The Reign of Words Commence!

“Ooh! Can I please show him the wings?” Abby immediately asked, eyes glimmering with excitement. Those were one of Ria’s creations that she’d had the honor of testing. She loved wearing those things, despite the fact that they were a prototype. That quiet buzz they made in motion coupled with their glassy transparency just made them feel so cool.

“Well, okay, as long as you’re careful with them,” Ria replied, reaching up and gently lifting them off their spot on the wall. She strapped the set onto Abby’s back, handed her a pair of gloves with what looked like small motion-capture pads in several places-presumably controllers of some sort- and then pointed the both of them towards a door across the lab. “That room over there is the testing area. All the surfaces are reinforced and padded in case of malfunctions, so you should both be fine. You may want to put on some eye protection, though. There’s a case with safety glasses next to the door.”

“Thanks! Don’t worry, we’ll be careful!” Abby exclaimed, grabbing Al’s hand and rushing over to the room. She grabbed him a pair of glasses out of the case and put on a pair of her own. “Let me know when you’re ready!”

Al stumbled as he was helplessly dragged toward the testing room. Instead of yelping, a surprised “oh-” escaped his mouth as he tried to keep pace with the excited artist.

He fumbled and almost dropped the protective glasses while bringing it to his face. He ultimately succeeded in putting it on the right way, and was glad that he at least granted himself this small dignity.

He took a few steps back in case the invention needed distance to start. And if it didn’t, the distance gave a good view of Abby and her wings. Stretching out an arm, he gave her the thumbs up.

“I’m sure you’re very aware of this, but please! Be careful!”

Trina would have been shocked to hear these words from him. Another thing he was glad about: the current absence of Trina’s sarcastic sass.

“That’s correct. Lovely to meet you, Alabaster,” Ria replied with a kind smile. “Thank you. I do prefer bigger projects, but these smaller pieces are just as special to me.”

“You should see some of the other weapons she’s made,” Abby said with a proud grin. “She made me this giant paintbrush for my birthday. It works as both a regular paintbrush and a melee weapon. It even dispenses its own paint, so I don’t have to keep dipping it.”

“Yes, that was one of my more interesting designs,” Ria added with a nod. “I’m fond of that one. Al, what sort of thing do you do?”

He couldn’t help but crack a short laugh when they mentioned Abby’s weapon. A giant paintbrush? It sounded like such an absurd weapon, but it was at least better than trying to hit things with a stick enchanted with Knockback. Those were curious little objects. And used for even curiouser purposes other than combat.

“The interesting design certainly has your interests in mind, Abby.” He said, nodding once in her direction. Then to Ria, “What do I do? Well, keeping a less organized mess is one of them, haha! Otherwise, I do chemicals.”

The corner of his still smiling mouth twitched. That...last part didn’t come out as eloquently as he had hoped. But it happened. His only options now were to own it or discard it.

Bringing his hands around to his front, he rubbed them together in an act of anticipation and addressed both of his hostesses.

“So! Would any of you mind if you could demonstrate any of these inventions? It doesn’t matter which---I’ve no preference. Maybe one or both of your favorites?”

“Well, we do have a separate room for testing things, but we really shouldn’t be handling this stuff without Ria’s permission,” Abby replied. “Those blasters are mostly for emergencies, and the wings are pretty fragile. And all that big tube thing over there’s gonna do is give you a bunch of static shocks.”

There was a click from over where Ria was working, and the glow subsided. She must have been done welding together whatever she was working on. Out she slid from under her ship, removing the welder’s mask she wore and wiping sweat from her forehead.

“Oh, hello!” she exclaimed when she saw Alabaster. “Careful around those cases, Mr…” She paused, tilting her head like a curious bird. Had she met this guy before? Probably not. She was usually good at remembering people, but his face didn’t ring a bell. “…Um… My, I’m sorry. What’s your name?”

“Aha, I...see.” He said, putting his hands into his pockets as he went back to browsing the gadgets. Well, she did say they were prototypes. Better to test his mortality with something more stable, he supposed.

The click caused him to turn his head, attention shifting to Ria. He smiled at her greeting and took a slight bow, his hands clasped behind his back. He saw how she crinkled her face as she tried to place a name in that blank. A fruitless effort, considering this was the first time he had ever introduced himself to this Ria.

“No need to apologize. We haven’t met before.” He said with a flourish, placing a hand on his chest. “Alabaster. But most call me Al. And you are Ria, I presume? I like your, ehm, impressive display technological handicrafts.”

