Lost in Thought on Library

Librarian Amelle Nicchi

December 30, 2016 5:11 PM

Lost in Thought by Librarian Amelle Nicchi

It had been a bit of a surreal holiday break for Amelle. Normally, she would head back to her friend’s place in New Orleans where she would spend her time going to Jazz clubs and having a good time and then spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day in Staten Island with her parents, but that had not been the case this year. Instead of doing the usual, Amelle had spent the first week with her family in Sicily and the second week hiking around Australia with Rory.

Amelle had discovered that she was not made for camping, even Magical camping that had quite a lot more luxuries than Muggle camping from what Amelle understood. She hated bugs. She hated being too hot. She hated being too cold. She was terrified at night with all the sights and sounds that surrounded their tent. She was quite the wuss when it came to camping and she had no idea how Rory had put up with her. Australia (despite its gigantic bugs) had been beautiful and she was glad for the long hikes and creature watching she had been able to do with him. More so than that, they had talked about what they wanted and had taken a step forward (or a leap, depending on how one looked at things) in their relationship in a lot of ways. It was because of this that Amelle hadn’t really wanted to end their camping trip at all.

But, here she was, sitting at her desk in the quiet library, returning letters to other administrations regarding upgrades to the textbooks for next year. She was reminded about the conversation she had with her parents while she visited them during Christmas. They weren’t happy that she was still a Librarian. They respected the job more so now than they had previously, but they felt that she was wasting all the valuable time and effort she had put in to getting her degree by not finding a job suitable to that. At the time, Amelle didn’t care to hear it (she rarely did whenever it was an opinion of her parents), but the more she thought about it, the more she felt they were right.

Getting her degree in psychology with a specialization in Counseling had been a big accomplishment and one that she was quite proud of. But she really did love working for Sonora and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to move on from that. This was especially because of her new relationship and her relationship with her colleagues and students. She felt comfortable here and like it was her home. The school didn’t have a counselor though, so she would have to discuss her options with Headmaster Brockert and Deputy Headmistress Skies just to see.

She looked up from her desk when she heard a polite tap. “Checking out?” Amelle smiled and stood, taking the books to sign them out to the student in front of her.

6 Librarian Amelle Nicchi Lost in Thought 32 Librarian Amelle Nicchi 1 5

Alfie Pye

January 08, 2017 6:58 PM

Lost in your eyes ;) by Alfie Pye

Alfie had a problem. And his problem had a name. She was called Isis. More specifically, she was called Isis-is-a-busybody-and-won’t-leave-me-alone.

Over the years of working together, he and Isis had grown close. They had been friends with benefits for awhile and he’d been rather impressed with her ability to keep things platonic, especially since he knew he couldn’t promise her anything more than a deep friendship as his heart was somewhere else. But what he hadn’t realised was that it was impossible to shake of Isis Carter when she was on a mission and it seemed that Isis Carter was indeed on a mission.

It made Alfie feel very frustrated. Couldn’t she see that everything he was doing, the way he was slowly pulling away from her and Amelle (Tallec was no longer an issue as his best friend had moved away and been replaced by another RT, though Alfie had very briefly worried that the Powers That Be had torn Tallec from his side in a twisted attempt to see how he would react)? She had to! But it seemed that Isis didn’t want to let go of their friendship, she was persistent, dragging him down to staff dinners or out with her and Amelle and Rory when the staff had some free time to do group activities. He was half worried that she would be setting up on double dates with herself and Nathan now that she and the new Herbology professor, old groundskeeper had gotten together. That would have been awkward for many reasons, especially because by the end of the night he would have been the only one to have seen everyone barring the groundskeeping professor naked.

In the end, there was only one thing to do, and that was to pay a visit to everyone’s favourite librarian.

As he left his office to enter the library through the Aladren common room entrance, Alfie half-smiled. There had been a time not too long ago where the Care of Magical Creatures professor had thought he’d had a thing for the impossibly cute and freckled librarian, that this thing Alfie supposedly had for Amelle was responsible for the mild animosity he displaced towards Tallec’s replacement. These feelings were long gone now and in the past, however, since Rory and Amelle had made rather quick work of it and were now an official item. He didn’t know if the students knew, but the staff was small and word got around quickly.

When he got to the desk, he tapped politely to get her attention away from whatever it was she was doing and leaned over, flashing a charming smile. “Maybe you,” he said with a wink in response to her rather suggestive comment. It was typical Alfie banter and he was sure he’d get a rolled eye or something similar in response. He and Amelle were only friends, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t flirt with her. He flirted with her boyfriend from time to time, after all. Flirting was just…well, fun.

