Library, Monday [3/1]

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

"Just go with it" had become quite the mantra for Gabrielle while she'd been home, and after using it for almost a month to deal with the case of 'my best friend looks like her mortal enemy,' it was almost ridiculously easy to apply the same mantra to 'oh, look, I've only been gone a week.'

So that was nice, and added a bit of cheer to Gabrielle's tuneless whistling as she went about her duties. (After the coffee was done, said tuneless whistling got more frenetic on top of being more cheerful.) Any lulls in the day would be spent looking up information on Sisyphus, just to get a head start on him if he tried to escape from Tartarus again -- which was just going to leave her scratching her head. She couldn't even find a single reference to this first escape.

Hmm.

Comments

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

It was really too bad Henry came across a new shipment of art books today to replace some of the ones destroyed in the gremlin attack. In another mood, he would have enjoyed looking at them, but today they had him maudlin with missing Clare.

He was trying to pose as a reshelving machine so he'd stop thinking about it. It ... wasn't going too well.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

After a week of not seeing Henry, Cindy thought he was about due for a visit. "DeTaaaaamble," she called--quietly of course. It was a library.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"Perrauuuuuult," he answered, face still in a book of pre-raphaelite plates. The hair reminded him of Clare's.

He managed a wan smile. "Hey, do people ever call you Perrier for a joke?" Which wasn't brilliant, but he was trying.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Nope," she replied, heading over to him. "That's one I can honestly say I'd never heard before."

Mostly because she rarely needed a Mundy alias, and when she did, she had several on rotation.

"What're you up to?" she asked, leaning casually against a bookcase. "How was Chicago? With all this snow, I wasn't sure you'd be back in time."

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"Perrier," Henry repeated, tasting it. "It's not a great one, anyhow. I am just -- fine and dandy."

No, he wasn't. "There wasn't that much snow at home. It's 2003 there. I just kicked back, played with my kid, found out my wife has decided to fuck other guys..."

One of those things was not like the other.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Yeah. One of those things was definitely not like the others.

"Oh shit, Henry," Cindy said, straightening. "You ok--never mind, stupid question." She stepped foward, tentatively offering a hug if he wanted one. "If it helps any, I pretty much know exactly how you're feeling."

Charming was never one for marital fidelity.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Henry asked sourly, but accepted the hug. "I keep thinking I should feel grateful. She phrased it as 'wanting to try something new' and 'not tying each other down while we're apart.' I think all that means she hasn't done anything yet, she just wants to. Did your guy give you a heads up?"

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy gave a bitter laugh. Even after all these centuries, it still stung. She'd been sixteen and in the throes of true love and gratitude. And he'd been...charming.

"If by head's up, you mean I walked in and found him fucking the maid on our bed, then sure," she said.

Of course, she'd gotten off easier than Snow, who'd come home and found him post-coital with her own sister.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

Henry winced. "Jesus. Did you hit him?"

He would have, was all.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"It was a much meeker and younger Cindy back then," she admitted. "I left the room quietly, so they never knew I was there. And then found an out-of-the way corner where no one could see me and cried." She normally wouldn't have added that last part, but Henry deserved to know.

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

Henry blanched. "I was either drinking or crying pretty much all the way back here," he contributed. "I'm sorry."

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Don't be," Cindy said. "As far as experience goes, it's practically centuries in the past." She looked up at him, eyes soft and sympathetic. "You wanna come back to my place. Not a come one--" he probably knew that, but figured it deserved saying anyway, "--but we can drink, order something up, and talk somewhere there aren't kids and squirrels around. When was the last time you've eaten, anyway?"

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[one-who-goes.livejournal.com]

".... I had tea yesterday."

That about answered that question.

"I'd love to. You don't mind having a sad bastard moping about his wife in your space?"

Re: Talk to the Librarian [3/1]

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"I'd rather have a sad bastard moping around my space than be the kind of person who lets a sad bastard she calls friend go home and drink alone," Cindy said. "Besides, maybe I'll be lucky and you'll be one of those people who cleans when they're upset. See? I really come out ahead in that one."