Quietly in the Library [Open]

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew had situated himself in one of the few comfortable chairs the library had purchased. They always had one or two, they were normally taken. He'd just been lucky today, and he considered himself such as he pulled his knees up underneath him on the chair. He'd read on the list of rules something along the lines of "Keep your feet off the furniture". Matthew knew, however, that no one would notice him, in the corner, with his feet up on the chair.

A soft sigh escaped his lips, causing his curl to bounce slightly as he exhaled, and he opened the book that was on his lap. His eyes scanned the page quickly, he'd been reading since a very young age, and was able to read very quickly. He chewed his lip as he read, leaning in closer as he got more into the story.

This is why, when one of his ears flopped over his shoulder and into the page he jumped like something had come to attack him. A soft yelp, and almost tossing the book across the room, before he realized that it was indeed his ear that had invaded his reading. Not dangerous. He shivered and tossed his ear haphazardly over his shoulder. He glared at his ear for a moment, as if telling it off for invading his reading, and then went back to taking in his daily dose of literature.

Jumpy was probably the correct word to explain how he was feeling right now, not that it wasn't normal for him. He was jumpy a lot of the time. He tended to scare himself with his own clothing coming into the sides of his vision. Oh, speaking of vision, he pushed his glasses back up onto his nose. Then shook his head slightly to try and make them settle back where they were supposed to be. He sighed and once again, went back to his reading.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

Nikolaas wasn't really sure what book he was looking for anymore. Sure, he had a perfectly clear idea about what book he had wanted to read when he had entered the library...something about gardening...or boat building. however he had now completely forgotten which one it was he had wanted to read. Somewhere between historical novels and books about war he had caught sight of another student. At first he didn't really think much of it - it was a library, of course there would be more students. but as he made his way through the rows upon rows of book shelves, the student again caught his eye - rabbit ears. Nikolaas stifled a grin, this place really was full of special people. If anything it would only make his time and his sisters' much better. Already he had spotted several students sporting odd animal features...but this was possibly the first kid he'd seen with rabbit ears. A small question did linger in his mind as well. Did this kid have a rabbit tail as well? just the though amused Nikolaas for no real reason, other than it would possibly be absolutely adorable.

Working his way towards the chairs again he noticed the blond kid yelp and literaly jump. And for what reason? His own ear...that was simply to funny. He grinned to himself, wondering if this kid was as jumpy about everything that came into his side vision. Almost like a predator, Nikolaas 'snuck' up to the student before suddenly dumping his bag in the seat next to him with a rather loud noise.
"oops....Sorry, this seat taken or something?" he gestured to the one he had already claimed with his bag, slightly wondering why this little blond kid had chosen to hide himself in the corner. Surely none could be that shy.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew had been reading, no problems no interruptions. His ear had not invaded his book again. He'd gotten a fair ways through the book as well. He definitely wasn't expecting anyone to actually notice him in the corner, a few times he'd looked up expecting someone to come and sit on him by accident.

So, when the bag came crashing down beside him he did something that vaguely resembled jumping so high he hit the ceiling. His book ended up on the floor, with a soft thud. He yelped, and actually ended up jumping over the arm of the chair. He looked up at the newcomer with wide eyes, his glasses thrown askew.

"I... Oh," He slowly stood up and then bent down to pick up his book, "No, the seat is free."

Matthew did indeed possess a rabbit tail, which had probably become obvious about the moment he bent over to get his book. It poked out through the seam of his school uniform, and twitched slightly as he leaned over.

Matthew sat back down in the chair, looking up at the man over the rim of his glasses. He pulled his legs back up underneath him and settled back into the chair. That was embarrassing. He thought, his cheeks slowly colouring a dark pink.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

The little blond kids reaction to his sudden appearance was like out of a comic book, and a small chuckle escaped his lips as he pushed his bag to the floor with another loud noise. Earning him an angry glare from a by passing librarian, Nikolaas simply shrugged at her and sat down in the comfy chair next to the blond little kid. "Sorry kiddo...didn't mean to frighten you..." okay..perhaps that was a little white lie...but what you don't know can't hurt you.

