Welcome to Gaia! ::

She nearly flinched when Jas mentioned romance. It was...horrible. One of the worst things she had ever read. She wondered who had come up with that genre, and what exactly had been their problem.

Then she realized that Jas said she liked science fiction and fantasy. That...well, that had been unexpected. Normally the only other ones who were into the genres were people who seemed much less socially adept than Jas.

Speaking of adept...

"What authors do you read? Have you ever heard of C. S. Friedman?"

She shifted a little in her chair, and stared at the table top, fingers tracing the patterns in the fake wood grain.

But really, it was worth a try, at least.

Even if she didn't need a friend.

Azhar blinked in agreement. That seemed like a good plan. So he jumped onto the bottom shelf, and waited for Conrad to join him there.

"She's not very well known," Anrea told the table. She had been expecting an answer like that...So why did she feel disappointed?

Probably because with something like that in common, it would be easier to force the conversation to keep going.

Anrea contemplated the patterns of dots in the ceiling tiles, trying to think of what else to say. When with others, it was rude to let the conversation die.

Azhar wobbled impatiently, waiting for Conrad to hop on top of him. Or for Conrad to tell him to hop on top of Conrad. He wanted to see what Anrea was doing, ignoring him like this! He couldn't wait much longer!

"I don't think so...what's he written?" Her green gaze dropped back down to the table top, and stayed there for a bit. Maybe he was one of the authors where she was more familiar with a specific book title or series than the author's actual name. She thought the name sounded kind of familiar...

But maybe that was just because she was talking to another Jasper. She really wasn't sure.

And at some point in that thought process, she had started fidgeting in her chair, looking first to the left, then to the right of the table. But never down low enough to see the bulbs.

Azhar waited patiently for Conrad to do something, although it was kind of difficult to stay standing upright, and balance the other bulb on top, too. He hoped Conrad would hurry up and do whatever it was that he was going to do, before he fell over.

"I've maybe heard of Thursday Next," Anrea told the floor. It sounded kind of familiar...But the titles didn't. And she was sure she hadn't read any of those books yet, going by Jas' description of the plot.

"Acheron Hades?" The meaning of the name only just set in with her, and she had to suppress a giggle. She wasn't sure if she loved or hated the blatantly obvious pun with the villain's name.

Azhar wobbled a bit, not sure if he could get up to the screw without a boost. It seemed kind of high up. And thin. Conrad moved around upside down, so it was easier for him to balance, but Azhar might fall of the thin screw.

He tried flipping himself upside down, but that just made the world funny, and he didn't want to be disoriented when he tried to land on the screw. So he flipped upright again, and tried for the screw, but missed.