Spark of Insight

[Blake Andrews]

Lost in thought, Blake pushed his way through the large library doors, helping them to close easily behind him. Every step was labored to look uninjured and normal, as his mildly traumatic fall from a tree not hours previous made that task difficult. As much as he tried to hide it, his gait had an ever so slight limp to it.

Blake was on a quest to learn the layout and feel of the entire campus, and the library was the next stop on his list. His thumb panged slightly between the pressure of his teeth, executed thusly to distract Blake from the pain in his leg.

Blake stood there for a moment and admired the vast rows and columns of literature and pages, distracted for a moment by the raw information in front of him. Then, refocusing on the task at hand, Blake searched out the librarian's desk. Not seeing it at first, Blake struggled to think back to his orientation for the librarian's name. Miss... Arley? Aria? Audrey? ARDEN. "Miss Arden? Are you somewhere here?" Blake said, glancing around the room.

[Flick Arden]

Flick was almost always in her library, but whether she was at her desk or not was an entirely different story. Frequently, she could be found flitting about the shelves or snuggled into a corner rather than stuck in her desk chair. Sometimes, the world of manning a counter was just so suffocating.

Luckily for the student calling her name, she had not been engrossed in a book when he had started calling, so she had managed to pluck her name out of the cacophony of muted sounds in the library. She wasn't really used to being called "Miss Arden," but she rose to the occasion anyway and started wandering about where she thought she heard the voice coming from.

It took her a bit, but finally she located a lost, gimpy looking boy. Poor fellow, must have gotten in a bit of a scrape. Perhaps with something interesting, although she knew it would have been rude to ask.

"Oh, hello, were you calling for me?" she asked, adjusting her sweater around herself and giving a sweet little grin."I'm sorry, I think I have a bell somewhere, but I could be wrong...maybe on my desk, if you found my desk and were looking for me..which you were, because you were calling my name. Unless it wasn't you..." She looked up at him, frowning in confusion at this point.

"Was it you?"

[Blake Andrews]

Blake stopped for a moment, stifling a grin. He couldn't help but be amused at her confused banter, but what really threw him off was the librarian herself. When he had read her name in the list of staff, he had expected a wisened old woman, perhaps with a walking stick. The beautiful younger woman who stood before him was the last thing he had expected. Although finding his words seemed to take forever, the pause only lasted a second.

"Well, yeah it was me, if you're Miss Arden." he said, lamely. Blake felt a little bit like an awkward kid talking to a girl he had a crush on.This, of course, was impossible. Miss Arden was a librarian. He found himself massaging his leg out of nervousness, and straightened up immediately. "Um, my name is Blake, and this is my first year here. I was just getting to know the school grounds. You know... your library is really impressive... My last school barely had a quarter of this."

He wasn't lying in the slightest. Part of what drew Blake to the internet is that no library really ever satisfied what he needed. He also found that the libraries on military bases were excessively restrictive, and all of it was kind of pointed and geared towards military friendly themes. The internet had no such restrictions.

[Flick Arden]

"Oh, yes, I'm Flick," she hastened to correct him, brushing a stray chunk of hair out of her face. Yes, she was the librarian and, thus, an authority figure of sorts, but she didn't like such stuffy things as being called "miss" and she liked to consider herself a friendly sort. If she were a teacher, perhaps things would be different, but otherwise, she was going to continue just being Flick.

At the mention of the impressiveness of her library [yes, her library], her smile grew into a dreamy, spacey sort of grin. She did so love this library and all of the books in it and he was right; it was larger than most.

"Ohh, yes, it is, isn't it?" she asked, moving toward the shelves to absently organize. It wasn't really a necessary action, more habit, but it made her feel better when she was doing it, since it was such a soothing, menail task. "I do love this library. It's so very..hmm..spacious." She nodded in that distractable way of hers, no longer entirely talking to just Blake. "Other schools do seem to lack in books, don't they? It's really a shame, since having a good library is so important and, really, it's so difficult to find the right book without the proper resources..."

