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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 16, 2011 19:00:48 GMT -5
Russel seemed sweet with his words, but Ros' smile only touched her lips and not her eyes as he spoke of her own choice of words as too strong. "It's very nice of you to say it like that...really it is...but it's not like there isn't someone in the world who only has friends and no enemies. It would be nice to think that everyone likes me, but really I'm more concerned about being helpful than popular." This time her smile brightened as she let her mind trail off to other thoughts....
Like the English teacher before her as a high school student as his words helped her paint a vivid picture. This time it was her turn to burst into laughter as shoulders trembled as it started quietly before becoming a bubbling alto tone that rang through the silent corner. For some reason she tried her best to imagine young man but she could only see Russel's face and that mop of curly hair on a small body attempting to look like some introspective musician. "I can't believe you actually did that. You don't seem the type at all really. I could imagine you as class president, or student council, or something authoritative like that."
Her hand moved to cover her mouth as rosy lips split over white teeth in a grin. "And tell me Mr. Connor..." She asked slipping a little closer as she let her voice drop to something a little quieter as her laugh had once more brought attention upon them. "Did the ladies fight over themselves to get to you?"
Her fit of giggles died slowly as it seemed that her and the other teacher weren't so different at all when it came to their jobs. "It's tough. I've never had to support myself before now so it was scary."
When he asked where she was from fingers tightened on her mug as she looked down into the mix of foam and chocolate. "No, I'm from all the way across the country. Seattle. Lived with my father, went to school there. Decided it was time to grow up and get away." Slowly she peaked up at Russel, "You could say in a way I ran away to grow up a little. My professor recommended me for the position. This is the first time I've been on my own. I'm just now discovering the town a bit more."
Edging away from talks of parents and hometowns she met his gaze as she crossed her legs delicately one over the other, "Perhaps you could show me around since you know this hole in the wall you must know others..." |
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 16, 2011 21:40:09 GMT -5
Russel wasn't entirely surprised that she laughed at the image of him as a dark and broody teenager, but he was a little surprised at just how funny she found the idea. He might have been a tad bit annoyed if he didn't already know she was actually a nice person and didn't really mean anything by it. Plus, she had a lovely laugh. And she was right, he wasn't the type. It hadn't exactly worked out that well. He couldn't help but blush.
He gave her a sort of lop-sided grin. "Nah, I wasn't that ambitious. Not really the authoritative type, either." He laughed when she asked about the girls, leaning forward with his arms on the table to answer. "Not exactly. A few of them, maybe, but it wasn't quite how I'd imagined it. So after a couple of years I gave it up. Still have a pretty cool Edgar Allen Poe shirt from then, though."
He nodded when she talked about having a tough time. He didn't really like this subject, but he tried not to let that show plainly on his face. He was a bit interested when she mentioned being from Seattle, though. He'd never done much travelling. The farthest south he'd ever gone was Florida when his family had gone on vacation to Disney World, and the farthest west was West Virginia when they'd gone to visit relatives, but that had been a long time ago. "It must be hard, being so far from home. I've got it comparatively easy; this is only about four hours from where my mom lives."
He scratched his nose again, grinning a little sheepishly, when she suggested him showing her around. "Actually, I only found this place 'cause I can't live without my coffee. We could go exploring together, though." He smiled more genuinely at that idea. That might be fun.
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 16, 2011 23:16:21 GMT -5
Ros hadn't meant to embarrass Russel, but when he blushed she couldn't help but be a little surprised at seeing a grown man so flushed. It was almost cute. Maybe he would be more suited as a teenager as he looked now, bookish, a little goofy. "I'm not so sure, you certainly seem to take to handling your class well. I mean during class you seemed to handle yourself well." Now her laughter had died and she simply let her amusement remain. She had never gone for the dark brooding type, but she'd seen what few friends she'd had go for those guys that seemed so mysterious. Really do her they'd all be boys, simple as that, just like the girls she'd known.
