A Respite|(Jane - FINISHED)

[chase]

To state that the library was quiet would have been redundant. Chase was fully aware that libraries tended to follow a general policy of requesting that their patrons remain s silent and respectful of others as possible. This was not his first time paying a visit to such a place- far from it. He had spent a considerable portion of the last several years studying in libraries, and he knew how valuable a bit of time spent there could be.

Still, he was astounded by how soothing the peaceful atmosphere was. After spending the morning and early afternoon doing the bidding of various professors, he was even more grateful for the time to himself.

There was an upside to all the work, though. It served as an excellent distraction. Now that he was alone with his thoughts, he was finding it far more difficult to keep from thinking of Lenore. So decided to bury himself in some old texts about ancient Greek civilization. If he could find something in actual Greek, that would be even better. The process of translating it would take even more brainpower.

After finding some interesting titles via the library's computerized catalog, Chase proceeded into the stacks with a piece of paper in his hand. The paper had a list of the catalog numbers he had picked. Fortunately, for once, he had happened to choose books that were easily accessible.

He did not run into a problem until he went to retrieve the very last book on the list. The tome was on the top shelf. Chase wheeled a Kik-Step over to the shelf and stood on it, reaching up for the book in question while balancing the other volumes he had collected in his left hand. Somehow, even on the stool, he was not quite tall enough to reach the top shelf naturally.

He was halfway to the floor before he realized just how bad an idea that had been. The stool tipped over, thanks to the imbalance caused by the books in Chase's one arm and his stretching with the other, and he hit the floor with a solid thump. The fall was not a bad one, though it did really hurt his back and cause his books to fly down the aisle.

Chase stayed down for a moment as if to chastise and punish himself for being so careless. That had been really, really stupid. After a few seconds of being stunned, he sat up and rubbed his back, looking around anxiously to see who might have noticed that little fall. "Ow."

[JANE EYRE]

Jane wanted to do a modern rendition of Prometheus's torture but it had been so long since she read the myth that she felt it wise to go to the library and read it. The only problem was, once she found the book on the library catalog, Jane got lost. Somewhere between books on smart financial planning and haiku's written in kanji, Jane ended up confused about where she was. There were books that seemed to be on no particular topic even though Jane was certain they shared that and there was a man teetering dangerously on a stool up ahead of her.

Jane wanted to go over and help him but he seemed like he was concentrating so much that an interruption would only cause trouble. She turned to walk away quietly, hoping that he wouldn't fall.

But she heard the crash and the clatter of books. Jane turned around, ready to walk over to him and make sure that he's alright and wasn't all that surprised to find his stack of heavy books scattered about like lethargic turtles and the man himself lying on his back. Jane walked over to him quickly as he sat up and was almost at his side when he started looking around to see if anyone saw.

She had.

"Are you alright?"

[chase]

The sound of a voice so close to him made Chase reflexively turn his head toward the sound. There was a young woman standing there, looking down at him as she spoke. Chase blinked for a moment and then blushed before looking away. "I'm okay. It's mostly my ego that's bruised. But thanks."

He looked around and saw the books scattered around, and decided that, while he was on the ground, he might as well start picking them up. Some of the books had not gone too far, so he sat up and scooped up the nearest ones into his arms. Lenore would have laughed and called him a total klutz, as she always had.

...Where had that thought come from? After all the effort he had put into forgetting Lenore, he was right back where he had started. Everything reminded him of her. The embarrassment on his face changed to a look of dejection and tiredness. Reaching for another book, he leaned against the stool that he had tripped over. "They definitely don't make these things for clumsy people," he remarked about the stool, in what should have been a light and cheerful tone but which actually came out a little bit dry.

[JANE EYRE]

"Here, let me help," Jane knelt and began to pick up the books that were out of the man's reach. She picked up the volumes, enjoying the feel of the dry covers and slightly rough edges against her palm.

"They definitely don't make these things for clumsy people," Jane glanced over at the tipped stool. No, they most certainly did not. The legs looked to thin and rickety to Jane and she could see a bolt or two that was coming loose. "You're quite lucky it only tipped and didn't break apart," Jane said in a tone equally as dry as his. Even though Jane didn't know this man at all she could tell that something was on his mind, bothering him.

