007 || [Location:Taxon Library/Accidental Visual] || Seven For Avalon

[patternal.livejournal.com]

Corwin has definitely learned his lesson in “be careful what you wish for,” and instead of wandering the city aimlessly and complaining about how dull it is here (or hacking at trees), he’s managed to find something to occupy himself with.

He has always enjoyed the company of books—something about being surrounded with so many words had a calming effect that nothing else could even come close to matching. He spent a good deal of time simply wandering through the shelves and taking in the smell of them. It had been a long time since he’d been near so many. Too much to do…

It took a lot longer than it might have before he finally made his decision, sliding an obviously old, rather thick, and doubtless dry piece of literature off the shelf it sat on and retreated to a chair to sit and read it, cigarette in hand that he rapidly forgot about, lost as he was in the world of words.

And all of it for the enjoyment of the tablet. Evidently, it didn’t like him today.

Comments

i see you came to visit, corwin

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Spencer had been filing some books on the other side of the library, when the faint scent of something burning caught his attention. Following his nose, he happened upon Corwin sitting in the back with a cigarette in his hand. Spencer coughed as he inhaled the carbon monoxide smoke. He wanted to be straightforward and tell him to put the cigarette out, but these words came out of his mouth instead.

"Six minutes."

Yes. Yes I did. Problem?

[patternal.livejournal.com]

Something registered--someone talking--but he'd always had that problem: with a book, he was in another world, absorbed by what he was reading. Depending on who one was talking to about it, it was a problem--a shortcoming of his--but it just made reading that much more enjoyable.

Even so, it took a few seconds longer than it should have before he realized that he'd been spoken to, even if he didn't know what had been said.

"Hm?"

((No problem, bb~ <33 ))

[location: library]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

Spencer sighed and gazed down at Corwin in the chair in front of him.

"Six minutes. Did you know that every cigarette you smoke takes an average of six minutes off of your life?"

[location: library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

Oh. So that's what that was all about. Corwin shrugged at the question, noting the page he'd left off in the book before closing it and turning to face Spencer.

"Nope. Thanks for the trivia."

[location: library]

[numbersnfigures.livejournal.com]

"It's not just trivia."

Spencer had told his mother that information whenever she lit up a cigarette, but it hadn't ever stopped her. She finally had to kick the habit when she'd been institutionalized.

"You probably shouldn't smoke in here anyway."

[location: library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

"Believe it or not, I do care about things like books and I'm not planning on setting fire to the place." Never mind that he healed quickly enough from the damage caused by the odd sporadic smoke or two that it didn't actually matter. But apparently around here it was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

[location: Taxon Library]

[iminmynightie.livejournal.com]

"Pretty sure you shouldn't smoke around all this paper."

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

"Tell you what. If it ignites, you can say 'I told you so' to your heart's content."

[location: Taxon Library]

[iminmynightie.livejournal.com]

"Forget that," Amy said with a snort. "If it ignites, I'm smacking you in the face with a book and looking for the nearest fire extinguisher."

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

"How charming." That look Corwin gave said otherwise. "Handily enough, I'm not planning on throwing it into a bookshelf. Believe it or not, sweetheart, I do care about books."

[location: Taxon Library]

[iminmynightie.livejournal.com]

She came over and plopped down in a chair across from him, looking through some magazines on the table.

"That's me. And I didn't doubt you liked books since you're in a library."

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

Company. Unexpected, but he was in a public place and he couldn't very well tell her to get lost.

"That would be the obvious conclusion, wouldn't it."

[location: Taxon Library]

[iminmynightie.livejournal.com]

"Terribly so, yeah," she agreed, her voice as flippant as his manner suggested. Deciding on a magazine, she kicked up her feet, licked a finger, and opened the cover.

There were still quite a few people Amy had yet to meet, but this one seemed like he didn't go out of his way to do the introducing.

"I'm Amy. What's your name?"

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

If there was one thing Corwin valued, it was privacy. He hated answering questions and where he was concerned, a lot of them were often involved. Too often in questions, the secrets were unknowingly given away and he had a lot of those, too.

"Corwin."

