Nerds on the Roof

Whoever it was that was watching from above that the elementary schooler called 'Ikuto' was long gone by the time Tuxedo Mask got there, and all the Senshi and the rest have cleared out, and the tall eleventh-grader could tell when Sailor Moon's light dimmed from her henshin, wherever it was she went-- by all rights he could go home, call Mei and check in on her, go over his notes for class the next day, and either tumblr himself into the oblivion of kitten gifs before going to bed or spend some time on the balcony with the stars and his telescope.

But he's too restless for that. He's too restless by half, and it's bothersome, and his mind's going in circles: Scorn listened to everything they had to say, a girl so hurt by grief that she made a deal with darkness and fell to it with a vengeance, but the philosophy behind what they did for her couldn't reach the little girl he tutors. As always, the Princess is on his mind, and the Ginzouishou he can't find for her no matter how hard he looks. But these thoughts are overturned again and again by the feeling of something left undone, something just out of reach, something he can't define.

A steady light, a curiosity, with the same feeling that comes from a dream.

Once he's given up on finding 'Ikuto', therefore, he somewhat grumpily takes his restlessness up to the top of the library: maybe just the proximity of his old friends, his unchanging books, will shut the feeling up so he can go home.

Dress shoes land on the rooftop with a muted ta-tap, and the rustle of silk accompanies Tuxedo Kamen as his cape billows, then falls around him. He steps to the edge and looks down, introverting like a boss, leaning on the wall.

    Librarius hadn't actually left when all the magical heroes finished their business in this area. Instead he had remained behind, out of sight, until everyone was gone. He had a lot to think about after his first real introduction into the crazy world of magic. He wanted to be alone, away from people, and the library rooftop at night seemed like a good place to find such solace.

    Clearly he was wrong!

    Librarius is shocked from his thoughts by the sudden appearance of the caped crusader landing on the roof nearby. Perhaps, apparently trapped in his own thoughts as he is, the black clothed hero had simply missed the white one. Regardless, Librarius sees this as an opportunity to learn more.

    Moving for the first time in a while, Librarius's footfalls briefly sound across the rooftop before he stops and says to Tuxedo Kamen, "You're the guy from earlier..."

Like it's choreographed, or like the cape is magic and its power is doing exactly the kind of thing a cape should do cinematically, when Tuxedo Kamen whirls around to face the owner of the approaching voice, the thing unfurls and settles again. His blue eyes are focused, analytical behind the glimmering white outline of a mask, and something clicks into place.

"You were watching, then," he states, the faintest release of tension visible in the set of his shoulders. His statement also serves as a confirmation of Librarius' own. "Are you working with Miss White? New employee?" he hazards, a shot in the dark.

    Bzzzzz. Oh I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Well that's all the time we have for tonight~

    More seriously, Librarius tilts his head and looks a little puzzled at the question. Doesn't look like he knows who Miss White is. He finally shakes his head, "I'm not working with anyone at the moment." He chuckles quietly, "You could say I'm pretty new to 'this'."

    Librarius takes a moment to look Tuxedo Kamen over a bit more studiously... Interesting choice of attire. Still, "That was pretty impressive earlier. Managing to free her like that. Though I don't think her troubles are quite over yet."

Another fractional relaxation, and the other boy lets his cape fall forward around his shoulders, covering his arms and hands, leaving the only brightness in his face and shirt-front. "It wasn't me. It was a group effort, it was the ones who could give her the truth and the one who could reach her. But you're very right. Not only does she still have to grieve--"

Tuxedo Mask turns slightly, lifting a hand from beneath the cape to rest it on the low wall. "--there are two separate organizations with ulterior interest in her, and at least one of them was more interested in that damned bird. At least she'll have multiple sources of backup, now." It's out of my hands, he wants to say, but he knows it's not that simple. He goes to the same school she does. "Hopefully some of them recognised her from school, can give her support there, too."

The boy in black glances to Librarius again, considering him silently for a second. New to this. How new? Then, "I'm Tuxedo Kamen," he offers with a slight bow. "What do you call youself?"

    Librarius doesn't understand too much what Tuxedo Kamen speaks of, but he gets the basic idea. He believes he heard mention of one such possible organisations earlier... Or so he assumes. He simply nods along with the other's words, until the question of a name finally comes. Librarius feels a little silly saying it, but gets it out, "Librarius." As if on cue, a large tome blinks into existance floating between the two. Its design suggests it is old, yet it is in perfect condition.

    What's more curious is Librarius's look... It's one of confused surprise. Was he not expecting the tome to appear?