"Ah, well I'm sure they liked you more for who you were then how you looked or acted." She swirled her mug around, making the different colored streams play together before bringing it to her lips, "I will say I went through a morbid period myself. I do enjoy Poe. Though Mary Shelley was by far my favorite. I'm not sure if I have any clothes though that say so. You're a fan of books though I gather." It made her giddy as she sat there, the topic of literature being her favorite to end up at. Part of her now wanted to get him alone and just spend hours just talking as drinks went cold. Of course she wasn't sure just how much time he did have to spare.
"It's not so tough. I'm happy about it actually. I'm providing for myself, and I'm helping people. In the end it's better than being cooped up." Reaching out she touched his hand, a soft gentle brush, "Thank you for your concern though, but I wanted to be so far away."
At the mention of exploring together she gave an excited nod, almost unable to stay in her seat, "Would you mind? I would love to have your company Russel." |
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 17, 2011 23:10:07 GMT -5
He smiled when she said he'd handled his class well. As he recalled, he hadn't been a very happy camper that morning. It hadn't been easy to keep from snapping at his students. "Yeah? I'm glad you think so. I try to be a cool teacher, but it's not always easy. You know those teachers you had in school who you could tell really loved their subject, and got you interested in it merely by you being around their enthusiasm? I try to be like that. Don't know if it works out, but I try."
He rolled up his napkin and played with one end of it absent-mindedly as she mentioned the girls. He liked to think that was true, but it probably wasn't. After all, he'd basically been putting on an act during that stage of his life. It had been his way of dealing with his insecurities, to project an image he thought girls would find more appealing than the real him.
He looked back up at her when she mentioned going through a morbid period, a half-amused quizzical look on his face. "You're kidding? I can't really imagine you being very morbid. You seem pretty cheerful to me. Of course, there are hidden depths to everyone." He grinned. "I am a fan of books, yeah. If that's not a prerequisite for English teachers, it should be. I like a little bit of everything, mainly fiction though. And it has to be well-written. Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman..."
As she touched his hand lightly with hers, he felt himself blush just slightly. He smiled and scratched his nose. He opened his mouth and almost started to ask her why she wanted to be away from her family, but then he thought better of it. It wasn't really his business. Besides, he didn't want the subject coming back around to his own past, and it was quite likely that it would, the way this conversation had been going. So he was quite happy when she suggested going to explore Cinders together.
"Sure," he said, taking another drink. Then his eyebrows raised for a moment. "Wait, do you mean right now?" He didn't know if that's what she meant, but actually, that wasn't such a bad idea. After all, he wasn't going to get any more reading done until he got a new pair of glasses, so he didn't have anything better to do. And maybe they could find a glasses store around.
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 18, 2011 19:31:55 GMT -5
Hearing how Russel was hoping to reach his students she nodded her head. She figured it was what every teacher hoped for, to keep the students interested. It was hard to do in this day and age. Long ago an education was a privilege, to be a teacher was a badge of honor, and now children just took it as a form of torment and instead focused inwardly on their own vanity with their personal webpages, or relied on anonymous writers to tell them what was truth or lie without even questioning it. It was frustrating, she could imagine, for Russel and Josh, and the other teachers...
"Give it more time, I'm sure you'll get them. If not this semester, then next semester." She chuckled and leaned back in her seat giving a small shrug at his surprise.
"Well I wasn't black hair and nails, skinny jeans and torn up t-shirts. I got into darker things, I think every person does really. For me I just became fascinated with the darker part of arts. However I wasn't doing it to bring in any boys. Most that I knew picked up books only for studying. I love Anne Rice and Neil Gaiman!" Finishing off her hot chocolate, pleased to find someone who had read some of what she had. When he brought up exploring Cinders that very day she grinned. "Only if...only if you have the time to Russel. Sometimes it's better to explore with a friend or company. A little adventure."
