Midterm week. The campus library was abuzz with caffeine and anxiety. A practice that could make even the most seasoned Masters' student's morale crumble. Around these few days in the library, the tables and silent study areas overflow with people. There are people all over the library really, even hidden between bookshelves. The floor becomes a feat in dodging limbs, books, and cups that contain pints of oh-so-precious coffee.
Tino was having what some could call a bad day. He arrived on campus late than he had planned from a cramped bus, because public transportation is a necessary sacrifice in order to keep a caffeine addiction (it costs money!). Oh, and subsistence. Tino's day began with a blaring alarm that brought him into the world of the living with a healthy dose of panic. With four midterms coming up later in the week, he had begrudgingly planned to dedicate his Monday to studying the chapters that he should have been keeping up with all semester long. From his late rise to the time he made it past the campus library entrance, three hours of I-should-be-studying-but-I-don't-want-to time had been wasted.
With a fresh large (or venti or whatever you want to call the largest beverage size) coffee in hand, Tino expertly dodged students and the general traffic that came with the main doors. Making a quick left, Tino made his way deeper into the building, where the noise level suddenly dropped. Tino's feet knew where they were going, to the good old silent section. These areas were lined with cubicles, desks that allowed students to study without distraction. A cubicle consisted of a table, walled on three sides, and complete with a not-very comfy chair. They were set up in rows that faced each other to maximize the number of these cubicles, and the opportunities for nabbing one of these little boxes where even the most experienced procrastinators could not escape. During Midterm week these little boxed desks become hot commodities, snapped up almost as soon as they are vacated, because when you need to study, you want designated space in the hordes of people occupying the library. Your little island.
Spotting movement from Tino's peripheral vision as he began walking through the endless rows and his body automatically changed course and swerved left down the row towards a mop of brown hair. Honing in on the universal indicator of cubicle desertion: a clean table and jacket shrugged on. Target set. Tino, in his trek toward the available seat he spotted another head scanning above the cubicles, someone who also saw the indicators of seat availability and was equally intent on said target. The brunette packing up probably felt the bull's eye she stood in front of, hastily zipped the carrying case of her laptop to vacate the premises. Tino ensured his victory by setting his bag and coffee more loudly than he could have, staking claim to the cubicle while defeated competitor begrudgingly walking past Tino, as he made it around the corner two seconds too late.
His mood lightening, Tino set about unpacking his bookbag, pulling out his laptop and books. Right, serious study time. Tino took a large gulp of his coffee as he flipped open his books and booted up his laptop. This was where the level of panic began to set in, because he really should have cracked open these textbooks earlier. Like three weeks ago earlier. Escaping the panic for a moment, Tino looked up at the computer screen for a second to type in his password and contented to going over lectures, the textbook, and what little study notes he bothered to do in the first weeks of the semester.
Tino was on a roll, blazing through three chapters and the same number of lecture in two hours. See? He could study if he put his mind to it, with regular coffee breaks dispersed to keep him sane. It was when he was deep into a complicated article written in over the top fancy words, which required all his focus to translate into plain speak, that he was abruptly interrupted. The tale-telling hairs on the back of his neck rose in his caffeine amplified panic as something brushed against his outside of his leg. Someone's foot?! Tino's automatic response was to tense, suddenly hyper-aware that another person existed on the other side of the cubicle, and they had just made contact.
The other person's leg also tensed, probably surprised that they accidentally passed the threshold that separated their cubicles. As quickly as it appeared, the other person's leg was drawn back, receding into the abyss it came from. Although they were separated by the cubicle walls, Tino was sure the feeling of pure awkwardness could be felt by both parties. Because it's always weird when you brush legs with a stranger. Not to mention a stranger you can't even see, but don't want to escalate the awkward by peaking over the top and risk the chance of eye contact.
Remembering his main task, Tino quickly turned back to his laptop screen, intent on ignoring the incident altogether. It wasn't the first time someone had accidentally grazed legs with him. The coffee induced a restlessness that commonly explained the sometimes loss of limb control. The offence was slight and easily forgivable given the circumstances.
