Remember Me

[cellar.]

Overview​

Based on The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.


September 18th, 2004.


It’s been more than two years since they first met at Forest Hills High School.


She was a senior that was attending his first period class.


He was a high school teacher with a love for words.


It was a relationship that was doomed from the start.


Desperate to purge his mind of the feelings he held for her,


he went through with an operation by Lacuna Inc. that would make him forget.


Resigned with that knowledge, she followed suit.


By the light of dawn, they both could no longer remember each other.


Memories wiped, gone, lost.


After a chance encounter at a library,


they meet again with no notion of their past, long-forgotten.


Everything is fine, normal, regular - until they wake up one morning


to discover their old history sitting on their doorsteps.
​

[/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=12px][COLOR=rgb(128,128,128)]Aye, this is New York City.[/COLOR][/SIZE][SIZE=12px][COLOR=rgb(128,128,128)]

 

[Captainsassypants]

In a rush Maddie entered the Library desperate to get out of the freezing cold from outside. It was only a three block walk from her apartment she shared with her mother to the library but it in that short walk she had lost all feeling in her fingers and her face was flushed from the biting wind. Steping inside she felt as if she was melting as the heat from the building warmed her skin. Soon she was pulling off her gloves and hat leaving her hair a disheveled mess as she stuffed them both into the bag she had thrown over her shoulder. Walking farther into the building she couldn't help but look around in awe at the high celiengs, rows of large wooden tables, and book shelves that lined the walls. No matter how many times she had been there before, she always seemed to be amazed by the age and grandness of the building towering over her.


After getting over her initial amazment she made her way to a row of books silently scanning them as she searched for the perfect one to spend the afternoon with. This was the begining of second week off she had from school and after a full week of sitting around alone watching silly shows on netflix she was dying to get out of the house. So that morning she made up her mind to spend the day at the library dispite the weather and cold she would have to face. She was convinced the change of scenery would do her good and besides it had been too long since she had last visited the beloved place.


About five minutes later she had an armful of books that were just waiting to be explored. She was a little surprised at how empty the place seemed as she took her armful of books over to the check-out counter. She was still preocupied reading the back cover of one of her books when she set the rest down, not really having a chance to pay much attention to who was behind the counter as she tried to make a list in her head of which books she would read first.

 

[cellar.]

Undoubtedly, the New York Public Library was one of the most gorgeous places Andrew had ever seen.


The outside was pretty enough, with the two lions standing guard at the gate. The prettiest place had to be the Rose Reading Room, where he felt as if he could just stare at the murals of painted skies for as long as he lived. Often at times – when he wasn’t working – he liked to just let his eyes wander and trace the lines of the intricate ceilings. And when Andrew wanted to get away from all the tourists and crowds, there was always the Periodical Room, his favorite place, where it was tucked away on the second floor. He’d bury himself in books; surrounded by the thirteen murals he had learned all the histories of by his second week.


In the weirdest of ways, despite the size of the building or the number of visitors each day, it was a strangely intimate place. That was how life at the library felt; full of wonder…and yet so personal to him. Andrew loved his job, and in a way, his job loved him.


That afternoon, he was busy working at the checkout, scanning the barcodes on books and entering information into the library system. It definitely wasn’t his favorite part of the job, but he didn’t really have anything to complain about either. Most people preferred to use the self-service checkout anyways, and he ended up anticipating the moment when a visitor would stop before him. Just as the thought entered mind, a girl with a heap of books, set them down on the counter.


“Wow, that’s a ton,” Andrew said, glancing down at the tower of books perched precariously in front of him. The girl who had placed the stack down was busy reading the back cover, and didn’t seem to notice him. He smiled, but raised his voice a little to be heard.


“I’ll just need your library card, miss.”

