The second floor of the library begins with a wide landing that temporarily interrupts the great spiral staircase. The floor is dark mahogany that might look beautiful again if restored. Unlike downstairs, this floor is divided into several, symmetrical rooms, the doors to which are arrayed in a circle surrounding the landing. Each door is solid, dark stained wood with an insert of frosted glass. Each door is labeled with various Dewey Decimal Classifications in black lettering painted across the center of the glass.
Compact is the word for him: wiry, maybe 5'6" in his beat-up black combat boots, with a sense of compressed energy and imminence like a coiled spring -- or a cocked gun. Never quite still for long, balance flowing through the balls of his feet. There's a striking intensity to his narrow blue-green eyes, the colour contrasting with his fair skin and spiky copper hair; just below the left is what at first appears to be a faint mole, but closer inspection reveals as a small, long-healed scar. His features are appealing, with high cheekbones and a good jawline, but it's the confident mien and roguish smile that most often seem to draw people in.
He's in a well-worn biker jacket of the traditional sort, all fairly closely fit black leather and silvery zippers and snaps. Beneath it, he's got old black jeans with a rip in one knee and the cuffs half walked off, with a faded black band t-shirt ('Anarchy Burger - Hold the Government', parodying the In-N-Out sign) under an open dark red hawaiian shirt. There's a couple leather-and-bead bracelets on one wrist and a length of ball-chain disappearing beneath his collar; his nails were apparently painted black some time ago, since they're starting to show chips. Late teens, most likely, and when he speaks it's in a mellifluous, southern-accented baritone voice.
Thick honey-blonde hair, styled in a poofy set of curls, rings this pretty blue-eyed young woman's head. She's in her late teens, and her hair's currently left down, though it's occasionally pinned up. She stands about five and a half feet tall, and is a little on the thin side of things, though not to an extreme. She dresses mostly in informal styles, from ripped jeans and tank tops to the occasional sundress.
Currently, she wears the former, her black tank top emblazoned with a large sequined red heart, and her jeans so ripped as to be nearly indecent. About half of the heart's sequins are missing. Her feet are clad in red strappy lightly-heeled sandals that have seen better days. She wears little in the way of jewelry, just a black wooden bracelet, a stainless steel and rhinestone mood ring, and (probably fake) gold earrings. When she speaks, a fairly thick Southern accent is evident.
It's Sometime After Dark, and there's the smell of some sort of lemon cleaner, a strong scent probably due either to it being off-brand, or overused. Lilah's got an old rag in one hand, and is scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees. Why she chose not to mop is anyone's guess, but about half the floor seems to have been taken care of, so far. Occasionally, she pauses and wets the rag just a bit with the cleaner, then gets back to the task at hand. Although the floor looks 'clean,' one section has some crumbs spread over it, no doubt intentionally.
It's not =too= late, really, when Felix arrives. He's humming to himself (Breakfast at Tiffany's, for some reason) and looks quite cheerful, if slightly laden with Things. He's got a couple plastic shopping bags, and a bunch of flowers; they look like they were mostly picked from places they were growing, although a few may have been stolen from some arrangement somewhere. He stops when he steps inside, taking in the scent and looking at the condition of the floor. "Well, you been pretty busy today, huh?"
Lilah recaps the cleaner and moves to stand when she hears him coming up the steps, setting both it and the cleaner on the desk. She brushes her hands off on her jeans, and then walks over toward him a bit more, nodding her head. "Looks like you been, too," she says, with a jerk of her chin at the shopping bags. "You need any help with that?"
"Nope!" Felix says brightly, giving her a grin, "...well. I reckon maybe I could use a bit of a hand with these, maybe." He offers her the flowers, and steals a quick kiss if she doesn't avoid it. "You have an okay day?"
That grin's pretty damn infectious, and Lilah smiles softly back at him before accepting the flowers. She leans in to kiss him right about when he leans in, so that works out nicely. She takes a deep breath of the flowers, closing her eyes, and her smile brightens. "Yeah, it was a'right. How was yours?" She starts looking for something to put the flowers in.
