A Solitary Blue (Walther)

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Believe it or not, Charity and Temperance were not joined at the hip like they always seemed. For two hours everyday, they were separated due of a conflict of class schedules. Though they had tried their hardest to match them up perfectly, it was still true that they could not come to an agreement on their elective courses. This had put Temperance in class at this particular time while Charity had a free hour to do what she pleased. Therefore, she was in the school library, flipping through their assortment of comic books and manga.

She had a pile of about 20 books or so stacked on the end-table next to the comfy chair she was lounging in. There was a small smile on her face as her eyes panned over the pictures of the sappy love story.

Charity was feeling pretty good. Alone. Isolated. Without anybody in her head....though at the same time, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that just made her want to shift about with discomfort. While it was a brief time of solitude, she enjoyed it. Though it was still always a twisted relief to meet up again with her dear sister. The poor brazen girl who had no class.

She snickered to herself. With a sigh and still a prim smile, she set the book down on the table and picked up another one. Another student, however, in an unseemly rush to get to nowhere, bumped into the table as he passed it and the towers of comic books toppled over, scattering all about the floor. Charity glared down at it with a disgruntled frown. Was she expected to pick all these up herself!? That boy should come back and clean it up, it was he who made it!

Charity closed her eyes and with a sigh knelt down, careful to not to let anyone see beneath her mini skirt, and started picking up the mess. She really should have said something when she had the chance.

[Walther Ebersbacher]

He did, of course, see this happen. He wasn't exactly occupied, today. And he took every opportunity he could to be a nice person. He needed people that weren't going to be hostile to him. Except... This girl looked familiar. He couldn't quite place it, but it was something he was warned about... But why her? She looked nice. Whoever this was didn't seem like she had any ill intent.

Not too busy himself, only idly spending his time with his fingers flipping the pages of a fiction novel that his focus was half-on, he'd stood, and knelt next to her. There were colorful pages splayed everywhere. This floor was such a disorderly mess. Or so it seemed, in reality, it was incredibly easy to pick up. Just gingerly pick them up by the spine, and close them up. Easy peasy.

Walther internally debated whether or not he should have said anything to her. It didn't seem like this girl was in the mood to thank him, or strike up conversation. The way he saw it, her expression was a bit dull, placid... As if she was waiting for something to happen. He couldn't have guessed what it is, or who she was. Instead of directly approaching her, he just returned to his easy-chair, sinking his butt in to the cushion, and continuing with his book.

He stole a glance or two at the teenager. She was supposed to have a sister glued to her side, if the rumors were to be believed. The warnings... The Quinns. He'd never seen them do anything. And really, there was no toxicity about her! No sneers, no glares. Just a teenager reading in the library. He wouldn't have any problems with her. People must have just been exaggerating, or some rumor chain started...

[Deleted]

Charity really should have said something before the other buffoon left. If Temperance were here…she would have been able to say something. Crude as the girl was, she was never tolerant of ill-manneredness and would never let anyone get away with putting out, distressing, or disturbing her twin. Just like when the girls met those two boys, Sky and Forrest, Temperance had been quick to her defence after Charity was knocked down.

She was silent as she started to pick them up, though her eyes did lift up when another boy, young little thing, came and helped her pick them up. Charity blinked, a mite confused. Why would someone help her? Didn't this person know who she was?

The job didn't take long, but it did put a smile on her face. He left in silence and she returned to her own seat in silence, brushing her long brown hair behind her. It had been tied back with a blue ribbon as a headband. Her legs were darkened with her thin shimmering tights, a match to her black mini-skirt. The top, however, was a loose, wide-collard white and grey sweater with a black tank-top showing wrapped over her shoulder. With a smile on her face, she looked just as innocent as the next girl.

After another moment of silence, with her flipping the pages of her next manga through her thumbs, she held a finger in the middle of the page to save it and leaned forward. "I'm sorry for being rude," she said towards him, her English accent coming out more relaxed than with it's normally clipped sound. "Thank you, for your help." She offered a smile to the boy.

[Walther Ebersbacher]

He was mulling over this girl's reputation. This was definitely that Quinn girl he saw with the sister. Temperance? Or Charity. He wasn't entirely certain which one this was. But she didn't seem like a bad person the more he thought about it, the more he applied observational skills. Would a mean person just not say anything to a clumsy person who knocked over all of their books? To his experience, they absolutely would. Perhaps give them a little chase.

