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Post by Linyü on Sept 26, 2020 21:37:34 GMT -6
The two of them made their way into the library. It was certainly a bustling place; that, more than the scale, was what surprised Seveth about the interior. The libraries he had known... Well, the difference was that those had been privately owned, so of course there wouldn't be crowds, and each one reflected its owner's tastes rather than that of an architect or the needs of practicality.
But he didn't have much time to gape. Tvisha led him further in at a brisk pace. He wondered at this a little, but then, she had already volunteered that she didn't read. Maybe she didn't want to loiter in case someone tried to help them find what they were looking for.
When they arrived at the lecture hall, another Draconic was already standing in front of it. "Oh, are you here to listen too?" Seveth said, smiling at the pale Draconic.
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Post by Silver on Sept 27, 2020 0:19:54 GMT -6
How could this have happened? He was usually so diligent! If only he hadn't gotten so distracted, maybe he would have been able to figure this out earlier and it all would have worked out. For now, he supposed that he just had to admit defeat. On the bright side, he did have a lot of time to prepare for next time. In situations like this, he always tried to consider the positives.
Zarkun visibly jumped when he heard someone speak to him. His eyes grew wide and he gestured to himself as if to ask 'who me?' before finally replying. "Oh! This is, uh," he glanced at the sign behind him, and used his tail to cover it discreetly. "I was supposed to be giving a lecture today, but there might have been a mix-up because nobody else came..." Well, that was mostly the truth anyway. Somewhere, something had gotten mixed up, he was just reluctant to admit to a stranger that it was actually his own fault.
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Post by Linyü on Sept 27, 2020 1:49:29 GMT -6
"Oh, you were the lecturer? My bad!" Seveth laughed, hoping that this would prompt the Draconic to laugh with him, rather than tear him a new one for not recognizing him - not that he saw anything on the Draconic himself to indicate his status, but maybe he just didn't know what to look for. He was, after all, from out of town.
Tvisha inclined her head. "Is the lecture cancelled then?" she asked.
"We can come back later, if it's being postponed. Or tomorrow, even. Ah, wait, do you have plans?" Seveth wasn't really a good host; it was too easy to fall into the habit of thinking of these Draconics as being just like Ichaival, and Ichaival had never really been one to tell him no.
Tvisha didn't immediately answer his question though, probably because she was waiting to see what the feathery Draconic had to say about today's lecture.
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Post by Silver on Sept 27, 2020 4:30:26 GMT -6
"That's alright," Zakrun said. "It's just one of those days, you know?" That was one of those things humans said, right? He hoped he got it right.
Was the lecture cancelled? Zarkun wasn't sure. That's what the sign said, but he was reluctant to admit defeat. There were at least two individuals interested in hearing the lecture, so maybe there were more, too. He took a quick glance around the library and eventually said, "I'm not sure. If there are people who still want to hear it, I'm happy to teach, but..." Then he gave a pointed look to the empty room behind him.
Zarkun always planned ahead because, frankly, he was bad at thinking on the spot. He had no idea what to do now. If nobody had shown up at all, that would have been fine, but that's not what happened. Did he do the entire lecture just for these two? Well, that could be kind of fun. He could also postpone it until later to see if anyone else would come, but then these two would have to wait...
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Post by Linyü on Sept 27, 2020 13:31:42 GMT -6
Seveth nodded understandingly at the feathered Draconic's words. "Things just aren't going your way, huh?" he said, not unsympathetically. He peered inside the room when the Draconic gestured to it, and sure enough, it was completely empty.
"Hmm," he said.
Tvisha glanced at him. She didn't know him well enough to guess what he was thinking, and there was something - he wouldn't have called it apprehension, but it was definitely the look of someone who didn't know what was about to happen, and hoped it wouldn't be too... what? Awkward? Mortifying? Outlandish?
Well, maybe she would be disappointed by his proposal then. But there was one glum face in need of cheering up, and Seveth was here, wasn't he? "What's your topic? And your name? We can just drop a quick announcement out front, and see if we can't get some library-goers interested," Seveth said, flashing them both an easy smile.
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Post by Silver on Sept 28, 2020 6:07:14 GMT -6
Zarkun was pleased that he didn't have to add 'messed up human figures of speech again' to his list of things he was annoyed about. He sighed and nodded, not sure what else to say. He was still stuck on the problem of what to do about his lecture. Left to his own devices, he might have made a decision eventually, but it looked like he didn't have to.
