Don't be shy [Elliot]

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Research. Kiara didn't exactly like that that word in any sense. Looking up information on the computer, online, had never been her forte. This was why she found herself in Pilot Ridge's library. To gather whatever she could find in the books there. Her laptop had been taken with her though, mainly to be able to use Word and just in case she got a sudden inburst of giving electronics another chance.

After she had gotten settled at one of the wooden tables, close to the book racks which included the topic of her paper, Ki started the laptop and in the process made her way to find some useful written work. A thoughtful look on her face as blue eyes darted from one title to the other, tapping a finger against lightly pursed lips. Until her hand dropped as her gaze drifted upwards.

Okay, she wasn't short, but she wasn't tall enough either. Nevertheless, seeing the girl rather didn't bother someone and she would be too ashamed to approach a person in the first place, she opted to give it a shot anyway. So, as far as toptoeing went, Kiara soon enough found her upper body squeezed against the book rack, attempting to reach for the book which fingertips could just barely touch.

[Elliot Morrow]

Elliot had long since given up on the University library as a reliable source for research projects. That was why he’d parked himself in the Pilot Ridge Public Library. It was so much bigger, and had so much more to offer in the way of research materials. He was working on an economics paper due in two weeks. Economics was one of the few classes he dragged his heels on, because it was just so... uninteresting. It had nothing to do with what he wanted to do with his life, but it was a requirement nonetheless.

Sigh.

His laptop was up and running, but he was well aware that actual books would probably help too. He already had a list of resource websites he’d verified were accurate, but his teachers wanted more than just websites to be referenced. After running a quick search on the library database, he’d narrowed down what he needed, and headed off to find said books.

He didn’t expect to be greeted with a young woman doing her best to get at a book just a little too high. He was used to this scenario, and he was used to being the one to help. His mother was a good six inches shorter than him, as were his cousins. He could easily get things from top shelves (and things up there in the first place, too). He could have let her struggle, but that wasn’t what civilized people did. “Excuse me? Do you need a hand, miss? Which one did you want?” He didn’t mind lending a hand before starting his own paper. Really, the more procrastinating he could manage, the better.

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Almost. Kiara almost had it. While it was close to impossible to shuffle even closer to the book rack, she tried it anyway and had to tilt her head back to make sure the wrong book wouldn't be grabbed during this effort. Tongue sticking out between her lips, Ki found herself completely oblivious to the fact that someone was approach. Or, well, had approached already. As his voice reached her ears, she did manage to turn her head, but never failed to tiptoe.

"Oh, um..." Tilting her head again, the girl tried to reach forward once more, having nails dig into the side of the book, but the grip wasn't firm enough to tug it from between the others on that rack. It was clearly being tightly squeezed between them. "This one." Feet finally met the floor again as Kiara took a small step to the side, feeling how her face was all flushed by the intensive attempt to grab the book. And she also felt ridiculous to have someone having seen that failure.x

"It's okay if you can't reach it. I-" Don't want to be a burden. But by that time, Elliot was tugging it out already, unintentionally bringing other books with it at both sides of the one she had requested. He must have seen them coming, but too late to apply any reflexes. And with only one hand available since the other held onto the book, Ki witnessed how about two of them hit him on the hand.

"Oh God! Are you alright?" As instinct took over, Kiara didn't hesitate to move closer and to place both hands at his temples, pretty much forcing the guy to bend down a bit in order for her to see. After a second, however, the blonde realized just how inappropriate that might have been, so she let go and took another step back.

"I am sooo sorry." She whispered, knowing that wouldn't have happened had he not helped her.

[Elliot Morrow]

Really, it just wasn’t nice to let someone struggle like this. Especially a woman. (Yes, he was smallest bit old fashioned in that regard. Sue him.) He’d offered, and the look she was giving him made him wonder why she kept trying in vain. She likely hadn’t grown the inch or so necessary to reach it in the last ten seconds.

“It’s fine,” he assured as he reached for it. It really was wedged in there. It took him a moment to try to extract it from its’ neighbours, but he clearly didn’t do a very good job. One moment he was pulling it free, the next it was raining books.