 

[Captainsassypants]

Hearing the deep voice Madeline's head shot up looking around as if she had forgotten where she was for a moment. "Hm?" She hummed her eyes landing on man in front of her. All of a sudden she felt emarrassed and flustered for not realizing his presence right away. "Oh right! Sorry I'm so absent minded." She said her cheeks becoming flushed as she hurriedly dug in her bag pulling out a small wallet before finally producing her library card. She held it out to him with one hand while her other hand went to push her disheveled hair out of her face an awkward smile forming on her lips.


Watching him closely as he rang up her books, she noted how hadsome he was. She was beginning to kick herself for acting so silly in front of him. She hoped he hadn't noticed. Maybe her staring was creepy too. She should really be more subtle She thought anxiously and looked down at her feet tracing the tiles of the floor with her eyes only stealing small glances the librarian here and there. Jesus! Why was she being so weird? She was just getting books from the library for god's sake. There was no reason for her to be acting like a silly school girl.


Biting her lip she searched for something to say but everything that came to mind sounded stupid to her. "Do you know if any of these are any good?" She asked eventually as she looked at the stack on the counter. She wasn't sure exactally why she felt the need to make conversation with him. Perhaps it was because of all the time she had spent alone and now she was desperate for some human contact.

 

[cellar.]

"No worries," Andrew said with a grin, noticing that her cheeks had flushed pink. In a way, he was weirdly taken to the girl, which in turn, made him feel slightly flustered at the thought. Pushing on with his work, Andrew began to scan the pile of books.


As he started, he looked up when he heard her question.


"Hm. You have a lot of good books here," he mused, holding up a dog-eared copy of

Slaughterhouse-Five.

"Well, except..." Picking up

Great Expectations

, he flipped through the first few pages, before giving it back to the girl. "Props to mister Dickens for all his stories, but this is one of the only books I've never finished. Embarrassing, but true," he admitted with a slight shrug.


The next book he saw was

A Midsummer Night's Dream

, and he had to laugh at that one. He glanced back up at the girl, and then made a face. "This was part of a course requirement for a class that I taught a long time ago. I still remember that I kind of berated my students for not finishing their reading material, when I didn't particularly like the story either."


He smiled a little sheepishly, and then put a finger to his lips. "Shh. That's a secret."


When Andrew got to the bottom of the pile, he paused slightly before scanning the last two books. They were some sort of master collection of works from Keith Haring and another from The Group of Seven. "Huh. You studying art or something?" Andrew asked curiously.

 

[Captainsassypants]

Maddie looked from the books to him as he pulled out each ones making little comments. Seeing him pull out Great Expectations she gave a thoughtful nod "Well I suppose the the problem is he's so damn wordy" She commented with a small laugh as she recalled some information about Dicken's beeing paid by the word.


As he moved on to the next book she quickly glanced to see what it was and then returned her eyes to his face. A grin appeared as she saw the funny look he gave her. "Is it really that bad?" She asked an eyebrow raised before he could say anything. Hearing him talk about some course he taught her interest peeked further. "Oh don't worry I won't tell a soul." She joked "You teach?" She then asked suddenly showing her obvious interest. How old was he anyway? Obviously he was older than her, but he didn't look all that old could he reall be a teacher? She wondered as she imagined him standing up in front of a class room scribbling on a chalkboard. Suprisingly enough it wasn't as hard for her to imagine as she whould have thought.


When he finally got down to the two art books she had picked up and guessed that she was studying art she smiled sheepishly looking down at them and nodding. "Yeah, illistrations actually" She said looking back up a few strands of hair falling into her face. "Thought it would be a nice way to combine my two interests" She added a few seconds later.


The more she talked to him the more at ease she seemed to feel. Somewhere in their discussion of books she had gotten over her awkwardness and was now able to relaxe.

 

[cellar.]

“Well, I guess it’s a point of preference,” Andrew answered, looking down at the donkey head that was painted on the cover. “But I thought it was a pretty sad story for a comedy.” Love potions and fairy dust didn’t seem like the most ideal way end up locked in marriage. Plus the fact that there was no freedom of choice in the matter, casted a dark cloud over the plot – in his opinion.


