I, Who Could Have Slept Among The Live Flowers

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"Oh! yes, yes, a roof. It has that," She nodded. She hadn't been there in a long time-- she hoped she could find a few new books for her little collection. Maybe some bugs, maybe some flowers. "I hope you don't mind me getting ready-- I just have to pack a few things, really, I won't be long at all." She assured her. She really wanted to go, even with her. She had a feeling that she may not be as bad as she made her out to be. She's actually great! She could see her being friends with that women later on.

Gennette got up, taking the empty cups and setting them in the kitchen before she headed up towards her sanctuary. She changed from her usual outfit to something a little more fitting. It wasn't anything too spectacular, it was just a chunky cardigan sweater and a change of shoes. The only thing that she switched was the size of her scarves. She changed from a small one to a larger one. It was just something to make sure that if an... 'incident' did occur, she'd be remotely protected.

Gennette filled a bag with empty jars of all different sizes, books about the insects and plants she might find, and a few things that might attract bugs. The works-- honey, sugared water, wet moss. She even had a few books she would plant there and get later, so she'd have something to remind her to go back. Once Gennette was done, she headed down the steps with a bag slung over her shoulder. She pulled a trench coat over her cardigan and grabbed an umbrella.

Sure, it might have been over-dressing. Sure, it might be a bit much, but she needed to play safe. She popped the collars of her coat and grabbed an umbrella. "I'll show you-- it isn't far from here!"
 
"No, no worries, I don't mind at all," Neera promised, and waited. As Genette got ready, the woman thought about her. Strike an interest, and everyone would light up. But a teenager, taking a stranger to something she was clearly invested in? Now that was something. Not that Neera could exactly point out what it was, but hey, at least Genette was opening up to her, right? It couldn't have even been an hour. At this rate, Neera would be packing for home by next week. Or at the very least, have a significantly better grasp on the situation, if not the solution.

While waiting, Neera took a closer look at the vines that had overridden the house. They were everywhere. After glancing upstairs, the woman grept over to the kitchen to see if they extended through there- they did- and then over to the stairs. Vines, up the hall, and just generally all around as far as she could see. Returning to her seat before Genette could see that she had been snooping, Neera picked up the plucked pansy and inspected it while she waited.

It really was, as far as she could tell, a perfectly normal flower. And the vines were, from what Neera's somewhat experienced eyes could pick up, perfectly formal vines. The typical conspiracy thoughts of government experiment gone south or being exposed to radiation while pregnant or something along those lines crossed Neera's mind. Or perhaps one of the parents had it, and had simply learned how to control it but passed their genes on. But why would they not tell their daughter, if that was the case...?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Genette's return. Neera put the flower down, and smiled up at her client. "Sounds great. Do we need to let your parents know or anything? Don't want to let them think I've kidnapped you or anything," she added, with a short laugh.
 
Gennette regarded her and chuckled. Sure, going off with a stranger wasn't the smartest thing she could possibly do, but she's been meaning to go to the library for a number of times already, and this was just an excuse. "I called my mother," Gennette said, hitting her side-- the side that had her cellphone on it. Gennette tugged on her rucksack and walked towards the door, grabbed the house keys on the rack to the side. She looked over at Neera. "Are you ready?" She smiled, and grabbed the door.

When Neera gave the OK to go, Gen did so gladly. She opened the door, waited for her to exit, and she locked the door. With that, she walked her towards the library. She talked gently with her, so there wasn't an awkward silence. But talk about what? She was always bad at starting the first conversation, and that was a fact. She thought for a few seconds, and opened her mouth.

Nothing came out, as expected. She closed it quickly, and looked ahead. "Oh, we're here," She started, walking towards the dilapidated building. She turned towards Neera. "It's been here forever. They closed it when I was little, but I never stopped going inside." She explained. She headed towards the side. "Come on," She started, leading her to a small whole in the fence. "A tree was growing here when I was little-- they made a fence going right through it, and when they cut down the tree, it left a huge whole." She lifted it up, and went onto the other side. Gennette looked at the other. "This side will lead you into the back."
 
With a smile, Neera followed the teenager out the door. Luckily, the rain had lightened up some, but it didn't stop the investigator from making a quick stop at her car. When she first encountered the rain, she'd made sure to check the weather; and once she knew that she was chasing it down, Neera had the foresight to purchase a small umbrella. She used it, for the first time, now, glad that she'd made the investment. It kept both her and Genette dry as they made the silent trip to the library.

Neera herself would have broken the silence, but she also wasn't certain what to say. There was no use in trying to force a conversation from her, and at the very least she could avoid the obvious small talk that everyone made with a teenager: what grade are you in, what subjects do you like, where are you considering going for college, what do you want to major in. It would have been doubly as embarrassing for Genette, anyways; she probably wouldn't be going to any but an online university, if even that, and it was likely rather impolite to bring up.

But then there was the library, there they were, and there wasn't any need to make small talk any more. "Is that so? Do you know why they closed it?" If Neera had to guess, it was funding reasons, or being moved to somewhere else; but she had never really encountered an abandoned library. "And why did you keep coming here, Miss Adventurous?" she added, and offered a grin as she followed Genette. "Ah, the conveniences of not actually fixing things," Neera noted as she climbed through the hole in the fence.
 