Felix pulls her in for a somewhat less quick kiss to follow the first one, rubbing the back of her neck, and then lets her go again. "It was pretty good. Got a decent workout in at Edgewood, though it's still fuckin' far away and I wish we had a bag here, met a new Get, got to watch Justin embarrass him sparrin'. Although the last two in the opposite order, technically. Messed with him a bit. Seems more or less okay, maybe ain't too swift. Had a good chat with Reggie. Helped Justin pluck a turkey, which I ain't never done before and actually prolly don't feel a need to do again, had burgers, went shoppin', an' now there's a you. What more could I want?" He sets the bags down; they clink, or at least one of them does. "Might have a thing or two in here for you, maybe."
As he rubs the back of her neck, Lilah closes her eyes and reaches out to lightly slide a hand down his arm. She wraps both arms around his waist, and listens with interest as he talks about his day. "Sounds like a real full day. What's the new Get's name? How'd y'all mess with him? An' I like Reggie. He seems real nice." She smiles at him, and leans in for another quick kiss. Once it breaks, she peers down at the bags, and teases, "Ya might, mightcha?"
"I might," Felix confirms coyly, which is admittedly an incongruous look for him, but he manages to pull it off. Briefly, anyway. He slips an arm around her in return, and of course any kisses are returned. "His name's Frederick, I guess he's from some Sept actually in Germany, for some reason. Speaks pretty good English, though. Philodox, they call 'emselves Forseti, for some reason. Get're weird about that kinda shit. Guess he figured he could take Justin in a fight, but he weren't ready for creativity bein' involved; Justin got him down twice before the guy gave in. Claimin' oh, he ain't used to tryin' to fight when he can't just kill his opponent, which is bullshit." He rolls his eyes. "Sure, I just bet they ain't makin' cubs spar over there, right. Anyway, obviously there was a certain amount of shit-talkin' goin' on durin' the bout, an' I guess he got stuck in the groove. Which is too bad, 'cause he's kinda shit at it, and we ain't." A quick grin, "...and I can do it friendly-like. He's got that high 'n' mighty oh we're better'n Gnawers shit goin' on. So there was that, an' then Justin an' I were discussin' somethin' without bringin' him up to speed on it, an' then when he left, Justin told him it was awesome hangin' with him and they should get lunch tomorrow, which I think pretty much broke somethin' in his head. Damn near made me laugh, the look on his face, but I was mostly talkin' with Reggie right then. What'd you talk about with him?" He clearly likes the guy too, and she might even get the sense he respects him. As rank says he should, but 'should' isn't 'does', especially when people aren't around. He kisses her on the temple and disengages, so that he can cart the clinking bag over to the rolly suitcase o' bardom. That leaves a couple others behind.
"What *might* you've *maybe* brought me?" Lilah asks, smiling at him, and kisses his cheek. She listens with interest to all he has to say, and when he asks his question, she answers, "Lotta stuff. It was that day Justin took me t'see the Bawn. Justin wanted to know if he knew his dad... he knew *about* him, but he got his head sawn through with silver sawblades during the takeover o' the caern... said some o' his memories from then just ain't what they used to be. An' Watcher'd brought a new cub to Reggie, named Ron. We talked some about how he's gettin' along now, an' Reggie growin' up an' he had this signed baseball from his brother... an' I was teasin' about gettin' Justin a poster o' Thane, since he's so fond o' him, just stuff like that. It was a nice talk, real personable. I like 'im. What'd you talk about with 'im?" Rather than go through the leftover bags, she follows after him to the suitcase, leaning up against the wall nearest him.