She trailed off, continuing to arrange the shelf that didn't particularly need arranging. After a few seconds of silence, she turned back to him, looking confused again.

"What did you say your name was again?" she asked, frowning.

[Blake Andrews]

Blake watched in amused wonder as, while she talked, she began sorting and resorting the tomes on the shelf. His first instinct was to ask to help her, but he suppressed it. He enjoyed listening to her go on about her library, and even in the silence, he was comfortable watching her work.

Blake could no longer hide an amused smile from his face. He had never used the adjective 'adorable' to describe someone older than him before, but there was a first time for everything. His respectful air held sway, however. "It's Blake, Miss Ar- uh, Flick. Blake Andrews." He thought for just a small moment before continuing. "Actually, I was kind of wondering if there was a Librarian's Assistant position available."

If you asked him later, Blake wouldn't have been able to tell you why he decided to ask. The feel of the silent old library drew him in, as if he were a missing puzzle peice. The librarian was not only someone he could relate to, but someone he was almost sure he could get along with. It was really rare that Blake didn't feel threatened by a member of the opposite gender, but Flick's aloof yet passionate attitude was completely off his threat radar. She was someone he could see himself easily trusting.

If Blake could sit back and analyze himself, he would be scared to death.

[Flick Arden]

"Oh, hello, Blake," she said, turning from her shelving to face him again. She pulled her sweater more tightly around her tiny frame, having nothing else to do with her hands, and blinked owlishly at him. She probably would not remember his name in five minutes, but she'd try, and she'd at least remember his face. But really, it shouldn't take him too long for him to realize that she was lucky she remembered her own name.

At the mention of a librarian's assistant, Flick was sent back into a nervous shelf-organizing tizz. No one, no one organized her library shelves but her. She couldn't just change the system because some poor, gimpy boy needed a place to help out. No, no, it just wouldn't do. Perhaps Alin would need help in the band room or something.

"No, no, I don't think so," she said, shaking her head quickly as she moved again to the shelf across from Blake. "No, I don't really need an assistant." She continued shaking her head, taking a book out and replacing it in the same space almost instantly. "There are other teachers about," she continued, glancing over at him quickly before turning back to the shelves. "And you can always, of course, stay in the library as long as you want, I don't believe it closes. But no, no assistant positions are...ah...available."

She replaced the book she was holding and turned back to look at him, blinking owlishly.

[Blake Andrews]

The rejection quickly snapped Blake down to earth, back in to the reality he was currently hiding from. Librarian's Assistant? What the hell was I thinking? Blake asked himself stupidly. "Oh, ah, that's... well, that's fine. I was just curious, is all." Blake found himself tripping over his words.

He couldn't really appreciate what had just happened, but Blake was losing his edge, and Flick had very accidentally reminded him to hone it. Not everyone would just love and accept him on principle. Not everything would go just the way he wanted it to on principle. Blake automatically supressed his natural reaction to the rejection; the only pain showing was in his eyes.

He couldn't help but slightly quail under her gaze. He knew now what others were always saying when they told him they always felt like he was analyzing them. Then, Blake paused and told himself that none of this mattered anyway. Heh. Why am I so worked up? It's not a big deal. He decided to press on with small talk. "Um, how long have you been a librarian?"

[Flick Arden]

Her gaze wasn't focused on him for any length of time; she never focused on anything not covered in words for long. As soon as he'd spoken again, she turned away from him and back to the shelf. Running her hands along it lovingly, she kept her attention there for a few seconds before turning back to him and giving him one of her dreamy smiles.

At the librarian question, her smile turned into a ponderous look and she raised her hand to absently run through her hair as she thought. Not that it was a difficult question, but there were so many things she could say on the subject, that it was difficult to decide where to start. Though Flick wasn't very big on making such decisions, so she started almost instantly.

