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Time to Hit the Books (Figuratively) OPEN TO AUREUS AND CLARA

Clara had arrived early at the library that morning, a storm had looked like it might be brewing on the horizon which was typical spring weather. As Clara always seemed to prepare for cases like these she had slipped out the door but not before grabbing a raincoat and some boots along with an umbrella which she put in the back of her car. Now Clara quite enjoyed the rain, especially when she had to work, the warm lighting in the library and the storm outside the windows always added a certain ambiance to her workday, that couldn't really be replaced.

Busying herself she began to put away all the overnight returns, though her fellow co-workers would be here in an hour she usually did them herself anyway. Moving the books on the book cart she grabbed the elevator to first return the children and middle school books away first, along she went to the third floor, she turned on the first set of lights as she exited the elevator to her floor, the dark hardwood creaking under every step she made,
It didn't matter how many times she'd put the books away up here, but being alone on the third floor still had the power to make her a little more cautious of every sound she heard and every step she made. Obviously, it was just nerves she repeated to herself.

By the time all the books were put away on each individual floor, and the library dusted and vacuumed, her co-workers had already shown up, the lounge being filled with the smell of coffee that wafted through the halls leading to the room. She'd grab a cup probably in an hour.

When the clock hit nine o'clock, she went to the door, turning over the sign from closed to open, another day at the library just about to begin.

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Ailward AspectPermalink Reply by ✓ Aureus Ailward on May 7, 2022 at 17:42

Aureus closed the door to the car and looked up at the building. Libraries were certainly far and few between nowadays, but he was glad to see this one standing. Nothing magical or dangerous inside except for the writings of worlds the authors had created in their stories. He had lived a long time and been to many interesting places around the Earth, but still, libraries were always somewhere he enjoyed visiting, even ones that weren't exactly famous.

Reus headed up the walkway to the front door and pulled it open, stepping inside where he was met with the pleasant smell that came with many libraries; the collection of thousands of books. There were a few people walking about inside which somewhat surprised him. Normally libraries were rarely visited anymore, but it was a Saturday morning, so he supposed this may be normal which made him smile softly. So many people relied on the internet and technology for their reading now, that physical copies almost seemed obsolete. He much preferred the feeling of the hard copies in his hands. It felt more tangible.

Today though, he wasn't here for books, but was actually looking for use of a computer. Yes, he had the ability to use one back at the manor, but he desperately needed a small escape from his home. There were too many people occupying the place with Evermore in a state of unrest with these strange happenings and he needed some time to decompress from them all and their heightened emotions. Even keeping to his room wouldn't really stop anyone from knocking on the door in search of him.

He walked over to the front desk and waited for one of the librarians to come, knowing you need to actually sign in and have them access the computer for you once paying to rent some time using it. The Aspect wasn't exactly sure if he would even find anything, but it would be worth a shot.

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on May 28, 2022 at 12:45

Even with the library filling up Clara still had one or two more books away, the ones that had been dropped off just recently, Kelly was working the desk but only for a little while, the shy intern really didn't enjoy having to communicate with strangers, so Clara moved her feet just a bit faster, standing onto the ladder to put a book away on the top shelf, a work of fiction by a new horror author.

With that same proficient speed she arrived at the desk, a man waiting, no intern in sight, Clara may have sighed but she didn't blame Kelly it was her own fault for making her feel that kind of pressure. Instead of worrying about any of it, Clara plastered on a smile and walked around to behind the wooden desk. "Thank you for waiting sir, how may I help you today?"

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Ailward AspectPermalink Reply by ✓ Aureus Ailward on June 8, 2022 at 15:49

Reus pulled his wallet out from his back pocket and lifted the piece of paper he'd brought with him on some key events that had happened in Evermore over the last several decades, wondering if any of them maybe linked to what was happening currently. He had no idea if any could be made between the arrival of the Aurazin as well as the lining up with this new threat, but he thought he would take a look nonetheless. Seeing the future and the past was all relative to the moment he chose to visit. When one didn't know when to go, it was impossible to know what to even be looking for.

