(Untitled)

[notamageiswear]

Characters: Negi Springfield (notamageiswear), Suoh Tamaki (tono_twerp)
When: Monday, June 13th
Where: The Library
Rating: Due to the subject matter, I'll make it PG-13 just to be safe.
Summary: Tamaki wants to study anatomy. Negi is curious as to what male anatomy has to do with the life cycle.

Comments

[tono_twerp]

Tamaki danced through the city on his way to the library. Consistent study had never been his strongest suit, and the prospect of company as he waded through anatomy books was a welcome one. The child had seemed nice, too, on the occasions when they had spoken.

"Hello!" he said, brightly - too bright and loud for a library - as he stepped into the room, walking up to Negi. "Found the anatomy section yet?"

[notamageiswear]

At the voice, Negi turned. He smiled as he recognized Tamaki, and gave a small wave. Talking loudly in a library wasn't normally allowed, but...he didn't think anyone would be around to worry them about it.

"Hello, Tamaki-san! The anatomy section is a few aisles over in that direction," he gestured to his left, "but I decided to wait for you to get here before I started looking through the books!"

[tono_twerp]

"Then lead us to them!" he exclaimed, delighted to make a new acquaintance, and setting off in the direction Negi had indicated. "I'm sure there is all sort of information awaiting us!" He beamed at the boy, rather enjoying the relaxation that went with company that emphatically didn't require his services as a host.

"You like to study?" he asked, curious to learn more about his new friend.

[notamageiswear]

"Alright!" Negi took the lead, just a step ahead of Tamaki; he didn't like feeling like he had left others beind him. It didn't take long for him to arrive at the aforementioned aisle, and he began leafing through the titles on the shelf at his eye level.

"Yes, very much." He looked up at Tamaki, smiling. "I graduated at the top of my class at the academy. All I ever did was study." This came with a soft laugh, though it wasn't clear if Negi was laughing at a fond memory or scoffing at himself. After all, his non-stop studying kept him from making too many friends there.

[tono_twerp]

He bounced after, eagerly, glancing at the books and picking out the one he had hitherto avoided, Grey's Anatomy.

"I'm not surprised you did so well, then," he said, smiling at Negi. The boy really did seem nice. "What was your favourite subject? Not anatomy or biology, right?"

[notamageiswear]

Negi picked a small pile of books himself, making sure he could still see over the top of the pile as he carried them to a nearby table.

"Ah, no, it wasn't really anything like that..." He set the books carefully on the table. Magic wasn't really a big deal here, from what he had seen so far. So many people had special abilities. "I did like Latin quite a bit, though!"

[tono_twerp]

"Latin, really?" he exclaimed, impressed. "Such an unusual subject to enjoy! I'm sure it will help you with the study of anatomy, since most of the words in these books appear to be in Latin."

He sat down opposite Negi, opening his heavy tome and sighing. Case in point; the page was a large drawing of, it seemed, intestines. Or something like it.

"What does 'epididymis' mean?" he added.

[notamageiswear]

"Yes, I'm sure it will! I learned it for a different purpose, though." He began scanning over the bindings of each individual book, trying to pick out which one to open first.

However, at Tamaki's question, Negi stood from his chair, leaning over the table to look at the upside-down page. "Epididymis sounds...not so much like Latin. Greek, maybe? A mix of the two? I'm not sure what it means." He chewed his lower lip in thought as he looked at the page, turning the book just slightly so he wouldn't have to read upside-down.

"It seems to be...something to do with...um..." His cheeks flushed. This wasn't something he was supposed to talk casually about with someone! Even if that was their purpose here...

[tono_twerp]

Negi was blushing. Oh. Not intestines, then. He stopped himself from flailing by an effort of will; no point in embarrassing the boy.

"It doesn't matter!" he said, smiling. "After all, I shouldn't bother you with any old Latin term, should I? Especially when it's Greek. Now let's see..." He pulled the book back, gently, looking through the index, hunting for the reproductive system. To his moderate lack of surprise, it seemed it was located in the section the two of them had just looked at.

"Found any good books yourself?" he added.

[notamageiswear]

"A-ah, right..." Negi sat back in his seat. If he was going to get this embarrassed over their current subject of study, he wasn't going to go far at all. Time to man up, as his dad would say.

He picked thoughtfully at one leather-bound book, pulling it from the pile and setting it in front of himself. "I have a few that look promising, but...I suppose we'll see how things go!" He opened the book, scanning through the first few pages for key words that jumped out at him, but not taking the time to fully read.

"Hmm, this one seems to be all about reproduction, if I'm seeing right." Negi flipped the page again, and froze. On the two open pages, like a perversion of a childrens' picture book, was a large drawing of a man and a woman who looked to be enjoying themselves in a...my goodness, that position looked painful. His face went red, and he slammed the book shut. If Asuna caught him reading something like that...!

[tono_twerp]

It was beginning to dawn on him that this, perhaps, was one of those rare occasions when having company was not a good idea. It was embarrassing enough on its own, but having to deal with someone else's awkwardness on top of it could get unpleasant very quickly.

"Maybe find a book without illustrations?" he suggested, sympathetically. His own book seemed to favour the schematic approach, but the coldly clinical descriptions weren't exactly encouraging.

[notamageiswear]

"B-but I wasn't trying to find one with illustrations!" Negi was beyond flustered. Who would leave such a book just sitting out on the shelves!? Something like that belonged in the adult section!

He sunk down in his seat a little, very un-typical for the teacher, who normally sat upright, back straight. He grasped at another book from his pile, breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be nothing more than a medical textbook. "W-what is it that you're looking for, exactly, Tamaki-san?"

[tono_twerp]

"I'm looking for terms," he said, trying to look calm and collected. It wasn't normally a problem to stay on top of things - well, not usually, anyway - but then, normally he had an inkling of what he was supposed to be doing.

"The proper terms. For things. And maybe a bit about why I can't get pregnant." Even though the pregnancy test he'd taken had been negative, it would be nice to have it confirmed that it wasn't something he needed to worry about in future, either.

[notamageiswear]

Proper terms. Good. Negi could - hopefully - find the proper terms for things without getting too badly embarrassed. Especially in a medical textbook.

"So we want to find out the differences between male and female, too...?" He glanced up at Tamaki as he flipped through his book, looking for the section that spoke of such things. If he could set himself into study mode, like back at the academy, he should be alright.

[tono_twerp]

"I think I do have a general sort of overview of that," he admitted, a slight blush creeping into his cheeks. The main reason he had been worried about pregnancy, after all, was the flexibility of reality that seemed to be so characteristic of Adstringendum. Really, why did everyone seem to think that male pregnancy was so unlikely in a place that had insane, erratic events every other week? A slight biological adaption ought not to be considered so odd.

"I just need, ah. A better vocabulary," he said, lips moving as he tried to mouth a series of rather suspicious-sounding Latin words.

[notamageiswear]

Negi nodded. "Alright. I don't think that should be too hard..."

He approached the reproductive organs section of the medical textbook with caution, just in case someone had slipped something in, like that horrible misplaced book he had stumbled upon. He gingerly turned the thin pages, coming across a full diagram of the male reproductive anatomy and blushing just slightly. He studied the picture for just a moment, then turned the page and blushed even worse at the female reproductive anatomy.

After a few moments of nearly closing the book, Negi looked up. "Well, Tamaki-san, as far as I can see, men don't have these things called ovaries..."