“Aw, he’s just tired. Probably trying to marathon something. Usually he’s a lot more loud and outgoing.” Abby giggled, leading Al to the basement steps and opening the door.

Most of the time, basement stairs were old wood or concrete, maybe carpeted, but these were slick metal with a bumpy texture on top to prevent slipping and falling. It looked new, which was probably accurate considering the house they were in. The light at the bottom was bright, which was helped along by a glow from farther into the room.

“She might not hear us,” Abby explained. “I think she’s using a blowtorch. We can look around down here until she’s done, though. There’s a lot of cool stuff.”

Sure enough, there was. Ria herself was working on a large aircraft of some sort, but there was more than just aircrafts down here. Hanging in cases on the wall were several prototype laser blasters, among other strange high-tech tools. A pair of what looked like mechanical dragonfly wings hung on another wall. There was even a capsule whose purpose was to recharge Patch’s power cells faster than his usual charging dock.

#rp #galactxc #Alabaster #((don't let him near anything))

Forget cool, he replied in his thoughts, try awesome.

As he descended the last step, he almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He knew advanced technology like this existed somewhere, but to be in the presence of so many in one place, well...a childlike glee was beginning to take hold of him. However, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone else might have taken more interest in all of this than he, for he was a chemist. Not an engineer.

Though, he still had to admit, this panoply of inventions excited him greatly.

“Are we really only allowed to look? Not...oh- Idon’tknow- touch or try out in any way?” He asked as innocently as possible. A wide, sheepish smile formed across his face. His display would most probably accomplish nothing, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Abby kept brushing her hair away from her eyes as they walked along the waterlogged sidewalk. The humidity in the air was making it fluff out more than usual. Off they went, through the city and alongside the beach, heading up a street that led up on top of a section of bluffs overlooking the water. On the other side of the road were a few houses nestled in a more forested area. The park was nearby too, making this area seem all the more cozy and natural.

Eventually, they made it to Abby’s house. Surrounded by meticulously groomed landscaping, it looked a little more modern in design than the other homes they’d passed.

“All right, we’re here!” Abby exclaimed, opening the front door for Al and leading him inside. Don, who was sprawled out on the couch watching TV, waved lazily at them. “…She should be down in the basement. That’s my brother Don over there.”

As they passed by the beach, Al ducked further below the umbrella to catch a glimpse of the scenery. The sand was dark brown with moisture, the sea that came and receded back to the ocean the same gloomy gray as the sky above it. Except darker, like the sand. The stark contrast between the inkiness of the water and the white of the foam made it seem threatening, but he imagined it looked much more pleasant on a nicer day.

Keyword being imagined. He was surprised to realize that, in his forty plus years of being alive, he’d never actually been to a beach before in person.

Al marvelled at the new area around him, his eyes following every house and other facility that was built or grown here. He lived somewhere just outside the city limits as well, but to see a place similar yet so different...good heavens, it reminded him of his traveling days when he was younger.

“Kudos to whomever did the yard work.” He murmured to Abby, staring out at the impressive landscape as he walked.

He thanked her for holding the door as he walked in, shaking the rain off of his shoes. Al barely caught the half-hearted wave from across the room, but catching sight of it, he sent his own stiff wave back at him.

“A pleasure,” he said as Abby introduced her brother. Then more softly, he continued, “He doesn’t seem to be the most prolific of individuals. So! The basement, yes? Lead the way---I’ll be following right behind you.”

“Eh, it’s not heavy. I don’t see why not,” Abby replied with a shrug as she grabbed her umbrella and led Al to the door. “My place is a little out of the way, but I know plenty of shortcuts. It shouldn’t take us more than half an hour to get there.”

Pushing the door open, Abby opened up her umbrella and stepped out onto the soaked sidewalk. She glanced around, hoping the storm hadn’t caused any damage. That wind had been pretty harsh. Luckily, it was more of a constant breeze now.

“All right, we go left from here. It’s past the park and near the beach,” she told Al. The house she lived in was actually pretty close to the city limits. Her neighborhood was small, and luckily everyone in it was familiar with her friends. Otherwise, they’d probably cause quite a stir. “Sorry in advance. The place was sort of a mess when I left this morning.”

The lopsided grin made another appearance. “Even if it takes longer, I don’t mind walking the extra distance. I emerged from my dark lair to stretch out my legs, anyway.”