“Mhm,” he hummed with a nod. “I taught at a high school. I guess it wasn’t my thing though.” That era seemed so long ago, and that there were details he could no longer recall. Still, certain aspects stood out to him, and an example popped into place. “Like, I really hated marking all those papers and tests,” he explained, “and I kind of felt terrible whenever I handed out anything lower than a B grade.”


He wasn’t really cut out to decide anyone’s future, much less his own.


He kept that thought to himself, though, and instead pushed on with their conversation.


“Illustration,” Andrew repeated with a smile, “I’m super impressed already. Y'know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, I usually just make do with the words I have." Again he shrugged, mostly out of habit than anything else.


"My artistic abilities are close to zilch, as much as I’d like to be able to draw.”

 

[Captainsassypants]

"Hmm well I haven't read it yet so I wouldn't know" She said noticing the way his face seemed to darken as he looked down at the book. She figured she would just have to read the book to understand what he was talking about. "Maybe it's strange but I kind of like sad stories.." She said looking away. She really didn't know why she liked things that made her a little sad maybe she was some kind of masochist. She had never admited it to anyone before and she wasn't sure she she had just shared it now with some person she barely knew.


Her thoughts changed gear as she listened to him tall her about how he used to teach at a highchool. "That's intresting" She commented "I would never be able to teach. Kids would drive me crazy and I could never stand to read and grade a bunch of bad essays" She laughed as she though about about her being a teacher. All Maddie could picture was her slaming her head against a desk though. "I'm assuming you taught English?" She asked. With his vast knowlege of literature she figured that was what he must have taught.


Madeline became a little embarrassed and blushed again as the attention was put on her. "Oh I'm really not that great" She insisted being modest. In truth she had a whole sketch book of drawing tucked away in her bag she had actually come the the library hoping to do a few sketches of the diffrent people around. "Well if you have a large vocabulary I'm sure words will do just fine" She told him smiling. He certainly seemed intelligent she was sure the things he could say would be much better than any drawing she could do. "I'm sure you can draw, you just havn't tried hard enough or had the right person show you how"

 

[cellar.]

“Mhm,” he said again, “English at Forest Hills.” In all honesty, he couldn’t remember the exact grounds upon why he quit, but he figured it was a buildup of dislike that ultimately accumulated to enough reason for him to leave his position. “I don’t think I was that great of a teacher anyways,” Andrew confessed. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to say that, but just he knew it to be true.


“Huh, if somebody could make me Picasso, I’d give them a million bucks,” Andrew answered with a laugh. “I’m sure you

are

that great if you study art-” He was cut off from the rest of his sentence, however, when he noticed the two people who had just joined up on the line to the checkout. They seemed to be growing in impatience as they waited for their turn. Glancing back at the girl in front of him, he gave her an apologetic grin.


“I gotta help those guys out," he said, indicating to the people behind her. "But um, it was nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you later?” He asked, placing the last of the books on the counter. He liked the ease of their conversation, and hoped that they could continue it some other time.


“And, I’m Andrew by the way.”

 

[Captainsassypants]

Hearing the name of her old high school he face showed obvious surprise "Forest Hills? I went there" She said as she searched through her mind trying to recall seeing him there but if he taught there while madeline was there she was sure she would have remembered him. "When did you teach there?" She asked surely they couldn't have been there at the same time could they? and if they were why was she just now meeting him. Her high school was large but not that large if he had been a teacher she was sure it would have caused a commotion amongst the students, at least the female ones anyway.


Maddie laughed softly "Hmm a million bucks you say.." She said jokingly pretending to think it over. "Picasso might be a little out of reach but a Pollock just might be doable" She teased with a grin. She looked a little confused when he suddenly stopped talking mid sentence. Looking behind her she noticed they weren't alone which must have been the cause of his pause.


