Kadyriath (kadyriath) wrote in regulation, @ 2008-03-25 19:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | backstory, everrett mac, kadyriath |
curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. . .
Who: Everrett Mac and Ky Janes
What: An awkward meeting in the library
When: February 2008
Where: The London Library
Rating: PG
Stauts: Closed; complete
The 'shhh'ing noise from the laptop's fan would've normally been enough to lull the boy to sleep, but with his headphones on he couldn't hear it, he could only hear the rhythmic bleep-bleeping and thump-thumping of his music. Thin fingers flew over the lettered keys and he promised himself this would be the last message board he would reply to before going back to something that actually resembled work.
It was late; the lamps around the library looked like little golden planets in the middle of a wide, red and navy-coloured galaxy. The windows were black except for the reflections of streetlamps outside, the odd reflection of car lights every now and then. Everrett hardly noticed. He'd been sitting in the same spot for hours, working on a report due weeks ago that, despite itself, kept changing directions and focus. Truthfully, he had no idea where it was going, and he was past the point of caring. He just wanted to get on with the next case.
Yawning, Everrett stared at his empty cardboard coffee cup, the little red symbol on the side of it smiling rudely at him, almost as if to tell him that he should be doing better things than this - like sleeping. Or getting drunk with friends.
Luckily for Everrett, alcohol didn't exactly agree with him. And as for friends... any that he had were probably at home, doing the same thing as he was.
Ky loved this time of day, when things slowed and most people went to do something other than read or research. Most of them disappeared out into the night, the blackness swallowing them up as soon as they were off the stairs outside. It was quieter then, no more hushed talking or the rustle of pages. It meant it was almost time where it was just him and the books, when the last few people left and he could content himself with trying to find out more about these people he lived among.
He ambled through the stacks, not minding the dimness of them as he walked, picking up falling books and replacing them, before finding where the ones he held belonged. As he slid each book back on the shelves, his fingers tripped over the titles and he's scribble unfamiliar words down in the journal he always kept with him. 'Quantum evolution', 'intimate', 'magnetism', 'microbes and diseases'. It was the books that he found in those aisles that had a lot of the words he didn't recognize. Science books, that's what they were. He hummed softly to himself as he walked, flipping through the pages, looking for past words he needed to look up and read more about. Then he heard a soft 'click-clacking' noise and he followed. He stood in the shadow of the aisle, eyes falling to the source of the sound.
Pale thin fingers moved quickly, pressing keys on what he came to know as a 'laptop computer' not that long ago. He'd heard two kids talking about it and then the research followed. He had tried to use one of the computers in the library but it confused him and was something he promptly rejected. They were interesting things but after failing to figure them out, he was a bit dejected about them.
His attention soon shifted up to the face of the man, long blond hair hanging down and some big black things resting on the man's nose. His brow furrowed slightly as he stared. He'd seen others with them but hadn't dared ask what they were yet. They seemed too common for it to seem a proper thing to not know. He chewed his lip slightly, not moving from the spot and just staring in silence. There was something about those things and the man that held him--most others he'd seen with similar pieces on their noses were thiner and not nearly so distinct as those.
Everrett's nose twitched as he attempted to shuffle his glasses higher up without actually having to touch them, but to his discomfort they slid down further, making the words on the screen before him blur. Sighing softly, he lifted a hand from the keyboard and pushed the frames up by the side of the left lense. Light reflected then shadowed with the movement of his wrist and he caught something - someone - momentarily at the corner of his eye.
Pulling his earphones down and around his neck - the cord snagging at his shirt collar - Everrett looked up at the boy standing behind the furthest book of shelves and his face twisted into an exagerrated expression of apology. "I'm sorry," he said in a loud stage-whisper, yanking the headphones off from around his neck and fiddling with his mp3 player, turning it off. "Are you closing up? I didn't um, realise it was so late..."
Eyes widening slightly, Ky bit his lip, shaking his head slightly. Normally when he looked, no one ever really looked back. They continued doing the same thing they always did. "No, we aren't yet." The words were softly whispered back, his accent thick. "You're fine."
He moved forward a bit, face illuminated a bit more. With the other looking at him, it was a lot easier to see what the things he had and he was still staring without realising it. This man looked different than a lot he'd seen, more interesting for some unnameable reason.
