Books, Books, Books. [open/Sammi]

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

[ Fay Jameson. Please do not join until Sammi has posted. ]

As many people say, silence is bliss. The thick mist of silence that hung over the library was both appealing and calming for Brasti. Living in this noisy would for decades had long made silence a wonderful thing, almost like a treasure of sorts. A maze of shelved books stretched before Brasti as he left the front desk in search of suitable reading material, since at this point of time it was something he enjoyed. Enjoyable activities always tended to change, especially for Brasti considering he himself was a relic from times long past. He'd seen, heard and experienced many things throughout his extremely long life, as most people at his age would. Or at least he would presume since he knew no soul that was older than time.

Opposed to being in his usual suit, Brasti wore a brisk white t-shirt and jeans to keep himself cool in the summer heat. As usual, a pair of sunglasses covered her violet eyes and black gloves on his hands to avoid any incidents. On a day like this, the last thing the man wanted was to have a chrono vision incident. Quietly, Brasti slipped through the various shelves, his eyes casually glancing over the titles printed across the book spines. A smile perked onto his face when he crosses from the biographies section into the history section. Despite seeing the forging of various historic events, Brasti never got sick of reading the endless amounts of text contributed to the topic of history. Besides, he always got a kick out of finding facts that historians got wrong or just didn't seem to understand in full detail.

Brasti himself had never thought about writing a history book, solely because it would require consistent use of the time dimension's strange technology. Double checking his facts would get boring, not to mention the thought of the devilish black screens would haunt him all the while. Just the existence of the black screens irritated him to ridiculous points! His eyes crept along the various titles until he found one that seemed like a new edition to the vast archive. He plucked the book from the shelf and began to leaf through the white pages in an attempt to pick out any familiar phrases. Another misfortune of being incredibly old, almost everything within books just begins to sound like the same hogwash that he'd read or heard millions of time. Unfortunately that was most likely not to be an exaggeration.

The man shrugged his shoulders, this little history book was better than nothing. If it got really boring he could always read something like The Odyssey or various other poem books that had adequate beauty. For a few moments, Brasti lingered in debate about whether the book was satisfactory or just another nonsensical piece of trash he had no desire to rifle through.

[Fay Jameson]

She pushed the library’s door open and peered in, sighing with relief when she saw that it was empty. The librarian sat at her desk with her feet propped up on the desk. She looked up when Fay entered, peering over her book with a bored look on her face. Fay looked down and shielded her face apprehensively. Going out in public was always an unpleasant experience, but if she were going to survive in this hellhole then it was just something that had to happen. She took a deep breath and wrapped her jacket tightly around her. Her wings were a bit crushed, but she hated to let them show. It made her feel like even more of a monster, if she could hide her wings then she could pretend to be at least partly normal.

The library was silent, peaceful, just how she liked it. She weaved through the tables and made her way through the biography section and towards the fiction section. Keeping her head down she walked quickly through the history section, it was the last row separating her from her favourite genre.

Oof

The breath was knocked out of her as she fell to the floor. Looking up, Fay saw who she had run into. He was tall, with messy black hair and he was holding what looked to be a history book. Pulling her hood down as far as it could go, she leaned forward, “admiring” the floor. She felt stupid for not paying attention, but nobody else needed to know that. Blowing out a breath, she hunched her shoulders and mumbled out an apology.

“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

The placid silence was perfect for this casual read of first few pages of the book to make certain he hadn't visited this realm of words before. To Brasti, re-reading historical text never had its charm when you've lived through each event and has tech that could view the truth over and over again. Through the lenses of his sunglasses, Brasti continued reading book until it got an event wrong and had proven itself worthy of being read by his eyes. Giving a nod of approval towards himself, Brasti turned to leave, only to bump into someone.

Naturally, Brasti stumbled back a few steps, steadying himself from the unexpected bump. Gently the man pushed his sunglasses back, making certain they didn't go tumbling towards the carpeted floor. He didn't feel tired, emotional, nor did he lack energy that would trigger chrono vision working without a thought, but to Brasti it was better not to intrude on one's history. Accidentally prying into someone's past with the use of his time related abilities often angered people, especially since most people found rude. Brasti knew it was rude, but his reasons for wearing the sunglasses was because seeing someone's whole past was simply an unwanted idea. He had better things to do then watch the history of, for the most part, ordinary people!

