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 Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 3:42 pm
Anthony Darrow was going about his daily chores in the library. Life might get complicated and things can get to life or death levels, but the library reminded him that things continued to turn. No matter what was going on in his life, individually, everyone else had their daily business.
The library still needed to be run. Books were returned and checked out. They needed to be shelved or ordered, replaced or found. Fines needed to be issued and paid. Everything as normal, no one aware of his trip to a dream world, and he not aware of the troubles they faced. They being the patrons, the other workers, the guests: everyone.
Sometimes thinking about how the world worked, how complicated simply existing was, made his head hurt.
He was in the back, the bell left at the front desk in case anyone needed help. He would hear it if it was rung, while he was busy trying to get some rough sorting done. It would help him when he needed to return the books to the shelves, to have them already vaguely sorted out by call numbers, if not in exact order. Once he put a cart together he would get each section sorted for shelving.
The order, the tedium, helped him focus on what needed to be done, and kept his mind off of other things.
His job helped keep him sane. He escaped into it, rather than the usual 'doing things to break up work' that other people might subscribe to. The grind kept him grounded, the duty kept him focused and sturdy. And it was something he had pride in, which helped with everything else. No matter how badly he got his butt handed to him by monsters and evil kids and dream worlds, he still had his library.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:21 pm
Yvette had time. Her Mommy worked, and her Daddy worked. Yvette worked too, but that only meant her afternoons were occupied. She no longer had to tend to High School, giving her several hours of free time. It had been so nice at first to be able to sleep in a bit, not needing to sit in various classes for 50+ minutes a day before a bell rang and she had to run off to the next class. However, the novelty was wearing out.
Today, Mommy had given Yvette a stack of books to return to the library. The girl simply nodded, tucking the books away in her bag. Aside from helping her mommy, the young adult also needed to go to the library to investigate the area where Azzo's puppet show was going to take place. She had several swatches of cloth and she needed to see if any of the colors just could not function with the surroundings.
After a rather normal ride on the bus, the girl seemed to trot into the library, stopping by the book drop to slide her mother's pile of books through the slot. She began to walk forward, casually sorting through the things in her bag. Azzo had lent her a copy of the story, given her a cast list complete with characters. She also had toted along those cloth swatches and a sketch pad. Her fingers easily found the sketch pad, the story, and the cast list. Her fingers also traced along the edges of the various swatches.
"...wait..."
Her feet slowed down. There had been many more swatches in her bag before. The dark-haired girl began to use both hands to try and sort through the contents of her bag, her fingers seeming to scramble in an effort to find what was missing. "I know I had all of you when I left home earlier!! Where did you go?!" Yvette tried her best to keep calm, but it was hard when half of your samplings just vanished into thin air. Her cheeks turned quite red. Soon enough she had sat herself on the ground and clearly was removing everything from her bag to try and find those darn swatches. And even after making what seemed like a mini mess towards the edge of the walkway, she still couldn't find what she was looking for. "Azzo is going to kill me..."
She could only think of two possibilities at this point.
1) She had left the swatches on the bus.
2) She had accidentally dropped the swatches into the book drop when dropping off Mommy's books.
Quickly, she attempted to put all of her things back in her bag (though now organization seemed to be taking a backseat for speed). When she finally scrounged everything back up, she stood up and wandered up to the Library's front desk. She looked almost like she was on the verge of tears, and in all honesty, she had to rub at her eyes to prevent that from actually happening. Taking a deep breath, Yvette rang the bell.
Please don't let him ask if anything is wrong, PLEASE don't let him ask if anything is wrong... Mr. Darrow was too nice, and even with all her silent wishing, she figured he'd probably ask what was wrong.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:33 pm
Dogby appeared to greet the newcomer, at least as far as she knew. The little Corgi puppy had been sitting behind the desk, as she was 'trained' to do, and she knew better than to go out beyond it. Knowing better and not doing it, however, were still two different things for the dog. She knew Tony would pick her up and put her back, but hey. Maybe she wanted to be picked up.
