[R] Deep in the Stacks [Ever x Ainsley]

[and be blue]

He should probably have been working.

There was a cart of books at his elbow; Ever was theoretically working his way through the stacks to put them back where they belonged, organized neatly by number, shifting the shelves around to make room if there wasn't any. He was supposed to keep an eye peeled for out of place items, and probably also to patrol in case anyone was doing anything unseemly between the tall walls of books.

Instead he was reading.

Open across his knees was the complete Alice in Wonderland series in hardcover form. He'd never actually read these, but he'd spotted the spine among the rest of the books he was supposed to put away and it had caught his attention. That had been about twenty-five minutes ago, and he was a good chunk into the first book. Far enough in that Tony could easily have come out and found him, if he'd felt up to it, without Ever hearing a single sound of his approach.  

[Appeal]

It was no surprise but Ainsley was at the library again. It was another day, another trip to the library and another book for Ainsley to read. This time though there was no Dogby, and this disappointed the child a little. That little puppy was one of the many things that made her trips to the library so special. That and the books, and the reading. It couldn't be replaced, only added onto with wonderful bonus features. So the child was alone with her bunny plus dangling in her arms as she searched for a book. However, no matter how much she had wanted to the child hadn't been able to find a book yet. She couldn't find the Librarian Mr. Darrow anywhere to help her either.

She was about to give up when she seen a book! It was a on top of the book cart though and the child slowly made her way over. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to reach it, but she tried. She couldn't see the cover, or even the title but the book was Alice in Wonderland. She didn't see anyone on the other side of cart, or that they were currently reading it. No, instead, her little hands reached up and tried to grab the book off the cart. Success! She had reach it... but she couldn't pull it down. It was like it was glued to the top of the cart?

"Oh no, Octavian Oswald, it won't budge," she said to the bunny that accompanied her. "You get it for me," was all she said when she plopped the bunny up onto the book cart and on top of the book that she was trying to get and that Ever was trying to read.

 

[and be blue]

Rather, the book he'd been trying to read; at this point, instead, he was staring over it at the small girl on the other side of his cart, an eyebrow raised and his head tipped together. Ever'd dealt enough with Younger Sister over the years to recognize the statement for what it was: rambling to the bunny, not actually intended for him.

As the little girl tugged, he gripped harder on the book and leaned forward a little, elbow on a stack and posture relaxed, choosing his words before he started to talk. "Sorry, bunny, this one's taken."  

[Appeal]

The small child hadn't seen the man on the other side of the cart, so when she heard the voice speak to her bunny she ended up jumping backwards, pulling the bunny off the book in the process. She took a moment to take in the idea that there was a man behind the book cart and before she tiptoped back over. Her hands on the edge of the book cart she lifted herself up so she was on the tip of her toes and could see the man behind the cart, as well as the book that had interested her.

She looked at him, then to her bunny plush Octavian Oswald who had ended up just over the edge of the book cart before she looked at the book. What did he mean the book was taken. It was sitting on the book return cart. The librarian Mr. Darrow had told her that the books on this cart were free books, books that he would put back on the shelf when he had time.

"But... it's on the cart."

 

[and be blue]

"So am I." He was, kind of: an elbow on a stack of books which were in turn on the stack. Ever grinned down at her, spreading a hand in something like agreement, eyes only flashing up over her head once to make sure that Tony wasn't coming, nor was anyone else, to give him a hard time....

"Seems a bit intense for you anyways." Most people would have looked at the movie and acknowledged that it could be toned down to a kids' story. All Ever could think of was the caucus race, the political aspects, and the heavy spike of drug use. "Maybe the bunny'd rather another one?"  

[Appeal]

By this logic, did that mean Ainsley could read this new man? He was on the cart, after all. She wasn't sure how to read a man though, she couldn't just open him up and look inside. She thought about this a little longer than she probably should have, but eventually her mind settled on not being able to find the answer. She'd never seen the movie though, and all she knew about the title "Alice in Wonderland" was that there was a bunny in it. It was enough to perk the child's interest in reading the book.

"But he wants to read this one. It has a bunny in it."

Simple logic. She peered up at him, trying to get a better look at the man with the messy, snow white hair. She'd never seen him here before, and he was standing where the librarian Mr. Darrow had usually been found if he wasn't at the front desk: with the book cart. She tilted her head at him, did he work here? She found herself looking for a name tag that would say so on it.

"You work here?" She half-asked, half assumed in a simple and clear fashion.

 

[and be blue]

"...an interesting question." Amusing; strange child. Ever folded his finger into the heart of the book and levered himself up to stand, drawing it easily out of the little girl's reach. He was tall, and once it was eased in under his arm, she'd have to jump for it. Not quite bullying.

"Tony hired me." He just...well...didn't really work a whole lot. But that was alright. His eyes scanned the stacks, hunting for something maybe, trying to remember the layout of the place. He didn't enter the children's section near often enough, but after a moment he remembered where it was.

