Getting Settled... (Bedivere!)

[percival]

On a hot Thursday afternoon such as this one, when lessons were over and the sun was shining bright and hot, most normal teenagers were outside in the heat, soaking up some rays whilst they did their homework or chatted with their friends and relaxed after a hard day of school. That was just one of the ways in which Perceval differed from your average teenager; he had just stumbled into the library, weighed down by his school bag, his head bent, intent on his way. He flicked a dark curl out of his eyes and continued on his way, browsing the shelves with narrowed eyes.

"Ana...Anatomy..." He whispered, painfully slowly, proceeding to move down a few more aisles, "Lit...Liter...Literature..."

Continuing to move down the aisle, Percy began pulling books off the shelf at random, balancing them precariously in his arms as he squinted to make out the titles, frowning at the more difficult, unknown words. It wasn't that he couldn't read, he just couldn't read as well as he should be able to. He'd been brought up in such a closed, innocent world that many words that he should recognise, he didn't, and he found he was struggling more than others to keep up in his lessons. Often he was sniggered at when he raised his hand to ask a question and more than once a teacher had just tutted at his query, thinking him to be wasting their time or showing off for other pupils.

"Tess of the d... d'Urbervilles..." He read, cocking his head to one side and making a face, not noticing the books on the top of the pile sliding steadily out of his arms until a heavy volume landed with a thud on his foot. "Bother!" He yelped, hopping on one foot as he tried and failed to stop the rest of the books tumbling to the floor.

[bedivere]

Bedivere, of course, was already no stranger to the library. He'd barely been at the school for more than a few days but this wonderful building had been one of his first discoveries - he didn't think he'd ever seen quite so many books in one place. There was, of course, so much here that he'd need for his lessons, so much knowledge and information that would enhance and expand what he had to teach, so there was no question that he was going to find as much as he could in as little time as possible, in order to share that knowledge with his new students.

He was just browsing through the shelves, deciding on his next book, when he heard a shout from the round the corner. Peering round with the intention of telling the young man to quieten down, he took in the scene before him and bit back any reprimand. It was part of a knight's code to help anybody in distress.

"Let me get those for you." He offered, stooping to retrieve the fallen books, checking each one carefully for damage as he did so, then stacking them together and holding them out for the boy. "You should be more careful."

[percival]

Perceval's eyes widened, expecting to be scolded when he saw the other man peering around the corner at him. He relaxed when he realised this was not the case, taking back the books with a wide-eyed smile at his helper.

"Thank you, sir!" He said breathlessly, clutching the books to his chest. "I dropped them, I couldn't decide which to read, you see. I want to learn about Science, but there are so many wonderful stories as well, so I thought I should take them all and sit in here and read them."

He glanced up at the other man with a small smile, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Oh, I'm Perceval. Hello, it is very nice to meet you." He said simply, stretching out one hand, the books balancing precariously in the other, several of them threatening to topple to the floor again.

[bedivere]

Bedivere smiled proudly. He'd been worried, after his first few lessons, that nobody in this school actually wanted to learn anything, and some of his tangents earnt nothing more than blank, uncomprehending looks from the students, or obvious disdain. But here! Here was a young man enthusiastic about the search for knowledge.

"Of course, of course." Bedivere agreed heartily "But one must remember that the library is not going anywhere, and there is time enough to read them all."

He was even delightfully polite! Bedivere could have jumped for joy at how perfect a student Perceval appeared to be - if he was, of course, the sort of person who was prone to such displays of enthusiasm, which he wasn't.

Holding out one hand to steady the books and prevent a second avalanche, Bedivere shook the boy's hand firmly.

"Sir Bedivere, of Camelot, at your service my boy."
He wasn't sure if he wanted to present himself more of a teacher than a knight while he was here, but old habits die hard and the words were out of his mouth before he thought about it.