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 Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:04 am
The library seemed very lively recently, with people coming in to let their kids write letters to santa, or to donate to the community sponsored donation drive and then stuck around to look at the books. It certainly lifted the spirits around the place, though it meant Tony and his staff were almost constantly doing things and there was a bit of back up as far as shelving and processing went.
That was alright.
At the moment there was a lull, and Tony was seizing the opportunity to refresh one of the 'new books' displays near the front counter. He imagined books released two and three months ago weren't as new as the ones sitting in a shipment box.
Dogby was sitting and wagging her tail, which she didn't really have, watching him. She had become very good at sticking near him, quiet and mostly not harming anything. Sometimes she'd seize a book and run off, but for the most part she just liked to be near her master and was happy to be able to come to work with him.
Because she got lots of pets from the people that came in, and that was always fun.
She got bored sometimes, though, and at the moment she was looking around for something to occupy her little doggy self. She sniffed something, the library always full of strange new scents now, and followed her nose to the donation box. There was something inside she knew she wanted, but there was no way for her stumpy legs to get up to the top let alone inside the thing to take a look.
That didn't stop her from trying. She bounced on her back legs and scrabbled on the box with her front paws, whining at it pitifully. It, unlike most of the people she met, was unaffected by her cute helplessness.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:34 pm
The cans and jars clinked together as Micah walked down the frosted pavement to the library. As they moved within the burlap sack, each edge took a turn digging into Micah back. The clothing withing wasn't helping either. Instead of padding the poking foodstuffs, they only added dead weight to the sack, making the neck dig into her shoulder. And on top of all the pain, Micah was cold. She hated to cold. It was stupid. What good did cold do for anyone? Stupid.
Micah rubbed the grime from her forehead. She'd spent the better part of the day digging through garbage cans and dumpsters, searching for unopened and unparishable foods and unscathed clothing. Micah would wager she stunk too. So she was sore, cold, dirty and stinky. Micah hated everything somedays, and this was one of them.
As the library loomed a head of her, Micah let out a sigh of relief. Warmth. One of her troubles would be taken care of, at least. Maybe even too, if her shoulder stopped aching while she was there. Oh sweet relief. Micah couldn't push the door open fast enough, warmth hitting her chapped and red face like a plush blanket. She sighed again, relishing in the warmth, sagging heavily against the wall. Oh sweet jesus thank you.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:35 pm
Tony looked toward the door, as he always did, when he heard it open. He usually smiled in greeting and went back to his work, but he saw someone leaning against the wall. She looked, at least at a glance, like someone who could use a donation herself, though he saw the bag and tried not to judge whatever the contents to be as her possessions as she wandered looking for places to spend each night.
She was too young to be homeless, wasn't she? That was a stupid thing to think, he knew, but he couldn't help and worry immediately. He was almost ready to offer her a place to stay without even saying hello to her, as quickly as his mind ran off and started making leaps.
He moved over to her, still feeling the holiday cheer but it was stifled under something as he got closer. Maybe that smell?
"Do you... do you need help with something, miss?" he asked, clearly thinkiing she was in trouble in some way. Dogby was at his feet, wandering from the donation box so she could go and sniff at this new bag instead. She didn't seem troubled by the smell, though, looking up at Micah like she was made entirely of food.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:27 pm
Micah's eyes cracked open when the man spoke to her. She let the bag fall to the floor with a huff, shoulders glad for the relief. "Donations," she muttered, rubbing her head roughtly, tightening the mats in her hair further. She'd need a weed wacker for this. Or maybe just some conditioner and a patient brother. Yeah, that sounded better. Wonderful, actually. In her fluffy purple robe Might should sit on the floor infront of Alex, newly washed, while he worked a comb through ehr crazy mess of curls and ringlets. Micah smield at the thought. She'd make this drop off quick so she could go home and do just that.
