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[In the foyer of one of the common houses, what was once an empty room is now a sea of books, stacked halfway to the ceiling and higher, covering virtually every inch of the ground save a few skinny walkways, barely big enough for most to get through. Among the towering volumes, there a small, almost echoing manic giggle as a figure darts with ease and grace through the miniscule pathways. She twirls in one of the intersections, looking over the stalks of hardcovers and paperbacks.]

Comments

[riderpedia]

[There are other footsteps among the books. She should make note of that. She's not alone in here.]

[not_so_paper_thin]

[Yomiko is clutching an original copy of (ironically) The Adventures of Philip, signed by its author William Makepeace Thackeray to her chest. She looks ecstatic, her face flushed deeply. She's panting and doesn't even notice when she crashes straight into Phillip.]

[riderpedia]

[And Philip falls flat on his ass. The boy is practically a leaf.]

Oof...

[not_so_paper_thin]

[Yomiko falls forward. For a brief second, it looks like they're going to have that Shoujo pile-on moment where the girl falls on top of the boy... and then Yomiko does a hard spin to the right, hitting the floor hard on her back as she protects the first edition from harm.]

[riderpedia]

[Philip watches all of this and holy crap she did that protect the book. Color him impressed. He gets up and offers a hand to help her up.]

[not_so_paper_thin]

[Yomiko exhales a few times and opens her eyes.]

Ah... [She extends a hand. Her hair is messier than his own and her glasses are more than slightly askew.] Thanks.

[riderpedia]

[Philip helps her up and nods.]

Are you all right? You went down pretty hard to save the book.

[not_so_paper_thin]

Ahh, I've taken much worse.

People can heal, but books can't.

[riderpedia]

Well said.

[Just going to adjust her glasses for her since she's clearly not going to do it herself. Not like Philip knows what personal space is anyway.]

[not_so_paper_thin]

[Her hand moves like lightning. He hears the woosh after her hand has already snapped around his wrist, holding him back, a mere inch from the black frames.]

[not_so_paper_thin]

...AH!

[She lets go and backs off, straightening them.]

Sorry for that, but please don't touch these.

[riderpedia]

[Okay that caught him a little off guard, but that's not the weirdest thing he's ever seen a person do.]

My apologies. Old habits are hard to break.

[not_so_paper_thin]

It's fine. These just belonged to someone very special to me. I'm a bit weird about people touching them.

[riderpedia]

Ah... Very understandable. My partner can be that way about his hats.

[not_so_paper_thin]

Still, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that.

[riderpedia]

It's quite all right. We all have odd habits.

[not_so_paper_thin]

[Yomiko nods and smiles, looking at the Thackeray in her hands. A blush comes across her face as well as an enormous smile. She sets it gently down on a table and gets to work picking up the few books that got knocked over.]

[riderpedia]

[Philip helps clean up the books, then checks to see if his own took any damage... No, it's a little worn but nothing from this encounter.]

[not_so_paper_thin]

[Yomiko smiles.]

... ... ...

[And then is immediately distracted by a 19th Century René Descartes reprint.]