InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Don't call me Squeakyboy."

Aleksandra Makarov ❅ Maržanna (pavornocturnus) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2011-09-25 17:35:00

Entry tags:

marzanna, thor

Dirty Secrets
Who: James & Juliet
What: James' top secret mission to the library to acquire more reading material may potentially be sabotaged by one dorky librarian's aide.
Where: Balboa Public Library, Newport Beach
When: Noonish? Not a very ninja-esque time, but it's what James is working with...

Juliet's fingers kneaded her temples, letting her glasses slide to the bridge of her nose as she hid between the stacks in order to regain her composure. She wasn't having a bad day, necessarily - it was simply the overbearing lack of sleep that caused her concentration to waver, and thus called for breaks where she would lose herself amidst the shelves of books like a child playing hide and seek within words themselves. Taking in a deep breath, she settled herself and adjusted her glasses (only ever required when working, or reading) and pushed her cartload of books back out into the main area of the bookstore.

Since it was later on a Sunday, she had been left to her lonesome; but she was more than capable of handling the nearly quiet as a tomb library, nearly bereft of any people at all except for those who had reports due exactly the next day or had no where else to go in order to capture a quiet moment. The fact that they were even open on a Sunday was rather rare, but Juliet didn't begrudge the hours nor the pay that it awarded her for being willing to work on the weekends. The job was a boon in more than one way - the paychecks were only one plus, as there was the added bonus of being something of her own personal library, making a huge dent in the amount she would have had to spend on text books and other reading material.

Reaching the librarian's desk (neat as a pin, and yet Juliet itched to rearrange the space to her own ideas of utility and efficiency - still, she didn't, knowing that her boss was very, very touchy about others invading her desk), Juliet went around the counter and started digging into the drop off box, pulling out titles that would have to be reentered into the system, sorted, and put back on the shelf. It wasn't a demanding job, and in the short time she'd spent there she had already learned the layout of the library like the back of her hand. Bent over with her focus entirely on the drop box, she didn't hear the gentleman approach her, looking a bit lost.

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torden
2011-09-26 02:24 am UTC (link)

When James was younger he would go to his hometown library on Sundays. He loved those evenings where he would hide amongst the shelves, going through the collections that were available and picking out books that he felt would appeal to Alex while she was ill. That was the cover up for his trips- to get books for his sick little sister and of course he did, but he always picked up books for himself.

The memory of the libraries being so empty on Sunday's always stayed with him and it was the same in every location he visited. He figured his relocating to California would make it no different. So, when he ran out of books to read, he slipped into the library with intentions of getting fresh stock.

Looking around the library he felt a level of impatience emerge. He wanted to get in and out of the library quickly before anyone could see him. Not knowing something was a weakness to James and asking a question, whether it be directions or information, was too close to admitting a fault. Still, James was faced with a decision to make: ask for help or spend more precious time wandering around lost. It would be more time to get caught looking like a nerd.

"Hey, can you help me?" James called out to a girl with dark hair. He flashed her a smile, slipping into his role of flirt, and slipped a hand into his pants pocket.

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pavornocturnus
2011-09-26 01:36 pm UTC (link)

Juliet heard the voice before she saw the young man it belonged to, and the sudden noise startled her. Jumping, she banged her head on the top of the book return cupboard, her glasses falling to the tip of her nose. She took a quick moment to reorient herself, smoothing out her gray skirt and sweater combination with quick strokes, and pushing her glasses back into place. Then she turned to the young man with a curious expression, her hands still pressed to her stomach. She abruptly adopted what she assumed looked like a nice smile, trying to seem welcoming and helpful toward his question.

"Um, yes, of course. What are you looking for?" Suddenly she felt the urge to yawn, and fought it back - it wouldn't do to look unprofessional in front of a library patron. What if he thought she was being rude, or didn't care about finding his book? She pressed her jaw together, suppressing the tickle in the back of her throat.

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torden
2011-09-26 06:52 pm UTC (link)

James chewed on the inside of his cheek while he jangled the coins in his jean pockets. He looked around the library for a moment then turned his gray eyes to the girl, knitting his eyebrow for a brief moment and showing just a small bit of concern. "You okay? Didn't mean to make you jump or anything," he commented and the moment passed, his concern disappearing. "I haven't been to this library before. I'm just looking for some new books... biographies, mainly. They could be historical or not. Doesn't really matter."