He was so flattered by the offer that he didn't know what to say at first. It seemed like such a well-reasoned plan that he was surprised he hadn't managed to come up with it himself. "Well, my name is Zarkun, oh, and nice to meet you, and my lecture was going to be about magical crystals," he said.
He supposed he was still up to giving the lecture on crystals if others were interested in hearing it. It was really sweet that this guy and the Draconic with him were interested enough to make such an effort to hear it. It made him feel proud, in a weird way.
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Post by Linyü on Sept 28, 2020 23:17:16 GMT -6
"Leave it to me then," said Seveth, grinning and thumping his chest. The gesture might have looked better if he wasn't so scrawny - and shorter now, though mostly it was still the scrawniness. Still, maybe dragons didn't know the difference. He sure hadn't seen too many non-dragons in these parts.
Armed with the information Zarkun had given him, Seveth made his way back to the main hall of the library. Clearing his throat, he made a hand sign on the sly, and a three-note bell tone rang out through the space.
"Attention, library-goers!" Many of the dragons had fallen silent and looked up at the bells, and now they focused their attention on Seveth, who did his best to show them a confident smile. "The library is conducting a flash lecture from Zarkun on the properties of magical crystals! You won't want to miss it! Come to the lecture hall in thirty minutes!" He hoped that was enough time - and that it wasn't too much. He hadn't really asked Tvisha whether she had other plans later.
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Post by Silver on Sept 29, 2020 7:10:01 GMT -6
Everything happened so fast that Zarkun wasn't sure what to do next. The guy ran off and somehow got the attention of the entire library. He had to admit that he was rather impressed. Even if he could have done it himself, he never would have considered it.
Now, what was he supposed to do? He looked at the Makiyan standing there and wondered if she was expecting him to say something. He smiled sheepishly and said, "I'm going to go get my things together, for the class. You can come and sit in the room until it starts if you like. Uh, you could also go get some tea at the cafe," he gestured to it. "I recommend it, it's very lovely..."
There wasn't much else to say, so he just nodded respectfully and walked past her into the room. He quickly swept up all of his papers up into a neat pile and anxiously fidgeted with them. A few minutes ago he was really certain about his topic, but now he was flustered and unsure.
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Post by Linyü on Sept 29, 2020 18:10:37 GMT -6
"Do you do this all the time?" Tvisha said, as Seveth sauntered back to them with a satisfied smile. He had gotten a downright evil look from some Draconics that he assumed were library staff, but the rest of the crowd seemed more or less intrigued, which was as much as he could hope for on such short notice. The turnout might not be spectacular, but it had to be better than an empty room.
Seveth shrugged, hands spread. "I'm a man of many talents," he said. At Zarkun's words, he gave a little salute. "Sounds like a plan. Does the cafe here serve human-sized pastries, or am I going to have to split with someone?" He figured it was best to stay out of Zarkun's way now, since the feathered Draconic looked positively nervous, and Seveth didn't really know the guy well enough to be giving him any pep talks.
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Post by Silver on Sept 29, 2020 18:29:24 GMT -6
Zarkun had to wonder: was this particular human a bit strange, or were they all like this? He didn't know enough of them to form a solid opinion either way. Whatever the case, he was grateful for the help. Perhaps he would offer to buy them a bowl of tea later to thank them. He really hoped they would enjoy the lecture after all of the efforts they put into helping him get it started.
Thirty minutes came and passed all too quickly as he did the final reshuffle of his paperwork and watched the room slowly gather more students. He beamed, feeling rather confident in his skills for once. This was where he felt like he belonged, in front of eager students. He visually confirmed that the human and his Draconic friend were in place before commencing the lecture.
"Good mo... afternoon, students. I am Zarkun, and this is my class on magical crystals..."
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Post by Linyü on Sept 29, 2020 19:20:36 GMT -6
The bakery did not in fact have any human-sized baked goods. To be fair, Seveth also didn't see any humans aside from himself in the entire library establishment. He ended up ordering one anyway, and Tvisha humored him by eating most of it, once he had had as much of it as he could stand. He could have ordered a smaller one, but the one he got had looked so tasty...
When the thirty minutes were almost up, they made their way to the lecture hall to see what Zarkun had in store for them.
They picked a seat nearer the back, though a few heads turned their way as they entered, and Seveth, having been the highly visible figure that had garnered them this turnout, smiled and waved. A couple of the Draconics even waved back.
And then Zarkun began, and everyone fell silent, ready to listen to his lecture presentation.
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