After a few moments, Brasti began to examine the girl who had accidentally bumped into him. However before Brasti had the chance to take in any notable features, the girl tugged her hood down to the furthest it would go. This action was followed by the mumbling of an apology, which most people would just accept.

"You should pay more attention," Brasti responded in a curt manner.

Being rude was a nasty habit, and with Brasti being a perverse individual, it would never be fully vanquished. The only things that could fend of his rude demeanor were his children. They were the only ones that could vanquish his vicious rude for at least a short period of time. Brasti's grip tightened on the history book's spine, making certain it wouldn't be drop should a future crash came his way. His thoughts crowded around reading, but then he had a second thought, what if this girl had an idea for another book? One was never enough for someone like Brasti, especially when he sought for entertainment in reading.

"Anyways, what kind of books are you planning to get?" Brasti inquired, not bothering to give or ask for a name.

[Fay Jameson]

The man stumbled back, but easily steadied himself. He seemed mostly unfazed by the accident and stood there quietly. There was a moment of silence before he scolded her for not paying attention to where she was going. Rolling her eyes, she placed a hand behind her and pushed herself up from the floor, grabbing a bookshelf for support. Once she had stood, she looked up at the guy, studying him. He was young, wearing casual clothes, a t-shirt and jeans, and wearing sunglasses.

Fay held back a giggle. What kinda person wears sunglasses inside? Heh, that’s pretty funny. She was dressed somewhat like him, comfy casual was her usual style. She was wearing a grey tank top with a black off shoulder top that slipped down her left shoulder. Her royal blue hoodie covered her shirt and part of her grey jean shorts with holes ripped in them over the pockets. Today she had decided to change up her look a bit and add fishnet tights under her shorts. Her black converse were messily tied and the laces were so long that she could easily trip on them if she wasn’t careful.
(I have no idea where I got the idea for this outfit, but the way I pictured it in my mind looked cute. The tights are those ones with the really small holes in them.)

His rude response had slightly annoyed her and she raised an eyebrow when he followed his remark with a question. He was asking her for book recommendations. Even after he had been rude he expected her to just be nice and help him. Well, two could play at that game.

“Doesn’t look like you need any help, you seem to be doing just fine on your own.” She pointed at the book in his arms and shrugged. Turning away from him she began to walk to the next aisle, but stopped and turned her head.” But if you must know, I’m quite into the fantasy and sci-fi genres. That’s what I’m here to get.” Fay turned back and continued on, when she got to her destination she began to browse, running her finger lightly over the spines of each book. Having so much free time on her hands she had read most of them, but surely there was still something here for her to read.

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

The mystery girl pushed herself to her feet, using the bookshelf as a support. The girl still hid her head beneath her royal blue hood, not to mention her gaze was towards the floor. That was when the girl looked up at him, revealing a pair of obsidian eyes that were stunning. They were peculiar, and something he'd never seen on the island despite six years of living in Paradise. Brasti had to admit that they perked his curiosity about what the girl was exactly. Was she a demon or a mutant? Despite his shock about the haunting pair of eyes, Brasti's face remained as placid as ever. Her lips were black, but could be dismissed as black lipstick. She wore mostly shades, making her hoodie the only splash of colour in her attire.

Only moments after had the girl seen through his question, almost as though she knew future boredom would ensue. She pointed to the book he currently had then continued towards her destination, leaving him with two genre names. That definitely could've gone a lot better, but alas, Brasti stubborn need to be rude had cost him some help. Rather than giving up, Brasti decided to follow, it was better than hearing the same old rambles of a history book. He had nothing better to do with his time.

"So you enjoy fictional stories I bet," Brasti said casually, almost as though she hadn't dismissed him a few moments ago.

