Another cause for alarm was McCoy's bibliography and reference notes. There were about fifteen pages worth, which was scary enough, but on the final page he spotted an author by the name of Xavier, Brian, followed by Amanada Mueller and Nathan Milbury as co-authors of a study. The study was in reference to a catalog of over one hundred mutants, from approximately 1945 to 1980, called Black Womb (not in the least bit horrifying!). McCoy had based his terminology on the classifications established in that study. It seemed Charles Xavier had lineage in the field of mutant research, beginning with his father, Brian. So in addition to holding them captive, the kidnapped mutants were probably being experimented on. That put him back in mind of Essex. Was Xavier in cahoots with Lurch? He pestered Lara to make another inter-library records request for the Black Womb study, and she was happy enough to comply but again, he'd have to wait. And due to the obscurity of the study, probably a lot longer.
Remy had too much to think about and needed a mental break. Remy went downstairs to where the restrooms were and splashed water on his face. He thought maybe he should get something to eat, but his funds were getting low. He exited the washrooms into the children's section. He looked at the fish for a bit, feeling that same calm settle over him as when he'd seen the deer that morning.
The children's librarian, Linda, was reading to a group of children seated on the colorful area rug. "And that, my friends, is the end of our story! Now! Who would like to help me make our own stone soup? Oh, aren't you all great helpers! Come on friends, let's go to the community table! Everyone grab some vegetables."
Linda stood and wrapped her long shaggy shawl over her shoulders to herd the children in the direction of the community table. For some reason, she had a large blue gray blob of hardened Play-Doh stuck on her headband. She spotted Remy by the fish tank. "Oh, John honey, come over here! I have something for you!"
Smiling, he approached the sweet-natured matron. "What's that now?" he asked.
"I wanted to thank you for helping me cut out all those vegetables yesterday," she began and gestured to where the kids were selecting their construction paper vegetables. "I couldn't have cut them all out myself. Arthritis," she made a pained sort of face.
"I enjoyed our arts and crafts time," Remy told her. "Not the glitter so much."
"So, in thanks, I got you something!" Linda went over to her desk and removed a book from the upper drawer.
"You didn't have to do that," he told her, accepting the book she held out to him.
"It's only a paperback," she said apologetically. "But I thought you'd want to read this sooner rather than later, before the second installment comes out!"
Remy saw it was the boy wizard book. The boy on the cover was flying on a broomstick. "Hey, thanks, Lin. But you shouldn't have gone to the trouble."
"Nooo, no trouble, John honey," she told him and patted his arm. "You are just a perfect doll! Now, I'm sorry to leave you, but I have to get back to my friends."
"Thanks, Linda," Remy murmured as she rejoined her group.
"Now! My friends, have any of you seen where I might have left my magic stone? I can't find it anywhere!"
The children chorused: "IT'S ON YOUR HEAAAD!"
Grinning, Remy left behind the cacophony of children's voices and returned to the upper level. He sat in one of the soft chairs in the reading room to look at his new book: Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived. He found himself completely engrossed for the next few hours. When he finally emerged from Hogwarts several chapters later, he looked up and blinked at his surroundings, which he'd completely forgotten. There was no burning, no sparks in his gut. Just complete calm. He tilted his head back to stretch his neck, resting it on the back cushion, closing his eyes as he did so.
Something came loose in the back of his mind. A body at rest stays at rest. Remy's eyes snapped open. Where was that from, in his mind's great entropic catalog of random facts and fictions?
He climbed from the squashy chair to walk into the reference room. "Got another question," he began without preamble.
Lara glanced up from the library's catalog, which unlike the time when Remy was a child, was no longer on index cards in a drawer, but on the computer.
"Sure, John, what completely random question do you have for me today? I love your surprises."
"Have you ever heard of 'a body at rest stays at rest'?"
She seemed to gaze inwardly for a moment, and Remy wondered if she weren't also checking her internal catalog. "Yes," she said. "I do think I know it. That would be tenth grade science. I remember, because I got a D in Physics, and that was a trauma I've never recovered from."
"But you can't have scored so poor, you're too smart," Remy told her.
"I'm more into Library Science than Physical Science. Let me look up some books for you," she plugged away at her catalog and grabbed a scrap paper and pencil. "Here's the call number for the section you want. You're looking for the 500s, physics starts around subject 100. I'd offer my help, but I've filled my hair-sniffer quota for the week."
