The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed

-C. G. Jung

Blaine hurriedly shuffled behind his desk, trying to calm himself down from his almost encounter.

The man, supposedly Kurt, was just an ordinary man. With extraordinary looks. But there was probably nothing special about him. He called the cops on an activist, and he was pretty wealthy.

In reality, he probably held no interest in Blaine.

Blaine rested his chin on his hand, focusing on the poster on the desk that warned about late library books. The sign read "READ THIS: Late books = $10 fine."A woman approached the desk, holding a children's book out to him.

Blaine took the book and scanned it, then stamped it with the return date. The woman offered a smile, and then walked away. This was the nature of the library. Soundless interaction, unless something is written on paper.

He once had a woman attempt to start a conversation with him by holding up a book titledHow Are You?,but the conversation didn't mature past a halfhearted thumbs up.

Blaine heard the bell at the door ring, signaling another customer. He didn't bother to look up, and scanned the shelf of books that needed to be reshelved instead. He rose, walking over to examine it more closely. Most were children's books, and a few made by famous authors.

He picked up his favorite one, the playHamlet,which he had read numerous times. The main characters often gave large soliloquies to lament about their sorrows. Some conversations were over 1,000 words in length. Blaine wished he could go back to that world, where words were free to be said as much as one wished.

But evolution had kicked that ability. Some while back, natural selection had decided that talking was a waste of time and not crucial for survival. Slowly the ability to speak dwindled, until it eventually tapered off at 1,000 words.

Blaine's thoughts were cut off by the slamming of a book on the checkout desk. Blaine quickly looked over, and felt his heart skip a beat.

It was Kurt, who had yet to see him at the shelf.

"Hello? Is there anyone here? I need to check out a book." Kurt called, and Blaine was amazed at the silkiness of the man's tone. Several patrons looked over, obviously surprised at the use of so many words.

Blaine walked out from behind the shelf, offering an awkward wave and smile. Kurt's eyebrows rose in impatience, and then Blaine realized it: he didn't recognize him.

Hurriedly, he ran back to the desk, his hands awkwardly shaky for an unknown reason. He grabbed Kurt's book, not even bothering to look at the title. He had to get Kurt to notice him.

He couldn't explain why, but he felt as if he needed to get to know this man. But he had no words to spare, so what could he do?

He slowly stamped the inside cover of the book and handed it back to Kurt. Kurt smiled and turned to leave, causing Blaine to nervously tap the desk to get his attention again.

Kurt turned, looking slightly annoyed, and looked at Blaine, who desperately searched his desk for anything he could use. He wished he had the copy ofHow Are You?with him, which would make conversation easier.

With a dash of excitement, Blaine spotted the late library books sign. He grabbed it, and used his hands to cover up the T and S in THIS, so that it simply said "Hi."

Kurt smiled, and Blaine felt his heart stutter. Kurt was most definitely the most attractive man he had ever come face to face with.

"Hi." Kurt awkwardly answered, though he still had a hint of a smile on his face.

Blaine was stuck, where did he go from here? He frantically looked around his desk for something else, but could not find a thing.

"Um, do you have anything else to say?" Kurt asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. Blaine shook his head and pointed to his voice box, offering a sad half smile.

"You're low on words." Kurt said, immediately picking up on his message. Obviously Kurt had dealt with someone low on words before, as most of the wealthy didn't know how to communicate with the poor and ended up speaking to them like they were monkeys.

"How many do you have?" Kurt whispered. Low word counts were not something to share, as they lowered one's worth as a person. There wasn't much a person could do without words.

For some reason, Blaine felt as if he could trust Kurt. That, or he simply wanted someone other than his boss to know. He held up a two and a four on his hands.

"Two hundred and forty? That's not that bad!" Kurt assured him with a smile. Blaine sadly shook his head, once again holding up a two and a four.

"Tw—twenty-four?" Kurt asked, stumbling on the words. It was rare that someone had such a low word count at such a young age. Blaine nodded sadly.

He wished nothing more to speak to this man, to tell him of all the thoughts that couldn't escape his head. He was intrigued, a rich man who knew how to deal with the poor. What was he doing in a low class library?

"I'm sorry. That's a shame, really." Kurt said with an air of pity. Blaine shook his head. The last thing he wanted was his pity. He held up a hand, and then ran to the shelves. He picked up book he practically knew by heart, and flipped to the fifty-second page.

He ran back to Kurt, holding his finger to the line that he wanted him to see.I'm okay,it read. Kurt offered a sad smile.

"Listen, I wish you the best, but I really have somewhere to be." Kurt said, sadness evident in his voice. Blaine looked down attempting to hide his disappointment. He lifted up a hand, waving a small goodbye.

Kurt nodded at him and then walked away. Blaine's eyes followed him all the way out the door. He wanted to talk more to the man.

He has to come back to return the book,Blaine thought elatedly. With this thought in mind, he ran to the back shelf in the library, rippingHow Are You?off the shelf. It was a children's book about introductions, from back when words could still be wasted on such things.

When Kurt came back, he would be ready.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, causing the bell to ring violently. Blaine ran over to the front desk, only to find Kurt standing there out of breath.

"I changed my mind. I—I need another book. Give me a book, anything. Give me your favorite." Kurt quickly said. Blaine hurriedly reached into his bag, pulling out his own copy ofHamlet. He handed it to Kurt, a smile on his face.

Kurt's eyebrows raised at the realization that it wasn't a library book. Blaine was lending him his own copy, a gesture that saidI want to be friends. Kurt smiled and took the book.

Gathering his confidence, Blaine committed himself to befriending this man. He was so intriguing, he couldn't help but want to know everything about him. With a shaky hand, Blaine held up the cover of the book in his hand.

How Are You?