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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 26, 2012 21:01:13 GMT -5
“Customers,” Pierce answer distractedly as he finishes scanning in the books, looking up.
See this eyebrow? It’s raising yet again, this time in a particularly bemused manner at the sudden lapse in attention Xavier had exhibited. Regardless, he still places aforementioned brochures and leaflets with the new library card on top of the books and places it on the desk before turning to scribble the due dates on another card. In Pierce’s humble opinion, brochures and leaflets were just garbage fillers seeing as the information was on the website anyways.
“There you go.” Placing the final piece of paper onto the pile, Pierce stands up and looks expectantly at Xavier. “if you have no further questions, I have books to stack.”
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 26, 2012 21:25:00 GMT -5
Xavier stares at Pierce for a moment, considering. He had other things he wanted to do while he was here, but now that he thinks about it... he doesn't really want to ask this man about books on dementia. It somehow feels like giving too much away. Now that he's remembered that his smartphone has internet access - how did that pass his mind? - he'll just look it up at home.
On the other hand, the cooking books are still worth it. Trying to learn cooking off a phone sounds frustration. And meeting Pierce, he thinks that may have been worth it, too. Now, if he could only figure out why he feels so familiar...
"Thanks," Xavier says with a smile. "Wouldn't want to keep those books waiting unstacked."
Then he takes his things and turns to leave.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 27, 2012 18:09:00 GMT -5
“I’m glad you understand,” Pierce nods, giving the man a curt wave before returning to said task. The ominous sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach suggests that this was probably not going to be the last he sees of Xavier though.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 28, 2012 11:57:15 GMT -5
So Xavier heads off and life goes on. He spends the remainder of the day buying groceries and then studying and practicing cooking, then calls in sick Wednesday and then Thursday, and does the same. His boss believes him, and half-jokingly, half-seriously tells him not to come back if he might be contagious. He is a good man, and he thinks Xavier is a good man, too. Xavier likes good people like him, because they're so easy for bad men like himself to take advantage of.
Then again, he's not lying exactly. What part of sudden and selective amnesia isn't an illness? Especially as he begins to realize it runs deeper than he thought. He knows he went to a culinary school and earned his degree. He thought he remembered it, but he can bring up no images of his graduation, or his professors, or classmates, or campus...
On Friday he returns to work, watches his coworkers carefully and... manages. It's a masquerade that would likely fall apart if he wasn't in what was essentially a learner's position, but he will learn and improve, and for now he will keep his job.
In the late evenings, he begins to practice driving around the local neighborhoods, where traffic is light to nonexistent. Progress is slower than with the cooking, and he remembers nothing of the driver's training or testing that he knows he received. He hasn't realized yet that his mind keeps sliding away from focusing on everything else in his past that he can't remember.
At night, he dreams. He dreams of pain and apathy, of countless eyes watching and none of them caring. Care for me. Pity me. Fear me! Hate me! But in the dream he is nothing, and the eyes don't feel for nothings. He wakes in a swell of self-loathing and a bone-deep sense of isolation that makes him moan out loud as if physically wounded.
He can spend hours in bed, lost in dark emotions, questioning his existence, aching with loneliness, and with a deep feeling of loss that he can't place, and not understanding. How can he be lonely when he has no interest in people? Other people are annoying, worthless nuisances. At best they're tools for getting what he wants, at worst they're obstacles in his path that he would like nothing more than to violently break through, and make them spill blood and fear and pain... The only time he likes people is when he's hurting them.
Except, his mind reminds, for one. And then his thoughts turn to Pierce Fobster and he can't get the man out of his head. What is it about Pierce? What is this attraction? Usually if he finds himself interested in someone, it's because they strike him as a potential victim, but Pierce... isn't that. He considered it, imagined wrapping his hands around that long, pale neck - so thin! It looks like his head might just pop right off with a little pressure! - and he grinned and laughed at the thought, but his mind hissed, no, no, I can't kill him, then I can't be around him anymore.
And he very much wants, more and more each day, to be around Pierce. And on Saturday, despite the fact that he can't explain why he has it, he gives into the urge to see Pierce again.
Time-skip to Month 6, Week 2, Day 7
Luckily for Xavier, he only works evenings, leaving his mornings and part of his afternoons free. So, dragging himself out of bed Saturday morning, he heads out for the little library. He doesn't immediately spot his quarry as he had on their first meeting, and so he busies himself poking about the shelves, looking for anything of interest - there's a terrible lack of entertaining reading in his apartment for some reason - and keeping an eye out for the pale librarian.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 28, 2012 12:29:01 GMT -5
It has a been miserable day for Pierce. He’s had to usher a gaggle of unruly and very rude teenagers out for being disruptive and he thinks he’s just spotted someone using the library computer to look at porn. Eugh! Awful!
