Where's Google when you need it? (Finished.) Who: Nicolay + Lazuli, Where: The Great Library, When: Early afternoon
#21
Posted 06 June 2010 - 02:47 AM
He left Lazuli to negotiate with the librarian they'd encountered and when he had tired of reading through the oddly-formed words (because his training involved horizontal ones, not vertical ones), he decided that the book talked about 'chiefies' and he looked back in time to see the librarian's back receding and Lazuli looking...a little less pleased at him. He found that she held a book open and said nicely, “Oh you found one!” but her expression was more than he needed to know that it was a miss but he didn't allow her spirits to affect his. So setting the basket of her books aside, he went around her to look over her slender shoulders and read through a few words -- a few easy ones. His brows wrinkled. “This is outdated!” he said.
And then it dawned on him: these books were ancient. The society in itself was ancient! There was hardly any cars around and the television was fun-sized.
“Oh God,” he said with a groan and a hand on his eyes before he used it to flick his bangs up. “This is going to be a lot harder than I thought,” he chuckled. “Well, let's just try another. And if that doesn't work, let's beat it. It'll just be a waste of our time.” There goes his goal.
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#22
Posted 06 June 2010 - 08:36 PM
But alas, it was for nought. The book depicted some strange, shadowy-looking sketches, but no animal that even remotely resembled a cheetah.
A third book nearly fell apart in Lazuli's hands. A final book yielded no results, either. She looked at Nicolay sadly. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I really thought we would be able to find what you were looking for."
Her eyes widened in surprise when Nicolay wished to "beat" the book. "Oh no, we don't have to get violent," she said serenely, and kneeled down to carefully tuck the book back among its brethren. "Do you want to look elsewhere? Is there at least something else I can help you find?"
#23
Posted 07 June 2010 - 11:46 AM
When the search had been completed with lackluster results, Nicolay gave out a small sigh through his nostrils. He had expected this but a, “Here it is!” would have been a better thing to hear.
Lazuli apologized to him, saying, “I'm sorry. I really thought we would be able to find what you were looking for.” and he only shook his head and told her it was all right. “Least we tried,” he added if that would make her feel better. She really looked like she meant the words she said and Nicolay was almost worried she'd taken his curiosity more seriously than he did. “Really, it's okay,” he said on for precaution.
When he'd advised for them to just get on their way -- henceforth 'beating it' -- Lazuli had taken him quite literally and Nicolay's face shifted from amusement to laughing to confusion to, well, uncertainty as to how to react to what she'd said. It was cute that she'd neglected the more figurative meaning of it but...she wasn't...totally innocent, was she? Or was the term just an entirely new thing that came about after she left Earth? How old is she? She looked like his kid sister!
He allowed himself to be distracted by her question. Nicolay's brows furrowed very slightly so that there was hardly any wrinkle visible as he thought of how to answer her. A book of dreams would be one thing but he shoved the idea out of his mind. He had another curiosity he wanted satiated and that was the existence of the Therians.
And that was when he remembered the crystal tucked safely in his pocket -- a thing he was as yet unable to fathom.
“Oh,” he said with a soft start as he slipped it out of its confines and lifting it up to Lazuli, asked her with a smile that spelled his embarrassment, shyness, politeness and something that addressed a request, “Can you please show me how this works? I'm interested to see what's inside it.” Being interested about Therians is at least a little more "dignified" or less ridiculous and silly than believing in dreams.
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#24
Posted 10 June 2010 - 11:06 PM
When Nicolay requested to use the crystal, Lazuli's face brightened. "Of course!" she answered immediately. "Those are really simple to work and quite fun, too. Come, I'll show you!"
She turned around and beckoned, leading him in the direction of the HoPs. She led them to a row of polished oak tables lined by the wall, each separated by a small barrier wall for privacy. Every section contained one large HoP crystal. Lazuli pulled up chairs for them and pointed. "This is an HoP crystal," she explained cheerfully. "Or Crystal Holograph Projector. All you need to do is touch your crystal to it, and a virtual screen will pop up and show whatever's inside the crystal. Try it!" She smiled encouragingly.
#25
Posted 11 June 2010 - 12:34 PM
His brows met each other when Lazuli led them out of the sea of elongated desks towards the array of one installed against the wall. On each of them, he noted that there was one bulk of crystal -- a conclusion he derived from the material that he held. All of them were not shaped perfectly but at least looked similar to each other. “This is an HoP crystal,” Lazuli would tell him, both of them standing before one and he listened to the rest of what she had to say: “Or Crystal Holograph Projector. All you need to do is touch your crystal to it, and a virtual screen will pop up and show whatever's inside the crystal. Try it!”
