[FIN] Checking Things Out

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail couldn't remember the last time she'd seen so many books, or the last time she'd seen a library so big.

Oh, she'd been into the libraries in her schools, of course, but at that age she hadn't been too enthused about them. Her appreciation for them grew when she began breeding pokemon, having found their vast collection of useful books useful and indeed even absolutely necessary in some cases - so much so that she'd turned from a library to a book store in order to make the most important books part of her personal collection. They were, however, inevitably sold off or given away over the course of the past several years, along with her breeding stock. And her car. And her house.

Which had lead her from Johto to a library in Camphoreon, holding several books in her arms, the most prominent of which was a map of Kodo. Two were of Kodo history, and the bottom was of Grand Ile history. She hummed lightly as she stepped into line behind a bookish-looking young man who carried at least three times as many books as she, although she didn't seem to mind the amount of time it'd take him to be checked out. There were three people ahead of her currently, and she figured it wouldn't take too long to get to the front. The process had, thus far, been fairly swift. Well, as swift as older, outdated computers could be.  

[Suudonym]

Arcadie clearly remembered the last time she'd been in such a large library, though both Castelia's and Devoirue's city libraries were grand cathedrals compared to that of Camphoreon, the seaside city of the tiny Kodo region. A library was a library, though - or that's what the young woman would have thought up until the day she tried to find something fun to read in Team Rocket's internal library. It seemed that the only leisure reading they had in that place were plays, and Arcadie had a creeping suspicion that even those were related to work in some way. The medic herself was more keen on research than pleasure reading on most days, but sometimes a girl just needed to unwind a little, and exercise or movies in that ratty old lounge were not how she wanted to do it.

Arcadie fell into place behind a woman to whom she didn't pay a whole lot of attention - at least not until it became obvious from a continuing series of beeps at the circulation desk that something was amiss. She leeeaned forward in curiosity to try and get an idea of what was going on, but something else caught her gaze partway to its destination: a map of Kodo. Ah, she had picked out one of those herself upon her arrival. It was useful, if not a bit of a dry read. Her eyes habitually wandered over the identity of the woman holding the map and-- Did her eyes deceive her, or was that Grande Ile fashion? Some of the newer stuff, too; something from Beauclerc's fall line, if she recalled the contents of the online catalogue properly (or perhaps her imagination was running away from her once again). It looked better than she would have expected, or at least better than she perceived it when she gave up Grande Ile fashion for the eye-catching Unova trends. Hm. She leaned forward, appearing beside the woman's shoulder with a bright expression.

"Hi! Are you new around here?" Her eyes gestured lightly to the map to indicate the source of her conclusion.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The series of beeps was noted by Abigail as well, if only because it was a different pattern of beeps than before when it was working properly. The fact it was also accompanied by fervent typing and displeased muttering on the part of the librarian helped with that assumption. It at least lasted long enough for one of the people ahead of her to depart successful - and the next was stopped completely when the librarian threw her hands up in defeat with a frustrated sigh. "The computer malfunctioned," said the tech-savvy 60 year old woman in horn-rimmed glasses who clearly knew everything about computers. She wasn't the only one to sigh - the person in front of Mr. Million-books did so too before departing the line. Apparently she didn't feel like waiting for the woman to finish restarting the computer.

Abigail moved forward the two steps both departures had offered her, and the sudden face (and words) at her shoulder made her turn her head in that direction slightly, and she offered the young girl a warm smile. "I am, yes," she said, although she didn't need the glance towards the map to tell her that. Grand Ile clothes, carrying a map of the region - it wouldn't be hard to guess. "I'm going to assume you're not, yes?" Clothes worn by teenagers these days put her as possibly a late teen, maybe in her early twenties, but the accent had her curious. It sounded incredibly familiar. Now she was curious, and she half-turned to regard her better. "Where are you from?"  

