Tarquin Reynolds
April 03, 2005 6:03 AM
the joy of being back.... *sigh* by Tarquin Reynolds
Tarquin Reynolds pushed open the familiar door, which bore a large sign declaring ‘NO PETS' and breathed in the smell of shelf upon shelf of ancient books in the hope that it would galvanise his slightly flagging spirits.He had had a good summer, excellent in fact. To the point where he was rather disappointed to have seen it end... He did love his work, but it wasn't his only love. It could get terribly lonely being a reclusive librarian, and the summer had served to remind him of this. No one who knew him at school would imagine he spent his summers in the way he did. They consisted largely of clubbing and generally messing up his sleep pattern. It wasn't exactly his cup of tea (with at least two sugars) but he had some very out going friends, and he was more out going around them, so it suited him well enough. He yawned, being punished now for all his late nights, and made his way into his office.
Once there, he got out his kettle and other paraphernalia necessary for the production of tea, and set them out. He fished the packet of sweeteners Danny had given him out of his pocket, slid a file off the shelf, and tucked them away out of sight. No matter what Danny insisted, tea did not taste the same without real sugar. Tarquin refused to use the damn things, but felt stupidly guilty binning them (though hiding them, he could cope with quite well). He wondered if the librarian at his old school had discovered the hoard of sweetener packets behind the careers files yet... And what they thought of him if they had. He had been living at home then, and so Danny had been able to give him a new pack for the start of each week. There must have been quite a collection by the time he left...
The weekly sweetener hiding guilt aside, he did miss his old job. Or rather the liberties it had given him. He dropped a spoonful of sugar into his tea, and another (he usually took three or four when stressed or melancholy) thinking about the months until he would see his friends again (and subconsciously adding a fifth spoonful...), he really did miss them (a sixth went in, his concentration really having gone now). He tried so hard not to mind. He liked this job very much, but he couldn't help but spend large proportions of his time recollecting fondly. He was off... Locked away in his thoughts, staring vaguely into space and - the clearest indication that he had stopped paying the slightest bit of attention to what he was doing - heaped at least the tenth spoonful of sugar into his mug and simply carried on.... \n\n
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Tarquin Reynolds
the joy of being back.... *sigh*
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Lysithea Dione
April 03, 2005 7:40 PM
New place, new faces by Lysithea Dione
The new professor walked silently into the library, taking in the new atmosphere of the place. The smell of ancient books, so concentrated in that area, invigorated her. She had read and reread all of the books in her possession, and the chance to have a nearly limitless supply of reading material at her fingertips was a nice thought.She walked from shelf to shelf, her icy blue eyes scanning the titles as she went past. It made her smirk slightly as she realized her dilemna, quite different from the one she had had earlier that year; instead of having nothing to read, she had far too many options, and had no idea what to choose. Automatically, she went to her favorite subject. Jupiter.
Being the new Astronomy professor, it seemed almost logical that she would like to read about the planets, but something about the jovian planet that piqued her interest. She had read every book about the planet she could get her hands on, even ones that discussed the Galilean moons and its smaller satellites. Still, even if it was information that she had practically memorized by now, she was fascinated...
It didn't take long for her to discover another problem; since she was new to the school, she had no idea how everything was organized, and the library was no exception. Not wanting to waste her time with wandering, she looked for the person who would surely know where to go: the librarian. After locating his office, she rapped lightly on the door, speaking in a quiet but stern voice.
"Excuse me. Is anyone in here? I need some assistance in finding a book."\n\n
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Lysithea Dione
New place, new faces
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Tarquin
April 03, 2005 8:31 PM
Who? What? Where? Oh, me?! by Tarquin
'Excuse me.... The words, accompanied by a light tapping on his door, caused Tarquin to startle from his reverie. He opened the door as he took a sip of tea, and so, during the time in which the woman on the other side was to be making her first impression of him, he was choking. How much sugar had he put in that?! Not that he couldn't drink it this sweet, he just hadn't been expecting it. Deciding to simply be glad he hadn't sprayed tea all over her, he set his mug down, deciding that if he could feel his teeth actually rotting whilst drinking it, then it really was too sugary."A book?" he repeated, "A book. Yes, of course... Silly of me..." This was the library. He was just still a million miles away. Trying to scape together some shards of professionalism, he asked, in his best knowledgable librarian voice, "What subject were you looking for a book on?" Which prompted him onto the question of what subject she taught. But it seemed a little awkward to simply ask 'who are you?' or 'so, why are you here?'. He hoped her book choice might shed a little light. Or at least give him a point to ask off. He could ask if she taught whatever subject she was looking for a book on. Even if she didn't, it would be a perfectly reasonable enquirey. Yes. That would work. \n\n
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Tarquin
Who? What? Where? Oh, me?!