When her arms were full of books (at least, full for Jane. Her small person and scrawny arms didn't hold much) Jane wobbled to her feet. She was glad that on this day she chose to wear jeans. Normally, Jane wore skirts and dresses that were very conservative but today since she wasn't working and was going to paint anyway, she wore jeans that were faded and almost worn bare in places and a t-shirt that was far more casual than most of what she owned.

The jeans and t-shirt made it easier to rescue books though.

[chase]

The young woman began to pick up some of the books that Chase had spilled, which was an incredibly nice gesture. He had not expected anyone to help him, and would have been fine scooping up the books alone if he had to, but the help was definitely appreciated. She seemed to commiserate as well, remarking on the build of the stool in a sardonic tone, to which Chase nodded and chuckled a bit. The cheap thing had probably toppled many an unwitting librarian in the same way.

He picked up the rest of the books, including a couple that had landed a few feet away from the scene. Fortunately, all of the books seemed to be in good condition, having avoided being folded over or falling apart upon hitting the floor. The book he had been reaching for in the first place was still on the top shelf, but he figured he could do without that particular volume, especially since he was now without a stool.

Reporting the broken stool would probably have been a good idea, and Chase decided to do that on his way out. Of course, the fall had had just about as much to do with the stool as it had with Chase's clumsiness and poor planning with regard to tall shelves, so perhaps the library's staff would choose not to do anything about it. That was up to them; at least he would have done his job as a citizen. Lenore would have approved.

"Thanks so much," Chase said to the young woman. "I can grab those." He extended his hands to take the books she had gathered; or, rather, he extended the stack of books in his hands for her to pile the other books on top of. The stack of books was already tall, and once she added the remaining books, would have completely covered his face if he had held them at chest level.

"Do you think I picked out too many books?" he joked, a bit weakly. It still felt strange to joke about things, especially things that Lenore would have found funny, which was pretty much everything. Still, he managed to muster a smile, which did help him feel a little better. The woman's kindness had put him in a slightly better mood, which was a relief.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane refrained from stacking her books on top of his already considerable stack. "I can help you carry these. I wouldn't mind," Jane pulled the books closer to her body and adjusted her grip so the books didn't go tumbling down again. It seemed like a much better idea to abandon her research to help the young man. Prometheus could wait. After all, he was supposed to spend an eternity chained to that rock.

"Do you think I picked out too many books?" Jane smiled and shook her head. "Absolutely not. There is no such thing as too many books. I'm saying that as both a teacher and an avid reader myself," Jane looked down at the cover of the book and was mildly surprised not to understand the title. It looked to be in Greek which Jane, regrettably, did not read. She never had the idea to learn it either. She practiced her French and English diligently instead. Jane would much rather perfect two languages than learn many and not be passable in any of them.

"I'm Jane, by the way," Jane added shyly.

[chase]

Chase smiled as the woman offered to help him carry the books. Yet another kind gesture on her part. It sort of helped to restore Chase's faith in people a bit- the faith he had lost a few months earlier with the death of Lenore.

The smile became a grin at her comment about having too many books. It was nice to see another fan of reading. He thought books had become something of an unappreciated medium, due partly to the Internet and e-books and the like. Those were awesome, but could not really replace the smell and feel of a real book. To him, at least, books were comforting in a way that electronic media just did not manage.

"I'm Chase," he answered when she mentioned her name. "Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but-" he lifted his stack of books slightly- "that may have to wait until later." Hopefully the joke would bring her out of her apparent shyness a bit. He gestured with the books toward a nearby table with chairs. "I guess we could just drop these at that table over there. Thanks so much for the help."