Remy gave her an injured look. "Well, I never! What kind of service is this?"
"Public and tax payer funded," she replied and returned to her work.
"You are too sharp for me, Lara," Remy said and wandered back into the nonfiction section. "I'll always carry a torch for you though!" He found the metaphysics books on the lower shelf near the rear of the stacks. He pulled out a ponderous tome that simply read 'Physics' on the cover and had a picture of a pair of magnets repelling one another on it. He was thinking his problem wasn't a mental one, and not a physical one, but maybe a physics one. He discovered where he'd heard the "body at rest" quote. It was Newtonian mechanics, the First Law of Motion. A body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it, and a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
"Uggh," he groaned. "Not helpful, Newton. Stick to makin' fig cookies."
The problem with theories and abstract thoughts was that Remy's brain failed to comprehend them. To him, seeing was believing, or at least understanding. For example, when someone provided Remy with directions to someplace he'd never been, his brain would immediately wander off only to return singing the Meow Mix jingle, and he would find himself very lost and annoyed. But if he went exploring on his own, he'd be able to figure out where he was going pretty quick. Remy gave up on the Physics book and looked for something a bit more his speed, preferably with pictures. Maybe he should start in the children's section? Instead, he found a book called A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. It was not a thick book, which was odd considering it explained Everything In The Universe. It was written in a straightforward understandable language by a guy who by Remy's account was very, very smart. Remy thought that if McCoy could learn a thing or two about writing in plain English, then maybe his articles would actually get read.
Remy was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the aisle, books scattered all around him, completely taken in by Hawking's description of the shape of the universe.
"What?" he asked himself aloud, holding onto the top of his head as if to keep his mind from literally being blown.
A shadow fell over him and he glanced up from his exploration of black holes. He took in the sight of a pair of bright white sneakers, denim clad legs that flared out to curvaceous hips, a wasp-waisted torso and full breasts covered in a tee-shirt featuring Dolly Parton's face. Moving ever upward, his gaze fell upon toned arms clad in tight cotton sleeves, strong shoulders, a long, elegant neck hidden under a white turtleneck. The face, had it appeared in 5th century Sparta, would have launched a thousand ships. Heart-shaped, full-lipped, with a smattering of pale freckles across her slightly upturned nose, large green eyes half hidden under softly curling chestnut and white hair.
The cogs and wheels that turned in Remy's mind came to a jarring halt and a spring made a cartoonishly loud boing before the entire mechanism fell to bits. He found his tongue a flat slab, as if someone had cast Petrificus Totalus on it.
The woman looked momentarily surprised to find Remy sprawled in the middle of the aisle. "Oh," she said and asked, with a little annoyance: "Lost in a good book?"
Remy almost said: "Derrr…" but more embarrassingly announced: "Lost. In. Spaaace!" and showed her the cover of his book that depicted the glowing cosmos.
What the hell is wrong with you? his brain screamed. Save that weird geek shit for after she's agreed to marry you!
Apparently not scared off by this announcement, the enchanting creature before him shone her beautiful smile upon him. In an attempt to not keep staring dumbfounded at her with his mouth hanging open, he hastily began gathering up his books. "Sorry," he said, shifting books out of her way. "I'm taking up the whole aisle."
"No worries," she told him. "Only Ah think Ah'm in the wrong place." She glanced down the aisle. "Ah was told there'd be cookbooks down here, but this looks like science."
"You're not lost, you've been found," he told her. He gestured to the physics books. "Recipes for the universe," he reached across to the opposite shelving unit that carried the 600s and selected a recipe book. "Recipes for potluck." Holding his two books aloft as he shrugged said: "Recipe for disaster," and indicated himself.
He was rewarded with a small laugh.
Music began playing in his head: And I'd give up forever to touch you...'Cause I know that you feel me somehow…
She reached out a glove-encased hand for the recipe book. He relinquished it to her grip. "Thanks, sugah, that's exactly what Ah was looking for."
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be...And I don't want to go home right now.
He shook his head, trying to clear it. He popped to his feet like a marionette tugged on a string by its master. "You could save yourself de trouble of cooking up a pan of mac and cheese, and let me take you out to dinner instead," he told her.