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Lysithea Dione
April 03, 2005 9:21 PM
Re: Who? What? Where? Oh, me?! by Lysithea Dione
As the door creaked open and the librarian walked out, a slightly concerned expression creeped across her face as she heard his choking. "Are you alright?" she asked as her eyes shifted to look at the contents of the mug, trying to figure out what had caused him to gag. The sight of the mound of sugar barely covered by the tea forced her lips into a slight smile. "You might want to add a bit more tea to your sugar before you drink it..."After being prompted on what she was looking for, she gave a quick nod and almost as quick of an answer. "I'm looking for a book focusing on Jupiter...If you could show me where those books would be located, Mister...?"\n\n
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Lysithea Dione
Re: Who? What? Where? Oh, me?!
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Tarquin Reynolds
April 04, 2005 10:11 AM
*will not make comments about uranus* by Tarquin Reynolds
"Reynolds, Tarquin Reynolds," he said, shaking her hand. Somehow Bond, James Bond, managed to make that introduction so much cooler.He raised his eyebrows slightly at her choice of book. He hadn't been aware that Sonora taught astronomy. Not that he'd met, by any stretch of the imagination, all of the staff last year. But, as this woman didn't seem to know her way around, she was quite probably new. Perhaps the subject was too. There was only one way to find out.
"Do you teach it? Astronomy, I mean," he asked, remembering she had asked for a book on Jupiter and had not been privvy to his thought process. "Professor...?" he prompted, as he lead her into the maze of shelves. \n\n
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Tarquin Reynolds
*will not make comments about uranus*
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Lysithea Dione
April 04, 2005 8:07 PM
*thankful for lack of Astronomy puns* by Lysithea Dione
Needless to say, she was surprised to see Tarquin as the librarian...She had been expecting a disgruntled woman in her forties with slightly graying hair to waddle out of the office, not an amiable man not much older than herself. Still, she did not miss the lack of the overused archetype as she shook hands with the librarian.Following him through the endless shelves, she looked over the books as she passed by, trying to remember the way for future visits. "Lysithea Dione," she replied, "and yes, I am the professor for Astronomy. I just joined the staff just in time to start this term."\n\n
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Lysithea Dione
*thankful for lack of Astronomy puns*
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Tarquin
April 05, 2005 4:17 PM
I only said I'd stear clear of uranus! by Tarquin
Lysithea Dione. A character in Greek mythology and... the singer of 'Walk On By'? It was an interesting name combination. As he'd only heard it spoken, he had no way of knowing that it wasn't spelt 'Dionne'. And, as he was not as well versed in astronomy as he was other subjects (such as Greek myths) he didn't realise the other connotations of her name."Yes... I didn't think I remembered you, or indeed the subject from last year," he didn't confess that this wasn't saying much, as he was very reclusive. This was a new staff member, and he had a chance to make a favourable impression. If you told people that you generally avoided members of their species, it tended to lead to awkward silences. Although, if he didn't say something fairly soon, they'd be headed for a nice big one of those anyway.
"So... Where are you from?" he asked, almost immediately wishing that it wasn't deemed bizarre behaviour to repeatedly hit your head against a bookshelf when you had just scaped the bottom of the conversation barrel so spectacularly that you had proverbial woodchips under your finger nails. Because that really was what he felt like doing. At least he was being friendly, he consoled himself. He remembered how hard he had found it when starting at Sonora the previous Christmas. It was difficult coming into a group when you felt they had an established rhythm (although he had later found out that the first professor he had met, who had snootily looked down his nose at Tarquin [well, actually he'd had to look up, as Tarquin had been riding a statue at the time... but metaphorically speaking, had looked down his nose] and made him feel like a disruption to the established faculty routine had, in fact, started the same day as himself). Not that Professor Dione was necessarily as shy as himself (that would be a rather impressive feat, and she had already disproved this by approaching him. Unless she had been hanging around for hours trying to get her nerve up, but seemed more... forward, competent, business like and sociable that him) but that didn't mean she wouldn't appreciate a little kindness on her first day.
