Trying to pick up the pieces.

[Boulder]

Boulder had spent the week following his grandmother's death wandering around the city reletively aimlessly. Aside from the deformations of the rocks protruding from his body, he now fit the textbook defenition of a homeless person. Week old scruff, trying to form into a full beard; dirty cloths, which was actually nothing too new for him; a permeating smell that comes from not having a shower for a week, complete with the dirty, grimy feeling one gets after being in the same cloths for too long.

His aimless wandering, in his mind, was intended to find and help people like himself, so he could keep his promise to himself to knock some heads in when heros of any sort showed up. However, while he'd heard sirens off and on, most of them were on thier way across town from where he was, and whenever he got to wherethe action was, since he was on foot, and barefoot to boot, everything was already cleared up, with nobody left but the clean-up crews, or nobody at all.

"This isn't working..." he muttered to himself. I need to do something else. Something more pro-active. Just trying to react just isn't enough.

He also pondered why he hadn't really had any sort of run-in with the cops himself. He was sure that he had a warrant out for his arrest for ditching the city's finest back in the hospital; he'd seen an artists rendering of him on the news of a window TV he'd walked by a few days ago.

He stopped where he stood on the sidewalk and sat on the steps he was in front of. He put his foot up on his knee and rubbed the bottom, brushing off small pebbles, dirt, and other things you find on a city sidewalk. The calouses there had sprung up quite quickly, and were suprisingly large and rigid for having been barefoot for a mere two weeks.

He leaned back on the steps, almost lying on them, and looked up at the building behind him. The city library. Hrm....

Boulder sat still, looking up at the library for a while, ignoring the stares and disgusted mutterings of passerby, before slowly sitting up. Placing both hands on his knees, he pushed himself up, turned, and climbed the stairs.

The large wooden double doors were simple enough. When he pulled on the doors, the hinges squeaked in protest. Boulder chuckled to himself a little, noting the disrepair of one of the city's buildings that was supposed to be in good repair at all times. What do you expect from the government?

Stepping in, Boulder finally realized just how cold he had been outside. Now that there was indoor heating working to warm him, he noticed that his fingers and toes were red and numb; the end of his nose and ears too.

He just stood there for a minute, hugging himself and trying to work feeling back into his body. A librarian came around the corner, having heard the door open, and spotted him. "Oh." Clearly disgusted at what she saw, she adressed Boulder. "You can't hole up here. There's a homeless center three blocks up the road from here. Go there."

Boulder stopped his fidgeting and fixed the woman with a glare. Locked in his gaze, she sputtered and started wringing her hands. "Well....you can't stay here...." she almost pleaded. "This is a place of learning. For people that want to read books, and study, or check them out for reading later."

"Well, I actually am here to read up on a few things. I have some research I would like to do, for personal reasons." A slow smirk spread on his face. "That is, if that's ok with you?"

Taken aback, the librarian sputtered some more. "Well....I....but...." *huff* ".... As long as you leave when you are done." Not wanting to continue the conversation, she spun on her heel and rushed off, eager to be away from Boulder's gaze, and probably his smell.

Free to roam now, he wandered around. The tiled floor was cool on his feet, but otherwise, it was quite warm. Condensation had gathered on the windows as sunlight filtered in. He walked down four rows of books when he realized he was getting nowhere fast, not knowing the layout of the place.

He walked up to the front counter, and to his delight, found the librarian that had offered him such a warm greeting was there, checking in books, stamping papers, and doing whatever librarians do.

He cleared his throat to get her attention, but from the crinkling of her nose when he approached, he was pretty sure he already had her attention. "Excuse me. I can't seem to find what I'm looking for." She looked up at him in disgust, but didn't respond, but fixeda look on her face as to say, "and?".

"I'm looking for books on rocks and minerals. What consitutes them. What exactly they are made of. What materials they are used in, and in what ammounts."

The lady looked clearly puzzled, and the disgust was replaced with curiosity and a slight hint of respect. "I...umm....yes. Follow me."

