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 Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:00 pm
He’d managed to scrape an E for the Maths test, which had been better than expected – Arian having thought he was going to end up flunking the whole thing completely – still an E wasn’t exactly something to be proud of. The dark-haired teen hadn’t been particularly surprised when he’d been asked to stay back for a few minutes after class, not given that the other two people also asked to stay back had also done badly on the Maths test. She’d been pretty blunt – telling them if they continued the way they were going then they would end up flunking her class and then had offered them the chance at doing some make-up work to pull up their grades. Much as he disliked the idea of doing yet more Maths, Arian had taken it – although the dark-haired teen wasn’t particularly keen on going to Sovereign Heights or trying to enrol in HITS after finally graduating High School, with an eye to moving onto University – he knew that Saffy wanted him to go down that route and she wouldn’t exactly be happy if he screwed up his chances by flunking out on Maths. So once school was out the dark-haired teen had taken his books and headed for the library, made himself (reluctantly) bypass the craft section and found himself a an empty table before now glumly trying to work through the first of the exercises.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:57 am
Dogby had spent most of her night barking at a cat that had, for one reason or another, decided to torment the Darrow house by sitting on the window ledge and smirking its smug cat smirk at the tiny, helpless corgi all night. Just taunting Dogby to try and get it, but she couldn't because it was both outside, behind glass, and just slightly too high up for Dogby to reach.
And it had not left, for hours, no matter how many times Tony came downstairs, or poked his head outside, or waved frantically at the window to shoo it off. Dogby, as well, would not be deterred no matter how many times she failed in her efforts, or was scooted away from the window by her exasperated owner.
So the librarian was tired as he sat at the front desk, clicking at things randomly on the computer and often focusing his eyes and finding himself on some unfamiliar, dangerously technical looking section of the library software.
Dogby was sleeping contentedly on the counter beside him.
Tony needed to get up and away from the desk before he fell to sleep in turn. He was half tempted to nudge Dogby awake and keep her that way, so she understood his suffering, but she looked too cute and content. He got up and sighed, moving to wander the library floor and see if anyone needed his help. He saw Arian sitting at a table and smiled, heading over to say hello.
He paused as he approached, though, noticing how many books he had with him. It looked important, and Tony awkwardly fidgeted as he tried to decide if he was too close to slip away unnoticed now, or if he could escape without distracting the young man.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:32 am
The exercises were going about as well as sitting in the test had gone and Arian’s notebook was full of crossing and re-crossing out of the dark-haired teen’s (mostly) failed attempts at trying to work out the first exercise – simultaneous equations. As he looked up with a sigh, Arian noticed the librarian hovering nearby and gave the older man a friendly if somewhat rueful smile “Afternoon Mr Darrow” or was it already evening. “Is it closing time already?” To be honest the dark-haired teen had no idea he’d spent trying to struggle through the exercises in the book and it wouldn’t be the first time that he’d stayed in the library long enough to get the closing time reminder.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 1:35 pm
Tony could not remember just how terrible being a student could be sometimes, but he did often see it in the ones that came to the library, especially the ones that stayed there late and looked like they were more than prepared to sleep there.
Or the ones that looked like they hadn't slept in days.
He always felt bad for them, and did what he could to help. Which was, admittedly, not much, but during finals he made sure to have food and coffee, and he kept the library open late. He tried to get the schedules from the schools around town, just in case, so he could adjust his hour accordingly.
"No, not closing. I just wanted to come and say hi, but you looked very busy. Big assignment?"
He wondered if an offer of coffee would help. He did have a coffee machine in the back room, and there might even be donuts left to share, but he was not sure about that exactly. He would not make promises he couldn't keep, at least. So just coffee, and then see what was back there.
"Do you need some coffee?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:20 am
Arian started to shake his head, thought about it and then admitted quietly “Kind of – it’s make-up work for Maths class.” After all given that if he could get it right, it would help pull up his rather dismal Maths grades it probably counted as a big assignment. “But I’m not very good at Maths so I haven't made any real progress.” It was probably self-evident given that the table was full of scraps of paper full of crossings and re-crossings out where the dark-haired teen had ended up crossing the pages out of his notebook in frustration. At Tony’s offer of coffee, he nodded his face brightening slightly as he smiled at the librarian “I’d love some coffee thank you Mr Darrow” before biting his lip slightly as a thought occurred to him. “That is if it’s okay and not too much trouble.” Although the coffee would definitely be appreciated, Arian wasn't sure that they were allowed to eat and drink amongst the books.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 11:42 am
Tony nodded his head in bleak understanding.
Math seemed to be the bane of every student, or at least a good portion of them. True enough, there were always the ones that thrived on it but they were the exceptions to the rule. For Tony himself, he knew the subject was not one he had ever gotten excited about doing, and rarely even went to the classes when he was in school.
But he had not been the most diligent of students.
He wasn't sure he could even count as a student.
He smiled and shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. "No trouble at all," he said with a smile. He asked how Arian liked it, though his options were, admittedly, rather limited, and then went off to the back room to get a cup. There were lids, so he wasn't worried about spills. While he was gone, a very sleepy Dogby padded up to sit where he had been standing, as if looking for her owner but some how missing him on the way over.
She blinked and looked around, then gave Arian a big doggy smile. And then yawned.