"Oh I'm sorry, I've been hogging all of your attention" She said. She had to admit she was slightly disapointed that they wouldn't beable to continue their conversation, she was having a lot of fun talking to him. "It was nice meeting you too..Andrew" She said pausing slightly before saying his name. "I'm Madeline, or Maddie which ever. Anyway I'll be around sooner or later I'm going to need new books" She said gathering up the stack she had on the counter and walking away to sit at one of the tables in the back while he helped the other people who were behind her.

 

[cellar.]

“Alright Maddie, I’ll see you around,” he said with a wave of his hand. He let his gaze follow, as she sat down a little distance away at one of the study tables. Looking back in front of him, he waved to the next person in line. Throughout the next few hours, as he worked behind the counter, Andrew looked over periodically at the table Maddie was sitting at, just to make sure she was still there.


He felt kind of silly whenever he caught himself sneaking glances in her direction.


He was getting antsy from anticipating his lunch break. After what felt like eons, to him at least, he saw one of his coworkers walking towards him. “Mikey!” Andrew called out towards the tall man with the curly hair. He only received a ‘

shh

’ and a dirty look in response from the guy.


“

Jee-zus

, Andrew, can you be a little less loud?” he said when he got to the counter, switching him out. Nevertheless, with a smile on his face, Andrew made his way from the checkout to the place where Maddie was sitting out.


“Forty minutes!” Mike hissed after him.


“Hey,” Andrew said softly, as he slid into the chair opposite from her. With one hand, he ruffled his hair a little sheepishly.


“Sorry about kind of cutting you off in the middle of the conversation, and all that.”

 

[Captainsassypants]

After walking away Maddie settled at a study table towards the back away from all the other people. Setting the stack of books down she pulled one off the top and began reading. Every once in a while she would glance up towards the checkout counter to see Andrew helping another person and then she would return to her book getting lost in the story and forgetting her surrounding for just a little bit until she got to new chapter then she would glance up again repeating the process.


She was engrossed in her book when she heard Andrew's voice come from beside her which cause her to snap back into reality. "Hello" She said closing her book and turn to look at him. She was a little surprised he had come over to continue their converstaion but that didn't mean she was any less pleasd that he had. "It's alright, you don't have to apologize. It's your job" She said waving off his apology. She understood he had to help the other people at the library he couldn't stand around talking to one girl all day.


"Are you off now?" She asked and glanced towards where he had been standing, a diffrent boy now in his spot. She wondered how much time had past she hadn't been keeping track but it felt like she had been sitting there forever. Her back and legs were all stiff and she could really use a chance to get up and stretch.

 

[cellar.]

Andrew would've loved to answer yes to her question, but he could almost feel Mike's sharp gaze digging into his back.


"For a my lunch break," he replied, "...Forty minutes," he added dutifully with a backwards glance over his shoulder. He looked back at Maddie with an impish smile."Also, I've been thinking about what you were saying...And I am willing to take you up on the offer," Andrew said. "I can settle for someone to make me a Pollock, I mean really how hard can splattering paint on a canvas be?"


As he spoke, he noticed that she seemed a bit uncomfortable. He hoped it wasn't because of him, and so he backtracked a little. He realized he might have come off more pushy than he had meant to. She was making him more weirdly nervous than he cared to be.


"I mean, if you want to. And just as a disclaimer, I really don't have a million dollars, we'll have to subtract a few zeros from that."


Andrew took a slight pause in order to organize his thoughts to seem more put-together, only for him blurted out a second later, "Do you want to go anywhere right now? Like, take a walk, grab some coffee, just some fresh air? I know a place around the corner if you're up for it."

 

[Captainsassypants]

Maddie couldn't help a disappointed look from creeping onto her face whenshed heard he only had forty minutes off, but really she should just be greatful that she had any amount of time with him. Hearing him say he would be willing to take her offer of making him into the next Pollock she grinned laughing softly. "Is that so?" She asked playfully before he could continue on. "Hmm I don't know, but its apparently pretty impressive considering how much money he made" She told him.


