Pointdexter: A Swooning Over Stan-fiction

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Study

"A secret study," Alice mused longingly, glancing around the room as Ford led her in, his six fingers neatly notched with hers. "Behind a vending machine..."

There are books, everywhere, and a large desk with a globe. Everything one would find in the study of a scientist who studied anomalies. Creatures in jars stared back at her, and Alice noticed that one of the walls was bare, the frame of pictures long gone left in their wake.

"It's... amazing," She whispered, her free hand reaching up and brushing along the shelves of old books.

"I'm glad you think so," Ford replied. "I've spent countless hours here, studying and collecting specimens."

"Oh my god!" Alice suddenly gasped, releasing his hand and carefully pulling a book from the shelves. "Is this... Is this a first edition of "Jude the Obscure'?"

"Yes, it is," Ford confirmed, pausing next to her. "It's one of my most prized possessions, actually. Thomas Hardy's works have always fascinated me, but "Jude the Obscure' holds a special place in my heart."

"I couldn't even get my hands on one of these," Alice whispered under her breath, fingers grazing over the pages with a feather-like touch. Carefully opening the book, Alice let herself get lost in the pages, the smell of aged paper soothing her. "Now I have to be jealous."

"You don't have to be jealous," He reassured her, his voice light and teasing. "You can always come here and read it whenever you want."

"No, I mean..." Alice laughed lightly, shaking her head as she replaced the book on the shelf. "I collected paintings and books back in Connecticut when I had space for it... It's almost insulting to know that someone has something I didn't."

She shook her head, pushing her hair behind her ear and glancing back at him.

"I suppose that's the old life talking."

"You collected art and books?" Ford asked, leaning against his desk and watching her close. "That doesn't surprise me. You always did seem like the cultured type."

Alice chuckled, shaking her head and stepping toward him. Pushing himself off the desk, Ford moved closer, a sly smile on his face.

"You know, I always liked a little bit of competition," He mused, his voice bordering on teasing. "Perhaps I should invest in something rare you've never had just to get a rise out of you."

"Oh, how dastardly," Alice replied sarcastically, slipping past him and leaning over his desk, observing a jar with some kind of octopus inside. "I would never recover."

"You would survive," He reassured her, stepping close once more as she observed the jar. "You're far too strong and resilient to be defeated by something as trivial as collectible items."

The desk creaked as he leaned on it, Alice could almost feel the warmth of his body next to hers. She straightened, starting when the one eye of the octopus opened and glared at her.

"Oh-" She breathed, stepping back and finally noticing the label reading 'Cycloptopus' on the jar. Ford chuckled next to her.

"Ah, yes, the cycloptopus," He explained, gesturing to the jar. "One of the rare few species of the Cyclopoda family to still exist today. This particular one is quite... temperamental."

"Delightful," Alice breathed nervously, her gaze fixed on the jar as the creature stared back at her, annoyed if she were to put an emotion to its one eye. Stepping back, Alice glanced around the rest of the room. Old notes were scattered across every surface, each of them marked with Ford's neat handwriting.

It was a mess, but it was a fascinating mess.

"Sorry about the mess," Ford apologized, running a hand through his hair. "I tend to get quite engrossed in my work, and organization usually takes a backseat."