Verdigris waited until her green friend was a fair way down the ladder before shimmying after her. She had, after all, already knocked over the last ladder, it would be better that her roommate got down far enough that she could avoid being squished under the ladder and inevitably Verdy’s body. She glanced at the floor a moment before she stepped onto it. Somehow kissing it didn’t really appeal… or seem sanitary, no matter how much of a movie-moment it would make.

~~“It was no trouble.”

Oh, that was good then, she smiled at the man. He was definitely up there on her list of favoured people now. Something that just happens with the whole rescuing thing.

~~“I am curious though as to what reasons led you two on the shelves of this section tonight.”

Hmm, yes, an explanation did seem in order. Two pyjama-clad young ladies, gallivanting about on top of that section was perhaps something out of a strange fantasy, but certainly not something you would reasonably be expected to deal with. She blushed a tiny bit, glanced at her friend and inched the tiniest step forward.

“We were looking for a book- over on the other side of the library- and then I knocked the ladder over and we were stuck on top of the shelves… we made our way here looking for another one- a ladder that is, not a book- until we found you... or you found us… or we found each other.”

On second thoughts, they would probably have to rescue the ladder at some stage from its final resting place somewhere on the lowest floor of the library. Maybe that would be an adventure for tomorrow. She smiled at the man with only a hint of awkwardness on her face.

“I’m Verdigris, by the way.”

Her awkward, embarrassed neck scratching stopped, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her roommate was safely down, she had her feet planted on the ground once more, and they had met a very nice fellow who was kind enough to help them out. A good end to a rather unique night, she'd say. His question about why they had been in such a predicament however, caused her blush lightly with her dark haired friend, (and action that was thankfully much harder to notice than her deeper flushing) and clasp her hands behind her back.

>>“We were looking for a book- over on the other side of the library- and then I knocked the ladder over and we were stuck on top of the shelves… we made our way here looking for another one- a ladder that is, not a book- until we found you... or you found us… or we found each other.”

Found one another, a stroke of luck. Andrea unclasped her hands to toy with the necklace around her neck, a symbol of her very first encounter with her pirate captain. Indeed, her explanation was as good as any, but the Greek didn't want any form of blame to fall upon Verdy's shoulders. (least she lose her new roommate) "T'was my fault, really. I tried to reach a book up high up on the shelf and ended up on top. It was my idea for her to come up after me..." A soft, nervous laugh escaped her, and she sent a sheepish grin her friends way. Verdy introduced herself to the rather quiet fellow, and the twenty two year old decided to follow after.

" and I am Andrea." A hint of her accent flooded into the way she had pronounced her name, with much too much attention on the rrrrr, and the gorgon scrunched her nose. If it was possible, she had just sent a dirty look to her tongue for dragging up that dreadful thing again. It appeared another couple of strict lessons would be required to make sure it stayed good and buried from now on...

His facial expression did not shift. He did not grin at their mistake. He did not laugh at them for their ineptitude to use a ladder. No he didn't. But he did not scorn them either. It was more of a interested nod that followed after Verdy's statement, and acknowledging one. On a site note: His feelings shifted. He was moved to forgive them. After all: Someone who cant even use a ladder properly had other troubles in going through life then he had. Maybe not worse ones, but surely their own share of adequate trouble. And he was not one to make them worse, so long they did not make his employer doubt him in anything. And it seemed that they weren't. So, as his head raised from the nod, his expression had shifted slightly. Just a slight grin then. Just for them. Something private to share.

His voice was slightly colored by his own accent, placing him, other then Andrea, the green lady in red, in the middle-European region. “I'm Martin. The gardener here.” He didn't think there were any more stern warnings about obvious stupidity needed here. Unless he wanted to make the situation more awkward. Which he did not. So he leaned on he ladder with his side. But it appeared that there were higher forces willing. Just by chance, he had, in fastening his ladder on the shelves, knocked one book loose, which, just as gravity demanded it, proceeded to make its way down the shelf. Eugene and the girl with two mouths was it. And it went down. Knocked down by the ladder. Down on Andreas, the ones with the accents, head.

