The Great Book War (Amelia)

What better way to start Ami's day off then with more books?

After talking with her sisters, Ami was starting to see reason in their suggestions. The book thief was still pulling their stunt taking the books in her series and even moving on to the later books if she managed to finally find and read one of the missing ones. It was infuriating! How in the world was this person- whoever they were- figuring this out!? Although Ami never really hid herself away if she was reading. Never much saw a reason for it. Reading was a good thing (even if the tiny mouse could take it to the extreme). Still the fact whomever was messing with her was also managing to keep up with her was both infuriating and suspicious.

So now Ami was deploying other tactics to get what she wanted.

Much as she wanted to catch this thief, she also wanted to actually read the books and finish the series she was on! Rather than waste her time hunting the university's library for books she knew just wouldn't be there, the little mouse went out to the city instead. Surely the library there would have what she was looking for, right? Turns out this time she had judged correctly: she'd found one of the books! Only one, however. That was good enough for Ami though as she triumphantly exited the aisle with the book extended before her to admire. Finally she'd located one. It was ridiculous that this felt like a damn achievement. It was a book! She should have easily been able to get it!

Not even going to the desk to check this one out; the little mouse was going to read this straight away. there were a few theories she wanted to test, but mostly she was impatient to finally read this dang thing that kept slipping from her grasp for some reason. As Ami searched for somewhere to sit down and read, she ended up passing by someone off by themselves. That wasn't what caught her eye: she was going to do that herself. What did catch her eye was what she saw from a quick glance at his book.

Was...Was he reading a book about cats?

For some reason the boy didn't exactly strike her as the type to pic up that sort of literature. Unconsciously her stride slowed down a little so she could actually confirm that what she was looking at was real. Yeah, that was a book on cats. With pictures! And as she looked she couldn't help but go "Aww..." at one of the pictures of a ki-- Wait did she make that noise out loud?

Shit.

Yeah she'd definitely made that noise out loud.

However the reaction she got was a spectacular display of clumsiness on Edwin's part. One moment he'd been sitting in the chair. The next he had somehow managed to twist himself out of the seat and land on the ground in a heap. The girl merely blinked. How...How did he do that? it was actually kind of impressive how badly he'd messed up and nothing even really happened. And Ami though she was a clumsy one who always managed to have bad lucky.

Looks like she was going to have to give up her title if things like this regularly happened to the man before her.

As soon as the tiny mouse snapped out of it, she started to register what the grumbles actually were. Immediately the slight awe for Edwin's blunder turned into a huff. Speak of being flustered. "I am not twelve!" She protested hotly. For crying out loud-- Why did people always assume she was so young?! If Ami was being honest with herself, she'd admit it had to do with her height. I mean, she was tiny. Even the little mouse couldn't deny that for two long; merely choose to ignore it unless someone brought it up. Like Edwin for instance. Who seemed to be ignoring her.

What a polite man.

Tsking, Ami was about to walk off and find somewhere else to read when a tiny part of her conscience at least made her pause for a second. Long enough to ask, with a sigh, "...Are you alright? I've never seen someone meet the floor quite like that." Like a flailing sack of potatoes.

You know, there were a lot of things that came with being small. The first thing Ami ever learned about it was that it was quite easy to hide when most people had to purposefully look down to see you. being forgotten was a relatively easy and common thing that had happened to her in her childhood. Her parents sort of helped with that. A second thing Ami learned came with her tiny height were comments such as the one Edwin was currently spewing. Jokes and jabs about her smallness that came with a mocking intent. Her friends or her younger sisters could get away with it to some degree. Mainly because Ami has associated these with affectionate intent (of some sort). The third thing she learned was that she would always need to show her id everywhere (which annoyed her to no end). Lastly, the fourth thing Ami learned about her height was that she was very often underestimated and seen as nonthreatening.

Which, frankly, was a huge mistake.

The first comment froze her, the petite woman staring at this similarly small man as he continued to insults her. After she'd been kind. When she quite honestly didn't have to be. As the next few came, her expression began to shift. See there was a difference between irritated Ami and legitimately pissed Ami. Irritated Ami was all fluster but hardly much actual bite. Diya could bring it out of her at the drop of a hat. But angry Ami?

The look on her face was as still and cold as ice. There was no fluster to her. No words of protest. In fact, there were no words at all. Only the level and piercing stare coming from amber eyes gleaming with unreadable intent. The book in her hand was put on the table. In record time the little mouse removed a calligraphy pen and a piece of paper from a over-shoulder satchel hanging by her side, scrawling a rune onto it. It wasn't as pretty as the others she took time to create, such as one of her grenade runes, but it would suffice. Swiftly done, she left it on the table and went back to the front of Edwin. With absolutely no warning and every ounce of strength the tiny mouse could muster, she shoved him back into the table and the rune.