As she lead him to the section with the books, she couldn't help but ask him a few questions. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you want them for? Those are pretty specific books of research and information. You don't strike me as the kind of person who would read them..... Not that I assumed you were stupid! I just figgured you'd want something more entertainment based..." Realizing she was just shoving her foot deeper into her mouth, she clamped her mouth shut.

She arrived at a small section of books, which took up about a three foot space of one row about waist high. She waved her hand over them. "These are the books you were looking for."

"Thank you very much." Boulder said with only a hint of sarcasm. When she didn't step away, he understood that she wouldn't leave with her question still unanswered. "Well, if you must know, I have a personal interest in the building blocks of this world. It's more of a personal research project of mine. Not for any school, if that's what you are wondering."

The lady smiled and nodded, stepping out of his way. "It's so nice to see someone in persuit of knowledge for the sake of knowledge. If you need any more help, I'll be up front at my desk."

Boulder shook his head as she left, and started sifting through the books. How strange that she's warmed up to me so much once she realized there was more to me than bad cloths, a bad smell, and obvious deformations.

Gathering up five books that looked promising, he made his way to a deserted corner of the library, sat down at a table there, and started reading.

[Boulder]

After what seemed like hours, and probably was, of reading Boulder had gone through two of the five books and was starting in on the third. Mainly, it was just a quick scanning of the book, to get an idea as to what kinds of minerals were out there in the world. The reading got a little more tedious when more information was wanted, such as where the minerals could be found, what properties they had, etc. The book he was working on now, was referencing what kinds of minerals were involved in many other substances made by man, such as construction material, and even finished goods and products.

The remaining two books were similar to the first two he'd gone over, in that they were mainly concerning rocks and minerals in the ground. Two books worth of scanned information was enough for him, so Boulder was probably going to call it a day after he was done with this last book.

He put the book he was reading down, and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, trying to work out the strain in his eyes that had come over them from reading for so long.

"Ahem..." Someone cleared thier throat. Boulder flopped his hands back onto the desk, and gazed at the person, fighting to make out facial features through a combination of black splotches in his vision from rubbing his eyes, and the failing light. It's later than I thought...

"Hey...um...I thought you might could use something like this..." It was the librarian from earlier. She had a pullover hoodie and a scarf, as well as a few pairs of socks. "Umm...I got off work a while ago, and, after seeing how ill prepared you are dressed for the weather, and...well...how down on your luck you are, I thought 'I'd want someone to help me if I was in that situation.' You know, do unto others and all..." She carefully set the cloths down on the table.

Boulder, not used to anyone really going out on a limb for him in any regard, didn't know what to say, and so only managed a nod.

She gave him a sad, knowing kind of smile. "I hope your luck changes for you." Then, without any other word, she walked away, off to the rest of her life.

Boulder watched her go, and shook his head. Will wonders never cease?
He pulled the cloths closer, and jumped back into his book, ignoring the panging sensation of his stomach begging for food. As soon as I finish this, I can go eat...

[Boulder]

It was dark outside by the time Boulder had finished reading over the three books, and his stomach was protesting it's neglect loudly. He hadn't had anything to eat since that morning in the form of a sandwich he'd lifted from a local seven eleven.

He stretched, trying to untie the knots in his legs and back that had formed over the hours he'd spent in the chair. He hastily pulled on the hoodie. It was a size too small for him, and fit him like a glove, but it fit. Inside a pocket he found a ten dollar bill. Not much, but enough for a meal. Well, at least the whole city isn't rotten...

He slipped on a pair of socks, but when he stood, his extra vision was gone. He was so used to having it now that when it was gone, he felt as if he were partially blind. Pulling the socks off, he ripped holes in the bottoms of each, one along the heel, and another where the ball of his foot would be.

He did it to all his socks, and put on two pair, so that his toes would be kept warm, along with the majority of his feet, but not hinder his special sight.

Boulder pulled the hood up over his head, draped the scarf over his shoulders and went out before they could lock the doors.

Armed with ten dollars, he could, for once, legitimately get some food. And armed with what he'd read, maybe, once his belly was full, he could make more of an impact around this rotting city.