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 Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:42 pm
The summer vacation had just started and with it Ainsley had finished the novel that she had borrowed. Redwall was an interesting book to say the least, full of twists and turns that had enticed the child to continue reading. She wasn't just reading a book about rodents with swords, but a book about the life and daily struggles of the world. She was most interested in reading the next part of the adventure, and she knew that she should return the book as soon as possible since she was going to camp this week. She certainly didn't want to be the one who stopped another person from reading the book, and this way she could get the next one too!
She had to find him though. She had to find the employee who had originally found the book for her. He said he would get her the next one and at the same time she could return the book to him! How hard could it be to find the white-haired man in the library? Well, when the person probably avoided working and hid in the walls of books, it was a little more difficult than expected. She looked around the library for awhile and she still hadn't found him. The thought never occurred to the child that maybe he wasn't working today. He had to be here somewhere!
"Mr. Aliceeeeeee~" she called out loud, not having actually learned Ever's name. She just remembered the name of the book he had taken from her before he'd given her Redwall, so he'd be Mr. Alice for now. It was a cute name! That was when she seen someone with white hair go by, and then as she held the book carefully under her arm to protect it from harm she moved as quickly as she could, while still following library rules, over towards them hoping to find him.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:42 am
His name was not -- and, in fact, would never be -- "Mr. Alice". It wasn't that Ever specifically minded being called that, or called something other than his name in general, but it didn't register. It didn't cut through the fog of his thoughts as he pushed the cart around a corner, in one of his rare moments of actually putting things away.
Twenty minutes of this, he thought, and then he'd go back to his book. Not smut this time but cryptology, a heavy book that would hopefully make him better at breaking codes and figuring out patterns, so that he could finally work his way through the rest of Zac's notebook. With enough time, he was sure he could pull it off. He just wanted results now.
Ainsley would catch up to him with a book in one hand and scarred fingertips scanning the spines on the shelf, trying to locate its home. Her high-pitched call would break through only when she was a foot or two away, making Ever blink and shift, turning dark eyes down on her. It was a moment before he recognized her, and when he did, one eyebrow raised.
"Ms. Bunny." An acknowledgment. He could play along.
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Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:11 pm
Ms. Bunny was more than suitable for Ainsley to be addressed as, especially today. She had decided to wear her hooded bunny dress today, bright in red with white lace and matching red shoes. She didn't wear the hood up in the library so her braids held up with red bows were visable but the ears on the hood might not have been very noticeable to suggest it was a bunny dress and not just a red dress. She seemed pleased either way, greeting him with a smile.
"I found you!" She said with a mild glee as she as held out the Redwall book. "Look! Look! I finished it!"
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:05 am
If she'd picked another time, he might have been frustrated by the interruption, but -- well, when he was actually working, Ever was grateful for a distraction. Especially one he couldn't get in trouble for turning to face, reaching out absently to pluck the book from her fingers, expression solemn as he looked down at her.
"I take it you didn't enjoy it at all." There was a glimmer of amusement behind his eyes. His tone was serious and teasing at the same time as he flipped the book open to page through the listing, to rummage up memory of which book came next.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:14 am
The book slipped from her fingers and she looked at his face, a troubled expression finding itself on her own as she missed the teasing in the serious tone as he suggested she didn't enjoy the book. Immediately she objected, her hands going up into the air as she did so as if she had to stop him from something.
"No! I did enjoy it!" She corrected him happily, unaware of his teasing. She couldn't help but soon have a smile finding her lips as she thought about all the animals in the book. She could certainly relate well to Matthias, dreaming of more than what the current situation cared to offer her and having to fight to protect their way of life. Most of the message in the story was overlooked in lieu of simplifying it to a story of mice and adventure. Cute mice.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:32 am
"Hmm, well, if you're sure. You want the next one?" He looked up at her again, torn between chagrin and amusement at the serious tone of voice and the earnest expression on her face. Was it cruel to tease, if she didn't understand the joke? Hopefully not, because he couldn't help himself.
Instead of waiting for an answer out of her, Ever abandoned the book he'd been trying to put away in his cart and beckoned her down the aisle of books, back toward the young adult section. She was here; she'd read the book; she liked it. Of course she wanted the next one. She could hardly give up on the thread of story.
"None of the words were too big or anything? I was hoping it was about right.."
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:48 am
"I want the next one!" She replied as the man had already begun walking down the aisle and away from her. He didn't go too fast for her though and the child was able to quickly catch up to him as he headed towards the young adult section, keyword on the young. Young adult, or tiny human, was an excellent selection of words to describe Ainsley it seemed.
She looked to him with a small huff, and shook her head in reply to his question. For Ainsley her reading level was probably quite a bit higher than most children in her age bracket, given her history and how often she was in library to read books. Although she really enjoyed books about princesses and princes, knights and their trusty steads, it wasn't because she couldn't read other books. In fact, there were some rather detailed books about fairytales.
