The Old Ones

The library was quiet - obviously, it's a library. With the exception of the librarian, there were little, if any, people milling around. That situation suited Renard just fine: if there was someone there, he might have to have a conversation, and that had never been his strong suit. He had had to spend more energy than he planned to escape the multitude of students hanging around the front entrance just to get here, so the peace and quiet was quite soothing. Moving around from shelf to shelf, the red-haired older student searched for the magazines: he was interested in reading Henneberger's Weird Tales, but he wasn't sure this library had it. The previous library he frequented hadn't had it either. With a pair of headphones curved around his head, Renard let his hand absently run across a few random book spines. He wasn't up for socialization; that was why he was in the library: might as well listen to music and make that official.

Emily sat in the back of the library; the area where light from the windows in the front didn't reach. She had her feet pulled up in her chair and her nose buried in a dusty old book. A small frown was on her lips as she read the last few pages, and she kept skipping back to reread the final chapters. You never want to have a good story end... she thought to herself as she laid her book on her knees and looked around. So far, no one had managed to wander this deep into the library, and she doubt someone actually would.

Nothing: no magazines here, nothing. Biting back a frustrated exhalation, Renard moved deeper into the library, now searching in vain for anything resembling a good horror story. What he didn't expect to find in the back of the library was another person, yet that was what he found. She was pretty, that was for sure, with her nose buried deep in a book. Returning his gaze to the shelves, he gave them a deeper perusal quietly: perhaps if he was quiet enough, she wouldn't notice his presence. He wouldn't have anything resembling a topic to say to her anyway.

Taking a small glance up from her book, Emily caught sight of the boy. He was scanning through the books, paying her no mind. Balancing the book on her knees, curiosity took over as she watched him. She took notice that he had not been in the crowd earlier with all the people gathering to enter the school. Maybe he doesn't like people.. she thought to herself.

He had to grab some kinda book, any book really. The silence that had once been so calming had become awkward to say the least, and he felt like he had to do something. So, with that in mind, he grabbed the last book his hand ran across - Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy - and turned around to find the girl staring at him. Shifting his right foot awkwardly, he quickly gave her a wave with his free hand. "Hey," he whispered, mindful of the silent sanctity of the library. Well, that was as far as his conversations usually got... his eyes scanned around the room with almost a desperation to find something to fixate on.

A small smile played on Emily's lips when the boy glanced up and she gave him a small wave back. He seemed shy, so she stayed where she was. Emily didn't want to make him feel awkward, though she could tell that he seemed nervous. She caught a glance at the book in his hand. Occult philosophy? she asked herself, a confused look crossing her face.

Renard's first instinct was to leave immediately after this exchange, but that would be rude... right? He needed somewhere to sit, and it seemed the chairs next to her were the lone spot in the immediate vicinity. He must've stood there for an awkwardly long time weighing his options before finally giving in and moving towards the girl, taking a chair that was a couple seats away. Giving her one last look, he turned his attention to the book he had grabbed. Three Books of Occult Philosophy? What the hell did I grab? Letting out a soft, almost inaudible sigh, he opened the book and began to read.

Emily turned her attention back to her book and let out a small sigh. There was no way she could continue to reread the back pages of this for much longer. Setting the book down on the floor beside her chair, she carefully tipped back to the bookcase behind her and pulled out another one; The Skeleton Key. Emily was careful not to lean back too far, or else she knew she would fall and embarrass herself in front of the boy.

For a few minutes, Renard kept his eyes glued to the words on the page, lest he accidentally start a conversation. However, with this girl sitting so near, the silence was becoming suffocating, and he found himself almost needing to break it, even though the thought didn't make complete sense to him. Finally he pulled his eyes from what he was reading and glanced at what she was reading instead - The Skeleton Key. It took a few more minutes of internal debate for him to actually force the words to form on his tongue, but when he finally spoke, he whispered over to her, "The Skeleton Key? Not a bad book." It was a start, that was for sure.

Emily glanced up from her book and smiled at him. "I guess so, though I can't seem to get into it for some reason. How is your philosophy book?" she asked, her voice soft.

Renard quickly looked down: his finger had left him on some passage concerning Kabbalah. Well, it was at least interesting. "It's an interesting read," he replied, giving her a return smile. To him, his smile felt awkward and strange; it was why he didn't smile very often. "So, uh... I'm Renard," he continued softly, extending his hand to her. This entire ordeal felt awfully awkward, but she didn't seem that bad...

She glanced hesitantly at his hand, unsure whether or not the touch him. Emily shyly reached out, shaking his hand. "I'm Emily. It's nice to meet you, Renard." she replied.

Renard shook her hand in turn, giving her a small smile before letting her hand go, returning his own to the book laying loosely on his lap. It was only then he remembered the soft beats playing in his ears: he still had his music playing. Feeling a bit rude due to this remembrance, he moved the right speaker to the side so his uncovered ear was giving full attention to Emily. "Am I gonna find you in here often?" he whispered half-jokingly, his left hand tapping along the words of his book.

Emily giggled softly at his words, glancing down at her hands. "Well, that depends.."she replied softly, biting the inside of her lip. "Would you want to find me here?" Emily glanced back up at him shyly. Though it had been a while since she last had had a true conversation with a guy outside of her family, she could hear a flirting tone to her words, and she was afraid that it would scare him away.

Renard took in her words for a moment. There was definitely an amusing, perhaps flirtatious undertone to them, but she seemed friendly enough. Would it be really bad to at least know someone at this school? It couldn't hurt... right? Returning his attention to her, he nodded and smiled once more. "I wouldn't mind at all," he said. "It's good to know someone here reads, at least." His gaze wandered back to the bookshelves before returning to her. "I get the feeling I'll be in here a lot."