"Divek."

The moment the boy made contact with the rune, it would hold fast to him and in return hold him fast to the table. Edwin would then officially be stuck to it as Ami calmly retrieved her book from the table and stepped back a few paces. "Funny." Commented the girl, her eyes still harsh but now a faint smirk playing with her lips. "The bigger fools really are the ones that bark the most, aren't they?" She shook her head, a light scowl replacing the smirk. "Either you walk out of here without your pants, or you actually try being nice to someone. I know the concept may be hard for you to understand, but usually an apology is a good place to start. If you know what that is."

Yep. That was it.

What? This was still a library. Despite the tiny mouse's proficiency with making things go boom in a spectacular way, she wasn't about to harm a bunch of innocent literature. Ami was no barbarian. Besides, she couldn't help but be equally as satisfied with the results of this rune. There was something about seeing the dawning realization on the boy's face when he tried to move and found that he couldn't. He was as stuck to that table as a fly on a web. The petite woman could have helped him escape it, but then he had to be snarky all over again.

Typical.

Amber eyes rolled in their sockets. He really was making an ass out of himself, wasn't he? Well if he was going to act like an ass, she was going to treat him like one. "Gods no; with you I'd only get a C at best." After that Ami merely shrugged and turned her back on the boy. This was his issue now; Ami wiped her hands of the problem. "Very well. Au revoir, putain." With that final remark Ami walked off, leaving the insulting man behind and still trapped against the table. Perhaps the meeting had been unpleasant, but hey she'd still managed to find one of her missing books. That and she could draw some satisfaction from the fact she'd adequately punished this stranger for what he said. So the evening was not completely wasted, no? At least that's what she figured, and that's all she really cared for.

So after that little encounter, Amelia had gone off and greedily read the book (along with a few others she'd managed to gather along the way since this was Ami we were talking about). When she returned it, she'd pointedly ignored the poor foul she'd glued to the table and went about her business. Surely he'd eventually do something to free himself from the table and go home. Though the only real option meant either stripping or ripping his clothes. Whatever the case, it wasn't her problem anymore.

The next day though, she decided to head back there. Not to check up on Edwin, oh no. She was there to see if maybe someone had returned one of the books she was looking for. if she'd found one, maybe she could find another? It was a bit of a vain hope, but she figured she ought to try it anyways.

She was just heading to the section when she noticed...He was still here? The mouse slowed to a stop, frowning in bewilderment at the sight of Edwin. Still on the table. Still glued to it. And still with only the cat book. Had he seriously stayed over night because he didn't want to give up his dignity? That just made it look even worse for the guy. In the end, Ami couldn't help but laugh. "Did you really stay here overnight?" She had to ask, stepping a bit closer but not within range for the guy to try lashing out to hit her. Gods this guy had to be more stubborn than a mule.

Wow. No angry words? Ami had fully expected to be bombarded with a torrent of pissed off, stuck-in-a-library-over-night slew of comments and quips from the boy she’d dealt with yesterday. But now he just seemed… defeated. Tired. Drained from learning way too much about cats.

Initially the man and earned Amelia’s disdain for his words to her. But now? Now she actually felt a little bad for the guy. Especially as he went rambling on. So once he was finished the petite woman let out a little sigh. As much as he’d gotten on her bad side, she didn’t want to make him stay another night stuck in a position like this. much as it might force one to get some needed shut-eye, it was probably uncomfortable.

“…Hold on.” She finally said, turning and walking off towards another part of the library. After speaking with some of the attendants she returned with a small cup of water and a wash cloth. “Ok look,” She started, approaching the table. The guy didn’t seem like he was planning on attacking her anymore. Plus if he tried something she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. But this had gone on enough for his punishment. “I hadn’t really planned on keeping you here overnight. For that I guess I am… sorry.” In a way she was at least. Taking the cup of water, she started to carefully pour it out around the parts where the rune had been stuck. It might make Edwin’s clothes wet, but eventually through a few more cups the sticky adhesive would come off. “But you really shouldn’t go around insulting people or making fun of their height. I was just curious about what you were reading, ok?”

With the rune undone, Amelia stepped back. “So… I guess you’re free to go. Just don’t do that again.” Or else there were a number of far worse things she could do.