Cramming before a test

[Rip]

Lee was always good at school because she was smart, but not the smart learned from a book. While some kids studied the chemistry notes, she was busy writing up cheat sheets and sewing secret little pouches in her sleeves to hide them. It required a different kind of intelligence- something she was born with and something Paletown learned later on. It was easy to slide through high school. College was different. College required actual work. Actual studying. It was stupid and boring. She hated it.

The pale, flexible girl sat in the local library, a big building with a fireplace. She relaxed and fidgeted in the chair, crossing and uncrossing her legs. Nimble fingers flipped through the pages of an ironic chemistry text book. The short but graceful Lee Penscript had taken the coarse because she assumed there’d be things to blow up, and that was always fun. The title had been misleading. She didn’t give a shit about molecular bonding or amino acids. The only acids worth caring about where the ones that MADE THINGS SIZZLE AND MELT. Not this ORANGY shit that smelled like rotten eggs. Then there was the journalism course. There were a lot of deadlines, but she was pretty good at weaseling stories out of people. The short but graceful brunette was a remarkable liar. Still, that got pretty old pretty fast. The local paper would have fired her by now if it weren’t for the last minute explosive stories she managed to pull off.

Around the room moved people. People, people. She loved and hated them. Right now she wished they would amuse her in some obscure way. Amber eyes watched a young couple walk by. The girl was pretty. Lee wondered how the boy would react if she was suddenly ignited. The girlfriend started petting his face, drawing her fingertips over his lips. Lee wondered how she’d react if the boy bit them off.

Grinning now, she circled the corner of her mouth with her pinkie, watching with a curious, knowing glance and let her imagination run wild. The couple noticed and the girl gave a scowl at having her public display of affect observed. She held up the middle finger. Lee stuck her tongue through two of her fingers shaped like a V.

When they were gone she grew bored again. The chemistry notes suddenly read in a different language, maybe German or something. That was interesting. It was also annoying. Her eyes trailed along the floor until they reached the fire place. It was cold and empty. What a sad, sad sight. Her hand slipped into her pocket and pulled out a patch of matches. They were the older style, almost cardboard. You needed to press your finger almost completely against it to light the end. Lee liked them better then stick matches- these ones were closer to the fire. When the dancing, little flame thrashed at the end, Lee wondered if textbook pages burned differently then normal book pages. She decided to test the theory.

Slower, it burned slower. She wondered how an isle of books would burn.

She decided to give it a try.

[Obelisk]

John's days off just made the man realize that when he wasn't working, he really didn't know what to do with himself. There was always the open invitation to playing basketball with the other guys who had off, but John was starting to feel the wear and tear of time and a physically demanding life. Not that the agent had ever complained. John hid every indication that his body was growing older because, yes, he was insecure about ageing. Once he'd been the new guy, young and ready to impress, now he was the experienced agent, the old one who got annoyed with the new guys.

His right knee was bugging him but John was a restless sort of man. He couldn't just stay home and do nothing. The guy liked to be out and about, liked to feel connected and like part of the city. John had been considering taking the chance and going to the court to shoot some hoops, but he decided against it. Basketball wasn't really his game anyway. John liked baseball.

That lead him to thinking about what he should do with himself. With his knee creaking and his lower back aching, John thought maybe he should pick a quiet way to pass the day. That train of thought had eventually lead him to think of visiting the library. It had been some time since he had last been there and some time since he'd last read a book. He wondered why it there'd been such a long dry spell, he liked reading, maybe he was too busy with work.

Eventually the man, dressed in plain clothing -- jeans, sneakers, a loose fitting shirt-- made his way to the library where he browsed the non-fiction section. He was reading over a random page in a book called "The Fires of War" when his nostrils twitched. Funny, that kind of smelled like...

Brows furrowed and John looked around. He smelled smoke and not the acrid kind from cigars or cigarettes. This was different. He placed the book absently aside and followed his sense of smell and was eventually greeted with the sight of smoke. That sent alarm bells ringing. John rushed to the source and his jaw dropped as he saw books burning on the table. Then his wide eyes moved to the bookshelves where flames started to catch and devour at the dry fuel.

