Library [09/04]

[furnaceface]

By the luck of the draw, it would seem, Jonothon had found himself drafted into a shift in the school library.

This being his first semblance of what most people would refer to as a 'real job,' Jono decided it was important to familiarize himself with the items he could locate in his new workspace. Hole punch, paper clips (the shiny metal kind, not the multicoloured cop-outs coated in plastic), those little gold star stickers...

And then, with that settled, he flopped himself down in a chair and proceeded to get right to work. Mostly, this involved finding out how many paper clips he could stick to the hole punch using only ingenuity and the shiny little gold stars. Hard worker, that Jono.

Comments

[carpe_demon]

Drake handed over the syllabus. "Nothing too unusual on the list, I just want to make sure there are multiple copies for my students," he said. "And you can't read my thoughts, can you? Because I'd hate to be thinking about me and the Source's concubines and the jello and get in trouble for corrupting the innocence of a minor."

[furnaceface]

Jonothon was very thankful that he couldn't read minds, just then. He was also staring at this teacher as though he'd grown a second head.

//No, I can't read yer thoughts. I think that's for the best all around, really.// He stared for a moment more, and then turned his attention to to list. //How many students do yer have? These all look like staples, really, so we ought to have them all, but yer may or may not have to double up.//

Jono had no idea. He'd been employed in the school library for all of... today.

[carpe_demon]

"Full class, twenty or so," Drake said, a little distracted because now he couldn't help but think of the Source's concubines and the jello. He shook it off and offered his hand for a shake. "Drake Dèmon, Professor of Literature."

[furnaceface]

//Jonothon Starsmore,// he replied, shaking Drake's hand and then pulling himself to his feet. //Student.//

Obviously, Jono.

//Will yer be needing Robin Hood, then? By the look of this, the class yer assigned it in is already done and gone.//

[carpe_demon]

"I just assigned it Wednesday," Drake said, "so they may come in this weekend looking for copies. Or, knowing the average student, they'll come in Tuesday night. But tell you what, it's short notice, so I'll cheat." He snapped his fingers and half a dozen copies of Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood appeared on Jono's desk.

[furnaceface]

Blink. Blink. Stare.

First at the books. And then at Drake. And then at the books again.

//Yer realize here's where I ask why yer even bothering with the library when yer can do something like that, right?//

In the scope of things, this probably still wasn't the weirdest that Jono had witnessed. But it was edging close to it.

[carpe_demon]

"Because I'm human now so I'm trying to act more like it," Drake said. "Like I said, cheating. It'll be different in class when I'm abusing my residual demony goodness to teach, but outside of class I'm trying to tone it down."

That would last all of a week. Tops.

[furnaceface]

//Residual... demony goodness,// Jono echoed. Not because he had any problem with this teacher being a demon, no. Jonothon himself rather looked like one on the odd occasion himself, and so it was hardly his place to judge.

But that statement just struck him as absolutely absurd.

//Well... That's one proper English hero dealt with, then. And the next on the list would be Arthur.//

[carpe_demon]

"Wanted a soul, made a deal, now I'm a real boy," Drake said, beaming. "And yes, Arthur. Haven't met the kid yet, but I know his mom's sister's ex."

[furnaceface]

If Jono let this conversation go on this way for too long, it was entirely possible that his brain cells would curl up and die.

//Small world,// he settled on, before stepping out from behind the desk. He would hunt down the books in person before he ever so much as glanced at the computer or a card catalogue. //Most of these ought to be classified as Fiction, with the classics. If we get lucky, they'll be all together and set up nice and tidy-like.//

He was going to have to learn how to do the job properly. Just... later.

[carpe_demon]

Drake Dèmon, destroying students' minds since...Saturday.

"You a lover of books?" he asked. "Working in the library and all...."

[furnaceface]

//Well, I don't hate them,// Jono conceded, looking over the aisles until he found one with promise. //I was assigned to the job, mind yer. But it isn't so bad. Quiet, in here.//

It was one of those jobs that would let him camp out and hide, perhaps? That seemed like the sort of job he needed, really.

[carpe_demon]

"Oh, right, quiet," Drake said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Is that why you...." He pressed the backs of his hands to his forehead and wriggled his fingers. Obviously, this was the universal sign of telepathy.

[furnaceface]

When Jonothon finished helping Mr. Démon here with his book list, he was going to find himself a nice, quiet corner to beat himself upside the head with a stack of encyclopedias in.

//No,// he said, in that low, almost pleasant tone that one might use when speaking to a particularly stupid individual, //I speak telepathically because there's a bloody chamber of psionic flame where my mouth ought to be.//

Arthur books. Books on Arthur. Arthur, King of the Britons. Why look, books!

[carpe_demon]

If Drake picked up on Jono's tone, he wasn't reacting to it at all. "Ah ha!" he said. "I was wondering about the scarf-wrap-thing, but I thought it was just a new fashion for you crazy kids. I've got some flaminess powers myself, but I can't use it or I go straight to hell, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars."

[furnaceface]

//And that would be bad,// Jono replied, though he didn't seem particularly convinced.

[carpe_demon]

"I think so," Drake said. "Other demons might consider it a spa day, but I've never been like the other kids."

[furnaceface]

//Dare to be different,// Jono mused idly as he picked through the books on the shelf. //Looks to me like we have enough of what's on that reading list of yers to get a book to most of the kids in yer class,// he added, poking at the spine of one of the books on the shelf. //And yer syllabus says that students can watch those videos, as well? I imagine that's what most of them will do. We're high schoolers. Lazy by design, really.//

[carpe_demon]

"Being different's great!" Drake said. "I mean, look at all these books, the ones on my list and all the other ones on the shelves. The heroes are always different from everyone else. That's part of why they become heroes."

Drake was just being Drake. Don't mind him. "A lot of the students taking my course claim to love to read, so I have high hopes for them," he went on. "But watching the words translated on to the screen is fun, too. So I figured I'd give them that option. You can't beat Errol Flynn, after all."

[furnaceface]

//I'm not too big on most American cinema,// Jono confessed, looking over the list again. Next up, The Three Musketeers. He had half a mind to start picking up these books and reading them just because there was a convenient reading list in front of him, now. //Bad slasher films, maybe. The worse, the better.//

[carpe_demon]

"I'm a lover, not a slasher," Drake said. "Well, come to think of it, those are the same in some circles. But anyway, I prefer action, adventure, and of course romance."

[furnaceface]

//Of course.// Jono's thumb lingered over the next title on the syllabus for a moment. He was probably the last person anyone ought to talk to about romance, lately. //And it looks like there ought to be enough copies of The Three Musketeers to go around as well, provided yer students aren't opposed to pairing off or else renting the viewing material.//

Or downloading it. Jono had learned in the last few days that he really ought to not judge.

[carpe_demon]

"Excellent," Drake said. "Looks like everything will be all right. Tell you what, I'll get out of your hair and let you do your job unless you think there's any reason for me to stick around and stalk you through the bookshelves. If you think anything's going to be a problem, just leave me a message at my office. It's number eight."

[furnaceface]

//Number eight,// Jonothon repeated, nodding faintly and holding up the syllabus. //I'll hang on to this, then, and get back to yer if there's a problem at all.//

He was pretty sure that they'd have all of it. And if they didn't, ordering copies in couldn't be so difficult, right? Hell, most of this was in the public domain. It would be easy enough to find, so long as people knew where to look.

[carpe_demon]

"Thanks, buddy, I owe you," Drake said. "You ever need a favor, give me a little telepathic yell."