fandomhigh | Library; Wedneday [ 09/12 ]

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Library; Wedneday [ 09/12 ]

If there was anything in this world that might convince Adah to start walking upright and proper, she was thinking it would probably be this place. She'd done a quick tour around the library, collecting this book and that until she couldn't hold any more and couldn't keep going back and forth between the desk and the shelves without ending up a curled ball of pain on the floor. And since the Eel supposedly might slither in today, that would be no good. No good at all.

All at good, no. Good, no, be would that.

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Forget how many stories she's missed in the last forty five years. Adah was discovering with fascination how many viruses had still been undiscovered.

After fortifying herself after an upsetting Feminism class-- because while Susan B. Anthony was very admirable, Professor Deadpool was sometimes very rattling-- Evie went to the Library with Project in mind.

For once, though, she had no idea where to start. She studied the girl reading behind the desk, but didn't want to interrupt her reading right away, so wandered into the non-fiction stacks, and spent a frustrating quarter hour not finding her target.

Finally, she gave up, and approached the Library Desk, giving a little cough to draw the newest library aide's attention. "Ahem. Excuse me?"

Hearing a voice, Adah reluctantly dragged her eyes away from reading about how the cryptococcosis virus, fascinated by its tumbling repeatitive symbols and thinking of all sorts of dark connections with its name and the fact that one contracted it by inhaling infected soil. She blinked a few times to gain her bearings, adjusting harshly to the transfer of the world of the words to the world of what was. And then she placidly waited, eyes on the girl expectantly.

"Terribly sorry to interrupt you," Evie said, meaning it, knowing how engrossing a good book could be, and yet left with few options. "This won't take a moment. I hope. You are the library aide, yes? And, do you know how to use the computer? Or, failing that-- do you know what the Dewey Decimal number for hair dye would be?" Evie turned pink, and twisted her fingers together.

If the girl had asked about Emily Dickenson (No Snekcidy Lime!) or the symptoms of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, Adah would be able to have the Dewey Decimal for her in a heartbeat. Hair dye, on the other hand....

Adah frowned at the girl for a moment, feeling almost like a quest for something like that, something that Rachel could have answered, was an insult to this great momument of learning, but, at least it was an attempt to learn something? She looked over toward the old card filing system...she had given up trying to learn to use the computer, mostly because how could she be expected to work the little black cursor device when she couldn't use her right hand?...and gave it a nod. Surely, the answer would be there...

Evie followed the girl's nod toward the card catalog, and took that as a 'no' to her questions, then sighed. "Oh, dear. But that would only help if I knew what subject they'd file it under. Beauty? Chemicals? Appearance? You see the difficulty." She looked at the computer wistfully, then shook her head. "And that dratted machine always gives me too many possibilities, and then I forget what I was looking for, and get distracted by the history of henna. Did you know its use goes back to 6000 BCE?" Evie sighed, then looked embarrassed. "Oh, how rude of me! I'm Evie. Evie Carnahan. Pleased to meet you."

Actually, she did know. Adah did not have an easy time following all of that and ended up staring a bit at this Evie Carnahan for a moment. Nahan race, Ive! Even her lips moved fast, almost impossible to read, and her eyes ever all a fluttering, darting with her speech to reflect it and making it difficult to use those as a tool, too. At least she did catch a name, though, and the first part, which prompted Adah to slide a piece of paper close, scribbling something down.

"Beauty?" That would be her guess. And chemicals would be far too distracting; at least, Adah felt they would be for her.

Evie looked at the note, calming a little, and going thoughtful, giving the aide a hopeful look as she lowered her voice, reminded that they were in a Library, after all. "You think? Perhaps? Only... I'm very afraid of modern dyes, you see. I want to dye my hair in solidarity with a friend of mine. Red. Well, perhaps red. Perhaps maroon. But!" Evie held up a finger to stop herself, and get back on topic. "The point is, not to have my hair fall out. Or turn the color of lead. That wouldn't be helpful." She took the note, and lowered her voice another notch. "I'll just search for it then, shall I? And I'll let you know, after I'm done, if I find anything. So you can tell the next person."

After another quiet moment of just inwardly gawking at the girl with her face a good, stone blank on it, Adah wrote out something that was purely simple and direct, so very unlike her, but desperately needing it to balance out Evie's erratic, spastic, jumbled, mumbled blur of words.

"Don't they have kits for that at the drugstore?"