Not an hour later, and another half a lecture thoroughly studied, Tino was taken out of his studies that he didn't quite care about once again when the leg made a comeback. It wasn't just a slight graze this time. This time it was a full on assault, the other person's shoe making impact with his shin. It came as a surprise to Tino as, at that exact moment, he had raised his half empty coffee cup to his lips. The impact resulted in a gurgling sound that was intended to be a squawk of surprise escaping his lips and quick maneuvers of pushing himself away from the desk. Luckily, no spillage could be seen on his desk or his laptop. He was surprised the leg would dare enter his airspace so soon after the first accident. The awkwardness must have still lingered from being made aware that there was a person present in the box in front of you, and you accidentally touched their leg. A conscious effort to keep their limbs in check would be the most appropriate method of apology. A repeat offence was asking for trouble, especially during Midterm Week, where anxiety and strain was high and some people would jump at an opportunity to let it loose. And Tino would normally be raring for a fight or some passive aggressive tactics if it were not for four looming tests that he desperately needed this time for.
Gingerly moving his injured leg, Tino felt this incident was more than just a second accident. It felt almost like a kick, or if feet could shove, this punk did it. Of course it wouldn't bruise, he was made of tougher steel than a small kick to the shin. But the principle of the matter still remained, the leg was in illegal airspace. Tino's space under his cubicle airspace! Actually, it still remained exactly where it stopped after shoving Tino's shin backward. It stayed unmoving, right between his legs to be exact. After a pregnant pause of what Tino presumed was more than enough time for the deviant to realize his misconduct and retrieve his leg, he was surprised to find the leg was, in fact still there. Right between his legs, practically reaching past Tino's desk.
Perplexed that they would dare remain and relish in the uncomfortable feelings he induced, Tino decided to investigate. He pushed his chair back some more and peered under the desk to see what the offensive leg was all about. Well it was sure present. Clothed in dark grey gym pants that covered lean muscle which ended with a white and black sneaker. A gym person, Tino guessed. Or someone dressed comfortably for being on campus and studying for an ungodly number of hours.
What really perplexed Tino was how far the leg could reach. Bending a little more, Tino glimpsed the occupant's other leg bent at the knee and swung outward, thighs open in an attempt to give his shins more room to bend. From this angle, Tino could see this dude's knee almost touching the underside of the desk even with the strategic feet placement. Like damn this guy has long legs, was the first thought that came to Tino's mind when it dawned on him how cramped the other's legs must have been. How did he even fold himself into a tiny cubicle box and chair for that matter?
However, it still remained that he had other things to dedicate his synapses to, like figuring out that last article. It also still remained that the leg was still there. Placed at the most inconvenient position, where even if he wanted to ignore the leg, Tino would end up having it between his own shins if he wanted to sit forward and reach his laptop. Not that he would settle for ignoring the intruder anyway, it was his cubicle! He fought for it fair and square and he would not allow his study time to be catered around a protruding leg that couldn't fit in it's own designated feet space! Resolutely, Tino firmly tapped the leg, making sure to let his disapproval be known to the owner of said foot.
A jerking motion and the leg was pulled back almost as violently as it was brought forward, almost like the other occupant jumped. A quiet gasp and what sounded like a textbook slamming shut (probably from releasing the page in their surprise) from over the cubicle wall confirmed Tino's suspicions. Good, you jerk. Tino was satisfied, but nonetheless, he let's out a giggle and sipped his coffee at the antics of long-legs when he proceeded to here a couple more sounds of disoriented shuffling. Seemed the awkwardness was finally realized in full force, now that the owner of said grasshopper legs was awake.
A sound tap resonated from under his desk startled him, turning Tino's giggle into a hiccup and sputter as he choked on a mouth full of bitter coffee. What the- Apparently long-legs felt disgruntled about his embarrassing actions and thought to let Tino know that he did not appreciate his laughing at his expense. Tino didn't even realize the foot intruded under his desk this time. So the grasshopper could also be a sneaky lion, huh?
The sound of light releases of breath over the white noise of page flips and key taps met Tino's ears as he recovered from his coughing fit, grabbing a water bottle previously left abandoned in the corner of the desk and sipping it to clear his pathways. Tino was slightly offended, but felt it was due justice for laughing at him and smiled at the childish retaliation anyway. The man did have really long legs, and after so many hours folded into a confined to such cramped quarters was a feat that Tino would not ever need to face, but would sympathize that it would definitely suck.
