Oh, so he did get her right the book! Angelo smiled to himself. But he had to wonder, why she couldn’t have said so in the first place. She must have been too polite, too thoughtful, too shy, he reasoned before glancing at her throat sympathetically.
Or she could be suffering a sore throat today. Makes sense.
The artist was about to pass the book to her at long last, as he really could just busy himself with another book—but to his surprise, she kept going! He tilted his head as the long-haired beauty continued to convey her thoughts through delicate movements once more.
In a comfortable silence, his patient gaze followed her index finger: From the book, to herself, and to the area where the tables were. It took a while, but as realisation overcame him, his indigo eyes widened slightly. “Read together?” He asked, almost inaudibly.
Angelo looked at her, then down at the book. Just when he thought she couldn’t surprise him further. What an interesting lady. His eyes gleamed as nodded to her request. Angelo led the way with the hundred-paged book about the technology and the culture in Pelagos Islands securely tucked in his folded arm.
Upon finding a nice spot to “read together”, he gently pulled a chair for the other before settling down beside her. He placed the book down between them, all the while maintaining an appropriate distance. (They were still strangers, after all.)
And for a while, it remained as silent as it did. Except now, it felt more uneasy.
Now what? He had never done this before. He glanced at her, then back at the book he had already flipped open. As much he enjoyed charades, the artist realised how difficult it might be to carry on their form of communication. And how easily awkward it could get with them being much closer than they were a few minutes ago.
So, Angelo held a finger up as if to say, Could you please give me a moment?
The brunet then, rummaged through his worn-out duffel bag that he had placed under the table. It was impossible for him to leave the apartment without a single drawing pad. He wriggled out a notepad and a pen between his other art materials. Leafing through his doodles and random ideas, he opened to a new page. And in dark ink—Angelo wrote in her peripheral view with his best penmanship:
───────『••✎••』─────────
Hey. Sorry, I can’t help, but wonder if maybe,
your throat is sore… or maybe you’re just
really dedicated to keep silent in the library.
Whichever case, I hope this makes it
easier for us to talk! ( ◠ ◡ ◠ )
- Angelo
────────────────────
Smiling, he motioned for her to take the pen.
It didn’t take long for the brunet to catch onto what she was suggesting. Although she wasn’t much of a people-person, from her own insecurities, she was willing to spare a few moments. After all, she was benefiting from it, too. The book had been checked out for awhile and with it finally back on the shelves, she had hoped that her turn wouldn’t have been too far in the future. It may have put her in an odd situation, but she was glad that the stranger was up for unexpected company.
Keira nodded in thanks as the other pulled out a chair for her to use and she took her seat, sweeping her long hair off to the side. It didn’t take long for her to immerse herself into the pages once he opened it, scanning every line and footnote. She had grown used to the silence between herself and the people in her presence; it had become her new life’s normal. And because of that, she hadn’t noticed that he was rather uncomfortable with it - until he moved to grab paper and a pen.
Her eyes moved from the pages to read over his note, then looked to him. She had hoped for a silent reading, but when inviting another with the ability to vocalize their thoughts... perhaps that was wishful thinking. They had a tendency to feel uneasy when it became too quiet with another nearby. Taking the pen from him she kept her response short and to the point.
╔═════ ☽༓‧͙・⁺˚*・‧͙ ༓☾ ══════╗
I’m unable to speak.
╚═════ ☽༓‧͙・⁺˚*・‧͙ ༓☾ ══════╝
She placed the pen down on the notepad and slid it back to him, her attention shifting back to the book between them.