Books; Gateways to other Worlds

Zane quietly but quickly walked into the library, gasping as he enters from the sheer amount of books. I never expected so many.. he told himself as he strided over to his favorite genre, fantasy. He started running his right hand over all the books as he reads the titles to himself, trying to pick which one he wants to read, and completely oblivious to everything around him. Zane's dressed in his usual outfit, consisting of black sneakers, black pants, and a black hoodie, with his hood flipped up, covering most of his head.

Recently, Mary had spent a lot of time in the library. Before she came to CHB, reading didn't really suit her. The words seemed to float off the page and switch places, due to her dyslexia. But here, books were in a readable language, her language. Most books were in Greek, but even the ones in English seemed easier to read. She had fallen into the worlds of books, and she loved it. Today, she was reading a reading an intense story from the fantasy section. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the end of a bookcase. She wore a dark blue t-shirt, an even darker blue hat that hid her messily put together hair and stone washed jeans. She had her head craned over her book, and she could only see the shoes of people who passed by. This particular book happened to be in English, and even though it was easier to read then before, it still hurt her head a bit. She decided to watch the passing feet of the demigods who walked by, trying to identify the owner of the shoes. The sparkly pink flats? Probably a daughter of Aphrodite. She soothed her aching head in this way. Mary was about to return to her book when she recognized a pair of black sneakers, with smudges of dirt from the forest on the sides. She knew those shoes. Zane. She looked over at the passing son of death. He didn't seem to notice her. She decided to speak up, for she hadn't spoke to him since that night in the forest. "Hey, Zane" She quietly spoke, hoping he heard as he walked away.

ooc; WOW, that was long. Sorry, I guess I just got caught up in it after being gone sooo long! Sorry again and you don't have to match this, its fine.

OOC: Lol it's fine ^^ Welcome back though :)

BIC:

Zane jumped slightly in surprise as he heard his name being called out. He quickly looked around trying to find the source of the voice, when he spotted the only person in the library who knew him, Mary. "O-oh, h-hey Mary.." He stuttered out in a soft, nervous voice. "W-what are you doing here..?" He adds as he shifts over to where she was sitting. Most people here tend to avoid reading. He thought to himself on the way. He flipped his hood down, something he almost never does, especially around other people, as he slides down about a foot away from Mary.

"Um well reading I guess" She replied. "The books here are um easier to read t-then other normal books" She tried to explain. "Ya know" She pointed at her eyes. "Dyslexia" She folded her book, gently creasing the page she was on, saving it to continue later.

"Y-yea.. I completely understand.... R-reading is h-hard for me as well... But, i just can't stay away from books.." He replied in a nervous stutter as he looked up at the books on the nearest shelf. Being a Demigod, he knew all about dealing with Dyslexia. Ancient Greek is of course the easiest to read, but English isn't too difficult to get the hang of.

"S-so... What k-kind of books do you like?" He asked, eager to learn more about the incredibly cute daughter of Khione, that makes him extremely nervous. He didn't want to get closer to her, for fear of getting hurt or hurting someone else, but he just couldn't stop himself.

"Oh I-I like fantasy" Mary replied. "or M-mystery" She indicated to the book on her lap, as if to prove her point.
"What about y-you?" She asked. She longed for any knowledge about this boy who she knew so little about, but seemed so much alike. She figured this was some sort of start.

"U-uhm.. I like fantasy too.." He stuttered back nervously in response. "A-and...Romance..." Zane added, his voice slightly lower than before. All the past times he's ever told anyone about his favorite book genres, he was always made fun of and picked on. Zane didn't know how she'd react to it, but he chose to take a chance.

"W-what book were you reading..?" he asked as he pointed over to the book in her lap. He caught himself staring over at her and quickly averted his gaze, hoping she didn't see him stare.

"Oh um Tale of Two Lives" She answered. "I-its a pretty good book, a-and its fantasy" She gave a small smile. She turned the book at an angle where he could read the title. Her feet wiggled in her black converse, probably because she was nervous.
"Any books you would recommend?" She asked.

ooc: Sorry its been a while, for some reason I thought I had already posted.

OOC: lol no problem ^^ It's always worth the wait.

BIC:

"Y-yea.. It sounds pretty good.." Zane replies, returning her small smile with one of his own. He looks down to read the title as she shifts the book, then notices her feet fidgeting. Is... Is she nervous? He asks himself in disbelief. There's no way she could be nervous because of me, is there? He asked himself once again, but quickly shook the thought of his head to return his attention to Mary.

"U-umm.. H-have you ever read.. G-game of Thrones..? That's a r-really good series.." He answers back, his voice soft and shaky with nervousness. He just couldn't figure out why this girl makes him so nervous. Everyone makes him nervous but it's on a completely different level with Mary.