Still, Everrett fiddled with his things, trying to pile them all into some semblance of order. What he ended up with was a closed laptop, his player complete with headphones, and the cardboard cup dangling precariously at the top of it all. Swinging his scarf on, he accidentally knocked over the cup and it went sailing onto the floor, the plastic lid popping off and spilling the remains of what had been a vanilla latte onto the carpet. Wincing, he scrambled down to pick it up and caught his ankle on the edge of the table, tripping slightly on his way down.
"Ow," he muttered, grabbing everything together again and struggling onto his knees before sliding back onto the chair. "Was I making too much noise?" he asked, shoving his glasses up with his wrist, fingers sticky from the cold coffee. "I type harder when I'm listening to music." He noticed the boy had an accent, and he couldn't quite place it. That in itself was odd; Everrett had seen and heard so many places and people throughout his life, but there was something about this that was entirely new. Maybe he was a traveller.
Ky moved a little closer, brows raising as the man worked to pile his things together. His own fingers held tight to the worn journal in his hand, scraps of paper and his pen sticking out of it. "I'll have someone take care of that," he said once the cup was picked up, eyes flickering down to the darker patch of carpet.
"You were fine though. Not too loud. I just--I didn't know anyone else was still here. You really don't have to go," he said quickly, standing near the edge of the spilled coffee, head cocked slightly as he watched the light shine, obscuring the other's eyes slightly.
Everrett covered the patch with one trainered-foot and grimaced apologetically. "I'm really sorry about that," he muttered, still fiddling with the frames of his glasses, working out what to do with his hands. The boy just seemed to intent on looking him in the eye - the one thing that Everrett avoided doing in conversations. That, and talking too much, of course.
"Umm," he said rather articulately, scratching his fingers through his thick blond hair once he decided that his fingers had had enough excersise on his glasses. "Okay. I guess I can stay. For a bit longer." He snorted, a little too loudly, and tried on a small, sheepish grin. "Not that I was working that hard, anyway..."
"It's not the worst of what happens here. You'd never guess what some of the kids do." The fact that the man kept fiddling with those black and shiny things over his eyes made Ky stare all the more. The fingers on his free hand twitched slightly, longing to at least touch the things, and maybe find out what they were called finally, but he hastily shoved his hand in his pocket instead to keep from reaching out. "At the very least, you didn't spill it on a book so the librarians won't be upset."
He offered the slightest bit of a smile in return, rocking back on his heels. "What were you working on?" The words sounded a little odd as he tried to mimic more how the other was saying them and failing.
Everrett pulled his hand free from his hair and tucked some behind his ear, but he didn't open the laptop again. There was no point; any concentration he had left had well and truly spilled from that cup, along with the coffee. "Oh, you know. This and that." He cleared his throat and pressed the back of his hand against his mouth, holding back a yawn, suddenly overwhelmed by how tired he felt. How long had he been sitting here? "Boring stuff. Work stuff. Reports and...things." He smiled as politely as he could, picking up his player and sliding it into the side-pocket of his messenger bag as he slung the thing onto the table.
He blinked, realising the boy was still staring at him. It made him feel unaccountably uncomfortable - was there something on his face? Without asking, he began scrubbing at his right cheek with the sleeve of his plaid shirt, wondering if somehow the foam from the coffee had managed to get there.
Ky drummed his fingers lightly on the cover of his journal, rocking back on his heels again. "Oh. A shame it's boring. But I guess not all jobs can be interesting?" The words trailed off into a question. His own job was truly fascinating in his own opinion. It allowed him plenty of time to read and research and study humans while they did the same.
His eyebrows raised again, wondering why the man was scrubbing his cheek but unable to keep himself from asking what he'd been wanting to. "Can I--" his words faltered for a second. "Can I see those?" He pointed at his own face, where those things would have sat if he himself were wearing them. He didn't realise how sudden the question seemed, or how odd it might be viewed as.
"My... my glasses?" Everrett asked, his tone a mixture of surprise and caution. He carefully flipped one side of his hair over his shoulder and held a protective hand over one side of his face, fingers curling over the left arm of his spectacles. "Why?"
