Callie & Julian in the Library

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Callie and Julian bump into each other in the library. They end up discussing wolves, dates and deals.

Callie could barely be seen behind the stack of books and paper she had transported to the library. She had created a little fortress at the table, a space in which she could be assured privacy. But Callie wasn't working on homework, or rather not at that precise moment in time. She decided that after completing one assignment she would reward herself by leafing through the latest Vogue that had been imported for her. A brief break and then return to diligence, yes that sounded like a plan.

On the other hand, Julian entered the library, ready to tackle a few of the day's assignments. Usually he would have done this in his room, but now that Fred had taken up residence it had become increasingly difficult to concentrate. He looked over at Callie and smiled, "Hey Callie, how's-" several shushes rang out from other tables and Julian feigned embarrassment while taking a seat at her table. He continued at a whisper, "How're you doing?"

"Hey Julian." She closed the magazine and slid it back in her backpack. "What you got there?"

Julian slid a piece of paper across the table, "My assignment for tonight, researching three different subspecies of the same animal-I figured wolves would do nicely- and then a quick two-page paper on it with at least three different non-internet sources. What about you?" He settled into his seat, waiting for his reply.

Callie nodded as she studied the paper that had been presented to her. Ah Biology, such fond memories of that class. "Yeah, the Canis lupus is pretty varied. Shouldn't be too hard to find books on the topic." She pushed Julian's assignment back at him before opening her folder and pulling out a group of pages that were held together by a paperclip. "I have a problem set involving Gauss's law," she explained as she held out the assignment for him to view.

The paper had a plethora of numbers and Greek symbols on it, along with a few words Julian didn't fully understand. "Oh, that's...cool? I understand about, well, none of that." He took his paper back and looked it over- obviously the first time he'd read it thoroughly. "Yeah, wolves shouldn't be too hard- there's Timber, Mexican and Red, right off the top of my head." He paused, "Didn't mean to rhyme that- maybe I'm spending too much time on the play."

"And there's the dingo and the common house dog," she replied, place her homework back in front of her. She shifted in her sheet, pulling one leg up under her (something that her father would deeply frown on if she were home) and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Heh. Iambic pentameter is quite catchy, I suppose. I keep having songs stuck in my head, which probably isn't any better but...." She shrugged.

"Dingos, now that's something I hadn't thought about," Julian was talking more to himself for a moment before he turned his attention back to Callie. "I'd say it depends on what song, there's good music out there and then there's...well, ever had It's a Small World stuck in your head? Not pretty."

She chuckled a bit as she wrote her name on the top of her page before looking up at Julian. "You haven't heard the song we're singing in the show? Well there are two, but one is like three-part harmonies, pretty jazzy, it's cool." Callie fell silent for a few minutes, studying the page in front of her. She worked through a problem, punching numbers on her calculator, and erasing various mistakes on the page in her effort. When she had finished, Callie looked back up at Julian. There was something she had been meaning to ask him, and now was as good a time as any to do so.

"So how was your date?"

Julian was just opening the book he'd brought to the table, 'Wolves: Behavior, Ecology and Conservation,' when she asked. "The date with Angel? Great- sufficiently wooed." He paused, then smiled, "Hey, didn't I see something about you having a date on the journals? Who're you sneaking off with?"

Callie's face deepened a shade of pink as she blushed. "No one," she said quite timidly as she tried to hide the fact that she was embarrassed. A few moments later her face returned to its natural pink and she was able to return attention to her friend. "So where did you end up taking her?"

"Oh no, you're not getting away with this that easily," he grinned and shut the book and leaning forward slightly. "You tell me who you're seeing and I'll tell you where we went."

There was a reason why Callie wanted to be a doctor and not a super spy: she broke easily under pressure. "Jackson," she muttered. "So where did you go again?"

"I'll tell you just as much as you told me," Julian smiled and leaned back in his seat, pushing the legs off the floor slightly as he propped his feet up on the table. "We went up." He paused, giving her enough time to want more before adding, " If you'd like to provide me with more than a first name, I'd be happy to give you some more details."

