Fun in the library

[deus_per_libri]

Characters: Alfons Heiderich blau_rakete, Yagami Light deus_per_libri.
When: September 3rd.
Where: The library
Rating: PG
Summary: Light just wants a friend. No, really.

Comments

*Doesn't believe your summary. At all. :P*

[blau_rakete]

As he usually was, Alfons was almost buried in a pile of books that he'd found; the books had fallen off of one of the shelves in the back of the library and he was in the middle of trying to re-organize them onto the shelving again. He perked up when he heard his name, setting down a book and trying to step over some other texts so he wasn't so 'trapped'.

"Ja, it ist Alfons!" he called out. Though really, anything said in his accent would be enough to identify the boy. "Light?"

You sceptical person, you!

[deus_per_libri]

He followed the sound of the boy's voice, walking past dusty shelves and worn-looking, half-collapsed desks and chairs. Like everything else in Adstringendum, the library was... less than satisfactory.

"Hello," he said, when he spotted Alfons. The sight of the small mountain of books made him smile, and he walked closer, bending down and picking up a few of the ones that had landed in such a way that they were open; he didn't want the spines to break. "You need a hand, I see. What happened?"

Y'know that creeper icon doesn't help =3=;

[blau_rakete]

Alfons chuckled a little and rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked down at the books scattered everywhere.

"I... am not so sure," he finally said after a moment. "I came back here to see vhat sort of books there vhere, but I found them all like this. Actually, it ist surprising that some shelves in the building have not been knocked over in some way or another...

"Ah, but that ist not vhy you are here," Alfons said, once again trying to climb out of the books without damaging any. "You vanted to look for books about Adstringendum, ja?"

Whut? That's his "oh so friendly" icon! *pouts*

[deus_per_libri]

He stood up and clutched the books to his chest, holding out his free hand to offer Alfons something to support himself on as he climbed out of the pile.

"Yes," he said, easily and truthfully, "there are so many things about Adstringendum that confuse me, and so many that I still have a hard time believing, that finding reliable information in books would be a really good help. If I don't have any luck with that, though, I'd like to ask you about things, if that's all right?"

OMG, and that one looks like a mug shot, rofl!

[blau_rakete]

"Danke," Alfons said quietly as he took Light's hand, finally managing to get out of the pile of books.

"I am not sure if there vould be many books here about that, really..." he said. "I imagine that if there vere any books, they have already been taken by people like you vho are interested in them, or they might even be hidden avay vhere they vould be harder to find. If ve cannot find anything, then I vill be happy to help you, Light. Though I do not know if much of vhat I know ist useful. I have not been here for long," he said, though 'long' was a relative term with some people being here over a year and some disappearing in mere weeks. "But I vill try, ja?"

Well observed - it is! ^^ From the art book. I can show you the whole if you like

[deus_per_libri]

He nodded, holding his arm steady and still until Alfons was out of the mountain of books. The news that there might not be books available came as no real shock; certainly, if the idea behind this place was to keep people under control, denying them information was an obvious first step.

"Thank you," he said, smiling again. "I'll look for books first. Do you have any idea where to look, or do we just have to search blindly?"

He paused, but taking an interest in the boy's experiences was probably a good idea, too.

"Were you just dragged here without warning?" he added. "I know I was..."

OH! I've seen that! No wonder it clicked in my head as a mug shot... XD;

[blau_rakete]

"Vell, I do know vhere the books vould not be," Alfons said, pointing over to one end of the library. "I have already looked through that entire section, simply to find books to read for myself. I saw nothing about this place. If I had, I vould have definitely taken it."

Alfons blinked at Light, quickly looking away--though he tried to make it seem like he moved his entire body away at once, heading towards an un-searched area of the building to take Light to. "Everyvone here vas, ja," he said, waving a hand to get Light to follow after him. He left his answer at that, though. Only Edward and a few other people knew what really happened right before he'd come there.

The DN Art Book is gorgeous. With lots of half-naked boys; the artist is a wise man

[deus_per_libri]

Oh, so 'home' was a sore point, was it? He filed that away for future reference, to be brought up again at some later point, to invite Alfons to a greater show of trust. He fell into step beside him, looking around as they walked up to where the search was to begin.

"It's very quiet here, isn't it?" he said, his tone doubtful. "Is everyone so busy hunting for food that they neglect this place? Or do people here just not like books?"

... half-naked boys is always a good thing. There's some of those in my FMA artbooks~

[blau_rakete]

Alfons shrugged as he walked through the shelves, finally stopping down at the other end of the building in an area that he hadn't looked in much before. Everything looked so un-touched there, aside from a few crooked, leaning shelves; perhaps something useful would be there.

