fandomhigh | Library [03, 20]

It was almost like he knew there was a bag from 'Dite's with two pairs of handcuffs hidden under her bed. Where hopefully Ariel wouldn't stumble across it and ask any questions that might make her die of embarrassment on the spot.

"I look forward to it, then," Raven said, tilting her head to lightly rub her cheek against his. "Should I come to your room when I am done with work for the evening?"

Well, he wasn't psychic. When he could help it. But the blushing she'd done earlier had said volumes about the nature of her surprise, and, well... He did have the imagination of a 19 year-old boy, after all.

//That would work wonderfully,// Jono replied, closing his eyes and revelling in that moment of touch. //I'll get in touch with somebody back home from Groovy Tunes tomorrow, get them to put something on reserve for me, wherever there happens t'be a show.//

It was starting to sound like a date, wasn't it?

Not just a date, a daaaaaaaaaate.

"And I will find us a place to stay the night," Raven said, trying to sound innocent about it. "We do not wish to disturb George and Ariel by returning so late, as you said. And I will show you...what I have to show you."

He couldn't see her blushing from this angle, could he?

Not with his eyes closed! Lucky break, Raven!

//Well... then I look forward to it,// he decided, picturing a soft kiss on her lips before pulling back to smile at her.

He was at work, sure, but there were no rules against thinking about kissing his girlfriend, right?

If just thinking about things was entirely permissible, there could be a lot of naughty things they could do in the library which would probably get them in a wee bit of trouble.

But it was just a kiss she gave back to him. Anything naughty could wait a few days. "But for now," she murmured, "I should allow you to return to work so you do not get in any trouble due to my distraction. Unless you wish to help me find some books?" Since, well, technically that was his job.

[Must run out to the grocery store, but I shall be back in 30-45 minutes or so! Up to you if you want to wrap the thread or go on. :) ]

//Really, with th'way they're wandering about today, you'll need all th'help you can get, luv.//

Books were such tricky, tricky creatures.

//C'mon, Sunshine. We'll try Theology first, and then work from there.//

"In the movie" -- because that was the perfect reference for research, Raven -- "the protagonists read the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the Marquis de Sade," she supplied helpfully.

Of course, she pronounced "Sade" the same way Brad Pitt had in the movie -- shah-day. And she probably really didn't want to read his writings.

That's it. Raven was never allowed to watch that movie again.

//Sade,// Jono corrected, absently, as he started meandering his way down the aisle. //It's French. And we can poke through what they did in th'film, if you feel it's necessary in order to avoid leaving any stone unturned. But perhaps I ought t'be th'one to poke through th'words of th'Marquis. And probably Dante.//

Raven never wanted to watch that movie again. Well, Brad Pitt was very pretty, and she liked Morgan Freeman, but the storyline was so horrific!

"What are those works?" Raven had to ask as she followed after him. She could probably find de Sade in 'Dite's shop if she looked hard enough.

//Which? Dante? Or de Sade?// Jono glanced her way, and then shrugged. //Dante's Divine Comedy is probably what we're aiming for. Likely with emphasis on Inferno, maybe touching on Purgatorio. I can't imagine there's anything in Paradiso that'll do us any good.//

A beat.

//De Sade is...// He waved a hand around for emphasis as he poked through the titles on the shelf. //You wouldn't like de Sade.//

"I will take your word for it," Raven said, though she couldn't help but be curious. How bad could it be? Of course, she'd thought that about horror movies.

"Professor Skywalker went over the Seven Deadly Sins in his Ethics class," she said. "I know the definition of them, of course, but I had never though I would ever be called an incarnation of one. Professor Skywalker also said that the other sins radiate from Pride. That would explain why I am more powerful than they -- my brothers are limited to the manipulation of one sin, while I am not."

//Mm, but yer capable of virtue, as well, luv. I've felt it from you more than once. Comfort, forgiveness, mercy, love...//

To his surprise, it was the Divine Comedy that crept up beside him and then flopped down on his foot. Apparently the books here could be useful, even after a day spent getting themselves in trouble.

//I believe it's th'book on Purgatory that touches on all Seven sins,// he noted, bending over to pick it up. //But Hell touches on a few as well. I don't know how much use it'll be to you. But we can go over it, if you'd like. Worst that can happen is that we'll lose a few hours reading classic Italian poetry, really.//

"I prefer to be virtuous," Raven said, nodding absently. Well, not all the time. There was room for some lust, yes?