Something He most certainly had noticed when the kid bent down to pick up the book, was that he did indeed have a tail! It looked really fluffy...Nikolaas had to restrain himself from poking it...it would be bad to get kicked out at such an early stage in the school year...Instead he let another small chuckle escape from his lips and opened one of the books he had brought with him from home: a book about the life of Vincent Van Gogh - one of his favorite painters ever. He tried to get a glance at what book the rabbit eared kid was reading, but couldn't do it without looking very suspicious or invading the boy's privacy a bit too much.

As the kid with the rabbit ears settled back into his own chair, Nikolaas glanced over - wow...that kid was blushing! He had to wonder why though. No one blushed around him, rather ran away in fear, especially if he smiled too much and accidentally showed his teeth. But he hadn't done that yet, so why was this little blond boy blushing? Nikolaas was rather intrigued and stretching over his right hand toward the smaller boy to shake he introduced himself "Hi, Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck, Nice meeting you, sorry if I scared you..." Despite his voice being rather friendly, his facial expression remained much the same, although what he considered a natural expression, most others found to look rahter...menacing.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew nodded slowly, his heart was still settling down from the whole ordeal. "That's okay." He replied, his voice soft and a little coarse, probably from not using it very often. It wasn't something he noticed, but he knew it was something other people noticed. Sometimes, in his rare conversations, people would comment on it.

The book he was reading, if Nikolaas were brave enough to actually look, was a book by a man named Matt Cohen, named Elizabth and After. He was already a quarter of the way through it in such a short amount of time. He'd only been in the library for about an hour before the other had come in. He was quite content to go back to reading his book, unsure if the other was actually going to strike up a conversation or not. More than likely he'd just... Forget he was there after a moment or two of silence.

Matthew was easily sucked into books, and he was soon completely absorbed in the book again. Needless to say he jumped again, looking up at Nikolaas with big eyes. It took him a moment to actually process what the other boy had said, leaving him with a star struck look on his face for a few moments. "Oh, right. Sorry," He gave his head a little shake, "I'm Matthew Williams, it's nice to meet you too." His facial expression became a cautious smile, he noticed how the other did not. It worried him, but he kept it to himself.

He actually managed to keep calm, even though the man did look like he was rather scary. Simply because, if push came to shove, he could probably get away without Nikilaas even noticing. Not... Not that it really mattered, he wanted to finish his book, and it wasn't like the larger boy would actually do anything. He mentally chastised himself, just because someone looked scary didn't meant they were bad.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

Nikolaas was finding Matthew's antics rather funny. Unsure if it was due to the rabbit features or not, this boy was rather reserved and shy. Curiosity was getting a hold of him he realized, and while he usually hated strangers or new people, getting to know a few students in a more friendly manner would perhaps do him some good. He'd met a few in detention, after one of the teachers had caught him smoking behind a tree. Not that the detention had deterred him from smoking, if anything he was now just driven to smoke more and make the teachers angry when they couldn't catch him in the act. It was quickly becoming a rather cruel but fun game for the tall dutch boy.

He removed his hand from Matthew's and pointed at the book he was holding. "Is it any good? You seem to be completely lost in your own little world...or do you just do that with any old book?" Nikolaas loved to read himself, but he was hardly ever so absorbed in a book that he would be completely un-aware of his own surroundings. Often while reading he would glance up from the age and look around, to make sure no one was sneaking up on him. this little trait he had come to be after his little sister found great pleasure of jumping on to his back and digging her claw like nails into his back. Sure, it was rather cute, but after a few permanent scars he had learned that anticipating the attack at least left him with slightly less unwanted pain.

"your accent....it sounds fammiliar...Are you Canadian?" Nikolaas had been there during the tulip festival - wanting to learn more about his great grandfather who had fought in the war. This boy had a slight accent, and it wasn't quite american...perhaps a wild guess, but worth a shot he though.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew smiled properly, without a hint of nervousness, "I'm sorry, I am just really caught up in this book." He said. He actually had a habit of being so absorbed in his reading, that, when people walked past or left the room, he didn't notice. People had, had whole conversations with him he couldn't remember later on. Simply because he'd be so absorbed in the book his mind answered on autopilot.

He slipped the bookmark he'd brought with him into the book, and set it down on his lap. He blinked at Nikolaas for a moment, surprised that he could even tell. "People... Often think I'm American, how can you tell?" He asked he was impressed to say the least. Often he'd had to explain it to people that he was Canadian, often they wouldn't believe him because he didn't have an "accent". He was glad that someone was able to tell.

For a moment he sat there, unsure what to say. He glanced down at his book, and then decided that wistfully hoping that he could go back to reading was rude. "Are you um... From the Netherlands?" He asked, sounding rather timid. He didn't want to make a mistake right after someone had just pinned his accent down perfectly. Even though he'd done a lot of traveling in his life, he wasn't very good at picking out accents.

Matthew reached up to his nose, finally attempting to fix his glasses. He pushed them up his nose and then ran his hand through his hair, trying pat it down. Then he glared up at the little curl he never managed to get under control. He had often been told when he was younger, that he was unpresentable with his "Hair standing up all over the place", so now he was self conscious.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

Nikolaas chuckled slightly at Matthew's words, almost breaking into a smile, but managed to stop himself in time. Giving the kid a small fright was ok, but terrifying him was a bit too much he imagined. No need to give him nightmares, because if this kid was scared of his own ear, Nikolaas didn't think he'd take to kindly to a boy with wolf-like teeth... "Well perhaps I'll have to try it myself then...Book are a good escape from reality..."

At the blond boy's question Nikolaas stuffed his own book back in his bag and lent a bit back in the comfy chair. "American,you? Nee, you're too polite and quiet to be American." Nikolaas winked at the blond boy jokingly. "Well, I've traveled a lot, both with and without my parents. Not too long ago I was at the Tulip Festival in Ottawa. My great grandfather fought in the war and apparently spoke very warmly about the Canadians who freed my country....I wanted to see the festival too, it is a good cooperation between countries. And not to mention Canada is a nice place...beautiful nature...very different from my country..." Nikolaas let a small smile grace his lips at the memory. Despite his appearance he was actually very fond of nature, and could spend hours out in a garden planting flowers and removing weeds. Not that he really told anyone this...

"Ah, Ja. Well done. You're good at pining down accents too. Or am I just that obvious?" He'd been told he sometimes spoke English with a more pronounced 's' or his 'r' would be more 'harsh' sounding than what a British or American would, not that he could really tell himself though. Nikolaas had also learn German and French, which sometimes led to a bit of confusion on the accent part.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew heard the reality comment, and his mind jumped on it. He wondered why this person required an escape from reality, not that everyone didn't once in a while. Automatically his mind began worrying about someone he didn't even know, and wondering if there was any way to help him. Even if he didn't really need any help to begin with.

"Polite and quiet." That made him happy. That it was obvious, and that he was being told how polite he was. A small smile spread onto his face at the thought, and he nodded slowly, listening intently to everything the other boy had to say. "Canadians... Never forget anything that happened in World War 2. I like the festival too, because it helps remind me not only what we did, but what everyone else did too."

"And it's just so colourful..." Matthew added, reaching back and pulled his ears over his shoulders, "I love Canada, but I really want to travel." He explained, the smile still on his face, he was looking at the book on his lap again. He didn't really want to read it anymore though, he was having fun talking now.

"Oh, it's not obvious I... I just guessed." Explained softly, though his voice was losing that hoarse quality it'd had when he first began to talk. Even when he was speaking at a "normal" level for him, he tended to speak really quietly for everyone else. It was a really good thing they were in the library.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

The kid was smiling now, and that made Nikolaas rather...happy to be honest. It wasn't often people smiled around him, unless it was some sort of smug grin because they though they where better than him - those grins where quickly pulverized and crushed into nothing. Not that he ever saw this kid as someone to do that. Matthew seemed very polite and kind, and was actually kinda fun to talk to, he decided...

Nikolaas nodded "Ja. Working together to defeat a common enemy, the friends you gain under hardships are usually the friends that you'll keep for the rest of your life" He gave the Canadian boy another slight smile, almost wishing he could smile like anyone else, without looking like the villain out of a fairytale...

"you want to travel? Well that's good. Any specific countries you'd like to see? I've been to a few myself...so I can tell you a bit about what they're like if you want..." Nikolaas was seldom helpful to stranger, but he rather liked this kid. He was...well...cute. very,very cute. Nikolaas wanted to pet him...those ears looked ridiculous soft.

"Well your guess was pretty accurate then. You earn points for that" Nikolaas gave in to the temptation and ruffled the Canadian boy's hair giving a small chuckle. "You're a pretty bright kid. I better not hang around you too much, I'll only end up getting you into trouble if I do" while his tone was joking, Nikolaas was actually being rather serious. He had never really had anyone he could truly call 'friend', as they where either terrified of him, hated him or at the odd chance someone actually didn't mind him, he had a tendency to get into trouble, and thus any 'friends' he had where immediately brought down with him - after a few years Nikolaas had just completely given up on being 'friendly' with anyone, opting for having 'acquaintances' instead of 'friends'. He didn't like being the reason people got in trouble - but he was pretty bad at staying out of trouble...so it was better to just keep a good distance from anyone.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew listened to Nikolaas, content to just listen. He'd gotten into the habit, though sometimes it wasn't a good idea. Unfortunately he'd also trained himself to stop trying to come up with things to say, if his turn to speak never came. Which made coming up with things to say in one on one conversation, very hard.

He admired the Dutchman's smile, noticing it was just a little menacing. At the same time, he wasn't afraid of it. It was just a little harsher than other people's. Definitely not something to be afraid of though, so he kept calm.

"I'd just like to see the world. I don't really want to go anywhere specifically... Perhaps my mom and dad's home countries, England and France." He explained, "I'm always hearing about how much better England is than Canada, and how much more romantic the French people in France are than they are in Canada." To be honest, it was rather annoying. He'd never say that though.

Matthew's face flared red when Nikolaas ruffled his hair, and he reached up to try and fix it immediately afterwards. He did have rather soft hair, and ears, which he had inherited from his father. He looked up, over his glasses at the other. He did that sometimes, though he was unsure why because it made people seem extremely blurry to him. "Why would I end up in trouble?" Matthew asked softly, his mind momentarily flitting to images of crazy punk fanatics who always god arrested.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

So this kid's parents weren't really Canadian? that was rather interesting he had to admit, but it made sense then why he'd want to visit those countries."England and France, hu? Well...The French just float about, flirting and having organized strikes" Nikolaas chuckled at the though "but they make good food...I'll give them that. And the English? They can't cook at all, don't even have very good beer" He smiled slightly again "If you ask me, I'd much rather be in Canada than France or England. Canadians are friendly and open minded. much better there..." Nikolaas trailed off, staring a bit into the distance, trying to recall any other places he'd been. Australia had been fun, Spain..not so much...He'd been to quite a few of the Scandinavian countries too, they where ok...but he still always enjoyed coming back home to the Netherlands. Home is where the heart is after all...

Matthew didn't seem to like being ruffled,so Nikolaas quickly withdrew his hand, but at the blond boy's question, Nikolaas flashed him a grin, for once showing his large, sharp canine teeth. "I get into trouble...for no other reason sometimes than because I look scary" his grin faltered and his expression went back to normal before he continued "but still...I attract trouble, so yeah...better to stay away. I'd feel bad if I got someone as nice as you into trouble" if his words didn't say everything, then his slightly scary smile just might get the point across.
Nikolaas was serious, as much fun as it would be to kill time with the shorter Canadian boy, he just knew the kid might get into trouble just by being seen with him, and really, that just wasn't fair. This kid didn't seem like someone who'd take to well to being thrown into detention either..

[Matthew Williams]

A small sound that was probably akin to a snort came from Matthew as Nikolaas mentioned how Frace was, "Sounds like Papa." He said, though he sounded extremely fond of the person despite his sarcastic reaction. He remembered when his father used to make him dinner, and how good it had tasted. There were never any left overs when his dad cooked.

As for his mother... "Yah, my mom can't cook to save her life." He grimaced, sticking out his tongue for emphasis. That was something he would not miss from his childhood. Burnt eggs, burnt sausages, and extra butter on everything. It was disgusting. He glanced up at Nikolaas from the corner of his eye, wondering just what about Canada was so special. He'd never considered it a particularly open minded place, but perhaps that was just because he lived there...

Matthew blinked at the other's teeth for a moment, wondering if he was a wolf and was going to eat him, he quickly forced that thought from his mind though. He didn't let people's appearances govern his opinions of them. "I don't think you're scary." Matthew said, his voice insistant even though it was soft. He began chewing on his lip, a really bad habit of his, "People shouldn't treat others that way. They should be treated with respect and treated equally..." Matthew muttered, glaring at his lap.

Matthew continued to glare at his lap for a moment, and then looked up at Nikolaas with a large smile on his face, "I've made up my mind." He said, "I'm going to be your friend, even if I do get in trouble. I don't care what other people say, it's not fair to discriminate just because of appearance or personality." He continued to smile, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer. If Nikolaas did say "no" he'd learn just how stubborn the Canadian could be.

[Nikolaas Jan Hasbrouck]

'I don't think you're scary'...had he heard wrong? Nikolaas blinked for a few moments, not truly believing someone had actually said that to him. It took him another moment to get his brain working before he could utter a rather confused "You...you don't?" Nikolaas smiled slightly again, rather happy to hear this. It seemed this kid had a lot more to him than Nikolaas had first thought - enrolling into this school had deffinetley been a wise move he decided. "Heh, I like your attitude kiddo, you're a lot braver than you first appear to be you know...that might just get you quite far in life" Nikolaas wasn't quite sure what grade Matthew was in, but he had a habit of referring to anyone younger or shorter than him as 'kid' or 'kiddo'.

Nikolaas was completely taken back by the Canadians sudden flash of courage, and his words. Friend? woha, Nikolaas had never ever met anyone who had declared themselves they wanted to be his friend...it was rather funny in one way, and truthfully, it did make him quite happy to hear it. He was used to people just leaving him alone, or people just hanging around him to use him as a bodyguard, but a genuine friend? Nikolaas wasn't sure he'd ever had one. "seriously? Are you for real? Do you even know what you're saying?" The questions where sort of just flowing out,as Nikolaas couldn't quite contain his surprise and shock.
Part of him wanted to tell the smaller boy that he had a bad habit of smoking, but Matthew looked pretty determined, so he doubted that would put the Kidd off

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew beamed, shaking his head gently in reply to Nikolaas's question, "I have no reason to be scared of you. You've been nice to me so far." Some of his wavy hair had come into his face with his head shaking, he gently pushed it back into place. It was sad for him, to think that person seemed so confused that someone wouldn't find him scary. Matthew had a tendency to try and be friends even with people who did scare him... He was odd that way.

The smaller boy actually flinched at little at being called brave, momentarily taking offence that he hadn't seemed brave at first... Then again, he'd vaulted over the side of the chair. "Heh... Yah, I guess it gets better with time, or something." He muttered, his face turning red again at the thought of how they'd just met. He started watching his lap again, waiting for the heat to leave his cheeks.

He was letting his mind wander, wondering why Nikolaas was being so quiet. When suddenly the boy was asking him questions and a million miles a minute, he looked up at him feeling quite surprised. He felt bad again, realizing that this person was actually surprised to hear someone wanted to be his friend. He wanted to be Nikolaas's friend, so that he wouldn't be surprised by it anymore.

"Of course I know what I'm saying." Matthew said, chuckling softly and glancing at the book on his lap, "Like I said, you've been nice to me, why wouldn't I want to be friends with you?" He continued to keep the smile on his face, though now it was more of a reassuring smile. He didn't want Nikolaas to think he was lying.