Gennette thought of the question that the other had asked. She shrugged. "I suppose I go to because it reminds me of my childhood," She pondered outloud. "It reminds me of when I was normal," That wasn't the best way to put it. "...er. Normaler. Than this, right now. Does that, uh, does that make any sense? At all?" She was an idiot. Gennette shook her head. "Never mind me," she started again, and walked towards the door with Neera. It wasn't locked at that point, but it was at one time or another. It had been weathered down terribly, and it was about to fall off of it's hinges.

"I guess they closed it because it was getting old," She continued. "Rarely anyone used it anymore, so it was just bound to happen eventually." Gennette walked towards the door, and pushed at it gently. It was heavy, and took a lot of will power to do, but she managed. She checked to make sure no cars were coming, and that no one was watching. "Alright, follow me," She pulled in Neera gently by the wrist.
 
"Oh, no, no, don't worry-" Neera started, once Genette tried to retract what she'd said. "No, it makes sense, I understand. I suppose everyone has some sort of nostalgic tendency." And then, the woman grinned and teased her client again. "Yours just happens to be taking strangers to old libraries on rainy days." Until Genette signified that she wasn't a fan of the teasing, Neera would keep it up; acting as though one was already friends with another tended to make it be so. In this case, friendship might help. Chances were that Genette could use it, anyways.

"Is that so? At least tell me that they relocated it," Neera remarked mildly. "Or downsized it, I suppose, if it was so infrequently used, or, well, something," she added as an afterthought. She followed her flowery new friend to the door, and watched as Genette pushed it open with seemingly relative ease. Following her example of checking to make sure no one would see them, she was surprised when Genette grabbed her wrist- and that the girl's hand felt like a normal hand. While Neera noticed that, she managed to walk into the library between the prompting from her feet wanting to escape the rain and the teenager, then looked around at the remnants of the library.
 
Gennette thought, as she closed the door to the library securely. "I believe they did," She thought. "It's suppose to be very beautiful-- I only saw it a few times, when they were building it, but my mom goes there to get me some books, and she said that the flowers are very lovely," But, as Gennette talked, she seemed to be slightly distracted about her last comment. Taking strangers to old libraries on rainy days? Hardly. She tried to fight back some seeds of embarrassment. Gennette walked towards the center of the room-- The Teen Room, as the library (and the chipped paint on the wall) would call it. There had been some curious books that were on the dilapidated shelf, with some strange fungus growing from it's pages.

Gennette saw Neera look at the books, and she gingerly pointed to them. "I did that," She started. "It was, uh, an accident at first, but I got kinda... intrigued at the mushrooms that would grow." She smiled bashfully. "One time it looked like the fungi were absorbing the words into their trunks. I think it's neat, but some people think it's weird." Gennette instantly felt self conscious, and she quickly changed topics. "Eh, here, the front desk looks cooler," Again, Gennette grabbed her wrist, and pulled her along. It was a habit, her being touchy with people. It's all she ever knew.
 
Ideally, Neera would have next offered to take Genette to the new library. If not then, then at least at some point. But no promise could be made that she would be able to find anything that would reverse the particularly adverse effects of Genette's puberty. And without that sureness, then Neera wouldn't promise that she could do something like that for the girl. But it did make her determined to find something about what had happened to the girl. Oh, and to check out the new library for herself, if only because the current conversation made her want to compare it to the remnants of the current library. (She imagined that the pretty flowers would not, like here, be growing from the books.)

Before Genette could pull Neera over to the front desk, though, she looked at the things growing from the books and smiled. It was certainly an original use for an old Library; Neera had to credit the teenager with that much. "Cooler, hm? That's one feat. What've you got growing there that could achieve that?" the woman asked with a smile as she was tugged along by Genette. As they walked, she did her best to look around the place, and gather what she could. Plants were growing from every corner, winding themselves into everything they could find room, and making room where they couldn't. It was amazing to see.
 
Gennette shrugged. "Oh, I just... got bored, one day, and I just experimented with some seeds and stuff," She blushed slightly. Oh, she was never one to talk much about herself, and when she did, it wasn't anything too high and mighty. "It's wet, it's damp, it can grow plant life, I suppose." She shrugged once more. But soon, they were at the front desk, and it really was cooler, as she described it.

There had been a skylight above the desk, and it had cracked due to some weathering, supposedly. Maybe it was vandalism. But whatever the cause, the result was beautiful. Pieces of ceiling and wire were hanging from the top, and before the duo had came in, there were a few birds perched on the workings. They flew out the top, and left with a caw. There was a computer on the desk, but again, the possible vandals smashed the screen, but small seeds were growing from the keyboard. Gennette smiled, and walked over towards it.

"It gets really pretty in the winter time," She said. "The glass get's all blue-greeny-white-ish and it almost reflects the snow! Isn't that cool?"
 
"Sounds fantastic," Neera agreed. She looked up t the ceiling- parts of it were open, and some rainwater was dripping in. Doing her best to avoid the water, the woman crept over to the best, and inspected the sprouts growing from the computer more closely. "I don't know if you know, but does their being in the computer do anything to their growth, or anything? I wouldn't think that something would be able to grow in this-" she stopped and glanced at the keyboard, inspecting what it was probably made out of- "antiquated plastic, but either I've got the material wrong, or my thoughts on the matter wrong."

To Neera's surprise, a drop of water plopped down from the ceiling and hit her head. Given that she hadn't been expecting it, the investigator jumped back, and gave a cautious glance up. Sure enough, there was a wire that stretched across a more open area, and pointed down at the computer desk, under some remaining ceiling. Sidestepping the reach of any more water that might spring free from the old structural support, Neera returned to inspect the computer once more.
 
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