The young man moved swiftly but unhurriedly through the rows of beds- his step was purposeful, but unalarmed. It was simply the natural length of his stride that brought him so quickly to the screaming child. He was no older than seventeen, and the child in question no older than nine- both were probably much younger, though no one still alive knew for sure.

Hands scarred and callused from paper cuts and acid spills shook the boy awake. "Shh! Quiet, 'Neki. You'll wake the others." There was no point in keeping his voice low in the wake of 'Neki's screaming. Pairs of bright, sleepy eyes were already blinking open around them; he gave the nearest one a reassuring pat on the head and turned back to the shaking little boy.

"Aaaahhh!" Urban choked as several stones of terrified Hannamen child wrapped itself around his neck.

"Shhh." He gently stroked the fuscia and green spikes of Solneki's hair, noting that the normally perky antennae were drooping. The child took a huge gasping breath, and was quiet. "It was just a dream, 'Neki. Look around- it was just a dream." He helped 'Neki out of bed and held his hand. "Back to sleep, the lot of you. I'll come back in a few minutes, and if I see any eyes still open I'll tell Brother Vectal you were up past curfew." What few shining eyes had opened immediately snapped shut with tiny gasps of horror. Urban nodded to himself and led Solneki out of the bedroom. The monastery corridors were dimly lit with warm golden lamps; when they reached the library, Urban lifted the scrawny child on top of his desk and sat down in his chair.

Solneki watched him with wide, green eyes; the normally dark green markings on his face were pale and barely visible in the weak library light. "It wasn't just a dream, Urban."

"I know. Tell me." He was used to Solneki's dreams; the boy had been having them for years, but no one else had ever bothered to listen to him when he woke up screaming. Usually he would scream himself raw and fall back to sleep from sheer exhaustion. Urban told himself he only helped Solneki because he could get back to work sooner if he put the boy to bed. It was impossible to get anything done while the child screamed. But- and he tried not to admit it to himself most of the time- even if he did normally sleep at night, Urban still would've gotten up to listen to Solneki's nightmares. He often had to remind himself that he didn't like children to stop himself from considering Solneki to be his friend.

Solneki's legs dangled off the side of the desk- he knew better than to kick. If so much as a scratch appeared on the ancient and already somewhat battered desk, it would be replicated in the Hannamen's rather thin hide. "It was the black space again. Empty. It screamed and tried to swallow me."

"You've had that one before," Urban noted. "Anything different?"

"There was someone else there. He reminded me of you, a little, but I couldn't see his face. The black space tried to take him, too. I..."

"You...?" Urban prompted.

"I didn't want it to take him. He was important, and if I lost him, horrible things would happen. To me, to you- to everything."

"I was there?"

"No. But horrible things would have happened to you anyway. I could hear it singing- 'one down and the world to go' and it was laughing when it reached for me." There was a haunted look in those liquid green eyes. He slid off the desk and crawled into Urban's lap, burying his face in the folds of the librarian's robe. Urban supressed a sigh and began stroking the soft bright hair once again.

"Lap rat," he muttered, trying to sound irritated.

"Dusty book monster," Solneki returned, his voice muffled by dark orange cloth.

Urban snorted. "Plant-thing."

"Librarian."

This time his snort sounded more like a chukle. "Bug eyed little brat."

Solneki's only answer was a faint snore. Urban rolled his eyes and carried the sleeping boy back to the dormitory.
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Aw, cute. This is Urban. Complete with library behind him. (Yes, those are books. Don't ask about the other stuff- I think the librarian doubles as apothecary or chemist or whatever- moonshiner, maybe.) My grandma thinks its a picture of a girl- I haven't the heart to tell her otherwise.

As for Solneki- sometimes he's an inscrutable blond who always wears sunglasses and a black three piece suit with the stupidest tie ever- it's got those stupid yellow smilies all over it and its the only colorful article of clothing he wears. (Even his underwear is black (boxers or briefs? Only Mordant knows- and then, only because of some rather odd circumstances involving a small dog, an incriminating casette tape, and a very large bottle of SoCo. Solneki still holds that it was all Mordant's fault.) but then again, that could just be a rumor.) When Solneki isn't some mysterious man with a stupid tie and lots of money, he's a Hannamen- some sort of plant/bug/human hybrid creature. He's the last of his kind, and a rather brilliant scientist, and absolutely nucking futs for the most part. Mordant doesn't know what to do with him half the time, even though he's supposed to be protecting him. (Mordant is more or less the same in both cases- grouchy, foul mouthed, and always getting dragged into Solneki's schemes. I think he's more of a subordinate in Solneki-with-a-tie's story, whereas Solneki-Hannamen is a little like some sort of random lost puppy he has to deal with.)

This one is, obviously, Solneki Hannamen, as a child, growing up in an orphanage run by a bunch of monks. Urban sort of appeared when I started thinking about making a character named D'mitri. (Anastasia was on TV last night. I still haven't seen it all the way through, but..."And then I kick her!") Dun know why someone named Urban would appear when I'm thinking about D'mitri, but hey, I've never presumed to understand how these things work. Urban amuses me, at any rate. Librarian.