Peace and Quiet at Last (Open/Social)

Kasumi cautiously opened the doors to the place she had searched for after almost thirty minutes, her face hoping it wouldn't be the wrong room again. The comforting, familiar smell of books hit her, and the nervous girl visibly relaxed, her shoulders drooping in relief. She practically skipped through the door, filled with happiness of having found a place that was familiar in this confusing place called Beata Academy. The things she wapere most comfortable and happy around were all around her, filling up the space. Book upon book upon book... Kasumi pulled one out, read the summary, and slid it back in. She found another, checked it, and put it back. Books, books, books!

Finally, Kasumi chose a few, and brought them over to a table to start reading. Like any hoou library, the place was nice and quiet, without any noises to bother her. She could probably live in the library if you let her, that was how much she loved reading. Brown eyes skimmed the pages eagerly, taking in every word. She was completely captivated by the series of events, each one pulling her deeper into the web of the story. Kasumi was in her natural habitat now, at long last.

Reading was a hobby for Harrison, it was a way to escape from a boring life to something filled with action fantasy and wonder. Well, it used to be until he decided to go to Beata. There wasn't even much time for himself to read with the things going on and the unique gifts everyone had. Despite this he had still gone to the library to go and went to pick out a fantasy book. Picking a book wasn't that hard for him since he wasn't that big on a fan of drama and had an adventure fantasy action book. It was about these people who were stuck in a thing called VRMMO game (super original) and the concept had gotten his interest. He had enough time to go to the library for a long time and get some peace and quiet at last.

Silently reading he heard the door to the library slowly open which revealed a small girl. Ignoring the girl and starting to read again he was interrupted by the sound of books being pulled and being placed back. Since this was the library this was a common thing and once again he had ignored this. This was until he had kept hearing this for an abnormal amount of times. Looking up to see who was making this racket he had seen it was the same girl from the door. He then had kept his mouth shut until she had came closer to a table and then he decided to voice his opinions since if she came regularly this would be a massive annoyance. "You know there are titles for a reason." He put up his fake smile with nice tone to show that he half joking. 'Pick a genre, read the title and read quietly there's no need to see what every single book is about.' He then looked down at his book since he thought he had gotten his point across.

Kasumi barely heard the older boy at first, too captivated to notice. However, she caught his last few words, and looked up, smiling slightly, not at all offended. She seemed to have a complete personality change while in the room full of books, and it was obvious she was in a place she was suited for. "Why, but those books that were there...I've read every single one!" she said cheerfully, smiling a little as she looked off into the air, as if remembering each fondly. "I'm not very good at memorizing titles, so I always read the summary to check. I'd read most of the books on that shelf already, and these are only books that I've forgotten most of the events in, see. I'm sorry if I bothered you."

Kasumi glanced over at the Summer's book, curious as to what he was reading. She had found she could often figure out a person's personality from what books and genres they preferred to read, and she was doing that right now. It seemed to be something about people trapped in a virtual reality game from what she could see, a type of story that was growing increasingly popular. "What book is that?" she asked curiously, wondering if she would recognize the title.

Harrison kept up his smile as he stopped reading his book to listen in to what she was talking about. 'Did you just ask why? How was I supposed to know you've read them all already.' His outer appearance had stayed the same but he was really rolling his eyes in his mind. He had thought that would have been the end but she kept talking. 'Tsck, come on.' Taking another break from reading the book he looked towards the girl. 'Read most of the books there already right~. Reading must be fun for you, forgetting what comes next.' He had thought of the first part in a sarcastic tone since he did not believe she had done that. Hearing her apologize he had nodded in response and had turned to reading his book. He had lifted the book a little higher since was reading the end of the page by now.

Reaching a fight scene in the book he had imagined in his head how it would actually look like as the main protagonist starts to fight one of the bosses. But before he could read what happened at the end of the fight scene he heard another voice again, the girl. Harrison had tilted his head slightly and his grin seemed over extended but still looked like a proper smile. 'Really! Now what.' "It's called End Quest" Harrison had looked back at the book and started to read from the beginning of the fight since he was interrupted hoping she wouldn't ask what it was about.

OOC: Best Title I could think of. Feel free to make up some things that happen in the book.

OOC: Feel free to criticize my amazing names >.>;))

Kasumi's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. She flashed back to a memory of a book on psychology, and wondered if it was just her, or was the older boy's smile just a little too wide? Deciding to ignore that for now, Kasumi listened to the title, carefully thinking back through all the books she'd read. Many of them had been books on such topics, and it was hard for the girl to try and sort through them all. She glanced at the cover picture... And... Ah!

