I work at the museum. We reserved one of the rooms every few days for research and the like. [He's got this covered.] I can say that you're a intern and I'm giving you a tour of our facilities.
They approach the back rooms with no questioning from the staff. They recognize the museum workers, and if the boy is here with Mohammed's permission, they're free to go. He stops by the shelves holding hardcover nonfiction.]
Grab ten from that series. [Pointing at a collection of encyclopedias.] They should be about the same size as these. [As he pulls off equally thick books from another collection.]
[There's a very small chance either of them will balance ten books, but Mohammed likes to think big. And ten is a nice number.
He opens a door to a room that has a single window facing outside and slides the tower of books onto the table.]
I'll start.
[He's got this. Years of proper posture has prepared him for the day that he had to balance something on his head for an extended period of him. The texture of his hair gives the first book a solid, non-slippery foundation.]
[ it'll probably be an asshole move to attempt to cheat, huh. karkat resists the urge to throw mohammed off balance somehow.
but once that book is there, he'll just frown and then reach for the first of his. unfortunately, his posture sucks so getting the one book on his head is nowhere near as graceful as mohammed's attempt was. still, at least it stays. ]
[Mohammed says nothing, only to slide a second book on top. He can feel the weight starting to press onto his scalp, but the rough covers keep the two books stuck to each other.]
[ when the books don't topple, karkat makes a clearly disappointed face. he'll grab his second one and set it on top... it wobbles for a sec, but stays on. ]
[Two isn't too bad. Three might be a challenge. It takes a while for Mohammed to find the right placement, but the third book is there. The stack is starting to wobble. Mohammed doesn't looks like he's planning to lose anytime soon.]
That was just a joke. I love creating humorous atmospheres and I figured me failing twice in a row would be goddamn hilarious. I'm going to do it for real now.
[ can you tell that he's annoyed? his rage at the books is almost tangible at this point.
karkat grabs another one, and carefully... puts it on top. except it's not really carefully, because he's incapable of doing anything delicately when he's mad, so if anything he just sets it on his head with enough force to not only make it fall off, but the second book that's already on his head falls as well. ]
[The books on Mohammed's head shake from his desperate attempts to not laugh. There's something hilarious about this kid's repeated attempts to yell the books into disobeying the laws of physics.
He holds a had to his mouth. He's scratching an itch. No chuckling here, pay no mind to the shaking books.]
This has got to be rigged somehow! Maybe these are like fucking... slippery oiled up books or something, I don't know what people get up to in libraries.
[ he will, at least, reach down to pick up the fallen books from the floor. he's still muttering under his breath while doing so and seems to be cursing these books to burn in hell, but. at least he's neat. ]
We're both going to search the library for the book with the worst cover. We have a fifteen minute limit and once those fifteen minutes are done we will come back to this room and produce what we found.
[The worst cover. Mohammed has scoured the entire...nonfiction areas of the library, but all he has to do is to find an ugly photoshopped cover of the latest summer hit. How hard can it be?]
[Mohammed does not run in the library. He briskly walks like a normal adult (that's not how most adults his age walk). The new fiction section is downstairs, so that's where he heads.
Finding the ugliest cover is a bit of a chore. He hasn't been here in months, and the variety in genres cannot be completely searched in the span of fifteen minutes. He walks though every single isle, taking a quick peek at each cover before moving on.]
[ karkat, meanwhile, definitely runs because he should not be allowed in a library. he gets told off by two completely different people in the span of five minutes. and unlike mohammed, he does not have a thorough understanding of this place's layout, so he mostly just... wanders around... frowning...
he probably should have chosen something different but he's an idiot sometimes. ]
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... karkat has not thought this far ahead yet. he hasn't figured out what he wants to challenge him to. uhhhh. ]
What's your challenge?
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Balancing books? [Look, his book was in line of sight.] I have access to a private room in the library, it will just be a quick trip.
[Books are easy to come by here, it's just finding a place where no one will judge is the issue.]
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[ so, sure. take him to the library. ]
Wait. Why do you have a private room?
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[To the library! But before they go--]
What challenge were you thinking of?
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[ he would say he doesn't care who wins as long as the task is completed, but that's not actually true. he is crazy competitive. ]
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They approach the back rooms with no questioning from the staff. They recognize the museum workers, and if the boy is here with Mohammed's permission, they're free to go. He stops by the shelves holding hardcover nonfiction.]
Grab ten from that series. [Pointing at a collection of encyclopedias.] They should be about the same size as these. [As he pulls off equally thick books from another collection.]
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but he will go grab the mentioned books, grunting a little since he's stupid and is attempting to carry all ten of them at once in his noodle arms. ]
Got it.
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He opens a door to a room that has a single window facing outside and slides the tower of books onto the table.]
I'll start.
[He's got this. Years of proper posture has prepared him for the day that he had to balance something on his head for an extended period of him. The texture of his hair gives the first book a solid, non-slippery foundation.]
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but once that book is there, he'll just frown and then reach for the first of his. unfortunately, his posture sucks so getting the one book on his head is nowhere near as graceful as mohammed's attempt was. still, at least it stays. ]
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karkat hates losing more than he hates... well. honestly he hates a lot of things, but losing is still pretty high on the list.
he goes to grab a third book, and goes to place it on top of the other two... but he fudges up the placement of it. the book slides right off. ]
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[Let Karkat have his moment of hope. Mohammed will stand there, smiling.]
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[ there is no draft.
still, with a huff, he will grab another book to place it where the previous one fell. and it sticks the landing!
for like, five seconds, before sliding off again. ]
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Take your time.
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[ can you tell that he's annoyed? his rage at the books is almost tangible at this point.
karkat grabs another one, and carefully... puts it on top. except it's not really carefully, because he's incapable of doing anything delicately when he's mad, so if anything he just sets it on his head with enough force to not only make it fall off, but the second book that's already on his head falls as well. ]
Oh goddammit fuck you.
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He holds a had to his mouth. He's scratching an itch. No chuckling here, pay no mind to the shaking books.]
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[ he will, at least, reach down to pick up the fallen books from the floor. he's still muttering under his breath while doing so and seems to be cursing these books to burn in hell, but. at least he's neat. ]
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[He's not removing the books for now. Let him enjoy his victory.]
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okay fine, he has an idea. ]
We're both going to search the library for the book with the worst cover. We have a fifteen minute limit and once those fifteen minutes are done we will come back to this room and produce what we found.
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I like it. Starting now?
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[ he'll open the door so that they both can exit the room and start their quest for the desired book. ]
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Finding the ugliest cover is a bit of a chore. He hasn't been here in months, and the variety in genres cannot be completely searched in the span of fifteen minutes. He walks though every single isle, taking a quick peek at each cover before moving on.]
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he probably should have chosen something different but he's an idiot sometimes. ]
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