“But more seriously,” he said, playfulness gone as he lowered his voice so as not to be overheard. “I wanted to talk to you about something that’s been kind of bothering me and I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

Alfie honestly didn’t know what he was going to say or how he was going to say it. It sounded rude to ask her to tell Isis to leave him alone, but he couldn’t very well open up and tell Amelle that his father and grandfather were raging psychopaths and that they associated with other raging psychopaths and that he was afraid he had gotten the gene too because he had recently discovered Barnaby didn’t have it (though he did have a raging psychopathic best friend) and he didn’t want all of the raging psychopathicness of it all to come down on two maybe three people who he cared so deeply about (namely Amelle and Isis since Cecily didn’t know who he was anymore and he didn’t give two hoots about Jake but thought that he cared enough about Rory and Nathan because Amelle and Isis did that he could combine them into one person).

10 Alfie Pye Lost in your eyes ;) 30 Alfie Pye 0 5

Amelle

January 08, 2017 9:04 PM

Careful now, I'm a taken woman :P by Amelle

Amelle looked up to see Alfie staring back at her and gave a laugh when he answered her question. She should have known it wasn’t a student in here who was in need to check out books. Her monitors were good about handling things anyway so it was a rarity if she was ever in need for anything whenever they were around. “Har har, Alfie.” She responded. She hadn’t seen Alfie visit her for some time. Actually, she hadn’t really seen much of him all around.

She knew that he was spending less time with them and had been for a while, but she sort of assumed that it had been because she and Isis were now dating others. He still came out from time to time and when she managed to make a meal, he was usually there, but it was overall less of him. The thought actually made her quite sad.

Aside from Isis, Alfie had always made her feel rather welcome, partially because of his flirtatious ways. The first few times that Alfie had flirted with her, she had been so surprised and taken off guard over it, but then she realized that he did it with everyone and so it just became the way of things. There had never been anything more than playful banter between them as she doubted either one of them was actually interested in anything more (and now the idea of such a thing really made her laugh and not because she didn’t adore Alfie, but he was more of a brother to her than anything else) but she did miss that banter. Most especially when her days felt really long and she needed a break from life and didn’t want to be a whiny girlfriend to Rory.

She was prepared upon seeing that it was Alfie, to have a nice joke between the two and a lovely conversation, however, that went away quite quickly when the next thing that came out of his mouth was ‘but more seriously’. She wasn’t sure if she had ever heard those words uttered from his mouth before and she wasn’t exactly sure on how to react to it. But Alfie was her friend and she cared deeply for him so she would do what she could to help him.

“Of course.” Amelle replied and pushed the papers she had out in front of her to the side to give him her full attention. “Take a seat and tell me what’s up? What has been bothering you that you need help with?”

6 Amelle Careful now, I'm a taken woman :P 32 Amelle 0 5

Alfie

January 08, 2017 9:27 PM

We could change those things quite easily ;) by Alfie

Alfie smiled warmly when Amelle asked him to sit. He moved around the desk and pulled a chair up close. Leaning forward, Alfie rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands almost as if in prayer, his head low and his fingers twitched and he mulled over what he needed to talk about. “I’ve, er, gotten myself into a bit of a sticky situation,” he said, his voice quiet and ashamed. A bit of a sticky situation was a bit of an understatement, but Amelle didn’t have to know that, and besides, if he was being completely accurate, he hadn’t gotten himself in to anything, he was trying to get Barnaby out and reset his family name before the timer ran out for all of them.

“It’s, I mean, it’s really complicated, and it’s a lot of work, and,” he frowned again. He felt like he’d already said too much even though he knew that he hadn’t really said anything at all. “I don’t know, you know I care about you girls a lot, and I appreciate the space you’ve been giving me but Isis…” He took a deep breath. “Isis won’t let go, and I’m worried about her. Do you think you could talk to her? Distract her? I don’t know, get her to back off a little?”

Alfie hadn’t brought this up with Isis at all yet, but he was worried how she would react. Would she cling tighter? Or would she never want to talk to him again? Neither option was one that he liked to think about, to be honest, and part of him felt good that she valued their friendship that much to not let him pull away like he was trying to do. But he couldn’t get any closer to her than he already was, he didn’t want his father or his father’s friends to know about his friendships at Sonora, if they found out about Isis or Amelle (or even Rory) and used them against him, Alfie didn’t think he’d ever be able to forgive himself. The only thing keeping him from resigning immediately to protect his students was the knowledge that his father knew Alfie well and the Alfie his father knew would have hated teaching and he was counting on that.