Felix unloads several bottles of liquor and a six pack -- well, actually it's currently a five-pack -- of beer into the suitcase, then balls up the empty plastic bag to bring it back with him to the others. The part about Justin's dad gets a nod, and a tiny hesitation. "Saw his grave, day Justin an' I went wanderin' thereabouts." And immediately on to other things. "I met Ron, real brief. Glad he got hooked up proper, he was gettin' pretty pissed about bein' left be. Be kinda funny if we really could make a poster, though I guess at the least we'd hafta have a picture to be startin' with and I ain't even met the guy yet. But Justin DOES kinda drop the guy's name like it's burnin' his fingers." A quick grin, which widens a bit as he answers. "We talked 'bout how we'd both be happier if I'da disobeyed him first time we met. He's now the first person ever to suggest I oughta do shit without thinkin' about it so much first." And yes, even he thinks that's pretty damn funny. "Told us about a packmate of his solvin' a problem with the World Serpent by just doin' the first thing he thought of right away, so I told him 'bout the fomor an' my hand, an' he mentioned one he fought the other day. Then he told us definitely not to pluck an' prepare that turkey he'd hung up, except that we should feel free to put in the work."
Lilah nods solemnly when he mentions the grave, but as per Lilah!Usual, she doesn't push the subject. The rest is listened to silently, and she smiles at the end. "I'm glad y'all like Reggie. He seems like a good'un." She walks over closer to him, just far away enough that neither of them is touching the other, so he's free to move about the cabin, as it were. Should've been mentioned earlier, no doubt, but she's wearing a pretty ripped-up pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt, so faded that it's hard to make out some non-local sports team's logo.
"He does, yeah," Felix agrees, and then sighs. "I really do wish I'd snooped in that package now, though..." And speaking of packages, he takes both remaining bags and turns around, cloaking them somewhat with his torso as he rearranges a couple items, then turns back and hands one of the bags over to her. There's a number of things squished into it: two pairs of jeans, one black and one worn-looking blue with rhinestones on the rear pockets, a sweater that looks warm and soft if likely to fall off at least one shoulder, a little skirt, and a few bits of (costume) jewelry, a copy of Good Omens, and a scarf and gloves. It has been starting to get a little chilly at night; he may have recently noticed. There's also a Milky Way bar.
Predictably, Lilah asks, "What package?" But then she's being handed her own, and she begins to hunt through it with barely restrained curiousity. As she sees each item, her brows lift up a little more, and when she gets to Good Omens, her eyes widen. All that stuff, but this is definitely what she's most fixated on: "I ain't read this one! Thank you!" Naturally, this requires that she cover him in kisses; to his cheeks, his forehead, and even one hand. And then, of course, his lips.
Naturally! Felix laughs, wrapping his arms around her waist while she applies said kisses, and kisses her back when she reaches his lips. "That is the right guy, right?" he asks; it's a used copy, but in good shape. "It looked pretty interestin' even if I got it wrong, but I was pretty sure I remembered." Which is perhaps not entirely accurate, but probably close enough to qualify as true. "...the first time I met him, Reggie was at Edgewood in a real hurry. He put this wrapped package in the fridge, an' borrowed my pen to make a label that said 'not yours'," (well, technically 'NOT YURS'), "and left. An' I just barely managed not to try an' sneak a look in it. He says it was somethin' he was supposed to get from someone to someone else, an' he was hopin' one of us would open it so he could find out what it was with, y'know, plausible deniability."
"Yeah, that's the right guy," Lilah says fondly, and plies him with more kissage. Eventually she pulls back to let him talk, squeezing his hand lightly as she listens. She laughs at the Reggie story, and squeezes his hand again. "Reggie seems real clever-like. Gotta watch out for that'un." She smiles softly then, and sets down the bag so she can stroke his cheeks with her fingertips. She hesitates, watching him, and then says softly, "Y'know I like ya an awful lot too, right?"
"See, that's why I shouldn't oughta bother tryin' not to do shit, 'cause if I had, we'd both know now!" Felix says, "...or I would, at least. No, we both would, 'cause if I'd done it good enough he didn't know, I woulda told him today, considerin'. So, yeah." A firm nod, and he watches her set down the bag, stepping slightly closer again when she touches his cheeks. "...yeah?"
Lilah leans in to get a little closer to him, kissing the tip of his nose. "Yeah," she confirms, "I do." A few moments later, she adds, "...more'n anyone." Her hands leave his cheeks so she can wrap her arms around him, keeping him close. She watches him fairly closely, even as she leans in for a brief kiss.
