fandomhigh | Library [04/11]

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Library [04/11]

Yeah, Jonothon would have to be deaf and blind and stuffed into another psionic dampener in order to fail to notice all of the children running around the island this weekend. Which meant that he was hell-bent on being prepared, today.

On one table, he set out some construction paper, glue sticks, glitter, crayons, and safety scissors.

On a table far, far away from anything resembling glue and scissors, he set out a bunch of children's books. Everything from Pat the Bunny right on to some randomosity called Giraffes? Giraffes!

Satisfied that he had made all of the preparations that he possibly could in order to survive the day, Jono sat. He sat, and he waited.

[Open!]

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Construction paper! Glue! Glitter! Scissors that couldn't cut butter!

And other assorted moddable arts and crafts supplies. Of course.

Children's books! And, of course, the rest of the library, too. Please, try to keep your children from wandering into Special Collections. Jono doesn't want to have to wander in after them today.

Or let your children crawl on him, or have them fling spitballs at him, or whatever suits your fancy.

Didi slowly walked into the library, looking around as if she expected it to be overrun with rugrats.

She looked equal measures relaxed and disappointed when she realized it wasn't. "Curse of kids skipped you too, huh?"

Jonothon nodded.

//Probably for th'best, really. I'm no bloody good with children anyhow.//

This was a lie.

Yeah, even someone worse at seeing through lies than Didi wouldn't have bought that. "See, you strike me as the type who totally melts when somebody short lisps at you," she said. "Guess I might be wrong."

//Who, me? Hardly. I have iron resolve, luv. No pair of juvenile eyes can melt this heart of stone, and that's a fact.//

Puppy eyes and a pleading little kid face didn't tend to melt his heart. They broke it into teensy little pieces and then transformed it into a sort of putty, so that they could make Jonothon do whatever they pleased.

"You," Didi smirked, "are 500 percent full of it right now, did you know that?"

To start with, he didn't technically have a heart -- of stone or of any other substance.

//Absolutely bloody overflowing,// Jono agreed, easily enough. //That's really what th'wrappings are for, yer know. Five-hundred percent is entirely too much for me to keep in on my own, after all."

And so there it was. That wasn't really a psionic furnace billowing from his face and chest. It was just a whole load of flaming gobshite.

"Your bandages must be really strong to keep it all back," Didi said, looking sincerely impressed. "Reinforced with titanium, right?"

//Adamantium,// Jono decided. //It's more fun t'say.//

He set down the book that he'd been idly flipping through, and made his way over to meet her, offering a hug. //How're yer doin', luv?//

She seized the hug gratefully. "Not bad," she said. "Jaime didn't get kids either. I think I've had about the quietest weekend of anybody. I might offer to babysit tonight so the people with kids get a break."

Which was totally the only reason she wanted to babysit, yep. After an eternity without children, this shouldn't have surprised her.

And yet. Some wistful part of her thought it would have just been nice.

//If yer need any help with that, let me know?// He nuzzled his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and fighting back a projected sigh. //My weekend's been fairly quiet as well, luv. I think Jak's gone off to his own world again, so I've even had th'room t'myself.//

"Absolutely," Didi promised. "It's been a while since I babysat."

She tilted her head up to give him a speculative look. "He's gone again, huh? How much do you think he'd care if I stayed over sometime?"

//Yer know, I can't speak for him,// Jono mused, looking back at her thoughtfully. //But I could talk to him about it when he gets back. I can't see it being an issue.//

"If it is, I could convince Jaime to stay out sometimes," Didi told him. "We don't get a lot of private time, y'know?"

Such were the risks of a relationship at boarding school.

//Oh, I've noticed,// Jono assured her. //If it comes down to it, there's always th'hotel, as well.//

A little money in exchange for alone time with Didi. No, Jono didn't see a downside. It wasn't as though he was going to buy food with that coin, anyhow.

Didi wrinkled her nose. "I always feel like they'd look at us funny there."

Yes. Death of the Endless was afraid of something -- and that something was hotel desk clerks.

Hotel desk clerks were just one of many on a very, very long list of people that Jono didn't enjoy being looked at oddly by.

//Okay, then not th'hotel,// he replied, shrugging that idea away easily enough. //Perhaps we can just start going to every theme park we can think of. They can't possibly ban us from all of them before we graduate.//

"Sure," Didi said. "Start with Six Flags, the week between graduation and when the new kids get here?"

It was an awesome plan. Though, really, she could make herself deal with the desk clerk fear, if she was pressed.

//Rollercoasters until one of us vomits, again?//

Not that he'd made her ride the roller coaster at Disneyland until she'd vomited. He had a bit of basic human decency left in him, after all.

Didi pouted. "Not fair that I always have to be the one who vomits, y'know."

//Well, I'd suggest that we grab a third party simply for th'sake of th'rides, but then we'd have to get them a room, as well,// Jono mused.

And there was no fun in that.

He'd tell her that he would be the one to vomit if he could, but that would also be lying.

"We could make them pay their own way..." Didi mused. "Or we could just try to avoid barf. That might be neater all around."

On their way back from town, Vivienne had insisted on visiting the library. While her not-mother and her not-brother went to look for books on knights for the latter, she walked up to talk to Jono.

"Hello," she said. "Do you have any books about alternative realities?"

.... Tiny adorable child was tiny and adorable. So very.

//In a library like this one, luv, I'm surprised there isn't an entire aisle dedicated to them. Would yer like me to show yer where to find them?//

No, Jono. She was just asking so that she would have the satisfaction of knowing. Duh.