Perhaps casual conversation would sway her to make some recommendations, and if she didn't he would just go grab one of those old poem books. This was unfortunately the only plan Brasti had and if it went aerie then he would be traversing the maze of books with only his thoughts to give suggestions. He shoved his unoccupied hand into the pocket of his jeans, feeling the silver pocket watch lounging within its home of fabric. Brasti's hands felt a little warm inside his black gloves, but it was a price to pay to avoid chrono vision incidents. Brasti watched as the girl began to trail her finger across the spines of the books.

"So, what's your name? I'm Brasti," he introduced himself in a polite manner. Most people who knew him well would probably state that it was a miracle.

[Fay Jameson]

Despite the fact that she had clearly ended the conversation, the rude man followed her. She was really getting annoyed, first he’s rude when she clearly apologized, and then he has the nerve to follow her around and continue to pester her. This just really wasn’t her day.

“What would make you think that?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Stopping on a book, she pulled it from the shelf and skimmed over the back cover, finding it of no interest she put it back. He didn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon which only irked her more. He just didn’t know when to quit. Must really like books if he’s so insistent on bothering me about recommendations.

“Nice to meet you Brasti, I’m annoyed.” She turned and gave him an agitated smile before returning to her search. Fay just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, she had been hoping that no one would be here today and she could get in and out without any hassle. Clearly, that wasn’t going to be the case. She leaned her forehead against the bookshelf and sighed. “Look man, if you want a book recommendation that badly ask the librarian. I’m really not the person to be talking to. I don’t really have many preferences and I tend to enjoy most of the books I read.” She looked up at him again. “I honestly don’t know why you would want my opinion.”

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

Unfortunately his strives towards giving mystery girl the slightest bits of kindness were futile. A single rude comment and the girl seemed to had gained a grudge over, which was absolutely terrible. The first sign Brasti had notice was sarcastic response to a simple comment that was meant to turn the gears of a casual conversation. However, Brasti's determination kept him going and attempted to continue the conversation in a rather pitiful hope to receive a recommendation.

Mystery girl's next comment and irritated smile shrieked her displeasure over his persistence to continue their talk. In response, Brasti's smile quirked down into a small frown, clearly he wasn't getting anything from conversing with this young lady. Yet the man lingered in hopes that she would give in and he would receive something to work with. Eventually, she surrendered and gave him a completely and utterly useless answer. All his persistence and determination was for nothing, but that didn't really matter since he quite literally had all the time in the world. Just because the girl rendered no useful information didn't mean that she was freed from this conversation. Besides, Brasti had a rude comment about the librarian that he couldn't help, but make.

"Oh please, she just rambles on about romance until she bores the person to the breaking point. That's why I decided to get your opinion, Brasti responded simply. There was no possible way he was going to approach her only to end up being the poor civilian to engage in an ear full of romantic jabber! "Plus she has ran out of recommendations for me," he added.

Living centuries had caused most books that had tickled his fancy to long be read and memorized. Even if their realm of words had allowed hours of entertainment, they still got old and the story never changed. Brasti spared a glance down the endless maze of book, it was hard to believe that out of hundreds of books, there seemed to be nothing to read.

[Fay Jameson]

The small frown that now rested upon Brasti’s face made it clear that he was unhappy with her sarcastic responses. Even her weak excuse to get out of the conversation didn’t work. That one she expected, but she she did not think he would continue to be rude. His comment about the librarian was a little funny and she covered her mouth to hide her smile. Maybe she had gotten the wrong impression about him, he was probably somewhat nice. Maybe he just couldn’t help being rude, she had known a few people like that when she was younger. Much younger.

Instead of dwelling on the past, Fay decided to give the guy a chance. Walking down the row she grabbed a book and smiled. This had been a good one, she’d loved it so much that it had only taken her that night to read it. She hoped it would satisfy him, he seemed almost...desperate. It was odd, but she didn’t think it over too long. Walking back over to him, she held out the book and smiled.

“Here you go Brasti, this is a really good one. I hope you’ll enjoy it.” Pulling off her hood, she smoothed down her hair awkwardly. “Oh, my name’s Fay. If you need any more recommendations, then I guess I might be able to help you.”

