Highly Illogical (Eli)

Ferris Macklin
Retired

Head Cafeteria Chef
Local Power Negation
Played By Captain Omega

My 99 Problems Are Red Balloons

Posts: 293

Highly Illogical (Eli) May 23, 2013 11:15:00 GMT -5

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Post by Ferris Macklin on May 23, 2013 11:15:00 GMT -5

Given that there was a much wider age range than at a normal middle or high school, there was a wider variety of history textbooks available as well. Something about textbooks just... made him happy. He had no idea why. And the best part, here at Hammel they'd be in English. It had only been about two weeks since he'd taken up his post, but he'd already finished the ninth grade history book and was part of the way through the general biology text as well. He didn't check the books out, he had no student ID to do it with, but he'd gotten his fill via books left in the cafeteria. At least one unclaimed book was left a day, and more often than not it was Ferris who walked it back to the library.

Today he had what looked like an AP physics book (a little too advanced for him), a worn copy of The Scarlet Letter, and a beginner's algebra book that had its owner's homework stuck between the pages. He dropped the books off at the front desk, and then went hunting for Mr. Eli Morrison. The librarian was pointed out, and Ferris walked over. His white chef's coat was dry and but had spots of red around the hem, rolled to the elbows. His jeans had a small hole at one knee and his red Cons were worn. Ferris smelled faintly of french bread and the marinara from lunch.

Keeping his voice low, just above a whisper, he called as he approached, "Mr. Morrison?"

He stuck his hand out. "I'm Ferris Macklin. Kitchen staff. I was... um. Is there any protocol for staff borrowing unused textbooks?"

BIO :: PLOTTER :: TRACKER

Eli Morrison
Retired

Librarian
Capacity for All of Human Knowledge/ Perfect Recall
Played By Tony

Quite logical.

Posts: 155
Gender:: Male

Highly Illogical (Eli) May 23, 2013 12:21:43 GMT -5

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Post by Eli Morrison on May 23, 2013 12:21:43 GMT -5

Since he had such capable student assistants, Eli very rarely put books back on the shelves himself. Mostly he was at the front desk or in his office, purchasing new books and entering them into the library catalog. Today, however, his assistant was working on some homework at the desk between helping other students, and he was in the stacks.

The librarian was in his typical work uniform. Corduroy pants that Mii insisted weren't any better than wearing jeans to work and a button-down shirt that she had purchased for his birthday. He tried to be reasonable about wearing things that weren't too old to work, but that was mostly because his best friend had such easy access to his things and wasn't shy about insisting that they go shopping if his sartorial choices didn't suit the occasion. (She couldn't make him give up the pants though. They were just more comfortable than jeans, and he didn't care if they weren't stylish.)

Eli looked up when he heard his name. He'd never met Mr. Macklin, but he remembered when the staff had been told about someone new taking over the cafeteria. The librarian shook the chef's hand, "Please, just call me Eli. Most of the students don't even call me Mr. Morrison."

It actually wasn't that unusual for staff to ask about taking the books out. Eli kept intending to send out an email to everyone about it, but he hadn't gotten around to it yet. "It's the same as with students. You can just use your staff ID for anything outside of the reference section."

Ferris Macklin
Retired

Head Cafeteria Chef
Local Power Negation
Played By Captain Omega

My 99 Problems Are Red Balloons

Posts: 293

Highly Illogical (Eli) May 25, 2013 1:08:39 GMT -5

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Post by Ferris Macklin on May 25, 2013 1:08:39 GMT -5

When there was a chance a kid might be around, Ferris liked to err on the side of formality till he knew what was okay, but Hammel seemed a little looser on this sort of thing, and that was cool. He shook the hand. "Eli it is."

"It's the same as with students. You can just use your staff ID for anything outside of the reference section."

"And just check out as usual? At the desk?" Ferris had visions of the tenth and eleventh grade history... civics... social studies... whatever they were called books, and one of the copies of Gatsby to read before he saw the movie. Or maybe read instead of the movie. He didn't know.

Eli wasn't who he'd expected. He was younger, a lot younger, for one, and he had the look of an absent-minded IT guy. Ferris knew he wasn't really what people thought of when they thought 'school lunch' either, and internally chided himself.

"Oh." He remembered another thing he was going to ask. "It's best that I bring the stuff that gets left in the cafeteria over here, right? And not say, to the main office? I wish I had time to drop them off with the right sub-offices. But here's okay?"

And just for his own curiosity, "Have you been the librarian here long? I just got here, myself."

BIO :: PLOTTER :: TRACKER

Eli Morrison
Retired

Librarian
Capacity for All of Human Knowledge/ Perfect Recall
Played By Tony

Quite logical.