It was then that Micah took in her own apperence. She looked down at herself and scoffed, pushing a mat from her eyes. "Oh dear lord, I didn't even think about this. I just wanted to be in from the cold, and now look at me. No don't, don't look at me." First Micah wan'ted to brush off the grime, but then thought of the clean floors of the library. Better not to. A shower sounded better than ever. "No I'm... I'm fine. I just went... hunting for some things for the donation boxes. I wasn't allowed to loot my house and I really want to win that contest." In fact she'd been all but kicked out, and told to go hunt somewhere else. She grinned wickedly at the memory. "Micah, Micah Driscol. I'm new and so I thought I'd just get off on the right foot by doing some donation work. I never did at home. Never wanted to. Never had a reason. Still don't. Actually..." Except winning. Winning for the sake of winning, that was what she was doing this for.
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:32 pm
"Oh!"
Well that was a surprise. He looked at the bag that she labeled as donations, wondering just what it was she was donating. He tilted his head.
"What... uhm..."
Maybe it wasn't his place to ask but he was very curious as to what she was doing. Where this stuff had come from. He could guess, from the look of her, but that couldn't be right, could it? Why...
He looked away from her as ordered.
"I'm not sure they're looking for things that... ah..." people in poor houses could 'find' themselves. They were aiming to give people a happy christmas, different from what they were used to, above their means. He saw she had at least worked hard for whatever she had found. He frowned. It wasn't his place to monitor the donations: he was just hosting the box.
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 2:03 pm
Wait... wait what? Above thier means, what did this man mean? Micah clenched her teeth at him, fist tightening around her sack. So she tried to do something good for someone else and she got judged for it? This was ridiculous. She tossed her bag down roughly and growled at him, that animal side of her showing itself like it always did when her temper sparked.
"No," she grunted roughly, "you misunderstand me." Micah stooped to open her bag and pulled something out. A purle silk blouse, accented by a deep blue peacock embroidery. "Look at this," she urged, holding it out to Tony. "The seam along one side is ripped, so the store can't sell it. So they throw it away. All I did was rescue it. It's an easy fix, or else easily ignored. Look, it's beautiful, but unusable by the store because it's been ripped. And this," Micah pulled a can from her bag, brand name soup, only slightly dented. "Another perfectly good item, only slightly damaged." She dumped out the contents of her bag. Expensive clothing, for men and women, with minor damages. Some clothing wasn't even damaged, just slightly stained. Not even noticable. The food was all brand named. Boxes were simply a little squished, cans dented slightly.
"Is this worthy of your donation box, my lord?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:08 pm
Tony winced.
As hard as he tried to avoid saying the wrong thing to people, he often found his efforts led him straight into that happening. He was very good at pissing people off mostly on accident. When he actually tried to be mean or stern, which was rare but it did happen (especially when powered up), he didn't get it right.
Life was hard.
He bent to recover the bag, but she pulled something out of it, and he held up his hands on instinct. Of course, it wasn't a gun or any other kind of weapon, and he looked at the clothes sheepishly.
"I-I see," he said feebly, like a student who could talk the talk but crumpled when the teacher caught them. "It's not my donation box, I was just thinking out loud and I shouldn't have... oh dear." he looked at the mess on the floor and made to start picking it up. It wasn't just because it was a mess. He wanted to stop...
Dogby ran over and grabbed one of the items in her jaws, then ran off with it, her stumpy little legs flying in every direction as she ran her stolen goods to safety. He doubted he knew what she grabbed, but she rarely cared and it usually resulted in a mess for Tony to clean up.
"Dogby, no!" He called uselessly. Sighing, he looked up at Micah. "I'm sorry. Ah. About insulting you and Dogby."
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:53 pm
Micah growled as Tony spoke, snatching her things from the floor with unecessary roughness. She even managed to knock her finger agains the tile, peeling her fingernail back tot he bed, casing it to sting and bleed. She cursed and popped the finger into her mouth, trying to keep it form leaking onto the floor. "Let her keep it," Micah grunted. "She'll probably get more use out of my 'garbage' than anyone else." She hoisted herself up, with much difficulty, shoving the bag over her shoulder.
"I don't see why it matters where I got it from. It's good stuff, I mean, dman near perfect. It's not like we can all go around looting our own houses, I know! I've tried! I got kicked out because of it. It's like, suddenly my mom needs all of her blouses." Micah huffed when her tirade ended, looking at Tony through tangled bangs.
