and if you try to find me now [private]

Wow, Robin Hayes was in the library. Achievement unlocked, clap clap.

She wasn't a library person. In her eyes, reading was a chore and books were torture devices. Worse still, she had dyslexia. Even if Robin could do a decent job at reading Ancient Greek, it was no use. Reading just wasn't her thing.

Actually, she wasn't even reading right now. Nestled in the cramped and narrow space between a shelf and a wall, Robin Hayes was playing Pokemon.

The redhead's spot was more comfortable than it looked. She had her back against the wall, her legs folded and close to her chest. Her shoes sat on the edge of the second lowest row, occasionally knocking a few books off the other side. It was the only thing that annoyed her, actually. It was a pain to get up and put the books back. That aside, it was the perfect hiding place. Robin didn't know what kind of books were in this part of the library, but she knew enough that they weren't the kind that campers usually borrowed.

Robin's full attention was on the DS Lite sitting on top of her knees. The nifty gadget was her friend Jonathan's, and he had so kindly let her borrow it for the day. Robin could still remember the first time she tried to borrow it. Jonathan had been reluctant. Then she returned it not even a minute later, having encountered a 'sparkly Pokemon' in the tall grass. Since then, Jonathan always lent her his DS when she asked.

And speaking of sparkly Pokemon...

"Oh my gods!" Her voice rose to a high-pitched shriek. "A shiny Riolu!"

She really freaking loved being lucky.

Unfortunately in her shock, she had forgotten that she was in the library, and she also accidentally kicked another couple of books off the shelf.

Which meant that her hiding place was no longer secret.

Oops.

Really, Robin was a rule-breaker. She snuck past curfews and stayed out late. It was as normal as to her as eating. But then, despite everything, Robin did have an aversion to getting caught. Who didn't? So when the brown-haired boy appeared, Robin pretty much looked like a deer caught in headlights.

She relaxed a little when she realized that he wasn't the librarian, but her heart still thudded madly in her chest as if raring to break out. She snapped the DS shut and lowered it down to her thigh where it couldn't be seen. Even if she raked in shinies like there was no tomorrow, Jonathan wouldn't take it well if she broke his DS or got it confiscated. Not that the boy looked like he would confiscate it. But for all she knew, he could be working part-time in the library. Like a volunteer of some sort. Just considering the idea gave her the chills.

Her head was half-turned to look up at him. Her mouth opened and closed, and she had to try a couple of times to get the word out.

"H-Hi."

Her voice was a mere whisper. But when Robin finally started, her mouth ran wild.

"Uh, yeah, of course. Just playing. Don't mind me. And, um, please don't tell anyone, like the librarian... I mean, is there a rule against people using a DS in the library? It's not like I was trying to disturb anyone... the shiny just caught me off-guard and, um, just... please don't rat me out, okay?"

The fact that she shrieked in a goddamn library of all places should be enough to alert anyone of her presence (add the fact that she caused a few books to fall), but Robin held on to the hope that the librarian didn't hear.

It hadn't even occurred to Robin that the boy wouldn't know what 'shinies' were - she just assumed that he'd understand right off the bat. Everyone played Pokemon, right? Well, most of her friends did anyway...

She grinned, albeit a little nervously, hoping for the best. So she might have gotten a little carried away in trying to explain herself, but what the hell. Her mouth was already an uncontrollable force in normal circumstances. Now that she was nervous, well, there was no stopping it from shooting words like an Armalite in a cold war.

The bespectacled girl came before Robin had a chance to answer his questions and introduce herself - she was barely over the relief and all other feelings were only just settling in. She immediately shoved the DS inside her pants pocket (with extreme difficulty if I might add) and listened as the boy handled the situation with such calmness. Robin's partly open mouth twitched into something short of a grin.

Frey, that was his name. She had to remember that, especially because this guy was freaking badass. When Robin got caught, all she could do was grope wildly for words to explain herself. On the other hand, Frey did it with wit and sass. Robin's smile lost its nervous edge. It was then that she decided that she liked this guy.

Unfortunately, the librarian didn't seem to share her sentiments.

"Very funny, Mister," she said, glaring at Frey. "I'm here to remind you all that this is a library, where shouting" - she looked pointedly at Robin - "is not tolerated. Might you explain what exactly you're doing in this... space?"

Robin kept a straight face and tried not to wince at the DS pressing tightly against her thigh and waist. It was too big to fit in her pocket, and Robin rested her arm over the obvious bulge. "I... um... it's just really cozy, ya know? And, um, I like to read alone. I've just finished reading this book." She pointed to a random one on the shelf.

The librarian cocked an eyebrow. "And what might that book be?"

Whoops, now she was screwed.

"That... is a really good question," Robin mumbled, her lips curving into an innocent smile. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?"

Yup, she was royally screwed.

"That is it. I've had enough of you troublemakers." She reached over and pulled Robin up by the arm.

"Hey!"