"Well, I've only been a librarian for a few months, but I've always been in libraries," she said, moving her hand to clasp her other one. "I mean, I love to read and I've read almost everything here..I went to Somnium when I was in highschool, it was wonderful." Suddenly, with an odd focus, she looked at him. "Have you slept yet?"

[Blake Andrews]

The seemingly abrupt change in subject completely threw Blake off his train of thought. He went through a mental analysis of himself. His eyes must have bags under them or something, or was it that he wasn't attentive enough to her? Did he seem to be drifting off? Blake pulled his coat a little closer to him self conciously. "I, uh... well, I was asleep when we arrived at the school, but since then, no. It's, uh, my first day here."

Blake totally didn't understand that Flick was talking about the Dream World, as he had not yet been. His memory wasn't quite all there at the moment, and he couldn't recall anything about the dream world at all. Also forgotten was the all too cruel dream he had upon arriving, of Reia turning in to a monster and attacking him.

Not able to figure it out, he finally asked, "Um, why, do I look tired or something?"

[Flick Arden]

Flick paid no attention to his bumbling answers, having given a fair few ones like that herself, and merely waited to tune in until he had actually begun speaking. When he finished, she frowned, a little concerned with his answer. The first thing she'd done upon arrival was take a nap, since she couldn't wait to get back to her beloved dream world, but she supposed that not everyone thought that way.

"Oh," she said, tilting her head curiously to the side. "That's a shame..." At his next question, she shook her head slowly, more like she was thinking than actually responding. "No, no, you look fine. I'm sure that you're very well rested if you were sleeping on the way here. I'm sure everyone could use a nap, though..."

She did feel awful that he had yet to realize what sleeping held in store for him, but she wasn't sure what to do. Subtelty had never really been her strong point, but she supposed that she should try to get used to it, if she wanted to get anything sneakily done.

"You should take a nap," she continued, smiling again. "It might be...refreshing."

[Blake Andrews]

Blake's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he studied the librarian quietly. "So wait," he asked, his words slow and deliberate. "I don't look like I need rest, but a nap would be refreshing? I'm sorry. I'm not following." He regarded the woman with confused concern that she might just be absolutely insane. The piercing eyes tried to discern if this woman was putting him on or not after all.

Blake's hands resumed massaging his leg nervously, and he couldn't help but think that sleeping may take his mind off the pain after all. Even if she was absolutely crazy, she was at least partly right. In his peripherals, the rows and rows of books, the desks, the darker room, and he smiled comfortably despite himself. "Besides," he said, "I haven't gotten my dorm assigned yet. It'd make napping kind of hard..."

The mentions of sleep had Blake seriously considering just how tired he was today. He had barely slept in the car, but he had been making it through all the chaos. When everything is going on and one doesn't have time to consider how tired he is, One can virtually go forever. It's when he has time to yawn and stretch that he actually feels the fatigue set in.

[Flick Arden]

"Well, naps are always refreshing," she said logically, sounding oddly coherent. When discussing sleep or the dream world, she tended to get far less spacey. "Cats nap all the time, you know, and they can't always be tired. I mean, I suppose they could be, but I don't think so. It's just a pleasant addition to a day." She smiled and brushed some hair out of her face, actually succeeding this time, which was a rarity.

"You could nap in the sun," she suggested, turning to look out the window. "It's lovely out today." Normally, she would have a very difficult time keeping up a conversation about one topic for so long, but when her beloved dream world was in question, she was all words and smiles and coherency.

"Although, you might want to make sure it's secluded, I'm sure there are people who wouldn't take kindly to you using grass space..." Because everyone else wanted to nap in the sun, obviously. "Or you could get trampled..."

[Blake Andrews]

Blake, at this point, was at a complete loss. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why she should recommend a nap to him. No matter how he looked at how this meeting had progressed, he couldn't find a metaphor, a euphimism, a hint, an angle, or a ploy. There was an actual brief pause in the conversation, and Blake looked, presumably at his leg, but he was really looking through it. He felt uneasy, not understanding exactly what was going on around him, and frankly, that was a very good portion of the time at this school.

