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 Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:50 pm
It was an understatement to call the main Gaian library cluttered. With so much written every day plus the need to contain other, more generalized works of writing, the place was very truly overflowing. It was also understaffed and underfunded. And very, very big.
Wandering through this mess was a task few attempted, and now that he was here Alexandre Depriest was beginning to appreciate the reasons why the place was so deserted. He had been looking for information that might pertain to Grigorii, or even just Gaia in general, but there was so much information just finding the right section was proving impossible to a man who rarely found much use for the word. Alexandre had gone through several dozen rows without any luck whatsoever. The maps for the library seemed out of date, the categorization was beyond archaic, and every computer terminal he found displayed the message "SEARCH FUNCTION DISABLED." As if that weren't bad enough, at least half of the books and records here seemed to be completely misfiled. It was hard to tell if this was a result of the dearth of librarians to moderate the vast quantities of information or just the result of visitors like himself picking things up and then never finding the way back to the correct place. Probably a combination of both.
At Alexandre's side, Grigorii viewed the library with a combination of upset and wonder. The place was startlingly quiet, without the chattering birdsong and rustling trees to which Grigorii was accustomed. Even the mere act of breathing seemed too noisy for the library. The heavy layers of books felt suffocating. Grigorii tried to keep up with Alexandre as much as possible, fearing at any moment he might become totally lost in this catacomb of musty papers, and hoping that any moment now would lead them to the exit.
Alexandre turned a corner, cape flying behind him. He would have to head home before much longer. Things back at the house were getting tenser now that the time remaining in the pregnancy could be counted in days instead of months or weeks. Alexandre would never have left in the first place except Sylvia made it a requirement. He knew perfectly well his wife was trying to distract him with searching for information about Grigorii. Given the heaviness of his heart at each passing moment, it was not working. He wished Sylvia would leave the psychology to him.
As Alexandre's cape billowed, it stirred up a cloud of dust. Grigorii sneezed unhappily, unable to stop himself from disturbing the silence.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:12 pm
"Achoo," came the solemn reply around the corner, "Ashoe. Cashew. A shrew." This was followed, as always, by a stream of babble rapidly softening in volume as Lysium stared meaningfully at nothing in particular, chubby arms embracing a rather battered-looking book to herself as if it were a prized plush toy. The young child floated an inch and a half off the ground further down the book-filled corridor, a blanked wrapped around her like a cloak; she was accompanied by an even bigger, darker cloak, one that was currently rifling anxiously through parenting manuals mixed in with books about insecticides, who occasionally nudged his charge with an invisible foot and urged "Shhhh."
All About Baby, said all the books in one way or another, from rather heavy pretentious-looking tomes that might have hailed from some Middle Age to the black and yellow Dummy books. At least they all tended to agree that it was in the nature of a child to repeat what she heard -- that was how they learned to speak, of course, positive reinforcement and all that -- but he was not quite sure that they were supposed to twist it into other words in the process. It was a shame, Vive thought sadly, that no one had yet written any All About Batshit-Crazy Baby books.
He cast a nervous glance towards the approaching figure, nodding politely -- nothing more than a mere bob of the heavy fabric, as it cast such deep shadows over his face that he might not have been there at all. Appearing to be invisible and the odd looks that came with it was vastly preferable to the screams and faints and pitchforks and torches that came with revealing himself to be nothing more than a walking skeleton though. He turned his attention back to the row of books, content to let yet another social situation pass him by.
Lys was not so inclined. She stared at Grigorii as if he were radioactive and glowing green, the whites visible all around her rapidly crossing and uncrossing eyes. Her tail -- a tapering off of her lower body -- curled beneath her like a spring, and to the suffering-looking boy, she offered this advice: "Sihogihsiodhnsoie."
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Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:07 am
Grigorii stopped cold in his tracks. All thought left his mind. He could have been a child-shaped statue except for the slow, even fall of his breathing. A moment later Alexandre also stopped, but his mind was not so frozen. A cascade of thoughts showed through his dark eyes. He made a small grunting noise, barely audible, but Grigorii responded by startling and looking up at Alexandre, further surprised.
Grigorii had not realized his guardian was paying him any attention, as usual. He had been struggling so much to keep up with Alexandre that it seemed if he tarried but a moment he would get left behind. He underestimated Alexandre, as usual.
The more pressing issue in Grigorii's mind was Lysium. He turned back to the other child, marveling at her floating and at the book she carried. Grigorii had been given no items in his life thus far and had nothing to carry but the clothes on his back. Seeing a child holding something was a revelation. He also envied her slightly, for it was not so long ago that he himself had been able to float, not only above the ground but also through doors and walls. He said tentatively to Lysium, "Yeh?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:48 pm
Lysium continued to stare, wide-eyed and catlike (even the curly tip of her lower body occasionally twitched expectantly with every other movement he made), at Grigorii as he turned to her. He made a noise with his mouth, one that seemed friendly-like enough but tasted like green, and today was not a green day.
She squashed the urge to parrot the word back at him, as much as she found she enjoyed the taste of words on her squishy tongue lately, and slipped a corner of the binding of the book into her mouth and chewed distressingly as she tried to determine a proper response.
If Vive still had a tongue, he would have bit down on it. As it was, all he could do was hover nervously above his charge (he knew even less than she did what the proper response to this greeting was, and being more of Grigorii's general height, she was more well-suited to make her own decisions -- but oh his own guardian was quite the intimidating figure...) and hope she said nothing to offend either one of them. He was not very good at, well, keeping things alive, should one or the other decide to whip out a sword and have at her (though it certainly would solve all his problems, the Death of Infants was a very nice lady and he was sure Lys would prefer her company.)
Finally, Lys arrived at a solution; she took her hands away, allowing gravity to drag the book down to her lap where it plopped open with an indignant whup, and then, floating forward, clapped them to his cheeks and squished his face. She had not the strength nor the intention to hurt, though it was clear she did not really have the greatest motor control yet. Open your mouth a little wider when you speak, she told him, only it came out as "Sela zela hagejh opossum."
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:03 pm
It was so unusual to have contact with someone like this for Grigorii that he simply let his mouth fall open in awe. This was magical, in more than just the obvious meeting of magical children way, and he sort of sighed with gentle surprise. He brought his hands up, trembling, and tamped them down on Lysium's cheeks, mirroring her.
Alexandre was not so moved by this magical moment, and simply asked with faintly dry impatience to both child and guardian, "Do you need something?" It was Alexandre and Grigorii who needed help, really, but far be it for Alexandre to play his hand and come right out and say it. He had to appraise these strangers before he engaged in any sort of joint venture with them, even the simple exchange of directions. He did not seem to care that Lysium's speech lacked cohesion, he treated her as equal to Vive until such time as the full nature of their relationship became apparent. He could already tell somewhat from Vive's behavior that the other guardian was not quite so much in charge.
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