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Post by taewonjung on Jan 5, 2010 5:18:19 GMT -5
The library was a big place. There were rows and rows of books, on every subject imaginable. Thousands of answers to the mysteries of the natural world were in the stacks, just waiting for someone to discover them. A person could spend days just living in the library, as long as they brought food with them to last them.
That was exactly what Tae Won intended to do.
He had stashed a backpack full of food, drinks, and his school clothes in a place where no one would find it. Now, he drifted between the stacks, the new green-haired boy dressed in pajamas, searching for something. He didn't know what, but when he found it, he would know. A boy could just live in the library. Tae Won knew he was going to try.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 5, 2010 5:56:30 GMT -5
Hitoshi ran his fingers over the spines of the books in the non-fiction section, brushing off several years of collected dust from some of them. The library was not a frequently visited place, and many of these books had been here since before the school itself. The information was outdated in several of them; they provided no useful information, unless one was doing research on how the old scholars viewed things before newer, more advanced information came to light. Still, they were as valid as any of the current books would be in, oh, fifty years.
He glanced over the titles of the books. Most of them were rather limited. It would have been helpful to be able to prowl through his uncle's library, but given the circumstances--well, he didn't want to chance anything. He didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.
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Post by taewonjung on Jan 5, 2010 6:10:01 GMT -5
Tae Won peered through the shelves at the books. They had the weirdest titles... and the authors weren't exactly normal either. He headed around the shelf and down the next aisle. There was another boy there, one Tae Won didn't know. Granted, he didn't know anybody, except the strange professor who had plucked him from nowhere and dropped him in this school. But still.
As he drew closer he saw that the boy seemed to be standing in front of the worst-organized section in the entire library. Tae Won shook his head. This would not do. This would not do at all. He hurried forward and bent next to the boy, pulling books off the shelves and shoving them in more proper places with lightning speed. "Whatever you're looking for," He said idly. "You won't find it with all these books out of place. Look at this! These authors are all over the place. Who is supposed to be arranging this? I can't find anything in here!"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 5, 2010 6:17:35 GMT -5
Hitoshi raised his eyebrow, sliding away from the other boy and continuing to poke through the books on magic.
"I believe they're arranged alphabetically by the first word on the first page or some such strange thing," he replied blandly. "You learn how to maneuver through it after a year or so."
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Post by taewonjung on Jan 5, 2010 6:36:00 GMT -5
Tae Won sighed and flipped open a few of the books. "They aren't even arranged by that. I swear, it's as if somebody just throws these things on the shelves." He stood and continued his attempt to organize the shelf. "Oh, this is interesting." he muttered, pulling a book from the shelf and flipping through it. Then he dumped it on the ground and continued to pull books from the shelf, stopping every few books to add one to the pile.
"Life is finite..." He muttered to himself. "...and this library is infinite. What a problem. What... a... problem...."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 5, 2010 17:35:31 GMT -5
Hitoshi gaped at he boy, holding up his arm to shield his face from the mass of hardback books flying back toward him.
"'The library is infinite'?" he quoted waspishly. "Do you even know what that word means? The library is no more infinite than--Gah! Stop throwing those things! If you really like the books so much, you should treat them more gently. Most of those books are older than you are!"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 5, 2010 17:44:41 GMT -5
Alex peeked out from behind another shelf, where he had been looking through the rather extensive philosophy section.
"What's going on?"
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Post by taewonjung on Jan 5, 2010 23:00:15 GMT -5
Tae Won sighed and turned to kneel by his pile of books. "I am aware of the meaning of the word. The expression was a metaphor." He looked up at the other boy and blinked several times. "You look smart. I'm sure you probably knew that." He then turned and began to stack the books slowly, taking great care to line them up exactly in a perfect column.