"Um no I haven't" She replied. "But I'll um put it on my reading list"
She stuffed her hands in her  jean pockets, attempting to hide her twiddling fingers. Mentally, she cursed. It was just her luck for her ADHD to kick in now, of all times. Judging by Zane's body movements, he was more nervous then she was. She was used to people being uncomfortable around her, but he didn't act like they did. He acted somehow different.
"So, um what has um been going on your um side of camp?" She asked. She figured since the library and the forest were the only places she had seen him, they must have totally different schedules and possibly at opposite sides of the cabin area.

"O-okay.." Zane stammered, looking away absently at the row of books nearest to him. His attention quickly shifted back to Mary as she spoke, definitely not wanting to be rude to her.

"U-umm...Well... N-not much, I guess.. T-the usual stuff.. Training, studying, s-stuff like that.." He replied, for some reason drawing a blank on any specific details. "W-what about you..?" he added, curious as to what she does with her time.

"Um, pretty much the same, except lots more, um reading then usual" She replied. She continued to twiddle her fingers, tangling them together. She couldn't let him see them. She just couldn't.

"T-there's nothing wrong with reading alot.. I a-actually see it as a good thing." Zane replied, glancing down at her hands, wondering why she was fidgeting so much. He couldn't be making her nervous, could he? Zane quickly looked away though, thinking Mary would find it rude or creepy that he was staring.

"Well I-I'm glad um s-someone does. M-my s-sisters think I'm b-becoming a n-nerd." Mary commented. As she said this, she noticed Zane staring at her twiddling hands. Her face turned a light shade of red, Did he think she was nervous? It was better if he didn't, but she couldn't hide it forever. Just, now wasn't the time to expose it. As soon as he looked away, she attempted to stuff them in her pockets, but she had worn the dumb jeans that had the pockets sewn shut. So instead, she busied them with pretending that her fingers were suddenly interested in twisting a loose strand of her chestnut hair.

Zane couldn't help but give a light chuckle at her response. "I see nothing wrong with being a nerd." He replied with a warm smile, but quickly returned to his normal, shy self. "I-i'm a nerd myself, a-after all.." he added, unable to keep himself from watching Mary play with her hair. He found it extremely cute, which only made his face blush, making him quickly look at the books and everything else but Mary, hoping she didn't see his face.

"Well, we c-can be n-nerds t-together." Mary offered him with a slight smile. Her smile quickly faded though, as she noticed him briefly staring at her fingers twisting around her hair, and then looking away. This time though, she didn't stop twiddling her fingers. She couldn't help just not moving, and for this, she cursed her ADHD.

Zane instantly returned Mary's smile, greatly enjoying the thought of being friends with her. Before he looked away, Zane couldn't help but notice how her smile faded when she noticed him looking.
"Oh no, I hope I didn't upset her or creep her out," he thought to himself as he averted his gaze. He began fidgeting with his hood strings, trying to find something to say to her, praying to the Gods that she didn't think he was weird or anything. "S-so..." He began, but stay quiet after trailing off, unable to think of what to say to Mary.

Mary let out a long sigh. "So.. um" Gods she had no idea what to say. She cursed her self for sounding so stupid, but she couldn't help it. Her fingers still continued to twirl around her hair, and if she didn't stop soon, she was going to start to knot it up. Not that she cared.

Zane glanced over at Mary, and couldn't stop a small chuckle from slipping through as he realized neither of them could figure out what to say. "I g-guess we're both shy and a-awkward.."he laughed out before giving Mary a friendly, warm smile.

Mary laughed along with him, receiving some dirty looks from some nearby children of Athena who were doing homework (What?).. "Y-yeah you c-could say t-that. I g-guess we a-are." Mary replied, smiling back at Zane. She could talk to too him all day, if it weren't for her retched nervousness.

Zane, still laughing with Mary, looked over at the Athena children nearby, noticing their dirty looks that they were giving him and his friend. Feeling very childish, he stuck his tongue out at them and started laughing even harder, collapsing onto the ground beside Mary, unknown to him, only a couple inches away.

"O-oh my gods, d-did you j-just d-do w-what I t-think you did?" Mary asked Zane, laughing even harder along with Zane. She had to admit though, it was the least those know-it-alls deserved, even if it was a bit childish.

"Yep!" Zane replied happily, smiling over at Mary. He couldn't believe he was being this carefree and happy in front of someone, but he deeply enjoyed it. He leaned back against the bookshelf, trying to catch his breath from laughing so much, the smile never leaving his face.

By now, Mary's ribs were starting to hurt from laughing so hard. Not that it was a bad thing, she couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard. Seeing Zane lean back, she decided to do the same, taking a deep breath to sooth her aching ribs.

Zane's laughter slowed to a stop as Mary leaned back. He looked over at her, still bearing that childish smile across his face. "It's been a very long time since i've acted like this..." He muttered softly, with no stammer whatsoever. Zane hadn't had this much fun in so long, and he deeply enjoyed it. He leaned his head back against the shelf and closed his eyes, still grinning from ear to ear.