"So are you going to take this, or do I have to walk somewhere else to drop it off?" She lifted a challenging eye brow at Tony, half poised to leave with her bag of donations, despite the deep pain in her back and legs.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:04 pm
"Ah, you're bleeding. I'll help you," he said, shaking his head. He felt terribly guilty now, and he looked it. Dogby watching but she wanted to go and hide now. She was sensing anger in the air and she wasn't liking it.
Dogby was about as confrontational as her owner. Which was to say, not very at all. She could run away and hide, however, whenever things got too tense for her. As much as Tony would like to do just that, he had to stick it out.
"No, you're right, I wasn't thinking when I spoke. And you're right, it is near perfect, and people will appreciate it either way. Some people are donating old and out of date clothes, thead bare and well passed worn. Food they've had in their cupboards for months. there's no bar for donations, and I shouldn't have made you feel like you were falling short of it."
He offered her a warm, apologetic smile coupled with a shamed and embarrassed look in his eyes.
"If you'd still like to, you can donate them here."
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:25 pm
Micah looked up at Tony, intent on staying angry. But it seemed like someone else had discovered a weakness to her temper. first Kyndall confused her to the point of not be able to be angry, and now Tony was being kind. Micha only sighed, deflating under the weight of the bag. God it was heavy, especially wither Micah's temper to fill her her up with hot air. She looked at everything but Tony for a good long while, blushing at her behavior. She hadn't expected Tony to be so complacent when she got angry. Normally adults just raged back at her. This was new, and it unnerved Micah.
Finally she looked back up at him, lips in a thin line.
"Sorry," she muttered, adjusting the bag on her back, trying to find a less painful position for it and failing. "Sometimes my temper... get's the best of me..." No reason to treat anyone the way she did, but Micah felt it had to be said. "And usually people just get angry back. I'm not used to someone... reacting like you do." Her blush deepened as she spoke, shaking her head.
"I'm fine, I break off nails all the time. But I will take a bandaid if you have one." She poked the finger back into her mouth to try and keep from bleeding on the floor. "I'll go drop this off first. It's killing my back." She laughed wryly, trying to break the tension she'd caused.
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:55 am
Tony was nothing like his son, at least, though it was unlikely Micah would realize that the same Darrow blood ran through the librarian and the paint ball bandit she had met at the park. They did look similar, both handsome in their ways and with similar hair colors and facial features. Nathan had his mother's eyes.
And his father's attitude, before he had grown up.
In any case, Tony was glad that he had years of customer service under his belt. True enough, it wasn't like a retail job, where there were lines and sales and ridiculousness. But even a Library had its issues, particularly when fines came into play. No one likes fines. But Tony tried to handle things civilly, if he could.
He would admit that he still have some shadows of his former self in him, a low burning flame of a temper that took quite a lot of kindling to light. But it was possible. And of course he was very good at lighting other people's fires as far as their tempers went, as was proven.
"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile, nodding his head, "my son has a far worse temper than you do, I promise. You're an angel by comparison. And you are here, caring about people less fortunate than you, which speaks a lot to your character. Here." He moved to take the bag for her, hefting it up and moving toward the donation box with it.
It was heavy.
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:17 pm
Worse than Micah? People had wished for the ten plagues of Egypt before they had to deal with Micah again. And here there was someone worse than she was when it came to her temper? It made Micah's eyes grow a few sizes in wonder. Worse than her incendiary wild fire of a temper? The notion of it actually made her laugh. A sort of puff of wonder, too loud for her own ears even. Micah didn’t think to control the volume, so consumed with surprise as she was.
“Well, then… I shall have to meet him. Maybe compare notes.” Oh, the chaos which would then ensue. If Micah could learn to explode from someone even angrier than she was… The idea was getting more and more appealing by the second. What would she do with all that temper, though? Micah could barely contain the apparent little that she had. But think about what she could do with that? She felt most comfortable, most powerful when she was angry. Micah could take over the world if she had a temper like this son of Tony’s.