For one absurd moment, Mamoru thinks that he's said 'Librarius' in order to call the book to look up his name, but the surprised bemusement on the other boy's face is, thankfully, enough to stop that thought. Even so, it's experimentally that he repeats the name. "Librarius..."

And then one corner of his mouth turns up. "Topical," he says, gesturing one white-gloved hand toward the building below them. He takes a half-step forward, toward the book, and his own face is all mixed curiosity and something else, something hard to put a name to. He doesn't try to touch it, and all he can think to say to cover the potentially awkward moment is, "That's beautiful workmanship."

    Librarius's attention is more on the tome than on Tuxedo Kamen. The large book slowly rolls open, large covers opening quickly. Its blank pages begin to flip rapidly, glowing with the soft light of magic.

    The pages finally stop flipping as it stops on one. The surface of the page glows brighter, before the light collects and coalesces into symbols on the page. The light then fades, leaving slowly shifting symbols of ink on the page.

    Librarius steps closer to the tome and looks at the page in surprise, stammering out, "Wh-wha-what?" He looks up at Tuxedo Kamen, slightly stumped as he says, "It's never done that before!"

"It looks a lot older than you are," Tuxedo Kamen points out like a jerk upperclassman, "it probably has done that before. Do you talk to it in Latin?"

The oddity of standing on top of a library in the middle of the night with another guy in a mask and a palette swap while staring at a floating book is instantly lost in the sudden avalanche of academic interest. The overdressed young gentleman peers down at the shifting symbols, reaching up automatically to adjust his mask like it's a pair of glasses. "...recita narratio," he tries. "Not that they're roman letters. Who gave you the book? Can you ask them about it?"

    Librarius has to admit that Tuxedo Kamen got him there... He can't really say whether the tome has done it before or not. Still, it hasn't done it while he's had it!

    Librarius blinks as Tuxedo Kamen asks about talking to it, then proceeds to say something... The white clothed boy uhhhs, "You, uh, don't talk to it..." After Tuxedo Kamen has gotten a good look at it, Librarius reaches his hand out. The tome turns, righting itself for him to read it. Well, at least it's still responding to his control.

    Librarius adjusts his glasses in a similar manner to the other boy's mask and looks at the symbols... "Hmmmm..." Pause. "Nope, can't read it." He looks up, "It was passed down to me as a family heirloom... I've had it for a while and asked a lot of questions. No one actually knows anything about it."

Tuxedo Mask smiles slightly, a little sheepishly, and shrugs. "I don't know, I thought maybe you activated it accidentally when you said your name. Worth a shot saying something else in Latin, just in case." He takes a half-step back once Librarius turns the book around again, waiting as the white-clad boy examines the symbols.

"It's also worth doing a reverse image search on those letters," he suggests, "or talking to a linguist or an archaeologist. They remind me really faintly of Sanskrit in a few places, and of the general aesthetics ascribed to Turko-Tataric language systems, but there are some repeated patterns that suggest they might be further back in the Sino-Caucasian line-- the guy we were talking to down there, the adult, he's the headmaster of Seiyou and has magic. He'd probably have a good idea of where to start."

There's an awkward pause. "Not... that you probably haven't... thought of that. Or something. I'm sure you know what you're doing." Tuxedo Kamen is not at all sure, but he knows he went full nerd and sometimes that's not the most pleasant thing to do to a person. "Sorry."

    Librarius looks a little blank as Tuxedo Mask starts naming languages that Librarius has never heard of. He might seem like a nerd himself, but his knowledge is more focused towards the other areas. Still, he does nod along a little to the other boy's suggestions.

    However, at the suggestion that Librarius knows what he's doing, he just laughs briefly, "Hahaha, not really! Although I've tried to find out more about it in the past, I just kept hitting brick walls."

    Librarius waves his hand, the tome closing and vanishing once more. He finishes with, "Though I have a feeling that the more I involve myself in the strange things going on, the more I'll learn."

"That's a pretty accurate feeling," the former gentleman thief says wryly, then flourishes his hat out of his cape like his life is a magic trick, and bows. "Good to meet you, Librarius. I'm sure we'll see more of each other. Do let me know if your book ever tells you anything about crystals--!"

Another two steps back, and Tuxedo Mask gives the boy in white a mock salute before turning and taking off in a whirl of cape. His restlessness resolved, maybe he can finally finish that homework. It only occurs to him half an hour later that if he wanted to know what the book said later, he probably should have handed the other guy his contact information.

    Librarius tilts his head, asking to no one in particular as the other man retreats, "Crystals?" He watches the cape whirl as Tuxedo Kamen disappears. He then looks at his own coat... Hmmm, probably wouldn't work. He turns, deciding he's had enough night air and heads home.