Unfortunately for him, he fell for the innocent look. Walther was naive and trusting, and decided to just dismiss the warnings over all, especially when she leaned over and thanked him. He fell right for any sort of trap she'd ever want to set up. But hell, he was none the wiser.

Any time, he would have helped someone who needed it, to any degree. Whether it was some well-orchestrated plot to involve that clumsy boy, or a mere coincidence, Walther was now in the spider's web, the snake's burrow. Without question, he nodded to her, smiling widely. "I wasn't going to let you just pick up all of those books all by yourself." Walther answered with that trademark accent of his.

He actually set his book down, after sliding a mark -- just a slip of paper -- in the spine, the most stable place there was so that it wouldn't slide out on to the floor. Ah, why not have a little conversation? It was just them, at this point. The library wasn't the most popular destination in the school. "What are you reading, there? Are they comic books..?" Inquisitive blue eyes peered at the thin spines, and the covers that he could see. The art styles varied, looking decidedly foreign.

[Deleted]

Charity was more than aware of her and her sister's reputation. She didn't particularly care, or at least seemed not to. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. It was just that confidence that she borrowed so often from her sister made her a lot more quiet when she was left here alone to do nothing but read comic books.

So the look she gave the boy who helped her wasn't false…well not entirely. While she might have had ideas later, her intentions at the moment were merely to express her appreciation for his help and to possibly engage in a pleasant conversation for the duration of the hour. After all, one became board if left idle for too long and sappy love stories could only entertain her for so long.

Charity presented him with a slight smile, a kind one to any onlooking eyes. "That is sweet of you." She offered the compliment with here eyes lowered and her hands settled over one another in her lap. "I was frustrated before, that is why I did not speak. Forgive me?" Charity tilted her head and raised a shoulder like a shy little girl, blinking up at the other boy.

His accent was interesting. German perhaps? She didn't know any of that language, but maybe she would try later. But it was a mite unusual considering this school was set in America and not in Europe. At Kocher, she had to meet with people of many languages.

Charity nodded shortly. "Yes. Well, manga. Japanese comics. They are much more different than traditional comic books. But the stories are very engaging." She held up the one she was currently working on. "This one is called Kimi ni Todoke. It's a…a romance." Charity looked down, hoping to hide a light blush.

[Walther Ebersbacher]

Forgive her. What did she have to ask for forgiveness for? She'd done him no wrong. She was just a little angry, and that was to be expected. She needed a moment if she was truly flustered by the blunder that the clumsy boy had done. Walther was an understanding person, so he believed. Tolerable of others and their emotions. It was the whole reason he was doing this to begin with. Talking to the Quinn that was otherwise going to chew nails and spit fire.

So when she'd asked, he just nodded, and shot her an equally polite smile. He gave the girl his undivided attention. A proper prerequisite to starting a conversation that was beyond just greetings, or a single thing to be said. And he had a feeling, for some reason, that this was going to be a long conversation. They were given the perfect context to meet under. No one here, a little bit of help, bam. Appropriate beginning to ask names and well, chat.

"Oh, of course I forgive you." He'd just chuckled, not in a rude or derisive manner. He still just found it a little silly that she asked for his forgiveness like that! "I guess it was just a lot of books for you to pick up on your own. Just what a decent person should do, ja?" He didn't actually get ensnared in the shy act as much as he would have otherwise. Maybe he just didn't see her like a victim, or maybe her reputation still sent some tremors of doubt throughout his mind.

"Manga... It sounds like the fruit. I don't think I have ever heard of that. I don't speak any Japanese, anyways." Though that would have been easier to learn than such a slow language like English. At least German was a reasonable tempo. One where every word didn't have to be slowly enunciated vowel by vowel. The sounds blended together in such a way where it just worked.

"I never really liked romance books, either. Are all of the mangas romance..? Or is it like other books where there can be action, and mystery, and things like that..?" There weren't a lot of comics in his childhood, but there were a whole cornucopia of different genres of text. It would have been interesting to see that in a graphical format!