Posts: 155
Gender:: Male

Highly Illogical (Eli) May 30, 2013 22:57:24 GMT -5

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Post by Eli Morrison on May 30, 2013 22:57:24 GMT -5

Eli nodded, happy to help. He wasn't surprised, and wouldn't be until he got that bit of information included in the paperwork when staff members actually got their IDs. "I should send out an email about it to staff. You're not the only one who didn't know."

"Yeah, please just bring them here. When it goes to the main office, the book won't get back to us for a few days, and the kids don't need the extra days being charged for overdue books that the school is in possession of." It had happened to him often enough when he was a student. Not because he would forget about where he put them, but because he read so many, people tended to move them.

Ferris didn't look like the previous head chef at the school, but Eli had been around for so long, he knew that the school would hire just about any kind of person. At least the new guy seemed likely to take care of the books, so the Librarian was fine with being friendly, if not very chatty. "Yeah. I've actually been the librarian here since I was seventeen, though they only officially gave me the title when I turned 21."

Under difference circumstances, Eli would have gone to college at 14, and probably racked up a few post-graduate degrees by now. Instead, he was doing the same thing, in the same place, as when he was a teenager. And he was fine with that.

Last Edit: Jun 9, 2013 0:38:30 GMT -5 by Admin!

Ferris Macklin
Retired

Head Cafeteria Chef
Local Power Negation
Played By Captain Omega

My 99 Problems Are Red Balloons

Posts: 293

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 1, 2013 20:31:45 GMT -5

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Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 1, 2013 20:31:45 GMT -5

"I should send out an email about it to staff. You're not the only one who didn't know."

"Oh. That's good." It was always nice being ignorant in a group rather than ignorant alone.

He nodded when Eli said it was best he bring the books to the library. "Okay. Sometimes we don't get any and then some days we get five just at lunch."

There was a thought percolating in the back of Ferris's head. Not quite a nagging thought, but one that was persistent all the same. It had odd edges of an emotion that Ferris typically did not have and in fact liked not having very much, but it was doing an incredible job of bypassing his, as one might call them, repression security team. The thought's ID was obviously fake, it had a bottle of shampoo in its suit pocket that was more than three ounces, and it was carrying a bomb right in its outstretched arms that said BOMB on it in bright red letters. And yet his repression security team was just waving it through, smiling, not even stopping it for knocking over thoughts of more importance on its way through.

The thought was running, sprinting towards his consciousness. Ferris knew what it was, but no amount of ducking or changing course could hide him from it.

It was an innocuous thought - his eyes and his hair are almost the same color - that gave the intruder the access it wanted. It burst through the door of his brain: Eli Morrison is attractive.

No.

No, no, no, no.

But. He was.

The whole thing showed on his face as a moment of appearing to forget what he was going to say, seeming to remember the wrong thing, and mild consternation, when in reality his entire repression security team was running around screaming 'KHAAAAAAAAAAAN'.

Except instead of 'Khan' it was 'NO'. Same sentiment.

"Sorry," he said, expression smoothing back out. "I... thought I'd left an oven on."

In terms of looks, Eli wasn't exactly a supermodel. He had the look of someone who might've been considered for a Beatles biopic, or else easily cast as Office Worker #5. But something about him was making it difficult for Ferris to stop looking at him.

"Yeah. I've actually been the librarian here since I was seventeen, though they only officially gave me the title when I turned 21."

Ferris was within inches of truly understanding pinup magazines. It was not the sort of epiphany he was prepared for, or one he thought he'd be having in the Hammel Library. And it was like, crushing his ability to... make... words. There were a lot of things he could say, like 'so you were unofficial before' or 'that's very impressive' or 'what made you decide to be a librarian'.

"Oh." D'oh. "Cool."

Okay, repression security team was in damage control, trying to restore full brain capacity.

"Any textbook recommendations?"

BIO :: PLOTTER :: TRACKER

Eli Morrison
Retired

Librarian
Capacity for All of Human Knowledge/ Perfect Recall
Played By Tony

Quite logical.

Posts: 155
Gender:: Male

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 4, 2013 15:29:47 GMT -5

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Post by Eli Morrison on Jun 4, 2013 15:29:47 GMT -5

Eli Morrison was very good at not caring much. When people told him nothing was wrong, he took them at their word. He didn't gossip, and he didn't meddle. He'd never wanted a power like telepathy or ESP; people's thoughts were their own business. But even he noticed when Ferris's face showed his mental anguish. Not that he knew why, but he was pretty sure a chef would remember something like an oven being on, or at least not look so disturbed when the solution was simply walking across the building and checking.