"Roy. From the play? You totally know him. I thought that you know the first name might have been enough." She leaned forward to match his body language. "So what's scoop? What's the down low? Where did you guys go up to?"

"Jackson Roy, really? Wow, okay." Julian leaned forward and beamed, "I got us a limo to take us to the airport- then we went up, just like I said, in a G500 and had dinner while doing laps around New York...the city." He chuckled at one of the funnier moments then leaned back again, "When are you and Roy going out?"

That sounded just like something Julian would do, so Callie was not surprised. She wasn't easily won with such lavish displays, but then again that was her. "That sounds, fun? I guess. You guys have any more plans?"

Julian remained silent and drummed his fingers against the wooden table-top for a moment in silence. "We might," he finally said, "but I'm afraid I might need to hear more about you and Mister Roy, as per our agreement."

"Hmm... well fair enough. You go first."

"I may not be as smart as you, Callie, but I'm not dumb either. I asked first, you go first."

"I never said you were dumb. I'm just curious."

"No, you're stalling," Julian smugly smiled as he leaned back again.

"No. I'm not. You guys are just more interesting than I am." Callie shrugged.

Julian nodded and gave a little sigh, "I can't argue that, but we had an arrangement and I can hold out for details longer than you can. What's it gunna be, Callie?"

Blink. He had her there. Although she could just ask Angel, but Julian was already here. So it would be just as easy to ask him. "Fine,okay... wait, what was the question again?"

"I was just asking when you and Jackson were planning on eloping," as she opened her mouth Julian held up a hand. "No, Callie, that was just sarcasm, I asked you when you're date is."

She settled back in her chair, pulling her free leg up so that she was not sitting cross-legged on the chair. "We went out, not this weekend, but the weekend before last." Callie thought for a moment, yup that was right. "It wasn't a limo ride and a chartered plane, but it was fun."

"Was that so hard?" Julian chuckled politely, "We don't have any solid plans, but I don't think we'll be doing the plane and limo combination again. Now, what did the two of you do?" Julian didn't really need the details of Callie's social life, but it was fun and probably good for her to squirm every now and then.

The answer to that question was of course yes, but Callie didn't say it. Instead she turned attention to her homework, or at least setting up the next problem in the set. "We were going to go see a movie, but we couldn't figure out which one to see, so instead we grabbed ice cream and ended up playing around on the playground. Like I said, not as exciting as your date, but it was fun."

"Actually that sounds pretty wonderful- do you think you cold tell me where the ice cream shop-" he stopped himself, thinking about what the affect of a girl who gets warmer as she is happier might have on ice cream. "Never mind, bad idea. Glad you had fun, will you be going again?"

"Actually yeah." Callie gave a little half smile, she could feel the blood rushing her her face. "Tomorrow, after rehearsal. We're getting dinner... so yeah."

Julian smiled, glad that Callie was happy, "All I can say to that is you'd better behave yourself, Callie." He picked the book back up and cracked it open to a random page.

"Don't worry about me. You just make sure that you treat Angel right, and stay on your best behavior."

She hadn't taken the bait for his clever retort so his smile faltered for a moment, but it was all quickly forgotten as he started to laugh, hardily, and loudly. This drew shushes from across the library again as Julian struggled to regain himself. "Callie, you are hilarious- best behavior, that's rich."

"I'm serious," she said as she stared at him, her face stoic and still. "Best behavior Julian, you promise?"

Julian nodded and smiled, wiping a tear away from his eye, "Of course, Callie, I'm nothing if not a gentleman around her and you know she could turn me to ash if I weren't. And a Keller is nothing if not a gentleman." He gave her a curt nod and eye roll combination to drive home the point that he didn't much like the lessons he'd received from dead old dad.

"Yes, well, good. I just wanted to make sure," she explained with a smile. "You guys are both my friends, and I don't want anything bad to happen to either of you."

He almost replied with 'What could possibly go wrong,' but then thought the better of it. "Thanks, Callie," he said instead and started flipping through the pages of his book haphazardly.