the day off, [joe]

[elenarizzo]

Elena Rizzo hadn't really attempted to pretty herself up today, but she hadn't purposefully done absolutely nothing to herself either. She didn't plan on doing much, but she was going out in public. She had slipped on a t-shirt and some dark wash jeans when she woke up this morning, her hair pulled into a side braid. She had only taken the time to lightly line her eyes with eyeliner before heading out the door. But she was never one of those girls that had to wear tons of make-up or dress up real pretty to look amazing. Something she had always gotten shit for from her older brother Dante.

El had finally decided on going to the River City library for the first time in what seemed like forever. She had the day off and she just wanted somewhere quiet, that wasn't her apartment, to sit down with a good book and read her pretty little heart out. She tugged open the door to the library and smiled at the little old lady behind the counter. Making a left she made a beeline for her favorite couches in the whole building, which was a pretty big building, three stories. Taking her usual spot on the couches, she pulled out her newest book.

She felt her phone vibrate a couple times, but she ignored it. Most likely it was just her brother, wanting to know where she was. It was nice, at times, to have a brother who was so protective of her. But other times, when she didn't feel like talking to him, or anyone in her family for that matter, it could get really annoying. She felt it go off a couple more times and she sighed, quickly pulling out her phone she sent him a text.

i'm at the library, leave me be.

[Joseph Jeremy Adams]

Joe loved the library, and in a world where there wasn't much he could say he loved, it was a big thing. He loved the quiet, the stillness, the smell of the books. It was just his kind of place. Most people looking at the tall Irishman wouldn't guess that he was as much of a literary bluff at all, hell most would probably figure he wouldn't read more than the bare minimum necessary to get through life. By the time people found out what he did for a living, he was lucky if they assumed he could read at all. But it was one of his favourite passtimes, one of the few things he was actually passionate about in this world. The only thing that really came close was writing. But no one knew about that, his battered notebook crammed with short stories were kept hidden away in a drawer. It was his ticket out, one day he'd leave this whole world behind, go to school, become a writer. But that was a far off dream, for now, he was content spending his free afternoons on the library, surrounded by his beloved books.

He wasn't much of a reader of new fiction, he preferred his books to be of the classic variety, but there had been a lot of buzz surrounding a book out that was being made into a movie, so out of curiosity, he'd picked a copy up of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, just to see if the hype lived up to expectations. So far it had, he'd been sitting on one of the couches, completely absorbed for over two hours. He'd shut out most of the rest of the world, the only thing he was really keyed into was his phone, knowing that if Pixel needed something, he needed to be gotten a hold of easily. He hadn't even noticed when someone sat next to him on the other side of the couch. It wasn't until he heard the muffled sound of a phone vibrating that he looked up from the book. His first reaction was to double check, make sure it wasn't his phone going off. When it wasn't, in typical Joe fashion, he became annoyed at the interruption.

A logical voice said he should just be thankful it was vibrate, not ringing loudly. But Joe wasn't really one known for his logic when he was feeling cranky. He turned his head to the side, watching as a pretty young woman pulled her phone out, texting someone. Texting, really? In a library? He swallowed his annoyance, no use getting peeved about it, really all things considered, it wasn't something worth the effort being annoyed caused. Though hardly an expert at talking himself down, Joe was getting better at admitting when he was being entirely unreasonable. It helped that she was a girl, if she'd been a he, well it was likely that the phone in question would have ended up shoved up somewhere the sun don't shine. He noticed something on the floor by her feet, a scrap of paper, probably a receipt that must have fallen from her purse when she grabbed her phone. He help his page and reached down, snatching it between his fingers. Waiting until seh'd sent her text, he held it out. “ I think this fell from your purse” he said in his softly lilting accent.

[elenarizzo]

Elena sighed as she threw her phone into her purse, not noticing something flutter out. Sometimes her brother really could be annoying. She loved him to death, but he was a little more protective than she cared for. And although she understood it, she just wanted to be left alone half the time; he was always asking if she was okay, and that was one thing she hated the most. She was as okay as she was going to get in her book. El had never been the most observant person, she hadn't even noticed someone was on the same couch as her until she heard his accent riddled voice. She turned to look at him.

"Oh, thanks." She smiled and took the slip of paper from him. It probably wasn't important, but she was glad that he was nice enough to give it to her. "I'm sorry if my phone bugged you." She wasn't sure he had heard it, or if it even bugged him. But she hadn't realized someone was around her and she knew how loud a phone vibrating could be in a silent library. "My idiot brother doesn't know when to leave me alone." Running through her straightened hair, she laughed softly, trying not to talk or make too much loud noise. There wasn't anyone else in the room they were in, but it was habit. It took her a few seconds to realize she was making small talk with a complete stranger, wow she really did need to get out more often with her friends.