He began to walk over to the table, assuming that Jane would follow him. "So, you're a teacher?" he asked, interested in her choice of occupation because it resembled his current job so closely. "I'm a teacher's assistant over at NYU. Classics and Greek and Latin studies. What do you teach?" Having reached the table, he put down the books and shook out his hands, giving her a friendly smile.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane nodded and followed Chase to the table, eager to put the books down. Her spindly arms were too weak to support the books for much longer. At the table, she let them drop a little heavier than she had planned on and they thumped quite loudly. Jane didn't even attempt to try to answer Chase's answer while carrying the books because she was focusing too much on not dropping the books. Once the books were safely parked and her hands were dusted off, Jane was able to answer.

"I'm a high school art teacher. And, even though my class doesn't require much reading, I like to pick up a good book when I'm not working," Of course, that had a little to do with the fact that she didn't have a television or computer. She had a library and a radio and that was all she needed to spend an evening content.

I'm a teacher's assistant over at NYU. Classics and Greek and Latin studies Jane couldn't help but smile excitedly at the news from Chase. "That sounds fascinating. And it explains many of your book choices here,"

[chase]

The books Jane had been carrying made a solid thud against the tabletop, a sound which might have startled Chase if he had not been expecting it. He felt bad about having let her carry the books, now that he had seen that she had struggled with it a bit. She seemed all right though, once she had put the books down, and she then gave a reply to his question about her job. He nodded in response.

"High school art? Sounds challenging, but rewarding. Depends on the students, I guess." Chase chuckled a little at a few memories of his high school years. They seemed so far away now, though he was only in his mid-twenties. "My friends and I were angels, of course. We went to Molloy High, in Queens."

To his delight, Jane looked rather excited at Chase's statement on his own job as a TA. "It does, doesn't it?" he answered with a grin, impressed that she had noticed the Greek and Latin texts and had made that connection so easily. "And it's a great job, at least to me. Most people would probably find it boring, compared to, I guess, professional snowboarding, or that type of thing." Professional snowboarding? That had been a random occupation for him to pick. He winced a bit when he remembered that Lenore had once made a joke about snowboarders and accidents.

"So, um, do you spend much time here? At this particular library, I mean," he said, trying to distract himself. As he spoke, he pulled out a chair and sat at the table, sorting the books into little piles according to their subject. "I haven't been here in a while. I grew up here, but now I live in Manhattan."

[JANE EYRE]

"Since I'm not one for athletics, I can say that I much prefer your job to professional snowboarding," Jane slid out a chair that was across from Chase and, following his lead, began to help him sort his books. "And my job is rather rewarding at times, especially when one of the students actually like art,"

"So, um, do you spend much time here? At this particular library, I mean,"

"No, this is my first time here, amongst the books, actually. I just moved here from England not even a month ago and hadn't had a reason to visit until now," Jane smiled, hoping to make Chase feel a bit more comfortable. It was clear that there was something that was troubling him; it seemed like every time he said something, a dark shadow of an unpleasant memory would pass over his face. Jane didn't think it would be polite to ask what it was since they had literally just met.

"I needed to research a myth for a painting I want to do and I decided that I didn't need to use the library's computers for that. I wanted to get my information from a book so I could have it as a reference while I painted,"

[chase]

Chase smiled at Jane's response, it was nice to talk to someone who could relate to finding such non-physical work as literature and art as interesting as the most challenging sport. He was also glad he had not tripped her up with that odd snowboarding comment. As she mentioned her students, he nodded, as he could relate to that somewhat as a teacher's assistant.

"And my job is rather rewarding at times, especially when one of the students actually like art,"

"Yeah, I've found the same in my work. It's great when the students really show interest, though I guess in college it's a bit different, since you have more say over which classes you take." The books had now been organized into tidy stacks, thanks in large part to Jane's help. But talking to her seemed more interesting than reading Greek, and just as distracting, if not more so, so he left the books alone and listened to Jane as she mentioned having just arrived from England.

"Well, welcome to New York, I guess." He found himself growing less nervous and wracked, and her easygoing manner probably had a lot to do with that. "A myth? Which one?" he asked, hoping he was not being too nosy, but myths were something of a specialty of his after all, especially the Greek and Roman sort.