“There’s a lot of pressure on me to handle this…thing,” he explained. “And I would hate for you or her to get caught up in it accidentally… It’s auror stuff,” he added by way of excuse. “Some really deep stuff from a few years ago and I just can’t handle it if I have to worry about civilians accidentally walking in on the middle of something. I know I shouldn’t be doing it at school, and I’m keeping it away from the students, just in my office and room, really, and only after hours—” that wasn’t true, he often spent his office hours working quietly on files that he would hastily shove into desk drawers when students knocked at his door “—and it’s a favour to my old boss,—” a lie “—but no one knows I’m doing this—” a partial truth “—and I’d like to keep it this way and…”

He trailed off, still looking at his feet. “I’ve already said too much, I know it’s bad to do this at school, but I’m planning on leaving soon if it continues much longer, there’s no use endangering other people, I’ve healed mostly anyway, I could probably take some time off to study and re-take the auror test and be reinstated, but, for now… I mean I haven’t talked to her about this, but Isis has lost people and I don’t want to hurt her, but…”

Alfie shook his head and looked up. “I don’t even know what I’m asking of you anymore, I just need advice, maybe, on what to do…”

10 Alfie We could change those things quite easily ;) 30 Alfie 0 5

Amelle

January 10, 2017 10:21 PM

But I like them how they are. by Amelle

Amelle watched Alfie settle himself in the chair and a look of concern fell across her features as she watched him. She would be ashamed to admit it but when he began to talk to her, her mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had gotten the wrong individual pregnant and now he didn’t know what to do about it. But, after a moment of reflection, she realized how silly of a thing that would be for Alfie to come to her for. But she supposed her idea of him being a playboy was influencing her current train of thought so she let it drop and waiting it out to figure out what it was that Alfie was trying to tell her.

What he actually requested of her, however, was not anything at all like she thought it would be. He wanted her to tell Isis to leave him alone? What in the world? Couldn’t he just say that to him herself? They were all adults after all and Amelle thought that Isis would respect his wishes at least a little bit and give him some space (especially since some of her time was now being spent with the Herbology Professor). Maybe Alfie just didn’t know how to politely turn women away? Or he was afraid Isis would have an emotional reaction and he wouldn’t know how to handle that? She could actually see that as being the reason why Alfie needed someone else to do the work for him.

As he continued, Amelle only became more confused. Why would the Auror Department allow for a citizen (as he pointed as the rest of them were and thus, technically he was as well) to actually work on an active case file whether he previously worked it or not? That made absolutely no sense. She wanted to call him out on his bullsh*t but since he was trying to work up the nerve to figure his own issue out, she kept her mouth closed. It didn’t ultimately matter whether he was doing this ‘job’ for his former employer or if he was doing a ‘job’ for himself, he needed time to figure it out and Isis was apparently complicating the matter. Amelle wasn’t exactly sure why her safety or the safety of Isis was called into question and she had to pause and think just how deep Alfie had dug himself where that was a worry of his.

Her eyes widened suddenly when he mentioned leaving. The friend in her wanted to jump up and shout that he couldn’t leave them, but the professional part of her remained quiet; however difficult that was for her. She knew how much his Auror career meant to him and that eventually he would attempt to go back to that, but she just wasn’t expecting that time to be anywhere in the near future.

She remained silent and thoughtful for a moment after he finished speaking. She wanted to hug him and tell him it would be okay, but she didn’t think he’d appreciate it enough to consider that the advice that he was looking for. “I appreciate you coming to me for help, Alfie, and I love you dearly, but you don’t have to lie about what it is you’re doing.” She said this quietly but not at all accusatory. “I won’t ask you what you are really doing, but I hope you are keeping yourself safe.” She left it at that. It killed her not knowing the truth and knowing even if she did know it that she most likely wouldn’t be able to help him with it, but she was never the sort to push people into telling her things they weren’t willing to tell in the first place.

“I don’t mind saying something to Isis, but I cannot guarantee that she’ll listen to me about it. She’s a complicated woman and you know her far better than I.” Amelle stated with a small smile. She reached out and placed a comforting hand on his arm. “If whatever you are doing is so dangerous, maybe you should get out while you can? You’re suffering and pushing others away because of it. That’s heartbreaking for us to see.”