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Charity's meek smile broadened a slight when he so graciously accepted her apology. She nodded. "Yes. I agree," she said, darting a small sad glare in the direction where the person who had knocked the books over had retreated to. She sighed. "Though I suppose it does me no good to remain upset." She giggled, bringing a hand femininely up to her mouth. "You'll miss out on the finer things in life if you always stay angry. Like meeting new people." Charity raised her eyebrows, meaning to indicate this very meeting she was having with this child.

She giggled again. "You're right. Manga…mango. But a book is hardly a fruit, I wouldn't like to eat it." Such an idea was amusing though. She didn't speak Japanese either, but a few bit's and pieces she'd gotten from reading the books. But that wasn't fluency, even if some people liked to pretend it was.

Charity shook her head. "No. Not all. They're just like any other kind of book. There are some with a lot of action, some with romance, some with comedy, even some with horror!" And just like any other kind of book, there were some that were adult-only, though she wouldn't mention those to him. Besides, neither Charity nor Temperance indulged in those kind. "But…I like the romances. My sister does too, but she is more rough and leans towards the action genre." Which must be why Temperance was always so brazen and uncouth. Charity snickered to herself, bringing her hand up again to cover her mouth.

[Walther Ebersbacher]

She was very flattering. It was nice of her. He briefly had that glimmer of doubt that she was laying it on just a little too thick, but he always had to question that doubt with 'Why? Why would she bother lying to me or putting up some sort of facade? I'm only a twelve year old who isn't really even popular. She has nothing to gain from that sort of... manipulation.' No, he wasn't going to let doubt, and rumors, and reputation do that. Even if the rumors were correct, maybe she was trying to turn over a new leaf /now/. Everyone deserved that chance, /everyone/. It was better than giving them some misguided moral rant that was more presumptuous than anything.

"I guess I never really liked the idea of romance because the plots sort of... end the same way? Or they're just not really good. Maybe I'd read a manga if it was in German, orrrr /maybe/ in English, too." And, of course, if it wasn't a crappy romance one. He'd definitely, /definitely/ prefer something along the lines of adventure, horror, or action. Something suspenseful that left him hanging on to the page, ready to turn it over.

Her sister. He completely forgot to ask about her. It was kind of hard to believe she had a twin that she was taped to most of the time if they didn't really share too much of a personality, from the sound of things. But, if they were going to meet eventually, anyhow, perhaps it would be better, more polite, to save the questions about her for when he actually met her. "I've only read a few comic books, and they were some of the Batman ones from here. They're really good, but some are better than others."

Before he forgot, he segwayed in to a bit of normal conversation, expected. "So, where did you come from before you came to Hammel..? You don't sound really American."

[Deleted]

Charity couldn't claim to not have any ill intent, her reputation was there for a very good reason, but she also could not claim to have any either. Right now, living in this moment, Charity was merely relaxing and enjoying a conversation with someone who seemed interested enough to listen to her talk. And that right there put her into a fine mood. Charity could gab about books, especially comic books, forever. She loved what she loved, after all.

She giggled again at his assessment of romance plots. "I cannot say that isn't so, they do tend to have very similar endings. But…" She shook her head. "The real thrill about it is not how it ends, I think, but how they get there!" It was like that old proverb, something like, It's not the destination that matters, but the journey to get there. There were many different ways to tell the same story. Charity lifted a finger to her lower lip. "I think maybe they do have some translated in German," she said, trying to remember. "But I wouldn't be able to say which ones. I do know that there are all kinds in English." That's when she got an idea. "I could recommend you some, if you'd like?" she offered excitedly. "I promise they're not all romance."

Charity nodded, all smiles. She hadn't read any of the traditional American comics, so she wouldn't be able to give an opinion. Temperance, on the other hand. "Tempy likes those as well. She's obsessed with the Marvel and DC universes. You should hear how she squeals like a pig over "Loki" from the Thor and Avengers movies." That wasn't to say that Charity didn't find him to be drop-dead gorgeous too. She just didn't bounce around like a wallaby over him.

A shake in her head made her thin brown hair fall before her shoulders. "No, I'm not. We're not. We're from Wales, actually." Charity sighed mentally. Politeness dictated that she offer him the same question, though she wasn't really interested in knowing more about him. She'd rather just talk to him about herself. "Where are you from?" she asked with a pleasant smile.

