An important thing to note about Abathur: the written word was vital to how he consumed information.

Books were, essentially, his introduction to any sort of scholarly field, and life in general. Finding that copy of The Origin of Species had utterly changed his worldview, and after days of leading through the notes, he found himself with an insatiable hunger for more information. Information was king - and, frankly, he saw it as more important than the lives of those around him. Not that he had any ideas for experiments that would endanger those lives - which was lucky for them, he supposed. That was besides the point, though, and would likely stay that way for a long time, for Abathur had just hit the motherlode, a beacon of knowledge, a wealth of wisdom, a diamond in the ragged liminal swamps of Tanglewood that people rarely talked about (at least to him).

A library.

He found the building on one of his self-guided tours early on a chilly morning, rather glad to have a temporary shelter of some sorts, but upon entering he was left awestruck. A view that would leave a lesser being in tears (read: a being with tear ducts): books, wall to wall, rugged and aged, with what little light there was revealing a wealth of dust in the air. It was... perfect.

It was now afternoon, and Abathur found himself gathering a collection of things to read, harvesting titles with a strange mix of voracious need for the words contained within and delicate care and respect for the aged tomes. The stack was about five books high now, consisting of 2 different studies regarding evolution, an encyclopedia, a book regarding the diversity in spider habitats, and (strangely) a book titled "Botany for Beginners: From Aster to," with the last word scratched out beyond recognition (though one would assume it was a flower or other plant that started with a Z). Apparently this was not enough for him, as he continued to comb the shelves, reaching out his pedipalps to feel the weathered bindings.

tags - "speech"

Aurum, like Abathur, had a supreme affinity for books. He had ever since the day he had first begun to learn how to read, since it meant that there was a medium that he could absolutely tear through to read all of the different stories that he had been told and love so much as a young cub. Unlike Abathur, his reading was not often for research, but simply for recreational purposes, since he always loved cracking open a good book and seeing what interesting characters or plot points were stored away inside. It all harkened back to when he had been a cub, and one of the few happy times of his childhood was when he was told a story by mouth by one of his relatives or one of the older members of the group. The stories always held his intense attention, and he often couldn't help the way he bounced with excitement as they got to the exciting parts, imagining himself as the brave heroes who served as the protagonists. When he had finally left the pride and learned that there were entire records of so many stories like that? He had been delighted, and learning to read had been one of his top priorities. Ever since then, he had collected and read books ravenously and often, a fact that could be told by most members of the group that knew him, most of all Roy and Crowley. Since his son and his best friend had to deal with him often finding and bringing back books to his home before his shelves were overflowing.

As for the library, it was a place that Aurum had loved to frequent quite often for new stories to read when he ran out of places to find hidden away books, but he had been going there very little ever since Leroy's death. The entire scene had plagued the building with unhappy memories, and just stepping inside had often been enough to make his skin crawl beneath his fur, recalling the way that Leroy shuddered and suffered before he died. Thankfully, Leroy was back now, and Aurum was prepared to give the library another chance. He still knew that there would be bad memories present, but at least now he could combat them with the knowledge that the canine was now alive and well, happier than the Captain was pretty sure he had ever seen him. Stepping inside the library for the first time in a month, Aurum found himself glancing around curiously as he took a few tentative steps forward, not really expecting anyone to be there. The library wasn't the most popular place in town, and it wasn't unusual for him to be the only one in there at some points. However, that wasn't the case this time, and the lion found himself blinking in surprise when he found Abathur, surrounded by books and still slowly moving up and down the shelves. Immediately feeling curiosity take over, Aurum slowly made his way over, flicking his tail in greeting to the large spider, "Hey, Abathur. I see you've found our library... found some books that piqued your interest?" It was pretty obvious that some had, but... Aurum wasn't honestly sure how else to start a conversation with Abathur, since the other had a habit of being quite blunt and a bit socially awkward.

There were people now - people to interrupt him, to occupy his time, to drag him away from his books and force him into a conversation, subjects to keep him from learning and -

Breathe, he told himself. (metaphorically of course, since he didn't have typical lungs and didn't respirate). These subjects were simply exercising their curiosity (at least, Aurum was), and if there was anything he could empathize with, it was the seeking of information. Hell, that was the entire reason he had spent so long in here, browsing the massive collection that Tanglewood had somehow accrued, which he assumed was the fault of their human predecessors. He turned to Aurum, giving him a careful glance to see if he was mocking him in some way. "No," he said, drily, after a moment or two of consideration. His tone didn't change, but clearly, he was being sarcastic, as he turned back to the bottom of the shelf he was working through. Actions spoke louder than words, than tone, after all. "Does subject frequent library?" He mused offhandedly, pulling out another book, this one on marine life, and moving his gaze to the angel, just as Miller waltzed in.