Klonk.

Happy. Awkward. Surprises. Even for Martin, who looked slightly pale. He always looked pale.

The blame- that wasn’t really blame- was shared between them now, even stevens, as it should be. Any anger that the man had would be shared and bore on two sets of shoulders. Thankfully the man didn’t seem to be so mad with them, he even smiled.

~~“I'm Martin. The gardener here.”

She smiled, he was a gardener, that explained the heavy gloves that shrouded his hands, also the swift location of a ladder.

“Nice to meet you.”

The man, Martin, moved the ladder in an attempt to head off, probably towards bed, which was where they all should technically be. A book- thankfully paper-backed- launched itself off the shelf and delayed their bedtime for a while with an incredibly accurate landing onto Andrea’s head. Verdy gasped.

“Andy! Are you ok?”

She had never heard of someone getting a concussion from being bonked with a paper-back, but she was fairly certain that all kinds of things happened in this place that she had never heard of.

A gardener? She would have to remember that, in case she ever had any garden type questions for him. She glanced from him, as he leaned into the ladder, to her roommate. She was about to open her mouth and offer the 'Well, I suppose we should be getting back to our room now' line, when something hard and rather unpleasant landed sharply on the top of her head. She had only gotten out the words, "Well, I supp-" before being interrupted by the falling paper back. Andrea winced and hissed quietly, before she ducked a little and caught the book in open, waiting hands. Her eyes landed on the cover, and after a few silent moments of studying, she turned dark brown and dropped it to the floor with a cringe and what could be considered an eye twitch... (not that anyone could see...)

Stuttering for a few seconds seemed like the right thing to do, before she coughed and rubbed at the top of her head with one gloved palm. "Ouch..." Her eyes drifted over to Verdy, her worried roomie, as the dark haired girl asked her if she was alright. The gardener, who stood by silently watching, was the next stop as her eyes traveled by before landing back on the book at her feet. "...I am fine, do not worry." She grinned, rather lopsidedly, and continued. "Karma, I suppose." For trampling all over the top of their home... With a toe, she casually moved the book away from her, back towards the shelf and wiped her hands clean of the book and all of its steaminess onto her pajama pants.

The girl was apparently unharmed by the falling paperback, though he wondered what she had done to deserve this kind of karmic punishment. She had not been able to keep the title of the book hidden from his eyes. Neither her reaction. She turned brown. That was something new for a blush. And her fried was pleased to meet him. They were all so pleased. More relieved seemed likely. Someone to rescue them from their shelf. And someone who wouldn't give them a lot of trouble for it. Somewhere a little mean streak in him surfaced.

He bent down and took the book that Andrea had tried to get rid of in his hands. “if its karmic punishment..:” He pushed the book on her quite literally. And then went on with talking “we should really all get to bed now.” And he proceeded, ladder under his arm, to gather up the books he had dropped single-handedly. And then he marched off into the shadows.

And was gone.

Verdigris watched the man disappear into the darker area of the library. His boot-steps faded into the distance and she turned to her friend. She didn’t seem too hurt, or even too upset, but not being able to see her eyes made it difficult to tell. Glancing left and right she winked at her friend and blew a quick kiss towards the ground.

“Ready to go to bed now?”

For there was nothing better after a late-night adventure than a nice long sleep, or icecream, at the right time of year. Autumn was not the right time of year. Summer, yes, spring, possibly, winter, definitely not.

She glanced the direction the man had stomped off in.

“Weird guy. Lucky he came along though, otherwise we would have had to figure out how to balance while sleeping. Or not sleep at all.”

In her time in NYC she had had her fair share of sleepless nights, but it didn’t make them any more desirable. Especially not when a bed was waiting, she didn’t even have to wait in line for this one, or put up with meaningful glances from well-meaning youth counselling staff.

Bring on the bedroom, roomie and all. Especially roomie. Hopefully any snores would go unnoticed in the over-tired slumber soon to come.