sydney pressed the question, undeterred by his skeptical expression. “Fine, fine! We can just play some word games or something! Though I don’t really like those kinds of games very much.” She muttered the last sentence under her breath. No tag or hide-or-seek? Darn.  

[Lithiasaur]

Tony sighed, nodding his head slowly. He wasn't sure he would call her his friend. A friend wouldn't force him to teach her how to hotwire a car just to keep secret the fact that he had been stealing it. Of course, if he were her friend he probably shouldn't have been stealing it in the first place. He hadn't known it belonged to her family at the time, though, so that was the difference.

"Me either," he said, teasing lightly. He smiled, even if he was exasperated, because she was at least kind of entertaining in her random way. Not that he would admit that, thinking it would only encourage her further. And this was a library, there were protocols to follow.

He watched her play on the desk, frowning and moving to keep one of the stampers from falling off. He readjusted it, putting it safely away from the edge, and shook his head slowly at her question.

"A change of pace? Ah. Not really, no. Do you know any word games? I get the impression, for your look now, that you had every intention of playing a more active game. Which wouldn't do in a library..." he sighed, tilting his head at her. "Your intention really was to come here and see if I wanted to play?"  

[Syusaki]

Details, details! Perhaps that was part of Tony’s definition of a friend, but not Sydney’s. They were on amiable terms and not out to kill the other, right? Take into account that this would visit was only the first of many more to come and it was obvious that Mr. Darrow was not an ordinary librarian, not to Sydney. Need she explain herself anymore?

Seeing his smile on his face—even if it seemed to be done more out of politeness than anything—brought a glowing smile to her own. Laughs! Grins! That’s what she was all about. It didn’t matter if Sydney had to make an idiot of herself to make it happen, being silly came naturally to her.

She briefly watched him swipe a stamp thingamajig out of her reach. Her gaze traveled upwards before darting to the side, mouth pulled back into a nervous grin. Oopsies.

“You don’t? Really? D’awww.” She jutted out her lip to form a dramatized pout while her shoulders languidly drooped. Sydney pursed her lips, twining her fingers behind her back. Rolling back and forth on her feet she answered in a saccharine voice, “Active game? What made you think that?”

Transitioning back into her usual lighthearted smile, she threw her hands down on the table, careful not to slam them loudly. “There are a lot of different games we can play in a library, don’t you worry! Like . . .” She paused, her eyes turning crossed as the wheel in her mind began to whir. Sydney looked like a child, her face contorted into pure concentration. Then her eyes lit up, her jaw opening wide into a matching gape. “I Spy! We could play that, right? Ri~ght?” She was incredibly eager now, other games prying free from her overactive mind. “Twenty Questions! Or maybe other kinds of games, like Hide and Seek! Charades! The sky’s the limit.”  

[Lithiasaur]

Tony watched her, glad there didn't seem to be any kind of rush at the front desk. Or, really, anyone. No one was checking out books at the moment, just leaving him to his pest/friend. He laughed and shook his head, listening to her pout.

Though she was trying to be quiet about it, he still jumped when she put her hands down on the table. It certainly drew his attention.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the boundless energy pouring off of you? Or something like that."

He looked at her, making sure there was no one that might possibly want to check out a book. Or come to his rescue? But after that first person there seemed to be no one around. He sighed. Perhaps they were all watching, enjoying themselves as Tony struggled. Whoever 'they' were. Vindictive mystery patrons.

He looked back at Sydney.

"Alright, then. How about hide and seek? This place is plenty big enough for that. And I have shelving and pick ups to do, anyway, so I might as well kill two birds with one stone."

He totally wasn't planning on making her go hide and then forgetting about her, either.  

[Syusaki]

She stuck her tongue out in retaliation. “If everyone was normal with normal energy, then everything would be normal and boring, duh!” Sydney stated matter-of-factly while crossing her arms.

As he stared at her, the red head reflected back a clueless face. What, was there a giant spider clinging to her face or something? Softly frowning, Sydney casually reached up to scratch her head. No, there wasn’t some creepy monster hanging off her head. Thank God for that. She leaned forward, cupping an ear with one of her hands. “What’s that? Do I hear a sigh? Are you implying that I’m bothersome? I’m heartbroken, Tony. Just heartbroken!” She jutted out her lower lip and used her free hand to create the gesture for crying.

She twirled around before bending her knees, waddling over to the counter and placing her chin on the desk, fingers tapping. “So am I to assume that I shall be doing the seeking while you hide-slash-shelf?” inquired Sydney, blinking and smiling eagerly. “But don’t think you can slack off in this game, because . . . because I’ll bite you if I see you’re not trying at all!” She uttered it with such conviction that it was perhaps better to at least put a bit of effort into the game.  

[Lithiasaur]

Tony blinked, then nodded slowly. He supposed he couldn't argue with that logic. Normal could be boring, but she said it like it was a bad thing, and he didn't think boring was all that terrible. Not in a library, at any rate, as it was rather expected. Why was he pondering this so much?

Looking tired already, the librarian watched her as she replied to his sigh.

"No, no. Not bothersome. Troublesome, perhaps, but there's a difference. I'm not bothered by the trouble you're causing. But it is trouble none the less. And somehow, I really don't think you're all that upset about it, fake cry as you will." He grinned at her, finding himself more amused than he would have liked to admit. It would only encourage her.

Drat, she had seen through his plan.

"Ah, alright, alright, I'll go 'hide', then- you're going to bite me? That... that doesn't sound very pleasant at all..." He sighed, "Okay, you hide under the desk and I'll go get my cart for shelving. Count to... ah... whatever number you want that isn't too fast. Then come find me?"

He as already moving to get his cart, not planning on putting too much effort into the game. Just enough to not get bitten.  

