fandomhigh | Library [9-2]

Books and stuff!

Cindy had been back in Fandom for almost a full week now, which meant that she was long, long overdue for a visit to the library. There were several books that she needed to flip through for her class this semester, for one, and there was the library's handsome librarian for another.

And--oh, was that a book about semiotics?

Henry spotted a flash of blonde hair and headed toward its bearer. There was a nagging twist of guilt in his stomach; Alba's birthday was coming up, and he'd be headed off to Chicago for the weekend first thing tomorrow morning. Not much time for a reunion.

Then again, she hadn't been rushing things to get one.

"Semiotics," he observed in a low voice. "Excuse me, miss, did you mean to read that? The harlequin novels are on the other side of the shelves."

[OOC: Heading out for the night in a sec, but I had to.]

It took more of Cindy's composure than she'd have liked to not just crack up at this. "Ooooh, it is?" she asked, looking up at Henry in surprise. "I thought it said--never mind. I guess I should have realized from the lack of heaving bosoms on the cover." She batted her eyes at him. "Could you show me where the good books are? I can't be bothered with this silly old thing."

[Yay! No problem!]

Henry lacked spy levels of composure; he simply did crack up for a good ten seconds before he managed to answer.

"I'll escort you there," he said magnanimously. "You don't need to trouble that pretty head with ideas, do you?"

Cindy gave a delicate shudder. "Thinking causes wrinkles!" she said in horror. "Besides, that's what men are for. Thinking and taking out the garbage."

"Where your job is strictly ornamental," Henry nodded. "I see how it is now. I've missed you. Hi."

He hadn't lasted long in character at all.

"It takes a lot of effort to look this good," Cindy objected, before discarding the brainless socialite persona. "Hi, you. I missed you, too. It's good to be back."

She wasn't entirely sure where things between them stood, but that wasn't going to stop her from reaching out to pull him into a hug if she could. "I missed you a lot. Especially towards the end."

Henry returned the hug, but with a little stiffness in his arms. It wasn't anything Cindy had done; it was just that eight weeks were a long time, and he was headed home for a bit soon, and --

And, really, it was a little late in the day for him to start dating anybody. He was 40 now. He wouldn't see 45.

"What happened toward the end?" he asked shoving that unfortunate train of thoughts out of his head. "Did you get caught in a sticky situation that could have been prevented, if only you'd been around someone with a thorough grasp of Library of Congress classification?"

"It's like you were there!" Cindy gasped in mock-surprise. She noted the stiffness. She kept the hug brief, because of it, though she couldn't help but trail her fingers across his hand as she stepped back. "There we were, stranded at the top of the Eiffel Tower, with a madman who kept demanding we explain why the Dewey Decimal system was no longer good enough. And I thought to myself, 'If only Henry were here to save us all!'"

She grinned at him and leaned a little on the bookcase. "Or, in a much more prosaic reality, the last few days I got to meet my friend's ex." The grin faded into a grimace. "I don't know what attracted her to him in the first place, but I can understand the reason behind the divorce."

And, see, when she touched his hand like that it made Henry realize the things he was worrying about were in the future, and she was here and now.

He was getting ahead of himself. He'd concentrate on her story.

"Sounds like a charmer," he said. "What was he like? An oaf unworthy of your friend, no doubt."

"Not oafish," Cindy said, thinking of ways she could describe Crane without giving too much away. "Too...small and petty-minded for that. He saw everything--her, the kids, their marriage--as a possession, things for him to enjoy. Plus, he had the kind of eyes that crawl all over you and leave a film behind."

"But unworthy? Oh yeah. If I hadn't been there for moral support, I'd've left the hotel anytime he came in."

Oh, hello there, guilt.

"You didn't mention they had kids," Henry said, sounding dismayed. "Jesus. Sounds like a mess all around. Think you did any good, being there?"

"I did," Cindy said with conviction. "Everything's pretty sorted, at least as it can be for now, and he's pretty much out of their life for good. I mean, there's still a long legal battle ahead, but I'm pretty sure that can all be handled via lawyer."

Or, like Bigby, with something heavy to the back of the skull. But details.

"Hopefully I can avoid trips like that for awhile. Paris was nice--at least, what I got to see of it." Of course, traipsing about after Max, she'd seen a surprising amount. "But I'm ready to settle into the island for a bit. How about you?" she asked, turning a smile towards Henry. "What kind of mischief were you up to, while I was slaving away in Paris."

"Not much mischief," Henry said thoughtfully. "Sorry to disappoint you. The island went weird a couple weeks back -- things were disappearing, people were disappearing, monsters were showing up. I managed to help out without pulling my disappearing act, so that was something. Otherwise, just work. I need to get out more."