Elliot hissed in a breath at the sudden burst of pain, his free hand coming to rub where the corners had hit. At least his glasses weren’t broken. That would have been awful, because he did not have the money to replace them right now. He couldn’t feel any broken skin or blood, but he’d probably have a good few bruises by morning.

He jumped a little when he felt the girl’s hands on him, wincing slightly at her touches. “I’ll be fine,” he said softly, gently pulling back out of her grip. “Umm... here.” He offered out the book he’d managed to extract, then stooped to rescue the ones that had attacked. “I guess they need more room. It was really in there.” He set the others back in their places and shrugged off the apology.

“It’s all right. No real harm done.” He glanced at the book curiously. “What are you studying?” Was he still trying to procrastinate Economics? Just a little.

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oor guy. Kiara really did feel sorry for him, and she wondered just how much it might hurt. He was probably trying to be tough, not wanting to show any weakness in front of a girl. So instead of prying any deeper and possibly damaging his ego, totally unaware what his personality might be like, the girl gratefully took the book with both hands and glanced down at it once the question got asked.

”Right now, Psychology. For a paper.” She added the last part, not too sure if it would be of any interest to him. While Ki managed to muster a normal response, concern was still evident on her face. ”A real brain twister.” But at least a faint smile appeared at her attempt to be funny about it all. Part of her wanted to go like: get it? but perhaps that wouldn’t be too much of a good idea.

Exhaling softly, Kiara hugged the book close to her chest. ”Thank you for your help. It… doesn’t hurt too much, right? I could bring you to a doctor if you want.” Sure, he had said that no harm was done, but she rather avoided him fainting due to a concussion or something equally as nerve-wrecking for the girl.

[Elliot Morrow]

It was far from Elliot’s nature to hide weakness, especially from women. Hell, he’d watch a so called ‘chick-flick’ and cry right along with any females in the room. Yes, his head hurt, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, or brush off relatively easily. If it was bothering him later, he’d just take a few Tylenol.

“Ah. Psychology major, or just a general interest class?” Or perhaps it was a requirement that had nothing to do with what she wanted to do with her life. Like... wait for it. Economics. Or English. At least the joke she made got him to smile a little more. “Clever,” he said with a little smirk. “I’d definitely guess Psychology major.” At least that was something that didn’t make anyone go cross eyed when you told them that was what you were studying.

“You’re welcome,” he assured, though her concern made him shaking his head and rub his neck awkwardly. “No, it’s not that bad, I promise you.” Maybe if he acted charming and let his faint Irish accent get a little stronger, she’d stop asking? It seemed to work on women alarmingly well. “You did me a favor, really. Now I have an excuse not to work on a term paper. Economics is far from interesting.”

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It was so typical for Kiara to act overconcerned given the circumstances. If she wouldn't be worrying like this, something had to be wrong. And while she might be limiting the expression of said concern, blue eyes never darted away from his face to make sure she would witness any sign of pain.

At the guess made, a faint nod followed. It had taken the blonde quite a while to figure out which major interested her most, but eventually the decision had been made and so far she didn't regret it yet. "You guessed correctly," she mused while shifting more weight onto her right leg. She had never been amazing at maintaining conversations with people who were practically strangers, but right now Ki forced herself to stick around. You never knew when he might faint, right?

Smirking, Kiara dipped her head to the side. "That isn't exactly a favor that makes me feel proud about myself." School work was important after all. "Besides," her tone of voice adopted a slightly teasing tone. "Didn't you say it wasn't that bad? Surely you'll still be capable to work on that paper." With a knowing grin, a blonde curl got smoothed behind her ear.

But, honestly, at this point Kiara was avoiding her own paper as well. Don't tell Elliot.

[Elliot Morrow]

It was sweet of Kiara to continue to worry, but in Elliot’s mind it was completely unnecessary. He was pretty sure he didn’t have a concussion from the falling books. A small headache, yes, but that was to be expected when one had books dropped on them from high up.

“That must be interesting,” he said calmly. Psychology was one of the classes he could pick up to get more credits for his degree, but he still wasn’t sure what he was going to take. Anything outside of the scope of programming and coding didn’t interest him all that much, which made picking electives quite challenging. “And a lot more mainstream than my major. I’d imagine that you don’t make anyone go cross eyed when you tell then what you’re studying.” He smiled and toyed with his glasses for a moment, sliding them back in place. He was a congenial person by nature, and he figured that the more he talked, the less she’d think about the little accident.

