Earl K. Long Library

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

Erin let out a sigh. "So, France backed out, right?"

“Eh...not so much backed out as got kicked out,” Yukito explained. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin in her hands. He couldn't tell if she was bored and drifting, or making a solid attempt to listen. He wanted to engage her in a way her teachers obviously weren't, so he spoke hesitantly, trying to mimic more of her own phrases for her to better understand. It was about as easy to him as speaking French.

“Ho Chi Minh, who was the leader of the Nationalist group, and his people were controlling the northern part of Vietnam. So..France was all, 'we're still the boss over you', and Ho was like, 'nu-huh!' So Ho's forces kicked France's butt, holding their own. So France moved to Southern Vietnam and continued to rule by using a king, I'm fairly sure. But they struck up a peace with Ho's people.”

An expression came over her face then, and her first comments were – brilliantly, beautifully – connected to what he had just been talking about: France's foreign affairs. "Wait a minute.... France is nowhere near Vietnam. Why were they even over there? Don't they have their own issues to deal with? All up in everyone's bui'ness....” Yukito didn't respond, smirking wider as she continued but trying to suppress it. He turned his proud face away from her, reaching out for the notebook to make circles and doodles on its margins. Mostly crooked looking musical notes. ”Clearly they sucked at whatever they were doing in Vietnam since there was a billion-year war over it. Which I guess in the end made more Vietnamese come here, which gave us their awesome food, too, so-- Hey, have you ever tried Vietnamese food? Mmm, now I'm thinking about those spicy springrolls.... Can we go get some later? Take me out on a date, Yuyukun." She sent him a playful smile, adding, "We never get to go out anymore, it's like we're married or something!"

He quietly leaned over, kissed her cheek, and stated, “I love you.” Then he sat up straight and ignored the latter part of her conversation. He could have told her that she was finally paying attention, that she was thinking about the assignment in a way that made him proud not only of her effort, but of her willingness. But he felt like if he said it aloud she would get distracted and start making that pouty face at him again, petulant and worried about the technicalities of her study time. He pulled his chair a little closer to the table. “Europe especially has always had a lot of pretty useless battles and wars.... You've seen Europe on a map compared to the United States, right? Well... you have a lot more room than them...so we have this thing called 'colonization'...”

~~

“Okay,” he let out the word like a heavy sigh, looking over at her next assignments and scattered notes that were barely discernible after his years of practice. ”Next is science.” He opened up her textbook, skimming it as fast as he could. After a few seconds, he let out a laugh. “Why do you have a 67 in science, Erin? This is stuff you'd like. Chemical reactions!” He slowed his page-turning, finding her more current stuff – he could tell by the doodles in the corners of the pages which ones she had already done. “This is gonna be stuff you need for being a stylist, and it's pretty cool... Look, here it talks about how you can make pine cones burn green flames. Isn't that like in Harry Potter?” he nudged her with his shoulder, more and more playful as the studying hours wore on. “But you won't need that to be a stylist. I wouldn't say no to green flames lighting up the house during a power outage.” He held the book so they could both see it. “Copper sulfate or boric acid. Well, that's not too bad. We can buy some of that, no problem.”

[GGJ5]

Erin Spenser

Yukito seemed to be enjoying himself a lot, Erin thought. It made him talk more than almost anything else. She wondered if he secretly read the encyclopedia, or memorized Wikipedia or something. Or if he was in denial of his inner teacher. It might give her dad some piece of mind if she told him Yukito could be a good teacher, too. He still had worries-- not about their marriage, but about their sustaining themselves, and though she tried not to think about it too much, she knew he was right to worry a bit....

She let the thoughts drop as Yukito pulled out her science textbook, letting out a groan. "Not that one yeeeet.... it's so boring!" Erin rolled her eyes, slumping in her seat. "How much longer? I wanna go on our date..."

Skimming the pages quickly, Yukito suddenly let out his quiet laugh. “Why do you have a 67 in science, Erin? This is stuff you'd like. Chemical reactions!”

Now it was Erin's turn to laugh. "Okay, you are getting way more excited about this than I would... what's so cool about that? Pennies turn green when they get old and look nasty, wooooh..."

“This is gonna be stuff you need for being a stylist, and it's pretty cool... Look, here it talks about how you can make pine cones burn green flames. Isn't that like in Harry Potter?”

He nudged her, but Erin had already leaned over to see the book. "It says that?!" She wasn't going to read it, just look for the picture to see the proof. "No way! I wanna do that! We need a fireplace!!"

“But you won't need that to be a stylist. I wouldn't say no to green flames lighting up the house during a power outage.”

A strong laugh bubbled over at Yukito's suggestion. "We gonna make a spot in the living room for it? 'Hurricane party at the Makis', they're burning down the place with green fire!!!!'" Her giggles bubbled over as she leaned against him in a sideways-hug, fingers wrapping in his shirt to keep herself from slipping too much.

He held the book so they could both see it. “Copper sulfate or boric acid. Well, that's not too bad. We can buy some of that, no problem.”