She yipped at the young woman at the book drop, wagging her stump of a tail and looking up with big, doughy eyes. She was like a walking stuffed animal that smelled vaguely of kibble.
"Dogby?"
Tony called from the backroom, hearing her light bark. She got into trouble quite a bit, and he didn't want her bothering any of the patrons with her overly happy search for new friends and to get pets. He put the books he had been holding back on the cart and started to make his way back to the counter in time to see Yvette ring the bell.
She looked upset, so, of course, Tony asked the first question that came into his mind as he drew closer to her.
"Yvette! Is anything wrong?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 1:44 pm
If maybe she had seen the little dog from where she was standing, she might have been prepared for the yipping sound. However, it caught her completely by surprise, and the girl almost leaped back 2 feet. By the time Mr. Darrow was wandering up to the desk, she was even more of a mess than she had been prior.
Placing a hand upon the edge of the desk, fingers just a few inches away from the bell, she attempted to steady herself as the question she dreaded came up. "...um... um..." Flustered, scared witless, and now a smidge embarrassed, small fingers rubbed at her eyes in an effort to make all the hints to her momentary emotions vanish. Her efforts weren't exactly very successful.
"um... w-well..." Yvette took a deep breath into her lungs before attempting to explain the situation.
It might have been nice if she took a breath between each word though.
"IwaswonderingifyoucouldlookinthebookdroptoseeifIaccidentallyputsomeofmyclothswatchesinthere,theylooklikethis..." With her free hand, she fumbled to pull out one of the few remaining swatches in her possession. She slid it onto the desk, eyes finding some sort of comfort in staring at the bell rather than looking the librarian in the eyes. He probably thought she was stupid or a bother.
"...I'm sorry..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:27 am
Dogby was oblivious to the fact that she had startled her new friend, wagging her tail and watching Yvette with big, round, dark eyes. She was excited and her tongue lulled out the side of her mouth, her head slightly canted to one side as she waited expectantly for love and attention.
And least a light pat on the head? Anything?
She was patient. She'd wait.
Tony smiled as he leaned on his cane rather heavily. He was still recovering from a rather severe beating he had received in a dream, which, considering he did not want to be considered crazy by anyone who hadn't experienced that world, was not the story he shared with others. He watched her, noting how nervous she seemed, but reminding himself that this was simply who she always was. He hadn't seen her in some time, and it was good to see that the dangers of Destiny City hadn't gotten to her, at least.
She was all in one piece, and seemed the same as ever. Uncomfortable, quiet, very nervous and like she had been or would be crying soon. He had to lean forward and focus hard when the words started spilling out of her mouth all together and he frowned in thought.
"You... wait. Can we... go back? I mean. Do that again. I uh... I didn't understand... some of that..." he cleared his throat, moving over to the book drop as she indicated to it, knowing she had at least said that familiar word. She had dropped... clothes in there? What was she doing carrying clothes and books together? What kind of clothes had she said? He imagined swatchesin was some kind of fancy girl thing he knew nothing about.
Then she showed him the swatches and he nodded with sudden understanding.
"Oh! Yes, of course! Let me look." He smiled brightly at her, trying to relieve her anxiety. Dogby, having waited long enough and exhausted her wealth of doggy patience, moved over to Yvette and stretched herself up to lick at the girl's hands, whining eagerly.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:39 pm
Oh how red her cheeks turned when he asked for her to repeat herself. Her fingers pressed harder against the swatch she was holding to his desk. Rather than actually do as he requested in repeating herself, her lips pursed up and her voice simply evaporated. And now she was standing there like a useless lump on a log.
She probably would have been stuck like that for a while if it weren't for the sudden blur that came into her field of vision as she stared downward. Her eyes blinked, and for a moment, she stepped away from the desk so she could get a better look at what had just found its way into her vision.
It was a dog. Not a very big dog (like Chief), but still a dog. Like with many people, she momentarily forgot the logical Does the library even allow animals in here question, and instead knelt down. She cautiously, ever so carefully offered her hand. This doggy didn't seem to be nearly as shy as Chief had first been when she met him, but she didn't want to startle it (him? her?).