"Oh, that was a fairly interesting book I've read, if I recall correctly. Have you gotten to the part where Cally and Logan have to fight the boss of the game yet? It's an especially suspenseful part!" Kasumi said cheerfully, as memories of that book came rushing back. "I'd recommend the books "Command Code: Begin" as well as "Illusionary" if you like "End Quest". They all have similar ideas!" Kasumi looked back down to her current book, one about the Mariana Trench, already reading again. She didn't care all too much how Harrison would react to that, but she hoped she wouldn't get stuck in yet another embarrassing situation.

He had hoped but to no avail. Upon reading a couple of sentences he had read over again he had heard a voice, the same voice that had stopped him from continuing. "WHAT NOW. What could you possibly say now. I'm never going to get to read a book if you're around aren't I.'' Once again he turned to this girl and gave his smile. 'Huh. What. I thought Logan was a bad guy and Cally is currently fighting the lass boss. Great now I know what happens.' "You know, you should warn someone before you say things like that." His face was geniune although his intentions were not, if they were not at the library he would have yelled at this little girl. "I have already read those two but thanks for reminding me." 'Mariana trench really? Who would, oh I recognize that book.' "I'm guessing you really like books." Harrison had given up on silently reading the book since due to experience he had thought she would come and talk again. He had looked down at his book and was reading but his voice was directed at the girl.

OOC: I feel like my character's almost going out of character, so I might end this thread sooner than later. (Kasumi would never start a conversation like that). Just a heads-up ^^"))

Kasumi's head shot up. So much for not getting caught in an embarrassing situation again. She could feel that all too familiar nervous heat creeping up her face. Though this situation wouldn't have been too bad for most people, Kasumi was especially shy and sensitive. She quickly apologized, saying, "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking, I won't say a thing about what happens in books anymore, I promise!" Kasumi buried her nose back into the book, doing her best to hide her burning face.

"I'm guessing you really like books," the older boy's voice sounded, and Kasumi slowly pulled her face out of the pages. "Erm, yeah... I don't really have any friends, you see, so I treat books like my friends. Reading's something I've done since I could recognize a few letters, and it's become my favorite thing to do. " Kasumi's voice was much sooner and more timid than before, now that che was fairly certain she'd gotten the older boy annoyed at her. Kasumi once more looked off into space as if recalling memories, then bent back down to her book, flipping the pages quickly, after reading each page at a surprisingly fast speed.

Harrison genuinely smiled as he heard her say that she wouldn't spoil anything else that had happened in the book. 'Well at least she knows what she did wrong, I'll give her that.' As he listened to what she had to say for loving books he put down the book on the table and had turned towards her. 'Then again it's not everyday you meet someone who loves book to this extent. She could be interesting.' He listened to her explanation and a thought popped into his head. 'Of course, no friends so you instead read books. Cliched ain't it.' Having read a wide variety of books stories about a person like this naturally came to Harrison. 'Maybe instead of books, actually talk to someone?' He didn't care to point this out since that would in no way help make the situation less boring. The next act that she did surprised Harrison since that too was cliched in Harrison's mind. Watching her look off into space he placed his fingers on his forehead and had sighed at what she did next. "I think I have an idea as to why you can't remember some of the scenes in that." 'Even if you have read it over and just looking for a scene there is no reason for you to be reading that fast. You will just lose out and forget the scenes... unless that's your power.'

OOC: I don't mind what you do whether you leave and end it or something is up to you.

Kasumi listened to the Summer's statement, and frowned a bit. She wasn't sure what the reason was, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with the quantity that she read. The girl frowned at the pages, wondering. It wasn't something she thought of quite often. Usually, her mind was frantic about whether she would get called on by the teacher, teased by the other girls, or that she'd say something the other people didn't like. What could this older boy think?

"What is it?" she asked shyly, curious despite her timid personality. Personally, she felt that she just kept in her head things that interested her or were important or useful to her, and kicked out any other thoughts and memories of books. Most books were repeats of something, or full of information that didn't interest her or strike her as particularly useful. Such as the book she currently held, which was about a topic that would probably never be particularly useful, and something she had read about multiple times already.

