There’s a small moment of confusion on her face before it is replaced with the same recognition. Kira smiles a bit, impressed that he remembered her at all.
Even if incorrectly, it was close enough.
“Kira, but yeah.” She nods happily, “It’s been awhile, I honestly didn’t expect to see you ever again!” A small giggle escapes her, “I’m afraid I cannot recall your name, I’m horrible with names. But I remember, from Concord right?”
“Huh? Oh, um… no thanks. I don’t… really like tea,” Carlos said awkwardly. “But, uh, thank you.”
Carlos glanced out the window, glad to have the little bit of openness to the room. It did make him feel better, and he started to look around again, focusing now on some of the books. Some looked very decently intact – probably still readable for the most part. That was very nice… at least some people still appreciated books. If he’d ever had the opportunity or time, he’d have loved to sit down and pour over pre-war mechanical and science books.
“It’s, uh… very nice to see that people still use books for their intended purpose, rather than just kindling,” he told her truthfully with a very slight smile. “They’re lucky they ended up here.”
“Really now?” Kira pondered, she didn’t usually drink coffee, so she had none. There was nothing else to offer besides that. “I’ve been rather fond of tea…. perhaps something else? A… common food item of sorts; water? I’m sure I have something if you like. If not, I will not press you further.”
So Kira offered as she watched the kettle a bit, now pulling down a few old and dented tins out of the cupboards. Setting them on the counter, she looked to him as he took survey of her books. The whole ‘office’ area was cluttered with them. Stacked on all the end tables and on the bookshelf behind her desk and even some on the floor. None seemed to be in an order of any sort, but little did he know that they were.
“Kindling?!” Kira exclaimed with wide eyes. Deep down in her heart she knew people used the paper for kindling and as tissue paper, but it always broke her heart. She didn’t want to believe that anyone would do such a thing.
She clears her throat, hands picking at a stray thread in her jeans.
“My apologies.” She notes with a solemn expression as she looks for a tea cup. “They are lucky I must say. They are one of the only things I am proud of in this world. I collect them, regardless of subject. As I think I told you before, if you find any you don’t want and they’re in decent shape, I’d pay you for them. I fix them you see. And rebind them.” She smiles widely, pointing to the top shelf of her bookshelf. There’s a row of spines, all the same shade of brown leather.
“Nothing too fancy of course, but I make sure they’re readable and not falling apart. They’ll never be perfect, but I try my best in my spare time.”
“Well, uh… I’d really like a cup of coffee,” Carlos admitted
to her with a sheepish smile. “I haven’t had one of those since leaving
the vault… But I understand that that’s hard to come by, so I don’t
mind much if you don’t have it or you don’t wanna offer it. And you
don’t have to go into your clean water supply for me… I’m alright.”
He
was surprised when she said she’d buy a book from him however. “You’d
really buy books off of me?” he asked her. “For how much?” He started to
wonder if the caps he could get would be worth him carrying around the
pre-war tomes until he reached Diamond City again. He also had to
consider how often he’d actually make it to Diamond City – the old city
around it was crawling with hostile gangs and monsters so making the
trip was considerably dangerous.
The Perfect Scientist 