Recluse (Tomer)

[Deleted]

Ever since that little run-in with George, Kodi had been... Quieter.  More reclusive.  He was so worried about bumping into her again and sparking another near-death fury that he was trying to avoid busy halls, busy places, just... Anywhere where she might be.  While that meant he was spending a good portion of his time in his room, it also would come as little surprise that he retreating to one of his favorite places - the library - in order to keep away from the crowds.

Because who else would be browsing the non-fiction area of the library for anything other than a school project other than him?

He was actually browsing the language section in an effort to find some self-teaching Korean language stuff.  Kodi wanted to surprise Gryph with his attempts, and was somewhat confident that he would be able to pick up a new language on his own fairly easily (despite how bad he did in classes, the Chinese boy was quite smart - he just didn't try on things he didn't care about).

He didn't really expect anyone to bother him, so Kodi had actually accumulated a decent-sized pile of books in his arms by the time he found the section he was looking for.  He didn't realize the pile was getting lopsided and would probably collapse at any moment.

[Tomer Berelowitz]

As nerdy as Kodiak wanted to believe he was, there was a kid also in the non-fic section who could probably give him lessons. Tomer was also in the language section, looking for a Hebrew dictionary to refresh him on some of the finer vocabulary points. Sure, he could look stuff up online, but it was hard to look up a word when you weren't sure how it was spelled. And Tomer just liked books. He hadn't been going to Temple as often as he ought, with Uncle Josh. He felt bad about it, but all those strangers made him feel uncomfortable and the last thing he wanted to do was vomit during service.

He'd just about chosen which book, finger on the top of a spine, when a pile of books sort of... came at him. He'd been aware of another person in the stacks near him, but hadn't paid much attention. With this being Hammel, he couldn't be completely sure it wasn't some meta who had a book stacking power or that person, but either way, Tomer was used to having bad luck come and remind him of his duties as a connoisseur of irony.

Unable to turn his head (his neck brace was shorter but still rose above his collar and was noticeable), and not all that steady on his feet (granted, they didn't bend all that much and one of his hands had not been holding a crutch), Tomer toppled over, books raining down on top of him. He made more noise than usual; his crutches fell too, and the braces made the books make sharp sounds (as well as made him make sharp sounds when he landed). The impact was one of the heaviest ones he'd had outside of training, and his legs went numb to the thigh and his hands to his elbows. Great. He'd have to release or he'd be as mobile as a gingerbread man.

When he caught his breath, he looked around for the owner of the books, if there was one. Ah. There was. Feeling a blush creep to his cheeks, he said, weakly, "Hi. Uh. I... Sorry I was in your way..."

[Deleted]

Kodi was pretty well-known for causing chaos and disruption wherever he went. Most of it was purposeful (not as much recently as it had been in the past), but some of it not so much. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), this was an instance that the dentokinetic had not meant to have happen at all, so his response was... Slow.

He hadn't realized how close his stack was to falling over, so Kodi yelped slightly as they suddenly tumbled, trying to clutch onto as many as he could before they got damaged, but it was too late for some. He didn't know there was an actual person being toppled over from said books until Kodi heard the strange clattering and noticed the splayed limbs. "Ah, what the fuck...?" he asked, bewildered as he bent down to figure out what was going on.

As soon as he noticed the neck brace and the crutches... Kodi's heart fell. Maybe it was because he was getting soft lately, or maybe because a younger kid hanging out in the library reminded him of himself when he was younger, but the normally snarky teenager felt a pang of sympathy and.... Guilt, for what had happened.

"Don't apologize, kid," he mumbled, quickly bending down to pull the load of books off of the younger boy as fast as he could. "Wasn't... Your fault..." Being nice wasn't in Kodi's nature, except with Gryph, so his words came out awkward and strained. "Are... You okay?" He sure as hell didn't look okay, but Kodi didn't know. "I didn't give ya a concussion or anythin', did I?" He hovered around the boy's prone figure, unsure of how else to help.