Glasses? An odd name. . . Ky thought, just barely keeping himself from opening his notebook to jot it down. He had to come up with an answer, something acceptable and he was failing. "Oh, uh, because most I've seen are smaller, thinner?" The wording was hesitant and he chewed his bottom lip for a moment. "And the ladies who work here never let me see theirs because they're too busy." It seemed reasonable enough to him.
Why would you want to see a pair of glasses? Everrett questioned silently, looking around to make sure that they were alone, that this wasn't part of some cruel joke. This had happened to him in Hogwarts; some older kids from Hufflepuff had gotten hold of them and snapped one of the arms off. It took him ages to get out of the library and find someone to cast a repair charm on them.
"I should go," he said quickly, hands shaking slightly as he curled up the cord from his laptop and slid it inside his bag, before doing the same with the computer.
Ky opened his mouth and promptly closed it, brow furrowing as he noted the shaking. "I didn't mean--I just--sorry," he offered slightly. He'd yet to understand what that word men but he'd heard this one use it early and something about it seemed appropriate. "I just always wanted a pair. I only would have looked." Even as he spoke the words softly and took a few steps back, he was silently cursing himself in his own language for being foolish. He should have waiting to find out more about the things, and not asked about it. Now the other seemed to be reacting ill for some reason.
Everrett looked up as he pushed his arms through the sleeves of his hoodie, just in time to see the darker boy slink away and he instantly felt guilty - there was genuine hurt in his expression. "Um," he offered, gathering his things and slinging his bag over his head and shoulder. "Hey, wait." Jogging around the table, he caught up with the other boy and was surprised to come face to face with the middle of his chest - he hadn't seemed so tall when he'd been sitting down.
Tilting his head up, he squinted up at the older boy. "I can't really take them off," he explained. "I'm blind as a bat without them..."
It was odd to Ky, to be taller than another boy. Most that he met were taller but this one wasn't. He wasn't by much though still taller, and that thought would have made him smile any other time. "Oh," he said softly thought he phrase didn't quite register. What did bats have to do with anything? Whatever it was was the reason the boy wore them, and it made him even more eager to see them. But this close, they were easier to see. The middle part of these 'glasses' shone with the light, clear like that that covered the windows of the library. The outer part were dark and he couldn't keep from reaching up and touching them just briefly on that black part, a smile slowly forming as he hand dropped back to his side.
"It's okay. The others who work here tell me I'm too curious for my own good. I didn't mean to make you feel--" His brow furrowed as he tried to think of the word but failed, just letting the silence fill in. The humans used the word 'feel' a lot and he just didn't understand it really, but it seemed right for the moment, at least, until words failed him.
Everrett's face burned and his throat went dry, nervousness crashing over him again as the darker boy's hand came up to touch not his face, but his glasses. It felt weird.
"Okay," he said, the first vowel pronounced longer than the rest of the word, so it sounded more like, "oooo" instead of "oh". He smiled awkwardly and fingered the strap on his messenger bag, unsure what to do or say next. His laptop was weighing down his shoulder, aching and familiar.
"You're certainly... curious." It was almost a question, and before Everrett could elaborate on it he stopped the end of his tone from rising. "Well. This was nice." With a delibrate shake of his arm, he checked his watch. "Oh, look at the time. I need to feed my snake before he eats his own tail."
The bit of red that crept up onto the blond's face intrigued Ky and he wanted to know what caused it, but it seemed the man just kept finding reasons to leave. And though he couldn't explain it, he felt odd for detaining him further.
"I still need to find someone to clean that up, so, I won't keep you longer. Snakes are great creatures though, aren't they?" He hoped that just the suggestion of that might bring new meetings and conversations. There was something fascinating about this human that he wanted to learn, he just wasn't sure what exactly it was yet.
Everrett's eyes brightened a little at that and he nodded enthusiastically, despite himself. "Oh, completely," he agreed. "I love snakes." He smiled awkwardly and backed away slowly, picking up his empty cup from the desk on his way. "Maybe I'll catch you again some time," he said. He was always using this library to study in - it was cosier than most Wizarding libraries and he could bring hot drinks in without someone - or something - breathing down his neck and telling him to put it away.
"Me too," Ky murmured softly, taking his own steps back toward the stacks. He gave a lopsided grin and the wave thing he saw people do often when either approaching or leaving a conversation with someone. "And I'm here every day, so, maybe we will see each other again."