Entry tags:

!complete, itachi uchiha, spencer hastings

Who: Itachi Uchiha itachi & Spencer Hastings ctrl_a
What: Random Run-In
When: Thursday, 10/01 [backdated]
Where: UC Irvine Library
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Closed/Completed GDoc

~*~

The library was relatively slow for a Thursday. Itachi wondered if that would change as the day drew on, but it wouldn't matter. His shift would be over with within the hour, and he would go to his own evening classes, before going home to work on any class work he might have.

He'd done his rounds, checking in on a few people he'd helped out earlier to make sure they didn't need any more research materials. After that, he put up what few books were on the check-in cart, and pushed it back to the front counter.

Itachi checked to make sure there were no more books to be put up, and after he was certain, he headed back to the reference desk, and sat down in front of his computer to see if there were any reserved books that he needed to pull for students or professors.

~*~

Spencer was new at the school, and when she’d gone to purchase her books at the bookstore there were a couple that weren’t available there. The teacher in her class said that they were available through the library, but she had to ask at the reference desk. First come first serve and all.

So, here she was. Spencer really had better things to do with her time than hope that the materials she needed were available. Maybe she could get the things online. Maybe. But some of these things were super rare. Why on Earth would this be assigned for class? It could have been a test--to see who would actually put forth the effort to do the research--but Spencer doubted most of the class would.

She headed toward the desk, pulling a paper out of her bag, then leaned against the edge and waited for someone to help her.

~*~

He'd found a few books that needed to be pulled and put on the reserve shelf for pickup tomorrow. Itachi left his station, a handwritten list of books in hand and he began picking them up one by one.

Upon returning to the reference desk with the books he'd found in the request files, Itachi noticed a young woman standing there. Rounding the desk, he sat the books down and turned to look at her. There was a slight upturning at the corners of his lips, a ghost of a smile, some would say.

"Hello," his voice was deeper than one might expect considering his build, "can I help you find something?" Itachi moved closer to where she stood, head tilted slightly to the right as he studied her. He didn't remember seeing her around before, but that meant little really. She was probably a new student, or someone that came in during the hours that he wasn't there.

~*~

It was a nice ghost of a smile, Spencer would say. The brunette broke into a warm smile as he came over and spoke to her. Librarians were the best kind of people, if you asked her. Always willing to help a person with a research project, so long as the heart (and mind) was in the right place. Spencer held out the paper to him so he could see the reference materials she was looking for.

“I was told in the bookstore that these are only available in the library?” Spencer was hoping it was something she could check out, or at least photocopy. Not that she didn’t like hanging out in the library, but she did her best studying during the hours the library was closed.

~*~

Taking the piece of paper, Itachi's eyes scanned over the titles, taking mental note of them. Giving a nod, he glanced back up at her. "Yes, these are. Some we'll have to photocopy, but the rest should be available to check out." He thought he would give her the straight answer as opposed to having to explain it once they found the materials.

"Let me see if we have all of these. If not? I can put you down on the reserve list, or see if we can get them in from our sister libraries." Itachi moved over to the computer next to where they were standing and quickly began to type in the first book. As he went through the list, he made notes as to what section they were in, and if they were in the library. As it was, only one book was currently checked out. "There's only one right now that's not in," he placed the piece of paper down on the desk and pointed the tip of his pen at it, "that one. I can see if one of the other libraries has it, or I can put you down on reserve. It's due in just a couple of days, actually. So either way, you might be waiting a day or two."

~*~

Spencer breathed a sigh of relief at his words. She could stay in the library to read them, but she’d prefer to have materials to take home. (Or to a cafe or something. Man, Coffee sounded like heaven…. okay, coffee always sounded like heaven to the brunette.) “Thank you so much,” she said, and moved closer to the desk to lean against the side. She could see him typing but not the screen of his computer.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to come back for that one in a couple days.” Spencer thought this was a stroke of luck. All the materials she needed save one were here. “I’d say… put my name down on the reserve list? I’ll have my hands full reading the rest in the meantime.”

~*~

Itachi gave a sharp nod, "Of course." He was always happy to help people find the materials that they needed. They were all in this together, after all, and this was part of his job. Itachi would've happily worked in a library for free, truth be told, however, the cash was nice and helped him afford the things that he needed to survive.

He tapped a few more keys on the keyboard, pulling up the reservation screen. Itachi turned to look over at her, "Can I see your student ID please?" He asked, it was easier to do it that was as opposed to her giving him all the details outloud. Itachi was smart, but he wasn't incapable of misspelling her name, or entering in information wrong if he misunderstood her.

~*~

“Oh, right.” Spencer dug into her purse and pulled out the lanyard they’d given her at the registration office. She had to pull the ID out of its plastic sheath at the end of the lanyard, and that was a little tricky. It was stuck in there pretty good. But then she held it out to him with a sheepish smile. “It’s still new.” Sooner or later it wouldn’t have the static cling making it stick in there, but for now? Spencer was still dealing with it.