Noticing him suddenly backtrack she wondered if maybe she had done something to upset him. Worried she went over everything she had just said trying to find the error in her words. "Okay we'll settle on a thousand then" She teased as she was still trying to figure out what had changed the sudden shift.


When he suggested they go somewhere she perked up instantly. "Yes! I would love too. I'm dying to get out of this chair, everything is so stiff." She said excitedly "I mean if you want to.." She quickly added trying to play it cool but at that point it was too late and she knew it. Standing up, she stretched her arms over her head bending side to side letting her muscles unwind before stuffing her books into her bag and throwing it over her shoulder.

 

[cellar.]

He was a lot more than happy that Maddie had agreed on the art lessons, but he only smiled in response to her words. He didn’t want to seem too eager; he was only meeting her now after all. However, he couldn’t help but be just as excited as she was about going out for coffee. Mentally, Andrew told himself that he was acting rather stupid, but in the end he just let himself be. “Alright, fantastic! Let’s go.”


Impervious to the cool September weather, Andrew ventured outside of the library in no more than the shirt he was already wearing. He had always been somewhat resistant to temperature shifts, cold or hot. In the streets, there were many people walking around attending to whatever business they had. A few trees that lined the sidewalks brought pops of orange and yellow to the gray cement sidewalks.


After walking a little distance away from Bryant Park, he stopped at an intersection, waiting to cross the street. “The place is just on the other side,” Andrew said, indicating towards a shop underneath a tall, glass building. After a slight pause, he turned to Maddie. He had a question that preying on his mind, of which he didn’t feel like asking. Mid-way through, he changed his mind, and posed a different question. “Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, where are you studying right now?”

 

[Captainsassypants]

Maddie smiled and followed after Andrew as he lead her out of the library and down the street. Her arms wrapped firmly around herself as she walked only a few steps behind him watching as other people passed them on their way to their destination. She then looked ahead at the man in front of her, who looked so determined as he lead the way.


When they finally stopped at an intersection she caught up to stand beside him now. Her hands moved from around herself to grab on to the straps of her bag as she watched the cars rushing past them. Hearing him assure her they weren't far from the coffee shop she nodded and said "Alright" She didn't mind the walk it was actually kind of nice, the only problem was it was hard to talk when he was rushing ahead of her, not that she knew what to talk about anyway.


Luckily for her she didn't have to come up with a conversation topic because he did it for her. "I'm in my second year at Pratt right now" She answered and then looked ahead motioning for them to walk as the light changed and they were able to cross the street. Pausing half a second for him to walk next to her she walked in the direction of the shop he had just pointed out.

 

[cellar.]

Andrew slowed down slightly to walk beside her. Hearing her words, he nodded with a smile. “Of course, since illustration and…Do you like it there? You know Mikey – the guy who just subbed in for me – he went to Pratt, but in the Library and Information Program, which isn’t that far from here.” He was rambling, just a little bit, but wondered if she rather wanted some silence instead. He was always good at talking and making conversation, but he had never been that great at knowing when to

shut up.


Before long, they had arrived into the shop. The warmth and pleasant smell of coffee and cinnamon greeted them. It was a nice break from the cool weather outside, along with all the traffic and noise. The place was relatively empty, considering the time of the day. He liked the interesting décor that the place had to offer. Andrew walked up to the counter to order. He turned to Maddie with a smile on his face.


“Don’t worry about it, this’ll be my treat,” he said, giving her a thumbs up. “I mean, this’ll be like some kind of advanced payment for the whole art lessons thing,” Andrew added to clarify. He wondered if it would be weird to consider this a date, considering he had just met this girl a few hours ago. However, pleasantly enough, he was already quite taken to her.

