"I Get That," She Replied, Deep In Thought As She Watched The Puppies Go About Their Business. While

"I get that. I'm kind of doing the same thing," she admitted with an equally uneasy smile that disappeared within seconds. Well, she certainly stressed over work and spent an ungodly amount of time staring at her computer screen. "It'll take a while to figure out what you like doing, especially here. There's so much to do and sometimes that can be a bit overwhelming." She remembered just how spoilt for choice she had felt when she first moved to the city. Zahra had been eager to try absolutely everything to the point where she hadn't known where to start.

"Well, I mean I do like visiting the museums, or art galleries if that's your thing." She shrugged, kicking a pebble along the street as she walked. "There's tons of good live music as well. I tend to take advantage of that. Just depends on what you like."

Matt let out a chuckle at her question, shaking his head and then looking back a her with a mortified look and a shy smile. "Honestly? Work." He chuckled. "That's as far as my plans go right now. I go to work, I come home, eat, sleep. Then work again." He slipped his hands into his pockets and bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn't proud of his routine but he hasn't felt like doing much else for a few months now. Matt carried all alone a baggage way too big for his poor back.

"What do you like to do around the city for fun?" He asked, curiously, not wanting to dampen the mood, so he offered her a kind smile. "Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you."

"I guess you're partially right. I just wish I had actually read these instead of just hauling them home and now bringing them right back." Obviously no one knew - or cared - that she hadn't even cracked open most of the books, but the shame was palpable nonetheless. The shame seemed to be her constant companion, increasingly so ever since her brain had decided it no longer wanted to partake in any additional reading or writing. The feeling only grew as she thought about future deadlines and word counts, the threat of falling behind making her sick to her stomach. "I am sure it's just a writer's block," she muttered, mostly to herself, before snorting in amusement. "See, I like where your head's at. I could smuggle Circe everywhere and become the ultimate cat lady."

A realisation lit up Zahra's face as Julia admitted she was only heading in. She laughed, shaking her head softly. "Ah, there you go. It's good to know some things don't change. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Julia didn’t comment on her helping because if the roles were reversed the last thing she’d want was another person drilling down on how they’d had to lend a hand. Too many people took pride in their independence for her to risk saying the wrong thing. Instead she just gave her a small smile with an incline of her head, picking up the handle nearest to her. 

“I don’t know if this can be considered a walk of shame, I mean what part of being well read is meant to be shameful?” If that was the case then maybe she should just bury her head in the sand right now because she’d much rather spend time with a stack of books than another human most of the time. “Or you could get one of those ones that old people take to the grocery store, the old lady shopper bags. Then no one would even know what was in it.” A shrug of her shoulders as they headed into the library, realising that Zahra didn’t realise that she was arriving rather than leaving. “Oh you know me better than that, I’m on my way in to pick up a couple I’ve had set aside for me. Don’t worry - I’ve not been replaced by an alien.” Julia joked softly. @ofzahras

Zahra watched as Ryan went to pick up the bag, quietly grateful he had happened to be there and didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry. "I guess this is my sign to hit up the gym," she muttered, slightly jealous just how easily the bag had lifted. "God no", Zahra spurted as he acquired whether she had actually read the books, "but I can't be paying overdue fees on all of those." Doing a postdoc in humanities wasn't exactly the most lucrative of jobs and there were far more fun ways to spend a good chunk of money. She nodded as Ryan spoke. "Okay, good. There's certainly a lot of flammable material there," she mused, following him quietly. "I'm okay. Work's keeping me busy." It wasn't a lie, not really, even if she hadn't really achieved much in the past few weeks. "I guess you must have been equally busy?"

—those were a lot of books to actually be any lighter than they looked, which made him smirk a little at her argument. “hmm,” was the only eligible response he could give. lifting the bag with ease —contrary to her he has been doing a lot of heavy lifting, daily, and the bag basically weighs nothing for him— he looked at her, a little amused. “you’ve actually read all these?” he questioned before nodding a little to her query in turn. “just a routine check.” Ryan responded as he reached out to pull the library door open, and gestured for her to walk in first. “how have you been? it’s been a while since I’ve been around…” they usually met at unholy hours, that’s how he had ended up meeting her, but his work schedule had been busy lately, plus he wanted to spend more time at home with Neva when he could; it left little time to venture when he couldn’t sleep.

Despite her stubborn streak and tendency to insist on doing things by herself no matter how difficult, Zahra could not hide her relief. Besides, a slipped disc didn't necessarily appeal to her. "Oh, hardly. It's definitely no more than a quarter of my size. And it's lighter than it looks." That was a bold-faced lie and Zahra was definitely grateful Ryan had offered to help her with the books. "That'd be nice, thank you. Can't say I've been doing much of heavy lifting lately." She shook her head slowly. "You're working? Nothing serious, I hope."