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

The rude comment given by Brasti had gotten mystery girl to cover her mouth, whether it was from surprise or to cover her expression alluded Brasti. For a single moment, the man had thought that the librarian was lurking around the shelves, waiting to pounce, but alas there was nobody else. Which Brasti was very relieved to find since the last situation he desired to be was being scowled at by the rambling lady who operated the place. The relief translated to his face as he got prepared to depart and go searching elsewhere for reading materials. Before Brasti even had the chance to leave, mystery girl had plucked a book off the shelf and handed it his way. The man hesitated for a moment before taking the book and listening to the girl, whose name was Fay, had to say. A smile planted itself on Brasti's face since not only did Fay recommend this book, but offered to give more recommendation in the future. That was absolutely perfect.

"Thank-you, I appreciate it," Brasti began, hesitating a moment before moving on. "And I'm sorry about my comment early." Although Brasti usually wasn't one for apologizing for his behavior, the man decided to make an exception this one time. Besides, this strange-eyed Fay girl had just helped him find some reading material! Brasti's violet eyes gazed over the book's title, making certain it was nothing familiar to him. Thankfully, the title didn't ring any bells, but then again Brasti had been on this Earth for a very long time and may have forgotten about this title. Despite the chances of him reading it previously, Brasti decided he would take the book out and venture into its realm of words. Once again, Brasti spared a glance at Fay, finding that she looked to be around the eighteen range. "So, Fay, are you going through school currently?" Brasti asked. The black-haired man mostly wanted to know because she seemed around the age of his kids, but of course he couldn't decipher whether or not she was immortal.

[Fay Jameson]

He looked relieved for a moment and though she wasn’t quite sure why, she didn’t feel the need to question it. When he hesitated to take the book, she was worried that he was unsatisfied with her choice. Then he smiled and took the book from her hands. It made her happy that she had been able to help someone, and when he thanked her and followed that with an apology it made her feel good about her choice. They had gotten off on the wrong foot, but it seemed they had gotten past that. His gaze swept over the book’s cover and then up to her.

“Oh, no. I uh haven’t gone to school in quite awhile to be perfectly honest.” She gave an awkward laugh and looked at her feet. Fay didn’t know why she was telling this complete stranger the truth, but he seemed harmless. A bit rude, but harmless nonetheless. Besides, she needed to work on her trust issues. Not everyone was out to ruin her life, and it’s not like they had specifically targeted her all those years ago.

“Anyways,” She looked up again and waved a hand dismissively. “Do you have a favourite book genre? I prefer fantasy and sci-fi, but mystery is good too. Really anything that’s fiction will do, except for romance. Not a big fan of that genre, and I’m rambling, okay.”

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

Rays of light rained down from the various lighting fixtures and windows. Clutching the pair of books, Brasti stood quietly listened to the girl's answered to his school question. Momentarily, Brasti shot her a skeptical look before dismissing the idea of her skipping for the more probable theory of immortality. Surely somebody with a joy of reading would have no reason to simply abandon their pursuit for knowledge. Fay's awkward laugh gave Brasti the feeling that she perhaps wasn't use to social situation, but of course he couldn't simply presume. Millennials of living on this world told that anything could happen and that people could very easily create a mask for themselves. Despite this, Brasti wasn't the paranoid type, thus he shrugged it off and just kept a smile upon his lips. The man's skepticism, alert observations and intellect often kept him safe from the harm of a wolf in sheep's clothing. "Interesting, just thought I would ask since you look about the same age as my kids," Brasti responded, giving a reason for his question.

Perhaps hearing the innocent reason would sooth tensions, but that was an uncertainty since paranoia and trust issues were different for each person. Besides, for all he knew, Fay might find it strange that someone his physical age to have kids that were sixteen. The girl have a dismissive shake of the hand before continuing the conversation, pushing the topic back to that of books. Fay rambled for a little bit, talking about what genre's she liked and dislike, and Brasti was pleased to find that romance was not on that list. Romance novels always bored the man since they seemed to always consist of the same cliches and rapid bonding between the two main characters. Not to mention with the death of his wife that happened six years ago, they all only made him feel alone and sad. A glimmer of sadness entered his violet eyes, but that single noticeable feature was hidden by the dark lenses of his sunglasses. Sometimes there were more perks to wearing the shades then just preventing his chrono vision to function.

