The next day, Scarecrow tried to find Dakota, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Finally, he gave up. I'll definitely see her later. With not much else to do, he decided to hide away in the library. He weaved through the hallways, not saying a word until he got to the huge doors that housed the Royal collection. Okay, he thought as he pulled the door handle, NO thinking about girls in the library. It'll be just me and the books, and absolutely no worrying about things like-
He threw open the doors, and found a certain person with her nose in a book.
Dakota.
She was sitting in the corner, not even noticing the noise of the heavy door opening. Whatever she was reading, it must have been interesting! He smiled, an idea creeping into his mind. Slowly, he snuck through the shelves of books, creeping up on the unsuspecting soldier.
"BOO!"
Dakota's head whipped up, nearly jumping out of her skin with shock. "Will you STOP that?!" She whisper-shouted. Scarecrow only grinned, and plopped down beside her. She only sighed, and tried to suppress a smile. "Come here often?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"I hope you don't always scare the first person you see when coming here."
"Nope, just you."
"Really? Well, that makes me feel special!" Scarecrow stood up, and walked over to the shelves, scanning them for just the right book. Finally, he made a selection and brought it back to the corner. "War of the Worlds?" Dakota inquired.
"Yeah. I love science fiction books. All about regular people who can find extraordinary things, just by inventing them."
"Traveling through time, going around the world in eighty days…"
"…. And create giant explosions so powerful, that they…"
"…they break the pull of the earth's gravity and send their projectile through space." Dakota finished calmly. Scarecrow just stared at her in wonder. She laughed softly and smiled at him "You're quoting Jules Verne. I read that book too!"
"Really? Which one's your favorite?"
"Around the World in Eighty Days, but I love War of the Worlds too. I heard that a couple years ago, they read it aloud on radio and everyone thought aliens were attacking!"
Scarecrow laughed. "I remember that! It created mass hysteria everywhere! What are you reading now?" He inquired.
Dakota closed her book, tilting the cover towards him so he could see. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Though the ending was always unhappy. When my dad would read it to me, we'd change it so Esme ended up with Phoebus, and Quasi was accepted by the people of Paris."
"I like your ending better too, to be honest. Your dad read to you at night?"
"Yes, before the invasion, my parents would read everything to me, just before bedtime. When I fell in love with science fiction novels, he put a telescope by my window so I could see the stars."
"Wow. You know, I never met a woman who loved Jules Verne before."
"I don't think I've ever met a man like you before." She said quietly.
They were both silent for a moment. Then, they both leaned in closer, and were a hair's length away from each other…
… when the sound of the heavy door opening startled them away from each other. "You called for tea, miss?" a worker called. Shoot, they both thought. "Yes, thank you." Dakota said "Set it on a table, please." The worker did so, and Dakota went over to get her tea.
"So the anniversary ball is tomorrow, right?" She asked, coming back with her cup. "Yes. Will you be coming?"
"Yes. You?"
"Yeah. Could I ask you something?"
Dakota took a long sip from her tea cup. "Of course, anything."
"Would you save a dance for me?"
"Absolutely." Suddenly, the cup slipped out of her hands and onto the floor. "Oh, gosh!" Dakota yelped, and picked up the tea cup. "I can be such a butterfingers sometimes."
"It's alright. at least it wasn't broken, just chipped."
"And empty too. You know, I think it looks better this way!" They laughed. "I think so too."
Short one tonight, I'm way up past my bedtime.
