I'd like a word, please! {Eli}

[Tatiana Nikitin]

There was no need for her to be nervous. After all, it wouldn't be a problem if he said no. Not that she had seen any other library assistants floating around, but then again she only recently decided to stop holing herself up in her room. So for all she knew, there could be a dozen assistants here and there, but this was her time to take a chance. Of course, her hand trembling as she knocked on the door to Eli's office was nothing that needed to have any attention paid to, and in fact she would even try to cover this by practicing her smile.

Everything is always put forth in a first impression. Whether or not someone likes you can all depend on how you presented yourself to them the very first time you met them. Tia is always a candidate for first impressions. She tries her hardest to make the best one the first time, so there isn't a need to redeem herself. So dressing herself up for something that wouldn't even be thought of as an interview was definitely not out of the question. The first thing that would be noticed is the black skirt. It had about five layers to it, swishing and swaying every time she walked. The cream colored blouse wasn't particularly noticeable unless the navy blue blazer was taken off. Open-toed, black high-heels helped her outfit match, and made her seem presentable.

But it wasn't just the outfit. Dark brown hair was hanging loosely on her shoulders and down her back, having spent enough time putting it up and taking it down to decide that this was the best way to wear it. She didn't add any additional make-up, as she found her face to be pretty flawless without it, though a light covering of eyeliner could be noticed if looked directly at her. A matching navy blue beret sat nicely on her head, sort of hanging off the side. She had always envied those females in France that always got to wear the latest trends, and berets were one of them. So she had her father buy her whatever he could find at the local thrift store. He came home with an entire box full, and only had to be twenty bucks! She always felt that was a steal.

Not entirely sure how long she had been standing there, or if he had even heard the knock, she proceeded to knock once more. This had turned out to be a good idea, as she now noticed that a thread on the black glove she was wearing on her left hand was starting to unravel, worry now increasing inside of her. Quickly tugging at the end, she'd break off enough so that it wouldn't hang out unnecessarily, unraveling the entire thing. This also meant that once she talked to Eli, she would have to run back to her room and change gloves. If she wasn't so desperate in wanting to talk to him, she would run back quickly to change. However, she didn't feel like playing ding-dong-ditch at the moment, and she felt it wouldn't help her chances at getting the position she was inquiring for.

So instead, she leaned her head forward, resting it against the door, and closing her eyes. In all honesty, she didn't even understand why she was deciding to make herself more known around the school. Her life had been completely fine as it was before, though she had found herself to be a bit lonely. Studying was alright, especially if she wanted to be a psychiatrist, but how far would you get if you didn't make friends with others along the way? That's at least the point her father had made to her about a month ago. Sighing softly, she'd move out of the doorway, sliding down the wall to sit down as she waited. "What am I setting myself up for?

[Eli Morrison]

It wasn't often that Eli sat in his office with the door closed. In fact, if his office door was closed, and there wasn't a drill going on, it was almost certain that he was somewhere else.

It was an intentional habit of his. Since he was being paid--and quite handsomely too, if he was a union teacher he would have reached tenure a while ago--to be a resource for the students and staff of the school, he wanted to be able to be reached. So he forced himself out of the safe, comfortable cave he loved and into the library. Which, in all honesty, he loved as well. But there were also a lot more people out there, and he didn't particularly like most of them.

But he also had his responsibilities, which was why he wasn't in his office on this particular day. At the moment, he was pushing a large cart of books around the upper level of the library, returning reference books to their proper places. This was the part of his job that he disliked, where he had to go through the books and put them back on the shelves, and fix any out-of-order books. To him, it appeared that the majority of students who took the initiative to return their own books to the shelves must be unable to count, as they couldn't seem to get the numbers in order. The numbers that were on the spines of the books, clearly labeled.

Given enough time and the want to actually do so, Eli could list every book in the library by author and title, and in the order they were supposed to be in on the shelves. Even discounting the ones that were taken out, he knew that there was a solid 10% of books in the wrong place. (He frequently silently thanked all the Gods he didn't particularly believe in that he didn't have OCD like James, or he would be shelf-reading all day.)

Once his cart was empty, he carefully parked it back by the reading tables and made his way down the main staircase of the library to the first level, where his office was.

And, apparently, where someone was waiting for him. Oops.

"Sorry about that, Tatiana." Eli didn't really know her, but he knew everyone in the school by sight. "I was working upstairs. Do you need something?"

The tall man stuck his hands in his pockets. He didn't look like a librarian. At best, he was able to pull off "grad student" and a lazy one at that. He wore brown corduroy pants and a green teeshirt, and beat-up sneakers that he was going to have to replace sometime before the snow started, because holes were wearing through the soles. (Midori kept bugging him about finding more appropriate clothing, and he was going to listen to her, eventually.) If there was ever a librarian in need of some assistance, he was it.



((Sorry it's a bit short. I'll try to match from here on out, but I just got back home, and I figured you'd prefer any post to no post.))