Elena was never one to really start talk with random strangers, and she could always tell when she was getting too lonely by the fact that she'd talk to just about anyone. Although this guy didn't seem too bad, it probably wasn't the best habit she had; and she never was a good judge of character either. She carefully studied the man sitting next to her, it was a habit ever since Alexis, to study people. She wasn't sure why, maybe she was trying to determine exactly how much she could trust the person; but when you first meet someone you can't exactly tell. She noticed that he was a very attractive man, that was for sure. Her guards were up, like with any other person, but that wasn't going to stop her from being friendly.

[Joseph Jeremy Adams]

Joe nodded, a curt incline of his head, when she took the slip of paper back. The sad truth was, the nod was about as friendly as he could get. Joe wasn’t what anyone would call an approachable guy. While there may be plenty of people out there who were bright, and bubbly and friendly, Joe was like the anti-peppy. He generally preferred to be left alone to his own devices, and just generally not be bothered. He never had been social, even as a child he would rather spend his time in solitude than dealing with other children. It wasn’t that he was rude per say, though anyone who’d dealt with his less than rational temper may say otherwise, he was just easily bothered and a bit of a recluse. As a side note, calling him that, a recluse, was a surefire way to set off the temper, he just says he’s a private person.

He started to lift his book back up, ready to slip back into the void and get lost in the words when the girl spoke again. He tried to hide his annoyance at the interruption continued, since she was apologizing for her phone going off, he was able to brush it aside. Granted, he’d rather her stop talking so he could get back to reading, that would be better than an apology that only served to interrupt him further. “ S’alright” he muttered in response. It got harder to hide his exasperation when she kept it up. Her brother, seriously? Did it seem like he was sitting here, open for idle chit chat? Like he was even remotely interested in her brother texting her. “ Yeah, always a pain when someone interrupts you while you’re out doing something.” he said gruffly.

Joe was never one for branching out to talk to strangers, or anyone really, and it usually wasn’t the easiest when someone tried to engage him. This girl, he was sure, was sweet and nice, she certainly had an effortless beauty to her, but it had always taken more than a pretty face to get Joe’s attentions. If he wanted, he could have more than his share of vacant, pretty bimbo’s to string along, but truthfully, that wasn’t something that really even registered to him. After his last, rather curt statement, he brought his book back up, scanning the page to find his place. He could feel her eyes on him. She was probably looking him over no more than was natural for someone encountering a new person, but he felt her eyes like a physical touch. He dropped the book back down to his lap, turning his own dark eyes to look at her. He let out a small sigh, a tiny escaping breath of his exasperation. Had he not been at the library, he probably would have loudly told her off, if she’d been a man, there was a good chance she would have gotten a punch to the jaw. But they were in the library, and she was definitely a woman. So he resigned himself to try and be civil, if not entirely sociable. “ Sorry.” his simple reply to his earlier gruffness.


Occ// I know this doesn’t seem like it’s going all that well, Joe just takes a lot to warm up to people… he will eventually stop being annoyed and pissy to her

[elenarizzo]

Elena could kind of sense that he wasn't exactly happy with her interruptions, and she supposed she could understand that. But at the same time, she wasn't really sure she cared right now. It had been awhile since she had actually had a social interaction that didn't involve her brother or someone at the hotel. Clearing her throat, she diverted her gaze, realizing she had been kind of staring at him. She probably seemed kind of creepy, just looking him over. She was more conscious of her actions lately, more aware of what she thought might make someone mad. Though she usually was wrong and over thought things, it was strange. She had never really thought about it before. "I don't know, it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that he does it all the time."

Elena was usually a very private person, she didn't tell people much. And though this wasn't exactly ground breaking, she found it strange that she was talking about it. "But I suppose he's just being a big brother." What was she doing? Rambling about nothing to a random stranger. She really did need to get out more often. She looked back up at him and studied his facial expressions a bit. She could almost see a hint of annoyance, and suddenly she felt bad. He probably didn't care much about her brother, and she knew that, but she hadn't really thought about what she was interrupting for him. She shut her mouth then, feeling a bit awkward. It was at his next statement that her eyebrows furrowed and her head tilted slightly to the side. "Sorry for what?" She was kind of surprised by the apology, unsure of what he had done.

ooc: haha it's alright. sorry this is short. my brain doesn't want to cooperate with me, and it's been a long day.