[closed] quiet in the library

[imusntrunaway]

Date & Time: April 3rd
Location: The library
Characters: Nageki and Shinji.
Summary: A ghost bird and a teen pilot attempt to friendship.
Warnings: Cookbooks.

[Shinji arrives on time like he said he would--5 PM, and not a minute later. When given a time, place, and directive, he can be startlingly efficient. He had made sure to bring a little extra money with him. He doesn't think that the meet-up would last too long, but in case Nageki wanted to get something to eat--or if they parted ways before the hour--then he'd be able to buy a meal for the night.

He doesn't see anyone when he enters the library. He wanders the shelves, realizing that this might be a little harder than he thought since he has no clue what this Nageki looks like. Hopefully there won't be anyone else here...

As Shinji searches, he occasionally pauses to look at some of the books. To his surprise, there's a section with some cookbooks. He'd been thinking of adding a new dish. This quail cookbook looked promising...]

Comments

[inutile]

[Nageki made sure to leave for the library several hours before expecting Shinji to arrive, mostly to be certain that he wouldn't lose track of the time as he's often wont to do even in a place where its passage is significantly more evident. he sits at a table close to the door, though shuffled somewhat off behind the shelves some distance; from there, he still see the entrance to the library, but the spot is nicely secluded, too.

despite having come early, settling down to read makes it easy for Nageki to forget how long he's been sitting in his spot without taking his eyes off of the pages, and by the time he thinks to check the clock he's a little bemused to see that it's already a little past 5. did he miss Shinji coming in already? looking towards the doors, Nageki suddenly becomes aware of a small problem: he forgot to ask what Shinji looks like, didn't he?

he can't help but feel a little embarrassed by his own idiocy, but surely it can't be that hard to spot a teenaged boy who seems as though he's looking around for someone, right? roaming his eyes over the rows of aisles, Nageki stares down the various patrons, but he doesn't think he sees anyone that fits that description. there's a boy not too far away that looks short, somewhere around his height... isn't Shinji supposed to be his age? but he looks preoccupied with the shelf he's looking over at the moment, which Nageki would guess has to be cookbooks judging from the dessert-adorned cover he can barely see sticking out from the shelf next to the boy's head.

probably not the person Nageki is looking for, then. all the same, he's the only teenaged boy in sight, so he keeps watching him regardless just in case.]

[imusntrunaway]

[After he's done skimming through the cookbook's pages, he decides that he'll take it with him on his way out. As he turns around, notices that there's someone looking his way--a green-haired boy. He glances around, but there's no one else nearby who seems to be an alternate target of his gaze. He stares back, blinking in surprise.

Did he do something wrong? Or... maybe that boy was Nageki? He did say that he'd sit near the library's entrance. And it might explain why he's being stared at. He should approach him and ask.

He walks toward the stranger, book in hand, his words hesitant.]

Um, excuse me...

send me to gay baby jail for my lateness im so sorry

[inutile]

[the moment the boy across the aisles makes eye contact with him, Nageki starts and looks away out of habit, awkwardly diverting his eyes. or at least, he does until he realizes the other boy isn't looking away, but coming closer instead, and he turns his eyes back curiously, immediately falling on--

the book in his hand. COOKING WITH QUAILS proudly adorns the cover, hovering over the merry-looking photograph of a quail's roasted corpse on a stereotypically checkered table cloth. Nageki immediately feels the distinct sensation of his stomach clenching queasily in his abdomen, though he stops himself from raising a hand to his mouth in case it makes him more liable to be sick -- how appalling would it be to allow that to happen in a library, of all places? a library that still carries recipes on how to prepare members of the sentient bird race for consumption, no less...

he probably should have known better than to expect not to see things like that in a world where birds haven't gained super intelligence, but telling himself it's ridiculous to be disgusted doesn't make his stomach calm down either. reminding himself to tell Mister Nanaki not to look in the cooking section of the library on his next visit (ifNageki does ever see him again), he pulls his glare off the book and up at the other boy's face.

logically, Nageki knows that there's no way he could possibly be aware of how nauseating the book in his hand is for Nageki to look at, but the grossed out part of Nageki is just bold enough to dislike him immediately for it anyway. as a result, his voice is chilly, giving him an entirely unwelcoming appearance while he continues staring the other boy down.]

What is it?

it's okay i'm forever late too lies on face

[imusntrunaway]

[He's about to ask the boy what his name is when he sees that look of disgust on his face. That look is enough to stop the words from leaving Shinji's mouth, leaving them to wither quietly in the back of his throat from intimidation. What was his problem? Maybe... maybe this boy wasn't the sociable type and Shinji shouldn't have bothered him.]

