08-01-2013, 04:51 PM
Grace did catch that book, and afterwards, jabbed Hawksley in the side with her elbow (for when she does reach out and touch someone, it usually comes with some level of violence) but her gleeful demeanor showed it hadn't been meant to hurt.
And for once, Grace attained focus. She flipped back to the data entropy diagram, which seemed to be making a point about entropy maximums and boundary conditions, and what they looked like. The side-note in this page's margin seemed to be a generalized algorithm to process that in the field. She touched the pen marks with numbed fingers, seeking a connection to the one who wrote that. What she wouldn't give to sit down and have a long chat...
It was a bit beyond her, but she didn't much care. The pictures were beautiful, at any rate.
Then Sera invaded her consciousness, to whom Grace gave the strange, dawning comprehension look of 'oh, yes, I am actually in a library with other people'. "Oh, ah, A Night of Serious Drinking," she mumbled. "The only night of serious drinking I have ever engaged in was my 21st birthday, and it was a bit regrettable, I'm afraid." She gave the Cultist a smile, and then, "But I'll try to keep an open mind."
Over the course of the evening, to at least be able to say she kept that promise, she would peer into those other works, and she would find the one to be more than a story about drinking, and the other to be much more than a story about mountain climbing. They were way more metaphorical than the concrete programming manual, but no less truthful in what they had to say (although a great deal of any of the books she read that night went a little beyond her ken).
In the end, she would likely have to be told to go home, or told to sleep. But for now, she went and curled up on one of the couches, taking her shoes off so she could properly contort herself into comfortable reading position, taking a break from people and talking -- recharging in her own fashion.
And for once, Grace attained focus. She flipped back to the data entropy diagram, which seemed to be making a point about entropy maximums and boundary conditions, and what they looked like. The side-note in this page's margin seemed to be a generalized algorithm to process that in the field. She touched the pen marks with numbed fingers, seeking a connection to the one who wrote that. What she wouldn't give to sit down and have a long chat...
It was a bit beyond her, but she didn't much care. The pictures were beautiful, at any rate.
Then Sera invaded her consciousness, to whom Grace gave the strange, dawning comprehension look of 'oh, yes, I am actually in a library with other people'. "Oh, ah, A Night of Serious Drinking," she mumbled. "The only night of serious drinking I have ever engaged in was my 21st birthday, and it was a bit regrettable, I'm afraid." She gave the Cultist a smile, and then, "But I'll try to keep an open mind."
Over the course of the evening, to at least be able to say she kept that promise, she would peer into those other works, and she would find the one to be more than a story about drinking, and the other to be much more than a story about mountain climbing. They were way more metaphorical than the concrete programming manual, but no less truthful in what they had to say (although a great deal of any of the books she read that night went a little beyond her ken).
In the end, she would likely have to be told to go home, or told to sleep. But for now, she went and curled up on one of the couches, taking her shoes off so she could properly contort herself into comfortable reading position, taking a break from people and talking -- recharging in her own fashion.