"Mh, I am not sure," Alfons said with a shrug and a slight frown. "I know that some people here vould not be interested in books," he said, thinking of Kevin right away, as well as Elysia, since she wasn't quite old enough to read. "But mostly, I think that everyvone ist too vorried vith the events that happen in this place, und never think to come here.

"Though I do like how quiet it ist here," he said. "It makes it a much nicer und calmer place to come vhen I am in need of books, or just some space avay from others," Alfons said with a shrug.

I always feel so wonderfully understood when I see fanservice. :-P

[deus_per_libri]

Alfons had a point; this place was quiet and calm, and was potentially useful for that reason. Especially if it was a location that didn't really feature on the mental maps of most Adstringendum residents.

"It is nice, isn't it?" he agreed, pulling out a book at random. It was a thesis, of some sort: Lace-making through the ages, with particular emphasis on Dutch and Belgian 17th-century traditions. Not even he could find a use for that sort of information, so he put it back, pulling out another one.

"The events worry me a little, I admit," he added, flicking through what seemed to be a cookery book. "I haven't experienced one yet. There's nothing that can be done to stop them?"

Oh, I know. I admit, I'm loving the new FMA anime so much because of the HUGE amount of fanservice

[blau_rakete]

Alfons started to look through the books, reading the spines on most of them and only pulling out the ones that had faded away too much to be read so easily.

"No, there ist not much that can be done," he said, shaking his head. "Though not all of the events are bad. Vhen I came here, everything had been turned into a beach. It vas quite pleasant, really. Und the mistletoe... it vas not so bad, if you vere able to avoid the plants. And even then... at least it vas not like the veek vhere all of our possessions became animate und attacked us," Alfons said with a frown, remembering his own experience all too clearly.

The new FMA is a thing of beauty. <3

[deus_per_libri]

"What did the mistletoe do, if you didn't avoid it?" he asked, curiously. The information that not all events were bad was somehow surprising; it seemed the rulers of this place - whoever they actually were - had another, and different agenda from what he had first thought.

"Your possessions attacked you?" he added, echoing Alfon's expression and frowning. "You were hurt?"

Oh, yes~! I watched the new episode live tonight. So sad :(

[blau_rakete]

"Somehow... ve vere stuck beneath the mistletoe until ve vere kissed," Alfons said, glad that the dim light that filtered in through a few windows wasn't enough to show the light blush on his cheeks. "Any kiss vould do, though; on the hand, or cheek. But the plants vere everyvhere, indoors und out."

At Light's next question, Alfons paused a moment, hand still on the spine of a book for a few seconds before he finally pulled the book out to look at. "Any und every object in the house vas dangerous," he said. "Furniture, knives, books, even. My suspenders tried to strangle me," he said, still frowning. It wasn't that exact event that made him dislike that day, though... Getting choked wasn't a good thing, no, but it was better than the events that had come of it.

Ah? I haven't watched it yet.

[deus_per_libri]

Oh. He pulled out another volume and let the mistletoe information pass without comment, though he hardly liked the sound of it. It seemed undignified. Mocking, even. His dislike of the 'Animus', or the 'scientists', or whatever the actual rulers of this place were, went up another notch.

"That sounds horrible," he said, glancing at Alfons, his expression startled and concerned. "Strangle you? Were you all right? You didn't die?" The latter sounded like an absurd question, but it seemed to be a legitimate one, in this particular world.

I don't know /exactly/ what happened, since it was all Japanese... xD *Waiting for subs to come out*

[blau_rakete]

"No, no," Alfons said quickly, shaking his head and pulling out another book. "There vere others at home vho heard me in my room und even saw my over the PCD Netvork. I had a few bruises on my neck, but I vas fine."

Alfons paused, then, before starting up again. "Und your PCD... I can guarantee you that it vill turn on by itself, und at some of the vorst times. They have a habit of doing so. Though, it ist not alvays bad. Like vhen I vas being strangled, it svitched on und people saw und came to help me."

They should be out in a few hours, with any luck. *also waiting*

[deus_per_libri]

He had been told things that seemed to indicate that the PCD had a tendency to turn itself on accidentally. He had planned to have a closer look at the thing to see if it was a design flaw that could be repaired, but if it was not... it would be like under constant supervision again.

"I'm glad!" he said, smiling. "Such luck, that it turned on just when you needed help the most." His smile flickered and died, and he turned to Alfons with a slightly worried expression, his hands pausing in their work. "Tell me," he said, lowering his voice, "several people have said that when you die, you lose something... what sort of thing? How bad is it?"