His head lifted, seeing the person coming from his peripheral to where he stood. "Hi there," he greeted, returning the smile. "I was hoping I could use a computer. It might be for a while, but I'll start with an hour for now to rent it." His blue hues moved over to some of the large filing cabinets behind her in a separate part of the library which were used to store newspaper articles and other important documents the public was able to access. "Is there anyone who could assist in pulling some things for me as well? If not, I can be shoved in a general direction and figure things out on my own, no problem. I don't want to bother."

He removed one of the credit cards in his wallet and offered it to her to use for the rental of the computer for now. "This is a great library. Nice to see people coming in still." Reus's eyes moved about the building again in admiration. "Are you the manager here?" The Aspect tried to read her as much as he could. She was clearly dedicated to the job by the quick movements he heard while coming to greet him and maybe a little overwhelmed. All signs of someone who was in charge and in need of help.

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on July 30, 2022 at 13:02

Clara stood behind the wooden desk listening to the man's request. "Welcome to the library," Clara had a habit of starting each conversation this way whenever she was behind this desk. "No problem, the computers are rented and then you get to use them the whole day if you wish." she leaned down and reached for her clipboard, bringing it to the top of the desk to find the computers page, an ongoing list of the computers in working order and which ones were being used for each day. "The university students come in here all the time to study, and I usually put them upstairs, it's always quieter there and a bit less distracting, Are you a student?" she asked her eyes making contact with the man in front of her.
One of her favourite parts of her job was the ability to talk to people, to discover what brought them through the big oak doors after climbing the steps. His second request brought a smile to her face. "It's absolutely no problem, I would be the girl to help you find you what you need, I'll, of course, need a few details regarding the search," once more she reached behind the desk this time pulling out a tablet.
"What would the search parameters be, date, name, or subject?" there were a couple of other ways to go about this but she found that most people usually used these. "Or keyword if you'd like, though that might take a little more browsing," she pulled out the key from around her neck, a general key which opened almost all the file cabinets.

She accepted his credit card, pulled the machine over from beside the register and typed in the correct keys before handing it to him to type in his key code. "Actually it's usually pretty busy in here, libraries are a great place to study so a lot of the university students come here, though we do offer quite a bit of programs for all ages, and we find that usually draws quite a bit of people who eventually return with a spark to read." she pulled over a flyer and handed it to him. "If you're ever interested, there's a knitting group every Tuesday afternoon, a pottery class this Thursday and a "learn how to salsa" get together on Saturday," she listed the few things on the top of her head, but that flyer had more to offer, a cooking class, and pumpkin party for this fall and a summer bash held outside in the park. She laughed. "No I'm not the manager, just a librarian. I've always wanted to sit behind this desk," she began. "Not this desk exactly, but you get what I mean, I've just always wanted to be involved with the daily going ons of a library, and there's so much that goes on, if I were the manger I wouldn't get to work down here amoungst the people and the books. " She walked around the desk and beamed at him. "Though with all the time I spend here, organizing this and that, it sure does look like I'd be the manger." she held on to the key around her neck and slipped it off. " Where would you like to begin?"

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Ailward AspectPermalink Reply by ✓ Aureus Ailward on August 27, 2022 at 4:53

Aureus gave a smile and looked down at himself as if in disbelief that she would think he was possibly a student. He'd take the compliment though found it incredibly ironic given how very very old he was. "No, not a student," he replied with a slight chuckle. "Just in need of researching like them though. A few dates I'd like to check on to see if anything significant happened in or around the city. Possibly even the entire state." He held up the paper as if it were the ticket to get her services. She would be a great deal of help compared to his inevitable slow going, but he wasn't exactly sure of how he would explain what it was he was searching for without her thinking he was absolutely insane. Perhaps the less details the better.