"It was perfect," she smiled.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:54 am
Ever'd been a bit ahead of his time too, at his age; wrapped up in fantastical stories instead of sports like his brothers. Redwall had something like Christian values -- enough so, at least, that it had managed to get past the brick wall of his father's scrutiny. When he'd gone to the library looking for something similar, though, other books had been turned down with a scowl. Too much magic presented in a positive light; mild cursing littering the pages; homosexual undertones.
He quietly hoped Ainsley didn't have the same kind of restrictions, and made a mental note to pick up on all the heretical books his father had denied him.
In the young adult section, he flicked a look in her direction and forced a smile, fingers walking along the books until he pulled out the second in the series.
"Goodness, whoever puts these away doesn't do a very good job, they're all out of order..." His tone was dry again. He was, after all, the one who'd put them there.
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:59 pm
Ainsley didn't have strict rules on what she could and couldn't read. In fact, she wasn't aware of any rules ever being enforced on what she could read. No rules was certainly a good thing, allowing her to expand her knowledge to the best of her ability and enjoy herself greatly while doing so. She liked to do what she liked and she liked to do it when she wanted to do it.
Her eyes followed Ever's carefully as he looked at her, fingers tracing the books until he finally pulled one out. She was excited to read the next book, but as he stood there with he book in his hand making a comment about the order of the books. "Perhaps we should order them!" She suggested to him while giggling.
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:01 am
"If you want to do that..." Well, he wasn't going to say 'no' to some free child labor, that was for sure. But Ever paused to scan the books again, to find the third in the series. She could take out more than one book at a time, and this way if she finished the one she would have the other on backup without having to come around here.
"I guess these don't get taken out that much." It was almost mournful, as he looked over the condition of the books. Once upon a time, they'd probably been well loved; in more recent years, fallen out of favor. He could sympathize with that, for some reason, and this all left him with the urge to reread them.
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 1:53 am
The child had invaded her way into Ever's space near the books, looking at them intently. She would order them, but she had no idea which order they were in! They didn't have a numbered order on them or anything like that, just different names! So instead she just stared at them and listened to Ever speak, once and awhile her fingers pulling on the end of the book so she could slide it out and look at the picture that was painted on their covers.
"Don't people like them anymore?" She made a small frown as she thought about it. How could no one like them?
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:13 am
"Mmm, I think Harry Potter's eaten into their niche a little bit." And Twilight, too, but Ever hadn't quite gotten a grasp on that one yet. Eventually, someone might push him to read it, but until then he could live in the bliss of ignorance. Ever shrugged, starting to hold the books out toward Ainsley to take, and then hesitated. Maybe he'd just hold onto them instead.
"You want to go check these out? I could probably help you out with that..." And it'd give him more opportunity not to dive back into work. Why not.
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 3:27 pm
Harry Potter? Ainsley had sort of missed the window for reading those books when they came out, but she's heard the name many times as they referred to the upcoming movies as they debuted and were released. Perhaps after she'd gotten through the Redwall series, she'd think of reading Harry Potter, if Mr. Alice advised it.
"Is Harry Potter a good series?" She asked him as she accepted the two books from Ever into her hand, pulling them against her chest securely as she nodded to his last question. She would love to check these out! She could take them to camp and have something to read while she was there too. To be clear about it, she looked up at him with a smile and said, "I would very much like to check these out."
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 8:09 pm
"Mmm, two should serve you, I think. For now, at least." He held onto the third book -- already finished -- as he stepped around her and out of the aisle, both eyebrows raised. Ever crooked one finger for her to follow, still smiling crookedly as he started in the direction of the front desk. Tony was probably there, he could probably take care of this, but...well, maybe Tony'd see it as a good thing that Ever was giving the girl some extra help.
"As for Harry potter...ah." He made a wobbling so-so gesture, not quite sure what to say in response to that. She was young, a bit. "Um. I enjoyed them. They were pretty quick for me, but some of the, um, the later ones get...I'm not sure how you'd feel about them."
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 8:44 pm
The child was more than happy to follow Ever wherever it was he was taking her. He was also so helpful in helping her find books, even ones she wasn't looking for! From the looks of it, as they passed through the aisle, Ever was leading her up towards the front of the library and doing so had given the child an interested expression as her eyes looked around them. She hadn't expected him to take her up to check them out and she soon found a tiny smile on her lips and she hugged the books to her chest.
"Redwall was a good..." she thought hard on a good word to use and after a moment she finished with, "recommendation." It was a big word of five syllables but the child had been practicing it. It seemed regardless of that, the child's pronunciation still stumbled slightly as she said it. Surely any other books he decided to recommend would be as well. "If you enjoyed Harry Potter than I should too!"
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