After a moment, Brasti realized that Fay's rambling had ceased and he had yet to answer the question. "Oh, sorry, got lost in thought for a moment. I often prefer history books and a few classics here and there," Brasti answered. During the entirety that his mind had been turned to Marceline, he had managed to keep a smile on his face, which he was thankful for. The last thing I need is someone I just met to worry about me, Brasti thought while he waited for a response.

[Fay Jameson]

Even with his sunglasses on she could still tell he was skeptical. Trying to look as innocent as possible she relaxed her shoulders and tried to appear nonchalant. She didn’t want him finding out that she was immortal, most people had a bad reaction to finding out that kind of information. If nobody knew that she was immortal then she could pretend to be somewhat normal. Realizing that Brasti had said something, she snapped out of her thoughts. So, he had kids? And they were around her age? He must have been talking about her physical appearance, because unless they were immortal there was no way that they could be around her age. “Ah, I don’t think your kids are that close to my age, I’m a bit older than I look.” Yeah, about 100 years older. What had she turned that year? Oh, right, 129. Wow, had time passed quickly.

There was a moment of silence after she stopped rambling and she began to feel awkward until he spoke again. He too seemed to have become stuck in thought. History was an interesting choice, the last time she remembered picking up a history book was during college. She felt a bit sad at that thought. She’d never gotten to finish school, sadness entered her eyes and she sighed softly. Maybe she could go back, there was a school here right? Would they even accept her in? Maybe she was too old, but lying about her age wouldn’t be hard if she needed to. That was something to think about later, right now she was in the middle of a conversation.
“So, uh you like reading. You must’ve read most of the books in this place. Got any recommendations for me? If not that’s cool.” The two of them had been standing there talking this whole time and she wondered if the librarian would kick them out for loitering or something. If so, they might part ways, or maybe they’d talk somewhere else? She honestly hadn’t planned for this and she wasn’t sure what exactly what she was supposed to do in situations like this. Customs had changed over the many years she had lived and she was unsure what people normally did during these types of encounters. Did strangers usually strike up conversations like this? Even in her younger days she wasn’t much good at socializing.

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

If people had a negative reaction towards someone being what seemed like a mere hundred years, then one could wonder how much shock would enter a person's face were they to discover how old Brasti was. If someone were to even ask how old he was, well Brasti wouldn't have a clue on what he could tell them. After all, how does one say 'Oh, yeah, I'm just several millenias old'? Brasti wasn't certain what his true age really was, heck he just began existing with no prior knowledge of whether he had any relatives at all. Quietly, the god listened to Fay's response in peaceful silent, the placid smile remaining on his face. Of course Brasti meant physical age, since who knew whether someone was immortal or not? "I meant based on your looks. Besides, you're not the only one who is older then they look," Brasti said, subtly referring to himself with the last sentence. With little thought, Brasti glanced around, taking in the large maze of oak bookshelves that were all filled to the brim with literature.

The rule of having to remained hushed in the library always made the building a place of tranquility. To most the often endless amounts of silence only brought forth boredom and the lusting for excitement. After his paused response to the girl's question, Fay asked if perhaps he could recommend books to her. Brasti could've very easily recommended dozens of history books that humored him, but figured that she probably wouldn't find the same humor in them as he did... Thus, Brasti decided that perhaps it would be best if he suggested something that wasn't from the history genre. "You could read The Three Musketeers, it's fiction, so you might like it," Brasti responded in a casual manner. Truly he had read a majority of the books within the Paradise library, solely because he needed something to do when he wasn't watching the kids. As of the librarian and the possibility of a temporary banishment from the library for loitering around. Whether or not the librarian would accomplish that task was difficult to say, especially since the last time Brasti had seen her she'd been nose deep in a novel.