 

[Captainsassypants]

Looking sideways at him at they walked Maddie nodded listening to his words "Yeah, I like it. I mean sometimes the work can seem a little daunting but I couldn't imagine going anywhere else" She said looking ahead of her with a small frown as she recalled the up coming assignments she would soon have to complete. Hearing that the person who had taken his place at the library had also gotten Pratt caused her to perk up . "Really?" She asked tilting her head to the side. " I didn't even know Pratt had a Library and Information program" She admitted intrigued by the new information although she was slightly embarrassed for not already knowing it.


Honestly she didn't mind how much he talked. She enjoyed listening and watching how animated he got over even the smallest of things. Not to mention it was easier on her since she was not always the best conversation starter, but if he got the conversation started she was more than happy to keep it going. Even though she hardly knew the boy she found that being with him was fun and easy.


Stepping into the shop she hummed softly as the smell of fresh coffee hit her. Coffee was one of her weaknesses becoming a bit of an addiction for her and the smell of fresh coffee was one of her favorite things in the world. Standing back for a moment she looked around the cozy little shop admiring the eclectic furnishings before she finally followed Andrew over to the counter. She met his smile with one of her own then let her eyes move to scan the board on the wall for what she would order.


Hearing him offer to pay her attention snapped back to him as she shook her head furiously waving her hands "Oh no! you don't have to do that, really." She insisted. She really didn't what him to feel obligated to pay for her she was more than capable of paying for herself, although the offer was very sweet. When he then backed up the offer by saying it would simply be her payment for the art lessons she was to give him she laughed. "Oh is that all? However, unless this place is much more fancy than I thought, I don't think my cup of coffee will cost a thousand dollars." She teased.

 

[cellar.]

"Yak tears," Andrew answered very seriously, "They use yak tears and a coffee grinder made from silver. And the titanium espresso machine was imported from Spain. Plus, they watered the coffee beans with wine, and hand-harvest each one." The effect, however, was slightly ruined when he broke out into a smile. A laugh was waiting to escape out from his throat, but he bit the urge back and buried it. He was about to say more to Maddie, but the cashier had appeared again, and was now asking him for an order.



"Just a regular coffee please, light roast, medium," Andrew said, "and a slice of cheesecake." In a few minutes, he received back the paper coffee cup and a plate of strawberry cake, and paid for it. He stood off to the side, as he added the sugar, watching as the grainy white dissolved seamlessly into the inky depths. Then, he dumped in liberal amounts of creamer, the white swirling in with the black. He had never enjoyed the bitterness of coffee, and usually only had it for a pick-me-up. His sweet tooth tended to rule what he ate.


As he finished preparing his cup, and popping the lid back on, Andrew turned to Maddie."Nah, don't worry about that. I'll come up with the payment on the first day," he said. "This is just...I know I don't

have

to pay, but I kind of want to," he answered with a smile. Putting aside his order on an empty table with a window view, he walked back to the counter, and handed the cashier a five-dollar bill anyway.

 

[Captainsassypants]

Maddie grinned as he concocted a story of how the coffee could be worth so much. "Hmm.. well in that case" She said placing a finger to her lips pretending to think about it for a moment before she burst into a small fit of giggles. "How do they get the tears though?" She asked after her giggles had subsided. " Maybe they show it sad movies. Oh I know! they make it watch a bunch of the SPCA commercials with all the sad cats and dogs " She said answering her own silly question an amused look in her eye as she bit her lip holding back another laugh.


Noticing the cashier appear she became quite again and went back to scanning the board for another moment while he ordered. Once he had gotten his order and stepped out of the way she took his place " I'd like a hazelnut latte.. and a pistachio muffin" She said eyeing the case of pastries. Once the cashier had gone off to get her order Maddie turned and leaned back against the counter facing Andrew now. "Ugh, fine.." She gave in finally agreeing to let him pay for her coffee and muffin. He was quite the gentleman she had to admit.