He took the flyer offered to him and let his eyes scan over the words. Man, they were so painfully mundane. Evermore kept going in all its normalcy despite the dire events that were currently going on. It was like living in two different realities. Cooking class. Pumpkin party. Salsa? He wondered if he would ever have something so very human in life. Reus couldn't help but raise his brow and smirk while reading the neon paper. "Not really for me, but thank you." He placed the paper down and waited until she finished with the payment before placing the card back into his wallet and slipping that into his pocket.

"Looks like I found the right person then," he noted of her knowledge with the library. Handing the paper over to her, Reus crossed his arms over his chest trying to sound very matter-of-factly about the whole thing to make it less of an odd request once she began searching for his inquiries. "I'm not sure if you catalog all the newspapers into the computers, but I'm looking for articles of any strange cosmic events that have happened in the last few decades perhaps as well as any violent crimes that may have also happened on those same days." He didn't look to her right away knowing how odd the request was, but then turned his gaze up to give her a smile as if what he asked for was completely conventional.

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on November 18, 2022 at 12:32

"Anybody can be a student, a friend of mine was sixty-three and she went back to college, she studied medicine for about seven years and became a doctor at seventy. Age is just a number right?" Clara smiled up at him, everyone had dreams, she knew all about it, and had a feeling that dreams came at any age, the man in front of her couldn't be more than twenty-five, at least he looked twenty-five, looks didn't mean much in Evermore city though. After listening to his request Clara beamed. "Very specific, this shouldn't be too hard to find if you have dates, I'll cross reference for this town, then surrounding towns and finally the state if you're unsatisfied, and in the end, if that doesn't work we can always check other states surrounding us." Clara took a breath before continuing. "Are you looking for anything in particular?" She asked curiously.

Clara watched as he scanned the flyer, listening to his reply she nodded. "Really? I don't know, I think you'd be great at knitting, you have that kind of face that looks like it could do just about anything," she finished the bill and handed him his receipt. "If not you could always play bingo, or join the chess club, it's always fun to have new members." She put the debt and credit machine aside. "No pressure though,"

"I hope I'll be able to find everything you're looking for, " she watched as his stance changed and listened closely to his request. "Cosmic as in astrological events that directly changed certain events regarding the area?" she asked, pulling out her notepad from her pocket and a pen from her other pocket. "Depending on the decade most of the newspapers are online now, we've been cataloguing them into the system the last couple of years, and we're almost finished." as she read his body language she realized he was a bit embarrassed by the request, or a least that's what she thought. Clara smiled reassuringly at him. "You seem... a bit nervous, it's no problem, really. I've seen all the requests remember? We get a lot of authors around here and they search for some strange stuff all in the name of art. There's nothing to worry about," Her feet began walking. "Let's head on over there, and we'll see what we can find."

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Ailward AspectPermalink Reply by ✓ Aureus Ailward on January 16, 2023 at 6:34

Reus smiled and forcefully held back a guffaw that wanted to escape at the mention of him being good at knitting. The image alone was completely absurd and thinking of what his siblings would say seeing him sitting in the quiet with needles and yarn only made it harder not to laugh. However, he wasn't of course going to be rude either at her compliment. "Is that so?" he started, dipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "I never pegged myself as a jack-of-all-trades and I think my family would quite disagree, though I do enjoy tinkering." Was this normal conversation? He'd forgotten what it was like after so long when the subject was always about the discord in Evermore.

He nodded to her questioning about the specifics of what he was looking for. "Yes, any strange phenomena that may have happened in Evermore or near. If checking the whole state is possible, that would be great." Thankfully she didn't seem too put off by his questioning." Reus nodded to her explanation, not being surprised that most of the physical documents were now all being moved to electronic filing. "I guess I'm just a bit old school," he said, following close behind her.

It seemed the computers here were completely different from what he was normally used to at home, with programs that were unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he really did feel out of touch. Give him a stack of newspapers any day, but he was told that was the slow way of research. He realized with all the help he was going to need, he should at least know his savior's name. "I'm Reus, by the way," he offered, stepping a bit closer to her to walk at her side instead of behind. "I'm sorry, I should've asked for yours?"