She wouldn't mind actually to have the company. It was nice having someone to talk to outside of school. The past summer and beginning of fall had started off rather lonely for her Now she was just happy to have someone to talk to like this as the minutes passed, relaxing more and more around the man. "I'll try not to hurt you while we walk if that helps at all." She teased softly. |
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 18, 2011 21:52:50 GMT -5
Russel grinned and took another sip from his cup. "Thanks for the encouragement." He really did mean that. Sometimes it was pretty rough, even when nobody was there to drop books on your feet. The students themselves could be pretty brutal in their apathy. There were even a few who were downright obnoxious, though he hoped those would mellow out a bit before long. But on the whole, really, things were going all right. He just had to keep his head up.
"Neil Gaiman is the shit!" he said just a little too loudly, caught up in his enthusiasm. Then he realized people were looking at him and ducked his head down to take another drink, nearly finishing off his latte. "Uh, sorry. Got a little carried away."
He smiled again when she wondered whether he had time. She was refreshingly polite and considerate. Or maybe he'd just been spending too much time around teenagers? No, she really was just a very nice person. "Sure, I've got plenty of time," he said, uncurling his napkin and putting the pieces of his broken glasses into it. He doubted anybody would be able to save them; he'd just have to get new ones. He grinned at her little tease, and retorted with one of his own, "Well, maybe by acknowledging our little jinx's existence, we've diminished its power and I'm no longer in danger around you."
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 19, 2011 11:55:48 GMT -5
Ros enjoyed many of the books Russel had mentioned, reading in general was her favorite thing to do, but she'd never in her life made such a noise about something like the other did at that moment while they discussed their love of one author. It was hard not to laugh, but she contained herself as best as she could. She didn't want to seem rude to Russel.
"I do enjoy his works a lot. He brings so much of our childhood fantasies to life. Sort of modern fairytales for a new generation, a little bit sweet, a little bit scary..." He made her want to run out now as blow all her nicely saved money on books, "It's been forever since I read anything by him. I may have to go drag out some of my boxes I have yet to unpack."
When it was all said and done their adventure around the town was finally decided and Ros could hardly contain her excitement of going out in exploration. "I'm glad you're up for this. I've only met a few people here and it's nice to be doing something like this after being alone." Seeing the broken glasses once more as Russel wrapped them made it a little harder to laugh at his own little jab about their "curse".
"Maybe it will, or it could just make it really bad." Slowly she closed her own little game book and put it away in her purse, pushing her mug to the center of the table as she stood and smoothed a hand out along the skirt of her dress. Ros was going to try though, it was just a matter of staying vigilant and watching her step. Perhaps Russel would be right, she thought as she started towards the cafe door.
Outside the weather was definitely cooler, the overcast sky threatening rain or just gloom for the rest of the day as she looked up for a moment before her gaze moved out along the streets, watching others as they shopped and chatted. |
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 19, 2011 18:33:28 GMT -5
This was a subject he could really get enthusiastic about, though he tried to keep from bursting out loudly again. However, he sat up in his seat with almost an excited little bounce, putting both hands around his cup. "I love the dark side of fairy tales. In the original Red Riding Hood, they cut the wolf's stomach open and filled it with rocks. Isn't that just awful? And they used to tell those stories to little kids." He was grinning as he said it, since he found the idea fascinating. Not many people brought up these kinds of topics in everyday conversation. He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked about things like this outside the classroom. It was refreshingly exciting.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," he agreed, draining the last of his latte before standing up with his book in one hand and the styrofoam cup and bundled glasses in the other. He pushed in his chair with his hip and followed Ros outside, stopping for a moment to toss the cup and glasses in the trash.
The weather was still rather cloudy, but the sky seemed less dark now. Or maybe it was just that he was in a better mood than he had been when he'd gone into the cafe. However, he hadn't checked the forecast before he'd gone out that morning, so he couldn't say whether it was going to rain or not. He hoped not. He was having fun hanging out with Ros and he didn't want to have to go home anytime soon. Looking first in one direction and then the other, he shrugged and glanced over at Ros. He really didn't know Cinders well enough to suggest going one way over another. The only places he'd paid much attention to were this little cafe and the few restaurants scattered about, simply because like most guys he wasn't much of a cook.
