[R] Library Sweet (Paul & Elegancia)

[shibrogane]

The NDC Public Library was selling off its books.

Not all of them, of course, definitely not every single tome on the shelves. Just the old, out-of-date, delightfully musty ones: Second-edition copies of From The Earth To The Moon, large tomes on human anatomy, three tables of old romance novels that seemed pristine. Everything was well-kept; the Northern Destiny City Public Library was much less traversed than its Central counterpart, but Paul had always liked this one better. It was smaller, more personal, and besides that he had a cousin who worked here.

Additionally, this one had sheet music.

Piano sheet music.

And they were selling everything they had from that section.

Paul was about to quietly have a heart attack and die, just so this perfect moment would never end. His smile was tiny, but of the variety that one would have to have sandblasted off his face. And his distraction was such that he didn't notice the stack of music he did not want was blocking part of the table of romance novels--essentially everything newer the library no longer needed.

Highly inconvenient.  

[thefancycakes]

Nobody would expect to find such a lovely young lady like Elegancia in the dusty walls of the NDC Library-- nobody at all.

It was for this exact reason why she decided to make an appearance at the quaint little establishment. For, you see, Elegancia had a thing for harlequin romances, the kind with the half-naked men on the cover (this was her favorite part, but she wouldn't allow herself to admit it-- not even to herself), and she just knew that she could find many titles that would strike her fancy there.

Unfortunately, she did not want to be seen. This was easily remedied, however, by large sunglasses and a heavy trenchcoat. Little did Miss d'Strella know that she probably stood out even more, but who cared, it made her feel better on the inside, a false sense of being hidden from the public's eye.

Elegancia's mouth almost watered as she ravenously teared through every novel the Library had to offer.

A Steamy Sermon in Sri Lanka-- read it.
The Princess and the Knight with a Big Sword-- she owned a copy already!!
A Prince and his Pe-- okay, that didn't even seem like an appropriate novel for her to purchase, she didn't even have to read the whole title. She blushed and promptly piled four books over this one. Elegancia wondered why the library carried a title that overtly had such explicit words on the cover.

After several minutes of searching for the perfect book to read, Elegancia ended up with about twelve new novels. They were heavy, but the brunette somehow managed to carry them around.

Then she bumped into a rather handsome young man, and her books tumbled to the floor, to which she exclaimed, "could you be anymore rude and inconsiderate?!" She scrambled to retrieve the books as quick as she could, and hoped that the young man didn't see any of the titles she had selected.

Or her face, for that matter.  

[shibrogane]

There were folders and folders of music. Not just boring tunes like Bach and Beethoven--he could respect those two for what they were, bases to be built to more beautiful and wonderful things, but they weren't his favorite. But because they were liquidating their stock, he found the piano arrangements to the Phantom of the Opera, to Les Miserables, and was that--it was--

And then someone ran into him, and that just ruined his whole entire mood.

It wasn't that he was particularly unreasonable, or that his mood was really ruined, it was just, he hadn't even been doing anything. It seemed incredibly unjust to be accused of deliberately running into someone when he had simply been standing in place. For a moment, it seemed like a wonderful idea to leave the girl where she was. Surely she could handle it, and didn't require assistance from someone as rude and inconsiderate as he... except he was a kind man, usually, considerate too. So he sighed under his breath, then knelt to pick up the books she hadn't yet gotten to.

"Do you need help carrying these to the circulation desk," he asked, politely, "I can assist, if you need it."  

[thefancycakes]

In a somewhat flustered state, Elegancia looked at the handsome boy in his face, and then looked away. "Perhaps you aren't so rude and inconsiderate," she told him, "I apologize for jumping to conclusions." Her cheeks turned red as he helped to gather the books, and not being one to turn down free help, she piled the remainder of the novels into his hands (face-down, so as to not let him see what garbage she read).