“I wouldn’t attest to my character just yet, sir,” Micah sighed as she handed over the bag, spine groaning in relief. “While giving and good will is a fortunate byproduct, it’s just that. A byproduct. They turned donating into a contest and I took it as a challenge. I will win this.” She followed the librarian, trotting behind him obediently, looking almost puppy-like in the way she licked her wound. “Call me selfish, but I could be competing for worse, you have to give me that.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:46 am
"I wouldn't wish that on you," Tony said with a shake of his head, then he felt like he was being too hard on his own son and he triedd to back track a little bit.
"I'm not being fair to him. And anyway, I don't think it's really something you should strive for. Nathan is an acquired taste, but he's a good kid. I know you are too, or you wouldn't be here."
He smiled, nodding his head. This was his conclusion and he was sticking with it. He wasn't one of those relentless 'everyone has good in them' people, but if he saw someone do something good, then that was the hint he needed. Everyone did deserve the chance to be or do good, if anything else.
He frowned at her explanation, though.
"Well, even if it is a contest, you still took the challenge knowing you'd have to be giving people things. I think that was more than enough to deter Nathan from having anything to do with this all. And many other people. But ah... competing just for the sake of it..."
He tried not to say anything else: he had already proven he was bad at saying things reasonably, and very good at accidentally insulting people. After the donations were put in the boxes he directed her to the front counter where he could get a first aid box and a bandaid for her hand. Offering it to her, he shook his head.
"The bathroom is just down the hall, you should wash it off."
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:27 pm
Nathan. The name struck a chord with Micah and she stopped. "Nathan..." She only knew one Nathan, but... no way. "Nathan... brown hair, brown eyes... goatee... paintball gun Nathan? Nathan with slight inclination towards narcissism and an acute lack social and moral codes? Underlying sociopathic tendencies Nathan?” Micah moved fast, her dirty trainer echoing in the library a little loudly – she never understood the art of stepping lightly. She looked up at Tony with her brows furrowed, furiously pushing the hair from her eyes. With the idea stuck in her head, now Micah could see the resemblance. Same hair color, though Tony’s was grey, same facial hair, same cheekbones… only their eyes were different. Micah had forgotten about her bleeding finger and had since stopped trying to keep it from dripping.
“Wait so,” Micah huffed as she regained her voice, “Nathan who dragged me up the side of a building is your son? You who seemed to be his exact opposite?” Micah could not deny the physical resemblance but… shouldn’t children act at least a little like their parents. Micah acted like her mother… sort of. She had her mother’s temper. Just a wilder version of it. But then maybe that was just it. Micah looked up at Tony again, wondering if maybe there was some wild man inside of him, laser focused to be productive like her mother channeled her temper.
Micah was pulled from her reverie when Tony pointed her towards the bathroom and handed her a bandaid. “Right…” Why did she have a bandaid? She looked at her finger, dripping blood. Oh yeah. “Thank you,” she muttered, sucking the blood off her finger again before she disappeared into the bathroom to wash her injury.
The nail wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Once she’d washed it, Micah could pull the remainder of the nail away and patch herself off. She washed the remaining blood from the sink and returned to Tony’s side. “Thank you,” she repeated, smiling softly.
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:22 pm
Tony looked pale, and fairly mortified.
"Yes, that would be my Nathan," he said, hanging his head in shame. It seemed his son had been doing good getting his name out there, and making good impressions on people, as only Nathan could. Tony tried his best, but there was very little he could do to change the habits of a kid that had grown up without him.
He frowned at her finger.
"Come on, let's patch this up... you're getting blood on the floor. Is this a bad cut?" He was trying to change the subject, but it was a fair worry. He got a tissue and caught her hand, staunching the blood with the paper towel. She moved to take care of it herself, though, and he made a face as she put the finger in her mouth.
Once she returned he smiled, glad to see her finger was still attached and it didn't look like she was going to have to go to emergency surgery after all.
"Thank you for coming in. I'm sorry it went so... ah... poorly. But I promise, you won't be insulted or injured if you come again."
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