Nicolay nodded at the girl, setting down her books again as he gazed over that one he held and moved closer to the HoP that sat before him. As she had advised, he placed his own crystal near it and let them touch. In a blink (almost literally), a sea-colored window popped out of thin air, directly over the larger crystal and he tossed his head invisibly back in his shock. There was nothing but vague static on the air -- but soon an image would appear in another blink and it was that of a man and a woman. They both sat themselves on chairs, a small round table with tea and snacks in-between them, the man dressed in a rather flamboyant aristocratic costume (the colors of which he couldn't really tell), his companion dressed in a more...subdued fashion of a long simple dress with two layers beneath it, puffed sleeves and a thin set of frills on her chest. She decorated herself with a cute hat and fancy high boots.
“Ladies and gentlemen, greetings,” the man began in his professionally handsome voice, leaning forward to rest his palm against his thigh. “I'm Michale J. Burnes Today, we're going to talk about one of the most mysterious wonders given to us by the Great Goddess Xanth herself.”
“Wow,” Nicolay said with a blink. Aside from the constant flickers of white on the corners the way a classic movie might be ridden with, everything was smooth and crisp. He was impressed! “A, and how do you turn this off?”
“Therianthropes,” Michale said with emphasis and a motionless gaze. “Otherwise known to us good folks as Therians -- animals who, with the intelligence and rationality of humankind, turn into them...or do they? Are they really animals or are they human? We'll answer these questions and more with the help of our lovely guest, Miss Tina Lansbury.” He turned to the woman beside her and said, “Thank you for taking the time to join us.”
“It's nothing,” she said with a voice that sounded older than she looked.
The interview started.
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#26
Posted 12 June 2010 - 06:10 PM
She would have removed the crystal for him, but she thought that Nicolay would probably want to watch the whole thing. The video was interesting, but Lazuli found her attention drifting for a moment. She had never been very big on crystal technology (with the exception of COMs), preferring more traditional ways of learning including hands-on experience or books. And speaking of which, she glanced at the basket of books Nicolay had been so kindly carrying for her. She stood up and picked up the basket. She smiled in appreciation. "Thank you for lugging these around. I think I'll go return these to the service desk right over there," she said before hopping off. "I'll be back in just a moment!"
#27
Posted 13 June 2010 - 03:40 AM
Michale and Tina were still at it, the man tossing preliminary questions to her, mostly about what people needed to know about the Therians before they went into the week-long coverage, Nicolay figured. Tina mentioned how Therians were humans who can turn into animals and how the degree of shifting and transformation was greatly affected by age and training and environment. She sounded very smart but he was worried that everything she said was going to fly over his head.
To dissuade this, however, Michale mentioned that she was going to show them a few forms and she agreed to this.
Nicolay was relieved (if he wanted to know about something, he might as well do his best to understand them at their fullest, after all) but his nose crumpled with a quick grimace. How was that going to look like?
He looked around to make sure Lazuli still wasn't hovering nearby before he returned to the HoP. It would be rude to ignore her after all her help for something he could watch later, after all...
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#28
Posted 14 June 2010 - 09:27 PM
With a small sigh and an encouraging smile, Lazuli decided to ask, "Say, would you happen to know if there are any books here which teach the Elysian vernacular?"
The lady kept staring. She also added a frown, like Lazuli was stupid or something. "Didn't your parents teach you to read? We do have books which translate between Sylvan and Elysian..."
Lazuli appreciatively supposed the lady said that because she saw that Lazuli was a nymph, but Lazuli wanted a book that would help Nicolay learn Elysian. She felt disappointed for a moment, but then she smiled radiantly and thanked the lady. It was all right; it would be better to write notes for him herself. Although he never explicitly said that he wanted her to teach him, it would be fun, right? Or maybe she just wanted reasons to spend more time with her wonderful new friend.
With that in mind, Lazuli returned to where Nicolay watched his movie. "I'm back!" she announced cheerily. "Can you understand much of that?" she asked, keeping her voice soft to not mute out the voices of the speakers within the hologram.
#29
Posted 15 June 2010 - 01:23 PM
When Tina began undressing herself, he instantly picked up the crystal -- and the show was gone. Now really isn't the right time to watch it -- not when he wasn't in his own privacy. Maybe he ought to take it home, after all...
But how? His library card wouldn't be done until two weeks from then.
...but well, if the card was his only problem...
Turning to Lazuli, Nicolay asked her instead, waving the object up and down a little, “So, you've returned your books all right?”
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#30
Posted 15 June 2010 - 09:09 PM
She nodded at his question. "Yes! The librarian didn't seem so excited to see them again, but I bet she's already read them all," she said casually.