OOC - out of curiosity, how old is Lysithea? Cos you said Tarquin didn't look much older than her...\n\n
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Tarquin
I only said I'd stear clear of uranus!
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Lysithea Dione
April 05, 2005 9:18 PM
Better stay away from my celestial body altogether by Lysithea Dione
Where are you from? Such a simple question, and yet one she wouldn't mind avoiding. He obviously was not familiar with her family name, or else she would have been answered with the usual wide eyes and an awkward silence. That was one of the main reasons that she looked for a teaching job so far from home; her family was only slightly infamous for their overbearing pureblood arrogance in their own little district. Unfortunately, her avoiding the conversation topic didn't make her appear at all friendly.She had to say something. The last thing she wanted to do was appear rude. Averting her eyes to the books around her, she answered as vaguely as possible. "Oh, I used to live up in the northeast, out in the middle of nowhere, really. Now that I have this job here, I plan on moving so I'm closer to my work. Yourself?"
A good start. It was just imprecise enough to give the minimal amount of information while not sounding aloof. At least she hoped so. She just wanted to change the subject so it wasn't about her. The less people knew, the better off it would be for her in the long run.
OOC- Lysithea is 25 years old. I could have sworn that I read something about Tarquin being in his late twenties in previous posts...I hope I'm not just going out of my head ^^;;\n\n
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Lysithea Dione
Better stay away from my celestial body altogether
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Tarquin
April 06, 2005 8:29 AM
*L* No need to worry about that with Tarquin by Tarquin
"Originally, Kalispell, Montana," said Tarquin. If the woman didn't want to go into details, and had secrets she wished to keep clutched tightly to herself, then she was talking to the right person. Oh, Tarquin was observant alright. He'd noticed the pause before she spoke, as if she was formulating the correct, careful answer (a pause that made him feel that he may have put his foot in it with his mild question) but he wouldn't push. If the woman didn't want it to be his business, then that was her prerogative. He was too shy to ask any leading questions. "Ironically named, as it has nothing to do with magic," he said with a small smile."I live in California now though," he added. The woman hadn't asked for his life story, so he decided to leave it there. Besides, she wasn't the only one who had family matters she might rather keep to herself.
"Well, here's the astronomy section, I think Jupiter's on that shelf," he said, indicating it, "I shall, uh, leave you to peruse at leisure then, shall I? Just shout, or send fireproof sparks if you can't find the way out," he laughed, though someone really could get lost quite easily in here.
OOC - yeah, possibly 30 now. It was just cos neither of their ages had been mentioned in this thread, I was wondering how you could make an age comparison. If you're not already out of your head, you'll go soon enough if you stick around here...\n\n
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*L* No need to worry about that with Tarquin
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Lysithea Dione
April 06, 2005 3:34 PM
Gah...so much for me not using any puns... by Lysithea Dione
She nodded as Tarquin stated his former residences, not really knowing anything about the areas. Within her mind, she cursed at herself. Why did she have to be so closed up? She knew the every satelite of every planet by memory, yet she could barely cough up a barely acceptable answer to a personal question. But what could she do? Bad habits were hard to break.Her icy gaze turned to the shelves that stored the books on astronomy. The school really did have a nice selection; some of the books she had already read before, but there were a number that were new to her. Before she started to look, however, she decided it would be best to thank Tarquin first; while reading, it was almost impossible to regain her attention, especially if she was engrossed in her favorite subject. "Thank you for the help. I'll save the sparks in case of an emergency. Need to learn the layout of this place at some point. If I'm not out by the time classes start, please feel free to send a search party."
OOC-Sorry for the confusion. And I'm not too worried about being out of my head. My sanity's been declining at a steady rate anyway. Would have lost it all eventually.\n\n
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Lysithea Dione
Gah...so much for me not using any puns...
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