"You can buy that?? What the crap is that stuff?" Her voice was at full volume as her interest piqued. "Do you roll the pine cones in 'em and light them? Omigod, let's have a spring bonfire, Yuyukun! We can make green smores on our green fire!

"So what parts of this have to do with hair styling, or makeup, or anything?"

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

“This is gonna be stuff you need for being a stylist, and it's pretty cool... Look, here it talks about how you can make pine cones burn green flames. Isn't that like in Harry Potter?”

He nudged her, but Erin had already leaned over to see the book. ”It says that?!” She leaned over, not believing him until she saw the brightly colored illustrations of pine cones burning bright and undeniably green. ”No way! I wanna do that! We need a fireplace!!”

“But you won't need that to be a stylist. I wouldn't say no to green flames lighting up the house during a power outage.” The suggestion brought a laugh from Erin, and he placed a finger to his lips, which he had done more times than he could count in the last couple of hours.

”We gonna make a spot in the living room for it? 'Hurricane party at the Makis', they're burning down the place with green fire!'” He looked up to send her a grin, and she fell again him, hugging him in that awkward sideways-and-sitting-at-a-table way, but her fingers digging into his shirt was enough to make him start feeling overheated. Gosh, Erin...you're going to kill me. June seems farther away every single day.

To distract himself more than keep her focused, Yukito held the book out so they could both see it better, showing her the experiment and its explanation. “ Copper sulfate or boric acid. Well, that's not too bad. We can buy some of that, no problem.”

”You can buy that? What the crap is that stuff? Do you roll the pine cones in 'em and light them? Omigod, let's have a spring bonfire, Yuyukun! We can make green smores on our green fire!” Her voice had rose to a belting level signature of an expressive singer, and they got several shushes from either side of them, as Yukito joined in on the collective hissing.

“Shhh! Erin, you need to quiet down, seriously!” He shook his head at her, the smile gone as he turned back to computer, searching google for a quick information scan. “Boric acid is used as an insecticide, I know... So you can buy it in home supply stores. Maybe even Home Depot, or something.” he scrolled down and listed off, “It can also be used for acne treatment, ear infections, athlete's foot...hmm...and to relieve your eyes after being in a pool too long. Because of the chlorine, you know?” He turned back to her, giving a 'well, that's interesting' shrug. “You'd like copper sulfate better, though. It's blue and looks like something on a planet next to Superman's.” He googled an image of the bright 'bluestone'. Off of the wikipedia article he read, “Its blue color is due to water of hydration. When heated in an open flame the crystals are dehydrated and turn grayish-white. Copper sulfate reacts with concentrated hydrochloric acid. In the reaction the blue solution of copper turns green, due to the formation of...” He worked his mouth, unable to figure out how to pronounce the last word, 'tetrachlorocuprate'. “Tetrachloro-coop-er-rate? I think that's how it's pronounced.”

”So what parts of this have to do with hair styling, or makeup, or anything?”

“Well, your hair is mostly made of keratin, right? Which is the same protein as your fingernails and stuff. With hair dyes, you have highlighting, temporary hair dye, and permanent hair dye. They each have a different system of changing pigmentation. Temporary dye creates a sort of coating on the hair shaft, and usually doesn't contain ammonia but basic acidic dyes. Bleaching works by reacting with your hair's melanin, oxidizing it and removing the color. It also reacts better with dark hair than, say, blond or red, I think...not sure, though.” He gave a nonchalant shrug. “And lastly, permanent hair coloring combines bleaching with the temporary dye idea, the bleach stripping of color while the ammonia opens up the cuticle of the hair shaft, allowing a new coloring to bond with the individual hair.”

For a long moment, he stared at her silently, then shrugged again. “Dying friends' hair makes me bored with all the waiting. So I googled it a few times out of boredom. My point is, chemistry is a big part of styling. I haven't even mentioned gels and hairspray or even makeup, which is a whole new ball of waxes...”

He stood up then, collecting their books up and suggesting, “We should probably head back, before the librarian comes to arrest us for disturbing the peace...”

[GGJ5]

Erin Spenser

“ Copper sulfate or boric acid," Yukito recited. "Well, that's not too bad. We can buy some of that, no problem.”

”You can buy that? What the crap is that stuff? Do you roll the pine cones in 'em and light them? Omigod, let's have a spring bonfire, Yuyukun! We can make green smores on our green fire!” Yukito responded quickly with a hissing hush, backed up by a few other people. How was she supposed to help it when stuff excited her, though? How could you not get excited about magical color-changing fire?! Maybe libraries made people into sticks-in-the-mud.... Maybe that's why Yukito didn't like to play back sometimes, because the library ate his brain and made him into a stick-in-the-mud! The thoughts made her giggle, even as Yukito hushed her more.

“Shhh! Erin, you need to quiet down, seriously!”

"It's not my fault!" she replied in a giggle-filled stage whisper.

Getting back on track, Yukito searched quickly for the answer to Erin's chemical question. “Boric acid is used as an insecticide, I know... So you can buy it in home supply stores. Maybe even Home Depot, or something.”