The flaring anger in his chest appeared again, though was quickly quelled by the wildcat's little grin. He was still annoyed at the childish insult, somehow, but he understood it somewhat as being a form of - oh, what was it called. Verbal sparring? Bickering? Whatever it was, it didn't quite agree with Abathur's monotone way of speaking, didn't sound right coming from his mouth, even as best he tried. "Ha, ha, ha." He grumbled, moving his body over to stare Miller in those polarized lenses of his, in his usual analytical way. "Frankly, shocked subject Miller can read," he muttered to himself. A lie, of course. He never assumed anyone was illiterate (even though, as animals, they would have the excuse), as that got nobody anywhere. The spider simply wanted to antagonize the feline a little bit more, see if things like that got him angry.

Once more he turned around, this time to his stack of books, pulling some string out to wrap them up like a little parcel (not quite cocooning them) so he wasn't stuck trying to figure out how to lug around a stack. "Other copies of Darwin's works, if subject wants," he said to Miller. An olive branch, an extended hand, an offering of peace - after all, the man knew the author from the title, so he must have some sort of interest.

tags - "speech"

"No need for apology," he said, locking down Roy with all of his eyes. He was such a young child (probably? maybe? he definitely had a youthful sense about him), and yet he was afraid of asking questions - what kind of person could possibly inflict such a crippling fear on someone like that? Abathur was deeply offended on the child's behalf, glancing over at Aurum with two of his eyes. He acted awfully close to the child - perhaps he had adopted him? That would explain how... cuddle-y the fearful one was with him. Regarding Roy fully once more, the spider began to speak.

"Question was not rude - regardless of policy, however, no question should warrant apology. Do not fear curiosity." With anyone else he would not have cared that much, but he could... empathize with that fear, that feeling of being on the verge of abandonment, unable to explore the world around you to your fullest. Truly, Tanglewood was a godsend for allowing him those luxuries, and he found himself softening his usual lack of care for the denizens of the clan he was in. "Yes, self enjoys reading," he continued, the cool tone of his voice not disrupted by his strange personality development, "Enjoy learning about how world functions - would like to write book like these in future." Before turning back to the suddenly arduous task of getting his books over to the table, he realized he forgot to answer the most easily answered question of all. How silly of him.

"And yes, inhabit form of giant spider. Would subject..." He hesitated, realizing he didn't actually know the boy's name, before continuing regardless, hoping he would fill in the blanks. "Do you have further questions?"

tags - "speech"

When Kaz showed up to the little impromptu meeting within the library, Aurum smiled warmly at the male, opening his mouth to greet the other familiar newcomer that he needed to take some time to get to know. However, before he was really able to get a good greeting in, Kaz had already launched into a little spat calling Abathur a nerd. Aurum was distinctly unimpressed, and found himself sighing a bit at the other tangler, ready to jump to Abathur's defense with his own history of loving stories. However, Abathur was plenty capable of handling himself, and returned Kaz's childish behavior with some snark of his own. Aurum found himself chuckling, not only at Abathur's comeback, but also at the sarcasm the other had exhibited in answering him. It seemed as though his first impression of Abathur had been wrong – even if the other talked a bit strangely, he was quite capable of navigating social situations, and being pretty damn funny at the same time. Smiling with mirth, Aurum rumbled as he flicked his tail from side to side, giving a dip of his head in confirmation, "Yes, I happen to come to the library quite often. I've loved stories ever since I was a young cub, so the moment I came upon the library after my joining, I immersed myself in getting familiar with it... just like you are now." It was nice to see that he and Abathur had something in common, and he silently noted that away as something to bring up later if they were ever alone and just hanging out. Aurum had always been a huge fan of befriending pretty much everyone who came to be a member of Tanglewood, and Abathur had sparked a bit of anxiety in the Captain when he had first arrived thanks to the fact that it hadn't seemed they would have any common ground between them. And sure, perhaps they weren't exactly reading the precisely same books, but that was still something that could start a conversation, and that was just the perfect kind of in Aurum had been looking for.

