Getting a Book

Lila grinned at Victor's comment. He knew what she was trying to do. Yet he wasn't actively trying to stop her, so maybe it's what he wanted deep down. She couldn't help herself, her eyes brightened at the thought of helping him with something like this. She loved to see friendships made, even if she knew others would be more attached to them than her, which was in most cases. It was just one of the beauties of life which Lila tried desperately to experience.

"Don't worry, we can do it another day!" She promised. The point of a public area was to make sure that no matter how many times Victor messed up, he would have plenty more people to befriend. She didn't have much faith in him getting it right the first time. "So you know what I'm going to do then?" It wasn't hard to guess. It was the easiest trick there was, but that's what made it so effective. After all, what's the worst that could happen?

Not really being one to fit in was an understatement for Victor. Had Lila not seen the sheer variety of Manta Carlos, she would've singled him out and made fun of him, no doubt. He was strange, but she felt a link between them. It was as if their conversation had shown what they had in common, which on the exterior was absolutely nothing but inside was surprisingly similar. "What was it like? The loneliness, I mean."

Of course she wasn't sorry for her actions. She had never been. Second guessed them, occasionally, even questioned them, but never admitted they were anything but necessary or fun. She just wanted to know how Victor (and maybe a couple of others who were similar) felt being who they were.

"Okay, but it's happening," she promised him, knowing that a bit of social treatment would benefit him. Being an individual was what Manta Carlos was all about, and Victor needed to learn how to express himself to as many people as possible. As for her, she had changed to fit into human life, but her friends in turn changed her, making her the person she is today. It was a strange thing, how she was able to fake a personality for a long time until she actually became the girl she was faking. But Victor had no need to fake anything here, he could be himself and show it to heaps of people and nobody would make fun of him for it.

Obvious, huh? It didn't really matter to her that he knew, the secret would be revealed somewhere down the track anyway, but not the details. She saw worry on his face, and smiled weakly. "You have nothing to worry about!" She didn't know how people could be so afraid of other people. If they actually approached them, they'd be surprised at how easy it is to just get to know one another. Lila was basically always the one who started conversations, purely because she was always in one. "What could go wrong? You're only talking!" She commented.

Lila raised her eyebrows. "Soundproof rooms? Alone? How did you survive?" She asked dramatically. She couldn't imagine being that cut off from society. Even though she had more or less let go of her old friends, it was only in place of new ones. Having none would bore her and make it hard to do anything. She wasn't really reliant on her friends as such, but she was definitely reliant on having some. Victor, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy being alone. Maybe that was due to never having friends. Maybe, if he learnt to socialise more often, he could be even happier!

Lila smiled and relaxed a little. At last, he gave in. She knew she would eventually win him over, so to see him agree, even reluctantly, was a success in her eyes. He needed her to get back into social life, just as much as she needed him to help out. She hadn't really been herself when she first moved, so to have somebody she could lead would hopefully help her to regain her unbreakable confidence she had.

"You'll be fine then!" She assured him. If only seven percent of communication was talking as he said, he could easily make up for his quietness and loss for words with his body language and facial expressions. All he would have to do is remain focused. If anything, this was good news for him, and she didn't understand why he made it seem so negative. "You can stand up, you can look at someone and you can open your mouth. Plus, you have a little trick up your sleeve if you need it," she reminded him. "One that I happen to be immune to." Her reasoning behind that statement was that if he needed something, he could pause time and she could help him out. It was simple and might just work.

Lila frowned at Victor's soundproof rooms description. Surely he didn't really find it that interesting. "Sure, whatever makes you happy," she said uncertainly.

She was happy with her immunity from Victor's power, but it lead her to question things. How far away would she need to be so that it didn't affect her? There had to be a limit, otherwise she would've been caught in a frozen world before, and she hadn't been. But the problem was, she only had it narrowed down to between a metre and halfway across the world. If she knew the limits, they could be used to her (and maybe his) advantage.

Victor had basically sealed the deal. Lila's plan to get him a social life was going to happen now. But not today. After all, he came to get a book and she came to find out about other types of people. Only one of them had actually achieved what they entered the library to do, and like usual it was her.

"So, books on Angels? You better get back to that," she said. They had talked for a while, yet Lila still saw him as more of a project than a friend. Maybe she had seen the opportunity for the two of them to be friends, but decided they were too different or that. Yet she still wanted to help him out. What did that make them?

"And I'm gonna go back to my dorm, get some rest," she added. She didn't know yet whether she would get rest or go out, but thought it was a good way to excuse herself from the conversation. Better than knocking all of the bookshelves in the library over (which she had seen before.) With that, she turned around and made her way out of the library, not looking back once.