A quick glance under the desk, Tino quickly made sure the person had taken his foot back. Both legs remained innocently bent on the other side of an imaginary divider again. With a flourish and sigh, Tino pushed his chair back in and flicking his eyes to the corner of his laptop screen sought the time, which read 3:13 pm. He had a lecture later in the evening that ran from 6 pm to 9 pm and knew he would not be efficient after it to get any significant work done so he forced himself to not check his social networking websites to share his story with his friends. It would've made a funny status update,
Tino Väinämöinen
Illegal entering of cubicle airspace will be met with firm and immediate retaliation. Defending my borders like the Swiss 8/
-Library Adventures: footsies with random strangers edition.
Tino tucked that snarky tidbit away to focus on more pressing matters, like that other class he should start studying soon or that his coffee cup was becoming shallow. Updating your status in your head would not do anyone any good.
Tino had became restless. Was it, 4 or 5 hours that he had sat in a tiny box surrounded by three walls in a silent panic? He was starting to feel the cramps of hunger and his coffee cup was now empty. He had switched studying for another course but his mind still fretted over the first and the onslaught of midterms he faced later in the week. As an unconscious result of his restlessness, Tino's leg began to jiggle, the frequency increasing with his anxiety and worry. Unbeknownst to him, he leaned onto the desk to ease his stiff back from sitting for so long. It would also be seen that his vibrations was not contained to just his person because the gyrating leg was abruptly interrupted, again, by a thick shoe. A black and white sneaker to be exact, was placed firmly toe-to-toe with Tino's grey sneakers, a pressure that slid his own grey shoe back a smidgen, simultaneously stopping the vibrations and catching Tino's attention.
The inevitable moment of shocked silence and a spike of anger was followed by a steady heat rising in Tino's cheeks as he realized why the leg was back again. Again unannounced. Again without Tino's notice. Oops... I guess my leg was shaking too violently that the dude on the other side felt it? So much that it could not be ignored and he thought something had to be done apparently. As the leg was withdrawn, Tino's cheeks sported a healthy pink that was not the result of the heaters that turned on.
Panic quickly overlook the embarrassment that gripped Tino when the man on the other side suddenly stood from his chair, almost seeming to appear from the top of the cubicle wall. Tino only allowed himself to catch a glimpse of the looming figure before he ducked his head into a textbook that lay open, feigning intense focus, too bashful and embarrassed to put a face to the owner of the long legs and black and white shoes. Hearing the footsteps of the other walking down the aisle, Tino only then tentatively raised his head and released a breath, feeling embarrassed again now that the other knew what he looked like. Or what the top of his head looked like anyway. Still grappling with the embarrassment and karma bestowed upon him, Tino opened a tab that held with social networking websites and blindly checked for notifications in an attempt to calm his nerves. On reading a status update from one of his friends who was a student-teacher he was struck with an ingenious idea.
Grabbing his notebook, he quickly flipped to an empty page and scribbled a line at the top before proceeding the rip the page out. Tino neatly folded it in half and then pushed over the top of the cubicle wall in front of him, sending it into the cubicle that previously contained looming-long-legs, who was probably off in the washrooms or getting coffee or something. Tino promptly ducked his head again burying his nose in the textbook, unwilling to be caught making eye contact with the other guy when he returned. He would sacrifice his internet to pretend to be deep in studying notes and textbooks if it meant he could sorta hide.
The approaching footsteps were his only alarm that looming-long-legs was back and promptly sent Tino into a small panic. Oh my god, oh my god, why did I do that? The guy would, within a few short seconds notice the slip of paper that was not there when he left, and taken by curiosity would venture to read it. Tino's forehead touched the textbook in a literal interpretation of head-desking. This is why you don't do stuff based off things you read on the Internet. You just embarrassed yourself twice 10 minutes.
In his mental tirade and self-deprecation, Tino did not hear paper fluttering until it landed on his desked head, but he did realize that on the inside of this folded paper with a frayed edge were scribbles that took up more than one line. He r-replied?!
-X-
AN: Continue?