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 Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:52 pm
He’d been to a library not that long ago, a rather old and outdated one, but he’d not been thinking about finding out about clock towers at the time, though perhaps he should have been. But he’d just wanted to wander and browse the books - to see if he got any ideas or found anything of interest to himself. Not much had really been found by him, nothing really interesting anyway, there were a lot of books of course - it was a large and old library after all.
But over time, as he spent more time helping Luciana, the taller male had decided he should look into clock towers so he could offer her more help - she deserved his help. She cared as much for her wonder as he did follow his own - they shared a want to repair and rebuild their wonders. He wanted to repurpose his wonder though, he could honestly never picture himself making hats much less designing them.
That led Kinsey to something else; something which was not a library but was similar, as he had more hope for finding information here which would help him and thus help Luciana -who was helping him so much. He did wonder, from time to time, if she knew how much she was helping him or if she wondered about it.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:53 pm
There were supposed to be visitors today, something about students looking into things for a project. At least that’s what his boss told him before he managed to get into the review of new materials that had been left on his desk for verification. With a tired huff, he pushed back from his desk and secured things before stepping out of his office. While he wasn’t the only employee here, he felt like it would be a bad idea to let children loose and touching things in the archive.
He never really liked children, even those as old as college age, though even some adults felt too childish to him as well. They didn’t respect the order of things, the painstaking levels of organization he’d reigned in here over his years here. It had been almost a decade since he’d finished his master’s and taken over the archive as much as he could without dealing with others and that red tape that came with any sort of public service.
After righting a few shelves and pushing some drawers fully closed, he noticed one of the students. It took far more effort than he would admit not to scowl at the intrusion from his work, but he did his best to put on a customer service face as he approached.
“Hello, welcome to the archive. Are you looking for any specific resource type or topic?”
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:54 pm
Kinsey wasn’t big on talking to people, he never had been, so it took a moment before he responded to the older man who was questioning him. “Anything you have on clock towers.” The answer was simple, easy to give, and it was right to the point. There was no need for him to go into why he needed the information, no story telling as others might do, there was no want within him to have a conversation with the other. Not only to waste words, or his breath Kinsey settled on staring and watching now - waiting. He was waiting to see what they would do, would they send him off with a location or would they decide to personally show him to what he needed. The teen was hoping they’d just point him in the right direction, most did that at a library as they were content to sit behind a desk and tap away at a computer; doing who knows what.
Dressed in a button up, collared shirt, with a dark green sweater worn over it, Kinsey looked far moe presentable than his classmates and perhaps a bit older even; which was fine by him. Kinsey knew he stood out with how he dressed, he always had, he was more than ok with it as he considered it just a sign of maturity and his taste in better quality clothing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:54 pm
Clocktowers? That was vague, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he tried not to look tired by the lack of information. Taking them in, they at least looked proper-ish compared to half the interns who had left things a mess last time during some sort of collaborative project with the students in the linguistics department.
Taking a moment to think, even with how vague it was, he turned slightly towards one of the side areas that had large drafting drawers and schematics. Things about architecture and machinery, even if he wasn’t really sure if that was what they meant.
“Schematics, architecture, and designs are in the drawers, but I will have to pull them out to make sure they’re handled correctly. Things like this are delicate given their age.” That tinge came through as he tentatively kept his hand at the ready to keep them from touching something they shouldn’t. At this point, he didn’t care if it wasn’t proper; he’d made it a point ot keep things from being damaged when he was on shift, even if it meant he was the least liked person. His qualifications and track record were more than enough to keep him employed because when it boiled down to it, he had been in the right each time.
“If you mean books about them, either historical or folklore-wise, those are in other sections. Some can be handled, some can’t; it depends on the age and if the items are reproductions. Also, you need to sign in.”
Reaching to the side of the cabinet, he pulled down a clipboard from the hook. The pen was attached with a little chain, something he was glad to see still intact, given how often they seemed to grow legs and walk away.
“You can print your name, sign your signature, and date it under the previous person who did so. No need to flip to a new page.” No need to waste paper, considering each section had its own board for recordkeeping, and if anything happened to one of the items in the archive.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:55 pm
He figured it might have been a bit of a vague answer, because he wasn’t sure if there would be more he’d need than what he could specify, so he’d gone with a broad answer in the hopes of getting a bit of everything in case he needed more than he expected. “That’s fine, I’ll take them all.” And make notes on them, and take pictures with his phone, because he knew he’d need to bring all the information back to Luciana.
Keeping to the older males side Kinsey understood that what he was asking for was old and thus delicate. But he did want to see what the other was talking about - all of it. That in mid Kinsey. “Historical, I don't need anything else.” Not for what he was working on right now, and he wasn’t going to go indulging in folklore and fairytales and such right now. He had important matters and that meant he needed historical things, plans and blue prints - all the real things. Not needing the other to tell him how to sign things, though they did so anyway as if he were some idiot child, the pale eyed teen did indeed print and signed his name before dating it. “There, done.” Now what was next, those words were left unsaid but hung in the air.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:56 pm
Taking the clipboard back, he wiped the tabletop carefully and pulled a new sheet of protective plastic over it. Only then did he shoo them out of the way and pulled out the schematics one by one with that practiced level of care he had for things.