[location: Taxon Library]

[iminmynightie.livejournal.com]

"Corwin," she repeated, giving a nod and flipping a few pages in silence. But of course, with Amy around, any silence wasn't long in duration.

"You new here, Corwin, or an old resident?"

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

"Define old," Corwin responded somewhat vaguely, turning a page. As much as he hated being interrupted, he certainly seemed to encourage it. It was almost like he couldn't keep his mouth shut, except that there were people who knew that that was far from the case. "I've been here for longer than I care to, but it's been a few months."

[location: Taxon Library]

[littlestcastle.livejournal.com]

Denial was working wonders as motivation as far as Alexis Castle was concerned. In a few short weeks she'd already begun writing up her own curriculum based on what she remembered of her English syllabus and while the Taxon library's books were a hodgepodge, she'd found enough to occupy herself.

At least for a few days, and now she was back, her arms already full of books. There were only two more on the list that she needed, and there was one of them. On the shelf above her head.

Alexis eyed the shelf, the load in her arms, and the shelf again. She could probably manage without stopping to get the ladder. So intent was she on finishing her task that Alexis didn't even notice the presence of the cigarette smoking man not too far away who could probably help. Instead, she reached up on tiptoe, fingertips brushing the book. Another half inch or so... She strained for the last bit of length and overbalanced, books toppling out of her arms and onto the floor with a loud clatter.



[ooc: oh no this isn't going to be trippy and mood whiplash-y at all what am I even talking about]

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

Denial may have been a miracle for the girl, but it was something that Corwin had never been able to afford. Aside from being stuck here, this wasn't all that odd anyway. Everything existed somewhere, he'd just had the misfortune of wandering his way through this one.

The sound of crashing pulled him out of his near-trance and he managed to catch himself before he rolled his eyes too obviously. He set his book down on the table laying open and came to loom behind the poor girl somewhat ominously on purpose.

"You could try not throwing things on the floor, kid."

((Nope, not at all~))

[location: Taxon Library]

[littlestcastle.livejournal.com]

Alexis blanched as the man she hadn't noticed before approached, looming over her. While she'd had plenty of experience staring down her dad when he was being weird or unreasonable, Alexis had much less experience staring down strangers. "Sorry, I didn't mean to," she apologized, her voice squeaking a little. A blush began creeping up her cheeks. She waved to the shelf above her head. "I was just trying to get another one."

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

"And you didn't think that maybe you'd better put a few of them down first?" Teenagers. And it had been long enough since he'd been one that he felt he had every right to think what he wanted about them. He'd never particularly enjoyed interacting with children, even if he and most of his siblings were just as self-centered and little better.

[location: Taxon Library]

[littlestcastle.livejournal.com]

Despite the spreading blush, a little frown tugged at Alexis' lips at the question. Her initial embarrassment slowly began to turn towards irritation at the patronizing question. She took a breath before answering, and her nose wrinkled at the acrid smell of cigarette smoke. "Aren't you not supposed to smoke in a library?"

[location: Taxon Library]

[patternal.livejournal.com]

Corwin ignored the irritation in her voice--she was just a kid, after all (but then, really, everyone here was to him) and he didn't exactly care what anyone else thought of him, angry or not. "I don't make a habit of throwing things on fire into things like books. I do actually care about them."

[location: Taxon Library] - argh sorry about late tags, life ate brains

[littlestcastle.livejournal.com]

"But accidents can still happen," she pointed out. The looming man was intimidating, true, but Alexis pressed on. "Like falling ashes, or people dropping books."

[location: Taxon Library] RL > RP bb~ I understand~

[patternal.livejournal.com]

"I'll be careful," he assured her with a well-concealed roll of his eyes. Being told off by a kid? Not an experience he particularly enjoyed.

[location: Taxon Library]

[littlestcastle.livejournal.com]

Alexis gave him a look; something about that reminded her of dealing with her dad. Or maybe she just missed her family and was imagining things. She took a step back into the row of shelves, nearly tripping over one of the books that had fallen, and hesitated. There wasn't anyone else around. Or a step stool.

She glanced at the man, then at the shelf. "Could I borrow your chair to get the book off the shelf, Mr...?" she asked. It didn't hurt to ask, right?