"Which way you wanna go?"
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 20, 2011 0:26:46 GMT -5
Ros gave a little snort of laughter as she shrugged, "That was the toned down story for kids Russel, the real Red Riding Hood was about sex and purity and to ward little girls away from dangerous men. In some stories she even died." She thought back on reading the older records of such stories with fascination and horror, unsure if someone actually wrote it intended for children at all and not some twisted pleasure, "Fairytales took on whatever form they needed to in order to address the moral dilemmas of the age. Nowadays we don't need fairytales, we need superheroes."
Outside she could feel the wind brush her legs as little as she followed Russel's lead in looking around the street as if attempted to decide what end to start from. Of course she doubted they could explore all the shops, but nothing said they couldn't at least enjoy what they could see of it. Reaching out behind her she grabbed his hand before she hopped down the two steps that led up to the cafe and started off to their right, "This direction, worse case we end up bored with the shops and head the other way, right?" Turning back she smiled taking a few more steps backwards in the direction she'd chosen.
Right next to the cafe was a small little kitchen boutique, cookbooks and colorful shiny bowls were decorated about filled with crinkled colored paper and equally as nice tools. It seemed interesting, but it was a shop that in being given no control she'd want it all. Her steps kept pushing forward, a hardware store, travel agency, a used records store...
"Small towns always have such cute shops. Nothing like the oversized department stores. It's quaint. I was so surprised by it all, that a school like Lux would be here and not somewhere in the bigger cities." |
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 20, 2011 16:29:18 GMT -5
Russel's eyes widened. He hadn't known that at all. "You're kidding me! So then the wolf was metaphorically... Wow." He laughed. "That's really interesting. Funny you should know all that, though. Are you sure you aren't that type of librarian?" he asked with a wink and a playful nudge of his elbow. He just couldn't resist teasing her.
He looked down in mild surprise when she took his hand and pulled him along, but he just smiled slightly, shrugged, and followed. Ros was so cute in her way, and she had no idea, which was even cuter, if that was possible. He'd never met anybody quite like her. "Right," he said with a grin. There were so many different shops it was almost dizzying. You could buy almost anything here. As he looked around, he noticed Ros's gaze glued to a little kitchen utensil store as they passed it, but she made no move to go inside. He cocked his head at her. "D'you like cooking?"
At her mention of Cinders's quaint atmosphere, he nodded his head in agreement. "Me too," he said, then gave a little sheepish grin. "Actually, I thought this place would be sort of stuffy and snooty, since Lux is a private boarding school and all. And I mean, come on, with a name like Lux Lucis? But it's been a pleasant surprise so far."
Scanning his eyes over the names of the shops along their side of the street, Russel almost missed a tiny store that seemed squished between two larger ones on either side of it. 'Gregory's Rare Books', the wooden sign with faded black lettering declared above the door. Doing a double-take, he noticed the little window and its display of books framed by dark red curtains. He tugged Ros back a little ways toward its door, since they had almost passed it. It was a dingy-looking, unassuming little place, the only other indication of what it sold being the small window display. He could hardly contain his excitement. He'd always read about tiny little atmospheric bookstores, or seen them in movies, but he'd never actually come across one in real life. It seemed almost too good to be true. He looked over at Ros with a boyish grin on his face, for all the world like a little kid in the presence of a candy shop.
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 21, 2011 20:03:40 GMT -5
"Indeed. Quite the metaphor." Ros had been about to continue with the discussion of fairytales and their darker meanings...she enjoy these sorts of conversations seeing what others knew, the debates. However she was brought to an abrupt halt by the English teacher who once more asked her just what sort of librarian she was. This time she managed to better control the rush of heat to her cheeks as she was not looking at him, but rather the street. Still it was enough to make her realize she'd once more put her foot in her mouth once more around the English teacher.