The next moment was silent. Lazuli looked from Nicolay to the crystal, then up at Nicolay, then down at the crystal, and then up at Nicolay again. "How do you feel about learning Elysian from me?" she asked curiously. "I'm not very busy usually. I'd like someone to talk to. And I've never been a teacher before! But I think I could do okay. --Oh, I'm sorry for being so pushy!"
#31
Posted 16 June 2010 - 01:06 PM
He watched her do this for a few more times, until finally she asked him, “"How do you feel about learning Elysian from me? I'm not very busy usually. I'd like someone to talk to. And I've never been a teacher before! But I think I could do okay. --Oh, I'm sorry for being so pushy!”
Nicolay let out some throaty noise at that and then he laughed -- a breathed one as he showed his teeth in his beam, looking quite happy and amused, the rest of his laughter following quietly. Lazuli really was kind of cute. “Of course! I,” he threw his hands to the sides, “I'd love that. I think it'd be more effective! I'm living with a woodcutter and his wife now and they teach me Elysian every night but they don't know any English at all so it's kind of hard when you think of it.” He really thought Lazuli might be a better teacher for him and he couldn't wait to impress his guardians with his Elysian skills once they do get to their lessons. It was starting to look fun! It could be a weekly thing and she could show him around the fun places he'd never been to and they could hang out after every lesson.
“This is really sweet of you, Lazuli,” he said, smiling still. “I hope you don't mind that I'm older than you, though.” And here, he laughed.
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#32
Posted 18 June 2010 - 02:43 AM
"It's no problem at all!" Lazuli assured him, blushing a little at his compliment and politeness. "I look forward to it." And that was the truth. Lazuli loved spending time with friends, even more so if she could be helping them.
His last comment, however, threw her off a little. She tilted her head a little in thought. "Why would I mind that?" she asked in confusion. Then her eyes lit up. Oh! She didn't even know how old her new friend was. "How old are you?" she asked curiously. "I'm twenty-three right now."
Then she remembered something else. If they were to commence regular lessons, she would have to find a way to communicate with Nicolay. Lazuli prompty dug into her pocket and retrieved her COM. She showed the device to Nicolay. "Let's get you one of these! They're easy to use and we can call or text one another."
#33
Posted 18 June 2010 - 11:40 AM
But she looked so much like his kid sister! Kid sister. Kid!
Nicolay couldn't understand what unlucky fate had befallen him that he couldn't have the same kind of anti-aging characteristics Lazuli had -- and one that did not require the manipulation of an expert! He knew she was a nymph but that really didn't connect itself to the fact that she looked like someone at least five years her junior. “I'm twenty,” he answered, anyway. “I'm turning twenty-one this August.” And he looked older than she was. Oh fates.
The COM took him a little by surprise. He'd seen these things being paraded around by "people his age" (as his female guardian liked to say) and also on display but he never bothered to check them out knowing for sure that the language was going to be in Elysia. But what Lazuli said was right -- he needed a way to connect to people and as far as he was concerned, he was still living in the stone age on that regard.
“But aren't they expensive?” Nicolay asked as his hand hovered and asked for her to lend her COM. “And I don't know how to use one.”
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#34
Posted 18 June 2010 - 06:22 PM
Her frown disappeared when he gestured for her COM. She happily handed it over. "They are more expensive than other items," she admitted. "I can loan you money if you would like. They're a great investment, and I can show you how to use one right now. It's quite similar to cellphones on Earth, actually. You must press the buttons according to someone's COM number to call them."
She smiled. "By the way," she said curiously, "You're a therian, right?" It was a guess, but Lazuli had already gotten a glance at Nicolay's teeth, and he was interested in animals. She also felt very comfortable and unusually happy around him as nymphs and therians were great companions... right?
#35
Posted 19 June 2010 - 06:14 AM
He kept this in mind now, even as he received her COM and laughed at the idea of receiving money from her just for his very own one. “I can't possibly ask you to do that for me...” Not that he'd ever bought himself his own phone. His one back home came from his father but that was a different thing altogether. He didn't say anything more on that topic, however, because he really had no idea how else he could get a COM and fast. Nicolay's focus instead went to exploring her phone, scrolling down the menus and testing the keys...
“By the way, you're a therian, right?”
Nicolay's eyes were round when they looked up from the COM to its owner. Well, that was a sudden question, wasn't it? It reminded him of that incident weeks ago in Kiel's house, Brute and Non-brute in their quest for fangs and how the Dracovari insisted he was Therian and not a vampire. The young man found himself laughing at this again as he shook his head. “No, I'm...I'm human. Never turned into an animal my entire life!”
Yup -- never turned into an animal his entire life. Not once, not ever.
“Th, that doesn't bother you, does it?” he asked. She wasn't xenophobic, was she?