Adah frowned a little as she slid the next paper Evie's way. That...wasn't what she sounded like to River, was it?

Evie ended up whispering, and looking around for a pencil to write out her next answer. "Well, yes. But they're not very helpful with regard to the results, are they? Advertising being what it is." She sighed, and gave Adah a mournful look. "They all say, test a tiny bit on one lock of hair, but if I did that for all of them, I should have seven or eight different-colored streaks, and no idea if the effect would carry over to my entire head. I would like something more definitive, like an explanation of the ingredients, and possible synergisms, and..." She took a breath, then looked mortified. "Oh. Dear. I am keeping you from your book. I am so sorry."

Whatever was E Ive talking about? These long and jumping rants, while difficult to follow, were becoming more and more intriguing by the second. The pure vitality of the babble just pouring out of this girl's mouth was fascinating. And, besides, synergisms were mentioned. Adah shared with herself a small, private grin.

"My sister," she offered on a small notecard, "always turned toward her fashion magazines for things like that..."

"Oh! Brilliant!" Evie bounced, then hushed herself, slapping hands over her mouth, vibrating with glee, and grabbed a pencil finally, and wrote, YES!! on the library aide's notecard. She whirled around, oriented herself, and found the magazine section, pointing at it in triumph. She threw her arms up in victory, slapped the library counter, saluted Adah, then marched off toward the magazine rack. Then turned around halfway there and mouthed, "Thank you!", saving herself from stumbling into a table with a main effort.

Hair dye information, ho!

Really, the only thing Adah could think to do was just stare in utter, complete fascination. And then her brain started to work in equations, trying to prove that that amount of energy, in such a small container, broke some rule of physics somehow. It had to.

As boisterous as she'd been, Evie settled right down with the magazines, systematically skimming the tables of contents, finding the ones that discussed hair dye and styles, reading about effects with concern (conditioner seemed to be key). She even found a comparison article, detailing the best dyes for home use and semi-permanent color, and gave a gusty sigh of relief. Right. Now she had a basis to start from.

They even talked about the damage the dyes did to the environment. Goodness.

Half an hour later, she went back to the check-out counter with two magazines in hand, very grateful. She hunted about for the pencil, almost knocking over a stack of books, then pencil in hand, very quietly and carefully wrote, These are perfect! They even describe why you should be so careful when disposing of the residual dyes. I had no idea they could be potentially carcinogenic. Not something we worried about in my day. May I check these out?

If it weren't for the length of time it took Adah to reach for all the things to check the books out, she would have had them ready for Evie at an impressive speed, all the while trying very hard to keep the smirk off her face. Luckily, Adah had a lot of practice at this, and being around lee and River hadn't weakened her ability to keep a straight, serious face when she wanted.

Evie gave a little *flail* of glee, then calmed a bit, bouncing up on her toes. Thank you so much for your help! She watched Adah prepare the materials, and almost offered to help, then settled back down, buttoning her lip almost visibly. After all, they wouldn't have given the new girl the job of Library Aide if she weren't perfectly capable of accomplishing it. And some time in the 21st Century had at least raised her awareness of disabilities. Not cripples, no. Something to discuss with Jonathan, the next time she was home. Especially since so many would be returning from the War in not the same condition they left....

Evie's attention wandered as the aide checked out the materials, and she peeked over at the book she'd been reading. Oooo. Fungi. She started reading the page upside-down, while waiting for her magazines, head tilted at a slight angle as she puzzled the words out.

Adah notived the E Ive's eyes drifting to her books and she arched an eyebrow coolly at her as she held out the successfully check-out materials for her to take with her good hand.

Evie backed up hastily, and retrieved her books from the aide, then blushed again, and whispered, "I don't think I got your name? And is there another copy of that book in the stacks? For next time, not now. This is enough for this visit."

A little bit of Adah's private smirk was leaking out.

"It's Adah," she wrote, on another notecard. "And I'll be done with it by today; I can set it aside for you, if you'd like."

"Splendid!" Evie said aloud in her normal voice, then clapped her hand over her mouth, mostly oblivious to the smirk. A lot of people tended to look like that around her; she'd given up reining herself in most of the time, but really. Libraries weren't the place. "Thank you, Adah," she said in a quieter voice, looking apologetic. "I'll most likely be back before the weekend. I'm planning on finishing my latest History reading by then. And welcome to Fandom!" she added in an enthusiastic whisper.

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