Back dated to March 24

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A large, red, intentful gaze was directed upward at the offending shelf. Squinted eyes and furrowed brows forced Clifford's usually smiling visage into one of frustration and annoyance as he looked on. It was barely beyond his reach, he thought, but even while stretched as high as he could reach there was no way the 9-year-old could reach it. Much to his chagrin. A sigh slowly escaped past his pursed lips as he looked around for a stool; he hated the things, but he'd have to make do if he wanted to get the book he's been looking for, for the past fifteen minutes.

"None here?" he mused, making his way down the aisles of books. The library was nearly his second home, and only "nearly" because he had a tendency to frequent the arcades a bit more; there was one on the way to the library, and he had a bad habit of stopping by if he had some coins to burn. The boy made his way around eventually, a small smile bringing up his downturned lips as a stool came into view.

Cliff made his way over, passing someone that...looked about his age. He gave a wave as he passed, then picked up the stool and headed back around, only to smile at her again. "Hi!" the brunette greeted, hefting the stool to readjust his grip on it. "Did you need to use this? I need it on the other side, and I figure we Knightside kids should help each other out!"


Ciel had been trying to reach a book on one of the higher selfs without much luck. Seriously I’m in highschool I should be able to reach a darn book. She thought to herself with a sigh. It was then she noticed the brunette boy talking to her. Knightside?! She felt her cheeks get warm she wasn’t that short was she, “Salut! But I’m not a kid. I’m in highschool now.” She said politely but with emphasis on the high school part. That said she did still accept the stool and quickly got the book she had been looking for. “Merci! My name’s Ciel by the way. What’s yours?” The white haired girl offered to carry the stool to where the younger boy needed it as thanks.

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Skepticism was the first thing that crossed his mind when she said she was in high school. But we're practically the same height was the permeating thought that ran through his mind, but the longer he looked at her he...kind of thought there was something outright not-elementary-school about her. Maybe her hair? Her accent? The way she carried herself? Most girls his age would giggle or pick fights but she was perfectly civil…

Cliff smiled and left it at that, deciding that regardless of her year in school that she was nice and perfectly fine to be around. He waited patiently for her to finish using the stool, and when finally she was finished he started directing her to where he needed to use it to grab his own book.

"I'm Cliff," he replied to her introduction as they walked. "Clifford, actually, but that's too long for a lot of people so I usually just go by Cliff." He offered to take the stool off her hands once they finally arrived at just the right spot, then set it down and reached up for his own book.

"Success!" he cried with a small bit of glee as he climbed down, book in hand. He showed her the cover page once he was completely down, a wide grin splitting his young face. "It's a Greek mythology book that my teacher suggested. We're covering myths and stuff right now, and I got curious. I saw the Disney Hercules movie and stuff so I thought it'd be pretty cool. What do you think?"


Ciel’s couldn’t help but grin, she was starting to like this kid. Sure Greek mythology wasn’t her favorite topic, that would be knights, but it was up there and to see a kid who’s actually into stuff like mythology was pretty cool. “The Greek myths are pretty cool my Mama used to read them to me lot when I was younger, I didn’t know kids your age read them.” She stopped for a second as she remembered the goofy characters and songs of the Disney Hercules movie. “That movie is definitely fun but its pretty different from the actual story. Did you know that Hercules isn’t even his actual name it was actually Heracles, Hercules is the name the Romans gave him.” She walked over to nearby table and took a seat, placing her own book (a book on Arthurian lore) down on the table. She motioned for her new acquaintance to have seat as well. “I’m actually half Greek on my Papa’s side so I find all of the myths and stuff pretty cool almost as cool as stories about knights.” She said with a happy sigh thinking about how less than 24 hrs ago she had become a knight just like her dreams, not that she could go around bragging about it despite how much she wanted to.

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Cliff's eyes went bright and wide as she engaged him with bits of explanations of her thoughts on his choice. She. Was. Awesome. Answering him like she would someone her age; most people dismissed him as "cute" or "excitable" or something similar. It annoyed him to a degree but he still shared his enthusiasm about books with gusto to whoever would lend him their ear. He nodded along as she shared her thoughts, happy to find someone who was as interested in books as he was. Granted, it was probably normal to find other enthusiastic readers in the public library. He took the seat across from her and lay his book out on the table. "I didn't know that!" he said finally, regarding Hercules's name. "See, this is why I need to read! There's probably tons of other things I didn't know in this book…"

Cliff flipped idly for a moment, his red eyes skimming the lines and picking up foreign words and terms he'd probably have to pull out a dictionary or Google to understand. If this were his book he'd probably have borrowed a highlighter from his mom so he could highlight them all for future reference. Alas, he would have to settle for a list. Eventually his eyes flickered up and fell on the book she'd picked out, and her comment about knights and such sank in.