A majority of social encounters Brasti had often only consisted of a brief wave and perhaps a small exchange of words. On some occasions, those words were verbal backlashes for his rude behavior. Over the many years the man had been alive, his conversation were often with his family. His rude behavior made most people dislike him instantaneously, let's just say they didn't need to know anymore about him to come to that conclusion. Pleasant moments like these, where his rude tendencies didn't cause a large amount of hatred to swing in his direction were some of the rarest treasures. "Hey, how long have you been on the island? I've been here about six years," Brasti asked out of curiosity. Six years out of who knows how many, that definitely wasn't terrible considering there were people who spent their entire lives in this hell. This brought back memories of his many close calls with the hunters sent out by the government. Getting by them and escaping without harming a soul had been easy do to his ability to manipulate time.

[Fay Jameson]

Brasti’s expression remained the same. It was almost as if he’d become a statue, one that could talk. I can’t tell if he’s talking about himself or someone he knows. Maybe both? Fay crossed her arms and leaned against the bookshelf. The day had been pretty boring until now and she was enjoying this. Conversations with strangers were a rarity to her and she was happy that they had been able to resolve the earlier conflict.

“Three Musketeers? I don’t believe I’ve read that one yet, I’ll give it a try, thank you.” This was definitely a good day. She had met someone new and they seemed to be bonding over their shared interest in books. Hopefully they weren’t being too loud even if there wasn’t anyone else in the library at this time. The librarian had seemed nice enough from her many trips here, but who knows maybe she was secretly strict and mean.

“Oh, I’ve been here most of my life. Six years seems like a long time too. Time always seems to pass so slowly here, it’s really quite odd.” Fay hoped her vague answers would satisfy his curiosity. She honestly didn’t know how to explain her situation to him. She doubted the government even knew she existed considering she had never made an attempt to leave the island until she realized what they were turning it into. No one ever caught her leaving, but their stupid forcefield thing always threw her back onto the island.

“So, uh, do you have any other interests besides reading? Any hobbies?” She was honestly running out of conversational topics. Socializing wasn’t really her thing, she was better at arguing.

[Brasti Vanderfeld]

As still as a statue, Brasti stood, talking with his newest acquaintance. The duo of books were clutched by his left hand, safety tucked between his arm and side. Initially, Brasti's day had been average up until the conflict with Fay and this overall pleasant conversation on the topic of books. The black-haired man was thankful that the monster girl hadn't held a grudge against him for one of his infamous rude remarks. When Fay thanked him for his recommendation, Brasti simply nodded to say 'you're welcome'. The conversation went fluently, the common interest of books had truly made a fantastic starting point for the pair to begin chattering. Although Brasti didn't know the librarian well, he'd thought of her as a rather lenient lady, just tended to jabber on about romantic cliques. However anybody could hold a secret and thus Brasti didn't dismiss the idea of her being intolerable and downright ill-tempered towards some patrons in the library.

Then the topic went back to age and time, which caused Brasti to chuckle quietly. To the god of time whose been around for years, six of them here seemed like nothing compared to the many he spent in freedom. Only those who didn't live for eternities would feel the way Brasti did about what seemed like such a small amount now. Truly he mostly felt bad for his children whom would probably spend a good portion of their years within a prison opposed to exploring the word and seeing what was out there. "Trust me, six years seems like nothing when you're my age. Being here for most of your life is a lot worst," Brasti lightly laughed in response. There was absolutely no need to feel bad about Brasti when it came to how long he lived here. However some may feel a pang of pity for the rude man if they were discover what happened to his wife, and that certainly was unforgettable. Worst of all, the entire incident felt as though it wasn't too long ago and chances were it would never fade. Brasti had many memories permanently sketched into his head, but none were nearly as vivid then those few days where he'd lost Marceline and first arrived on the island.

Brasti pushed the memories away just in time to hear Fay's newest question. One of Brasti's interests was watching time pass by, but that was truly one of the most boring answers he could state and there was most certainly no need to bore Fay with that answer! Not to mention the last thing Father Time wanted to be faced with was the possibility of receiving nearly a million questions about the past. Once again that was one of the downsides to being alive for so many years. "My hobbies and interests tend to change a lot. I don't usually get dead set on one," Brasti answered casual. That wasn't a lie, especially since as new trends came into the world, Brasti often got interested and into them. "Anyways, how about you?" Brasti asked, his curiosity switching to that question.