"Oh, sweet, so we can just spray Raid on the stuff we wanna light on fire, right?" She tried to stop the giggles that bubbled up at the image in her head of a flaming pine cone with too much poison on it, but that didn't work so well. Oh, well.

“It can also be used for acne treatment, ear infections, athlete's foot...hmm...and to relieve your eyes after being in a pool too long. Because of the chlorine, you know?” He shrugged, but Erin was grinning at imagining a comedy act wheresomeone tried to use Raid to make their eyes feel better. “You'd like copper sulfate better, though. It's blue and looks like something on a planet next to Superman's.”

"Cool!" Erin leaned over again to see. "Ohhh, it's so pretty! How's it that color, when plain old copper is, well, copper-colored...? I want a rock like that..."

Yukito seemed to be reading off the article now. “Its blue color is due to water of hydration. When heated in an open flame the crystals are dehydrated and turn grayish-white. Copper sulfate reacts with concentrated hydrochloric acid. In the reaction the blue solution of copper turns green, due to the formation of...” He paused, drawing Erin's attention to him again. [/b]“Tetrachloro-coop-er-rate? I think that's how it's pronounced.”[/b]

Now Erin shrugged, having zoned out on most of what he'd said anyway. "I just want a blue rock that makes green fire...." More giggles. ”So what parts of this have to do with hair styling, or makeup, or anything?”

“Well, your hair is mostly made of keratin, right? Which is the same protein as your fingernails and stuff. With hair dyes, you have highlighting, temporary hair dye, and permanent hair dye. They each have a different system of changing pigmentation. Temporary dye creates a sort of coating on the hair shaft, and usually doesn't contain ammonia but basic acidic dyes. Bleaching works by reacting with your hair's melanin, oxidizing it and removing the color. It also reacts better with dark hair than, say, blond or red, I think...not sure, though.” He gave another shrug, and Erin's eyes widened. When was the last time he had talked this much? It was actually kind of impressive, in a super nerdy and hard to follow way... “And lastly, permanent hair coloring combines bleaching with the temporary dye idea, the bleach stripping of color while the ammonia opens up the cuticle of the hair shaft, allowing a new coloring to bond with the individual hair.”

For a long moment, he stared at her silently,as she stared back, and a smile grew on her face. He shrugged again. “Dying friends' hair makes me bored with all the waiting. So I googled it a few times out of boredom. My point is, chemistry is a big part of styling. I haven't even mentioned gels and hairspray or even makeup, which is a whole new ball of waxes...”

The awkward phrasing of the idiom made more laughter burst from Erin, who reached forward to wrap Yukito in an unexpected hug, kissing his cheek. "I love you! I don't think I've heard you talk that much at once in forever "as and it's so cute and ridiculous and nerdy! Use your nerd powers to make time go faster!" she ordered with more giggles and another brief kiss.

When she pulled away a little, Yukito started packing up. “We should probably head back, before the librarian comes to arrest us for disturbing the peace...”

"Silence isn't peace," Erin objected. "How often is it silent at home, huh? Honestly! Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver, and you can win scholarships if you make your prom dress out of it! Well, you'd make a suit, but still. Prom. Clothes. Duct tape. Free money!!" She sent Yukito a huge grin, looping her arm around his side. "Soooo... how'd I do?"

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

He looked over at her as he ended his elaboration on hair coloring, and saw a smile on her face as though she had just won something. Yukito gave a shrug, aware that he'd probably rambled on too much and lost her at some point. “Dying friends' hair makes me bored with all the waiting. So I googled it a few times out of boredom. My point is, chemistry is a big part of styling. I haven't even mentioned gels and hairspray or even makeup, which is a whole new ball of waxes...”

Erin burst out laughing at last, pulling him into a hug and kissing his cheek. “Wha-?”

"I love you! I don't think I've heard you talk that much at once in forever, and it's so cute and ridiculous and nerdy! Use your nerd powers to make time go faster!" she ordered with more giggles and another brief kiss. Yukito rolled his eyes, Erin pulling away and giving him room enough to start packing up their notebooks and papers. Forgotten scrawls and examples mixed with Erin's many doodles were tucked away into his bag.

“We should probably head back, before the librarian comes to arrest us for disturbing the peace...”

"Silence isn't peace," Erin objected. He paused to consider this, amused by the fact that, somehow, she'd accidentally said something quite profound. "How often is it silent at home, huh? Honestly! Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver, and you can win scholarships if you make your prom dress out of it! Well, you'd make a suit, but still. Prom. Clothes. Duct tape. Free money!!"

He sniggered, “Too bad you didn't try that one out. I am sure you would have impressed.”

She sent Yukito a huge grin, looping her arm around his side. "Soooo... how'd I do?"

His last slip of paper was a checklist of what he'd optimistically hoped they could accomplish in their first studying session. “You have some science to finish up, but we got math, history, and a little of your English out of the way, at least.” He sent her a smirk, kissing her forehead, “And you behaved very well, all distractions considered. I think I can condone picking up something Vietnamese for dinner on our way home.” Yukito shouldered his backpack, wrapping his free arm around Erin as they left the library.

Yukirin is done here! ^_^