fandomhigh | Library [8.02]

Library [8.02]

Karal had managed to tame his hair since returning from his impromptu worlds tour with Jeff. It no longer looked as if it was set to launch a bid for world domination at any moment, and that could only be a good thing.

There was still no sign of Altra, though, which was a slight worry. As he sipped his morning tea and opened the library, he decided not to worry about it -- the Firecat would return in his own time.

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"Probably someone who's afraid of books," Evey said, nodding gravely.

Karal started to laugh quietly. "That was quite the most ridiculous class I've ever been involved in."

"It's classes like those that make me wonder what Finch was thinking, sending me here to try to help me fit in," Evey said, laughing a little herself. "How are you?"

"I used to wonder the same thing. Not about Finch, though. About Solaris and Vkandis Sunlord. Now I simply accept it, with only occasional boggling." Karal made himself stop babbling. "I'm very well," he said. "Would you like to sit down? I could make you some tea."

"Tea?" Evey raised her brows and felt herself coloring faintly, taking a seat. "If you'd like, but only if it's no trouble."

"Glory, not at all!" He hopped up and went to make tea. "I brought some tea things down from the dorms, so it's simple. It's only tea in a bag, though, which isn't as good as proper tea."

Karal, suprisingly enough, could be a tea snob of the highest order. He busied himself getting two mugs ready, then returned to sit across from her. "It's still nice, though."

"I've never had tea that wasn't in a bag," she said thoughtfully. "I don't think."

Karal stared at her, almost horrified. "Oh, Sunlord, that's simply not right! We must fix that as soon as possible."

"I think my ration lists at home would scare you," Evey said with a little smile. "I already horrified poor Dawn with the blacklist this week. Seems to be becoming a habit."

"It seems so strange to me, to imagine you having everything rationed," he said, looking at his mug. "The Priesthood in Karse, well, it's the equal of the nobility, higher, even." Karal felt just the edge of embarrassment as he spoke. "The novices and acolytes may have been lower in the order, but we never wanted for anything."

Not to mention before he came to Fandom, he'd been living in a palace, with servants assigned to him.

Evey shrugged. "It wasn't something I even thought about until about two years ago," she said with a reassuring little smile. "The fact that we were denied food and art due to their richness, though for different reasons, wasn't really something I thought about. Or why. Times were hard, but they were hard on everyone. It's just how it was. You're lucky to have the circumstances you did, but I wasn't envious of people more fortunate than me. We all thought we had what we deserved and shouldn't ask for more, for the longest time."

"That last sounds familiar," he said quietly. "People accepting things as they are and not questioning." Karal glanced up at her, sad that she'd had to live through that. "What sort of foods were rationed?"

"Butter, milk, sugar, fresh fruit and vegetables, bacon, tea and coffee," Evey listed off the top of her head. "And anything using those, of course. And what did have, we had to use practically. I haven't had chocolate, for instance, since I was a little girl. Too luxurious."

Karal was carefully remembering the list, for no reason at all. "I fell into a river of chocolate on, I guess it would have been Wednesday. It's a shame you couldn't have seen that!"

He went bright red as he recalled the exact circumstances of his fall into the river. The no-clothes circumstances.

Evey smiled, wondering at the blush. "I heard something about you being gone. You went to see a chocolate river?"

"No, no, it was--" He put chin on his hand, sighing a little, and resigned himself to being embarrassed. Not that he minded so much. "Jeff has a horrible dog, and she knocked us into a locker. We spent five days jumping between worlds until we arrived in the one with the river. The whole place was made from candy, and we more, umm, fell into the river."

Evey's brows shot up. "You moved between worlds? And one was made of candy? But poor you, being forced to, er, travel against your will." She was dangerously close to laughing, but was trying to restrain herself.

He could tell, and he dropped his forehead onto the table. "There was a mountain of underwear and a very questionable Greek goddess, I had to rescue Jeff from a mob of crazy villagers, I rode a pink sheep and I also insulted a group of men who were dressed as women, which," his ears went red again, "resulted in me wearing nothing but a purple hat with a feather."

The visual part of Evey's brain was dueling between all those images being hilarious, versus the rather...interesting concluding one. The result was more difficulty with keeping her mouth from twitching, and a sudden, bright blush over her skin as her stomach fluttered oddly. Either way, she was glad he wasn't looking at her at the moment.

Laughter eventually won out, and Evey giggled as she reached out and unthinkingly patted his shoulder, very lightly. "There, there. At least the stories are good."

Karal almost jumped when she touched him, it was so unexpected. That and her laughter sent his ears pink again, and he was suddenly nervous. "And I comfort myself that, no matter how embarrassing it was, at least it makes others laugh," he said quietly, turning his head so he could smile up at her.

"I don't see why you should be all that embarrassed," she added, seeming to realize where her hand was and tucking it around her mug again quickly, her cheeks heating up. "It's not like you'll probably ever see these people again."

Sunlord, stop the blushing, please? "Very true," he agreed, and sat up, folding his hands around his mug. "Evey, would you like to come with me to see a movie at the theatre tonight?" he asked, then hastily added, "Not a date, I promise. It's just, I've never seen one, and Andrew said I should, and that I could go with him and Liir and bring someone if I wanted to, and I thought you might want to come with us."

Evey blinked a few times, processing all the information. She felt that odd little flutter again, but then a twinge of disappointment. Nonetheless, she smiled, and her answer came easily. "I'd love to, Karal."

He broke into a huge smile. "Good, that's good," he said, nervous again. He told her what time they were meeting, then asked, "Will I meet you there?"

"That sounds fine," she said, nodding and smiling shyly as her mind immediately launched into a series of trivial worries that she'd thought she'd left behind at...oh, fifteen or so. "I look forward to it."

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Library [8.02]

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