Al followed after her out the door, being sure to stay under the shelter of her umbrella. The sidewalk and street was covered in a thin film of water. The surfaces were not entirely drained of the small flooding that was present earlier, but it was drained enough for himself and Abby to walk through without submerging their toes in rainwater. Though there were still some elements of the environment that continued to make them wet, he didn’t think he could mind it anymore. There was a certain threshold between taking care not to get wet and just dealing with it. With the soaking from earlier, he was entirely past that point.

He followed her every direction, making sure not to turn in a way that would entangle his face in the umbrella’s rods. What a wonderful experience that would be, he thought to himself, scoffing.

“Oh, no worries. I know how a mess can be. I look forward to seeing whether or not it’s messier than my own chaotic dump, haha!”

“With this weather, I think she’ll understand why we’re so waterlogged,” Abby replied with a giggle. “I mean, even if she’s working, she couldn’t’ve missed all that noise from the thunder.”

Abby took out her phone, sending Ria a brief text to let her know they were coming over, and then looked over to check outside. The rain was light now, and the deep darkness of the clouds had become a hazy grey. She smiled, glancing back over at Al.

“We can probably head out now,” she told him. “The rain shouldn’t be an issue if we have my umbrella, and it looks like it’s just about done anyways. What do you say?”

He followed her gaze out the window, and was glad to find that the heavy clouds had lightened their load. Although, a small part of him lamented the passing of the exciting, but frightening, thunder and lightning. Oh well, it was entertaining while it lasted.

Al stood and donned his vest again, buttoning it closed. Then he set to work straightening the rest of himself out: smoothing his sleeves, brushing off the seat of his pants, checking his reflection in the window to fix his hair. It wasn’t as long of a process as it seemed; performing all of this spanned no more than a couple of seconds.

After he finished, he looked up and nodded once in Abby’s direction. “I say that’s a fine idea. Will you be okay holding it all the way there? I’d be more than happy to hold it for you, since you’ve been so kind to do the same back when the storm was rougher.”

Abby’s eyes narrowed when Al mentioned the name Stanley. Something was familiar about that name… she couldn’t place what, though. Regardless, his joke snapped her out of her pondering.

“Heh! Yeah, I suppose so,” she said with a giggle. “I get airsick pretty easily, though, so I don’t usually go with her on test flights.” Abby thought for another moment. Where had she seen Stanley before? She knew she had to have met him at some point. Why else would that name sound so familiar?

“…Uh, if you aren’t busy, we could probably head over to Ria once this rain clears up,” she suggested. “She isn’t working on anything too big right now. I bet she’d like to talk.”

He picked up on her contemplative look, but his smile didn’t waver. It only disappeared when she presented her invitation. Al pursed his lips at the thought, having to choose between going home to continue his work and going with Abby to make friends.

“I- hm.” Al crossed his arms (the shirt and vest was not very pleasant to the touch, feeling wet and cold as it dried in the library’s air-conditioned atmosphere) and mulled over his decision. The opportunity had presented itself, so why not? If Trina was worried, she could just call. Besides, she did also nag him to socialize with other people every once in awhile.

“Oh, I guess it can’t hurt. Invitation accepted! I hope she doesn’t mind if we arrive in, eh...less than optimal condition.” He said, gesturing to their damp selves. His hand returned to its place into the crook of his elbow, but his eyes remained focused on Abby’s person. She did look like she was about to pull a brain muscle trying to think about whatever she was thinking about. There wouldn’t have been much of a reason for him to prod, but he did notice that ‘Stanley’ seemed to incite a reaction from her. He cleared his throat.

“From home, mostly,” Abby answered, leaning on the arm of her chair and crossing her legs. She seemed fidgety, probably because of all the rumbles of thunder in the background of their conversation. It was starting to become quieter, thankfully, but it was still pretty constant. “We set up the basement for it when the place was built. The garage roof opens up so the crafts can get out. It’s cooler in person. I’ll have to invite you over sometime.”

Sneaking a peek out the window, Abby was relieved to find that the blinding sheets of rain were now a steady pitter-patter of drops. Although wind might still be a problem, the wind was dying down. It’d definitely be safe to leave soon.

“Hmm. Looks like we might be able to go faster than I thought,” she said with a calm smile before turning back to Al. “My friend’s name is Ria, by the way. She’s an Ender, and she’s kind of like my mom. We met when I was really little. She comes off as the logical, serious type at first, but she’s really sweet once she opens up to you. Who’s your brother?”