"I see books about King Arthur and stuff at the library at school!" he said, dropping his own book in favor or leaning over the table to look at hers. "A lot of the older kids usually check them out. My teacher saw me try one and time and said that legends and stuff were subjects in older classes. I still wanna read about them though; it must be so cool." Cliff looked up, excitement in his eyes as they met hers for a moment. "All their swords and armor and stuff. Hey, so you like knights more than the Greek myths? Howcome?"


She pondered his question for a minute. Usually when she talked about her love for knights people just wrote her off as just having interesting tastes, no one had really ever asked her why she loved knights so much but then again this kid seemed to more thoughtful about this stuff than most people who wrote them off as silly fantasy. “Well I guess part of it is because of my mama, she didn’t just read me greek myths she also read me a lot of stories about King Arthur, plus she writes about knights and magic and stuff a lot. I guess I just fell in love with how noble Knight like Sir Gawain are. I mean Greek Myths are cool and a lot of fun to read but they all end so sad, not that King Arthur didn’t have a sad end but it just seems like stories about knights are a lot happier.” She said. “To be honest I’ve actually always wanted to be a knight, to be so valiant and noble. To fight monster and save people.” She said looking down as her cheeks grew warm again expecting the laugh or giggle she normally got when she told people about her dream. Really she wasn’t even sure why she still told people maybe it was because she liked being open about herself. Eventually she looked up and met his eyes.

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She was...awesome. Her dreams seemed to parallel his that it was hard to believe she was actually so much older than he was; maybe a nod to the fact that age was just a number after all. Not that he saw her as anything more than an awesome, awesome potential friend at that point. He was 9 and such thoughts never went further than that.

The boy nodded excitedly as she went on to say some things about fighting monsters and saving people. He did that. A lot. Er, sort of a lot? He fought monsters, at least. He'd never actually saved anyone before, but that didn't detract from his excitement. "Me too! I read comic books and everything and all the superheroes are awesome. I mean, King Arthur was probably the superhero of his day and everything. Noble and all that stuff you said, too."

Cliff rambled on for a time, eventually hearing a "shush" from a table nearby. He caught the irritated stares and heard the grumbles but easily shrugged it off. The trouble was worth it if it means he could have a good conversation with someone about books and heroes and myths and legends and stories. Hardly anyone his age was all too interested in the stuff; most of them loved video games or were too busy playing with dolls to care. At least he could relate to the video games. With his book in hand Cliff eventually scooted out of his seat and pointed at the front desk of the library.

"I'm gonna check this one out. My mom gave me some money so I could get a snack after school. Wanna come? I wanna know more about King Arthur and stuff. I heard he pulled a sword out of a stone or something, right?"



She was surprised, though by now she was starting to think she shouldn’t be, Cliff didn’t laugh when she told him about her dream actually he seemed to think it was cool. “I’d love to come but I’m paying, I’d feel bad if you had to spend your money on me. Do you have a place you want to go, if not I know some great cafes. King Arthur did pull a sword from a stone, or an anvil it varies from story to story, but that sword wasn’t the sword everyone remembers him for, Excalibur. He got that from the Lady in the Lake.” She started rambling as she walked with him to the front desk. She dug around in her bag for her Library card while she spoke.

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Cliff did more or less the same, though he had to set his book down and rifle through his backpack. It didn't take too long, and soon enough he had the book checked out and ready to take home. He waited patiently for her to finish and then started for the exit. "There's an ice cream shop a little down the street," he said as he pushed the door open with a bit of a struggle. It was a lot heavier than it looked, and something he often complained about whenever Dominic would take him to the library. "They have some really good flavors, too! I tried chili-chocolate the last time I was there. It was…" and he made a face. "Weird."

Cliff pointed in said shop's general direction and started walking, his mind going back to what she'd said about the sword and stuff. "I know that sword! Excalibur, I mean. I thought it was the one he pulled from the stone. All the movies said so, and I bet if I ask my mom or my cousin they'd say the same thing!" Not that they could argue with history, but it was odd that such a simple fact was overlooked by the majority of the population.