After her order was ready she grabbed it along with a handful of sweetener and went to sit at the table Andrew had already set his stuff down at. "Thank you, for paying for my coffee. Next time it's my turn to pay...I mean if there is a next time." She said backtracking. Perhaps she was getting a little ahead of herself. Blushing, she busied herself with adding sugar to her coffee and stirring it around way more that it probably needed to be stirred for the sake of having something to do rather than look at him and have him see the silly blush she got.

 

[cellar.]

He pulled the tab up, and sipped his drink slowly. He managed to burn his tongue anyways. The coffee was still scalding hot, despite the huge quantities of creamer he had dumped in. So instead, he turned to the slice of cheesecake, piercing a bite off with his fork, and chewed in the strawberry sweetness. There was nothing he liked more than strawberry cheesecake, and there was nothing more he liked than desert.


Before he had started on his second bite, Maddie had returned, and sitting down in front of him with her order.


He pulled the plastic fork from his mouth. “Yeah sure,” Andrew replied, “Why wouldn’t there be?” He said. “I mean there’s gonna be creative coffee breaks, the regeneration of ideas, increasing artistic capabilities – the whole deal.” Afterwards, he noticed that Maddie had gotten a lot quieter in the process of her words. She seemed focused on the task of stirring her coffee. For awhile he remained quiet too, the silence a little bit awkward, before he exploded out with another stream of words.


“So, erm, what else do you like to do? Like, besides art and books and reading,” he asked, dissipating the hush that had briefly fallen over with his question. “I dunno, just tell me about yourself,” Andrew added with a grin.


He took another sip of his coffee, and found the temperature much more bearable now.

 

[Captainsassypants]

Finally Maddie was able to relax when Andrew spoke again asuring her there would be a next time and she hadn't been to presumptuous in assuming that there would be. Letting out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding she allowed herself to look back up at him with a sheepish smile. "Oh of course! How silly I was to have not realized that sooner." She said placing the lid back on her cup and carefully taking a few sip. Luckily for her, her coffee had had plenty of time to cool in the time she wasted stirring it.


She was in the middle of taking another sip when he suddenly asked her to tell him more about herself. Slowly she swallowed and set the cup down giving herself time to think. "I hardly think it's fair for you to ask more questions about me when you haven't really told me much about yourself yet." She said with a small pout. " I have an idea. We'll go back and forth, you tell me something about you and then I'll tell you something about me. Okay?" She asked


While she waited for him to say if he would agree to go through with her idea she pulled her muffin out of the bag resting it on top of it after she had flattened it out, using it as a makeshift plate. She meticulously pulled the paper off the bottom of the muffin. After which she finally allowed herself to pull of a small peice from the top eating it and taking another sip of her drink.

 

[cellar.]

“Well, it’s not like I’m very interesting to begin with,” Andrew replied with a bit of a shrug, “No crazy stories to tell – didn’t find a dragon egg, or ring, or magic school.” He did have a pretty typical childhood; it was only recent years that he hadn’t spoken much to his family. Still, he figured it was only natural that it would happen, seeing that his family members were all spread out across the globe now. They all had to cope with their own lives as they got older. Despite those facts, however, he nodded at her suggestion. “Sure, sounds good.”


He took another bite out of his cake while he considered what to say. In all honesty, he was much better at asking questions about other people than talking about himself. “Um, let’s see,” Andrew started, “I’m the youngest in my family – two older brothers, and I can only imagine how our parents managed to survive all of us together.” He smiled widely at the thought. “Marcus and I schemed for mutual benefit all the time, but Bo managed his own set of shenanigans. He was a bit older, so I guess we were never quite on the same page in terms of wants.”


“What about you?” Andrew asked, turning the spotlight back to Maddie. “Any siblings or anything in the family?”


He returned to his coffee, taking another sip, and found it to have cooled down considerably in the process of speaking.

 

[cellar.]

[Just giving it a bump to keep active

]​