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 Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:41 pm
Was she breaking the rules? She was breaking the rules. Even though Dr. H had allotted her two trainees, she already had two, one that didn't count, and was going for a third. It wasn't cheating if they agreed to do it and she didn't pay them. So there.
Except she had worries about this third one. It was unreliable.
"Madeline?" she said, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face. Currently they were at the entrance to the library, Ami having "seduced" Madeline down here with a "hey I need your help." That was all it took, thankfully. "Earth to Madeline."
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:54 pm
Ami needed her help.
No one realized how important this one statement was.
Ami Needed Madeline's Help.
It was like Christmas. Madeline hummed as she walked until they got to the entrance of the library, where she promptly stopped and stared. It was like looking at the maw of the beast; a creature made out of books that, if she wasn't entirely careful, could consume her for days.
" - Madeline."
Her head bobbed up, and blissfully she began to recite the origin of the phrase "earth to - " before realizing Ami still needed her help.
"Roger," She said winningly with a mock salute, giving Ami her best determined puppy look and a lopsided grin. "So, what are we here for?" She winked at her, draping an arm across Ami's shoulders. "What'cha need my help with?"
She was, in that moment, the epitome of a puppy. Good going, Ami.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:22 pm
Ami stared at Madeline's arm like it was a block of moldy cheese, and then sourly shrugged it off. There would be none of that chummy stuff.
"Work," Ami spat. She wanted to make it very clear to Madeline that this was a space for work, not play. No knocking over shelves, no making towns out of the books, absolutely no paper airplanes and above all no goddamn yelling please no.
Snapping the library open, Ami led Madeline in. It was quiet, nobody in at the moment. Sometimes there were visitors, but she trusted that Madeline could at least filter out a few people. She'd been in medical school right? Even though Madeline's head was not in the right place most of the time, Ami at least knew that Madeline was smarter than she put on. "I need you to translate some things."
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:06 pm
Madeline pouted at Ami's cold, boring work tone. Why did everything have to be so serious? Weren't libraries supposed to be places of wonder and learning and all that jazz?
"Fine, fine." She gestured with her hands, the puppy-like expression melting so quickly into a look of solemn professionalism that one might have wondered if some invisible, parasitic alien had inhabited her body.
Trekking after Ami proved no difficulty (and scoping out the tall bookshelves for later endeavors), Madeline glanced back at Ami, rubbing her chin and raising a brow.
"What language? Spanish, I'm guessing?"
She imagined that Ami already had someone translating Latin for her if she was on a book spree. The prep school she'd gone to had also prepared her for reading Greek, but she doubted that Ami really needed that translated either - and she had proved her capabilities in the aforementioned language quite a few times already, if not in the most professional way.
"Are you endeavoring on a new project?" She gestured with her fingers towards Ami as though waiting for the books. "Just let me know the details and when you want them done by."
Maybe she could finally put some of her goddamn education back to work. Some cynical little voice in Madeline's head laughed and said that at least she would finally look a little more intelligent than she had always appeared.
Madeline, of course, dutifully ignored said books and waited for more instructions. At least school had prepared her for this much.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:15 pm
"Do you know other languages?" Ami asked, genuinely surprised. She'd never heard anything but (what she assumed was) sluggish, rude-sounding Spanish and English "did you know"s coming from the girl's mouth. "It'd be apt if you mentioned them before you start."
A little light shined in Ami's eyes, an opportunity to brag presenting itself. She was a little proud of her project, but if would've been rude to boast. "Ah, my specialization has been dictated that I should digitize transcripts into a more ... accessible form. Namely through hunter phones." The professional attitude dropped a degree. "Truthfully I'm just sick of seeing people treat these libraries like they're expendable resources." A look might've been shot at Madeline here.
She rolled her hand and gestured to the shelves. "I can do quite a few languages- Junpei is rather good at memorizing things, actually- but Spanish is out of my reach. I need some of the older ones translated. I think some of the Aztec and Mayan got mixed up in here too, but I suppose you'll just have to see what you can do."
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:34 pm
Madeline glanced at Ami wryly, her mouth quirking into a sharp little grin. "You know, just because I intentionally sell myself short doesn't mean I'm some backwater brute that dropped out of high school." She waved her hand. "I know Spanish, obviously. Latin, Greek, passable Finnish. Junior year in high school as an exchange student does stuff like that to you." She laughed as though the memory was enough to make her remember all the good times before everything turned sour. "I've got a basic hold on a few others - parents vacation frequently, you get the idea - but nothing helpful unless we suddenly find ourselves in France. Or some stranger parts of the globe which I will refrain from naming."
She bobbed her head at Ami's description of specialization, giggling a little bit towards the end. "Wow, what a fitting thing for you to get into. Ami, the book doctor and savior of all that find themselves lost in the literary world." Innocently, she ignored the jab towards her, eyes trailing up to the ceiling in mock innocence.
"That's fine." She waved her hands distractedly at Ami. "I read a lot of ancient, dusty books as a child. When your brothers decide to lock you in the attic on a weekly basis, you get used to just hiding books up there - or finding some in the old boxes. And man, what a strange collection of texts they had." She clicked her tongue. "Well, and then there was college, but whatever."
Glancing back at Ami, Madeline wiggled her brows. "So, where do you want me to begin?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:40 pm
Ami rolled her eyes at Madeline's little presentation. Yes, yes, Ami knew you were smart. She just didn't want to say so.
"Okay miss lingual, move aside for the rest of us who are still learning," she chided, shooting down Madeline's impressive streak of languages immediately. In truth, Ami was surprised to find that Madeline was as adept at European languages as she was, but again, Ami would never admit.
The eyebrow didn't go unnoticed, but went unacknowledged. "Start anywhere you'd like. Finish as much as you can, but at least ... three?" Ami put a hand on her chin, thinking if she'd forgotten anything. Ah yes. "It's relatively obvious, but don't invite anyone here that isn't supposed to be here." AKA No parties. GDI Madeline.
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