Was it evermore, or nevermore? (Cherry and Lenore)

Being at the vault so far was very strange experience..........

Ever since Cherry had her chance meeting with the cop down at the subway and heard about what had happened to the vault. The young girl couldn't help but become curious about the little vault. Despite her mother's warnings, Cherry has always been curious about what all went on there. And now that they seemed to be letting people out, maybe they'd let her in? When Cherry first got to the door and saw that it was sealed tight, she assumed that the man had simply lied to her. But before she gave up and went home, she saw that the door had a very faint blue glow around it. This prompted her to reach out and tap the door, which caused it to open up for her.

The first thing that caught Cherry's eye was just how clean everything here was. It was spotless in her option! Of course the fact that most of the places she visited where totally flithy probably played a part in her view of what was 'clean.' The second thing she took note of was the strange, and down right creepy reaction the people here had upon seeing her. Everybody here seemed to know her, or at least knew what she looked like. And while that was much better then people assuming that the girl was a demon and being scared. This did not ease her discomfort. It was rather creepy to have people she has never meet before in her life call her out by her real name, and asking strange and sometimes personal questions. Like if her arm was real or not, or what it was like to speak with 'Eddie.' The worst part about all of this was that she could never get a straight answer out of these people when it came to how they knew her! They keep saying something about how her picture was in vaultgram. And while she knew what a picture was, she had no clue what a vaultgram was, how somebody got a picture of her, and how it got on this vaultgram.

Nevertheless, she carried on. Her sense of curiosity stronger than the creep factor. As she wander around the vault she would soon find a mostly empty library. With the librarian busy in the back, the only two people in the room was Cherry and a seemingly older woman reading at the table. After seeing that it was just the two of them, Cherry would walk up to the woman and gently tap her shoulder. "Hey ma'am, do you have any picture books here?"

Rudely pulled away from appreciating the Count's speech on executions and the inadequacy of human justice, Lenore's eyes snapped up to look at the source of the disturbance. To her bewilderment, it was a completely unfamiliar face - a young girl with a... tree for an arm?

Perplexed, Lenore stared at the girl for a few seconds. She was most likely one of the surface dwellers, and that coupled with her odd request made Lenore both curious and unsure how to interact with her.

So, Lenore did what she always did and moved to finish the conversation as quickly as possible, scanning the library's database (saved in her own memory for ease of access) for an answer. "Try Seuss - shelf to your left, children literature section, under letter S."

Thankful this woman did not seem to know who Cherry was, or at was just hiding the fact very well. Either way, Cherry was very happy to find somebody in this vault that treated her like a normal human being. "Alright, thank you ma'am!" She cheeryfully said before heading off the her left to find some books. If the woman was paying any mind to the teen, she'd notice that she wasn't really looking at the letters, but would just take a quick glance at the cover before putting it back. After a few minutes of this, she came back and sat down at the table with the black haired woman, book in hand before she popped it open.

Cherry's ability to read was rather low at best. She knew some letters in french, barely any in english. And had even less knowledge when it came to the sounds they made, so she was mostly just enjoying the pictures. For a little while Cherry was just peacefully looking at the colorful pages, before, once again the woman would get pulled from her own book by a tap on the shouder, and by Cherry leaning over to show what page she was on.

"Why is this little guy harassing the big guy? And why is the food green? Did he posion it?" Cherry asked, her voice not having any hint of making some smartass joke or trying to pester her. Despite the fact that this was a book meant for little kids, it seems this girl had no clue what was going on.

"...As much as I would love to say that it's true and the entire story was intended as a metaphor for humans' initial denial and eventual acceptance of their mortality, no," Lenore replied slowly, now even more flabbergasted than before. "It's written by Dr. Seuss, so that's just how it is.

It was possible the girl just never encountered fiction before, or even was an artificial creation of some kind with limited life experience. Looks could be deceiving - Lenore herself was a prime example of it. Regardless, she didn't sign up for this joint reading session, and she certainly wasn't about to dive into a picture book's absurdity with this girl. "Listen," she tried to be polite to a visitor of the vault, "don't you think you should find someone better suited for those questions? Someone less... like me?"

