All the Light We Cannot See [Sindri Liefsson]

[Pietro Michaelis]

Pietro made a bee-line through the halls of the university, preparing himself by memorizing each room to his classes and easier routes to get to them so she wasn't late, or dealing with even slower people ahead of him. Once he knew what shortcuts he could take from the entrance and among his schedule, he gathered himself and headed straight to the center where the office was, late for registration, though glad that he was there soon enough to show up for freshman orientation. The guide seemed nice, though he didn't know of her role in the university, or if she was even a teacher there. Maybe she was just a volunteer, or perhaps an alumni that offered to help out for just the moment while the rest of the faculty prepped alongside their incoming students The bat didn't quite know, and it bothered him in curiosity to find out, even if it was unimportant at the time.

After signing up and directed elsewhere, he wrote down any necessary contact information before being told to go to the library for his books. Apparently the librarian was in charge of most of the books and gift shop to buy any needed textbooks for their classes, but there were always once online that were far more cheaper, he said, a bit conflicted. Knowing he'd be cheaper and wiser with his choices, he decided to go the library anyway out of the sheer hope there'd be some interesting finds there while he roamed the aisles of shelves. He loved the smell of aged books and the feeling of leather-bound covers that accompanied the more specially old ones. As he got there, he smiled to the librarian and assured her he needed no help, only to take off into another direction to the mystery shelves of books. He grabbed as many as his arms could hold before settling in the very back behind a shelf where no one could see him. Crossing his legs beneath him, he made sure his wings were close against his sides as he brought a book up to his tiny nose, earbuds in both of his large ears as he listened to something soft and classical to sooth him into a nice image of what the story told.

[Sindri Leifsson]

Endless melodies and harmonies of notes flowed through Sindri's ears as he relished in the grace of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet. The purity of the clarinet mingling with that of the violin, viola and cello, caused him to groan out with satisfaction as he exhaled. Lazed upon a red velvet couch, a book about the Romantic Period, lay open on his lap, bookmarked at a page about Tchaikovsky. Beside him on his right were a stack of four more books, all about music. He didn't know how long it had been since he had entered the library. 3, maybe 4 hours? In all honesty, he should have left a long time ago; the only reason why he had come to the library was to collect his books for the year, but somehow he managed to become distracted and here he was, listening to his beloved music and reading his textbooks. Perhaps it was the warmth and the silence that drew him in, regardless of what it was, he didn't regret it that much.

Looking at the watch on his wrist, Sindri decided that it was an appropriate time to return to the dorm. Adjusting the rings on fingers twice, making sure they lay perfectly on his slender fingers, he stood up from the couch, closing the book on his lap and putting on top of his stack. Rearranging the dark grey scarf around his neck, he smoothed down his white jacket and straightened his jeans. Pulling out a small pocket mirror, he made sure that he looked immaculate, pouting slightly to check that he was still gorgeous, smiling when he saw that there was nothing different from the look he had in the morning. Meanwhile, the music had shuffled from Mozart to Gershwin, the jazzy Rhapsody in Blue introduction hitting his eardrums. Lowering the volume slightly, he bent to pick up his textbooks. He noticed a misplaced book on the couch and frowned at the fact that someone hadn't bothered to put it back. Picking the thin book up, turning it to look at its spine. Recognising the code, he strode over to the appropriate aisle, walking into the unlit darkness, squinting to see where the letter was. There was hardly any light which was unfortunate, but he eventually found the right place and slotted the book in. He was about to leave when he noticed movement from his peripheral vision. Looking down, he saw a male, a bat to be specific, sitting on the floor, reading. Using one hand, he pushed his headphones off, allowing them to rest on his shoulders. Giving a half-smile, his Icelandic accent mildly heavy, he exclaimed, skipping greetings out of habit, "How are you enjoying your book? Is it good?"

[Pietro Michaelis]

Reading quietly amongst himself, the music helped paint a beautiful scene in his mind. He was a visual learner, only able to comprehend through images and shapes, though unfortunately not an listening-type student, which it seemed were the type of teachers he was stuck this year with. He wasn't as disappointed as he thought, perhaps because most of his teachers back in high school much preferred lectures rather than any presentations or power-points to represent their step-by-step work. Fifth Symphony of Beethoven played majestically into his bold, beautiful ears, his eyes closing in sweet serenity as he hummed quietly along to its upbeat melody and empowering emotion to each note. As the song would continue, the further distracted he'd be from the actual book in his claws. He had been tested for ADD before, though came out negative, so perhaps it was just that he was entertained easily through music. Pietro leaned against the shelf behind him, knowing the structure wasn't going anywhere with the added weight at its base, for he weighed little to nothing in mass, sighing happily amongst himself as he forced himself to obey each word the story told. Though before he could finish the next paragraph of The DaVinci Code, he was interrupted by a voice nearest to him, though it was faint behind a wise artist's song. Pulling out one of his earbuds, he turned his head slowly to look up at the morsel that requested his attention, his eyes growing only a tad in size before he reminded himself to be polite and smile. Looking to his book, he nodded and shrugged slightly out of nerves, stuttering to reply a simple yes, "It's one of my favorites. It's quite well-written and I enjoy its suspense and the amount of intelligence put into it." He said with complete honesty, scooting a bit over for if the shape-shifter wished to sit next to him as well. With his large bat ears, the anthro was able to hear what had been playing in the other man's headphones and excitedly grinned, "Are you listening to Gershwin?" Pietro asked a tad too fast, knowing he was right, though too shy to take pride in himself for knowing it so well, so quickly. "Beautiful, beautiful piece- Oh, uh.." he set down his book, not minding for went the cover flipped over to shut it without giving him the chance to mark his page. It didn't matter, he had read the book so many times, it wouldn't surprise him to know where exactly in the book he was. He smiled back and held out his hand. "I'm Pietro Michaelis, a freshman this year." The bat said to introduce himself as formally as he could to the first student he had officially spoken with since arriving.

[Pietro Michaelis]

*sneezes*

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