What.The.Hell.

Being the heroic, I want to help, sort of guy, John didn't even consider running. Well, not running outside and away. He did run, however, to find a fire extinguisher and was back in a flash, doing his best to douse out the flames.

This wasn't his idea of an easy day out.

[Rip]

People were so interesting when a small bit of hell broke loose. Just one little change in the daily routine sent them scattering. A teeny tiny bit of danger made them wish they lived in a bubble. It was hilarious in the saddest sort of way.

The girl was back on the chair, looking pleased and oddly calm as she resumed reading her charred chemistry textbook. Behind her burned isles of books and she didn't even flinch- didn't even notice. She might have forgotten she lit over a hundred peices of literature on fire just two minutes ago from the way she was acting. The alarm screamed, she went on as if she never heard it. Only when she heard the cold blasting sound of foam did she look over her shoulder. The expression was thoughtful at first and then annoyed.

Lee swung her legs over the chair and stood, arching her back to crack it. The release was wonderful, and she wandered lazily, a sort of graceful clumbsiness in her stride, towards mr. hero. He looked like Jesus, the girl mused in her head, holding her hands against the small of her back. Clutched loosely in her fingers was the pack of matches, cradled innocently against her palms. She extended her neck, poking out from behind him, watching the smoldering smoke hiss and coil out from ashy paper.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" No urgency in her voice, no shock, no fear. Lee just decided to talk really LOUD. "YOU LOOK LIKE JESUS. STOP FOAMING ON THE BOOKS, JESUS."

[Obelisk]

John had just finished dousing the flames out when Lee's voice startled him, causing him to jump. His brown eyes were on the young woman and he blinked owlishly. Did she just tell him to stop "foaming?" He wasn't foaming he was... well. Okay, he was foaming but John had only just figure out what she was talking about.

" But.... I had to put the fire out." John defended, trying his hardest not to look at Lee as if she was completely and utterly strange. His expression succeeded in only looking hopelessly confused. Young people these days, really. Was it really necessary to talk loudly enough to blow out an eardrum? Really, what had her parent's taught her? No manners at all, that was just wrong and... oh god, he was thinking like an OLD person again.

He set the fire extinguisher on the floor before turning his attention back to the student.

"You know, you should probably leave. This smoke can't be healthy." It was then his eyes caught sight of the matches in her hand. It had to be a coincidence. There was no way that someone would stick around after trying to light the library on fire, that didn't make sense.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Um, you wouldn't happen to have seen what happened...how this fire got started?" John asked and his voice was kind and friendly. It was hard, if not impossible, to shake his policeman instincts, though.

[Rip]

Oh god this was amazing. So very rarely did she come in contact with this type of person that Lee gawked at John as if he were some pressumably extinct type of giant sloth. Not only that, but he was a giant sloth reading an ipod helpers manual while cooking omletes on a side walk during a hot summer day. No. Strike hot summer day. Cooking omletes on the side walk during a blizzard. Yes, that was much more accurate.

WHAT A NICE GUY! He's probably a cop. Nice cops- what the fuck?

She almost felt bad. Almost. Sorta. Ok the conscience, if it was going to come, would come later. Right now she just looked innocent and crocked her head to the side, backing up half a step until she was right up against the isel of books behind her.

"Could you describe what the fire looked like? I might be able to identify it." She struck the match against the striker behind her back as she was talking, so the sound would be drowned out. Very carefully, she held it against one of the books. "I'm just kidding with you man, I know what they look like. HEY you ARE Jesus, aren't you? Saving people from their sins and all that. I guess that makes all that foam holy foam, am I right? Of course I am." She felt a growing heat behind her. Lee stepped aside. "HEY did that fire look like this? BEcuase if it did I have no idea what happened and have no idea why you would think I'd know." Deciding that it would probably be a bad idea to stay around at the present time, especally since she was talking to a might-be-policeman, Lee turned to run. She made half way down the hall before she tripped over herself and flew on her face, spouting curse words and condeming the world and every slimey little fucker who lived in it.