She was surprisingly strong for her wiry frame. Her fingernails dug into Robin's arm and boy were they sharp. Robin nearly tripped when the librarian gave her a none-too-gentle push out of her hiding place and into Frey (which, if she wasn't too preoccupied with those fingernails, she would feel embarrassed about). She was still rubbing her slightly aching arm (and her fracture had only just healed too, dammit!) when the librarian turned to them both, her hawk-like eyes narrowing into slits.

"Out. Both of you."

"But wait - he wasn't even -"

"Do you want me to clean your ears for you? Out!"

Pleading for forgiveness, the words repeated hollowly in Robin's head. Um, no thank you.

Because dammit, those nails hurt and did it really have to be the arm that just broke?

She rushed out of the place with Frey, wincing as the door shut behind them. She wasn't too bothered actually. She only used the library when she wanted to play on Jonathan's DS. But still, damn that librarian. Damn her nails.

"I know. How do they even get through life?" she sighed, still rubbing the crescent-shaped marks on her arm.

She managed to grin back at him though. "I'm Robin, daughter of Tyche. Goddess of luck and all that. I guess I'm pretty much a living-and-breathing four-leaf clover." She huffed as she pulled the DS out of her pocket - it didn't seem to sustain any lasting damage. "Probably why I get a lot of shinies and other stuff."

She really liked that perk. Back then, before all this Greek mythology stuff, she had wondered if she had been a four-leaf clover or a lucky rabbit's foot in her past life. The odds usually fell in her favor when she least expected it, like that time when she scored a B in a multiple-choice test by pure guesswork. But there were also times when she just wasn't lucky enough, like today. The librarian hadn't confiscated the gadget though, so she should still count herself lucky...

It was then that a different emotion flickered across her face. Her expression softened, her smile fading into a slight frown, and she averted her gaze in shame. "Look, um, I'm really sorry for dragging you into this. Were you reading anything important? Because if you really need to do something in there I can tell the librarian to let you back in..."

Robin subconsciously pursed her lips and threw a fleeting look at the closed door. Gods, Robin, do not offer to do things you do not want to do...

Thank the gods.

Robin couldn't help the sigh of relief slipping past her lips or the sheepish smile thereafter. She managed to bite it back after a few seconds though, not wanting to make it obvious.

Thing is, Robin always wanted to please people. She didn't want them to get hurt, or even get the slightest bit bothered. She'd carry that burden for them. She so wanted to. A childish and ideal dream it was, but the sixteen-year-old made it the reality. Her reality.

And when Frey spoke in that distracted tone, she knew. She knew that kind of voice so well. She didn't know what it meant for Frey but she had used it too - not once, not twice but countless times, when she didn't want anyone to think that she was sad or angry, or anything that wasn't happy. It made Robin want to insist on talking to the librarian. Maybe he had been doing something important, and she ruined it because of one stupid shiny. But that was the thing, she only wanted to insist, and her body (more specifically her arm) wasn't too keen on making that true.

She let her other hand drop, pulling her sleeve down to cover the red marks. "It's nothing, really. But I have half a mind to give her a nailcutter for Christmas," she managed to say in a voice that was a little too cheerful, with a smile that was a little too strained.

"Shinies are just different-colored Pokemon. You know Pikachu, right? A shiny Pikachu would be gold instead of the normal yellow. And it sparkles!" She chuckled before continuing, "They're really rare, shinies. I'm not surprised that you haven't seen one before."

She snapped the DS open. The screen blinked to life, showing a small yellow fox-like creature in one side of the screen. Her smile considerably less strained, Robin tilted the DS slightly for Frey to see. "See? It's a shiny Riolu."

When Robin's smile faltered slightly, it wasn't because she was saddened. Actually, she was shocked. Mostly because how can someone not know Pikachu?

If Frey didn't know what a Riolu was, she would have been a little surprised. Just a little, because then she'd realize that not everyone played Pokemon. But Pikachu? Her dad used to call Pokemon Pikachu. Like, she'd point out a big orange Charizard to him and he'd say, 'Oh that's one of your Pikachus, right?' It was hilarious.

Her brows disappeared behind her red bangs, her eyes blinking madly as if they were seeing light for the first time. When he asked her about camp, she nearly missed it.

"Oh, it's pretty cool!" Her eyes lit up again, much like before, even if she had closed the DS by now. The shiny Riolu wasn't going anywhere and besides, Robin couldn't help but feel curious about the boy who didn't know Pikachu.

"I mean, once you get past all the really dangerous stuff like monsters and the climbing wall, it feels like a dream. Like a scene from a movie, y'know?" She looked up, as if expecting someone in the sky to smile back at her. "This Greek gods and goddesses stuff... it's really a lot to take in. I'm not used to the idea either, but then I've only been here around a month or so. What about you?"

She hesitated, the corner of her lips twitching before she continued.

"And, um, are you sure you don't know Pikachu? Big yellow rodent thing with red cheeks?"