[Walther Ebersbacher]

She raised a very fair point, actually. As far as he was concerned, it didn't really matter if they got to the same exact finish in the adventure. Every time a Greek myth ended in good, it always made a different journey all the way there. Hercules and his trials, Odysseus and his, well, Odyssey. Greek Mythology, comics... They had very similar story-telling devices. And maybe these Manga did, too. He'd have to read them. And maybe, on Charity's advice, he could actually peruse a romance or two, just to say he did.

"That's true. It's not fair to lump them all together if you've never read them before, I guess maybe the genre isn't for me, but I can try." Hah, maybe in forty years he'd be nestled up in front of the TV, watching 'All My Children' while drowning his sorrows in a tub of ice cream. Tastes changed all the time. Before, he couldn't really stand action! At one point he couldn't watch horror movies at all. He was growing up, though. And maybe he had the sophistication for the intricacies of romantic interaction.

"I've never seen the Avengers. It was on the TV, but I didn't really think it sounded that great, so I skipped it." Yet, he watched an obscure Tom Cruise movie, a few obscure Nicolas Cage movies. And they weren't all fantastic, either. There must have been something else on the time that caught his eye more, but off the top of his head, he couldn't recall. "But isn't that what teenage girls do..?" He joked. "Obsess over the good looking men in cinema and on the TV?" No, he didn't really believe that, but it was a worldly stereotype of this generation, and the one just before. No way he could have offended anyone with that.

Luckily for Charity, he wasn't one to really talk about himself. Bragging was really just not in his nature, nor was divulging every bit of his past, the one he didn't really have. "I'm from Stuttgart. Is it nice in Wales..? I've heard, but never been." This was, in fact, his very first 'Travel' experience.

[Deleted]

Charity nodded, all smiles. If she could convert a non-reader into a fan, then she'd done her job for the day. Because really, who in their right mind would prefer a book full of boring words when you could have one full of pictures to accompany them. After all, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Looking at a drawing to know what's going on instantly saved you the time of reading through endless paragraphs of boring descriptions. "Please do!" she exclaimed.

She pondered a moment, thinking of a few good, short series that he could read to get a feel for these stories. It would do no good to get him mixed up in some of the longer ones that were some 20+ volumes long. "Beast Master might be a good pick for you, it's only two books long and has some action in it. But the ones with better stories are usually the longer series, like Fruits Basket, or Hana-Kimi. If you're looking for a darker story with some action and adventure, then I'd suggest Angel Sanctuary or Fairy Cube if you want a bit of fantasy…" Charity stopped herself there with a start. "Sorry, I got carried away there for a moment." She gave a small sheepish giggle.

He hadn't seen the Avengers? Charity wasn't one for those action type movies, but even she thought it was worthwhile. "That is unforgivable! You must see it sometime!" Then she could make him agree with all her opinions on it. His next comment had her blushing, however. "Not all girls do that. I certainly don't," she lied.

This was a boring topic. Charity didn't want to talk about home, she'd lived there all her life, why would she want to talk about a place like that? If she cared so much about it, then she and her sister would have stayed there. Well, they couldn't have stayed anyway, not since they manifested. "It is," she said with a shrug. "I suppose. I grew up there so perhaps that's why I find it less exciting than anyplace else I haven't been."[/b]

[Walther Ebersbacher]

As far as the books were concerned, well, he didn't really know any of those series. Though he assumed she had at least one of those in her pile on top of the table. He did a few comics in his time, but maybe he didn't like the lack of narrative that a lot of them had. They were usually just too disorganized for his tastes. Following them could sometimes be a pain, and with those sorts of stories, miss a little, miss a lot.

"Angel Sanctuary and Fairy Cube don't sound too dark." He replied with a chuckle. He was merely kidding, though. It was always betraying the story, those sorts of names. That, or they somehow tied Angels or Fairies inside of the story by making them a lot more grim, as far as plot elements go. "Well. If you have any of those, could I maybe borrow them? I'd love to have more things to read that aren't the books I've already read lots of times." Or, well, the dry selection of Steinbeck in the library. Of whom, he wasn't a fan. Of Mice and Men was something everyone and their mother read, but he was just not impressed by it, at all.