—dressed in a casual uniform, black pants and standard FD t-shirt, he walked up the stairs leading to the library meaning to check on a call; they did claim it was a false alarm, but two of them had been sent anyway to ensure there were no issues. a standard procedure for such a call, they needed to do an inspection of the building; this was a library after all, a fire break out in this place would be a pain, for many reasons. “what are you doing?” he laughed as he noticed Zahra —first he had noticed the bag, to be fair. looking at the massive blue bag she was carrying, he arched an eyebrow. “this is twice your size, Zahra,” he teased, laughing. “may I?” he inquired, gesturing towards the bag.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TASK #002

a zahra hamed moodboard

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It'd be way easier than trying to trick her into her carrier and then try and carry her around. She does not like it one bit and I can't blame her." Despite her efforts, Circe despised the very sight of her carrier and would run and hide the moment Zahra pulled it out. She had of course splurged on the nicest, most comfortable one on the market but Circe did not seem to appreciate the luxury and would've most likely preferred to be carried in a food delivery bag. Her eyes grew wide as Julia described the account she had found. A delighted burst of laughter. "Really? I definitely need to check that out. Sounds like a dream, just a guy and his cat riding a bike."

Returning the books was blessedly an easy ordeal, and Zahra could at least congratulate herself on getting the haul back before any late fees had managed to materialise. She had managed to accomplish something that day and felt better for it. "Oh, I don't know. I love a good fun fact or a useless piece of information but medicine? Don't think I have the brain capacity for that." That being said, she was always eager to learn new things and could imagine far worse ways to spend an afternoon. "Lead the way."

“Oh well that makes sense, especially in New York I guess. I’m not sure how many cabs would let you in with a cat on the loose so at least with her in a pram thing you can just walk there or get the underground.” If it wasn’t raining and Julia was in that position she would one hundred percent walk so as to avoid the hell of New York’s subway. Useful, sure. Pleasant? Never. “She’d be meowing at everyone you walk past. I was on instagram the other day doomscrolling because I couldn’t sleep and this account came up about this guy who rides around with his cat in the basket of his bicycle. This fluffy white thing that just sits there and looks around - it was actually kind of adorable in a wildly impractical way.” 

Following the other towards the returns she listened as she spoke about not being tempted to pick up any medical books, understanding the concept of having different interests but the idea of walking into that section of a library without taking something home with you entirely alien to her. “I’m sure you would understand more than you give yourself credit for. I mean of course the terms are complex if you don’t know what they mean I guess - that is quite specific. Plus when they delve into more detailed specifications…” She trailed off, putting the bag of books down onto the floor once they arrived at the returns desk. @ofzahras

"Nothing better than a good character study, especially if absolutely nothing happens. Sometimes it's real nice to read about nothing. Although I guess I'm somewhat partial to literature that's not always super, um, happy. That being said, I've enjoyed my fair share of fluffy romances and feel-good classics. There's definitely a time and place for them." Literature had been one of her favorite forms of escapism ever since she was a kid listening to her parents' read to her at night. She had delighted in being able to pick up a book for bedtime, always eager to learn where the story had left off the night before. She found herself missing that childhood wonder and reading solely for fun. Laughing when the other defended her opinion, Zahra nodded along. "Sure. It's good to have strong opinions."

She shook her head vigorously. "Not at all, I appreciate it. Otherwise I would have been stuck here for ages, unable to decide. There are so many good books I would've never picked up if someone hadn't recommended to me."

"i agree. i'm personally a character development person. i prefer a good character arc and relationship building over plot. honestly it could be a 'no plot just vibes' type of book and i'd be happy. frankly, i wish there were more books where nothing happens and everything is just, sorta, happy. i know most people wouldn't really like that, but sometimes i just want to be in a world full of happiness even just for a little while. just to enjoy the temporary lack of stress, you know?" she explained, eyes drifting upward in thought. she cringed slightly at the other's words, not because she disapproved of them. no. she believed everyone was entitled to their own opinions and they were all valid. it never changed the way she thought of a person. but she just had hated the book that much. she shivered a bit. "oh i don't think it has any merit. if i never see that book again it would be too soon," she laughed.

she placed a flattered hand against her chest and smiled broadly. "well thank you! that means a lot to me, honestly. it's good to know i'm not just some annoying person coming to bug people into buying their favorite book," she laughed. "i understand that. never enough time to read all the books in the world."

I feel like I need to be re-socialised like a feral cat.

Being taken care of made her feel like a kid, small and not in control. Her lips curved down in a slight frown before she managed to catch herself. He was just being kind, far kinder than he had to be with a complete stranger. So, instead of turning into a petulant child, Zahra nodded curtly and offered her library card without any further arguments. She really didn't have it in her. "Good to meet you."

"Yeah, yeah. It was just a long hike," she answered, her voice low, "but I'm fine. Need to start exercising more, I guess. Or stop lugging around so many hardbacks. Maybe both."

"Maybe I could get your library card and return these for you. And I'll find you some cold water." Matt offered quickly, Putting the books down on the floor by his own foot. "I'm Matt, and don't worry about it, really. I'm glad I was close by to help."

Matt looked around the building. At least the AC was on. He imagined carrying that weight in New York City's summer would exhaust anyone, he couldn't blame the brunette. "It is really hot out, you should just take a breath here." He smiled and squeezed her arm gently before he pulled back and crossed his arms across his chest, just waiting on what to do next. "Have you eaten anything today?"