He tapped a foot and looked away. "I just want to get in and out of here." Eyes turning back to the girl he tipped his head slightly, studying her for a moment. "You look familiar. You live around here?" He felt he saw a girl with her length of hair and that shade of pale skin leaving the lobby as he got out of the elevator the other day but he wasn't entirely sure. Weirder things have happened... like when he met that girl Lucy.

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pavornocturnus
2011-09-28 04:00 pm UTC (link)

"Fine, I'm fine," she replied, still trying to stifle the yawn. Nonfiction was in its own section, unfortunately nearly buried behind the huge landslide that was fiction - and the biography section was rather small in itself, tucked away in a small corner of the library that sometimes it felt only the librarians could find.

"I can definitely show you where the biographies are, just follow me." Juliet started off at a good pace, slow enough to allow the young man to follow her, but fast enough to encourage him to keep up - it wasn't that she was uncomfortable helping others, but just that there were other duties that she needed to attend to, there was no reason in lingering all day in helping one person find a book when they had a perfectly efficient cataloging system. Sometimes it just seemed like no one knew how to read.

"Um, I do," she responded, glancing over her shoulder to look at him again, then turning back around to use the moment to finally release her suppressed yawn. The man didn't look especially familiar to her, nor was there any strange sense of recognition like there had been with Nathaniel - if this man was trying to hit on her, well, things would get very uncomfortable, very quickly. She offered no further information, instead continuing through the stacks.

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torden
2011-09-29 02:55 pm UTC (link)

"Really?" James asked, although it wasn't so much of a question. He picked up his speed to fall in step beside the pretty girl. He might not have been attracted to her in a physical sense but he appreciated her pale skin and dark hair. "I could have sworn I saw a girl that looks a lot like you in the lobby of my apartment building. Pax Letale? You ever heard of it?"

He let out a sigh and frowned at the scattered library guests who looked at him. Immediately, his guard was up, ready to spew out lies as to why he was there should he run into anyone. His sister, that would be someone he could handle finding him in the library. Adam? No, never. He'd rather serve him with another punch to the face than allow Adam to know what James was really interested in.

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pavornocturnus
2011-10-01 03:27 am UTC (link)

She stopped in midstep and turned to stare at him.

"Uh..." This was something her mother would have envisioned - someone turning into a stalker and following her around, keeping tabs on her at work and at her home. Juliet usually laughed at such thoughts, thinking her mother to be overly paranoid, but for a short moment she actually believed that her mother might have a point. Then she quickly fixed a smile in place of the apathy and tried to correct herself.

"Uh, right over here," she motioned, pointing to a shelf down a few feet inside of a row. "Um, are you looking for a particular sort of biography? Like, a war hero, or...um, a politician?" Juliet was horrible at reading people, so she quickly turned on her heel again and led the way down the aisle.

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torden
2011-10-01 07:00 pm UTC (link)

James pierced his lips and raised an eyebrow before following the weird girl. That's all she was by this point, a weird girl. "Just the biography section, I guess. I usually grab whatever looks interesting. I've read political, war hero, and historic biographies before. I'd really just be happy with whatever you come across."

He came up beside the girl and looked down at her, frowning as he looked from her to the other people in the library. "You're pretty quiet... you know, I'm just trying to make small talk." It wasn't rare that James was openly nice but for him to give out his pleasantries and then have someone, a woman, ignore his small talk only annoyed him.

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pavornocturnus
2011-10-02 09:47 pm UTC (link)

Juliet turned to the indifferent shelves and selected a few volumes. She took the moment to stifle another yawn - it was bad enough that she was making assumptions of this man, let alone letting her lack of sleep affect her work. Turning back to face him, she tried to smile a little more kindly.

"Sorry, it's, ah, been kind of a busy day - my brain is a little scattered. And yeah, actually, I do live at Pax. Do you like it there? It's such a beautiful building," she finally explained, trying to patch up the quickly eroding foundations of a simple customer relationship.

"Here's Lord George Byron, Harry S. Truman, and Julius Caesar. Varied enough for you?" She held the books out for his perusal, unsure if he'd read them before or not. Hopefully she'd done well, and if he lived in the same apartment building, maybe she'd make a friend in the bargain.

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torden
2011-10-04 01:22 pm UTC (link)

"Lord Byron sounds good, thank you," James replied with a smile as he reached for the one book she presented. He flipped back the cover and secretly enjoyed the quick rush of dusty book smell that was released.