"These books haven't been used in years." He muttered to himself. "What a waste, what a waste..." At that point, Tae Won noticed that another boy was standing there. "Hello!" He said brightly, adding more books from the pile to the column in front of him as he spoke. "Who are you?" He turned to look back over at the first boy. "And for that matter, who are you?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 5, 2010 23:13:08 GMT -5
Alex blinked with mild confusion. "Hi. My name's Alex; I'm a freshman."
He walked up beside Hitoshi. "I haven't seen you before."
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Post by taewonjung on Jan 5, 2010 23:22:30 GMT -5
Tae Won shook his head. "No, I just got here a few days ago. Something about 'favorable conditions for behind a shapeshifter'. Oh, well. Life goes on." He stuck his hand up in the general direction of Alex. "I'm Tae Won. Tae Won Jung."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jan 5, 2010 23:24:51 GMT -5
Alex smiled empathetically and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy it here." He looked at Hitoshi and gave him an 'introduce yourself to the poor boy' headtilt.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 5, 2010 23:30:11 GMT -5
Hitoshi bit his tongue. Was this kid really that dense? He was worse than Lhachlhass...
He gave Alex a 'You have got to be kidding me' look. "Hitoshi." He paused. "Is there any particular reason you feel the need to reorganize the books? If anything, you're just going to upset Fable."
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Post by taewonjung on Jan 6, 2010 0:13:56 GMT -5
Tae Won turned to look at Hitoshi and blinked several times, confused. "What other reason do I need then they're out of order?" He shrugged and shook his head, putting the last book on top of the stack. Then he hoisted the stack up and balanced it precariously in his arms.
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Post by Barthoulemus “Fable” Jones on Jan 6, 2010 0:23:21 GMT -5
Back in the deeper confines of the library, Fable grumbled as he stumbled upon what looked like a nest of books and other materials.
"Damn children. Rotten, filthy things..." He rummaged around, making several trips to his office and back, carrying stacks of the defiled books to be cleaned and reorganized. Oh, what was this?
A backpack. With food, drinks, and school clothes. The uniform, he tossed out. They would be taken to the laundries later. The backpack itself, still with eateries inside, he took to the nearest window. Said window was opened, with Fable holding the backpack out by one of the straps. Food and drink were not allowed in the library.
Fable pulled a match from his pocket (lord knows what else he keeps in there) and struck it on the rough skin of his nose. Flame, meet backpack. Whoosh. The bag and its contents went up rather nicely. Fable dropped the little fireball down onto the pavement of the walkway far below, where it would burn out safely, shut the window, and went back to his office.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jan 6, 2010 1:44:02 GMT -5
Hitoshi opened his mouth to respond, but found himself distracted by the librarian's hunched form. The old man snatched up a backpack -- neither Hitoshi's nor Alex's, thankfully -- and held it out the window...
Hitoshi peered around the corner of the bookshelf just in time to see the bag go up in flames.
He glanced back at Tae Won, the corners of his mouth twitching into a twin smirk. "You didn't happen to leave your things lying around where Fable could get to them, did you?" he asked, his voice laced with barely-concealed amusement.
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Post by taewonjung on Jan 6, 2010 8:37:29 GMT -5
Tae Won looked over and sighed. "I did, didn't I? Looks like that plan's out. Shame. Is that the guy who's supposed to be organizing these books? That explains a lot." He shrugged, nearly dropping the books, and headed over to a nearby table. Setting the books down on the table, he took a minute to make sure they were perfectly aligned. Then he grabbed the first book on the stack and sat down at the table, opening the book in front of him.
Shame about his bag. It was brand new. Tae Won had seen his school uniform lying on the floor, so he knew that he would have to go get it eventually. In a minute, he decided. It seemed that he wouldn't be spending twenty-four hours a day in the library. It wasn't too bad... at least he would have incentive to go sleep in a bed now, and not on the floor between the stacks.
Though, privately, he decided that he was going to keep sneaking his pajamas into the library. They were just too comfortable. Flipping intently through the book, Tae Won digested as much as he could while he waited for someone to approach him and strike up a conversation.
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