"Cars…?" the boy raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what sounded like a vehicle of sorts, judging by the space it required to move.
Yet this time his question was answered soon enough, not by his friend, but when a noise began in the distance and grew louder as it approached, the signature noise of a car engine driving by on a normal day. The responsible vehicle soon arrived near them, also bringing along the muffled beats of some melody blasting within its shut windows. The whole encounter didnt last more than a few seconds, but to Damien it felt much longer than that, being totally taken by surprise by the large metal beast whizzing by, making such a loud noise.
(Heyyy, sorry for the absence, exam hell came and went, had to dedicate all my time to them :'D but im back now uwu)
(No worries. Hope everything went well during that.)
“Yeah…” Mari nodded, fully ready to start explaining when the topic of their current conversation drove past them. “One of those.” she confirmed with a smile when she noticed his fascinated stare. “Very fast and very loud, aren't they? At least, that guy was driving safe.” she sighed a little, actually grateful for that fact. There were too many reckless drivers who acted more like racers than sensible people.
(Im assuming all went well, i only found out the large majority of my grades :'D but thank u uwu)
Damien had subconsciously grabbed on to Mari, sticking closer to her as he continued to watch the vehicle vanish into the distance with a wide eye. Yes, it was fascinating but also a little intimidating, given the noise it made plus the fact it moved on its own, with no horses or anything. It was something totally alien.
"Yeah…. Very loud…. How does it move like that? Alone i mean, with no horse."
(any time my friend.)
Mari chuckled a little and gave his hand an assuring squeeze. “It has an internal engine… Kind of like a train, except it doesn't run on coal and has a lot more maneuverability.” she started. “I think it was actually the train that started the whole scheme of invention that made the car possible.” she hummed thoughtfully.
"Internal engine…." the boy repeated, eye still glued to the vehicle vanishing in the distance as if being on alert in case it came back. "The train started it all? Wow, thats wild… Do people use these cars often?"
Slowly, he began to move again, as if trying to shake off the daze he'd been in so far by focusing on something else. In that time, a few more vehicles passed by, and each time Damien turned his head around to study the weird machine but nevertheless continued walking along Mari, still holding on to her hand.
Mari nodded, having expected his fascination this time. “I think it did, at least. But people use cars almost daily and practically every household has at least one car. They're great for both short-distance and long-distance travel.” she explained, completely unphased by the number of cars driving past them. “Though they don't run on coal like trains did. Cars run on a liquid fuel called gas or gasoline. It's an oil, or petrol, based product. But I don't know how it’s made or found.” she shrugged.
Damien listened with only one ear, his gaze being completely captured by the vehicles passing by them. It was so much more different than what he had imagined before, like people with horses or carriages. These new large metal cages were both scary and intriguing, as they were able to roar and go at a fast pace, all being controlled by the person inside. What was the inside like? He wondered.
Now they had arrived in a full on neighbourhood, with houses on each side, all in a decent condition, and nice lawns.
"How much more until the library?" the boy looked up at her, curious.
Mari smiled as she watched her friend's fascination. She had never been too interested in cars but she knew that there were a lot of people who spent so much time and money on cars. Building them, collecting them, restoring them, racing…
She barely noticed when she and Damien had started passing so many houses until she had to look around at his question. “Uhh, not much farther. It's actually just on the other side of this neighborhood.” she told him, gesturing in front of them.
He continued to cling on to Mari with a renewed willingness to keep walking, still keeping an eye on the passing cars even though the more he saw the less startled he became.
Once again houses began gaining his attention, the boy admiring the whole neighbourhood for everything it had, even the smallest details that would escape one's attention when normally cruising through the streets. So far it seemed like his new friend lived in a very lovely place, pretty quiet and clean, which made him remember the days spent in his old home alongside his mother. Surely this new place was a lot livelier than the other one, yet the fact there wasnt much vegetation around made it very different
(So very sorry for the long wait! I really didn't mean it!)
Mari smiled softly, giving his hand a gentle assuring squeeze. She was very used to these settings but Damien’s reactions to all these “mundane” things reminded her of how sheltered he had been. With good reason of course and she was still going to protect him to the best of her abilities… Which were not to be underestimated unless someone wanted a bloody nose. But realistically chances of any of that being needed were very slim to unnecessary.
(Aaa, its fiiiine, im sorry too, i stopped refreshing the page and forgot a lil while ago)
Comforted by the gentle hand squeeze, Damien continued to walk alongside her, taking in the surroundings peacefully as they came and went, the silence interrupted by the occasional passer-by or vehicle passing on the road. Soon enough, they reached the end of the neighbourhood and entered the next, the large building of the public library already in sight, to the right of the roundabout the main road led to.
(it's ok. … I guess we're even then 😅)
Mari’s smile grew at the sight of the now familiar old building. She hadn't made many trips to the library before she met Damien but now, even though it hadn't been a full week, she was becoming a frequent visitor. And honestly, she was looking forward to seeing her friend's reaction at being in the library. “Oh! Fair warning. When we're inside, we have to be quite so we don't disturb anyone else.” she quickly remembered. “We can still talk and everything but we just have to keep it down.”
(looks like it :"D)
It didnt take Damien too long to see his freind's demeanor change upon seeing their target, although he didnt quite see what exactly she was looking at upon first glace. He tried following her gaze to determine which building exactly she'd been looking at, before his attention was grabbed by her words once more.