6 Amelle But I like them how they are. 32 Amelle 0 5

Alfie

January 18, 2017 2:42 AM

T-t-time may change me. But I can't trace time. by Alfie

Alfie let the quiet after Amelle finished speaking hang in the air for a bit. A long time ago he wouldn't have liked the quiet, but now after all these years he found that he rather enjoyed it. Alfie felt like an old man of ninety instead of a young thirty. Had his family really aged him so much? Amelle did make sense, he knew they cared for him just as he knew that he couldn't let them know what was going on. It would be unsafe. For them, or for him? He wasn't really sure. Perhaps on some level he was more afraid of the closeness sharing such a burden would bring about than he was afraid that somehow someone would find out that he confided in a coworker.

"It's too late to get out now," Alfie finally said quietly, afraid now to look Amelle in the eye. "I was born into it. And I can't tell Isis...my family..." he trailed off as he tried to find a good way to phrase it. "My previous job as an auror is already a touchy subject, if I tell her about my family now? I come from a terribly corrupt, white collar family, my father, my grandfather, they're..." Alfie had never admitted it out-loud before to another person who wasn't Do and now that he found he was about to, he wasn't sure if he could and his voice died off before he could finish his thought.

"Anyway, I'm keeping myself as safe as is possible, and I'll try not to push you guys away--" this might be my last chance to be with some of you he thought "--but I do need a little bit of space to...figure all this out, prepare for the auror test, do something with my life other than teach because even though I like it now, teaching isn't my dream. I want to be out there, doing things, helping people, it's all I've ever wanted and then my father, my father..."

The first time he said it, he sounded spiteful but when he repeated it only seconds late he was resigned. "He interfered because no son of his was going to be on the auror force, especially not his first born, but it won't matter soon." He was rambling now and he stood up to go, aware that he was simultaneously sharing too much while also holding back enough for none of it to make much sense at all. "I'll see you at dinner, and maybe we can go out this weekend, like old times?"

OOC: Sorry for the wait! And sorry that it's also so short!

10 Alfie T-t-time may change me. But I can't trace time. 30 Alfie 0 5

Amelle

January 18, 2017 5:06 PM

I watch the ripples change their size by Amelle

Amelle knew that Alfie and Isis were two very private people who didn’t tell her much of anything regarding their personal lives. Amelle took it as it was and never pushed it. It also meant that she didn’t confide much to them either as she did not feel comfortable sharing herself when someone wasn’t comfortable sharing back on the same personal level. Things shifted between her and Isis last summer when her friend came to her to spill some of her history about her mother to her. Amelle hadn’t really known what to say then and now that Alfie was opening up to her, she didn’t know what to say now.

She knew this was terribly difficult for Alfie to say, so she remained quiet while he tried to find the words to explain how he felt about everything. Amelle knew very little about the Pyes (or any European family that was not from Sicily) but the more Alfie spoke, she realized just how conflicted he was over them. His family was what was tormenting him. She felt a painful throb in her chest as she listened to him. How would she have felt if she found out her father was not a good man? Or her extended family? Devastated.

By the sounds of it, Alfie was working on a way to stop his family. She didn’t know what that meant. It could mean so many things. Throwing him to the court to be sentenced to Azkaban or maybe even death. Amelle didn’t want to think that her sweet and charming Alfie would ever plot to murder someone, let alone his father (even if the man maybe deserved it). The painful throb hit her again when she realized that whatever it was that he was doing would be the end of Alfie as he spoke about exams and the dangers he was in. He could quite possibly disappear from her life altogether. She hoped that wasn’t the case. She hoped he kept a part of himself, the part that she and Isis knew and loved, through all of this and remained their friend even if it was only at arm’s length.

Amelle wanted to cry. She wanted to allow herself that one moment of weakness because it was clear that Alfie would not allow it for himself. But she was at her place of work and there were some students in the library that would keep her from doing so. Maybe, later, when she was in her quarters, she would remember this ache again and the tears could fall freely then.

“Of course.” Amelle said quietly, giving him as much of a smile as she could to show him that she supported him. “And… I’ll talk to Isis. I’ll have her give you some space.” She added. She didn’t know what she was going to say to Isis to make this happen, but it was clear that Alfie had too much on his plate and Isis was only making that anxiety worse for him.

6 Amelle I watch the ripples change their size 32 Amelle 0 5