"Thank you," she said to the book, giving it a smile for being so helpful. "Yes, it cannot hurt to look it over. Is it supposed to be humorous?" A comedy about sins seemed strange, but it would be better than a horror movie about them, right?

//Nnnnoooot rea... Um.// For a moment, Jono was torn between explaining to Raven the intricacies of literary terminology, but he decided that he'd rather just simplify the hell out of things. It seemed like the saner option, really. //It's a very, very old poem. And 'comedy' used to be used to refer to anything with a happy ending. It ends in Heaven, and so... fitting enough of that definition, really.//

"A happy ending would be welcome," Raven said. Much better that than someone's head in a box.

She took the book from Jono and flipped it open to the section about Purgatory, brow furrowing at the language on the pages. Fortunately there were convenient study notes following along with the poem. "Pride is the first sin they encounter," she said. "Love perverted? I am not perverted."

Try telling that to Jono on Tuesday when you pull out the handcuffs, Raven.

//Perverted.... doesn't just mean what you think it means,// Jono replied. He was going to end up being a far more helpful study guide than the notes, he just knew it. //It can be dumbed down a bit, to mean... twisted about. Contorted a bit. Selfishly, I'd assume, in th'case of love.//

A pause, and then he was wincing and correcting himself quickly.

//Yer not selfish, either, though.//

Tuesday was going to be kinky, not perverted! There was a difference! OK, it was a small one, but still.

"Love of self instead of love of others," Raven said, glancing at the book and feeling a little foolish. "I am sorry. I have learned much since coming to Fandom, but some of the nuances of language are still unknown to me."

//No need to apologize,// admonished Jono with a wave of his hand. //We'll think of it as a cultural difference. You've still learned a good deal since coming here, right?//

He looked back at the pages of the book.

//Either way, it's... something, I suppose?//

It was a poem. Yep.

"The second terrace is Envy," Raven said. "Perhaps that is why it seemed to me that Jesse was the leader of the three who were here. He was stronger than the others, I could feel it." She had a feeling twisting and manipulating envy could mimic or provoke the other sins, making Jesse more powerful than his brothers.

Not more powerful than herself, of course. But he would give her the most trouble if it came to a fight.

He was the one who had managed to unsettle Jonothon the most. And without even using his power on him. Envy was something that Jonothon spent a good amount of his time practically drowning in.

//He did strike me that way as well,// Jono agreed, looking pointedly down at the book. For all the good it would do, trying to hide his eyes from an empath so that she wouldn't see how unsettled the mention of Jesse made him feel. //Envy is... a bit of a driving force for most people. For most other sins, for that matter.//

Raven frowned, shifting the book to one hand and pulling it away. She moved in front of Jono, her free hand coming up to touch his cheek. "You are troubled," she said.

She'd felt Jared and Jacob try to use their powers on Jono, but Jesse hadn't -- he'd just used words. But those could be just as powerful.

"Talk to me?" she pleaded.

//It's just th'same old whining,// he replied, peering at her while his hand lifted to take hers. //Not whole this, wish I was like everyone else that, and so on, and so forth.//

He shrugged.

//Only, I was just thinking about how easy it would've been for him to use against me. Wrath and lust... those are things that I choke back, every waking moment. I already know how to deal with those.//

Envy, however, was something he kind of just went along with. For as much as he understood that he could never have what everyone else did, he wasn't about to stop wanting it. And maybe even resenting them all for that, a little.

"I will never allow him to use that against you," Raven said fiercely. "I promise you." She wasn't entirely certain how she could keep that promise if her brothers showed up again, but they were her kin and her responsibility now, and she'd do whatever it took to make certain they didn't harm Jono or any of her other friends.

"And you already have one thing he or the others will never have," she reminded him.

//You.//

The one thing Jonothon had that the other sins wanted. Probably the only thing Jono had, for that matter, that they had any interest in.

He had Raven.

"Yes," Raven said slipping her arms around his neck. It might have been her own Pride prompting that line of thought as well, but it was also true.

"They wish me to be with them more than anything, I could feel it. But I will never join them. I would rather be right here. With you."

Library [03, 20]

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