maskormenacelogs | things just happen so much don't they

[the Royal Purrincess Cat Cafe is not the idea refuge Cecelia is looking for right now, but...options are a bit limited. at least, until the gaggle of teens she knows as familiar high school nightmares that make up part of the cool kid section of homeroom. she's ducked in here to avoid being sighted, because honestly? not today. it's a weekend. she's not putting up with this on a day off! work is done, school is done, no more.

she huffs out a sigh, hugging her book and freshly-bought magazine to herself as she watches over her shoulder at the sight of those girls across the street. they can't linger in that coffee shop forever, right? she just has to wait for a meow...

wait.

meow?]

Huh-?

[she blinks, turning her head and looking around properly...and down at her feet, where an old, gray tabby is rubbing on her boots.]

Ec...excuse me? What?

--and if you don't care for it, you just...return it! I mean, you're going to have to return whatever you borrow here anyway, but it's. Less clutter in the end, right?

[she pushes the library doors open ahead of them and strides in, giving a sweeping gesture with her arm.]

See? Practically barren at this time of day! And-- [she inhales deep.] It smells so nice...!

Edited 2019-04-01 23:00 (UTC)

[Cecelia pokes her head out of her room, ears straining to hear what's what downstairs. the distortion is...the tv? yes. tv's on. she disappears for a moment, then emerges fully with a little pink pouch clutched in one hand as she slinks down the stairs, leaning forward to peer down at who is currently watching, spotting...]

Darin? Oh--uh-- [slinking down some of the stairs.] You're not working right now?

[what a peaceful morning! sun shining, birds singing, general traffic ambiance lacking in the annoying revs of men overcompensating...

except for the part where there's a loud, drawn out AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH from Cecelia's room -- that part carries a bit.

so, you know:] AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!!

[there is very little need for preamble about why Cecelia would be in the library at this point: it should be well established that this girl lives her desired life (lives, honestly) in-between the pages of a book rather than go out into this wide, weird world and seek it out...who does that? seriously? that's how people get attacked in the night and killed. stupid.

anyway, here she is after her shift at the shop, trying to keep her mind off the fact that Sabriel...has really not come back to the store in some time. it bothers her. like, a lot! but...she's not ready to share with anyone close to her. not yet. because what if it's actually not an issue? then she'd look stupid and clingy and ugh. whatever. books. back to this far-off corner where--]

Oh.

[it's that boy again. Fortunato. the...the blind boy. she stops and retracts her last step, straightening up out of impulse and bites her lip.

hey, at least this time she noticed? instead of falling on him or whatever?]

"The new gaming craze sweeping the city...'Struggle'?"

[Cecelia crinkles her nose, jerking her head away from the flyer posted on the bust stop.] What kind of pretentious name is that? It doesn't explain anything. [squint. sour:] Like "rugby." Or...or "lacrosse."

[ech. whatever. none of her business! she's just gonna spin on her heel and--] A-OWH!

[y'know, smack into Roxas.

as you do.]

Nghrghhh...

[still in her slippers and nightgown, Cecelia emerges from her room early in the morning, plodding downstairs and making a bee line for the kitchen.

there's a hairbrush stuck in a snarl of hair, and it dangles off her shoulder until she comes to a stop in front of the trash bin. from there, still grumbling unintelligibly and with eyes half-open, she begins the process of plucking snarls out of the brush (and bristles out of the snarls!) and flicking them into the trash.

it's a good minute and a half before she blinks slowly, then does a wild (and painful!) double-take to see someone's already in here.]

Oh-- [gods.] Uh. Hi. Or...good...morning...

[when the final bell rings, Cecelia gets out of her seat and gathers her things, relieved to have survived another dull day. she lets the other students hasten out before her as to avoid getting trampled and keeps her eyes fixed ahead and slightly downward to avoid inadvertently inviting dialogue; the last thing she wants is another wasted second here.

once past a gauntlet of crowded lockers, she glances up for a moment and is surprised to find the college-age teachers' assistants...unaccosted? in this cesspool of hormones and busybodies and gossip? incredible. what on earth could be diverting the attentions of so many young teens?

she rounds a corner to discover what -- whom, rather.

is that...er. Ronald? Rrrrolo? Roland?? the monster-rescuer guy?]

[Public libraries were a joy that Ruby had not often been able to access in her previous world due to... circumstances. So the moment she realised this was an available option now she headed to the nearest one without any regard for whichever city she was in at the time. This was important and nothing so petty as geography would stop her.

What did stop her, right in her tracks in fact, was the sheer number of books available in the room the moment she passed the front desk. She had no idea where to start, no idea what she was even interested in reading to begin with, and more to the point was overwhelmed at the choice on display just within her immediate view.

She was about to leave so she could regroup and come back later when she took a wide step back to prepare for a quick turn around, instead finding someone's foot with her heavy-duty boot.

At least she has a fairly light step and doesn't weigh much...]

catra, cats

riptide, books

darin, makeup