Checking People Out (Closed-Richard/Scarlett/Melody)

Another hardback met the ground as the small man clambered from shelf to shelf, literally leaping as he went. The library wasn't usually open at this hour; however, seeing as it was the holidays and so few were about, the librarian had decided to leave the doors open 24/7... that or she had left and the management left in charge was yet to notice or care that she was gone.

The lights were on, a few straggler remained, and Richard was atop one of the bookshelves. Now, usually one would just get the ladder and slide it along to the point of the book you wanted to get... but not only would that take too long but Richard could not find the book he was looking for. For near half an hour now he had been pacing back and forth, hoping to and fro. He was growing somewhat sick of it.

Letting out a sighing growl he finally dropped to the floor, dropping to one knee as he landed with a light thunk. It was enjoyable to wander this place in this manner however, so he could not be too angry. The freedom to leap from shelf to shelf. Not one to tell him off for eating. It was great. True freedom... but, alas, he could not find the book he was looking for.

Annoyed, he stomped over to a beanbag chair and threw himself onto it; not caring who sat in the ones near it or even the  bag itself. For all he had inspected someone could be lounging on the other side and their heads would most likely collide. In his current state it was unknown whether he would explode with anger or just kinda mutter stuff.

All Scarlett wanted to do was get a bit of studying done to ensure that she wasn't wasting the entirety of her winter break. To do some extra research before school started to be better prepared for the topics her classes would go over soon enough. Sure, perhaps she was already a bit ahead in most, if not all of them, but really there was no harm in being even more prepared. That and she truly just had nothing better to do other than to head to the library and read up on every subject that she could from history to the use of dust. It was supposed to be a calm, peaceful time where the redhead could concentrate on reading. But of course, nothing every worked out the way that she expected, never being left alone in this school for a moment it seemed.

Every few moments, Scarlett winced slightly, a motion caused by the sounds of things being thrown around the library. Of course the sound caught her off guard at first, but she attempted to push it from her mind to simply focus on her readings. But every time she shook it from her mind and attempt to return to studying, she winced again, caused by yet another book being thrown to the floor and the young boy that was the cause jumping around on the shelves. Surely, there were rules about those kinds of things right?

Scarlett awaited the next sound of something hitting the floor, but after several moments, it just seemed like perhaps it was over? Cautiously, the redhead allowed her head to turn, looking over her shoulder towards both the culprit and the state of the library. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sheer amount of books that were simply thrown about without a care for their condition, "A-ah..." she sounded out after a moment. Biting down on her lower lip, the redhead slowly rose from her seat, leaving the various books on her table as well. Carefully making her way over, she leaned down to pick up one of the books on the ground, standing upright as she looked around for where it would normally be. Sure, perhaps putting the books back wasn't her problem, but she couldn't just leave them on the floor like they were. Since her pace was slow, it's quite likely that the rest of her day would be taken up by putting books away to their correct place. Well, she did want something productive to spend time on.

See, The problem with not having anywhere interesting to go to over the winter break was the fact that it basically left one with nothing to do. Sure, it wasn't like the school was completely empty, there were still quite a few people hanging about, but it wasn't like melody had many friends to hang out with either. She wasn't exactly the most social of butterflies. With this new found old friend called boredom, she decided to try her hand at the library, maybe find a good book, or at the very least some cool albums.

When she entered, all was like how any library should be: Quiet, but some conversing students in the corner keeping it form being completely silent (thank goodness), and countless books in tall shelves as far as the eye could see with some sitting areas strewn around the place. As she stepped out of the cold winter air, she removed the hood from her winter coat, revealing her ever present headphones over her ears. She had it loud enough that one could hear it only if trying to do so. Now, where do they keep the mysteries....? Some good ol' suspense should kill winter time quite nicely, right?

As she approached a shelf, hoping it would lead her in the right direction, she saw a book just slide into view from behind the wooden rack. It was pretty distant so she almost missed it, but the movement caught her attention. "What the...?" She lowered her headphones, not hearing anything. Whatever it was, it was over now. Still, that did not quell the curiosity, especially since the book had yet to be picked up. She slowly approached the scene, turning the corner to see a human girl surrounded by a massive mess of books. all over the ground with a span of more than one aisle. Well that was pretty clumsy of her. Forever unable to hide her emotions, Melody gave her a disapproving shake of the head and began to walk off, looking elsewhere for an interesting read.

Richard growled slightly as a bobbing pink head caught his eye. Someone had taken it upon themselves to clean up his mess... that was for the decrepit librarian to do wherever she was. Someone else was judging her for it, a shaking other head... gah. The short man let out a hoarse groan, looking up to the pair. Why couldn't they be as lazy as he was.

Oi Oi! Leave the books! I left them there for a reason! Forget about it!" The short man growled, flipping to his feet as he approached the duo, "Waste of time cleaning up someone else's mess."

Without another word he picked up and turned over a book at his feet, prepared to put it back... only to find it was the very book he had been looking for the whole time. His expression grew to one of utter self-disgust. He looked to the ceiling and let out a colossal groan, the loudness of which could be heard all around. He opened it on the spot, flicking through the pages; eventually he found what he was looking for. Encased within the book's center was a flat sweet of sorts, a bar which had been crushed to such a degree it had almost blended in with the pages it sat alongside.

Richard slung the book back randomly, shoving the bar in his pocket. He gave one look to the scarlet haired one... B+ From what he could see. Hair was a little long but didn't seem like it'd be too much of a problem in combat. He was going with next to nothing to judge her on, save for appearance and apparent need to sort bookshelves. The other he hadn't the faintest idea about. Seemed critical and open but... outside that. Hair might be a bit long. Regardless, couldn't tell much about either of them... this was probably a little awkward.

He proceeded to pull out a book from the shelves, flick through it, decide it was no good, and plug it back. It had happened to be a mystery book with a rather interesting title... but it seemed nothing more. Nothing seemed to jump out... least to him, wasn't really his genera of book. Liked things to get to the point, no dancing around points with mindless suspense. He kind of awkwardly looked around a bit, just one weekend with his sister had undone most of his prior ability to talk.

"What? Is it really so strange to hide snacks in public places? I would only do so with something clean, not like I'm shoving berries between pages."

Scarlett bit down on the inside of her cheek as she continued to pick up the scattered books that Rich haphazardly threw about the area. Picking up one book, she made her way towards the shelf, checking both its title, author, and number to determine what the correct place the current book should go. Needless to say, this process took quite an amount of time as she did it for every single book that she decided to put up. Sure, it certainly wasn't her job to put them up, but she figured that she might as well to assist whoever's job it was supposed to be. Be it the janitor or the librarian, she just wanted to give them a helping hand where she could, and this was the best and most obvious way. After all, being forced to pick up someone else's mess is kind've unfair. Sure, that's exactly what the redhead was doing, but that was different. Somehow.

As Scarlett picked up book after book, she was constantly scanning the area, watching out for anyone that could be approaching. And eventually, she did manage to notice someone new walk in. Letting out a sigh of relief, she glanced towards the blonde girl that made her way inside and towards the shelves. Perhaps she found relief in the fact that there was someone else around, someone that may be able to help her out. But upon the disapproving look Melody have the redhead, a quiet whine escaped her throat, "B-but I... I didn't... Aww..." Instead of arguing, Scar simply lowered her gaze back towards the ground, once again returning to her work.

That is, until Scarlett reached out for another book that was soon snatched up right from her grasp. Blinking once, she allowed her gaze to trail upwards to see Rich walking away with that book in hand. Lowering her shoulders in defeat for just a moment, she was soon smiling once she realized that he was actually helping her. It was a success! Although that smile swiftly turned into tilting her head in confusion as she watched the boy open the book and take out candy. Scar blinked, "Erm..." she started, "I mean... but.. why put it in the book at all? I mean... it just seems... not ideal and... wouldn't anywhere else be better to put it in..?" She inquired before, "A-ah... I mean, I don't want to intrude if the reason's personal but..." averting her gaze she began to awkwardly shift her weight between her legs.

As Melody began to move away, she caught the faint sound of a response from the red haired klutz. However, it was silenced almost immediately, gone as fast as it came. Quickly, the blonde turned back around, spending way too much energy keeping herself from yelling. It was a library they were in after all. "Do you ave something to say!? Why don't you just say it!?" She wasn't upset that the girl had tried to speak behind her back or under her breath or anything, though Melody's actions might suggest that. No, Melody hated any sign of someone not using their gift of freedom, and the fact that the girl had decided NOT to talk was offensive.

It was at that moment when another person, a male, walked up, seeming to also get upset at the red-head. Okay now it was getting a bit ridiculous and even Melody could see that. Of course, he did reveal the fact that the mess was his doing, and not the Girl's. "Oh. Well then I suppose i should apologize." She blushed from embarrassment after being wrong, but she proceeded anyway. "I'm very sorry. But seriously, stop almost talking. if you have anything to say, say it. you are free to say what you want, when you want." As it turned out, the guy was looking for the book with his treat in it. Melody and possibly the other girl might have been staring for a second too long, because he responded with a bit of a snap. "It's more strange that you would hide it in a book than in public. What if someone else picked up that book? what if that book was wanted elsewhere and shipped to another library? You already couldn't find it, it would seem."

Frowning slightly Richard reached back to the bookshelf, holding it between his forefinger and thumb as if it were a piece of trash; "...Who in their right mind would read this garbage? The plot is drivel, the characters nonexistent and the world more bland than the food I stored within. I shove my snacks into the worst book here."

The short man didn't blink, scanning the blurb on the back of the book. How could these two have any interest whatsoever in this trashy novel?...Or did they think it was so bad it was good? It wasn't even that! It was a bland romance novel filled with politics and-

Oh... Now they know I've read it cause I now how bad it is. The shot faunus quickly slammed the book back into it's position, face an awful scarlet. His teeth clenched, he let out a quiet (yet audible) growl before removing the snack from his pocket and taking a vicious growl. He almost let his claws slip out, he would probably have been more apt to did he know the women's weapons or fighting styles even. But no, he didn't feel that he could give anything away. They'd made a mockery of him once already and so he withheld his claws.

"Regardless, it seems someone picked it off the shelf, realized it was trash, and slung it back in the wrong place. And, the blonde one, do you understand how a library usually works? Books are divided in genera and alphabetized, if people put the books back properly this would be easier than collecting food from a supermarket. I'd know where the food is without even having to browse around.

Scarlett didn't even have time to adjust to the ever-changing situation. Before she knew it, the blonde had decided to snap at her. Being yelled at and scolded in such a hushed voice didn't help the fact that she was still being scolded by the girl that she didn't knew. Keeping her gaze averted from Melody, the redhead kept her lips slightly parted, unsure of what to say. Really, there wasn't anything too say, nor was there even time to. Before she could even say anything in rebuttal, Melody was already apologizing for getting the wrong culprit. But of course she was still scolding the gunslinger because something about freedom. But that didn't really make sense to the redhead. It wasn't her choice to be that shy and even if it was, wouldn't that just count as expressing her freedom in her own way? What does it count for those that choose to express their freedom by not speaking?

After all, what was the point in responding? It would most likely end up getting her yelled at again, something that she didn't enjoy. Scarlett couldn't help the fact that she had trouble talking to people; it was a problem that she worked on her entire life, but getting scolded on it didn't help her and wasn't something she wanted to deal with more. And so, almost sluggishly, she moved back and continued to pick up the books that were thrown around the room, slowly making progress. As she did, the redhead idly listened to Richard speak, almost agreeing with him about the condition of the library. It wasn't exactly the best organized, so it was rather difficult to find the books one wanted. She supposed that being made to reorganize the shelves herself worked out for the best. Although she just couldn't find herself agreeing with the boy's claim that the book was unworthy or that it was trash. Even if the story isn't all that great, one could still find appreciation in it - or appreciate other books more at the very least. Not that she would say that out loud at that point.

This man seemed to be a rather close-minded person. It caused a slight look of frustration with a hint of stubbornness to grace the musician's face. "Good on you for having an opinion and all, but you are not very open, are you Mr.......Man? You shouldn't count out what other people think about the world, or in this case, books. Bit of a life lesson for you there." Out of the corner of her eye, Melody spotted the redhead girl move, and when she looked, she was still picking up books. The blonde let out an irritated sigh. "And still she's cleaning up your mess?" Melody asked the guy, gesturing toward the girl. "Do your own dirty work! What's wrong with you? Are you Faunus or something?" She stopped, her eyes widening in realization of how much sense that made. "You aren't Faunus , are you?" She took a step back just in case. He looked pretty Human, but now she was paranoid.

Richard, yawning his way through the blonde's yapping and slightly scowling toward the pinkette, had come to the conclusion that these two were at rather opposite ends of the spectrum. One seemingly more afraid to speak and overly conforming to the school's rules, the other clearly wasn't afraid to shout in a library which spoke volumes for her character... also seemed to have something against faunus judging by that tone and movement.

The short man rolled his eyes, partially just wanting to toy with this person though he had never really encountered this before so he was curious about how these racists were. What made them so stupid, what was this massive divide they saw. Richard didn't see such a divide between the species, both were capable of being awful; "Do you see a tail or ears? Then again... with how you're reacting to your own question; perhaps horns would be more fitting? Besides, you know this school is run by a faunus... right? If you accounted for all the bigots and bureaucrat's opinions you'd never be able to do anything, no one would. There'd be no huntsmen nor huntresses for governors afraid they'll rebel. There's your change on the broken lesson."

Turning away from whatsername and back to the shy one he frowned a little more; "Didn't I say to leave the books? Or are you actually looking for something? As I said, I only store food in trashy novels so there's really no point checking out any of these... unless you're really so hungry as to be raking them for snacks."

He shrugged, "If so finders keepers, if not... why are you doing this? Such pointless busywork for a huntress in training..."

Scarlett gave a soft frown as she heard the two were arguing about ultimately, things that didn't really matter. But she couldn't really judge people when it came to things that didn't matter, considering she was still putting up those books that were thrown out all over the floor. It wasn't that she was exactly trying to listen in to their conversation, but they were rather loud. But it did bring up a decent question, what did the redhead think about what they were saying? When it came to faunas, the meek girl thought they were rather scary. But then again, most humans are scary to her. Truth be told, she hadn't really considered human or faunas that much different, considering her rather secluded upbringing. Even if the fauna are dangerous, in Syne, there isn't really anyone that wasn't dangerous, so it hardly mattered when it got down to it. In a way, humans and faunas - at least to Scarlett - were separate, but equal. Perhaps that was just how the world worked, perhaps she was just thinking about it in the wrong way. She neither really liked nor disliked them.

But all of that was Scarlett thoughts; thoughts that she would very much keep to herself. Blinking once as she was referred to. At least she wasn't being yelled at for simply not talking this time, "E-erm..." she hesitated, glancing over her shoulder for a moment before she once again began to put the books away. But despite this, she began speaking, "W-well... I know I don't have to... and it may not be all that important, but..." She grimaced slightly, letting out a soft sigh, "If I don't then who will right now? I'm a huntress and that means... to me, I mean... it means that I should help out wherever I can. Both in hunts and with the town. Even more... this is my school, I come here, so I should ensure that it stays in a worthy condition..."

With that, Scarlett bit down on her inner cheek, never once having stopped slowly making her way back and forth through the bookcases, putting away the literature, "T-that's just my reasons though..." she claimed.