fandomhigh | Library [09/05]

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Library [09/05]

After last week's busy shift in the library, and a particularly active week besides, Jono was very much not in a state of mind to go above and beyond the call for the job, today. He was here, and he was attempting to shelve things when he saw things that needed to be shelved, and now and again he'd pick up a rag and try to dust.

But, well, he never got too far in any one task, because there were some very industrious helping hands hanging around, grabbing books and rags and anything else that he could get into before he could get into very much at all. And then patting him on the shoulder or the head or the ankle, wherever a disembodied hand happened to be able to reach from their particular vantage point, and pointing back toward the desk.

He would have decided that they were being condescending, if not for the fact that he was fairly inclined to just sit and do a whole lot of nothing in particular today anyhow.

[Open!]

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Raven felt a warm surge of Pride at the look Jono gave her and his words. "Nor did I, when I came here," she said. "It is something we have in common. But I am glad that I have been able to help make your time here more acceptable."

//You have,// he agreed. And then there was a brief pause, before he added, //there's a good deal that you've done, Raven. Th'past little while...//

Still stung. Always would.

//I'd still be on a park bench, you know...//

Raven shook her head. "I would never allow that," she said. Her tone grew more fierce as she repeated, "Never." If his grief had been too great for him to bear, she would have taken it into herself, even without permission. She wouldn't have let him waste away.

Jono actually winced a little at her tone. But he kept his own careful. Soft, perhaps.

Definitely not fragile. No matter how it sounded. He was tough, damn it.

//I know,// he said, quietly. //I just meant... Thank you. For not letting me take that route.//

"You are welcome," Raven said, more gently now. "I hope you know you can always count on me to help you in whatever way I can, Jono."

Not wanting to dwell on any unhappy feelings, she searched for a subject change. "I believe you were going to show me some books you thought I might be interested in," she said.

Jonothon found himself blinking into the new topic of conversation as though he'd been shaken out of a dream. Books. Books that Raven might be interested in...

//Of course,// he replied, nodding a little. //We've got no shortage of those...//

What was it that he'd been thinking of picking out for her, again? Some fantasy, perhaps. Definitely something with a happy ending, though at just that moment, he couldn't quite remember what.

//Is there anything in particular that you'd ever wanted to read about?//

"Something that is not like a romance novel, I suppose," Raven said thoughtfully. "But still with a great deal of emotion. Perhaps something that explores worlds I have never seen before?"

Stephen King and HP Lovecraft were likely right out.

//Some sort of historic fiction, perhaps,// Jono mused. //Or a fantasy of some sort...//

He drummed his fingers against the top of the desk for a moment, some of the cobwebs clearing themselves from his mind, and then he nodded. //Something light, to start, then. The Tiger, The Enchantress and the Closet, or maybe The Halfling...//

They were something like classics, and if there was anything that Jono had learned about absolute brain malfunctions while on the job, it was that the classics were, by extension, also tried and true, and thus difficult to mess up with.

"You have read these yourself?" Raven asked. "Did you enjoy them?"

Cheating and just seeing the movies didn't count.

The movies hadn't even existed yet, back in 1995 when Jono came from! He totally couldn't cheat, yet.

//I have, and I did,// he replied. //Th'first one is typically aimed toward a younger demographic, but it doesn't hurt th'story for it, really.//

Except, perhaps, for the random Santa Claus moment. Jono tended to ignore that part.

"Then I should very much like to read them," Raven smiled. "It does not matter to me if they were intended for a younger reader. I did not have the opportunity to read fiction as a child, so I have a great deal of catching up to do."

One of the Things had hopped up expectantly on the desk. Raven eyed it, then said, "Will you help me find them, or will your helper here do that for us?"

Jono raised an eyebrow at the Thing.

//How about it, mate? Are you going to let me do something today?//

The Thing sat there for a moment, seeming to consider its options before finally, it tapped the pad of its thumb against the first knuckle of its index finger, and then straightened it out again in a sort of 'I am a hand' salute. And then it was settling itself down on the desk and ... watching, probably. It was difficult to tell when the Thing in question was, like all Things, eyeless.

//It looks like I'll be allowed to help you myself today, luv.//

Raven couldn't help but laugh. "Good," she said. "No offense to these hands" -- because of course she would care about their feelings -- "but I would prefer your assistance much better."

//And really, I prefer to be able to give it,// Jono decided, pulling himself to his feet. //As qualified as I'm certain these hands are t'do th'same, of course.//

He nodded toward the stacks.

//This way, then.//

"They do not seem to possess the ability to speak," Raven pointed out teasingly as she followed after him. "Therefore I do not think they could make recommendations as you do."

//Well, they can point and wave their little fingers about,// Jono offered. //I mean, really, if we want to get technical about it, there's always sign language, as well...//

If they kept it very simple, and used signs that they didn't need to grab a partner for.

"Or write, perhaps," Raven said. She wasn't going to think too hard on just how they could see what they were writing, or see anything else for that matter. Sometimes Fandom just defied explanations.

Really, it was best not to think too hard on it. That way led only to headaches.

//Exactly. But we'll just be thankful that I'm allowed to introduce you to th'writings of C.S. Lewis, and give the hands a break.//

Yes. This was totally about giving the hands a break, and had nothing to do with the fact that his legs had been threatening to cramp up, and he had wanted the company. Sure.

"So tell me what these books are about, please?" Raven said, shooing another helpful hand away. "A tiger and an enchantress live in a closet?"

//In a world that a handful of children discover by walking into th'closet,// Jono clarified, nodding faintly regardless. //Only children can get to it, mind. There's an entire series. There's a book that's set before it chronologically, as well, but it was actually th'last one that the author wrote, so you get this one, first.//

Because Jono was sometimes a bit of a lit snob that way.

"Then it is good I have you to tell me what order to read them in, so I do not become confused," Raven said with a fond smile. "I wonder if Diana has heard of these books. She is always going in and out of our closet."

Jono was now giving Raven a kind of weird look, yes.

//In and out of--// He shook his head a little. //It's probably for th'best that I not know.//

Honestly. Honestly, Jono. Where was your brain going, there?

He stopped about halfway down one of the aisles, looking up at the shelves and running his finger along the spines of the books until he found what he was looking for. //It's in.//

"In the middle of the night, she will come out of the closet," Raven said, totally innocently, of course. "It is quite startling when she decides to do so, but I have grown accustomed to it, so it does not bother me when she wakes me up to do so."

She peered at the book Jono indicated. "How many books are in the series?" she asked. "Should I read them all before I try the other book you have recommended?"

Jono just... shook his head a little more. He hadn't been aware that somebody could come out of the closet repeatedly to the same person. The things that you learned...

//There are seven books,// he replied, pulling it from the shelf and holding it out to her, //but I'd suggest you see if you like this one before you commit yerself to reading th'whole series, luv.//

Part of him was anticipating a very sad conversation in the future, when she got to the part about the tiger on the stone table...

There would be much flailing at that point, yes. She would undoubtedly need a hug.

Raven reverently accepted the book and hugged it to her chest. "Thank you," she said. "I will start reading it this evening, I think."

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