the torture of small talk with someone you used to love

The girl let her fingers glide across the spines of the books, neatly shelved and ready to reveal the wealth of information they each contained.  As she traveled deeper into the archives of ancient books, their colours faded by age, the smell of worn paper and ink overpowered the scents of chemicals and newness that lingered in the part of the library that had been recently deep-cleaned.  Every so often, a book caught her interest either because of its decorative spine or its title.  She skimmed the first few pages of some books and flipped through others, looking at the detailed drawings that had been printed within their pages.  Lisette was oblivious to the chatter of the few other students who had chosen to spend their free time in the library today, instead entranced by the books.  

Never stopping for too long to inspect any book, she eventually found her way to a dusty nook where an ancient-looking door stood unobtrusively.  It was hard to tell what color the door had originally been painted; it had been here so long that no one bothered to repaint it anymore, instead leaving it to peel and deteriorate.  Curiosity piqued, the girl tried the doorknob, hoping it would be unlocked.  Of course, there was no such luck.  She could feel the librarian's eyes on her, and innocently turned to study the books beside the door, biding her time until the librarian lost interest in her.  When she was sure that the woman was occupied by another student, she attempted to open it by shoving her weight against it.  The door creaked, but did not give.  Lisette gave it another few tries before resigning herself to the fact that if she made any more noise, she was bound to draw the librarian's attention.  Though she turned away from the door, her mind remained focused on it.  The rumors of booby traps and mazes inside the basement were enough to retain her interest in unlocking the door.  It was too bad she couldn't just become immaterial and slip into the space between the door and the ground, she thought.

It had been a few months since Constantine had gone to the library, most because it wasn't in his strict route of classes, dorms, dining room, dorms. He hadn't been up for traveling around the school like he used too, but it just so happened that today one of his classes required him to go the library. The young man had sighed loudly, but accepted the task nonetheless.

Now making his way to the library, Constantine stepped through the doors and ambled toward the librarian. As she finished up with another student, Constantine asked her where the book was that was required of his English Literature class (it was some sort of poem book that he had a half-hearted interest in). As he did so, the young man looked idly to the side of him - spotting someone that he hadn't seen in quite awhile doing something very questionable.

Nodding to the librarian as she explained to him where the book was, Constantine let out a quiet "Thank you," and moved away from her desk. Curiosity being the downfall of him, Constantine moved toward where the girl had obviously been trying to get into - coming up behind her in the process. "What are you doing?" Constantine asked her simply.



[ooc; i'm sorry it's a little short! >_<]

Lisette looked up every few moments to check if the librarian was otherwise occupied, and she finally caught her opportunity when the woman turned to assist a familiar-looking boy with his inquiry.  From this distance, she couldn't quite identify him, and instead returned her attention to the door, setting down the book she'd been holding.  She rattled the doorknob and gave it a firm tug, and when that didn't work, shoved at the doorknob instead.  It seemed to loosen a bit on this second attempt, and she repeated her efforts.  With a lip-bitingly intense focus on the door, she didn't hear the footsteps come up behind her, and thus jumped slightly at the voice.

She immediately realized it was the same boy who had distracted the librarian early, and in another heartbeat, put a name to the face--and scars.  "Constantine, right?"  She had met him maybe once, a while ago, and they hadn't talked since, nor had she seen him around since the dorms had been resorted.  At his question, Lisette briefly wondered if she should lie.  Would she get in trouble for admitting she was trying to open a locked door that was clearly meant to remain shut?  She decided against it.  "Trying to open this door.  It goes to the basement."  She shrugged nonchalantly. '"Just curious what's inside."  He'd probably heard rumours about the bowels of the library as well.  "Would you mind giving it a go?"  The girl gestured at the door, stepping back as an invitation for him to try opening it.

(OOC: It's alright, mine is rather short as well xD)

It took Constantine just a few seconds to remember the girls name, the dark color of her hair being a lot easier to recognize now that he was closer to her. Most people would consider her kind of hair color common, but Constantine appreciated it in a strange sense mostly because it was easy for him to see (compared to the wild colors that other girls would dye their hair from time to time). The young man nodded at her recognition of him, his lips quirking in an almost satisfied manner to suggest that he was actually kind of happy that she recognized him.

As she asked for his help to open the door though, a few things went through Constantine's head. One, that he was here for something else completely. Two, that he never had been in the basement before and that he did have a feline's curiosity at his core. Always a sucker for a pretty girl asking him to do something, Constantine nodded easily "Sure." Looking behind him for just a moment, Constantine quickly noticed that another student was asking the Librarian a question. Taking this as an opportunity to force the door open, Constantine shoved his shoulder into the door hard and at the same time wrapping his hand around the door knob to open it.

The door gave way quickly at the sudden jolt of force and Constantine looked surprised for a moment that it only took him one try. "Get in quickly," Constantine said to Lisette then, making a waving motion at the girl and watching the Librarian at the same time. "Close the door behind you too," Constantine added then waiting for his companion to follow.

[OOC; Ebony, I've retired this thread in the interest of keeping the forum tidy and clean! (Also because Con and Lis are in another thread) Please let me know (in cbox or PM) if you would like to continue it and I'll put it back in the original spot.]