People really did need to read more. Cliff gave a huff and waited for Ciel to reply, his hands fiddling with the book he's just acquired.



“I don’t suppose they sell french style ice cream.” Ciel said thoughtfully. She couldn’t help but smile at Cliff’s comments on Excalibur. “Well the reason for that is some of the later versions of the story combined the two swords but originally the sword in the stone was called Caliburn. It was the sword that made King Arthur King of England, but you see he broke it because he had broken the laws of chivalry so it lost the magic that made it unbreakable. After that Arthur’s advisor and magician Merlin took him to see the Lady in the Lake, you see Merlin could see into the future cause he was so magical and he had another magic sword made that he left in the care of the Lady in the Lake, who I think was like a goddess or fairy queen or something. She gave Arthur the sword and declared him worthy of being king. So the reason movies and most people get the swords wrong is because they only know the stories that combine the two.” Ciel had a toothy smile, there was nothing she loved talking about more than King Arthur and Cliff was a very attentive audience. She was really hoping the they could be friends, yeah there was the age gap but she had never met someone with as similar interest to her, aside from her mother, and he seemed pretty mature for an elementary schooler anyways.

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He stared in awe of her ability to explain something that sounded so complex to his young mind without so much as a glance down at her book. No references. No notes. Nothing. She just...knew. By heart. That was interest, he thought as his smile slowly came back. "Wow…" he said, still processing all the information she'd given him. It made him want to abandon his mythology book in favor of a book similar to the one she'd checked out, but his teacher's voice chided him in the back of his mind.

He checked it out both out of interest as well as a homework assignment, after all.

"So do you know the stories about all of King Arthur and his knights and stuff?" he asked, looking ahead briefly to see how much further their walk would be. It was still at the end of the block so he turned his attention back to Ciel. "I mean, by heart and everything? That's so cool! I wish I could do that! I read a lot of stories so after a while sometimes I get things mixed up. My mom says it's because I don't take the time to...uh.. digest? Something like that. What I've read."



Ciel chuckled a bit to herself “I wouldn’t say I know everything, and definity not by heart, there’s just too much to know, just like mythology.” She said pointing at his book. “I know alot about it because its always been a passion of mine, and plus I don’t just get my information from books. I actually learned a lot from listening to Celtic Folk music. I’m sure you’ll be able to remember mythology the same way if it really interests you, my Mama always says that people remember what interests them best.” She said hoping she was making sense. “hmm So what flavor would you recommend, I’ve only ever had vanilla but I think I want to be adventurous.” She said with a grin as she pulled out her wallet to pay for the frozen treat.

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That made sense. If you like something it's easier to remember; at least for Cliff he definitely could remember all of his favorite things a lot better than things he wasn't particularly passionate about. He offered his new friend a smile and nodded along as she spoke, though his attention was immediately pulled away from her as soon as they made it to the shop. With a laugh he ran to the front display, eyes taking in all the flavors of ice cream available and glancing back with a huge smile on his face.

"Chocolate!" he said almost immediately. "Or the mocha one with cookie dough! Or the fudge brownie one! They're all so good!" he said excitedly, bouncing on his toes. He glanced up at the teenaged boy--at least he looked like a teenaged boy--behind the display, who was smiling down at him in what looked to be amusement, and pointed at two flavors, one with each index finger.

"I want chocolate and mocha please!" he said quickly before pulling out his kid-sized wallet and turning to Ciel. "My mom says it's polite to let other people pay for my food if they offer, but I'd feel bad taking your money," he said to her, an innocent, almost puppy-like expression on his face.



That face made Ciel just want to hug him, but she resisted since she figured it’d be impolite. “Trust me I’ve got plenty of money, I’ll pay.” She reassured him. She pulled out a black credit card and handed it to the boy behind the counter. “I’ll have a fudge brownie flavor, monsieur.” She quickly paid for their ice cream and walked with Cliff over to a table. She tasted her ice cream. “This is really good, I’m gonna have to start coming here more often.” She said with a big smile on her face. Then she made small talk for a little while, talking about King Arthur and Greek mythology. Eventually the two had finished their ice cream Ciel noticed that it was starting to get late, and since she had already gotten in trouble for coming home late yesterday she didn’t want a repeat. “Lets go I’ll walk you home.” She said getting up from their table with a smile.