“Well, I’m sorry about that. But if you saw my paper, you’d understand,” he assured. But she had him there. With an almost sheepish expression, he smiled at her. “You have me there. Maybe I’m having second thoughts about it. It hurts just enough to prevent me from writing, but not enough for the emergency room to be concerned with it.” After a glance at the book in her hands, he arched an eyebrow at her. “Though, I suppose we’re even. I think we’re distracting each other from our studies.”

He realized then that he hadn’t actually introduced himself. His mother had raised him better than that, he knew. He offered out his hand to her. “I’m Elliot, by the way. I’d have introduced myself before. But... there was an incident with books that I’m going to blame my lapse of manners on.”

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Kiara chuckled, nodding a tad bit in agreement, even though not a lot of people informed themselves about what her major might be. The amount that had to be studied did make her go cross eyed though. When it was all about the papers again, a victorious smirk appeared, wanting to come up with something witty to retort again, but surely that would only backfire since Elliot seemed to catch on fast and to take notice of her own procrastination of homework. ”Mmm, that didn’t even occur to me yet.” The blonde mused with complete innocence, despite the little grin on her face which gave away she was very much aware of the avoidance of starting on the paper.

At him offering his hand, a quick unintentional ‘oh’ slipped past her lips and she moved the book to be squeezed between one arm and her upper body as the other hand reached forward. Kiara had completely forgotten about that herself, despite it usually being her first concern upon socializing with someone unfamiliar. ”Kiara.” She could blame her own lack of manners on the same incident, but that would ruin his funny moment. Withdrawing her hand, she quickly added something. ”But you can call me Ki… or ‘the one who tried to kill you’.” She chuckled weakly, smoothing a strand behind her ear.

Eyes then drifted back to the table where her stuff had been placed down. ”You… you’re free to sit with me if you want.” A hand gesturing behind him to where her laptop and bag could be spotted. ”It might be easier to tolerate and to maintain our mental health with a little distraction every now and then?” It shouldn’t have come out as a question; Kiara was certain both could use a little break or a little chat while writing a paper.

[Elliot Morrow]

If she wanted to go cross eyed, she just had to look at some of Elliot’s programming homework. If he was tired, it made him go a bit cross eyed too, but it was nothing compared to classes he wasn’t as interested in. Like... yes, Economics. “No, I’m sure it didn’t,” he murmured, hoping that if he could keep her distracted, she’d forget about his own paper. No, he probably wouldn’t get to make that last very long, but he could try.

“Kiara,” he repeated. It made him smile a bit, reminding him of the Lion King sequel. “Well, if you were trying, either you weren’t trying very hard, or you’re not a very good assassin. Either way, I’m glad.” He wasn’t in the mood to be killed today, thank you. Not when he had a paper due, and a certain someone he still wasn’t sure if he was seeing seriously or not. Death wasn’t really on his agenda.

But apparently his paper still was. He glanced at her table, then back at the direction he had come from. ... Well, company wasn’t a terrible thing. Especially when you were trying to distract yourself from working on a paper. “Sure. We wouldn’t want our mental health deteriorating, now would we? I’ll get my things.” He disappeared back down the aisle and retrieved his laptop and bag, returning to Kiara’s table. He set his laptop down across from her and put his bag down on an empty chair. “Psychology must be more interesting to study than Economics. I’d say you have an unfair advantage.” Procrastinating? Just a bit.

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Kiara chuckled at his conclusion. ”It might have been a combination of both.” She mused while keeping the grin under control, only to feel the happiness level diminish again for the assignment crept into her memory again. Oh right. For a moment the girl had been holding her breath, pretty much unaware of this while he pondered about the suggestion. While she didn’t really know much about him, other than his name, it would still be unpleasant to be pointed down. So when Elliot agreed, a little exhale escaped and she nodded, watching him go and grab his stuff before she made her way back to her own.