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Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:57 am
After thinking about it Arian had asked for some black coffee with three sugars. Although the dark-haired teen didn’t usually drink coffee black – actually to be honest he usually had coffee in either latte or cappuccino form, usually with some sort of syrup flavouring added to it – desperate times called for desperate measures… And well this was Maths study we were talking about – which at least to Arian definitely counted as desperate times right now. When Dogby padded over, Arian gave the dog a friendly smile before giving into temptation and pushing his books to the side and shifting so that he could gently reach over and pet the librarian’s dog. He wasn’t making much progress, so taking a small time out probably wasn’t going to make much difference to his knowledge or (more accurate currently) his lack of knowledge.
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Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:29 pm
Dogby yipped excitedly and moved into Arien's hand, arching her back like a cat might. Not as smooth, everything about her was a bit stunted and small, but she was a corgi and that seemed par for the course. And she owned it well.
She didn't care about math or grades or school.
Tony returned with a cup of coffee for him, trying to make it as nice as he could but the brands they had were not as nice as they could have been, really. But he did his best, and brought a donut as well. He returned to the table to see Dogby hamming it up, arching an eyebrow at her.
She didn't mind him at all.
"Here's the coffee. I hope it helps. I'm sure your work is not... fun at all." An understatement, to be sure.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 6:15 pm
Arian reluctantly stopped petting Dogby when Tony came back with the coffee “No this is great thank you – for the doughnut too.” Although unexpected, the dark-haired teen appreciated the librarian’s kindness and his sweet tooth would appreciate the sugary treat. He gave a rueful smile at Tony’s mention of work “Actually it’s just Maths – well and Physics that I really dislike” there was just too much Maths in that particular science for Arian to like the subject. “I don’t mind the rest of my classes and I love Crafts – it’s my favourite class.” Then again he liked creating things. It was a shame that being good at his Crafts classes wasn’t enough to give him a passing grade in his Maths class; otherwise he’d probably have aced it and wouldn't be stuck doing make-up work.
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Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 6:55 pm
"Crafts? I think I would have liked school better if I had been given more classes like that. But everything in my day was a bit too... boring... for the young man I was. They would have had to chain me to a desk to get me to even consider doing homework."
He laughed, watching as Dogby stood up on her hindlegs to beg for some donut, even though she knew she was not allowed to have any. She whined softly to add to her pitiful look.
"Ignore her," he said with a grin.
"Anyway, I think you're putting on a good effort? Better than I would have done." It ran in the family, as well, as Nathan had dropped out of school too. Before Tony had even known he existed, but still. It was a little bit of guilt he carried with him.
"What kind of crafts do you do?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:27 pm
“Actually it feels like we do a little bit of everything like sometimes.” Although Arian did not slip Dogby any doughnut, he was unable to completely resist the soulful looks directed his way and settled for petting the corgi as he spoke. “Sometimes we do clay work, sometimes paper mache or tie dye – it varies.” He smiled “But I’ve always liked craft things, I like the variety – well that and the fact that you get to be creative.” Unlike Maths where creativity = zilch and he had to struggle to get his mind through simultaneous equations et al.
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:00 pm
Tony smiled and nodded his head.
It sounded nice, really. He wished he had some modicum of artistic talent, but he felt he was rather tapped out on it. He had some musical skill, a smooth voice and the knowledge to play some instruments, but to be able to make something tangible was not his blessing.
It reminded him, with a sense of dread, that he would need to decorate the library for halloween, and then Christmas after.
He brightened a bit.
"Maybe you can help me make decorations for the library this year. I mean, if you wanted, and if you do well with your math." He smiled, and glanced down at Dogby as she whined pitifully. No one had paid her any mind for a few minutes, and that was just miserable.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:24 am
Arian nodded “Sure, I don’t mind helping out at all” he certainly spent enough time in the library. “That is if I do okay in my Maths catch up work.” Although the decorating would probably be much more fun, the dark-haired teen couldn’t really afford to flunk Maths – not if he was entertaining any hopes to do well enough to potentially get into either Sovereign Heights or HITS. He stopped petting Dogby and bit into the doughnut, which was sugary and really tasty, before asking (once he’d finished chewing) “When were you planning to start decorating Mr Darrow?” Although with Halloween coming up, the librarian was probably hoping to make a start soon.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:43 am
"It's a deal," Tony laughed, "you do well in your math class and you can help decorate."
That did not seem like much of a deal, really. When he thought about it. He got to do his math homework, then come back to the library to spend more time there, hanging up paper decorations and working for free. What a great trade off! And what, he did bad in math and he wasn't allowed back?
No. He'd still be invited.
"Soon," he said, noting he was running out of time for that one. Usually he had decorations up already. But it also took a while to get them up, so it would go over a few days. By Halloween, though, he hoped to have it perfect.
That was the day that really mattered. They were hosting an all day kid's fest. He'd need a lot of candy and a whole lot of patience. But he was looking forward to it.
"I should have started yesterday," he laughed, "I'll start tomorrow, but it will take a while to get everything up."
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:17 pm
“Definitely a deal” Arian said with a smile. “Although once I get through this stuff, it will probably take a few days for me to find out how well I’ve done” or given his ability at Maths – how badly. He ate a bit more of the doughnut before adding “Talking about Maths extra work, I should probably get back to it.” As pleasant as the brief break had been Arian still had a fair deal of exercises to work through and the knowledge wasn’t going to just suddenly make its way into his head – after all people couldn’t yet absorb information by osmosis. “Thank you again for the coffee and doughnut Mr Darrow.” Maybe next time round he’d have more time to talk, maybe even be helping with the aforementioned decorations. Reaching for the Maths book again, he picked up a pen in preparation for getting back to work on those Maths exercises – hopefully if he was lucky then somehow he’d manage to pull off a halfway decent mark for the make-up work.
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