I Have My Books [Active/Open]

[choreoandcode]

Characters: Foxx, whoever wants to bother her
Time: Afternoon, after classes
Location: Library
Content: Foxx wants to be alone. Please come bother her.
Format: Paragraph, but I'm up for changing things around.
Warnings: None so far

Comments

[ilcercatore]

While Hijikata was, by all means and ways, a rather academic-focused mind at times, even the teenager had to agree on the fact that the library was mostly rather boring. Books were good for what they were worth certainly, but with enough time they would simply start to make him fall asleep from the constant stream of text he found himself staring at. As a general rule to himself, he only went to the library for two reasons: one to get books, and another for the air-conditioning

[choreoandcode]

Foxx glanced up from the laptop's screen as a tune grew louder. Someone was approaching - someone who likely wasn't there to actually use the library, judging from how distracted they sounded.

As the person came into view, she quickly looked back down at her laptop screen. Somehow, she hadn't expected the tune to belong to a guy. Going to an all-girls' school hadn't exactly prepared her for social interaction with the opposite sex, and she had no idea how to go about it, or even if she should. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering why he was even here in the first place. Didn't people usually come into the library with a focus in mind?

[ilcercatore]

'Focus' was something that only applied to Hijikata when he was doing his physical work, like training. While he was decent in his academics, lounging at a place with a book wasn't exactly something that the teenager was that all inclined to do under usual circumstances. Today was an exception however, since he had nothing else better to do and it would look better if he had a reason to hang in the library other than partaking in its fine air-conditioning.

Wandering around the many bookshelves and their equally many selections, the dark-haired teenager found himself at a bit of a loss at where to start searching - he had never been a fan of libraries and didn't know much about them, so like hell if he knew where and how to start finding something more related to his interest.

[choreoandcode]

He was wandering, and she could hear the confusion in his tune. Was he lost? Did he even know what he was doing? She looked up as he passed near her table again. It still had nothing to do with her, but she was starting to get curious.

[mutedbackbeat]

Derrick had come into the library to look for a book for his Telepathy and Empathy class. One assignment needed an outside source, and his only guess as to where he might find one for the class was in the school's library. Though, he didn't know where to begin finding the book. Walking up and down the aisles of books was his only option until he found a computer with a catalog. Ten minutes later... He was pretty sure he was going fail the course and again wondered why he was in that class.

He noticed the girl with her laptop and her beat that sounded like she wanted to be left alone. By chance, he looked up and found a book titled Communications of the Mind. That had to work. The shelf was abnormally high, even with his tall and lanky stature. Derrick stood on the tips of his toes trying to grasp the worn spine with his fingertips. His stance wobbled

[choreoandcode]

Foxx glanced up when the boy passed her way. He sounded a bit unsure, but a second listen confirmed what she already thought - it had nothing to do with her. That established, she looked back at her screen, perfectly content to return to her forum.

That didn't last long. She jumped in surprise at the sharp thuds of books hitting carpet, then looked over at the boy, utterly nonplussed and none too worried about his apology. "Are you alright?" she tried after a few seconds of silence.

[mutedbackbeat]

He really hadn't meant to scare her or make her tune jump like that. Pushing himself up and off the floor, he gave a look around at the other fallen books and started to pick them up and put them on the table... as quietly as he could despite the silence of the library being disrupted.

"Um. Yeah. Think so. Kinda had a cushion..." Derrick pressed down gently on the top of his head, where a mass of red curls were. A slight wince maybe, but it was nothing he couldn't deal with. "Sorry for starling you," he apologized again.

[choreoandcode]

She got to her feet and made her way over to the boy, bending over to help him pick up the books. "Don't worry about it," she told him. "I'm just glad I didn't have to go find the nurse." Witnessing death by library book would not have been a good way to start the semester.

She glanced at one of the books as she put it on the table - Communications of the Mind? That was some pretty heavy reading. She debated saying anything - it wasn't her place to ask, but she was curious. "What were you looking for?"

[rockedrhythm]

Wow. This library was pretty darn massive. Morrison had some experience with using the local one back home, but somehow this place managed to make that one seem a lot less impressive. Probably the cleanliness factor. He looked at the rows and rows of books lined up, all in order, and tried to remember how the system worked around here. He may not have come to the school for the classes, but maybe there was still something to learn.

After a minute or two of awkward shelf-wandering, he gave a defeated sigh. He didn't want to ask the librarian, because that guy looked unpleasant as all get-out. Odds were better on a student--usually people in the library knew where stuff was, right? He was just the exception.

Morrison's eyes fell on the pale girl sitting alone. Dressed up all prim, on her own, with a laptop and a tune of focus and solidarity. Yeah, she was the picture of the bookwormy sort. He moved to the end of the table, giving a short wave. "Hey, d'you know where the science stuff is in here?"

[choreoandcode]

She heard the tune coming and ignored it. It sounded confused, a little bit unsure, and every other person who had come into the library today with a tune like that had walked right by her, at least initially. She didn't expect this one to be any different.

That pretty much explained her surprise when the boy belonging to the tune addressed her. She glanced over at him, not entirely sure why he was asking her when the reference desk was barely fifteen feet away. "No idea," she replied simply. "Did you try the librarian?"

[rockedrhythm]

The indifferent part of her tune jerked even harder than her expression showed. The lonesome sort, huh? Hadn't been expecting to get noticed. Morrison shrugged at the question. "The guy's kind of a creeper, rather not bother him, you know?"

He could have apologized for the interruption and left there, but that wasn't the sort of person Morrison was. It would be a real shame to bother someone without anything to have come of it. He leaned over to try and get a look at her screen. "What'cha working on?"

[choreoandcode]

"He's also there for a reason," she pointed out flatly. "I'm sure you can handle him." Sarcasm was a double-edged sword, though in Foxx's experience people tended to leave her alone when she started using it, which was exactly what she wanted in this instance.

She heard his intent before he actually moved and sharply snapped her laptop shut before he could see what she was doing. Given that she'd been trying her hand once again at hacking the Institute's mainframe (which was proving to be simpler than she'd expected), she didn't exactly want anyone to see what she was up to. "Nothing that concerns you," she replied evenly as she could manage, tone not belying her irritation.