[Suudonym]

Oh, of course it malfunctioned. The poor machine was probably older than the woman operating it, and she was veritably ancient. A brief sigh of her own passed across Arcadie's countenance. No helping it, hm? She'd probably find better service at a bookstore, but then that would be fewer dollars for her to spend on leggings, so...

But! Conversation. So that was a bonus that one wouldn't get from doing the rounds through an institution of consumerism. The library, friends, was a place of sharing, and what better way to engage that spirit than through sharing words with strangers?

Well, there were probably better ways out there somewhere, but this one was the most convenient.

Arcadie's expression brightened in spite of the fact that one might have previously thought that impossible, "It's true! I've been around these parts for a while now. About a yeeeearish?" Some time in November, as far as she recalled. Or was it December? Damn those -ember ending months. "I'd venture a guess to say the same as you! Grande Ile, yes?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

My my, this girl was perky and energetic, wasn't she? Reminded her of little Mina; she couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. She'd need to call her soon, or at least send her a message. It still felt odd that her parental responsibilities were limited to long-distance conversations, but it was vaguely liberating.

Abigail spared a glance in the direction of the desk - there was a great chance that the computer wouldn't be functional for at least another 15 minutes, possibly 20. Why didn't they have newer ones? Oh, well. The woman turned back to the young girl, offering her a bright smile as she did so. Conversation was wonderful, especially with someone, it seemed, from the same region. "Yes, partly - I was born in Grand Ile but moved when I was... maybe 14? Been in Johto for the past quite-a-few-years. That's why I'm here," she explained, apparently quite happy to tell her life events to this stranger, "I sold my house and moved. I spent the last few weeks in Grand Ile--" Thus her clothes from the recent fashion line, "-- but they had postings about Kodo that I decided to come check it out." That and her French was rusty.

"A year-ish is quite a while," she remarked with a slight bob of her head, apparently very interested. "How do you like it here?" She already had a great deal of questions she wanted to ask - what was the climate like? The culture? The crime rates? - but she refrained for the time being. She didn't want to assault the poor girl or anything.  

[Suudonym]

Arcadie listened with rapt attention as she was wont to do when people spoke to her in tones other than snarling. Better yet, this lady was outright friendly. What a concept!

"I see! Johto, hm?" She'd never been there, but it was hard not to know about it. "I studied for a year in Unova for college, but I've lived in Grande Ile for all my life. It was a bit odd to suddenly be here," she elaborated. She was curious about the circumstances that had culminated in such a decision, but even Arcadie was beginning to understand, in twenty-second year of life, that sometimes it was a bit rude to ask personal questions of strangers. "There certainly are a lot of Grande Ile folk here these days! I know the Duke opened up some sea lines, but I didn't know he was having the place advertised as well. I guess that explains a lot." She wondered, passingly, if there were as many Kodo natives appearing in her own homeland.

She hummed thoughtfully, "Well, I like it well enough. The shopping is decent, and there's some good food. Everywhere but Camphoreon and Jinko are a little dinky for my tastes, though."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah! I've never been to Unova, though I have seen pictures. What's it like there?" Well that at least explained her form of dress - or maybe she'd adapted to it in the year-ish that she'd been here. Actually - why was she asking about Unova? She should be asking about Kodo, considering her decision to move there and everything.

However, the comment about lots of Grand Ile citizens being in Kodo made her eyebrows raise a bit. "Are there? Well," she hesitated after a moment, brow furrowing in thought, "I suppose there would be, if it was advertised and such. It'd make sense, all things considered - that is how I came to be here, too." That and a lack of available houses in the area(s) she wanted to live in on Grand Ile. Maybe Kodo real estate would be better, she just needed to find a nice area - thus, the map. "That said, I only know what one of those are. We're in Camphoreon, I know, but I don't know where Jinko is, or what. Is it a city, a town..?" That and all the other areas. And what did she mean by 'dinky' anyway? Abigail was insatiably curious at this point.  

[Suudonym]

"Unova is great!" she replied enthusiastically, bouncing slightly to emphasize that greatness. "Or Castelia is anyway. It's so huge and busy and there are so many different kinds of people! I love big cities; they're where everything happens." Well, everything that mattered, at least. It was where culture was born, killed, and born again. Fantastic.

That wasn't really the point of the discussion, though.

Arcadie's smile never faltered, "Jinko is another city, further to the southwest on the plains. I've never been down that way myself, but apparently it's Kodo's token historical city. The weather reports I've seen over the past year say that the storms get pretty fierce over that way what with all the flatland, but it at least sounds like it'd be a cool place to check out. Supposedly they have a really huge library with tons of information on pokemon. And presumably also a working circulation desk." She turned a pointed look toward the desk in question and the woman who stood there drumming her fingers against the wooden surface as she idly waited for the systems to go through their motions.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah; that must be what she meant - 'dinky' most likely meant 'not a city' and that, she knew, was exactly what she wanted. Cities were too big and noisy and busy - she preferred more rural areas. "Ah, lots of storms and the like.. I don't think I'd like to live in that area," she said with a slight frown as she glanced down at the map in her arms, as if she could spot Jinko and its surrounding plains on it. She could not. "Definitely an interesting place to visit, though. I'll have to check it out sometime." Especially due to the historical nature of it, and the library --

A smile curved her lips as she too gazed at the librarian who was still waiting not-so-patiently for the computer to work again, then focused on the girl once more. "What other towns are there worth noting? I'm not sure if cities are really my thing."

A thought suddenly, visibly struck her though, obvious by the sudden vaguely surprised look on her face and slightly raised eyebrows. "I'm so sorry, I just realized I'd never properly introduced myself. My name is Abigail," she offered with her warm smile returning, "Abigail Desmond. Yours?"  

[Suudonym]

"Hmmmmmm." Noteworthy, huh? Noteworthy non-cities, wasn't that some kind of oxymoron? "Well, there's Sandalwood to the west, in the forest. It's actually an even bigger city than Camphoreon, but it doesn't feel like it since practically all the structures are built into the trees. The university is there, so I guess that makes it a pretty important place. Ambergris is big, pretty much due west of here, but it's practically a ghost town. I've never been, but the word on the street is that it's seriously haunted, and not even just by ghost-types! Sagestone is to the south below the mountains, but that's basically like a mining town so that's super boring. Makko, on the opposite side of the island, is a coastal town like Camphoreon, but it's all quiet and stuff. I guess pokemon training must be pretty big there, because it's generally where children go for starters."

No one could ever accuse the woman of being antisocial.

At her company's introduction, she pointed enthusiastically with both index fingers, "Oh no! That's totally my bad too! Name's Arcadie. Nice to meetcha!" She returned Abigail's smile with a bright grin of her own. Arceus, the folks at the base had a thing or two to learn from this chick. One would think they were allergic to pleasantries.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"The pleasure's all mine!" Abigail beamed in response. "Arcadie - that's a lovely name." French, wasn't it? Probably, since she said she was born in Grand Ile. The woman's eyebrows rose significantly when Arcadie began describing the other towns - most notably Sandalwood, which she made a strong mental note to look into. That sounded like a wonderful place. And it had a university too - city, but felt like a town? It almost sounded too good to be true. Yes, definitely had to look into that. "Sandalwood sounds very interesting; I'll have to figure out where that is and go visit. It sounds like a lovely place to live, and doesn't sound too far from here."

She paused a few brief moments to let everything sink in while also glancing towards the reception desk - nope, still rebooting - then smiled at the girl again. "Wow, there's lots of interesting places here, aren't there? I'll have to travel around, I think, although I might skip Ambergris; that's the only one that sounds... less than pleasant." It could be dangerous, too, and she didn't need any of that.  

[Suudonym]

Arcadie made a brief face. "It sounds nice to visit maybe, but I dunno. I'm just a city girl, I guess. I grew up in the capital and studied in Unova and spend all my free time in Camphoreon. A city in a forest sounds more like a weekend getaway than a place to live, to me." To each their own, though. She could understand, she supposed, why someone might want to spend all their time there. They simply enjoyed being bored out of their minds, probably.

She nodded emphatically, "No one really goes to Ambergris, no. It's all falling apart and stuff. But you know," she leaned forward slightly, conspiratorially, as the gossip in her emerged, "the scariest part about it is probably the why. Word is that a group of no-good criminals sucked the poor place dry before they could look twice." She drew back suddenly, the mischief gone from her expression, "Oh, sorry! I guess I shouldn't talk about unpleasant stuff like that when you've only just gotten here."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, that'd be it then," Abigail said with another warm smile as she readjusted the books she carried into a more comfortable position for her arms. "I was born and raised in the countryside, so I grew up in a quiet area. I moved to Goldenrod when I was in my early teen's though, which was quite different than what I was used to. A big, gorgeous, bustling city, it was, what with its huge mall and the electric train track they put into it that connects with Kanto. As fun as cities can be, I think I definitely prefer somewhere less... populated." And noisy. And loud. It was enjoyable in doses, but not all day, every day.

The sudden lessening of personal space when Arcadie leaned forward to share such a bit of gossip made the woman's eyebrows raise once more, a concerned look on her face. "Criminals? Oh dear, that's awful! What did they do? Did anyone find out, make any arrests..?" How long ago had it happened, actually? It sounded very much like Ambergris had been deserted for quite a while - probably a lot longer than the year this Arcadie had been here for, so how would she know?  

[Suudonym]

Arcadie resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at talk of the countryside, but that urge promptly disappeared and was replaced with sparklingly interested eyes as Abigail described Goldenrod. Now that sounded like a great place to be. "I guess it can get a bit tiring," she admitted with a partial shrug, "being around so many so busy people all day. The exhaustion is part of the charm though! ...Or not." Yeah, okay, it wasn't the best feeling to come home so dead tired that she couldn't even make it to her room and had to settle for collapsing on the living room sofa, but nights like those were a distant memory. She was sure Camphoreon had a vibrant nightlight, but her busy schedule had thus far prevented her from seeking it out.

"Hmmmm." How much to say? Arcadie didn't really know a whole lot about it either; only as much as the rumors claimed - she just had an easy way to confirm those rumors. It shouldn't be too hard, right? This was like Rocketing 101 or something. "Well, the rumors aren't all too specific. Like, I'm pretty sure it wasn't some kind of overnight dealie, but I dunno what exactly did happen. Judging from the state it's in now, it was probably some kind of long-term pillaging, but it was like that long before I ever arrived in Kodo." There, that was suitably vague.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail nodded. "Tiring, yes. Don't get me wrong, I do love to keep busy - I was a dancer when I lived in Goldenrod, and had aspirations to dance professionally, so all I ever was was busy - but it's nice to take time out to relax. I think I've had enough of being busy though, at this point, so I'd prefer to relax." She smiled though, a mischievous glint in her eye, "though I may end up getting bored of relaxing at some point, I think." Maybe she could read up on Ambergris's history, see what the rumors were and if anything specific happened. It was neat to wonder, but she wanted to know. Oh, she didn't want to go there, of course, unless she knew it was safe, but reading was quite safe. The only thing she'd have to worry about was a paper cut.

The young man ahead of her stepped forward, and it was then Abigail realized the ancient computer had finally finished rebooting, and was now working properly again. She moved forward to fill in the space and offered another smile to Arcadie. "So you're from Grand Ile, yes? Do you prefer Kodo's style of dress, or do people from Grand Ile not dress like they do there when they're here?" The question, while also a curiosity, was mostly a concern. While she had been young, she didn't mind being the only one to dress this way, but now that she was older that opinion had (mostly) changed. Not completely, but mostly. She wasn't about to not wear all her new clothes just because no one else did, of course.