"What...the glass?" Basil yanked Caspian's arm and jumped over the stone, unaware of Caspian's surprise.

"Ow!" He hissed, and pressed on his shin. Where neat plaid fabric had been before, torn, dusty fabric had taken it's place. Basil winced.

"Sorry man!" He whispered. Just in case.

But there wasn't anybody in there. No construction, no librarian, no anybody. Only books. Caspian began to grow uneasy. What if somebody was watching them? Could they be expelled for this? What the hell was Basil thinking? But he didn't have time to ask any of those questions aloud when Basil shouted out to him.

"Cassy, c'mere!" He gestured excitedly.

"What?" He kept his voice down in case somebody could hear them.

"I found this spider, wanna have him?" He threw the large tarantula at Caspian's face and laughed as Caspian frantically danced around trying to get it off of him. Except the spider had never been on him and it was now nowhere to be found.

When Caspian caught his breath he glared at Basil, who was bowled over on the floor laughing.

"What was that for!" He exclaimed. "We could have been caught if I screamed, you know!"

"Screamed, eh?" Basil giggled. "I don't think anyone would do anything about that."

"I...what?"

"Oh nothing. Also, you can stop whispering. People just think this place is under construction. We're safe until somebody with a key comes in." Caspian sighed but still kept a low voice. Sure, he had a lot more time to browse the shelves for the book his professor wanted, but this Basil guy was a lot more of a troublemaker than he thought.


First the glass. Then the spider. Then he started switching books to different places and tearing out empty white pages in their backs make paper airplanes. Then he poked and tripped Caspian as he searched and even stuffed a jar of quills into his sweater.

"Cassy! I have made one observation!" Basil announced after Caspain emptied his sweater of quills. "You, my dear, are a carpet!"

Silence.

"What?"

"A carpet! You know, people step all over ya' but you don't do anything 'bout it? Never retaliate or anything? I guess that would mean you're more of a bunny, but whatever."

"I...I don't know what you're trying to say to me."

"Ugh." Basil rolled his eyes and squished Caspian's cheeks together. "You. Are. An absolute. Unit. Of. Emotional. Absence."

"I do not follow..." Caspain was confused and Basil just wanted to get him to talk.

"Dammit Cassy say something other than questions! If you want friends you gotta start talking about yourself!"

"I don't really see the point, though. I just want to get an education and own a greenhouse."

"A greenhouse!" Basil said wondrously. "Lovely start! What else?"

"Um...well, what else is there?"

"What else? Anything! Tell me what ya like, and I'll let you keep looking while you talk!"

"I...sure...Well, I like...cats. And bugs. I like bugs too."

"Hmmm, ever had a girlfriend?"

"What! No. No no no." His face flushed and he turned his face even farther from Basil's view. "I'm not really, uh, good with girls."

"Ooh. Me neither. They're too smart for me!" He giggled.

After that they lapsed into silence. Even Basil was quiet, and for knowing him for only an hour, Caspian knew that was a struggle for him


Good start, I guess, Basil thought as he watched Caspain look. He could tell the boy was uncomfortable when he watched him, but that didn't matter. What mattered was finding out more about him.

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