Looking back at her, he replied, "I suppose you're right. Y'know, my leg could do for a rest... Fell out of a damn tree and all..." he said, unable to stifle a grin about the whole affair. "I dunno," he said. "Maybe I'll take a nap after English. Do you nap often?" he asked. He couldn't have thought of a more lame answer, but it was all he could do under this more than interesting situation.

[Flick Arden]

Brief conversational pauses were excellent times for Flick to get completely distracted by something else. Indeed, while Blake examined his leg, her gaze strayed somewhere to the left of him, focusing on the first colorful thing it found. She was just about to start wandering in that direction when Blake was speaking again and she tried to let her attention focus on him. As he spoke, her eyebrows drew together in a frown.

"Fell out of a tree?" she repeated. "Oh, how terrible. Perhaps you should visit the nurse, Kyle..oh...Ehrlich, I believe. He's very pleasant." She glanced down at his leg as well now, just in case she could see anything on the surface. At the mention of naps and, thus, inadvertantly, her beloved dream world, however, she looked back up.

"Oh, yes, I nap very frequently." She smiled again, instantly forgetting about his leg. "It's so relaxing."

[Blake Andrews]

Finally giving in, Blake yawned a little. You know, a nap would be nice. I suppose I could use a little shut eye. He had yet to go to his room, however, and sleeping outside didn't really appeal to him in an area where he wasn't very sure of his surroundings. He looked once again at the shelves upon shelves of books, the almost empty aisles, and the dark musty corners. It was an area like this that Blake was most comfortable. Stretching slowly, he said, "Well... I can go visit the nurse later. Say... that nap. You mind if I steal a quiet corner for an hour or so?"

His switch from suspicion to acceptance would be lost on all but the most observant of people in Blake's mind, though he wasn't sure if the Librarian was observant, and very clever about hiding it, or completely in her own world. "You'll hardly know I'm here, and I don't think I snore." Blake smiled at the absurdity of the situation, and didn't know whether to expect a rejection or an acquiesence.

[Flick Arden]

Any other teacher/staff member might have found it a strange request or denied it firmly, but Flick Arden was not like other teachers. Indeed, at his suggestion of taking a corner to nap in, she broke into a beam [albeit a beam of the same dreamy quality as the smiles she usually wore]. She, of course, did not notice any sort of switch in his mood, not being particularly observant when it came to things like that [or anything, really] , so she just carried on beaming at him.

"That sounds like a marvelous idea!" she gushed, still managing to sound completely like she wasn't aware of what she was saying. "Just make sure not to take a crowded corner. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will try to interrupt your slumber...Oh, and you might want to make sure that you're not within hearing range of anyone..that might be helpful." She continued to beam. "Have a lovely nap!"

[Blake Andrews]

"Alright..." Blake said, a little amused. He actually hadn't expected the librarian to accept his preposterous request. It was just another reminder that Blake was not at all in America any more. One final time, he evaluated the librarian before him, with a stare that looked like it was casually noticing something three miles away, just over his right shoulder. Blake decided off handedly that the librarian was harmless, and a possible friend. "Well, I'm going to go find that corner, alright?" He asked, starting to turn.

He waited, pausing for her response. Somehow, the musty old library had quickly become one of the most comfortable places he had seen today. Blake definitely saw himself spending alot of time alongside these old cloth and leatherbound tomes, the dark wood shelves, the footstep muffling carpet... The Antisocial all needed havens, and Blake saw this place as a very safe area.

[Flick Arden]

She hadn't expected him to continue talking to her. Indeed, she had already gone back to analyzing the shelves around her, fully content with the way the conversation had "ended." Of course, Flick's conversational skills were not the best around, so it should have come as no surprise that she was not particularly prepared for anything proper. After all, she never was.

When he spoke again, thus, she turned around in confusion. "Oh. Oh, yes. Please, feel free to help yourself." She smiled again before turning back to the shelves in a final sort of way. "Sleep well!" she murmured.