Very smooth! his brain cheered.
"Oh, Ah-," here, the physical embodiment of light and song stammered. "Ah don't think…"
Your game is weak, mon frère! his brain booed.
Remy was not to be deterred. He had a moment where he considered breaking the fourth wall and telling the audience à la Wayne Campbell: She will be mine. Oh yes, she will be mine.
"It's only dat I'm here from out of town and it's so nice t'hear a familiar voice," he said, slipping back into his familiar accent. He'd been speaking for so long like a news anchor, that returning to his normal speech pattern felt like taking off a pair of ill-fitting shoes to walk barefoot on warm sand.
Her brows furrowed a bit, as she tried to place where he was from. "Not...Louisiana, are you?" she asked.
"You win!" he said grandly. "One night on de town with yours truly!"
She shook her head in an admonishing way, but her face was alive with merriment. Her eyes sparkled. "Well, you're pretty cute, Ah'll give you that."
Rudolph the reindeer leapt through the air, red nose aglow: She thinks I'm cuuuuuute! he cried.
"But Ah'm afraid…" the woman began.
No, don't let her get away! Do something, fool! his brain encouraged.
"Can I at least get your number?" he asked and thrust forward the scrap of paper Lara had written the call number on. "So I can chat you up and we can talk about what all we miss from back home?"
He could tell her resolve was weakening. "Well, all right," she said in her soft voice and took the scrap of paper from his hand. She placed it on her book and he handed her his pen. She jotted down the number and seemed half reluctant to return him the scrap.
He looked down at the number. "Do I get a name t'go with this number?" he suggested.
She looked embarrassed. "Oh, right...Ah. Uhm, people call me Rogue."
He grinned at her. "But you're from Mississippi. Are you sure it ain't 'Rebel'?"
"You're quick on your feet, ain't ya?" she asked playfully.
"Shall we dance?" he asked and bowed from the waist.
She wagged a finger at him. "As much as Ah'd like to go a few more rounds with y'all, Ah got to be gettin' back. Dinner's at six-thirty."
"I hope de folks who get to eat whatever you prepare appreciate de effort you go to," he told her. "Lovingly made by your own two hands."
"And do you have a name to go with that snappy patter?" she asked.
"Remy," he said, failing to think. You couyon, you just gave her your for real name!
Rogue smiled warmly at him. "Nice t'meet you, Remy."
Hearing his name on her lips was worth the risk.
"Enchanté," Remy answered. "Be talkin' to you real soon."
Rogue gave a little shy wave and started away. Remy stooped to retrieve his physics books, gathered them in his arms and followed after her. He gave her one last smile as she checked out her recipe book at circulation, then turned to the quiet study area.
Back in the computer lab, he greeted the curt Curtis. "Good evening and salutations," he told the librarian.
"You're looking chipper," Curtis observed.
"I am...effervescent!" he announced. He sang in falsetto, clenching his fist to his heart in a very Prince-like fashion: "Could you be...the most beautiful girl in the world?"
"No, no I could not," Curtis replied dryly.
"I just met a goddess, and she gave me her number," Remy informed the man.
Curtis' shoulders fell a bit. "I take this to mean that you're straight."
"As an arrow, my friend! But I will still buy you drinks Sunday," Remy danced his way to the study carrel, in the doorway, he spun and added: "Because I'm a gentleman!" With that he shut the study carrel door.
"You're dramatic enough. Are you sure you're not gay?" Curtis complained.
"Stereotype!" Remy called through the door.
"I'm gay so I can say it!"
Remy laughed. He plopped himself into the wooden chair and held the scrap of paper with Rogue's number on it before him as if appraising a diamond-encrusted necklace. Leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs, he accidentally kicked his notebook where it fell open onto the floor. Remy stooped to pick it up. As he looked at the first page of his notes, the bright smile he wore fell off his face to land on the floor with a clatter. Blinking rapidly, he held Rogue's number up to the number he'd written for the Xavier School.
They were one in the same.
Next: Girl meets boy.
to my reviewer - merci mon ami i am excited too.
i believe there will be 43 chapters in this story. and there is a sequel with the working title: Dealing Death. not sure i like it yet, so maybe someone has a suggestion.