"Well, if that isn't something I can't help you with, I'll be very sad," Cindy replied, giving Henry a small pout. "I need some way to thank you for keeping me away from the thinky books. Besides, I missed you."

Sometimes, Cindy enjoyed being coy. After Paris and Crane? Henry's directness was refreshing and deserved the same from her.

"Dinner after the weekend?" Henry suggested. "I always like that for thanks. Especially if it comes with decent wine."

Cindy smiled at that. "Dinner is just the thanks I had in mind. Any preferences?"

"I like Thai and Wednesday and Thursday are my best two days."

That was enough guidance, wasn't it?

It was plenty.

"Then prepare for Thai on Wednesday," Cindy decided. "You, me, and curry make three. Sound good? We can meet up after the library closes, since I have office hours that day anyway."

Henry grinned. "I'll see you at the restaurant."

He was surprisingly easily pleased by all of this.

"I'll even make reservations, so if there's a sudden Thai rush, we won't be inconvenienced," Cindy said. "Can I ask what's going on over the weekend?"

Her tone of voice suggested she'd was curious, but not at all offended if the answer was 'no.'

She was hardly the one to take offense at other people keeping secrets.

"Alba's turning two on Sunday," Henry answered, since it was hardly a secret. "I'm going to head home for the party."

Cindy grinned. "I want to see pictures. Especially of you in a party hat."

It was a toddler's birthday party. Weren't party hats a necessity?

Today, Will was taking a break from catching up on technology to indulge in some reading about palaeontology, particularly the outcome of Marsh and Cope's "Bone Wars".

Who is way too excited for this job!

If Wesley was excited to be working his first shift, Henry was excited to have him.

Hush. They could bond over the book geek thing.

"You're Wesley," Henry informed the young man. "Unless someone has hijacked his day, in which case, I am embarrassed. I'm Henry DeTamble. How's it going so far? Have you found everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm Wesley," he said brightly. "And you're Henry, yes? It's a pleasure to meet you."

Gesturing to the desk, he said, "Yes, I think I've found the basics. I've already gone through the shelves a bit to determine where everything is, so I believe I've a basic grasp on everything for now." He beamed. Oh man. Being around books was such fun.

"Good," Henry said thoughtfully. "Most of what's out here is pretty easy to understand. There's some weirdness" -- hello, Anemone's sentient dust bunnies -- "but it's a good place. I'd stay out of Special Collections for now, though."

"What is Special Collections, anyway?" Wes asked. "I know that students require permission to access it, but I'm not quite clear on what sorts of books are there, exactly."

"Mostly it's a collection of rarities," Henry began vaguely, easing into things. "Things that are too unusual or valuable for a bunch of teenagers to get their grotty fingerprints all over willy-nilly. There's some erotica" -- and please, let Wesley not be the type to blush at that -- "a decent collection of spellbooks, a couple things marked as being about people here at school that are back there to protect their privacy. But the thing that makes it special isn't really the books. It's everything else."

Edited 2010-09-02 17:03 (UTC)

Wes was definitely the type to blush at that, thank you very much, and blush he did. But as for the rest of it -

"It sounds rather like my own personal library, to be honest. Er, with the exception of the erotica, of course. But my collection consists largely of rarities and research materials as well."

"What do you mean by 'everything else?'"

"The first time I went in there," Henry explained precisely, "the books flew off the shelves to attack me. A couple months later, we used it to trap a mad scientist trying to take over the island. In July a teacher got lost in there and it took him a week to find his way out. He said there were midgets. That kind of 'everything else.'"

Wesley stared. "That's, er. Unnerving. I think I'll avoid that area for now."

"That's usually my plan," Henry said. "It's not that bad to everyone. We used to have an aide, Anemone, who had worked here so long that it was used to her. Or that was her theory, anyhow. Anyhow, it's not dangerous if you stay out."

"Well, thank you for the advice," Wes said with a smile. "Any other tips that might be valuable?"

Henry considered it. Deeply.

"Make coffee before I get here and I'll let you get away with about anything," he said. "If nobody's in here, I don't mind music. Most music. No Joni Mitchell. That's about it -- I'll teach you everything else as you go."

Wes grinned. "I'm not much of a music person, so you don't have to worry about that. As for the coffee, I personally prefer tea, so there'll be all that much more for you," he laughed.

"Then it sounds like we'll work together just fine," Henry confirmed with a chuckle. "You're a book collector yourself, you said?"

"As much as I can, yes," Wesley replied. "I have access to a number of quite well-stocked libraries at home, and they rather sparked my interest in books, so I started collecting. Er, not from the libraries, of course," he added hastily.

"Thanks for clarifying," Henry smiled. "Unauthorized collecting would be the one thing I might actually fire someone for."

When he pings in!

Because fun!

Library [9-2]

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Talk to the Librarian

OOC