Library 2} Lyre and Jack

Lyre played by Roj, Jack played by Deku

Lyre was sitting in a chair at a large table, studying the musical piece that lay flat in front of it in a honey-yellow paper. The black printed text always caught its eye, as well as the familiar treble clef.
Tracing its finger along the thin lines with whole notes, quarter notes and such, it hummed the tune that the sheet created and then tapped its fingers along with that.
It always loved doing this. Getting lost in the music and such- thank god this was it’s job. It didn’t know what it would do if it couldn’t be a musician.

Jack, in a similar situation as Lyre, was getting really into one of his favorite books, Inkheart. He knew that he didn't have such an interesting talent as bringing book characters to life, but he tried anyway, quietly reading the words out loud in hushed whispers. He looked around to find, somewhat to his disappointment, that there was no fire eaters or evil villains to speak of. He did find, however, another person there, so he quickly silenced himself and muttered an apology. Something in a plastic carrier squeaked next to the bag he brought with him.

Lyre flickered its eyes over to Jack for a split second before turning back to its own studies of “literature”. It tilted its head, furrowing its brows when it realized that the page had been cut somewhere. This piece wasn’t complete. How sad, it was a really nice one too.
“Lovely,” Lyre muttered to itself, making its way to the shelf where it had gotten the thin book and sliding it back in the empty space it left behind earlier.
The whole piece of furniture smelled of dust and mold. Hadn’t been cleaned in a long while, it supposed.
“So,” Lyre suddenly said with a clear voice. “Which volume are you reading? I read the first book but quickly lost interest.”

Jack looked up from his book and pointed to himself shyly. "Me..? You're talking to me? Oh, um, I'm reading the first book myself. I tend to reread things a lot.." He tried not to be too friendly with this person, he already knew how that went, so he spoke rather timidly.

”Ah, I see,” it replied. “So, I take you’re into fantasy if you’re reading that? And how you’ve read it times before, I’m assuming?” It turned around, picking at the cream-coloured sweater it wore along and occasionally twisting the two metal strands of its necklace around one another to make a braid.
“I’m more into non-fiction. Not that I can’t enjoy a little make-believe stuff.”

"Fantasy and make believe are the most fun when you tell yourself they happened, just a really long time ago, or somewhere else entirely. Because it could have happened, just not to you. Someone is out there, being the protagonist in their own story that hasn't been written yet. That's a comforting thought, to me at least."
The brunette straightened up, feeling a little more comfortable with who he was speaking with.
"You could even be a protagonist. You'd be lucky, in that regard. I'm not that fortunate. But I've already found whose story I'm in, I think."

”You’re telling me you’re not the protagonist in your story?” Lyre’s grumpy tone softened just a tad. Just that alone made it know that something was definitely up. “Why do you say that?”
“There’s a part of a book called the “exposition” for a reason. For some it’s just longer.”

Jack silently laughed at the thought of himself being placed in any sort of narrative. Clearly this person had the wrong idea of him. "I'm not special, honest. I've got a couple hobbies and a few friends, but that's about it. I don't even look extraordinary."

”Neither did Marcus Brutus,” Lyre stated. “Have you seen what the guy looks like? Oof..not exactly the most handsome.”
It shrugged, “you don’t have to be born with powers or a big inheritance of money from your kingly father to be special, kid.”

"I'm not a kid, I'm in my twenties and practically married, thank you very much. But even that's my point. I'm a cardboard cutout. One of the civilians who screams 'Look out, there's a villain!' for dramatic effect." He sighed. If only he had the person who told him how to actually handle these situations. But she was mad at him, at least to his knowledge. Jack couldn't read minds, after all.

”Sorry, it’s just a thing I do at this point,” Lyre hummed. “Didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I...don’t know what pretty words to say.” It sighed, “no pretty words are really going to stop making you feel like you’re a side character.”
“But- you are a side character in everyone else’s lives. They are their own main character and so are you.”
“And dramatic affect can heavily influence people’s thoughts, y’know? It’s what makes the thing more whole and round instead of flat and all gross.”

He smiled at the robot, putting down his book on a small activity table for kids. He'd pick it up and put it back later when he got his stuff (and his pet) to leave. But right now he was intrigued by why this person was so interested in helping him with his complex (though he would never say that's what it was). "You don't have to say anything like that to me. I'm just a kinda sad, regular old stranger in a library."

”Yes, but- being nice may just save people. Even though I’m not always the nicest, I’ll admit.”
“This world doesn’t have enough kindness. It’s like people have forgotten how to be kind,” Lyre sighed. “I don’t want to be one of those people.” Lyre blinked slowly, “so- here I am. Talking to a kind of sad stranger.” It glanced back to the surface where it had previously sat at, deciding it may as well just do so again.
“I’m not a licensed therapist, but, it’s nice to just have someone listen.” It crossed one of its legs over the opposite knee and leaned forward. “So? If you’re comfortable, that is.”

Jack nervously laughed. "Me? You want me to... Talk to you? Really? Sorry if me asking is being annoying or anything, I'm just making sure." He did want to talk things over with someone else, he just wasn't used to someone other than his very small group of friends wanting anything to do with him.

”Go for it. I’m practically holding a huge sign saying “vent” right here.” Lyre made a boxed out shape in the air with its hands, adding more emphasis to its point.
“I don’t mind.”

"Gosh, I don't know where to start. I guess I'm just having friendship troubles lately. If you could even call it a friendship anymore, since I'm not brave enough to talk to her..." He sighed, really not wanting to bother this person with his issues, but at the same time not wanting to bottle it up inside of him.

”There’s an issue now, I’m assuming?” It asked, seeming intrigued. “Miscommunication, violation of borders, etcetera- there’s a lot of trial and error with every relationship. Which I’m sure you’re familiar with, I won’t say that you aren’t.”
“It’s best to just sort things out. Even if you don’t stay friends, it’s good to see what went wrong and you can keep that in mind.”

He shook his head. "I don't even know what went wrong... I told her I was in a relationship and she freaked out, and I got scared and left." Trying desperately to not overshare and creep this person out, Jack explained his situation. At the end of the day, he just missed his friend and wished he knew what went wrong. He wished he could do it over again, and that he'd shut up for once in his life. That was a thing he had trouble doing around people he liked.

”Sounds like it’s one of those “unrequited love” deals, my friend,” Lyre said. “It can hurt- finding out that someone you like is dating someone. Right?” It did its best to sound sympathetic, knowing that stuff like this was a sensitive topic.
“Her reaction? I’d say, as long as she didn’t try to full on kill you or whatever- is pretty normal.”
“She may need some time to cool down.”

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces in his head clicked into a big, guilt inducing picture. Oh god. "She... Liked me? Like, like liked me? Oh jeez... I don't know how I didn't notice... What am I supposed to do now? She isn't the type to be forgiving, when she's mad you might as well consider yourself dead..."

”As I said, it may be best to give her time,” Lyre said as it tapped its foot on the floor beneath. “And it’s important to remember that you should let her be mad,” it mumbled. “Irritating as it is, some people-or trolls- will adjust to news like this differently. She’s gotta feel how she feels to allow herself to accept it.”
“Let it rest. Eventually there’ll be a time where you two can talk it out calmly.”

To be Contnued...