Al sat up in his seat. “Really? Impressive! Almost seems like something out of a movie, opening up the roof for aircrafts.” Not that he saw anything like that in any movie he’d seen, but the point that it was intriguing still stood.

He noted her restlessness during the conversation. It wasn’t very apparent, but it was easy enough to tell the surrounding situation did not sit well with her. Whether it was himself, the conversation, or the weather, he couldn’t tell for certain. Probably the weather. It looked like it was the weather.

“Aah, good to know.” Definitely the weather. “Ria? I’ll keep that in mind. Stanbo’s also of a quiet and serious sort. (Er, keep in mind, he’s not fond of that nickname, so I would suggest using ‘Stanley’ in front of him instead.) However...I...haven’t seen nor heard from him in over twenty years, so my description of him may be inaccurate.” His brows furrowed, eyes looking past his reflection in the glass, past the building that stood across the street. But the expression was fleeting, and almost immediately, Al flashed a smile her way. “A mother figure, you say? Hah, then I suppose she has double the authority, as a guardian and an aircraft engineer, to ground you, eh?”

“Oof… That’s rough…” Abby mumbled, scratching behind her ear. Clearly, she’d visualized it. She hated that her mind just went ahead did that so much. Stuff like that always made her nervous around the pyrotechnics equipment back at the theater.

She glanced up, grinning at Al’s descriptiveness. “You really make it sound fun, though. My friend’s mostly freelance. She started doing it as a hobby, but she found out she could make a lot of money doing it professionally.”

Judging from her response, she had definitely pulled up the gruesome imagery. A lot of the artsy types always had that unconscious knack for thinking things through visually, like his brother. At least the hazards would be that much more memorable.

He took a seat on the windowsill. The pitter-patter of the rain was slightly louder now that he was closer, along with the whistling chorus of the wind, but the cacophonous symphony was muted enough for him to hear Abby speak about her friend and freelancing.

“Is that so? I’m happy for her, turning what she loves to do into a job she would enjoy. Almost like you and your interests.” He chuckled, turning to look out the window. “I should return the favor and refer you to my brother sometime. He’s more of an artist with words, really, a writer, but he has an eye for the arts. Literally and metaphorically. Eh, where does your friend work? I might drop by to say hello if and when the opportunity arises.”

“Nah. I work in theatre, mostly,” Abby explained, running a hand through her hair to check if it was dry. It wasn’t even close. “Acting, making costumes, set design… I pretty much help out anywhere they need me.”

Speaking of which, she hoped the theater would be alright in this messy weather. She had quite a few hand-painted backdrops stored there, and losing countless hours of her artwork to a little rain would be frustrating, to say the least.

“Being a chemist sounds interesting!” she said with an excited smile, sitting up in her seat. Hopefully changing the subject would make her stop worrying about her stuff at the theater. “I’d probably end up making something corrosive on accident and melting my hand off or something if I tried it. Wasn’t exactly my area of expertise in school. I’m more of an art brain.”

“Uh, oh, thank you.” He nearly stuttered, not entirely expecting the sudden subject change. And also because not many allowed him to indulge in talking about his craft, even if for a short while.

“Ahah, well, conventionally, chemistry isn’t that dangerous of a career. Much more mild and, dare I say, borish, than you would expect, but that’s the beauty of freelancing. You don’t have to follow the rules!”

One of the librarians shushed in his direction. He paused and returned a sheepish smile their way, then continued in a quieter voice. “Of course, I do still have to be cautious. Your example is a perfect description of one of the dangers. Other times, it involves the aforementioned explosions in my basement. There's always a chance I could become- what do you artists call it- a splatter painting?” He shrugged. “I encourage you to not visualize that.”

“Yeah,” Abby replied with a nod. “You ever hear of Tornado Alley? It’s this big, big stretch of land where they’re a lot more likely to pop up. This place is out of that range, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be one here.” She rocked back on her heels, satisfied to see the clouds weren’t moving around. “I never saw one touch down, but we were always instructed on what to watch out for in case one did.”

She looked over at Al with a grin, then walked back over to her chair. “…Blow stuff up? Huh. Not something I hear every day… Maybe you’d like my friend, then. She builds things in our basement all the time. Mostly aircrafts and stuff. She gets commissioned to design them.”

She couldn’t get too much more specific than that. Some of Ria’s work was classified- especially her stealthier designs. A lot of it looked pretty alien, which, considering Ria was an alien, made sense. “…What kind of stuff do you do?”