I'm sorry. [It slips out meekly, without a thought. It's unlikely that it'll pacify, but it's his instinct towards any displeasure shown.]

I'm... looking for someone. [Fidget fidget.] Are you Nageki?

IT IS OKAY we are now even

[inutile]

[...

...........


......................

oh.

oh. so. this is... Shinji? Nageki still looks a little blanched (not that it would be easy to notice with his ghostly complexion), but his apprehensive appearance drops immediately to be replaced with a look of total surprise. he was so focused on the immediate situation that he hadn't suspected he could be unintentionally putting off the one person he came here to be friendly towards, but now that he knows to whom he's talking to he has the rationale to be poignant, turning his head down and staring at the table while he tries to figure out what he should say. how does he suddenly change to an attempt at amicability without looking insincere now? he really would like to at least try to befriend Shinji...]

[inutile]

...S-- sorry. [he mutters it, sounding wholly embarrassed even if he doesn't colour much. he's still focused on trying to find the right way to fix his social faux-pas.] I didn't mean to... it's just...

[this would probably work better if he wasn't staring at the table. eye contact still unnerves him a little, especially in a tense moment like this, but Nageki can't help thinking Hiyoko would definitely disapprove if she saw him right now. he's pretty sure any of his friends, especially Kaworu, would disapprove. even though, that doesn't mean Nageki should have to conform to their expectations, they are a lot better at this than he is, so maybe he should make a better attempt by looking the other boy in the eye.

looking at him does make Nageki feel a little bit guiltier. whether it's mean of him or not, he can't help privately thinking that it's easy to see for himself what Kaworu meant by Shinji being a boy with a miserable and lonely heart. Shinji's tired and saddened demeanor probably doesn't fare any worse than his own, though, so Nageki knows he would never say it. in many ways, Shinji isn't at all what Nageki was expecting to see in someone he's quite sure Kaworu is in love with -- but Kaworu is best friends with Nageki, and reminding himself of that certainly does wonders to put his judgement back into the proper perspective. Shinji being... like this, really shouldn't surprise him at all.

he fumbles for words during a pause just long enough to be completely uncouth in Nageki's mind, and when he does finally manage to say something it's not nearly worth the wait.]

The book. [he finishes lamely, entirely aware that Shinji probably has no idea what he means at all if Kaworu's never spoken about him -- and according to Kaworu, he hasn't. Nageki doesn't have any obligation to explain, but he doesn't want this meeting to be any more awkward than Nageki already tends to feel while socializing this way. coming out and saying "I'm a sentient bird and that book is really gross to me and I am offended on behalf of my quail friend" in a way that doesn't sound half as ridiculous might be even harder than just shutting up, though...]

[imusntrunaway]

[Shinji can't tell if that change in expression is a good or bad one. He's nervous enough already, certain that he's messed up the conversation with... whatever he did to inadvertently offend the other. So he stands there awkwardly, waiting for a reply. Silence is something he's comfortable with on his lonesome. In a conversation though... it only served to remind him how much he hated talking to people sometimes. At least the frigid atmosphere from earlier has thawed somewhat.

When he hears the apology, he blinks in surprise. Oh. So. This was Nageki. He isn't sure what Kaworu (he can't think of anyone else who would pull this stunt) was thinking when he convinced Nageki to contact Shinji. They aren't off to a very good start already...

What Nageki says next only leaves him even more confused.]

... do you mean this book? [He holds it up, so that the cover's facing him. He isn't sure what's special about it. It's just a cookbook.]

[inutile]

[as much as Nageki enjoys silence, there's something incredibly unbearable about a silence with such abrupt and uncomfortable tension. it makes Nageki convinced, simultaneously, that Kaworu made a terrible decision in coercing Nageki to do this -- he should know better than anyone that Nageki is terrible at making conversation, and even worse at being friendly. he doesn't really know how to make friends, not when it's something that usually just... happens to him, whether it be by chance or by the pursuit driven by somebody else. Shinji really doesn't look like the type to be the pursuer in a friendship, does he?

he diverts his eyes away from the cover when Shinji holds it up, but he nods anyway, enough to be seen behind his curtain of hair. how does he begin to explain something that sounds completely ridiculous, even to himself?]

It startled me. That's all.

[imusntrunaway]

[Unfortunately, Naegi's answer doesn't clear matters up. Startled... by a cookbook? Shinji tilts his head, confused. He glances down at the cover, then back at the other boy. Reading people is hard--Naegi seems to be one of the harder ones.]

... oh, I'm sorry. [Even if he isn't sure what he's apologizing for.] You're... a vegetarian, aren't you? I'll put this back.