If the librarian knew what his new coworker was thinking, he would have been embarrassed. He didn't see people that way, at all. In his view, the most beautiful being on the planet was his dog, Zero. Number two would be Tory, his best friend's toddler and his surrogate son. He'd been told before that he was attractive, and so using his own features as a baseline, and with the bonus of Ferris's presumed ability to cook, Eli would estimate that Ferris was also attractive, at least to someone who judged people that way.

Honestly thought the look of shock was disappointing, Eli was relieved when Ferris seemed not take the librarian's work history in stride. Hopefully, that meant there would be no awkward conversation with the inevitable question of why he never went to college. "It depends on what you want to learn. The World History texts for juniors and seniors are newer and less Eurocentric than the last ones on the curriculum, you're better off using the Khan Academy to learn math, and most of the literature books are anthologies with little in the way of literary criticism."

He smiled, surprised but not un pleased that someone else read textbooks recreationally. "Is there anything specific you're looking for? If we have a book on it, I can tell you."

Ferris Macklin
Retired

Head Cafeteria Chef
Local Power Negation
Played By Captain Omega

My 99 Problems Are Red Balloons

Posts: 293

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 6, 2013 21:00:30 GMT -5

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Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 6, 2013 21:00:30 GMT -5

It was very likely that Ferris was embarrassed enough for both of them and a probable third. While he could admire the human form and say that yes, this or that actor or model had nice hair or impressive musculature, it had been a very long time since someone had struck him as attractive in a way that affected him. It seemed like his body didn't really remember what to do either, it was hot in places and cold in places and not in the places Ferris usually associated those temperatures with in relation to physical attraction.

"It depends on what you want to learn..."

Well Jesus Christ, even Eli's voice was... good looking? Gah. It had to be that, because Ferris was having a damn hard time retaining what the man was saying. He was just listening to the words, the pitch, the tone... looking at Eli's mouth. Could mouths be cute? Because Eli Morrison's mouth was cute. And was Ferris devolving? Into a thirteen year old girl? Was he getting one of those X-Men-like secondary mutations? His repression security team was sneaking off to the bars to submerge their shame in liquor and whatever was left in his head was putting up little anime sparklies around Mr. Morrison's face.

Uh. Wait, there had been like, comments. That needed answers. What had been said again?

"World history might be good," he said, after what he hoped wasn't too long of a pause. "I've been in Europe and they have it all from that perspective. American might be good too. See if they've kept the same storyline."

"Is there anything specific you're looking for? If we have a book on it, I can tell you."

"Beginner chemistry?" Ferris thought a moment, and added, "Oh, and French I and II? Mmm. Possibly III."

Then, "What do you like to read?"

BIO :: PLOTTER :: TRACKER

Eli Morrison
Retired

Librarian
Capacity for All of Human Knowledge/ Perfect Recall
Played By Tony

Quite logical.

Posts: 155
Gender:: Male

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 7, 2013 23:53:53 GMT -5

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Post by Eli Morrison on Jun 7, 2013 23:53:53 GMT -5

This was the kind of conversation that Eli liked to have. When he didn't have to make small talk and could just use his immense knowledge of his kingdom, he was most comfortable. (Talking to strangers at least. But as few had ever breached the line of acquaintances, so this really was his favorite kind of discussion.) The librarian gestured to a far corner of the room, one that rarely saw students for reasons other than finding a good place to be alone. "Okay, well Chemistry is over there, in the 540s. You'll want to start with the basics, so 541, Physical Chemistry. Everything we have on it is either there or in the reference section. Or sometimes my office. If it's in our system and not there, let me know."

This was officially the most words anyone had ever pulled from Eli in their first conversation. (He figured that anyone asking for textbooks on Chemistry would actually want specific directions.) He gestured to another shelf and continued his monologue. "We don't have a lot of language books, compared to science. Look in 440 at what we have, but if you're looking for French III, you'll have to go to one of the language teachers and see what they can lend you."

After all that though, Eli had to actually think about Ferris's next question. He knew what he liked to read, but it would take too much time to list all his favorite books and genres. "I really will read anything. Part of my power is perfect recall, so I don't need to reread anything. And I like learning...everything. I'm most of the way through the Star Wars extended universe now."

