From: yevgeni	Date: August 28th, 2011 08:10 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yevgeni slowly turned his head to the sound of the voice. He froze like a deer in the head lights when he saw his classmate. A book sipped from his arms and fell to the floor. With wide eyes he closed his mouth and stared at her for a few moments, trying to think of any logical reason for him to be rearranging the fiction and hiding the vampire books. There is no logical reason for this, because you are crazy, he thought to himself as he stuttered incoherently.

"The books fell off the shelf!" he lied quickly. "I was doing my civic duty to the community by cleaning them up," a few more books slipped out of his arms. "Shit," he cursed in Russian, stopping to pick them up. He shoved a few of the books onto the shelf.

	From: cabotine	Date: August 28th, 2011 08:16 am (UTC)		(Link)

"They... fell off the shelf... and arranged themselves into neat piles on the... floor?" An eyebrow went up, displaying Rowan's skepticism quite clearly. She didn't understand the Russian, but at the same time, was fairly sure from the tone of voice that he had just cursed.

It wasn't that she was passing judgement on him. Not by any means. She was simply trying to make sense of something that seemed illogical and ...untidy.

"Would you like some help?"

She really wasn't sure at all what was going on. Scanning the titles again, she looked at the piles more carefully. Were they... like, pornographic or something? She could understand acting weird over that. But no. They were all fairly standard fiction/fantasy novels. What could be the connection here?

	From: yevgeni	Date: August 28th, 2011 08:23 am (UTC)		(Link)

His face flushed, unnerved he hurried to pick up more books, just making a bigger mess of things. "Hooligans!" he said loudly. "Hooligans came and took them off the shelves and I was here to stop them," he panicked.

"No, no, I am fine. Perfectly completely fine. Thank you for offering your help but I can clean up after those... um..." he ran a hand through his hair. "Hooligans," he said, sounding slightly confused.

	From: cabotine	Date: August 28th, 2011 08:51 am (UTC)		(Link)

"H-hooligans? What kind... of..."

Glancing further at the books that had been separated from the rest, Rowan did a quick mental review of the titles to see what they had in common. Her eyes flew open when she reached the only conclusion that was in any way logical to her.

"Is this... they're all books on vampires! Are you doing a project on them or something?" Her mouth flew away on her as her brain made connections in leaps and bounds, everything else completely forgotten for the moment. "But they're all fictional Muggle works, so why... OH! Are you doing a compare and contrast project on historical accuracy in the wizarding world versus Muggle preconceptions and notions in fiction? Oooh what a great project! What class is this for? Do you want help?"

The more she spoke, the more she became enamored of the idea and the more animated she became. "I have a lot of books about intelligent magical species! If you want I can absolutely help you with research? When school starts up, I think I'm free on Tuesdays after classes, if you want to come over?"

She looked at him eagerly, obviously loving the idea.

	From: yevgeni	Date: August 28th, 2011 09:00 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yev stared at her wide eyed and open mouthed as she spoke. He tried to get in the occasional edge word but he ended up only being able to make strange stuttering noises. "Yes," he said not answering any specific question. "I mean..." he stuttered again and looked around at the mess.

He had been called out and there was no way he could honestly explain to her why half the vampire shelf was on the floor without sounding crazy. He scooped up the rest of the books and tried to consider what was actually happening. "Uh, yes. I am doing a project..." though it sounded more like a question.

	From: cabotine	Date: August 31st, 2011 11:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"You are?!" Sometimes, Rowan's brain ran completely away with an idea, and before Yev could even really continue the thought, she was excitedly grinning at him and speaking somewhat rapidly.

"That's fantastic! I have so many reference books for this already, so that won't really be a problem. How long does it have to be? We can meet up maybe next Thursday or Friday after school has started? Maybe in the Sonnier common room? Or I can meet you at your dorm room? What works for you?" She excitedly tucked her hair behind her ears and looked for his reply.

	From: yevgeni	Date: September 1st, 2011 12:53 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Oh yes," he nodded dumbly. She had given him the perfect out, he wouldn't have to come up with a lie since she had already done all the work! This was all working out really well for him even if he wasn't picking up half of what she was saying.

And then that... Fuck. "Uh... I... I um... Thursdays are good," he said wanting to slap himself in his head. "I mean, I have all this materials..." he was nervous so now his English was suffering. "I am going to be fine okay really," he stumbled through the phrase. "Mine research is very in depth already. You really do not have to..."

	From: cabotine	Date: September 1st, 2011 12:58 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Oh, but it's not trouble at all! I'll see you in the common room then on Thursday. After dinner alright with you? I'll bring everything by then, and even if you don't use it, at least you'll have it, right? I have some great autobiographical accounts from notable historical vampires..." She said it as if it was a tasty treat in front of his face that she was offering, instead of a book about what it was like to be a vampire firsthand.

"It's not an imposition, I promise you. So, I'll leave you to this then, and I will see you on Thursday? Excellent! Have a good weekend!" Rowan handed him one book that had gotten further away than the others with a sunny smile and then with a wave, she turned to go.

	From: yevgeni	Date: September 1st, 2011 02:43 am (UTC)		(Link)

"Oh. Right. Okay," he didn't know what else to say. She seemed so set in her ways and what was a little white lie? It would not be so bad.

"Thank... you?" It was more a question than anything else. As she turned to walk away he watched in astonishment, dumbfounded. One of the books slipped from his arms and fell into the pile at his feet.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself.