The Prime Dimension

"Hm.. I did not." Roan mused, a half smile on her lips. "You must have great knowledge of magic if you've read all but a few of the books." Michael did not say there was only a couple of books he had not read, he even made it seem as if there were quite a few he hadn't, but Roan knew better. How? That was a secret she'd never tell. "Most of my time, as much as I'd like to spend curled up with a book, is spent on other things. Half dreams that will never come. Maybe I should be more like you~"

Moving around him, she headed deeper into the stacks, headed towards the windows, where she could see the rose garden she had worked hard to keep to perfection. "You were watching me yesterday. Working in my garden. Why?" Leaning against the windowsill she regarded the Keeper with a raised eyebrow. She had asked him that when he was in her home, but he hadn't answered, and she was a curious creature. "Surely you had a good reason, as you made it quite clear you didn't like me much." Her smile widened.

"Oh you don't want to be like me. Trust me." Michael spent a significant portion of his day looking over his shoulder and just trying to stay busy enough to keep his painful memories buried deeply enough to never see daylight. "You get to go out and have fun. But I spend all my time here."

Michael turned away from the stacks and headed back toward his desk. He sat himself down on the corner and began to idly peruse the papers still sitting on its surface. He was nervous, and when he was nervous he fidgeted... a lot. Once he'd thumbed through all the sheets, he started to reorganize his desk. Not that there was anything wrong with it from the beginning, but it kept his hands moving.

Michael was snapped back to reality when Roan asked why he'd been watching her. He had successfully avoided answering it earlier, but it seemed she was far too stubborn to let it go. "You... remind me of someone. That's all. I wanted to see what you were like when we were not in the same room together. So many two-sided people out there..."

For a moment, Michael's heart seemed to beat much faster than normal. What if she took offense to what he'd said? What if she agreed? Michael hated variables, this one more than any others.

Roan followed Michael to his desk and watched him fidget, messing about with the things on his desk. "Aye? Whoever I remind you of must've been pretty hot." She winked at him with a smile on her face. "You sure you weren't just taking a gander at my ass?" It sure was fun to tease him. It wasn't the same as before, since he now seemed to not mind her company, and had actually started speaking to her. Plus, she figured if she kept him talking his mind wouldn't wander. His episode from before had clued her in to more than he might have guessed, and she knew that if minds wandered in the state his was in that it could lead to another episode. Or worse.

"If you don't want to stay cooped up in here, we could walk together. Outside. Through my gardens. It's peaceful and no one really goes through there. Its got to be bad for your lungs to be surrounded by dust all day." Roan offered for him to walk with her, a sort of small stepping stone to getting him to open up. Not necessarily about his trauma, but just in general. She'd gotten curious about him and in her quest to figure him out, she hoped she could help him heal.  Even if only a little bit.

Of course she wouldn't push it in him, he had to want it or it would never happen.  "It would give you plenty of opportunity to look at my glorious rear again~" She continued to tease, jokingly, really just unable to help herself.

"Out...side?" The thought alone of going outside with another person was enough to make Michael's stomach turn a full flip, like the feeling you get when the roller coaster you are on dives straight down and makes you feel like your insides are floating around and rearranging themselves. Having never been on a roller coaster, Michael didn't really know what to think of it. What he did know was that this girl was nice to him, and seemed genuine enough. Maybe things would work out.

No. No he couldn't let himself fall into that trap again. No one was on his side. Everyone would betray him... lock him up and torture him until he wanted to die. She was no different from anyone else, was she? His mind raced for a quarter of a second, but eventually came to the conclusion that it was better to know his enemy rather than run away and be blind to the dangers of the world.

"Your glorious rear, hmm? Maybe you just want me to go so you can look at mine. Hmm?" His joke made no sense to him as soon as he said it, but that was nothing new. Everything was always different in his head, except for a few major differences.

Intentionally he skipped over her question about who she reminded him of. He wasn't a very good liar, and if she really wanted to know, he would tell her, which would offend her, which would end any friendship there may have been growing there, which would turn him back into a loner.

What was the point?