She tucked the lanyard away once it was empty.

“Do you go here?” She asked, almost suddenly.

~*~

Another slight smile pulled up the corners of Itachi's lips. He understood that all too well, his own ID now slid in and out without a hitch. "I understand how that is." He replied with a nod, taking the ID and began putting in her information.

At her question, he glanced over at Spencer. "I do. I'm a junior, majoring in Library Sciences." Hence the reason why he was there as there was no way in hell he was going to work in fast food or retail. Itachi could easily deal with people, that wasn't an issue, the issue was dealing with the food and the clothes. He preferred his books, thanks so much. "Are you a freshman or transfer?" He asked, handing her ID back to her as he'd gotten all the information he needed.

~*~

Spencer wondered how awkward she was being with this guy at the library. He seemed nice enough, and handsome, and she was awkwardly pulling her ID from the little plastic sleeve where it was stuck in her lanyard. Awkward Spencer was awkward.

"Ah, library science." Spencer nodded, then glanced around and back to him. "Makes sense. Working here. I imagine they're more likely to hire library science majors than your average Joe off the street."

She accepted back the ID and started struggling to get it back into the plastic sleeve. "Freshman." A little half-laugh/half-sigh escaped her. "I thought it would be obvious."

~*~

He gave a small sideways tip of his head in her direction, "Yes, most of the time that is the case. I've heard that they have hired computer science majors in the past because of the computers, but now if we have any problems we just call the IT department." Itachi knew his way around computers pretty well, so it was rare that they had to call anyone in to help.

A small huff of laughter came from Itachi, "It's not always that obvious, although I did think that you might be a Freshman with the list of materials." He finished inputting what other information was needed into the computer, and hit the reserve button. Itachi looked over at Spencer, "You should receive an e-mail when the book is returned. If you haven't heard anything in about a week come check back, and someone will check to see if it's still checked out or if the e-mail got lost." That happened sometimes.

"Let's go get your books then." He exited out of the reserve screen and then moved around the desk to start toward the reference section.

~*~

“It does make me wonder how much library work will be done online in the future. I’ve heard that with the growing popularity of digital devices, there are a lot of libraries that are loaning out Kindle books and audiobooks in digital formats.” Spencer found she might have been babbling, but it was exciting to talk to someone who cared about these kinds of things. And she’d just read an article about it the other day.

“Thank you,” she gave him a sheepish smile. “I’ll do that.”

Then she turned to follow him through the library. “This is like getting my own, personal, little tour,” she added, teasing just a little.

~*~

Itachi nodded, "They are, and it is more efficient for libraries to do that. Plus people can read anywhere, really." With everyone having a smart phone, tablet of some sort, and a computer it was easier for them to do things that way. Still, Itachi was of the opinion that there was nothing better than holding a book in your hands. Maybe he was old school in his thinking, but he honestly didn't care. "I still like to believe that there are plenty of people like me out there that enjoy the feeling of a book in their hands instead of some device." Besides, he felt as if he didn't strain his eyes nearly as much if he had a book as opposed to a screen.

He gave a small nod of his head in her direction, "You're welcome."

A rarely heard chuckle came from Itachi as he turned to look at her over his shoulder, "I think I would do pretty well as a library tour guide. I know this place like the back of my hand." He'd walked the stacks so many times it was ridiculous. With ease he picked out each book from the shelves, cradling them in one arm until he'd finished gathering up everything that Spencer would need.

"I believe that's it. If you are ever looking for any fiction it's on the other side of the library, and the media resources are in that direction." He gave a nod of his in the direction of where they were. "Is there anything else you'd like before we go to check these out for you?"

~*~

“I think so. I’m one of them.” Spencer gave him a smile. “I dunno, I do about half my reading on tablets now-a-days. My reading for pleasure, anyway. All my schoolwork is still brick-and-mortar.” She followed him through the library to collect the materials she needed for her class, giving little “thank you”s for each book he collected.

“Ah, that’s great, thank you. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for pleasure reading while the semester’s going,” she said, and reached forward to accept the books from him. Or were they checking them out? She glanced at his desk, then back to him. “I can’t think of anything. You’ve been really helpful.”

~*~

Itachi smiled softly, it was good to know that there were more people out there like him. Not that he really doubted it, but it was always good to actually hear it. Itachi gave a small inclination of his head in her direction, "That's good to hear, and I understand. Sometimes it's easier, especially if you're on the go and even I'll admit that a reader is easier to hold while you're lying on the couch or in bed as opposed to an actual book." Still in Itachi's mind there was no real substitute for a book.

"You're welcome." He gave a quick nod to the terminal, "I do what I can, but we'll need to check these out really quick." It wouldn't take him more than a quick scan of the books, and her student ID once again before he handed them back off to her. "I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I hope to see you again, Spencer."