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:52 pm
Tony watched her, tilting his head to the side in wonder. The poor thing looked so horrified, and he wondered how she managed to get through each day, as upset as she always was whenever he saw her. But he smiled warmly, reassuring as ever, as if to support her through this trying time of embarrassment.
He was sure she could manage.
The little corgi, meanwhile, was very interested in meeting this new best friend. She yipped eagerly, backside wagging furiously in her over zealous happiness. She licked the hand that was offered to her, straining up onto her back paws in her efforts to nudge her hand and get her to pet.
Tony looked over the counter when he heard Dogby whining, smiling.
"I'm sorry about that. Her name is Dogby, and she's, ah... very friendly. Usually she stays behind the desk, but she must have wanted to say hi. It's okay, she's not dangerous at all. I don't think she knows how to bite or growl."
He pulled out some bits of fabric from the book drop, offering them to her after a moment.
"Is this what you mean? Are there more?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:02 am
Her lips seemed to twitch a couple times before they finally formed a gentle smile. After receiving a few puppy kisses to her fingers and knuckles, she used the same hand to scratch behind the dog's large ears. "Who's a cutie?... you are!" Ah canines, getting people to talk like doofs as if it was completely normal.
As Mr. Darrow spoke, her eyes darted up to him, but went back to the dog. "Um... oh... Dogby? That's a cute name! H-how did you come up with it?" Her fingers momentarily wrapped about the pup's ear and gently seemed to ruffle it about. It wasn't until she managed to catch a hint of pink out of the corner of her eye that her eyes went back to the librarian.
"Oh, that's them!" Most likely to Dogby's disappointment, Yvette's attention completely abandoned the canine, releasing the ear and straightening up again so she could take a better look.
"I dropped a lot more in there I think... I'm sorry..."
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:58 am
Tony smiled at the question, shaking his head.
"I added 'by' to the end of 'dog'," he said honestly. He wasn't much for names. His hamster had been named Booder, and only after he had started calling the nameless hamster that on instinct whenever it did something cute. Dogby had been easier to name, in a way, as she hadn't had to go a few days without one. And he essentially just named her dog.
She didn't seem to mind.
Dogby very much liked the petting she was getting, and was always a fan of more attention. She licked at Yvette's hands some more, though it was difficult because the hand she was targeting was also the one scratching her ear. She waggled her tail furiously, only to find herself all alone on the floor soon enough. In the best version of a dog pout she could muster, Dogby laid down on Yvette's foot in a profound effort to be noticed again.
"Oh, it's no problem," Tony said, looking perplexed. He wasn't sure what she was using them for, but it didn't matter. Now he knew what he was looking for. "Uh, here," he said, offering her the swatches he had found before returning his attention to the bookdrop. He dug around and found some more of the pieces of cloth, straightening up to bang his head on the top of the box.
"Ow," he said pointedly, before clearing the box and offering what he had found once again to Yvette with a sheepish smile.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:40 pm
Now that swatches were getting pulled out of the book drop and onto the counter, Yvette did her best to pick them up and organize them in her hands. Apparently, the dark-haired girl had them in some sort of particular order and felt it was necessary to fuss with them to get the swatches back in proper order. Yet the sudden sound of the librarian's head colliding with the box caused her to jump slightly.
"A-are you okay? I'm s-sorry!!" She leaned forward, momentarily forgetting about the rest of the swatches so she could give Mr. Darrow a concerned look. A concerned look that was riddled with guilt. Oh, if she had never asked him to find her swatches, he wouldn't have bumped his head. The lump of warm fur on her foot was ignored. It just seemed all Yvette needed was some sort of reassurance that Mr. Darrow hadn't broken his brain with that simple bump.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 1:41 pm
Tony rubbed his head and laughed quickly, knowing Yvette would blame herself as soon as she saw he had hit his head. And, on cue, she apologized for it. Something that was not her fault in anyway.