#rp #galactxc #Alabaster #((secrets all around))

He tapped his chin. “Tornado Valley? Sorry- Alley? Now that you explain it, it does sound painfully familiar. I haven’t heard about that in a while. Makes sense now where you got your ‘nado knowledge.” The edge of his mouth crept into a small smirk, more out of amusement than condescension.

Granted, he forgot about most of the outside world after he began to spend increasingly more time in his basement than getting involved in worldly matters. Trina had been his main source of news for the past several years, and after some time, he stopped paying attention. As was evident in how he took that stroll through the city with absolutely no preparation whatsoever.

After she finished with her question, Al’s smirk broke into a beaming smile.

“For one, I don’t dabble in dirigibles or tinker with flying toys. I work with more...volatile and/or combustible materials. In short, I’m a chemist.” And a madman that messes with fantastical forces that shouldn’t be messed with, he finished in his thoughts. Outwardly, he stood tall, showing apparent pride in his line of work.

“And I would assume you’re not a meteorologist, despite your background knowledge on terribly unruly storms.”

“Heh… If this is how big the April showers are, just wait until the outbreak of giant flowers starts in May.” Abby chuckled to herself, mostly out of nervousness. The jokes were merely to hide that, although the idea of enormous May flowers was an interesting one. “Hopefully the bees stay the same size…”

She didn’t generally give out her last name to people unless she was meeting them professionally. Besides, they could continue with full names later when this storm subsided and they weren’t in possible danger. She was a bit distracted at the moment by the raging weather outside.

With her blue eyes locked firmly on the clouds, she squinted against the lightning as she watched for any signs of a cyclone. So far, all she could pick up on was rain, thunder, and the irritating sound of that harsh wind rattling the windowpanes. Good. Maybe the storm would run out of rain to drop on them before it could muster up a tornado.

“At the rate this rain is falling, I think we’ll be safe,” she told Al, nodding with a tiny bit of confidence. She wasn’t totally sure yet, but a tornado was unlikely. “It’s raining a lot and the clouds are bound to run out of water soon, so it shouldn’t take too long for this to clear up. We just have to wait it out.”

A single laugh escaped him. “That would certainly be an a-pollen sight, giant plants.”

He straightened the vest and draped it over his sleeved arm. He found the calm atmosphere a little too boring, especially after they had just escaped the excitement of the storm outside. It was concerning that it was as bad as it was, yes, but the silence inside began to feel stuffy.

Al turned and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it immediately after noticing that his acquaintance also had words to say.

“That’s the first good news you’ve uttered since I met you,” he replied, chuckling. He spared another glance out the window before turning back around to face the bookshelves. “It’s silly of me to immediately cling to any hypothetical observation in the first place, but-” He shrugged. “-you’re the expert here. I’m just an old man that occasionally blows up his basement. You’ve had experiences with tornadoes before?”

“…Abby,” she finished, tucking her hair behind her ear and observing the clouds from her seat. They looked fairly still for the time being- surprising considering how windy it was outside. It didn’t look like a supercell just yet. “And you are?”

As they carried on their conversation, she stood up, leaving her umbrella leaned against the chair as she approached the window for a better view. A bright flash from outside caused her to blink and pause as if stunned for a moment, but the crashing thunder that followed made her flinch and take a step back. Her ears were ringing from that one.

“Whoa! It really went from bad to worse out there…” she exclaimed, watching the sheets of rain from above flood the pavement below. To think, it’d just been a standard drizzle when she left the house this morning. Hopefully that’d be okay. “I hope this rain doesn’t last too long… That basement might flood. Then we might not have a safe place to hide if things get really dangerous.”

He nodded, acknowledging her name. He found it slightly curious that she didn’t include her surname, but whether that was intentional or not, he didn’t bother to prod.

“Alabaster.” He answered, shaking more water out of his vest. The librarians were definitely not going to be happy about the mess he was making--the mess he and Abby was making--but it was their fault for keeping the door unlocked during the storm. Of course someone was bound to come here to seek shelter from the rain. “But most refer to me as Al. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Abby.”

Another flash, another rumble. Or explosion, more like. Having already grown accustomed to the experience, the urge to react to thunder and lightning was lost to him. However, it didn’t worry him any less in regards to how intense this storm had become. Gods, it sounded like Armageddon was had already begun out there...