[Obelisk]

John was staring at Lee, well trying to, she made him nervous and he couldn't quite place why. Lee seemed so happy and friendly and that put John on edge, as if there was something off. Describe the fire? Okay. He was about to do just that, a bit skeptically, but he was about to bite. Until Lee said she was only joking, to which John gave a grin. His thoughts and expressions were hopping all over the place and the second she moved to reveal the fire smoldering behind her, John grabbed the extinguisher and rushed forward.

Quickly, but not before throwing a look over his shoulder to see where Lee ran, he put out the fire. Once he was sure there was no threat of it catching and gaining life again, the SWAT officer was running through the library. He knocked into a woman, sent her flying to her ass and babbled out a million apologies all while keeping pace.

His knee was starting to hurt, but John ignored it. He wasn't old. Nope. His knee was just a bit sore, perfectly normal, even though it had been consistently sore for about three months. He slid down the hall to a stop when he noticed Lee flat on the ground.

John stood in front of her, big arms crossed over his chest, and stared down in the most disapproving stare he could manage. Tapping his foot, he waited for her to look up before speaking.

"You know, arson is a crime." He said deadpanned. Still, the evidence was only circumstantial. " Are you sure you don't know anything about the fire?" John's brown eyes were watching her expectantly. Days off never really were days off, especially for John, especially when young people were involved.

[Rip]

Yes, she was aware that liting the library on fire was bad. Yes, she was aware that legal action could be taken against her if she happened to get caught, which it looked like was going to happen very shortly unless she did something. Unlike her lanky, new yorker friend, Lee did not have any intention of getting arrested. The girl looked up at the man standing infront of her and smiled like a kitten who just ate the canary. Well, shit.

"Ok, ok, I admit it. I know what happened..." she looked about to finish, drawing a deep, sighing breath, maybe even close to tears...

When she reached up and tried to yank down the SWAT agent's pants. Regaurdless if she suceeded or not (that would depend on how tight a belt he was wearing), the girl with the messy hair tried to roll to the side and dash out the door, crackling wildly. As long as nothing happened to prevent her amazing plan of escape from working, Lee Penscript would make it three feet from the exit before colliding with a tall, lanky looking boy, and meeting face first into the carpet. Again.

The boy looked more happy then hurt and was grinning, reaching over quickly to the dizzy brunette and rushing his hands through her hair. Lee did not approve and protested loudly, punching him in the shoulder, but the noggie had subsided her plans of diving into a sewer to escape the local law enforcement, so she just sat there angerily and crossed her arms, pouting like a punished five year old.

Paletown, who was shirtless but wearing overly baggy pants that exposed plenty of his red and black checkered boxers, stood up and squinted. Hey, that guy over there looked familar. OH YEAH!

"HEY ROBOCOP!"

[Obelisk]

There must've been something in the water, something pregnant mother's drank that messed with their fetus and made them insane. Something recent. Something in the newer generations because John honestly hadn't met a normal younger person in ages. Maybe the definition of normal had changed and if it had, John would petition to go back to the former. He was about to chase after Lee but the girl really didn't seem to have any luck, and that made John the lucky one.

Brown eyes widened and the SWAT officer gaped. There wasn't much that could surprise and shock a jaded and experienced agent, but Pale was one of them. Pale was a bizarre, unexplainable force of nature. Pale was the teen who had made that bomb threat, who led John on a wacky and wild goose chase. Pale was the one who had broken into his apartment to give back the wallet he had stolen. Pale was the one who took him out to that strip club where so many weird things had happened to him. Pale deserved to be smacked and yelled at and...

"Pale!" John was absolutely beaming, his voice warm and friendly and just hello-good-to-see-you. If Pale wasn't quick enough he'd be forced into a gigantic bear hug. John came from a physical family, hugs, noogies, all that junk. Pale had put him through some of the strangest episodes in his long life, but for some reason, John had a fondness for the guy. That was John for you, though, liking and caring about just about everyone who he had ever met. Some more than others, though, of course.

"Wait.... you to KNOW each other?" The shock of the realization was clear on the agents face. They must've had a club or an allegiance of social non-conformists. Or something. " I should've known."