Ferris Macklin
Retired

Head Cafeteria Chef
Local Power Negation
Played By Captain Omega

My 99 Problems Are Red Balloons

Posts: 293

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 8, 2013 16:23:17 GMT -5

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Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 8, 2013 16:23:17 GMT -5

There was actual information being exchanged here, and the amount of attention Ferris was having to pay to it to make it stick was damn near Herculean. Chemistry, 540, his brain noted, Physical Chem, 541. But it was a fluttery kind of notation, one that was more like writing on a whiteboard than chiseled into stone. And it was adding, in the system, not on the shelf, see Eli. To tell him, not to look at him. But also to look at him. How many books can we hide in the kitchens to report missing before someone figures out?

Was this how adolescents were all the time? How did any of them manage schoolwork?

And then, language, 440, see French teachers above French III. Obligingly (and hopefully to anchor the information further) Ferris looked where Eli's attractive hand indicated. Luckily whoever was pasting little sparklies around Mr. Morrison's head did not attach a wash of pastel flowers every time he gestured. But Ferris could tell it was a near thing.

"I knew enough Swiss French and Swiss German to get by at Kocher," he heard himself saying. "But I've been meaning to learn regular French."

It was a mark of a hardcore reader to have to pause at a question like 'what do you like to read', though Ferris had meant more in the textbook sense. Still, if Eli took it in the general one that was fine too. Ferris was always looking for book recs.

It wasn't his area of expertise, but Ferris understood what an undertaking 'reading the Star Wars extended universe' was. There had to be... well, several hundred paperbacks and he knew there were still comics being published now that added to the mythos. While it wasn't quite the extended meltdown he guessed starting at the very beginning of Doctor Who would be, it was still a noteworthy and not a little masochistic task. Ferris said the only thing he could say to that, enamored of Eli's physical appearance or not: "Wow."

"I started the first book of Han's trilogy on a bus in Frankfurt, but it was more about him as a young man and I wanted to read about what he'd been like as a kid," he said. "And on the other hand, my favorite character is C-3PO, but no one outside of the kids' picture book or easy reader authors wrote any books about him."

Ferris never knew what it was about the 'golden droid' that had caught his fancy. He guessed it was a combo of the futility (bravery?) of being prissy in space and the horrible fascination of knowing there was an actual person inside what had to be one of the most miserable film costumes of the last 40 years.

But back to Eli Morrison and his strangely alluring hair. Because it was about Ferris's own color but a little wavy and altogether ordinary and dear god Ferris wanted to touch it. And he was starting to get the idea that if he stayed too much longer he'd do something he'd regret.

"Any textbooks you like in particular?" As he said this he walked over to 541 and, with the practiced ease of one comfortable in a library, turned his head sideways to read titles and smoothly removed the tenth grade beginner physical chem. A few strides later he was in front of the language section and had pulled French I and II and then was digging in his back pocket for his wallet and ID.

BIO :: PLOTTER :: TRACKER

Eli Morrison
Retired

Librarian
Capacity for All of Human Knowledge/ Perfect Recall
Played By Tony

Quite logical.

Posts: 155
Gender:: Male

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 14, 2013 23:50:28 GMT -5

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Post by Eli Morrison on Jun 14, 2013 23:50:28 GMT -5

Eli wasn't even a particularly big fan of Star Wars, but he was interested in how different authors at different times viewed the core material. He cared less about the stories being quality literature than seeing how new people would explore the established universe. (Also, he'd been bet that it couldn't be done quickly while retaining the information. It wasn't fair to actually take someone up on that bet for any real prize, but he would do it because he enjoyed reading.)

"My favorite character is Obi-Wan." Eli said, then paused before elaborating. "I always like the mentor characters, though they have a habit of dying. I can see why no one ever writes about Han as a child though; it wouldn't be interesting. Maybe he would talk big, but he wouldn't be the recognizable character until he gained the skills to back it up, and had the experiences that made him into Han Solo."

"The AP Calculus book that was in use when I took the class was interesting, but I haven't looked at the ones that replaced it. There's probably a copy of that edition in the closet of the Mathematics department offices. I would hope they didn't throw it out." Eli rarely got sentimental about books, because he remembered all the ones he read. But that calculus book was a fond memory, because he had used it so effectively as a bully deterrent. At thirteen, he had not yet reached his growth spurt, but would let the ones who picked on him think that he was some kind of evil genius. He hated violence, but didn't necessarily care if other people knew that.

The librarian headed over to the main desk and typed a few things into the computer there, before printing out a single sheet. Honestly, he liked Ferris. Friendly enough, but only interested in talking about books and not personal things. (Luckily, Eli was not and never would be telepathic.) He brought it over to the chef, for once going a bit beyond his regular duties. "Here is your information for logging onto the library site. You can look up what we have available there, and make reserves using your email. You can also make them at the desk, and you need to make reserves in person when reserving something pre-release. It sucks, but after our Dance with Dragons debacle, we instated that."