Ros kept walking along the street, pausing only a moment as Russel brought up cooking, giving a small nod she turned a bit as she walked so she could better see him. "My family's chef taught me how to cook when I was little because there were no other kids around and it was easy to get bored. After a while I just started cooking for myself and I loved it. I even cooked my mother a few breakfasts, but she never really knew it was me." She remembered sneaking away downstairs and helping the cook make breakfast, and she always enjoyed how her mother would rave about how nice it tasted though the one time she'd told her that she'd made it...
Shaking it off she realized that Russel had stopped as she looked at him just before he pulled her back a little. With a little readjusting she hopped over to him, avoiding tripping over her own feet as she looked up at the store sign and then at the window display.Her eyes grew wide as she returned the same giddy smile that her companion had before she started up towards the door, "Shall we?" This for her was quite new, her only bookstores around her home town being gargantuan chains with shiny new titles all the time packed with coffee shops and video games as well. What little of the shop was seen through the display seemed to be dimly lit with shelves packed full of odds and ends. Opening the door the smell of old paper and leather wafted out into the October air as she stepped into the shop.
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 21, 2011 22:50:40 GMT -5
Ros didn't react to his little jest quite as emphatically as before, though he did notice her cheeks get red. Hmm, had he hit a nerve? Maybe he wouldn't make any more dirty jokes. Unless she just walked right into one. Then he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't take the bait.
When she started talking about cooking, he quirked an eyebrow and looked at her with a quizzical expression on his face. "A family chef? Whoa, so your folks are loaded?" His own family was pretty much middle-class. For most of his childhood, his mom had been the one to do all the cooking. And then later, when she'd had to start working as well to help support the family, they'd eaten a lot of fast food and microwave dinners. He wondered what it would be like to have someone cook for you all the time. Or even just have the money to spend on something like that. "I like to think I'm pretty kitchen-savvy for a guy. I don't burn poptarts or anything, and I can successfully boil water, so y'know. Better than some dudes." Actually, saying it out loud, that sounded pretty lame.
Russel's grin widened when Ros met his with one of her own. They were like two peas in a pod when it came to books. It was really quite nice to have that in common with someone, he thought. He had always been the bookish one in his group of friends, especially in college. He had to keep himself from literally skipping in through the door as Ros opened it. The dim lighting, the musty smell of yellowed paper, the leather-bound volumes lining wooden shelves, the little antique decorations... it was a book-lover's dream.
Letting go of Ros's hand, he wandered over to one shelf and trailed his finger over the embossed lettering along the spine of a copy of The Island of Dr. Moreau that had caught his eye. Even without opening it, he could tell that the book was old. It was probably pretty expensive. Then he saw that the whole row was dedicated to H.G. Wells, and the ones above and below it, as well. Good grief, had he died and gone to heaven? He wanted to buy them all, but from the look of them, and the fact that it was a shop for rare books, he figured he probably couldn't afford them.
"Maybe we shouldn't have come in here," he said to Ros, his eyes still glued to the books. He gave a little chuckle. "I'm tempted to blow a paycheck on these."
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 22, 2011 11:56:48 GMT -5
Ros hadn't thought really of explaining how she learned to cook as being a giveaway about her family history until Russel had said something about it. After her own talk about being tight on funds to have him address her own families wealth she found herself a little stuck as she looked at him giving a small shrug. "I guess you could call it that. My father comes from money..." Ros replied softly, scratching the back of her head, ruffling her hair as she shifted around a bit. "I mean we had a family cook, but it's not like that really means anything." It meant a lot, but she wasn't sure how to explain her own situation when she was still at a point where she wasn't sure she wanted to really talk about it.
"Maybe I could show you how to cook a few things? It's nice to know a few basics so one doesn't eat PB&Js all the time at lunch." She giggled before going into the store.
It was a beautiful place as she moved passed where Russel had stopped, picking up a small leather bound tome of short stories, the gilded lettering flaking just a bit as she opened it and let her eyes skim over the faded ink on yellowish pages. "I wish you weren't right, right now." She giggled.