Starting in that direction, he raised his eyebrows at her, obviously expecting her to follow. "I have a better book for you. With bunnies. Well, hares...."  

[Appeal]

Ainsley didn't know why it was an interesting question. It seemed pretty straightforward. She thought about that as she stared at him as he moved the book out of her reach, just under his arm. He was tall, and the child tried to reach up for the book in a vain attempt to reach it. If he worked here, why wouldn't he get her the book? Why would he keep it out of her reach, wasn't he supposed to help her? She shook her head as she tried to go up on her tippy-toes to reach it.

She failed.

That's when he told her he had another book, a better book. It had bunnies! She chippered back up, and followed the new librarian. She was excited at the thought of a new book, one with multiple bunnies... but her thoughts still lingered on that book he had out of her reach. It certainly wasn't proper to jump inside of the library, or take the book from him, but the child couldn't help but wonder why she couldn't have that book.

"I like bunnies, but what's wrong with the book there?" she asked, pointing up to the book under his arm that was just out of her reach.

 

[and be blue]

Ever flicked a look down at her, stretching his legs out just a little to hop out of her reach -- and then slowing down again. He had a little sister. He remembered when she was nine or ten and he well into puberty, shooting up. Remembered holding things over her head, teasing...this actually made him miss her just a little.

"Mmm. It's not really about bunnies." Too much head-chopping-off, in his opinion. Too much English politics. Too much drug use, yes. Ever shook his head just a little. "What kinds of books do you usually read?"  

[Appeal]

Ainsley had decided: this person was definitely too tall! If only he was shorter, then she would be able to reach the book he had and then they could all enjoy it as she read it out loud! However, her plot to attain the book from him was short, just like her. Instead her attention was drawn to his statement about the fact the book was not about bunnies. How could this be? It had a bunny in it! Her head rattled on the subject for a moment as she wished she were taller.

What kind of books did she normally read? Well that was an easy answer, one she was more than happy to announce, "Princesses, princes and knightly rescues!"

 

[and be blue]

"That's not very specific." He hesitated for a moment, blinking down at her and trying to decide if he'd been wrong about her age. He was leading toward young adult: should Ever be taking her into the children's section, instead? But no, he recognized her shape, her height, the flip of her nose, and very much remembered his sister at this age. And she had definitely disdained any sort of book with pictures in it.

"...have you read the Secret Garden?" He crept back into motion, sliding past a waist-high shelf to go poking through a list of authors. H...I...he tugged on the spine of a book to pull it out of the shelf: the cover richly colored with a sword-wielding mouse peeping out of heavy branches. Redwall. "Never read that one myself, but Renee liked it."  

[Appeal]

The child shook her head when he asked if she had ever read The Secret Garden. She hadn't ever read the book, nor did she know much about it other than what it was called. She could guess it probably had something to do with a garden, a secret one. However, the child had learned that sometimes a book title can be deceiving. Sometimes a book doesn't have anything to do with what you first think of when you read the title.

"I have not read it, is it a good book?"

 

[and be blue]

"My sister liked it." It was absent, distracted, his head tipped as he pulled the book out of the shelf and turned, slowly, to blink down at the girl. Ever was fairly serious now: this was important to him, naturally, moreso than shelving books or anything else. He considered her face for a moment, the bunny she clutched against her side, her choice of dress...

"...but she didn't read it all by herself, I don't think. Here, try this." He held the book out, finally, well into her grasp. Not bunnies, but mice, and he couldn't remember if the hares appeared in this one or not...  

[Appeal]

The child had been contemplating the Secret Garden and just what was hidden in its depths when suddenly there was a book well within her grasp and mistaking it for the book she had been fancying, she grabbed it excitedly. It took a moment for her to realize after she had it that it wasn't that book she thought it was and was quite surprised to see a mouse with a sword on the cover. Although the book was Redwall and not Alice in Wonderland, the book she had been direly trying to get from him, her thoughts on it seemed to all but disappear as a small 'awe' slipped from her lips as she admired the cover.

"There's a mouse with a sword!" She found herself announcing to him, showing him the cover, as if he hadn't seen it when he handed it to her. She smiled as she did it, and it seemed the book brought the child memories of other fighting animals, immediately spiking her interest in the book further.

 

[and be blue]

"He's a warrior, so naturally." And Ever's tone of voice really did make it out to be the most natural thing in the world: warrior mice needed swords. It made sense. If they didn't have swords they wouldn't be warriors, and if they weren't warriors they wouldn't have swords. He spread his hand, smile crooked as he considered her.

"It's, ah. It's fantasy. Medieval." Hopefully she knew what that meant. In the meanwhile, he tucked Alice in Wonderland back into the crook of his arm. "Fighting and protecting the abbey and all that. I don't remember the plot of this one exactly, but there's something like twenty of these books..."