Looking at the girl he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's a nice building. I like it well enough. It's close to family. The place has some weird stories behind it but I haven't seen anything weird happen yet." Then it clicked in his mind where he knew this girl from- the message board for the apartment complex. "You're that girl who just moved in. The one who works in the library. We talked on there... I mentioned the pool."

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pavornocturnus
2011-10-04 10:55 pm UTC (link)

Her smile quirked, amused at the man's response to her selection. He obviously enjoyed books, and that was something that was close to Juliet's own heart. They would definitely have a lot to talk about, should they run into each other at the apartment building.

Of course, these warm thoughts froze at the mention of speaking on the forum. She could quite clearly remember just who he was, especially since the topic of discussion was one she loathed. The smile on her face shattered, dissipating as though it had never existed. Any friendliness she'd been prepared to offer him was immediately snatched away.

"Oh," she replied, coldly. Turning, she replaced the other two volumes in their place on the shelves, and then tidily folded her hands on her lap. The mentioning of someone drowning in the pool, the same Nathaniel wanted to perform her water therapy in, was not really something one should be batting around lightly. Not to mention his preceding comments, the one about "nerds". Then again, he was acting much more polite now, in person, but Juliet assumed that the internet always offered even the worst of people a great anonymity in order to say whatever they wished.

"That was rather crass of you," she started, her voice struggling to be calm as she fought back yet another yawn.

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torden
2011-10-05 11:05 pm UTC (link)

"What was rather crass of me?" James questioned. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against a book shelf. Slowly, he began to realize that if this girl lived in the apartment comple then she could easily allow others to know that he was out getting books.

He grimaced at the idea and observed Juliet for a moment. She seemed less than pleased that he was there at that moment which wasn't half bad. Maybe it meant that she wouldn't talk to any of her friends, if she had any, about what James had been doing at the library.

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pavornocturnus
2011-10-07 01:11 am UTC (link)

"Your introduction," she replied, wanting to move around him and go stalking away, removing herself entirely from the situation, but the man blocked her path rather neatly. He was much taller than she, though a little on the thin side - regardless, he still made Juliet feel a little nervous, but she was quite certain that he wouldn't do anything rash. Of course, here she was, making assumptions again, but it was a public library!

"And then the comments about the pool. Are you just trying to drive people away? One would think you'd have more respect for the departed," she continued, almost feeling like she was on a roll. Part of her sudden anger potentially came from the fear of having to approach the pool once more, and just thinking that someone had met her worst fear within it's tiled walls only made her feel nauseous.

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torden
2011-10-07 01:07 pm UTC (link)

James eyebrow rose in amusement. She was getting all riled up, wasn't she?

"Would you rather you hear someone comment about the apparently murder while you were swimming in the pool? I don't know about you, but I would have been pleased to hear about that tidbit of information before I got settled at the apartment complex. If I had known before I moved in, I would probably have thought twice about getting the apartment." Or letting his sister live there, but he wasn't about to offer up personal history and make this all personal.

He shifted on his feet and let out a sigh. "I apologize for my introduction." He looked her over and gave a shake of his head, still smirking all the while. She was a little fire cracker and she didn't even know it. "Well, thanks for the book Juliet. Check out is up front?"

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pavornocturnus
2011-10-09 06:45 am UTC (link)

Her lips pulled into a severe line, disliking his further explanation. Though, in her mind, she did have to agree that had she known of the earlier death, she would most certainly have considered other options available to her - but the past was over, and she didn't have the funds to look for elsewhere to live. Not to mention that doing so would probably only give her mother more ammunition in her constant battle to bring Juliet home; no, she would just have to buck up and deal with this new information, even if it caused her to dislike the messenger.

"Yes," she replied hotly. "There's a self check-out stand, which I'm sure you can figure out." Since you seem to know everything, she finished in her mind, much too polite to ever speak such words aloud. As long as such an urging got him out of her way, that was all that mattered.

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torden
2011-10-09 08:22 pm UTC (link)

James smiled and raised the book to his forehead, giving a mock salute before turning on his heel. "Well, Juliet," he called over his shoulder. "It's been nice meeting you. Do enjoy your stay at Pax and I hope you settle in all right."

He let out a slight laugh as he made his way down the aisle. He certainly wouldn't be returning to this library. The girl was fun to poke and prod at but lived too close to his home. Too close to blabbing that James had a sweet tooth for books. He had his reputation to think of, after all.

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