"Oh, inside? Got it!" the boy nodded slowly. He found it interesting that he had to keep quiet inside a building, but given that it was full of books, it made sense to him. Reading was harder when loud noise was around.
Still holding her by the hand, they both strolled over to the edge of the sidewalk, preparing to cross the street.
"Why did we stop?"
Mari smiled softly at the question and gestured towards where the road in front of them and the road beside them intersected. “It’s a crossroads. Cars can take any road and go in any direction here.” she explained. “We just have to check that the roads are clear before crossing so we don't get hit. Though some busier crossroads have a signal to let people know when it's safe.” she added, doubting that he might actually see one of those… At least not today.
"Oohh, i see… But dont the cars see you if you step on the road? Can't they just go around?" he asked, looking from side to side, looking for said vehicles coming their way. Surely getting hit was unpleasant, but since there was a person inside, shouldn't they be able to slow down or at least go round? The carriages he remembered had horses, and they always reacted to something appearing in their path, so surely a human could do the same right?
The road was eventually clear enough for them to pass undisturbed, allowing them to finally reach the entrance of the building they had been looking for.
“Uhm… Not always. It really depends on the driver and how fast the car is going.” Mari admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. “Cars are just machines. They can't see anything, unlike horses and carriages. It's all up to the driver. In emergencies… yes, I guess they could go around… As long as there are no other cars nearby to crash into.” she explained. “In this case, we'll be safe. There's no cars and if any show up, they have to stop at the sign.” she assured him before double checking the roads and starting to cross.
Crossing the street, Damien continued to look at the cars on the other side of the roundabout that continued to drive past. If he was not mistaken, he could have sworn they were moving in a different dirrection just a few moments ago. Were they letting each other pass? Mostly seemed like it
"How do they know how to move like that?" he asked, partially gesturing at the moving cars. "And why do they have to stop at the sign?"
Now they were both safe on the other sidewalk, just a few feet away from the library.
Once they were safe across the road, Mari glanced over her shoulder at the cars. “Well, all drivers have to learn at least the basic traffic rules and how to react responsibly. There's actually a school that people can go to do that and what… most of the laws of the road are. And stopping at certain signs is one of them.” she explained, not seeing anything unusual. “Come on. Library is just ahead.” she smiled. “Maybe we can check out a book about cars for you, if you’d like.”
"There's a school for that? Just how many schools are there?" Damien blinked in surprise. Having a school for kids made sense, but a school for learning how to drive? Now that sounded very weird to him. Then again, they were different than a carriage, so it made sense somewhat in the end.
Once the library was mentioned, the boy took his eye off the road and hurried off with his friend, eager to visit the building he had so very much anticipated seeing.
It was BIG. Clearly far larger than his old abandoned mansion in the forest, and also looking completely different than buildings he'd seen before or expected a library to look like. As Mari opened the door, he quietly slipped inside after her, the boy was awe struck upon witnessing the sheer size of the place, filled to the brim with books, far, far more than he'd seen in his life in one place.
“Yeah. Driver's Education.” Mari nodded before giving a thoughtful hum. “I’m… not sure. There’s quite a few… and not to mention all the different kinds of trade schools. Which are kinda like apprenticeships, I guess.” she explained, managing to keep up with him in his excitement. Honestly, she was just as excited and her smile grew as she saw his face practically glowing at the mere sight of the library. “What do you think? Impressed?” she teased softly.
The words were stuck in Damien's throat as he gawked at everything around him, from the size of the place to the ridiculous amount of books stored within its shelves. There were enough volumes here to last him for at least a few decades if he chose to read all of them.
"This place is massive… So many books… It's amazing!" the boy barely managed to get out, clearly excited but his voice also dropping down a little after a gentle reminder to keep quiet.
Mari chuckled softly as he took in the sights of the large two-story building and all that it held. “Yeah, it is.” she nodded, looking around a little as well. It was almost a familiar sight. Not too crowded but still with a fair amount of people milling about or sitting at desks and tables. “Where would you like to start?” she asked as tried to remember most of the books or genres she had mentioned to Damien earlier.
"I wouldnt even know where to start, its so big…." the boy whispered, continuously looking around at everything around him, as far as his vision allowed him. "Where would you suggest starting from?"
Damien didnt take his eyes off the books in front of him, simply waiting for Mari's suggestion. If this had been in his home, he would have started from the closest body of the library, but here he didnt dare touch anything that the girl didnt say was ok to touch.
Mari nodded, understanding how overwhelming this experience could be to him. “It’s ok. Why don't we just look around and see what catches your eye?” she offered before gently guiding Damien further inside. Honestly, she didn't have too many suggestions on where they might start… Though she knew he was a little interested in cars, because of his earlier discovery, and thought he might be interested in seeing some maps. Maybe some history and medical would be intriguing to him too. Ok, maybe she had more ideas than she thought.
Damien gave a slow nod before allowing her to guide him around the place. He noticed a few other people in there, all minding their own business as quietly as possible, some talking to a lady at a counter, others reading and others browsing through the books arranged neatly on shelves.
looking around, he randomly picked a shelf and began looking at the titles displayed on the sides. All of them sounded bizzare but that only continued to intrigue him as he kept looking, eventually picking up a book that peeked his interest.
"What about this one?" he asked in a low tone, handing her the book to see.
The cover displayed a child wearing a yellow raincoat and a red balloon, whilst the title in a shaky yet cool font spelled thw dreaded title "It". A weird first choice