Vivienne's eyebrows went up at the voice in her head. She wasn't shocked, by any means, of course. Her father lived on another planet in the future, for one thing. And her grandmother acted like other people sometimes.

This tiny adorable child could handle weird very well.

"Yes, I would like that," she said, nodding. "How do you do that?" She meant his voice, of course.

It was possibly a testament to how used to being in Fandom he was that Jono actually needed a moment to parse one statement from the next, so that he could answer accordingly.

//Just about th'same way you use yer mouth t'speak,// he replied, shrugging a little. //Think about th'words, and then make them happen. Not everybody can, of course.//

He shrugged a little, attempted the closest to a smile that he could manage, and then gestured toward one row of books. //Right this way, luv.//

"Hmm." Vivienne pondered that as she followed him. She knew there were things some people could do and some couldn't. Daddy could do several of those, and she thought of sharing that with Jono, but Mommy had always been pretty stern about how she wasn't supposed to talk about that.

Dani's voice came from elsewhere in the library, rather loudly proclaiming something "the coolest ever!"

Vivienne sighed and shook her head.

Jono glanced up at the exclamation, and then worked on yet another smile. Smile-like thing. Whatever.

//Something for everyone, apparently,// he offered, pausing down the aisle and putting his hands on his hips while he scanned over the titles before them. //Was there any book in particular yer were lookin' for? Or did you just want 'alternate realities' in general, and you can go from there?//

"In general. I don't know anything about them."

Dani near-hollered something else, then got cut off by Kate's hiss of 'God will you keep your voice down'.

"He wanted to be a samurai yesterday. Today he wants to be a knight," Vivienne said, really rather dryly for a 6-year-old, but there you go. "Maybe he found a book about atronauts, now."

Jono considered this for a moment, and then simply shrugged and reached for a book at random from the shelves, holding it out for her.

Books about alternate realities. Really, why hadn't he thought about reading up on that subject, himself?

//Well, at least he's got plenty of time t'figure out what he wants t'be when he grows up. Cor, I'm nearly grown up and I haven't gotten it quite worked out, myself.//

"I don't think he'll ever know," Vivienne said, taking the book and leafing through it. Rather awkwardly; her hands were tiny. And adorable, yes. "But I think you will." Pause. "I like your accent."

//Oh? I'm from London,// Jono offered, not about to admit that he was kind of feeling flattered at the compliment. From the mouths of adorable children.

Bloody hell.

//Want me to grab a few more of these and set yer up at a table, gel?//

Had this been Dani he was talking to, his accent would've been called funny. It was a thing.

"Yes, please," Vivienne nodded, smiling a bit. She'd been raised to be fairly polite, and she was upping it on purpose just to make clear just how unlike her not-brother she was. "I'm Vivienne."

//And I'm Jonothon,// came his reply as he reached up to pull a few more promising titles from the shelf. //But me mates call me Jono. Less of a mouthful, apparently.//

Nothing like a touch of self-depreciating humour to make an impression, right?

One corner of Vivienne's lips curved up a little, at that.

"Jono," she nodded. "People tell me my name's a mouthful too. I don't think it is. It's just perfect. Vivienne Jessica Atreides."

There was a lot of pride that went with that name.

"They don't even have to use Jessica."

//It's a good name, Vivienne,// Jonothon decided, casting a scrutinizing eye on another book, and then thinking better of it and pulling out the one beside it, instead. //It's got a... melodious sort of ring to it.//

And it was possible that Jono had just been looking for an excuse to use a word like 'melodious' in casual conversation.

"Thank you," she said. "I think so too."

After a pause, she added, "Aunt T calls me Viv. I don't like it."

Five books ought to be more than plenty, right? How much could there possibly be to write about on the subject of multiple realities?

... Don't answer that.

//It sounds rather trite, doesn't it?// Jono turned and gestured back toward the tables with his free hand. //Have yer let her know that you prefer yer full name?//

Maybe it would've been more helpful to think of it in terms of how much a 6-year-old would read?

Even if this was a pretty special case.

"Yes, but she doesn't listen," Vivienne said, padding towards the tables. "Mommy says it's pointless and I should just go with it."

//Mm, perhaps it's a family thing, then,// Jono sighed. //I can't be of much help in that regard, I'm afraid.//

The Starsmores kind of failed at family. In a big way.

He deposited the books down on the table nearest to them, and then gave her a shrug of his shoulders. //Perhaps she'll grow out of it, too.//

"She won't."

There was a certain... finality, to the way she said that. T was always going to stay the same. Mommy had said so.

"It's okay. I'm used to it," she added, climbing onto a chair. "Thank you for your help, Jono."

//Well, yer certainly welcome, luv.// Jono crossed his arms over his chest, looking over the small heap of reading material, and then directing another near-smile toward the girl. //If yer need anything else, yer know where to find me, then?//

... Presumably, the same place he'd been found the first time, yes.

When he pings in, of course.

Alba hadn't come to Henry, so Henry would go to Alba.

... virtually, anyhow. He spent the chunks of his day not dedicated to reshelving or paperwork on Skype, chatting with his daughter. he'd read harold & the Purple Crayon about 57 times, but it was worth it.

Different OCD is different, today.

I am watching Canada curl against Norway (and Norway's awesome pants) at the moment, but Norway's pants are blue and white checker print today, so I'll totally be able to manage split attentions between curling and weetinies. :D

HURRY HARD!

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Library [04/11]

Arts and Crafts!

Books!

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Talk To The Librarian!

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