Harrison was confused when he heard her ask him about what made her like that. 'Do you really not know?' Putting down his book and facing towards her he told her what he thought. "That book you're reading, its about the Mariana Trench, no offence to the trench not that interesting." He had thought that although he had read it he didn't particularly enjoy it and so he had never gave it a second reading.

"Also you may want to slow down on the reading. I mean I love books as much, no, more than the next guy but you wont get a lot of what the author is talking about if you read it like that." 'I really hope that isn't her power' He then used his gift to teleport one of the books in the nearby shelf to his hand and placed it facing her. "The title isn't important but, I have read this book in two weeks." When he first did this he was quite proud of himself since it was a 700+ paged book. "But when after I finished it and re read it over I realized that due to me rushing a few events flew over my head." He chuckled after recalling a memory of his second read through which lasted about 2 months. "Its just like hanging out with friends, you should enjoy it not rush it." He wasn't sure if she got what he tried to say but right now he really didn't care.

Kasumi tilted her head at his words about the Mariana Trench, wondering whether she should be offended or not. Then, all she said was, "The Mariana Trench is actually quite fascinating in my mind. It's the deepest point on the entire planet. Don't you think it is terribly interesting how all types of organisms manage to thrive down there when the pressure would probably crush all of us, except for those with a gift that allows the release of pressure? They make the vents at the bottom their home, and many organisms down there live over a hundred years in such harsh conditions!"

Kasumi stopped, realizing how much she had said, and quickly closed her mouth, trying to ignore the blush that crept up her face again. Then, she listened to his point on why she couldn't always remember specifics about books. Could he be right? She stared curiously down at the book before him, realizing he had used his gift. She brushed it off, knowing she would probably see things like that quite a bit, now, and instead pondered over his reasoning. "Do you think so? I wouldn't know, I suppose...I'm too awkward and shy to keep any friends..." she whispered, frowning slightly.

'Really you find that interesting? There are lots of places like that in the world. People are not meant to be in the wild. We really can't survive in places that don't ideally match what we need. That's how technology was made so that we could live anywhere." After thinking it through he decided to tell his opinion about what she found so fascinating. "'I'm too awkward and shy to keep any friends' I'm no psychologist but I'm pretty sure that's bad thinking. Do you know the placebo effect? Mind over body." He looked around once more and stood up towards one of the sections of the library and grabbed three books. Harrison placed down the books facing towards her in a fashion that you could see the names clearly. 'Mount Everest', 'Sahara Desert' and 'Dead Sea' were the names on the books written.

"Not saying that you're wrong." 'Which you are.' "But Mariana Trench is not the only place like that. These three places you would not be able to live long without very specialized equipment, proper knowledge or a gift. The Dead sea it was like, 8.6 or something times saltier than the ocean, Mount Everest the highest point if you're going by above sea level, oxygen so low you have to bring an oxygen tank and warm clothing. Sahara Desert, a hot desert filled with sand, hallucinations, lack of water. We can only 'live' in places around our temperature its due to ou-." Realizing he had gone on a rant he had stopped before he could say more. "You don't know me. You're kind enough to tell me your opion on things and tell me about you. You should have more confidence."

Kasumi's lips tightened as the older boy continued to talk. The situation was getting more and more awkward and out of hand. She hated conversations like these, conversations where psychologists, counsellors, and teachers would tallk on and on about things like thinking self-demoting thoughts andhow she needed to socialize more, talk things out with people, etc etc. She hated these conversations because they only ever reminded her about her weaknesses, and she knew them all too well.

She barely glanced at the books when he talked, merely saying, "Yes, of course I know of those places and their conditions. I am equally enthusiastic about them," was all she said now, politely sitting through the Summer's rant. "I love learning about new things, so I enjoy almost every single topic equally. Everything is unique in some way, no matter how small, so I always think every book is interesting. I know that probably sounds somewhat cliche, but it's what I think, and what could I be entitled to if not an opinion? I realize I may be annoying you, and I apologize greatly for that." Kasumi bowed her head apologetically, and continued.

"People hate hearing the truth, but yet hate it when you lie to them. So, I tell myself that if I must say something, I should say the truth. It hurts less in the long run. I suppose that's why I'm so awkward, and why I could talk so easily with you. I don't have much confidence though, really." Kasumi stood abruptly, sliding a bookmark between the pages of the book. "Excuse me, but I feel I should go now. Perhaps I'll see you around. Thank you for the inspirational conversation." The Winter hurriedly exited the library after checking out her books, feeling quite odd about what had just happened.

-Exit-