fandomhigh | Library [08.01]

Her lips twisted.

"Something fun."

Fun was not a curse word, Rosalind. And Jono didn't deserve that death glare he was getting.

There was a long, long pause.

//Fun.//

Jono was just fine with death glares. Just not usually when they came paired up with words like that.

//Yer looking for something in fiction, then?//

"Unfortunately," she murmured. It was a promise to her mother and she'd keep it--but the idea of it was still, well...

Rosalind distinctly lacked grace about the whole thing, here and now.

"I am open to suggestions."

Because Rosalind had no clue about this sort of thing. Reference books and the like she was good with.

//Luv, if you wanted suggestions from me on th'basis of Fiction alone, you'd leave with a reading list that spans from here to th'door.//

What was sad was that he was not exaggerating.

//We're going to have to narrow it down, some. Fantasy, humour, mystery, horror, romance, sci-fi, westerns...//

"No horror," she said flatly. Rosalind was not fond of ghost stories and their ilk. "And most humour is insipid."

That was a no to that as well, Jono.

//That narrows it down a touch, I suppose,// Jono replied, shrugging. //I don't know my way around most Westerns, so we'll rule that one out, as well. Too American.//

... What? Insulting Americans was his patriotic duty.

"Mystery... knock that one out as well," she said, after a moment.

Too much like her work, she suspected. At least in some elements.

//Which would leave you with... Fantasy, romance, and science fiction.//

Ah, the process of elimination.

//Knock one of those out of there, and we could almost get away with flipping a coin, couldn't we?//

Rosalind resisted the urge to snap at him and give this up for a bad cause.

Her mother had wanted something fun. Wanted her to do something fun. Books had counted. (Rosalind had clarified that.)

But what ones?

"Take out science fiction," she said, a bit pained. Ow.

//Well,// Jono sighed, //there goes Vonnegut.//

What? He liked Vonnegut.

//And do you have a quarter for th'coin toss?//

"Too broke to have your own?" Rosalind murmured mildly as she checked her pockets. "I don't."

Gil, sure. But quarters?

//I didn't see any need to bring lunch money today,// Jono replied, flatly. //Alright, then lady's choice. Do you have any preference between soppy romance novels or books about dragons and fairies and very short people with hairy feet?//

"Because, of course, lunch is the only thing you can spend money on," she pointed out scathingly. "Dragons and such then."

Less insipid sounding, at the very least.

Oh, with a comment like that, Jono was going to simply make a reach for the book cart to pull out the single most insipid thing that he had spotted all day, in the few moments he'd had to work between bouts of very important moping.

And then he was going to raise his eyebrows and present it to her, so very ceremoniously.

Rosalind was going to love this.

Rosalind glanced down at the book (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0060871024/ref=s9_simvh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1MDKTBY21ZC5K2W4ZPCZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383511&pf_rd_i=915398) he'd handed her and it was almost possible to see her recoiling in horror at the cover.

"You cannot be serious."

//Well,// Jono replied, crossing his arms over his chest and leveling her with a flat stare, //unless there was some other major requirement for yer fiction, that is what you asked for.//

"I didn't ask for sparkles," she said, appalled.

//And I don't recall you at any point saying, 'Jonothon, do please be a dear and make certain that th'book you hand me doesn't have any sparkles on it.'//

Oh, that was very nearly amusement, right there in his tone. A little. If you squinted.

//And I believe there's a saying about judging books by their covers, luv.//

"It's a horrible cover," Rosalind snarked back, and flipped the book over to read: "'Anita was living an ordinary life. Until an elegant stranger pulled her into another world.' Really?"

//Well, yer more than welcome to choose a different book,// Jono pointed out. //You are in th'right place for it, after all.//

And he'd just be over here, taking a seat at the desk again and rearranging a stack of unissued library cards to use as a pillow, since he wasn't allowed to use the books anymore.

She glanced helplessly down at the book.

"It would serve you right," she informed him, "if I spent my time reading it out loud to you."

How would you like that, Jono?

//And then I could give you helpful and informative feedback,// Jono replied, raising an eyebrow at her. //Such as, 'Oh, and here's where th'faerie princess falls head over heels in love with th'elegant stranger wot swept her off her feet.'//

The sad thing was, he hadn't read the book.

It was truly sad, yes.

"...have you read this before, then?" Oh, oh Rosalind don't be so amused. "That says volumes about your taste in books."

//No, but I like to think that I have a firm understanding of the inner workings of today's great literature.//

Or of today's bad romance fantasy.

//When you finish this one, I can read something back, I suppose. Introduce you to Tolkien, or Vonnegut...//

Had he mentioned his love for Vonnegut?

"You've mentioned Vonnegut twice," she noted. "Favourite author?"

Re: Talk to Jono

furnaceface - 2010-08-02 01:03 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Talk to Jono

give-areason.livejournal.com - 2010-08-02 01:08 (UTC) - Expand