"Anyways, I am El--" she cut herself off awkwardly, thought for a moment, then continued, "I am Ellen Gracia, and what do you call yourself?" Elegancia adjusted her sunglasses and then flipped an ultraglossy lock of hair behind her shoulders. Hopefully he would not recognize her from a high-profile area of Destiny City.  

[shibrogane]

Luckily (or unluckily?) for Ellen Gracia, Paul didn't seem to recognize her at all. He had attended Meadowview and largely wasn't so social; so while perhaps his mother would have known her face, he didn't. Her retraction of the irritated outcry--he realized--hoped--now that it had been more of frustration than of actual meaning--was met with a smile as he shifted her books to one arm, and then his folders of sheet music to the other arm. Separated that way, so he could pay for his and she for hers.

"My name is Paul Wyndham," he said, and when he was speaking at an approachable volume his accent could be heard very well; it was either British or Canadian, leaning very heavily towards the Canadian side of the equation. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss. I wish it were under better circumstances. What brings you here? The book sale?"  

[thefancycakes]

Elegancia listened intently as the boy spoke-- he sounded so... So exotic and sophisticated! She appreciated accents of all sorts, especially since she had traveled so much as a child.

At any rate, when Paul had finished speaking, Elegancia brought herself out of thought and continued the conversation. "Oh, no, the pleasure is mine, Paul Wyndham-- is there something you would prefer to be called?"

She mulled over his question. Elegancia was there for the romantic novels, of course, but she couldn't let him know that. She'd die! "Oh, I am here for... I am birthday shopping, yes, from the sale. I have a cousin who loves books. She loves to read! Yes, that is why I am here today-- and how about yourself? Why are you here?"  

[shibrogane]

"Paul is fine," and why wouldn't it be? He couldn't ask her to call him Spinel, and it had always seemed weird to be Wyndham. That had always been his father, and two years of the man being absent hadn't broken him of that feeling. Additionally, Mother had always told him that it was best to be casual with your peers, unless they were your boss in some situation. Miss Ellen Garcia was not his boss, ergo it was proper for each other to use first names.

She seemed, he thought, oddly defensive. And yes, the covers of the books he'd picked up had seemed... questionable... but no more questionable than the books his own mother read.

Well, it didn't matter; if she was discomfited, he'd play along. "Is that so? I'm sure she'll be very pleased, a round dozen books will keep anyone busy for a few months at least, shouldn't it?" Then he shrugged, continued: "They're selling the entire stock of sheet music, since the central branch already has most of it and it was recently decided that only the central branch would have actual music sheets."

He held up the folders, smiling a bit sheepishly. "I may have gone overboard."  

[thefancycakes]

"Yes, of course she'll be pleased, how could she not be?" Elegancia smiled nervously and then changed the subject along with Paul.

"Oh, how nice! Are you a musician? What instruments can you play, and since when?" She may have sounded nervous, most likely did, because she hoped that her questioning (about something he enjoyed) would shake his mind from the awful romance novels. "Yes, I appreciate good music myself, but only to dance along with-- I am no musician!"

The two had finally made it to the check-out desk, and as Paul placed 'her cousin's' novels on the counter and slided them over, Elegancia turned red and immediately put her hand over The Lusty Lumberjack.

"I'll let you pay for your things first, for helping me," she told Paul.  

[shibrogane]

Well, if she didn't like romance novels, thought Paul, that might cause a problem. But he did believe that, with such a volume of literature, she would find something she liked--if it really wasn't Ellen who was going to be the final recipient of the books.

"I play the piano, and only that, unfortunately. Since I was very small... five or six, perhaps. Perhaps you should try playing music, it's... relaxing." He laughed, a little, white teeth flashing in a crooked smile. Music was relaxing to him, among the most relaxing things he did; right up there with tai chi, anyway. Well, she probably wasn't interested. "Perhaps I could play for you sometime," he proposed, even as he set his folders down.

The idea that a gentleman wouldn't let a lady go first was somewhat appalling. "I insist," he said, gesturing to the librarian, who looked a bit bemused. "My purchases are significantly lighter than yours, and I am a gentleman, miss."