Tseng (hairsbreadth) wrote in city_limits, @ 2009-04-25 01:29:00 |
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Current mood: | weird |
Entry tags: | oliver jerzyck, tseng hashimoto |
Tseng, Oliver. Oliver, Tseng.
The public library was a place Oliver seldom visited no matter what city he was currently living in. He either bought books or he read newspapers, and by and large the current crop of fiction did nothing to inspire him to apply for a library card. Standing outside on the concrete, he finished his cigarette and put it out in the sand-filled ashtray to his left, then adjusted the collar of his shirt and went inside. The lobby was lined with racks of free literature, and he perused it idly on his way past.
The interior of the building was softly lit, large wooden tables filling an area to the right of the desk, and the mage stepped aside so a woman pushing a stroller could get the wheeled contraption through the doors on her way out. The quiet made him want to yell just for the hell of it, just to see who would glare. His hard soled shoes made hollow sounds on the tiles as he made his way over to the desk, noting the bulletin board on the wall to the right. Community activities, bake sales, announcements from people selling cars.
There was a man around his age behind the counter, and Oliver tapped on the solid surface with one knuckle. "Excuse me."
Tseng was working a double shift, figuring he could use the extra money to take Jessica out to dinner or something else if she didn't want dinner, but what person didn't want dinner? Okay, clearly? He wasover-thinking things. Again. He did that, it was frustrating. Thankfully he'd been given the dull but necessary task of adding new stock to the database so whenever people came in they could find the book they were looking for without a lot of scrambling through bookcases. It kept his mind occupied.
He pushed his glasses back up on his nose and regarded the tall rather pale man stood on the other side of the desk. "Hello," he greeted with a small smile. "Can I help you?"
"Let's hope so. I'm looking for a guy named Tseng, I understand he works here?" Oliver tone was a little clipped; not precisely rude, just brusque. He got that way when he was dealing with strangers. "If you could direct me, I'd appreciate it."
There was a reading group nearby, kids of around seven, and he studied the tops of their heads for a moment. That was right, school was still in session, wasn't it?
Tseng lifted an eyebrow at the request of his name, wondering who this man was and how he knew his name. He couldn't recall meeting him and for one brief moment he felt a cold stab of fear, wondering if the other-him had done or said something stupid and now this man was here to do whatever it was he needed to do.
"Uh, yeah, certainly. I'm Tseng and you are?"
"Oliver Jerzyck. Konnichiwa." The spell-caster bowed slightly before extending his hand across the desk. "I'm a friend of Jessica's, been putting her up since she got to the city. She mentioned your name, I decided to stop by and give you my thanks for taking care of her while I was away.I understand she avoided a hospital stay because of you."
It was partially true, but he also just wanted to get a look at the guy. He wasn't wired to like many people, and if Jessica was showing an interest in this person it might bear paying attention to. For the sake of soothing his own paranoia. "Nice to make your acquaintance."
Tseng returned the greeting in a more fluent accent than the one Oliver had managed to pull off, taking hold of the other man's hand. "It wasn't a problem," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "She was in a bad way and didn't want to stay in, it made sense to offer to look after her so the doctor was okay with letting her go. Plus, I was worried and I didn't want her to be alone. I'm just glad she's feeling better and she didn't get any more scars because of what happened."
"It's nice to meet you too."
"I didn't get many details, I think she'd just as soon put it behind her." Oliver tucked his hands into his pockets and took a step closer to the desk. Face-to-face, Tseng looked younger than he'd first appeared, a possible side effect of the glasses. He looked harmless and unprepossessing there behind the desk, as if he never raised his voice above a polite murmur even when he wasn't within the confines of the library. The taller man rested an elbow on the counter.
"She speaks highly of you. I take it the two of you have been spending a lot of time together while I was gone. Do you go to school somewhere in Chicago? Must be quite the change from home for you."
"Which is understandable," Tseng said as he returned his gaze to the computer, scanning a bar-code and adding a few meticulous details that only he would key in. He glanced up only briefly when Oliver mentioned Jessica speaking highly of him and flushed with colour, clearing his throat. "She's probably being too kind, I did what any good friend would have done in my position. I care about her." Alot, but he didn't mention that out-loud, keeping that particular thought to himself.
School? That question did in fact bring about a very puzzled look. "I don't go to school, I work here full time. I did most of my schooling in Japan before I made the decision to move here a couple years ago. I wanted a change, something different from home."
He tipped his head at Oliver. "How do you know Jessica?"
"Well, I presume you know how she got here," Oliver replied somewhat pointedly. "I've been passing her off as my cousin until she could get her papers in order, have the necessary identification that government types insist everyone carry. She was rather...feral the first time I saw her, as if she might lash out and bite me. Some of those rough edges seem to have smoothed out."
He could see the 'No Smoking' sign from where he stood, the prohibition repeated in Spanish underneath that, and he fiddled with a stray pencil instead of reaching for his cigarettes. "How 'good' a friend are you?"
Tseng looked up at Oliver through the lenses of his glasses, wondering if he was imagining the somewhat clipped way the man was speaking. And why he felt the need to tell him about Jessica's initial feral reaction to a brand new world was completely beyond Tseng. "I'm sure she's grateful to you for your help."