He often hit his head when he was reaching for the last, lone book at the bottom of the return box. It was supposed to be on coils, which raised up or lowered depending on the weight and number of books in the bin, but those coils had long since stopped uncoiling. It was stuck at its lowest point, and had been for a while now. He was still not used to it, though.
"Oh, it's fine. I'm fine. I think my head is resistant to bumps these days," he said with a grin and a wink. Poor Yvette was very much like he could get, sometimes. Overly worried and a bit too eager to apologize for things she took the blame of too quickly.
"I think that's all of them, though. Can you tell if you're missing any?" he asked, deftly switching the topic back to the matter at hand. He even brought his hand down from the bump forming on his head, so he didn't keep drawing her attention. He smiled at her, then heard Dogby whimpering and called for her. She shuffled back behind the desk to sit on his foot now.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:26 pm
"A-are you sure?" The wink seemed to put much more ease into the girl, as she once more took to looking over the swatches. With three fingers extended, she began to point to various swatches, three at a time, and without words, seemed to count in her head. She shuffled to count what was in her hands as well, pinching groups of three, then peered into her purse to repeat the same procedure.
When she had finished counting, she chirped out "I... I think that is all of them..." Now, she went back to reorganizing all of the swatches, now adding the swatches from the counter into the stack at hand. As she seemed to shuffle through the small pieces of cloth, she decided to ask "Um... can I ask you for one more favor, Mr. Darrow... I... I promise you won't bump your head this time..."
Well, she hoped that her statement would hold true.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:57 pm
Tony nodded again, just to reassure, then watched as she started to count the swatches. He had to wonder what she needed so many for. It seemed very important to her, considering how upset she had been about losing them in the book drop.
He smiled when she confirmed that she had them. If she was lying just to placate him, and not be any more trouble, he didn't know, though she wasn't sniffling as she said it so maybe that meant the crisis had been averted for now. He really wished she wouldn't be so hard on herself, as he liked to see her happy.
"Well that's good," he said, smiling as ever. He returned a book to the book drop, having moved it out of the way to get to the pieces of cloth. When she spoke he paused, though, wondering if she needed something else from the box.
"Of course, anything," he said easily, tilting his head in wonder. He was sure his head would survive it, whether he bumped it again or not.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:10 pm
Finishing up with the last swatch and setting it with her stack, she tucked it away safely in her purse. It seemed she didn't need them right at that exact moment. With her small smile, she asked quite politely "I was wondering if you could show me where the puppet show Azzo is working on will be taking place, please?"
For a moment, she glanced around the desk, as if to relocate the puppy. Certainly Dogby wasn't allowed to come along, was she? She didn't say it, but the way she glanced at the corgi seemed to ask Can Dogby come along? Shaking the thought away, she straightened up and looked to the librarian.
"If you are busy... I guess I can try to find it myself..." After all, being in charge of the library must have been super crazy at times. Mr. Darrow probably had lots of other things he should have been doing.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:33 pm
Tony looked surprised.
"Oh, yes, of course!" He smiled, "you're going to help him with it? It seems like it's going to be an interesting little event, as far as I can tell. Ah," He looked down at the dog sprawled across his foot. He nudged her carefully and she rolled off, laying on her back and looking up at him in wonder. She was in the perfect position for tummy rubs now.
He did not give her any, however.
"I'm not busy," he said, glancing to make sure there was no one in the line. There wasn't, so he was fine. He walked around the counter and Dogby hurried to follow him. For now, Tony didn't seem to mind the corgi at his heels. She was getting more used to following him around, and he was allowing her off her leash and outside the desk more, as long as she didn't run off or cause any trouble.
Which she sometimes still did.
"It'll be over here, in the children's section," he said, leading the way. The children's area was on the first floor with them, and was partially separated from the rest of the library. There were sitting areas and some few toys, for reading and active story telling, as well as bright colors and child made decorations.
He motioned to where the puppet show would be set up.
"We'll have it here."
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