By the time he returned, Kiara had already taken a seat and had opened her laptop in order to save the book’s title and author. ”I’d say some are better at picking majors than others.” A smile present for she didn’t want him to take it the wrong way. Or, well, just classes. One way or another, his own decisions must have led to Economics being on his curriculum. Peeking over the opened screen, blue eyes settled on him again. ”What’s the paper about? Maybe I can help out.” Or not. Her own paper actually sounded way more interesting than his did, merely based on the class, but it formed the perfect procrastination anyway.

[Elliot Morrow]

“Both, hmm?” Elliot smirked playfully. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me who wants to assassinate me, either.” Not that he had enemies. Sure, his oldest cousin often said she’d kill him, but that was usually after he’d threatened telling her parents about some misadventure she’d confessed to him via Skype. Other than that, he was pretty sure no one really wanted to kill him. “I’m sorry to say I’d recommend against hiring you again, though. I’m clearly still breathing.” Was that mean? He didn’t think so. They were just playing. If she started to look offended, he’d apologize, of course. He wasn’t trying to be cruel.

Once he was settled again, he brought up his paper. So far he had... a cover page. And an opening sentence that had been re-written at least six or seven times already. “Hey now,” he retorted, his expression clearly showing he wasn’t offended. “I happen to like my major, even if it makes me cross eyed now and again.” Usually when he was up at 2:00 a.m. messing around with programming, or fighting with a stupid assignment for a stupid required course. “It’s on Economics. Which has nothing to do with anything, least of all computer systems.” The disdain he had for the course was clear in his voice. “Yours is more interesting, I promise.” Maybe he’d need sanity breaks more than she would.

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”It wouldn’t exactly be fun by giving that away, mh? Don’t want to make my colleague’s work more difficult.” Kiara couldn’t even kill a fly, but that might be due to her fear of insects. Filthy little creatures which made her freak out even more if they were squeezed under her shoe, or even worse, by her hand. ”Yeah,” she mused with a small laugh. ”I probably should have opted for a heavier and thicker book. Lesson learnt for next time.” Elliot seemed like a nice guy and amazingly enough she felt comfortable enough to act ridiculous like this.

Still peeking over the laptop screen, a crooked smile settled on her lips. ”You really have to like your major to tolerate Economics.” Ki retorted knowingly before picking up on what seemed to be something that was of more interest to him. ”You’re into computers?” Because yeah, it didn’t need any extra confirmation that her paper was indeed more interesting than his. ”My laptop isn’t really that into me.” Or maybe she just ended up doing everything wrong herself, like inserting search terms and whatnot. At least she knew how to check mails and how to open Word. What else did she need?

[Elliot Morrow]

“Mn, no, I suppose not.” Elliot grinned at her. “I’ll just have to watch my back. ... Or my head, in this case. Try a dictionary next time.” This was ridiculous, yes, but it was a welcome distraction. This was the side of Elliot his classmates didn’t often see. In class, he was driven and somewhat anti-social. In the computer labs he was even worse. But now? Now it was easy to socialize.

“Oh, I love my major,” he assured. “Enough to suffer through English and Economics for a few semesters.” Really, who made the lists for requirements? Did they just throw darts to fill in holes in semesters? He was starting to suspect that yes, they did. At least Kiara changed the subject. “I am. Since I was little.” Enough to have wanted to pull his mother’s old desktop apart to see how it worked. “I’m sure it likes you just fine.” Computers were nice that way. They didn’t seem to have quirks or anything like people did. ... Unless you were talking about Siri. Siri was difficult. “What’s wrong with it?” Was he taking the opportunity to distract himself further? Of course he was.

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Kiara was not going to fuss about this. Liking different majors was more than normal, hence the reason she just changed the subject to talk about something more interesting. As he questioned what was wrong with the laptop, the blonde didn’t even know what to reply. The blame was fully on her. There were no skills to speak of. ”Mmm, it didn’t come with a decent manual.” She concluded with a deep frown before shooting him a sheepish grin. If Elliot really was that much into electronics, he would know that was the lamest excuse ever. ”I’m surprised it didn’t autodestruct.” She chuckled for good measures, absentmindedly running fingers over the keyboard.

It had never really caught her interest though. It didn’t do anything fun either. All she used it for was for school. ”I do know how to open Word though.” Ki added with little pride, assuming his expertise went so much further than her own. Not that it was really difficult though. Comparing herself with him made her feel less bad while reasoning like that, so.