He returned his gaze to the computer and inputted another book, adding it to the horror section. He frowned as he was sure he saw damage on the spine and turned it in his hands, running his thumb over it. Yes, there was slight damage, how disappointing. Tseng placed it to one side, making a mental note to look into repairing it later.
"I'm not sure how my relationship with Jessica is any of your business," Tseng murmured, voice ever so slightly more assertive. "I understand that you obviously care about her and wish her no harm, but I believe my relationship whatever its seriousness is between myself and Jessica. We're close if that's what you want to know and I care about her."
Oliver's eyebrows went up, disappearing into the shaggy fringe that shielded his brow from the sun, and he let go of the writing implement to allow it to roll unimpeded across the counter. So there was a spine under that milk-toast facade after all. How refreshing. The corners of his mouth lifted into a tight smile.
"Spoken like a man in love," he remarked, bringing his other arm to rest on the counter so he could fold it on top of its fellow. "Or at least by a man who thinks he could be in love. You speak like a gentleman, sir, and for that I commend you. When someone's been in a war zone the trauma should be lessened, not increased. I can't imagine what she must have gone through. If I overly express my concern, its because I like her, and when you don't like many people you do what you can for the ones you do like."
Tseng's eyes may or may not have widened at the use of the word 'love'. He liked Jessica alot, but he wasn't sure if he was in love just yet. Didn't love take time? Okay, breathe, and he did. It helped. He nodded his head in agreement, glancing back at his work as he continued its mundane task. "Guess it's a good thing she's in this world and not her own, huh? Might not have had as much help there as she did here after that attack."
He turned another book over and checked the bar-code into the system. "I don't have any friends lurking in any shadows that would take it upon themselves to attack her over something she said or did if that's what you're worried about. Not that I foresee that happening in the near future, but just in case."
Oliver was studying the other man, still trying to decide if he was going to like this one or not. He seemed harmless, so harmless that it was a little comical, but he had learned to look beneath the surface a little more than other people did. A pack of Kools was extracted from his inside jacket pocket, set on it narrowest edge on the wooden counter. The spell-caster began to turn it end over end, his fingers crinkling the cellophane surrounding the small box.
"I worry about a great many things," he said idly. "I'd like for Jessica's safety not to be one of them. I don't pretend to know what goes on while I'm not around, and I'm a live-and-let-live guy. Can I consider you trustworthy?"
Tseng ignored Oliver's annoying habit, busying himself with the work he had to do in order to make a living and pay his bills. His fingers eased across the keyboard easily, finding the keys with little trouble or effort. "What do you think I'm going to do exactly?" Tseng asked, voice deepening again and gaining that assertive edge. "Let me assure you that her safety is one of my top priorities, I think this chat would have been better reserved for that last guy who got close to her, but I guess it's a little too late for it now."
He sat back into the chair and tipped his head, regarding Oliver closely. "You don't know me and I don't know you, I hardly think either one of us are in any position to determine whether or not we can trust one another." Sometimes his other half, the more dominant soul, came in handy. His words came out of this Tseng's mouth, letting the hint of a spine become a more real thing in Oliver's mind.
"Words are exactly that, just words. Actions however determine your true character." Tseng leaned forward and saved the book information he was working on, moving onto the next one. "I like to think I've done some good things in terms of helping Jessica."
Flip. The solid pack made a noise on the counter. "Well, you see, that's the point, sir." Flip "I don't know you and you don't know me. You could be anybody. I could be anybody, for that matter, and you'd be none the wiser. In time that will change, but until then we're strangers to one another."
Oliver stopped playing with the cigarette pack, left it standing on one corner of the box, balanced precariously on its narrowest edge. Small objects were easy to hold aloft, unobtrusive spells that drew no notice unless someone was looking directly at him. Discreet magic. He exhaled a breath, and the pack began to spin lazily, performing a slow circular dance on the wooden surface. The light reflected off of the cellophane, making miniature rainbows. He looked at Tseng without aggression, his smile becoming more relaxed.
"I'd like to think you're helping her too. If she's happy, that gives me one less thing to worry about."
Tseng glanced at the spinning cigarette pack, briefly looking up to check that nobody happened to be looking in the desk's direction. They weren't. Good. "Well," he said. "That's good to know." He looked up at Oliver and made eye contact. "It's all you'd want for her I'd imagine." Tseng picked up another book and added it to thenever-ending list.
"Well, I can see you're busy, so I will take my leave and let you get back to your books." Oliver picked up the cigarettes mid-spin, shook one out and tucked it between his lips. A middle-aged man passing the desk gave him a disapproving look; the mage looked back blandly, the unlit smoke hanging out of his mouth while he adjusted his jacket collar. Once the lapels were even, he said, "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around. I'll give Jessica your regards. Enjoy the rest of your day, sir."
His shoes clacked on the tiles as he made his way back outside, and he lit the cigarette and took a long drag, tilting his head back towards the sky so that his longish hair brushed his jacket. Maybe he liked him, maybe he didn't. He would have to trust Jessica's judgement. She was a smart enough woman that she'd lived this long, one man couldn't do that much harm at this point. And if it turned out he didn't like Tseng?
He would do what he could to keep it to himself. For once.