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on February 13, 2023 at 21:54

"Oh come on, you don't give yourself enough credit, I'm a great judge of character, I am a librarian after all and if it's taught me one thing, and one thing alone, it's how to read people, and you sir, look like you're just about clever enough to learn anything you set your mind too, how do I know this you might be asking yourself, well it's because we're all capable to learn everything we just have to practice and want it bad enough to go after it, except math, you're either born with that gift or it's just not in the cards for you," she replied, her nose scrunched at the thought of math, she thanked heavens that there were people who were accountants otherwise she'd never have figured out how some of it works. "What kind of tinkering?" She asked, from a young age the blonde had learned people had a way of lighting up regarding the things they loved to do, and she wondered if maybe he'd feel comfortable to talk about it, after all this was the place where closed books opened up the most.

"That sounds easy enough," she replied as they made there way in the library. "All the old records are still in the library, and they will continue to be here, it's just that the head of the department thought it might be nice if anyone could search them up online an use when they needed it, it would also keep the old records on paper in better condition, though they will still be able for viewing if you'd prefer it, I'm old school too, it'swhy I prefer the books"

They made it over to the records section, the familiar lights dim and dusty at the current moment, the wooden tables wiped down and chairs neatly tucked in, the computers off to the left of the bookcases, opposite wall of the windows. "It's wonderful to meet you Reus, I'm Clara, you have a very unique name," she responded. Once the introductions had been laid out she directioned to the computers then the tables, "the choice is yours, old school or not?"

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Ailward AspectPermalink Reply by ✓ Aureus Ailward on March 9, 2023 at 2:01

"Clocks," he answered automatically. "All kinds, really. Watches, alarms, grandfathers, cuckcoos. Even some hour glasses that have workings for electronics. Something that kind of just.. fell in my lap." Or more so was thrusted upon him with an enormous responsibility to the balance of the world. Well, not the clock fixing but the reason he found the hobby. Becoming the aspect of time, it was rather right on the nose, but work just seemed to follow him home too. Time is an obsession which leaks into the other areas of his life.

"I find it soothing. It gets me focused when the world is too chaotic. The inner workings of clocks are very specific and generally very tiny, so it takes a steady hand and patience. A lot of patience. If I've had a bad day and nothing makes sense, I just pick up my tool kit and get to work on a clock that needs to remember its purpose." Reus glanced over to her and smirked, shaking his head slightly at his rambling. "Sorry for my weird tangent. Thanks for indulging me."

His eyes landed on the computers and then towards some of the shelving where he guessed the physical records were kept. As they stopped for a moment and she introduced herself, he gave a smile. "Unique is a word for it," he chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Clara. I would probably put me on the old records if you would like to show me how I can get started there. If you aren't busy, maybe you can then pull up the articles on the computer that might be newer and not kept in the papers? I don't want to keep you. I know you've got others to eventually help as well, though probably not as clueless as me."

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Clara Carter on June 9, 2024 at 20:46

"Fascinating, I've never met anyone before who worked on clocks, do you build new ones too, or just repairs?" Days like today she loved her job just a little more, because she knew if she hadn't applied and gotten this job that one fateful day she'd have been robbed of many encounters she had made with the people of evermore, this man included.

Clara enjoyed watching as the man's eyes lit up, a first since he entered the old building of books, as he spoke on his work. "Don't apologize, you seem to have found your thing in this life which is never an easy job, you should be proud,"

The blonde laughed. "You're not that clueless, I've seen worse, and you'll never learn if somebody doesn't teach you," she began walking over to the records cabnit, "This is where the older files will be, I'll set up computer seven over there" she pointed across to one of the tables filled with three computers "It's the middle one, I'll start pulling some stuff up, and you can show me if I've found what you're looking for," she turned towards the desk only to turn back and ask, "what does your name mean, if you know?"