milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

autor,
punie tanaka

(no subject)

Two mountains of books surround a skinny boy in the library today. Two mountains, and a disappointing gap where a third should be.

After having stopped by home for an inventory record, Autor--standing on a stool, no less--ignores his swollen knuckles to grasp the book at the top of the left stack. He dutifully flips to the end, crosses a name off of his list, and moves the book to the stockpile on his right.

Close observation reveals that he's wearing a silver ring.

Botherable, but somewhat annoyed.

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And that breaks whatever temper he has in short order. Autor braces a hand on the table and giggles, quietly, until he can't breathe.

"I don't know why I half-believe you," he says. "Probably because you're hilariously absurd."

Then he straightens and smooths his blazer. The books are still waiting, after all.

"Hilariously absurd is what I do best," Yugo agrees, picking up another book. "Seriously though, why do none of these books have endings? Am I still dreaming? Is the Cheese Man going to show up again?"

Autor raises a brow. "Cheese Man? What on earth?"

"- Nothing," Yugo says quickly. "Just, if you see a man carrying cheese, that does mean you're a figment of my imagination. Again."

Beat.

"Books."

Autor blinks at him. "Wait, now you're having hallucinations? That feature me?"

Because that's an interesting oddity.

"And yes, there are books here," he says, adjusting his glasses, "but what's this about a man carrying cheese, again?"

"Nah, just the regular sleeping type of dreams. There was Dinah and Charles too. But enough about that," Yugo says firmly. "Where are the endings of all these books?"

Autor pauses, brushing his fingers across one of the bookcovers. "Dreams have power sometimes," he says softly.

Then he tilts his head, almost flippant for a boy who tries to give off the appearance of serious all the time.

"I don't know," Autor says. "Not exactly. Hence why I'm looking for them."

Persistent. Good to know.

"You have any theories?"

Autor glances at him and slowly picks up another book. "Dude," he says gravely, "am I being interviewed?"

"Totally."

Autor lets loose a low, soft chuckle as he turns to the back cover of another book. "At least you're up front about it. Why do you want to know?"

"Because I don't have any theories, and it's totally strange, man."

The boy drums his fingers on the top of the stack, thinking.

"All right," he says, fully aware that he's about to shoot himself in the foot. "Clearly these aren't being torn out by themselves, right? So you have to figure out what these books all have in common."

Then he shrugs. "Good luck."

"Dude, that's totally not fair. So harsh."

The boy's lips quirk, but if there's a lonely cast to his smile, it's there and gone again in a flap of a crow's wings.

"It's where I had to start," Autor says, shaking his head. Sighing, he pops one of the books open.

He knows who took them, and where they might have them, and why. Of course he knows.

"And as such, you should totally share the knowledge you've acquired."

He's going to have to laugh a little at that. "Why?"

"Because you're really curious about other people's worlds," Yugo says, "and sharing what you know about stuff makes them more likely to share stuff with you."

Autor hesitates. "That's very true. I am very curious."

But you'd be amazed at how much people tell me when they don't know my name. Right, whoever you are?

He grins, a little ruefully. "I guess I'm just not the best at sharing."

"I hear that sharing is caring," Yugo chirps.

"As is mocking, apparently," Autor says dryly, hiding his smile behind a novel with a ripped ending.

"Pfft, you love it really," Yugo replies wryly, plucking up another book, flicking through it, and crossing it off the list.

Autor doesn't quite know what to say to that.

"Why are you helping out, again?"

He picks up a collection of plays and checks each one.

"Because I'm a helpful person, dude."

Autor blinks, flexing his fingers unconsciously as he grasps another book. Ow.

"What were you looking for when you came to the library today?"