Oh, how right Russel was, all that she'd saved would not cover what she wanted from this place just as she glanced around. There as always her emergency option, but no guilty pleasure was worth that really, the small credit card in her purse the final connection back to Seattle if need be.Shaking her head she sighed. No, that would never be an option for her...she liked it here, and looking over at Russel she smiled softly. Why would she leave when she'd just begun to live again?
"Still...it's nice to just look, right?" She murmured walking back towards him as her voice dropped to a soft whisper. |
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Post by RUSSEL CONNOR on Mar 22, 2011 16:49:02 GMT -5
He wondered what it was that had made her leave a life of luxury to strike out completely on her own, as that was what it seemed to him had happened, from what little she'd said about her past. But he wasn't about to ask something so personal as that. Besides, she seemed a little uncomfortable talking about it. And then she was teasing him about eating PB&J sandwiches all the time and he forgot all about it.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with PB&J!" he protested, intending to sound indignant but failing as he smirked. "Maybe you're right, though. That vending machine food sure does take a chunk outta your wallet. I'd eat what they serve in the cafeteria except I'd probably have to have three or four helpings. I... kind of eat a lot. But I guess you've noticed that." He chuckled, thinking of how he tended to suck food down like a vacuum. It was probably because he was tall and expended so much energy being fidgety. Or maybe he just had a high metabolism. He didn't know.
He'd said they probably shouldn't have come in, and she had agreed, but that hadn't stopped him from continuing to stare at the shelves lined with books. There were more piled around on tables, too, though they didn't look half as nice as the ones on shelves. He would leave in a minute, just a minute... as soon as he'd had his fill of literary eye-candy. Well, that could take all day, actually. He would just back away slowly, slowly... Ooh, look, a bookcase with everything behind glass! Proust and Shakespeare and Bronte and Poe and Tolstoy. "I've never read Tolstoy," he said in a near-whisper.
Oh gosh, he had to get Ros to drag him out of here or he was never going to leave. He glanced over at her. Was she as mesmerized as he was? "It is," he agreed, whispering as she was. "Why are we whispering?" Maybe it was because it felt like a holy place, all those ancient books by great, long-dead authors. "I feel like if I turn the corner and keep looking around, I'll find a book that'll take me to Fantasia or something." He didn't know whether she would get the Neverending Story reference, but he figured she would understand the sentiment.
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Post by ROSLYN BARKER on Mar 23, 2011 16:45:41 GMT -5
"There isn't anything wrong with them, but after a while I would think it would get boring or something just eating it over and over again." Ros stated, she herself liked variety even though more often then not she was bringing leftovers to eat again and again each time she was at the school. She gave a small sigh, "I'm sure it is a drain, maybe if I remember to I can bring you some leftovers for lunch. I like cooking for other people, and I haven't made enough friends here yet to do so for others."
Slipping over to where Russel was she heard him whisper about the books he hadn't read and giggled, "Me neither. I want to, but sometimes even I can't handle such heavy literature." She chuckled softly, leaning in close to see what he was looking at as she reached out to touch a collection from Bronte, "Though even now I am reconsidering all of that." She gave a sigh as fingers brushed over the leather. No, there was no way she could even ask the price of this...either way just the feel of it seemed too much.
A small giggle rose up through the quiet shop when Russel addressed their whispering. "I guess this place just reminds me of the library...just trying to be quiet." Though as she glanced around it seem that no one else was here, just her and Russel tucked away in a little niche of shelves as books pressed in on them from all sides. "I know, at any moment I would think that there'd be something like that here. I thought that these places would exist only in movies. I've never seen so many books like this in one place other than flea markets." Staring at the books she smiled brightly as she once more pulled another volume opening it as she let her eyes read over the first few lines before she looked back up at her companion.
"Thank you for coming with me. I may not have stopped here if you hadn't." She chuckled as she slowly began to pace down the lanes of shelves simply in awe. |
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