While he contemplated this, others began to arrive at the scene, a sight that threw the lion for a bit of a loop. It wasn't often that so many people were at the library at once, and as both Moth and Roy came sidling up on either side of him, he found a warm smile for each other of them. He had, of course, known both of them also had an affinity for reading, but that didn't mean they were often all in the library together. Unless, of course, Aurum invited to come to the library with him, while he returned old books and picked out some new chunky volumes to fill up the shelves of their home as he read through them. He touched his nose gently to the top of Roy's head as his son settled beside him, and he found himself smiling a bit at the boy's excited questioning of Abathur. It was rare to see Roy so genuinely engaged, especially when it came to interacting with other people, thanks to the nerves and anxiety that Aurum had seen grip him far too many times. Sure, his question was a bit poorly worded in the excitement of the moment, but Abathur seemed unbothered, and the Captain found himself shooting the large arachnid a grateful look because of it. It would've been downright awful if Roy had finally had the guts to show real interest in someone else, only to have that person react negatively. Upon hearing Moth and Kaz, Aurum rumbled softly to Kaz, his wings shifting upon his back to subconsciously rest over his sister and son, a silent show of affection, "Abathur doesn't need to be reading the books just to have information to use. Reading is usually considered recreational, after all. Besides, him 'using' the information could always just be him acting as a back up emergency medic for when the medical team is indisposed... sort of like what Delilah does." He knew that Kaz was just trying to suggest something while falling back on his old strategic and planning way of thinking, but Aurum also didn't want to see Abathur be shoved into a role he didn't want, just because of the books he enjoyed reading.

Kaz's claustrophobic feelings were very relatable at the moment - the spider was starting to feel confined, trapped in, especially as the conversation went off the rails, talking about his prospective career instead. Miller certainly was a wrench in the works, in every possible way, and the spider felt his opinion toward him souring. It was awfully presumptuous of him, when he hadn't even really mentioned any want to, besides a general pursuit of intellectualism, but it wasn't like every scientist that traipsed along their borders was shoveled into the same role, right? It wasn't like -

Calm, now.

Abathur could see why he - why Aurum - was so high-ranking. Why Moth and Roy trusted him so much. He channeled the flow of conversation so expertly, so calmly, so congenially... Abathur was, truly, baffled. Why did he do that? Why would anyone do that? He could expect people to be polite, yes, but the people here were so... genuine, so transparent. It felt like they weren't just acknowledging his presence, rather actually taking him in, treating him like a person. Why? How did it benefit them, Aurum and Moth?

He could re-evaluate how he saw people later, he reminded himself, shaking off the stunned quiet he had been prodded into. He couldn't just ignore what they were saying; there was valuable information there, theoretically.

Moth had approached, someone who puzzled him in her congeniality almost as much as Aurum, pushing through her fear even though she didn't have to at all (though at least she was trying to establish him as a valuable resource; he could understand that). Still, she did it, so he had to deal with the consequences of her actions. Grunting first, the spider replied to her, "Yes, would enjoy that. Lack extreme in-depth knowledge of herbal treatments; would be... beneficial." His gaze lingered on her for a second, still trying to put together some invisible puzzle in his mind, before moving to The Wrench.

Perhaps he had been overreacting in his anger towards Miller. Sure, he had been presumptuous, but... there was something odd in the air he had about that now, as if he was trying to do the same thing Abathur was, just putting together a puzzle in his mind. He had to wonder if the feline held more pieces than he did. "Perhaps; will contemplate putting knowledge to use," he said, calm as could be, no indication as to the anger that broiled inside him early.

Last was Aurum, the primary target of his utter confusion. It felt like a rug had been swept out from under his many feet, leaving him stumbling for a new foothold, for some stability. It was a feeling he did not like at all, a vertigo he hoped to avoid. He needed some time to think things over - better to lock away the revelations until he could actually think about them. Too late to respond to Aurum's heartfelt anecdote, he instead decided to reply to... well, everything else the lion had said. Well, he had decided to, but was left at a loss for the right words. He appreciated the contribution, but that didn't feel... right. Neither did a 'thank you' - it was too informal for him, didn't work with his vocabulary. Perhaps he would just not acknowledge it at all, leave it for some other time, or for never. That seemed the best course of action now. "Indeed," he grunted simply, trying to figure out what the say. In a way, he was left in the same spot Aurum was before now, grasping at straws for something to talk about. "Have not met subject Delilah - do they have additional medical training?"

His books were a far away thought in his mind, now, replaced with thoughts of medicine and of how little he knew about people after all.

tags - "speech"