“A flood? Oh, how lovely.” He sighed. “Again, verily hoping your guesses are wrong. Surely, this is just a rare case of a bad thunderstorm? It is April, after all.”

galactxc:

Another loud crack of thunder sounded overhead, prompting Abby to dart into the library with a tiny, frightened squeak. The power was still on. Good. Having light handy was comforting. Closing her umbrella, she stumbled forward into a nearby chair and sat down with an exhausted huff. Her face was red and her eyes teary, almost making her look like she’d been crying. In reality, she simply had sensitive eyes that watered when the wind blew too strongly at them.

“Urgh,” she groaned, pushing her soaking wet hair back out of her eyes and sniffling. “That sucked. I feel like a drowned rat.” She was silent for a while as she listened to the turbulent storm outside.

Even with the blinds obscuring the outdoors from view, the bright flashes of lightning outside pierced through their shade. Every great boom of thunder that she heard made Abby jolt in her seat. It was getting close. The thunder was sounding more quickly after the lightning flashed. That wasn’t exactly a comforting thought. Hopefully this building had a lightning rod.

“Hey, we should open some of the blinds. We can keep an eye on the clouds,” she told Al once she’d finally caught her breath and gotten her nose to stop running. She’d grown up in a more tornado-heavy area before moving here, so she was taught early on what to look out for. “If they look like they’re rolling sideways in a big row, then we might have a problem. Tornadoes usually start out on their sides… Does this library have a basement, by any chance?"

Al quickly stepped in after her. The door slammed closed on its own, leaving the wind to howl angrily outside. He leaned on the railing attached to the door, streams of water dripping from his person and onto the carpet he stood on. The chair under his acquaintance met the same, sopping fate.

The library was mostly empty, save for the two that entered and for the surprised librarian or two that tended the books farther inside the building.

Al chuckled at her complaint. “An understatement. I think a drowned insect is far more accurate.”

He slicked back the the dangling strands of wet hair and followed the stranger’s gaze toward the window, catching each glimpse of lightning that threw electric blue through the openings. The man caught what she said and nodded, moving to maneuver the strings controlling the blinds. The horizontal blades obeyed without complaint, and with one good pull, the hectic scene outside the window could be seen clearly through the glass.

“I believe there’s a basement under here, yes. Restricted from public use, but I'm sure they could make exceptions for the sake of all of our lives.” He shook off his vest and wrung the rainwater out of it, making a face at the waterfall that splattered onto the floor. “You sound like you know your way around tornadoes, Miss...?”

Abby gave a sharp swallow, nodding and picking up her pace. Getting wet was one thing, but being zapped by lightning would be devastating- especially for a less-sturdy person like herself. The way this weather was going, she was a little afraid that there might be more than just lightning to worry about. More wind rushed full-force into her face, pushing tears out of her sensitive eyes and forcing her to angle her umbrella far more horizontally than before. It looked more like she was pushing a heavy box than holding an umbrella, the way she was walking.

“I heard it was s'posed to rain, but this is a little much!” she responded, shouting just loud enough to be heard over the gale. “You don’t think there’s gonna be a tornado or something, do you?”

She could barely even see where she was going, so she decided she’d rely on this stranger to lead her to the library. He seemed to be able to find his way better than she could in this treacherous weather. The heavy rain and the shade of the clouds overhead made the air around them murky and dark.

He lent a hand in holding the umbrella barricade against what was now a tempest blowing towards them. Maybe he should have actually listened to what Trina was trying to tell him. He chuckled drily to himself. This wasn’t the first time that that thought crossed his mind.

Al’s brows furrowed at the other’s inference. If the moment was appropriate enough for him to stroke his chin in contemplation, then he would have. But there was too much chaos going on around him for that expression.

“Gods, I hope not. Tornadoes don’t normally pass through here, much less appear anywhere near here at all. If your prediction is right, and I do hope it is not, then it’s probable that we would be very, very screwed. Muchly screwed. Unless you have any anti-tornado plans at hand?”

Although the bend was only some several paces ahead, traversing that distance seemed to take an eternity in this bad weather. But when they arrived, what could be seen was a medium-sized, two-story building with large windows making up the outer walls of the first floor. The blinds were closed on the inside, but slits of warm light still filtered through the openings. With the force of the wind blowing against him, it took more effort than it normally would have to open the library’s front door. Yellow light spilled out into the atmosphere of darkening gray.

Holding the door open, he nodded toward the inside. “Ladies first.”