Fate - First Reply Sucker Punch [Elbion College]

A 1x1 Roleplay where the first writer to respond can join
She did not go anywhere other than the library and she took her time going. It was delightful to be outside in fresh air. She did not often go unless work called her to it. It still felt like a small betrayal, though; enjoying anything when she was the only one left outside of her elder brother.

At least the ache was manageable today. She had to carefully navigate the steps leading up to the main doors on the ground level of the library - an awkward affair at the best of times.

She found that she had made it there in advance of Suleiman. Rather than sit, she simple waited near the door, leaning against an ornate pillar of stone. So close to so many magic tomes, she could feel the greasy feel of magic en potentia riding the air.

She was lost in thoughts of magic - what they had been taught so far, most of it unimportant to her own long-term goals - when Suleiman broke her from her reverie with a start.

Her eyes ran up and down him, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Cleaned up? Well, then, let us get dusty. I am looking in to some of the ingredients - their qualities and such." She listed off a handful of them to the Maraan youth. She still did not quite look him in the eye - or at least not from the side of her that was ruined.

"Do you know where to find such information?" It was a long shot - Suleiman was not, as a general rule, useful when it came to a lot of academic pursuits. He was, however, a good person on the whole. And he might just know where the articles may be. She did not come to the library often at all.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Suleiman Askari
The list of ingredients, expertly recited by Svenia, went mostly over Suleiman's head (confirming, as it so happened, the former's general rule of the latter). She wasn't looking at him, not directly, but still Suleiman—in all the manner of a man desperately feigning knowledge of a subject—had his chin cupped in a hand and kept a steady, receptive gaze on Svenia. Some of those names he vaguely remembered. And by "some" it truly was only a couple: Astra's Tears and Waterfoil. Both of these, really, because he had had some silly thoughts about each in the Potions Class when the Professor first mentioned them.

Do you know where to find such information?

"I do not." But with the hand that cupped his chin he shot a finger up into the air. "But! I know who will!"

Already he started walking—at a pace amenable to Svenia's gait.

"Believe it or not, I've been in here a few times before. Probably...uh, probably not doing what I ought to have been doing—you know, studying. Anyway, that's not the point. Point is, I've struck up conversation with Keeper Yulia at least three times by now. I don't know how many Keepers the Grand Library has all in all, but Keeper Yulia seems like the best. She talked my ear off about all kinds of things, and one of said things was how she 'brewed a wondrous potion or two back in her day'. If anybody knows, she's got to know."

Svenia Albrecht
 
  • Popcorn
Reactions: Svenia Albrecht
She moved along with him, staff clicking on the stone floor as she went. "Wonderful," she said brightly and a little out of breath. She didn't make a comment on whether she believed him or not. She very definitely did not speak of her own journeys into the stacks seeking things that had little to do with her studies. The library held many, many books and not all of them were on the business of magic and its application.

She had her own guilty pleasures, and they stocked those books too. If you knew where to look.

"That sounds promising. I doubt she would tell us anything about the assigned potion, but the ingredients and where to find information on them seeing as we've already determined that? Excellent work," she huffed.

Her eye wandered as it always did here. The smell of parchment and vellum was only rivalled by the pervasive, sharp scent of dust. The place was kept clean, of course, but it seemed like manuscripts and scrolls attracted dust faster than it could be swept away. "Hopefully... its not upstairs," she puffed.
 
  • Yay
Reactions: Suleiman Askari
"It is. Twelve flights."

Suleiman clucked his tongue, and though his lips puckered he held back a grin.

"I'm kidding. Keeper Yulia is usually at the Central Round Desk."

And indeed she was. The Grand Library opened up before them as they approached the Round Desk; the ceiling leapt up, up, and away and far overhead it went, and balconies supported by mighty pillars overlooked them for many a dizzying level; it was as though they had walked into the yawning mouth of a circular chasm, save only that the sky above was a dome. One could be made to feel quite small here!

But this was about Keeper Yulia. She was a small woman, with a short and prim style of hair; her eyes were dark, her lips thin, and the many wrinkles of her face spoke to a lifetime of stories. She lowered her spectacles as she spotted Suleiman and Svenia approaching, electing still to sit, but smiling nonetheless; though Suleiman could not know it, behind the charm of that smile lay a bit of cunning, like a huntress watching game wander into a trap she had set.

"Keeper Yulia!" said Suleiman, all smiles and geniality. "I was wondering if you could help us?"

First he introduced Svenia, and then he told her of his and Svenia's present interest in certain ingredients. Keeper Yulia's eyes flashed with a certain delight.

"Ahhh...Suleiman Askari...my favorite miscreant. What a charming coincidence. As a matter of fact, you'll find plenty of material on the subject in Backroom One." And here her tone changed from sweet to sour. "Which you and your friend Svenia here shall be cleaning. I command it."

"Whaaaat? What did I do?"

"Have you forgotten, young man? The red nectar juice you spilled on one of my prized tomes? The detailed Speculation on the Forbidden City? Hmmmm?"

"It...uh, was just a little bit, Keeper Yulia, you said so yourself. And Svenia didn't even do anything!"

"Guilty by association," she retorted crisply. "And beside, you could use another hand. Or rather, spell. I trust Svenia is more adept than you?"

Keeper Yulia didn't wait for any answer or any more gainsaying of her will. She put her spectacles back on and gave a dismissive wave of her hand in the direction of the Backroom and she said without looking at either of them, considering the matter already settled, "Go on then. You won't be the only hooligan I have tidying up my Backroom, so worry not about being too lonely."

Suleiman could only glance at Svenia with a tight, apologetic expression.

Svenia Albrecht
 
  • Ooof
Reactions: Svenia Albrecht
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom