out and about {open}

[logan james davenport]

Logan dragged a hand through his hair, sighing lightly as he entered the blissfully cool tea shop. It wasn't often that the young man ventured outside Hogwarts, having fallen in love with his library all over again. And now with the students gone for the summer holiday, he could dwell within it without their mockery. Never had he expected that returning to the school would mean subjecting himself to the same ridicule he had experienced as a Ravenclaw student- but it seemed everyone thought him as a joke. They followed him around, imitating his stutter and making a mess of his books. He simply didn't have the heart or courage to confront them.

Logan had tried to issue a detention once, but he had been so anxious that he had lost all control of his stutter and couldn't even get the word "detention" out of his mouth. That had spurred a whole new wave of insults before the boy had walked away laughing. Pushing his glasses up on his nose, Logan went up to the counter and slowly, carefully ordered a chai tea and an orange cranberry scone, and after paying the nice lady behind the counter, took a seat in the corner. Logan smiled a bit, this spot was perfect, he was out of the way, but had a perfect vantage point to watch everything else. Curling his hands around his cup, he settled back into his chair.

Really, this was perhaps a nicer day than he had thought, even though he was normally very much a homebody, being out and about was nice for a change. Granted, Logan hadn't really gone far, only to Hogsmeade, but thus far it was proving to be nice. He'd done a little shopping, and gotten himself, predictably, a book- an old tome, and Logan would bet his cats that it was rare. It was bound in slightly cracking leather, its pages yellowed and brittle with age. There wasn't any English, merely runes, though that wasn't a problem for Logan.

Given his scholarly interests, he had long since learned to translate them, it would definitely be a challenge, but Logan needed a project, as the library didn't require much upkeep during the summer without the students to put it in a disarray. Setting down his cup and retrieving the book from his bag, Logan set to work, instantly becoming so engrossed that he hadn't noticed someone approaching his corner table.

[wolfy]

Alaina had a wonderful day so far, she had just left the bookstore and decided to go for some tea. She walked into the tea shop and ordered a cup of green tea and a blueberry muffin. She turned around to go take a seat and noticed the librarian from school. She hadn't really spoken to him, just checked out her books and went on her way. Alaina was a bit reluctant to do so, because he was probably here for alone as was she. But instead decided to make her way to his table and say hello. She was always a bit clumsy, and the chair decided to be in the way. Alaina tripped over the chair and her tea went flying, the muffin went into the air and hit the table to her left. She scrambled around trying to grab her things, her face as red as a tomato. She looked up to make sure no one had noticed.

[logan james davenport]

Logan carefully sipped his tea, not tearing his gaze away from the runes, and frowned a bit in concentration. It would appear not only was the tome written in runes, but the squiggly lines and odd shapes translated to a language other than English. Logan was getting in his head a whole new system of symbols as he decoded the first paragraph. Perhaps this was a task best left to being completed in the reference section back in the library, where he would have the resources he needed, rather than in this coffee shop where all he had was his own brain. Logan jumped at the noise of someone falling, looking around only to see a girl sprawled on the floor, her tea spilled all over. She looked vaguely familiar, she was likely one of the students at the school, a Ravenclaw if he was not mistaken. Gingerly setting the book down on the table, he drew his wand to clean up the mess. "All r-r-right there?" asked Logan.

[wolfy]

"Wow... Um sorry." Alaina stood up, " Thanks for cleaning that up." Her face was still really red, she gave the librarian a sheepish smile and looked away. Alaina grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and wiped off her things. Alaina looked out the window; it had began raining. The sky turned a charcoal grey and thunder boomed outside. She had noticed that tea had soaked her new charms book she had bought for outside reading. She was always reading. Her trunk and an extra duffle bad she'd dragged along were filled with books and sketch pads. Alaina looked back over to the young librarian.

[logan james davenport]

Logan returned the girl's smile, while at the same time combing through his mental database of names. Unlike a good number of people, the librarian was actually very good indeed with matching names to faces, though keeping all the Hogwarts students in order was a difficult task. He could, however, usually recall the houses of each student, and a good number of surnames, particularly of those who frequented the library often. "It wasn't any t-t-trouble," said Logan.

[wolfy]

Alaina still couldn't place his name, so as boldly as she could (which took a lot of courage), she introduced herself. " Um, I'm Alaina. A Ravenclaw at Hogwarts." She held out her slender hand, " Aren't you the librarian?" She was rather surprised with herself. She noticed his stutter, although she didn't mind, she was sure the poor young man was constantly ridiculed. Her face was still slightly pink, she cursed herself silently for being such a fool. She glanced around the cafe and noticed the lady behind the counter silently chuckling and pointing their way. She bit her lip and looked back to the librarian.

[logan james davenport]

To say that Logan was surprised when the girl offered her hand, introducing herself as Alaina, and a Ravenclaw as he had expected, might be a bit of an understatement. Not many people bothered with him, unless they were trying to humiliate him, though this was a pleasant change of pace. Of course, he didn't know much in the way of social interactions, but he would try the best he could, the young lady seemed kind enough. "Yes," said Logan, accepting her hand and shaking it gently, "Mr Culp-p-p-pep-per at your service." It was times like these where he really hated his surname, though as a member of Hogwarts staff he wasn't supposed to have the students use his first name, though he had politely declined the titled of "Master Culpepper," it sounded much too formal to him. Not minding the lady behind the counter, he frowned a bit when he noticed the tea-soaked state of Alaina's bag and the books inside. "I c-could, um, s-salvage those," Logan offered, gesturing to her books.

[wolfy]

Alaina, still at a loss with herself. " Well, nice to meet you Mr. Culpepper." She wasn't really sure how an actual conversation worked, seeing as she didn't speak with many people. " Oh, these?" She looked down at her books, still rather disturbed by the accident. " Um, it's okay. I'm sure I could..." She trailed off, she felt as if she'd be imposing if she said yes to the offer. She knew a charm that could fix them, but wasn't really sure how that'd work out, seeing as she'd never used it before.

[logan james davenport]

Logan smiled again, finding it somewhat encouraging that Alaina had yet to poke fun at his stutter, in fact, she seemed just as awkward as he was. He sipped his tea lightly, keeping quiet as the young Ravenclaw looked down at her books, muttering something about being sure she could do it herself, her voice meek and trailing off. It really wouldn't be any trouble for him, Logan quite liked being helpful, not wanting anybody else to suffer. And this was actually something he could do, rather than end up bungling it like he did most everything else. "Are you s-sure?" asked Logan, absently tracing the runes on the cover his own book with a forefinger, "b-book repair is s-sort of my sp-specialty." He gave forth a nervous giggle, smiling again. He wouldn't press further if she turned him down again, though he figured he should at least offer...

[wolfy]

Alaina smiled awkwardly, " Well, if you don't mind. I just didn't want to impose." She looked up at him, " Really? Wait, of course.. You're a librarian." She glanced back down to her books, and smiled at his laugh. " If you don't mind that'd be great." Alaina ran her free hand through her messy hair. She settled her weight on her left leg, her face was light shade of pink as usual. She stayed her distance and admired Mr. Culpepper's book. "You study ancient runes?" She smiled lightly.

[logan james davenport]

"N-not imposing at all," said Logan with another warm smile, he was a helpful person at heart, if he knew how to do something to make someone else's life easier, he would do so. Unless of course he was shoved away, but Alaina seemed too kind for that. Logan nodded at her question about the runes, aside from charms it was the only subject he'd ever been good at. "Bit of a n-necessity for s-someone of my p-p-position," said Logan, awkwardly chuckling again, "but l-let's have a l-look at yours, eh?" He pushed his things aside so Alaina could put her tea-damaged books on the table.

[wolfy]

Alaina sat her books and tea-stained bag on the table. She frowned a little at the sight of her books. " I hate to ask again, but you are sure you don't mind to do this, right?" She looked up and smiled warmly at him. He seemed really friendly, maybe they could become friends. She enjoyed going to the library... And was a bit of a major bookworm. she was always studying or doing outside reading. It was still raining outside, and she stuck her hand in her pocket. The thunder boomed loudly like a canon going off in the distance.

[logan james davenport]

Logan again drew his wand, looking at the state of the books that Alaina laid in front of him. Oh dear, the poor things, their lovely pages drenched and dripping. At least green tea didn't have much colour, so he wouldn't have to deal much with staining of the paper... "Of c-course not," said Logan, giving the girl another reassuring smile. He quickly set to work, not minding the thunderstorm outside though it was peculiar given the drought/heatwave combo they had been experiencing this summer. In two minutes flat the books were back to pristine condition, he'd even gone as far as to fix the small dings and nicks in the bindings that came from standard shelf use. "There, g-good as n-new," said Logan.

[wolfy]

Alaina watched intensely as the books went from bedraggled to beautiful. She was absolutely ecstatic that her books were back to normal and even more so that he'd went far enough to correct a few nicks. She smiled warmly, " Goodness! Thank you! They're beautiful." She picked up one of her books and she traced the cover. " The pages were completely dry, there wasn't a drop of liquid located anywhere on either of the books, the book was absolutely back to normal. Smile still on her face, " Wow, um they really do look great."

[logan james davenport]

Logan grinned at Alaina's reaction, glad to see that she was happy with his work, and even more so that she seemed just as ecstatic about having books in excellent condition as he was. He'd always been a sucker for unmarred books, ones that had been owned forever but still looked new. Logan treated every book with care, he didn't think he'd once dog-eared a page to mark his place or bent back half of it so far that the front and back covers touched. No, he treated books as if they were precious. "I'm g-glad you're h-happy with them," said Logan, smiling again before he finished off his tea, only then noticing the book on charms before him. "Y-you, um, like charms, then?" asked Logan, awkwardly trying to initiate more conversation as he gestured to the book.