Ferris Macklin
Retired

Head Cafeteria Chef
Local Power Negation
Played By Captain Omega

My 99 Problems Are Red Balloons

Posts: 293

Highly Illogical (Eli) Jun 18, 2013 18:08:50 GMT -5

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Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 18, 2013 18:08:50 GMT -5

"My favorite character is Obi-Wan..."

Ferris listened and he was a little disappointed, though he was very aware of how his own issues barged all over his preferences when he least expected it. He wondered if it meant anything that Eli preferred mentors. That he either wanted one or wanted to be one?

"I think there could've been a lot written about Han as a child, and I think it handled correctly it'd be fascinating," he said, disagreeing without being argumentative about it. "He didn't just spring forth in adulthood who he was. Maybe he started out idealistic or with different values and had them trampled on till he became someone he hadn't intended or didn't want to be. Maybe all during the movies he knew what an-" Ferris looked quickly around them but changed his term anyway "-a jerk he was and hated it. Or maybe he'd always been the cool customer and they could show how that happened. You give up things to be that way. There's possibilities. There's always possibilities."

Ferris smiled somewhat apologetically. Maybe Eli thought he hadn't been anyone till he'd had enough skills to deal with the world. Maybe Ferris was projecting liek woah. But he fully believed every character's story began at birth and thought it was a shame a universe as vast as the Star Wars extended didn't want to delve into what could easily be one of the most provocative childhoods on offer.

"The AP Calculus book that was in use when I took the class was interesting, but I haven't looked at the ones that replaced it. There's probably a copy of that edition in the closet of the Mathematics department offices. I would hope they didn't throw it out."

That surprised him. Most of the books Ferris was nostalgic over had... more content than a math book. But maybe that was the one that made Eli really like math or something, and all this conjecture was not helping at all with tamping down how ridiculously lovely Mr. Morrison was. If anything it was providing ample excuse for prolonged eye contact. Eli had... incredible eyes. Dark. Deep. Mysterious. Other overwrought romantic adjectives that were making Ferris's stomach curl its figurative toes. And nostalgia for a calculus book?

Was adorable.

It was such a relief when the man turned to walk away, because Ferris was choking on his own fluff. And in a way it was also really bad that Eli did that, because Ferris's eyes glanced at the librarian's butt and well, he hadn't done that since

The terrible wash of guilt and shame and pain was actually welcome even if it was unexpected when he should've known it would come. But the problem with burying the past was that out of sight was out of mind. There was no way to prepare for the times the skeletal hands broke though the brick walls when you insisted they weren't there. It did have one positive effect. It instantly turned Eli Morrison from pop star to regular person. Ferris felt cold all over, like he'd just gotten the scare of his life.

Thankfully his repression security team came roaring back from the bar and fought it all back with the efficiency he'd come to know and love, and when Eli handed him the sheet of paper Ferris's hand didn't even tremble. And he was curiously unaffected with the man as close as he was, which was fortunate for them both.

"Tha-" His voice was rough, and he lifted an elbow to cough into it. "Excuse me. Thank you." He even managed a small smile. "Mr. Martin might be taking so long between each volume to do exactly that."

For a moment he allowed him to look back up into those previously magnetic eyes. Ferris felt a measure of warmth. Something like his body remembering something pleasant. Something that hadn't hurt. It made him breathless in a completely different way to think of how one man could bring about so many emotions in so short a time. Something that... no, still didn't hurt.

That in itself was the biggest revelation Ferris had had in the last nine years, and if he didn't leave now he'd be completely useless. He was actually considering begging off dinner prep. He hadn't ended a shift early since he was twenty-six. But there was too much going on in his head. So he said the one thing he could say, and he smiled because he knew Eli Morrison wouldn't know on how many levels he meant it.

"Thank you."

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Post by Ferris Macklin on May 23, 2013 11:15:00 GMT -5

Post by Eli Morrison on May 23, 2013 12:21:43 GMT -5

Post by Ferris Macklin on May 25, 2013 1:08:39 GMT -5

Post by Eli Morrison on May 30, 2013 22:57:24 GMT -5

Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 1, 2013 20:31:45 GMT -5

Post by Eli Morrison on Jun 4, 2013 15:29:47 GMT -5

Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 6, 2013 21:00:30 GMT -5

Post by Eli Morrison on Jun 7, 2013 23:53:53 GMT -5

Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 8, 2013 16:23:17 GMT -5

Post by Eli Morrison on Jun 14, 2013 23:50:28 GMT -5

Post by Ferris Macklin on Jun 18, 2013 18:08:50 GMT -5

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