Dust hangs in the library light like fine smoke. Lewis and Parsley remain on the floor beside the shelves, hidden by the deepening shadows and the great hush of School House.
Parsley
It feels almost wicked, doesn't it, sitting still like this and not being wanted elsewhere?
Parsley tries a small smile, but it is tired. He loosens his shoulders as though the room itself has told him to rest.
Parsley
I think I had forgotten what it is to be quiet without waiting for someone to use it against me.
Lewis says little. He shifts his books nearer, making a neat little wall of paper and cloth between them and the aisle.
Parsley
He is not trying to be brave at me. That is a comfort all by itself.
Parsley
If there is any place in this school that means well by us, I think it is here. Or nearly here.
For a moment, the library seems to hold them both without asking for anything. Outside, the college goes on with its hardness, but inside there is only breath, dust, and the possibility of speaking again.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find a safe place to speak with Parsley
“I open my satchel to show Parsley the books I have brought for our sanctuary.”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +0)
Lewis opens his satchel and draws out the books, laying them in a small, careful stack between them like supplies for a siege he hopes will never begin.
Parsley
That looks properly defended. I approve of any fortification made of reading.
Parsley leans forward, and for the first time his hands stop trembling long enough to rest near the pile instead of clutching at his knees.
Parsley
You have brought more than books, I think. You have brought the feeling that one may be ordinary for a minute.
He gives a faint, lopsided smile, then glances toward the aisle as if expecting the shelves themselves to object.
Parsley
I should like to remember this. A place where nothing is demanded, except that we keep quiet and do not fall apart.
Outside the library, the school remains hard and waiting, but here the little stack of books stands between them like a promise neither boy has yet had to explain.
Quest Complete
Find a safe place to speak with Parsley