[Open!] Down There Is A World of Used Cars and Single's Bars

[legallygreen]

CHARACTERS: Jennifer Walters and You!
LOCATION/SETTING: The Underground, around campus, poster's choice
DATE & TIME: May 29, early evening
WARNINGS: None, except maybe uptight teacher
SUMMARY: Jennifer chose not to enjoy the holiday in La Salle, and instead remained on campus to enjoy the more quiet atmosphere.  Aware that students and others will be

Comments

[publishthetruth]

To be honest, Keats had enough of the town on Saturday. Wandering around not-quite-lost and managing to absorb absolutely none of the local gossip or culture became boring very quickly. While a large stock of the island was off enjoying some much needed post-break relaxation (can't you feel the sarcasm?), he took the time to give himself a tour of the place. It's something that allowed him time to zero in on the few people who had also chosen to stay behind while the rest had their fun.

Though this particular woman seemed to be having a good enough time, and he just had to find out what was so amusing about such a dull text. He approached from the side with the front cover, but not quite reading the page she was on just yet.

"If you're not careful," he began, almost certain to startle. "Someone passing by might just think you're enjoying that book."

[publishthetruth]

What a change of tune. Note to self: no interruptions.

"It's a small price to pay for convenience and peace." Opposed to the main cafeteria. It's kind of difficult to eavesdrop or hold conversation with all that racket.

[legallygreen]

Jennifer nodded her agreement, and waited patiently for a piece of that pie she so coveted. So involved was the young woman in finding her dessert of choice that she was unaware that someone had turned and bumped into her.

Between saving the book or the pie, she chose the pie, and her book came fluttering out from under her arm at Keats' feet. Unfortunately, it half slipped out of the dust cover, revealing a very different set of wording on the book.

Pirate King, Defiant Princess

"Oh...no."

Setting her tray down, Jennifer leaned down to snatch up the book before Keats could see what was really on the cover. Her cheeks burned away as she saw the glossy lettering catch the light.

[publishthetruth]

Like a gentleman, he took the time to tell off the person who wasn't watching where they were going. However, his eyes had done their job and the title was already jotted down in his mind. Now wasn't that curious? But he chose to make his earlier point known, first.

"See what I meant? No attention paid to what's going on right next to them."

[legallygreen]

"But I was not reading at that time."

Thankful that she was able to scoop up her book first, she covered it in the cover again and put it back under her arm as if nothing had happened. Instead, she finished getting her meal, and moved past Keats.

"Excuse me."

It would only be her own bad luck if he was nosy enough to want to sit down with her, and possibly discuss the book if he saw it.

[publishthetruth]

A chuckle. "So? They still weren't watching." He pivoted to let her pass, and then stepped up to order his own dinner, a simple bowl of chowder with a couple of rolls.

He didn't sit down at her table -- there were far too many open seats to have that excuse -- but he did drape his coat over a chair with its back facing her at the adjacent table before he took the seat for himself.

[legallygreen]

Her cheeks were still bright as she opened her book again and went back to it, unable to calm herself down even as she read, eating her dinner silently. Somehow, she knew even as he sat behind her instead of at her table, he still had something to say. And it was going to be about hiding her choice of reading material.

Even her beloved strawberry pie was tainted by her current humiliation. Jennifer shook her head, slipping off her glasses as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. At least he was a fellow educator and not a student. That she would have never lived down.

[publishthetruth]

"It's quite good, isn't it?" He remarked after a long silence, his head turned to the side so he can regard her silhouette from the corner of his eye. But what was he talking about; the dinner, or the reading material?

[legallygreen]

"Well for what it is...I mean, yes, dinner here is always excellent."

Smooth, Jennifer. Smooth. She was less flustered in a courtroom full of people than she was with the one person who now knew that straigt-laced Ms. Walters enjoyed trashy romance novels about pirates and princesses. She cleared her throat and closed the book, drinking for a moment before concentrating on her meal. It would probably be best if she just ate and left.

[publishthetruth]

"And it's quiet enough to allow one to concentrate on their reading. Almost makes me wish I had brought something with me." Keats mused, before turning to pick up his own drink. "But it would have to be something more exciting and less... scholarly."

Then he turned his head again. "Would you be able to recommend something, Ms. Walters?"

[legallygreen]

Now he was just baiting her. "Not a thing, Mr. Keats. As you can see, I prefer more scholarly reading than anything else. I'm certain if you visit the library you will find someone who can help you more than myself."

[publishthetruth]

First things first. "You're not a student in disguise, hm? Just 'Keats', please." There are few things he hates more than sounding like some old, stuffy man who ought to be walking around with a book binder, and perhaps a tweed sweater with patches on his elbows.

"I have no doubt that there are some... educational benefits to that particular kind of literature, but I don't think the prose would agree with me." A pause, while he grins a little. "Perhaps you're right. I should make the library my next stop."

[legallygreen]

Off come the glasses again, her fingers pinching at the pressure at the bridge of her nose before she speaks. Because all of this is just torture now. "...You saw the title of the book inside, didn't you?"

Jennifer turned slightly in her chair, maintaining her composure well. "Mr. Keats, as I will continue to call you out of respect, not because I am a student, and because you call me Ms. Walters, I would appreciate it if my personal choice of fiction were not advertised about the school. I have a reputation to maintain."

[publishthetruth]

"If I was any less observant, I wouldn't be good at what I do." Smug? Maybe a little, but this isn't exactly a game to him. He brings his arm up onto the back of his chair so he can turn more. "I am neither in the business of spreading rumors, nor blackmailing, so you don't have to worry. I have my own reputation, after all." Keats just takes the other rumors and filters out the truth from the nonsense.

[legallygreen]

"I appreciate that." Jennifer replied, the steely voice actually softening a bit when he told her he wouldn't tell anyone.

Maybe it was a moment to take a step forward. If she wasn't so ridiculously bad at small talk, she might have asked how his meal was. As it was, Jennifer asked what she was more interested in. "Have you had a journalism career outside of your educational aspirations?"

[publishthetruth]

He wouldn't even call these 'aspirations' so much as 'opportunities'. Keats adjusts the seat of his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Some work, yes. Are you familiar, by chance, with one 'Unknown Realm' magazine?" Doubtful, but worth asking. The occult might not fit in with her brand of literature.