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#36
Posted 20 June 2010 - 08:28 PM
She shook her head when Nicolay refused the COM offer. "You can always pay me back," she said truthfully. She looked radiantly up at him, worry lost. "Besides, friends do things like this for each other, right?"
Then Nicolay denied being of the race Lazuli suggested. She blinked, eyes wide in alarm. Oh no, she had made a mistake again! "I'm so sorry!" she blurted, seeing Nicolay's initially shocked expression. She relaxed just a little when he laughed, but she had been near him long enough now to realize that he was the type to laugh regardless of whether he felt truly happy or not. "Oh, you haven't! Then you couldn't be a therian! I'm sorry. And you're from Earth, too!"
Lazuli dipped her head with an apologetic smile. "Oh, that's unclever of me!" she remarked. She looked back up in wonder. "And no, of course it doesn't bother me that you're human. I like humans just fine."
#37
Posted 21 June 2010 - 11:40 AM
“Really, Lazuli, you don't have to go that far...” he said with a light chuckle, a little uncertain of his answer. The smaller female was looking up at him as though her happiness depended on his acceptance, though. “...w, well...b, but if you insist.” He finally gave in. “I'd appreciate any help I can get.”
He returned the COM to Lazuli, holding it by the space on top of the screen as she realized his blunder on his kind and made profuse apologies about it. Nicolay's brows wrinkled as he smiled and waved her embarrassment away, out of her face. “Oh pish, it's all right! You can't get everything right the first time. I thought you were human, remember? We all make mistakes.” He said this with a better smile if that would put Lazuli at ease. “I'm glad that doesn't change the way we see each other, though.” And he really was glad.
It was when an older woman had excused herself and Nicolay stepped back to let her through did he realize that they had been standing in the middle of the walkway since they began chatting. It was high time they got moving, he thought. “Oh,” he said to mark this decision as he reintroduced to crystal to Lazuli. “By the way, I wanted to ask a favor. You see, I don't think I want to watch this now and my library card is still being made. So I was wondering, would you terribly mind if I asked to borrow your card for this? I promise, I won't break it or take it away longer than the appropriated period. I'll pay the fees if I forget to return it!” Since they were talking about doing things for friends and all...
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#38
Posted 21 June 2010 - 02:56 PM
"Okay, then! I'll get a COM for you as soon as I can," she said happily, taking her own COM back. It didn't come to her mind that she wasn't rich at all and that someone else in her standing may never have dared to make such an offer, as it was simply in Lazuli's nature to go all out. She had food and a roof to live under. Why not help someone? Besides, her art commissions were going well, so she had an increasing amount of extra money. She even wanted to open a store!
She smiled gratefully at Nicolay's reassuring words, and at his next request, readily produced her library card from her pocket. "Of course you may," she answered. She joked a little. "I will be sad if you did break it and I might feel iffy at paying for your COM then, but I trust you, Nicolay." She smiled sweetly.
Then Lazuli began moving toward the counter. "Let's go check it out right now."
#39
Posted 21 June 2010 - 03:16 PM
Albeit a little too trusting and easily affected by trivial statements but he supposed these were things that made her cute.
“Thank you!” he said after her, hurrying to follow the smaller lady and stepping aside when a pair had passed his opposite direction so that he had to jog three steps just to catch up to Lazuli.
It was clear in the way the librarian lifted her brow that she didn't quite like Nicolay's manners in her turf and he noted this as he approached her counter, smiled shyly and gave a small wave while he handed to her the crystal he'd meant to take out. “We'd like to borrow this if we can,” he said in Elysian. He had the time he took from the HoPs to the counter to think of what he had to say.
The librarian kept her eyes on him distrustfully as she took the crystal away and began the paperwork. It was only when she retrieved her pen did she decide staring at him wasn't all worth it.
Crossing his arms over the ledge that parted him from the seated woman, he said to Lazuli beside him, “By the way, are you busy? I thought we might grab a quick bite after this.”
Avatar, profile picture and signature all made by ice_cubed@LJ
#40
Posted 21 June 2010 - 04:27 PM
She waited off at the side while Nicolay checked out the video, completely missing the intense stare the librarian gave him. She herself was rather used to it, knowing quite a few librarians who generally gave people such looks.
Since people normally checked out their items and then left the library, she began feeling a bit sad about their impending departure. That's why when Nicolay made the offer to eat, she beamed up at him. "Oh yes!" she nodded excitedly. "That is a terrific idea! Where shall we go? There are some very good cafes around here. How about we head out and you pick? I would like to know what type of foods you like."
After the librarian finished her affairs and returned the crystal, Lazuli walked with Nicolay on the way out. The great day hasn't ended yet!
(( I hope you don't mind me speeding things up a little at the end ^^; I guess we can call this done, then! ))