He goes to tell Niels to deal with it, which he can do because he is the senior librarian- and he also agrees to give the man the rest of the day off leaving Pierce to deal with twice the amount of books to shelve. Which was fine, really. The pale man rather likes working, even if it was the dull tedium of placing books onto shelves.
Oh, look, some clever nitwit has decided to place an erotica in the reference section. Sighing, Pierce tugs the book off the shelf and-
“Goodness!” he hisses, clutching the book to him like a shield at the glimpse of a very familiar freckled face on the opposite side of the shelf.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 28, 2012 12:45:32 GMT -5
Xavier jolts at Pierce's voice, having become somewhat absorbed with paging through a collection of Edgar Allan Poe. It takes a moment for his gaze to focus on the gap through the shelves, but as soon as it does, and he realizes who's on the other side, he grins rakishly.
"Fancy meeting you here," he greets.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 28, 2012 13:02:55 GMT -5
“Yes. Hi,” Pierce manages somehow without stuttering after a moment, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. “Right. Miranda is at the desk this time if you need her.” And then he quickly places a few books (three only, thank goodness) into their places there and attempts to calmly abscond to the next section with the book cart.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 28, 2012 13:08:56 GMT -5
Oh yes, he'll be sure to go see Miranda at the desk and leave Pierce alone to shelve things.
...Yeah, no.
Moving around the shelf, Xavier trails Pierce into the next section. "Oh, I don't need help, I'm just browsing today." And following you.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 28, 2012 13:22:20 GMT -5
“I seee,” Pierce says, all barely on the verge of panic politeness. Oh god, why was it following him? “Well, I do hope you find some good reading material then. Is there any particular category or genre you’re looking for?” So Pierce can know what to avoid after successfully ditching him? Although the ditching didn’t seem to be happening, damn it.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 28, 2012 13:27:59 GMT -5
"Mm, not really," Xavier says, paging through the book of poetry in his hands. "I was just looking at some of the classics." Then he looks up, focusing his intense green gaze on Pierce. "Any recommendations?"
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 28, 2012 13:46:06 GMT -5
Glancing sideways, Pierce catches a glimpse of the text on the book in Xavier’s hands. “Poetry?” He stops and parks the book cart to the side before unloading a few books to place back into the shelves. “I’m afraid that that is, once again, Miranda’s speciality. My knowledge on the subject is meager; my general preference are non-fiction texts.” See? Boring, uninteresting Pierce.
Still, as a librarian he adds, “William Blake perhaps?”
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 28, 2012 14:13:29 GMT -5
"Well, not necessarily poetry-" He pauses when Pierce mentions his preference. It never really occurred to him that people liked reading that sort of stuff for fun. Despite the fact that he finds he enjoys learning from cookbooks. "Non-fiction? Really? Like what?"
He'll file William Black away for later consideration, but this isn't really about his interests after all.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 28, 2012 15:50:43 GMT -5
“Psychology texts,” Pierce answers warily. He knows Xavier is trying to fish for information, but to what end? For now however, he answers out of politeness. Maybe the red head would leave him alone after being bombarded by boring text book answers about human psychology.
… On the other hand, he probably isn’t going to lost the pest any time soon so he should keep his hopes down.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Jan 28, 2012 17:29:27 GMT -5
"...Really?" That seems so oddly coincidental considering what Xavier had decided against asking about the last time he was here. Then he smirks and says, "So what is a guy who doesn't like poetry and fiction and prefers reading scientific texts doing as a librarian?"
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Jan 28, 2012 17:48:32 GMT -5
“I’m tempted to say it’s more peaceful, but frankly, it isn’t.” He places the last book onto the shelf in this section before stepping back behind the cart. “I had a lot of aspirations as a younger man, but they simply didn’t come to pass. Let’s leave it at that.”
In Pierce’s memory, it was mostly due to debilitating depression that last through the final year of his studies. He’d spent the better part of his life afterwards running away from his failures and his family. Phobia finds himself idly curious as why the disease hadn’t consumed Pierce entirely considering how bleak it’d been with no social support to speak of. These humans seemed to be very heavily reliant on those due to being born helpless.
“Anyways, I don’t think it’s quite polite to ask a stranger about their backgrounds, is it?” Pierce says, giving Xavier a pointed look as he parks the cart in the next section.
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