There's something almost wary in Felix's eyes at first, but he can't help smiling a little at the nose-kiss, and more at the confirmation, particularly the addition. "Well. Good," he says just as softly, and he kisses her back, making it somewhat less brief, even if it stays reasonably gentle just now. When it breaks, he watches her about as closely as she was watching him, for a moment. "...I know I ain't always easy," he says, with a very small, wry smile. He doesn't seem to be actively trying to hide things at present, not more than the base layer that's always there, but hints of something underneath it make the existence of that layer suddenly more obvious. Whatever's down there knows he really isn't, and knows it's only a matter of time before it means he's not worth the trouble. But it's relieved, maybe even grateful, that at least this isn't the day.
The expression on Lilah's face after she says what she did is quite earnest, if tempered by nervousness, clearly unsure if what she said was okay to say, for some reason. Relief floods her features at his reply, brief though it may be, and then her expression turns quite soft at his addition. "Ain't nobody easy," she says quietly, kissing the edge of that wry smile. She watches him for a few more moments, and then leans in, her lips just a hair's breadth from his ear. "I ain't ever gonna toss you out. Long's you don't toss me out, neither." She reaches for his hands, placing one in each of hers and squeezing gently. With her lips still so very close to him, she adds, "...you ain't gonna toss me out, are ya?" She doesn't seem to think the answer is 'yes,' but some part of her is worried enough to ask, nonetheless.
"Reckon there's a lotta folks easier'n me, though," Felix replies, with the same slight smile, and fleetingly glances down; it's only a flicker, but still unusual. The assurance near his ear gets a genuinely startled blink, and his gaze flicks sidelong to her, the rest of his body hesitating slightly; he didn't expect it, and whether he believes it or not, perhaps it needs thinking over. He doesn't interfere with her hand-taking, and squeezes hers back. The question startles him a second time, and the answer is immediate: "No. Why would anyone ever wanna get rid of you?"
"An' I reckon there's a lotta folks easier'n me, too," Lilah says with a shrug, and watches where his gaze travels. "I think we both know that," she says softly, and there's a sense that perhaps there's more there, left unsaid. She looks at him head-on at that startled blink, squeezing his hands once again and giving him an encouraging half-smile. She cants her head to the side at his question, shrugging. It's probably not a matter of her not knowing the answer so much as choosing not to respond. Still, she says, "Glad that's settled. For both o' us."
"Dunno 'bout that," Felix says to her claim, although presumably it's to the fact of the matter rather than whether she thinks so. The question, although -- or maybe because -- it was sincere, was probably also rhetorical, and for a moment he looks like he might press, when it seems like she actually has an answer in mind. He reclaims one of his hands from hers so that he can cup her cheek and run his thumb across the skin, watching her again.
Lilah glances downward as he pulls his hand from hers, following its progress as it heads for her cheek. Her expression turns quite soft and rather touched, her eyes watching him closely as he strokes his thumb over her skin. She squeezes the hand she's still holding onto before letting it go, as well-- the better to cup one of his cheeks with that hand.
Felix continues just studying her for a few more seconds, head tilting fractionally into her touch. His freshly-freed hand moves to her waist and slides around it to pull her in a bit closer, about the same time he leans in to kiss her. It really is a language he's better in on some topics; this one is long, and manages to be as passionate in its gentleness as any of his more aggressive and urgent ones.
Lilah rubs her palm against his cheek, tracing her thumb over his skin, as he watches her. She looks ridiculously fond of him in those moments, and she's easily pulled in closer, never looking away. When they kiss, she closes her eyes, her hand not leaving his cheek. Her free hand, meanwhile, casts about for his waist, keeping him as close to her as possible.
Felix's arm wraps tight around her waist, bringing her right in against him. His eyes are closed as well, and his hand continues cupping her face. It's a good while before he finally breaks the kiss, catching several more smaller ones before he moves his face a little bit further back and opens his eyes, gaze on her again.