"Huh?" Cherry was taken aback by her very strange answer to the question of if the food was poisoned or not. And the way she said it was also odd. The woman sounded shocked that Cherry even felt the need to ask a question like that. "Oh so he was a doctor and a writer? He sounds like a very talented person, but I have never seen any of his books before. Are green foods common in them?"

The teen would shake her head. "What's wrong with you? You seem like a very smart lady, and I would like to know more about books! So I do not really see the problem here. Plus uh." She looked around the area and let out a giggle. "You're the only one here to ask."

Lenore winced. That last part was certainly true, and quite intentional on her part - she always picked the times when the library was free of its bustle to come here. Well, there probably wasn't much hope of that now, unless she acted directly. "Listen, I..." she exhaled some air, imitating a sigh, and decided to cut to the chase, speaking slowly and firmly. "I've intentionally sat here, where there is no one around. To be alone. Not to mention I don't know who you are. So would you mind leaving me alone to read in peace?"

"Oh, oh I see........" Cherry muttered softly, clearly feeling a little bit rejected. Lenore had a point, if she wanted to read only she should be able to after all, Cherry couldn't nor would she be blame her. But it still sucked. "I mean, I can't really r-read, so I was hoping y-you'd uh, um, yeah." Cherry grunted out softly, it was easy to see how embarssed she was by admiting that fact with the blush on her face and the stuttering.

She had always hated the fact that she couldn't read. It locked her out of learning so many things and from using the many things she found in the wastelands. But the social embarrassment was almost as bad, if not worse than having to deal with the lack of ability of reading. Sure it wasn't rare for vagrants to not be able to read, but she still couldn't get over how stupid it made her feel when she confessed to somebody. She wasn't sure how old she was, but surely she was old enough to pick up more than just a few letters! She really wished that her mother would have taught her a few things about reading, maybe when they met again she well. Standing up from the table and running her fingers through her hair, a bright blush still on her cheeks. She'd utter out.

"Um, I'll uh, go if you want me too."

"You what," Lenore said flatly, disbelieving. That explained why she wanted a picture book, at least, but what? What did she even want from her, then - read it for her? It was ridiculous, and all Lenore needed to end this talk was to say yes.

But...

Lenore could hardly even imagine a world without books. Books were so foundational to her existence that losing the ability to consume them would be, frankly, torturous. There was nothing more stimulating than the experience of immersing yourself in the work of a talented writer - at least, to her. Lenore was more than aware that not many people shared those views, but still - for someone to be deprived of that from the start...

She shifted her focus back into reality. She has been silently staring at the girl for a while now, and she might have taken that as a cue to leave. "Wait! I..." she spoke hesitantly, against her better judgement. "I can try to..." It was surprisingly hard to find the words. "I'll help you. If you still want me to," she finished, rather ungracefully.

Cherry would gulped, feeling even worse about the fact that she would have to repeat what she had already said. Her eyes bounced around the room, looking for anybody that could overhear them. Lucky for her, it was still just her and the black haired woman. "I-I cannot read." Cherry repeated, this time even softer than before. Soon enough a small inkling of shame began to build up inside of her, ans it was building at quite the fast rate due to Lenore simply staring at her and not replying. Clearing her throat she got ready to walk away. "Sorry I bothered you." With that she turned around on her heel and started to take the first few steps needed to exit the room, but before she could, as the woman's voice reached her ears.

A huge giddy smile croased her face as she told her that she would help Cherry learn how to read. She couldn't believe it! Even after she ruined her reading time the woman still saw it in her heart to help her out! She was a wonderful lady, Cherry could tell that much. Soon the teenager would begin to almost vibrate with happiness, before she rushed foward to hug the lady tightly. Only using her right arm of course, she didn't eish to crush her new teacher. "Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!"

Suddenly she realized that a woman who liked to read alone probably wouldn't like physical contact to much, so she released her from Cherry's tight hug and let out a soft, yet awkward giggle. "Sorry for that, but I am just so happy! So where do we start!? I already know some of the letters, like C, B, and Z." She said as she sat down next to her, pulling green eggs and ham towards the both of them.