thoseareafewofmy [F A V O U R I T E - T H I N G S]

[moonbird]

Against the crisp white of the library walls, Alyra was almost camouflaged.

No - that's an exaggeration. It was true, you could see her very well. But she was, admittedly, rather hard to see, rather faded into the background. Her pale ash-blonde hair was nearly as white as snow, and her pallid skin as smooth and light as stone. She wasn't beautiful. You could call her pretty if you felt kind, but generally people didn't even say that. Nor was it helped by the clothes that hung on her thin frame. They were usually pale grey or blue cotton that just served to accentuate her paleness.

That would all be made up for if she had a bold personality, but she didn't have that. Timid and retiring, most of the Ludus students didn't even know she existed. And that was the way she liked it. Currently, she was sitting in the library, near the window, fresh morning sunlight pouring through the glass. It was an hour when most would be asleep, or drowsily preparing for lessons; her favourite time of the day. Only then was the school deserted. She could sit, like now, with her favourite book and perhaps a cup of hot chocolate in the winter and be perfectly satisfied.

Of course, sometimes her sister would come and interfere, but Lila was known for her deep sleeping. She was a rather nocturnal creature, Lila, staying up all night having 'fun' and then sleeping all day. Her grades were terrible, but she didn't care. Alyra rather envied Lila sometimes - but only rarely, when she had a lot of homework to do and had to revise for hours to keep her just-above-average grades. Lila didn't even bother to turn up to lessons sometimes - but she always seemed to get high marks in the few exams she did take.

Alyra stretched like a cat, reaching up skeletal white fingers to open the window. The cool morning breeze drifted in, and Alyra settled down once more to read her book.

_{[[Rather short, I'm rushed for time. Please do reply ^^]]}

[cat]

Yan floundered into the library with a miserable look deeply plastered onto her face. The heat that was buried in her throat was getting worse. She felt like screaming but she couldn’t. She was, after all, in the library and it was her first time entering this one. Turning her attention towards the register, she noticed the librarian, gray hair tied back into a small granny’s bun and her attire, a long dull blue dress with frills on the neckline. It was a horrifying costume that somehow suited the atmosphere of her workplace. Dourly sorting some moth-eaten files at the register, she turned to Yan as she heard uneven footsteps entering her domain. Yan gave a smile and received an expressionless nod from the old lady who quickly resumed to her work.

Soft morning light glowed through the long arched windows, revealing specks of dust floating in the air. Yan hobbled on to the ‘Fiction’ section. She’d no idea where Wolf was hiding and to her dismay, a whole row of long tall bookshelves that stretched till the other end of this two-floored vast room greeted her. She wanted to call her to come but remembering the look on the librarian’s face stopped her. Where was that troublesome cat?! Usually, she didn’t have any problems when Wolf disappeared somewhere. That’s what cats do. The thing was that this cat had managed to take a page out of her notes, which she coincidentally had to hand in today.

Passed and searched ten shelves. No sign of that cunning Wolf. Leaning onto one end of the eleventh, she folded her arms and thought. Wolf did like to sit by the window during this hour. It wasn’t too hot and she loved the heat after a long cold night. Yan straightened herself and walked towards the tables and chairs. Her nose itched from the dust. To her surprise, a girl was there, near one of the windows and totally engrossed in her book. It wasn’t really the time for students to read in the library. That was what Yan thought because when she chased Wolf in the corridors, there was hardly a crowd. Actually, what surprised Yan the most was the colour of the girl’s skin. So pale it was, almost colourless and so was her hair.

Brushing her t-shirt of dust, she walked towards her, only her backpack knocked onto a cart and the books on it. One by one, the ones that were hit fell onto the dusty marble floor, sending loud echoes ringing. Yan winced as the librarian ferociously shushed her. She jumped as the last book fell; dramatically smacking the floor and sent the last, long echo playing. Thankfully, her back was facing the woman. The last thing she wanted to see was the look on her wrinkly old face behind those glasses. She quickly bent over and picked up the books. Where is that cat?!