[JANE EYRE]

"The myth about Prometheus. Specifically the part concerning the rock and the eagle," Jane relaxed back into the chair with a small smile. When Chase got on a topic that was interesting to him, he lit up happily and breezed through his words and his eyes sparkled with a new light and a different intesity. A lighter intensity that was so different from the meloncholy one that had been glowing when she found him on the floor with heavy books scattered about. A part of her was so pleased that she was able to help the young man forget some of his worries, even if it was just a temporary thing.

"I wouldn't suppose that you know anything about Greek mythology," Jane said jokingly. Obviously he knew something. Jane cast a glance at the books and nodded to herself mentally. A man who checked out books in Greek had to know something. At least, that was Jane's logic.

[chase]

When Jane quizzed him on knowing Greek mythology, Chase grinned childishly. Did he? "Oh, not much. Just a myth here and there." He chuckled a bit, openly acknowledging that this was a gross understatement. As he had mentioned and as Jane was obviously alluding to, he had studied the subject in depth throughout his school years, and still was to a large extent.

He was very familiar with Prometheus' story; in fact, he had examined several different accounts of it at some point (for as with most ancient myths, it had developed over time and been reworked often). "Prometheus on the rock, hmm? That sounds pretty challenging." His tone made it evident that, by noting the difficulty of the subject matter, he was not belittling her talent in any way; rather, he was impressed by her choice. "What I mean is, having your liver eaten alive for eternity is fairly heavy stuff, at least to me."

He glanced down at the books for a moment. Prometheus' story had always been an intriguing one to him, but now it suddenly seemed to take on a new light, a familiar light- or perhaps darkness- which the death of Lenore had a habit of shining everywhere lately. The sensation of having your innards attacked by an eagle all day as you lay helplessly bound to a rock, only to have your liver regenerate overnight and experience it all over again the next day and the next and the next, seemed vaguely familiar to him, though of course he had never been through anything remotely similar to that physically. But the burden of grief he felt over Lenore was like that emotionally. By day, he was ambushed by memories and important places and even unrelated things that reminded him of his lost love. Solace he found sometimes at night, when he was fortunate enough to fall into a sleep too profound for dreams or nightmares. It was a never-ending cycle, unless he got lucky enough to find a Heracles to shoot down his proverbial eagle.

"I'm sure you'll do an awesome job at it," he added suddenly, looking up again. "You strike me as someone with a good grasp of empathy and expression."

[JANE EYRE]

Jane blushed. "Thank you very much," Even though Chase hadn't seen any of her artwork at all, the compliment was so sincere that Jane believed it completely. And, considering that she wasn't one to accept compliments so readily, that was quite an accomplishment on Chase's part. "I was looking for a book that maybe had a painting or drawing of it already so I could have a basis of what to do. I'm already very familiar with the myth, I just was hoping to find a pictoral reference,"

Jane eyed the stacks of books on the table. Perhaps one of those would have a picture, or a picture of a vase with it on it. The words didn't have to be in English for Jane to see and understand the images. Jane voiced this thought to Chase mildly, not expecting any big answer. Maybe a "probably somewhere", but nothing definitive. Of course there was the possibility of a picture of the myth in Greek books.

That was something that Jane had learned a while back. There was always a possibility for things to happen, no matter how random or inane they may seem.

[chase]

Chase glanced at the stack of books at almost the same time that Jane did. He had not picked up anything about Prometheus specifically, but there was enough material there about ancient Greece that the story was almost certainly covered and illustrated. Fortunately, they had already divided the books into neat stacks, so he instantly went for the group of books that he knew to be about mythology and early Greek history. Some of them were in Greek, but most were in English. The library had apparently not seen fit to stock too many books in the uncommon language.

"I don't know, but it's worth a look. I mean, there's got to be something on Prometheus among all this forgotten lore." He picked up the first few English books in the stack and handed them to Jane. "'Divide and conquer,' I guess. I'm betting most of these books will have indexes."

He flipped open one book and thumbed through most of the pages to the back, where there was a general listing of topics, then flipped to the middle. "This one covers Prometheus, but there don't seem to be any pictures." He glanced up at Jane as he reached for another book, an old tattered tome in Greek. This one almost certainly had some paintings in it, but he would wait to see if Jane had had any luck yet.