[Syusaki]

Well, being normal wasn’t necessarily bad. After all, in Sydney’s mind, if everyone was interesting then interesting would be common, and common is normal. So that would mean being interesting would be normal and interesting would be boring, which would mean that having more interesting people would be a paradox and utterly mind blowing as this explanation.

She frowned softly. It was disappointing to hear that she was being troublesome to the librarian, but not surprising either. There would always be times, more often than not, that Sydney’s behavior would cause trouble to others. She had known this for a while, yet there would always be that sullen flash in her eyes each time she heard it. It wasn’t like she let it get to her that much, though. The show must go on.

“Already saw through my acting, have you?” she said with a c**k of an eyebrow and a twist of her head. Devilishly grinning, she made a gun shape with her fingers and cupped her chin with it. “But since I’ve obviously seen through your plan—” Sydney’s eyes gleefully shined. “—I’ll consider this to be even.”

She happily slipped behind the counter—so this was what it looked like on the other side of the library desk!—and slid under the counter. Legs carelessly sprawled out, she tapped her feet together and stared up at Tony. “Just don’t shirk out of this game, okay~?” Sydney pointed a finger up at the librarian. “I’ll count to twenty, then.” Covering her eyes and angling her head down to stare at her knees, she slowly began to count. “One . . . two . . .”  

[Lithiasaur]

Tony looked at her sourly, but it was all feigned. He knew she was just teasing him, as much as he was trying to tease her. She was winning, though, that much was clear. She was getting him to play a game in the library, even though he had work to do. Thinking back on it, he wasn't quite sure how that had happened.

But it was too late to wonder about it now.

"Ah, you're not supposed to..." he sighed, stopping himself. What could would it be to tell her she wasn't supposed to be on this side of the counter? She wouldn't listen to him, he was sure. So he watched her as she went under the counter, tilting his head at her in wonder. She certainly had a lot of energy, but was he really surprised? She had been the same way when she caught him hotwiring that car.

Damn it.

"Alright," he said, nodding. He pushed his cart from behind the desk as she began to count, heading to the elevator and waiting for it. It dinged and opened around the time she was at 18. Not the greatest head start in the world. He was headed to the third floor, to shelve the cart, but he wasn't in any rush.

And, to his surprise, the idea of playing a silly game of hide and seek while trying to shelve was actually pretty entertaining.  

[Syusaki]

It wasn’t always that Sydney got what she wanted, and she swallowed those moments down. The years of being a spoiled, brash brat were long gone. Without a doubt she remained childish, but she knew when someone put their foot down and she wasn’t going to get her way. When she did get her way, though, Sydney took immense pleasure in it and pushed others to the very edge. Getting her way was fun, and she could only dream that it would always go her way.

She bit back a fox grin, hearing Tony’s half-finished words. Doing as she pleased on a whimsical notice—it made things more interesting, right? Quietly murmuring the ascending numbers to herself, Sydney heard the squeak of the book cart’s wheels as he rolled it away. The familiar ring of an elevator opening and closing made her grin even more. To an upper level, eh?

Her counting continued at a steady pace until she reached the last number. Giggling like a bubbly child, Sydney hopped over the counter and to the stairs. She had no clue which floor he had gone to, so she may as well start with the second floor.

Humming the theme of Mission Impossible to herself, she lurked around the second level, with no sight of Tony. “Huh. Time for the next floor!” she muttered and scrambled for the stairs.  

[Lithiasaur]

Tony wondered if she had started her search already as he rode the elevator up to the third floor. He found himself actually nervous that she would be waiting at the door when it slid open, and then she would make him go and find her or something. Not just because that would make it more difficult to work and play at the same time, but because it would have been a very quick and rather pathetic way for him to lose the game.

Lose the game? Why did he care? Did one actually win at hide and seek?

He wasn't sure: it had been a long time since he last played it, if he ever had. He was pretty sure the closest he had ever really come was 'hide from the cops while they seek me', which wasn't exactly the same thing. Though, admittedly, no less fun when they didn't find him.

He was getting mentally distracted.

The doors opened and he looked around carefully, but didn't see anyone. Sighing in relief, he pushed the cart out from the elevator and went to the aisle he needed to shelve in, picking up a few books. Instead of leaving the cart out in the main walkway like he usually did, he pulled it down into the shelves with him. Just in case she was looking around here and spotted it easily, giving him away.

He found himself shelving books very slowly, peering around constantly and keeping his ears open for Sydney. If she got too close and he could hear her, was it cheating to try and move and find a different place to hide? Either way, that was the plan.  

[Syusaki]

To speed up her search Sydney easily skipped multiple stair steps at a time, sweeping through the staircase as she ignored the curious glances of other people. What was she in a hurry for, they probably wondered. She was in a hurry to find the librarian during her game of hide-and-seek, apparently.

It had been a while since she had played this children’s game. She was hardly a little girl anymore after all (physically, anyways, emotionally was another thing altogether). However, the gist of the rules rang clear in Sydney’s mind. There wasn’t a winner per say, but there were certainly losers depending on the version they were playing. She wasn’t sure which variation of hide-and-seek she was playing at the moment, but Sydney thought it logical to conclude that it was the version that lacked a home base. Since, you know, she never discussed with Tony about having a home base.

Stretching over the last few steps, Sydney finally reached the third floor. When she looked around there were only a few strangers hiding within the aisles, but she always imagined libraries to be fairly desolate. Not that many people would willingly drive or walk to the library to read books after all, herself included.

For once Sydney remained silent as she prowled through the third floor, suddenly popping her head into one aisle, and when she found no sign of the librarian, would pout and hop over to the next row of books. This went on and on, her pout growing more and more annoyed when she coincidentally picked all the wrong aisles to look at.