But, that seemed to be a pretty standard convention. Most of the books they had 'advanced readers' read were really just an excuse to cram boring things in their face and destroy and trace of imagination, while teasing in with assignments that tried to force them to evoke whatever imagination they had left. Writing on set rails about a book had to be something he hated most of all.

"The Avengers will be on TV again some time, if it was a really big hit." Walther figured. "Next time it's on, I promise I'll watch it, so I know what it's all about. And then when you talk about Loki and such, I will understand." Walther hoped that it would be a good movie, and not something that was just cashing in on trends.

[Deleted]

Charity did indeed have at least two of those series in her pile of books that this boy had helped her pick up. However, they were already far into the series. Charity believed that it was better for him to start with volume 1 first and read them in order. After all, it would be terrible to start somewhere in the middle of the story and not know what was going on. But then again, some stories didn't even start getting good until the 3rd or 4th volume anyway, so maybe it would be better to start in the middle.

Charity smiled at his assumption. However a joke it may be, she had to correct his thinking. "Of course their dark. Angel Sanctuary is about a boy who is the reincarnation of a legendary Angel warrior and leads a battle for the demons against the denizens of heaven all while on a search for his beloved sister." It had some pretty adult themes in it, but overall it was exciting. "And Fairy Cube is about a boy who gets his body stolen by a fairy." The author there liked to make male protagonists, despite the stories being intended for young girls.

Did she have any in her pile? She did, but the one for Angel Sanctuary was up to volume 11. Fairy Cube, however, was constrained to only one volume. Charity plucked it out of the stack. "Here you are."

Charity let loose a feminine giggle, clasping her hands in front of her as she rocked back in her sofa-chair. "Yes! That would be lovely! And then you can tell Temperance just how crazy she is for obsessing over that Loki!" Her giggling continued, her cheeks starting to redden from the glee. "Though, truthfully, I much prefer Tony Starke. He is quite the ladies man, you know."

[Walther Ebersbacher]

He knew who that was, there was enough merchandise and hype around him alone that you didn't have to see the Avengers. Luckily, though, he /had/ seen Iron Man at some point or another. "Ahh, Tony Stark, yes... The one who is played byyyy Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man." curtly, Walther nodded again. "I guess I don't really get Iron Man... He's not really a superhero." It was a little hypocritical, Walther really liked what he did read of Batman.

"If he didn't have that money, or if all of his things were destroyed, what would happen to him, then? He would have that thing in his chest, but nothing else..." That was the issue with rich heroes, there was a lot of suspension of disbelief. "And not only that, doesn't everyone know who he is..? That's like... the first rule of being a superhero." Smirking, he accepted the book he was given, opening it up.

The art style seemed really familiar to the others in the stack that he'd peeked at. Maybe they all happened to be the same author, or they were all in just some similar archetype. He flipped through a little bit of it, though. And he was really lucky it was in English.

"You know, with the expressions and things you can see in the Author's image, these graphical books are really nice..." That was probably why Charity read all of these to begin with. Yeah, he thought that about Batman, but that was also because Batman had a good /plot/ he was invested in. After a few moments of silence, and a few more page flips, Walther looked over at her.

"Do you mind if I borrow this for a night..? I'll have some good reading material when I go to bed."

[Deleted]

"I suppose not, but I think that's what I like about him so much. He isn't like your standard superheroes that were born with or mutated into superpowers. He made them himself! That was the kind of drive that a lot of the other superheroes lacked. Tony, on the other hand, had enough confidence in himself to make himself a superhero with his own intelligence. And money, but that was beside the point.

Charity shrugged. "Well, not all the time. People knew who the Fantastic Four were too, at least in the movie. I admit, I haven't read the comics for that one, so I could be wrong." She was really enjoying this conversation a lot more now that it was entirely focused on topics that didn't surround her home life or her sister. Charity smiled, her cheeks pink and round, also verily pleased that he seemed to have taken a liking to the book she'd given him.

Charity continued to brighten, though quickly held herself back so as to not appear childish. "Of course you may borrow it! And then, next we meet, we'll have something more to talk about."

Speaking of, it was nearing the end of the hour, and Charity could sense her counterpart's approach. "Ah. My sister, Temperance is coming. I suppose I'd best be going soon." That was a shame.