Picking Up [OPEN]

[roadstotheriver]

Who: Lirael and OPEN
What: Reshelving some books
When: Late afternoon (not that she can really tell) of Saturday, May 14
Where: The library

Comments

[revengeisalie]

On the off chance that this very same thing had happened to previous residents and they had made notes about it, or that there was some book about the phenomenon to be found, Rin headed to the library in order to do her research. It mildly surprised her when she saw a faint light glowing in there from her outside position. It was a fleeting thing, though; the library was a somewhat popular hangout after all.

Not greatly perturbed, she continued to approach the entryway until she reached it and ducked inside, darting a glance around the none too impressive room. First, she spotted the light: and how odd! It seemed to come from neither candle nor electric lamp. At the same time, though, she heard and saw the other person in there, and so her gaze shifted to Lirael, watching her at her task.

Well, she might as well try to make a connection, she thought. So she cleared her throat. "Hello there?"

[roadstotheriver]

This time, Lirael didn't notice the new arrival until the throat-clearing. Unsurprisingly, though, that startled her and down went the books in her arms again. She cursed a little under her breath and bent to pick them up, blushing furiously. "Um, hello," she answered, softly but not quite too softly to notbe heard. Glancing up through the fall of her hair, she was relieved to see this person at least looked legitimately of one gender, rather than possibly either one. There would be no guessing here, she hoped. "I was just... just putting away books. I'll leave if I'll be in your way," she added quickly.

[revengeisalie]

Rin's hand went to her mouth as she winced when the girl let her books fall. That certainly hadn't been her intention. "Ah, sorry...," she said feebly, half-whispered, then watched the girl gather her wits, and when she turned toward her, Rin thought it odd that she let her hair fall over her face.

A curious look, then she shrugs in answer to the question. "Nah, that's okay. I'm just looking for information on, you know, the moon being all red and day not having come even though it should have... that sort of stuff."

[roadstotheriver]

"Oh. There are a few of those... um. There." Lirael tried to gesture with her handless right arm, and nearly dropped her books again. "On the table." It seemed like everyone had been researching the sky-- including Lirael. Then again, they all had the same glaring, frightening reason for it, didn't they? Half-distracted by her books, and a little more at ease with a quieter girl than with some of the other people she'd seen around here, she added, "There... doesn't seem to be much there. Not that's useful. I've already read most of them." And so had half the town, probably.

[revengeisalie]

Following Lirael's gesture, Rin blinked at the pile of books. "Oh. See there've been others before me. Well, that just makes it easier!" She clapped her hands together in a gesture of self-motivation, but where otherwise there would have been a trying-to-be-confident grin, it was missing now. The stress of island life was getting to her, and it was dampening her general mood.

She did smile, however, when she looked back at the girl. "Hah, I know. The library's not very extensive, though honestly more than I expected when I first came here." That smile broadened, lips quirking bemusedly as she appraised Lirael quickly. "New here, are you?"

[roadstotheriver]

Bobbing her head shyly, looking up at Rin through hair and lashes, both, Lirael tried to count up the days in her head. "Five days, I think. If this is a day...." She wasn't at all sure what time it was. She had trouble puzzling out the clocks here, when she even realized something was a clock. As she brought the books she was still carrying back over to the table with the rest, her little Charter light followed obediently along, like a tiny, flying duckling might.

[revengeisalie]

And really, Rin wants to answer, but then she's distracted by the light-thing. Very peculiar, that. She follows its path with her eyes, intently, trying to see if it isn't a futuristic lamp of some sort after all. Doesn't look like it. So, what does a girl do? That's right, she asks. Refocusing on Lirael, she does so, "What's that, by the way? Doesn't look like a lamp or anything..."

[roadstotheriver]

"It's a Charter mark," Lirael answered, matter-of-factly, as if it were a commonplace thing. Well, where she lived, it had been, and light marks were probably the easiest and most common for someone to be able to cast. "It's for light." That made her wince a bit, herself, and flush faintly. "It's for light"? Curse it, how much more stupid could she sound? "It's magic," she explained hurriedly, looking embarrassed still. "A little like Alanna's, only... different." Alanna's seemed to come from within her; Lirael's was a part of everything, an eternal reservoir that contained and described everything. She set the books down and put the fingers of her remaining hand to the mark on her forehead, and it flared with more warm, golden light. "Like that."