“First, you can take photos, but no flash. Second, don’t touch anywhere aside from edges with no ink on them, but only if you absolutely must touch them.” Watching them as he stepped back after closing the various drawers he had pulled the papers from, he walked down a few aisles towards the historical reference area.
Most of the books there, he was sure, were of good enough quality to be handled, but he still made sure his hands were both clean and dry before pulling a few from the shelf. Noting where each one came from so he could return them, he walked back quickly without jostling what he was carrying.
“This can be handled just fine. If you want to see photographs or things of that nature, I can get nitrile gloves and pull those or images of the archived negatives out for you to look at.” With that, he set the books down on a nearby table after wiping that surface as well.
He lingered still, making sure nothing would happen to any of the items.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:57 pm
“Sounds fine.” It was reasonable the orders for how to take care of what he had to go over, he understood it and it made sense. “Can it be out long enough for me to draw what I see and write down what’s written?” He might as well ask, even though Kinsey was already pulling out his cell phone in order to take pictures. He figured he could take one picture and then smaller one, closer in, so he could read everything closely. With his cell phone out the teen was trailing a step behind the other, watching him.
“Thank you for the books.” He would take good care of them, because he didn’t like to attract attention and he was good about keeping himself and his actions as small and hard to notice as possible. Everything he did seemed delicate but it was done so he wasn’t noticed, so his actions weren’t noticeable and would risk damage or anything.
“Photos would be good as well.” Already he was moving to take pictures of things, writing out what he could, making notes in the notebook he’d brought with himself. The pen was a fine tipped pen, almost like writing with a needle or pin tip, his writing flowed in neat dark blue print. “Thank you for everything.” And as much as he wished they’d leave him, let him work, he doubted he’d get that from the graying male.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:58 pm
Looking over the schematics before looking at his watch, Albrecht nodded. “That should be fine, just don’t get any ink or graphite on them.” He’d keep close enough to intervene anyway, so it wouldn’t be hard to make sure nothing happened.
When it seemed like they were taking his warnings to heart, he smiled slightly to himself as he turned to work with the photographs. There weren’t as many for this kind of thing, more of buildings than clock towers or things of that nature. There had been just a set of 15 from a collection the patron had purchased at an estate sale.
With nitrile gloves and a tray to keep the photos contained, he walked them over carefully before taking a seat and looking over the gathered materials. While his focus might not be on things like this, he still admired the compositions in old photos as well as the architecture of some things.
His presence wasn’t meant to be overbearing, just a reminder of the rules and the fact that this was a place that needed procedure to protect what it had for reference. “Of course, now if you need the photos to be handled, I will do that myself with gloves. The oils on our skin can damage them, so visitors are not allowed to touch them either.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, though someone who didn’t even look like they were in college yet would likely know that some departments of the local universities could borrow things on loan from the archive for theses or other large research projects.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:59 pm
“Of course not.” As if he’d dirty something, especially old and delicate thing - things which weren’t even his. No, Kinsey did his best to go unnoticed, to have people not know where he’d been or what he’d done or not done, he would do his best to leave things untouched by him - as if he’d never been here.
Looking up from his work, from where he was still taking pictures, the pale-eyed teen shook his head slightly before returning to his task. Once the pictures were taken and notes made, Kinsey went to going over the books themselves. Maybe, because he was getting ideas, he could make a small clock tower… maybe even set up a timer for it and have it do something at specific times. The question was what, though? What task did he want to make it do? He would need to figure that out before he did anything, because he didn’t think he could make a clock tower and then set up some timed events.
Even as he went over things, skimming and taking notes, his thoughts were whirring as he thought over a potential project for himself. But he’d need gears, lots of gears, and electronics, among other things. Could he figure out what he’d need for gears and ask Luciana to make them without telling her what he was working on? He had been watching her work on their watches so he had a better idea of how things worked, such as the crystal that would be needed for the motion, so he could figure out how to make it all work once he had the parts. He could do some stained glass work, even…a new skill for him to learn and better than resin as well.
“Please, that would be good. If I can make copies of those photos…or you want to use my phone to take pictures of your pictures.” Bent over, pen scribbling away, the ring, which was normally hidden under his shirt, slipped out and hung there for anyone to see. It was something he always wore, would never remove; it was a part of his mother; never mind that it was the rings his father had given to her.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2026 8:01 pm
With how the boy seemed to follow his rules, Albrecht was more than pleased compared to his initial mood on this whole thing. It was rare that he had people who weren’t self-entitled, either. So when they asked for copies or photos, he thought for a moment. “If you can do it without the flash, then that would work. Or if you would let me use your phone to do it, either way. Though I do believe we have digitized versions of a few of these already.” When they offered their phone, he pulled one of the gloves off and accepted it.
It took a few tries to get a clear photo, given the lighting and cast shadows from the angle, but once he had taken a good enough batch, he set the phone back down on the table for them. He still didn’t like smartphones, or really anything newer than the older BlackBerry he had. Even then, he thought it was a bit much for him, but it had been a gift from when he had been in undergrad, and it had survived this long.
“I’ll handle returning all items to their proper places when you’re ready, so no need to worry. The archive is open until 6 pm, so you have a few more hours anyway.” It wasn’t likely that they’d take up all his time, at least he hoped, because he wanted to get back to work, or at least to his office to maybe take a moment to nap.
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