The Library Is Open (11/3/05)

[janet_fraiser]

Janet dragged herself from Criminal Justice to the library, unlocked it, and tried to decide if she felt like working today sat down behind the Collections Desk. She started checking in books very, very slowly.

Comments

[janet_fraiser]

"Preferably a pretty one," said Janet, grinning at Parker. "With tropical scenery. And tell your friend to time his crisis for a day when Parker isn't giving Wilson a hard time and Zero's not in Locker 327."

"And what's up with the Library and Zero? Can it like me in a non-special way, please?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"I think it already likes both of us in a non-special way, at least Zero thinks so. Hey, did that one professor ever come out of the stacks? Or did the books eat him?"

Parker grinned. "I had fun in the clinic, once the burning pain was dealt with. Reminds me. How *is* Vomiting Victor? He still owes me shoes."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"He's sleeping, last I heard." Sam came in and threw her bag on one of the library tables, catching the last part of Parker's question. "And you probably want to pick the shoes out yourself and send him the bill...you wouldn't believe what he could come up with on his own."

She grinned and took a bite of an apple. "Or maybe you would, having seen his side of the room."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker shuddered. "So noted. Maybe I'll pick 'em out, order them, and then go by to freak him out with the bill later." She spins around and says, "How's your day, Carter?"

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Sounds good. Oh, I went for a long run, wrote an essay about Swiss army knives in shop class...so, calmer than usual, so far, I guess. You?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Quiet. Everyone's freaked out, even people who didn't know Kitty Pryde. I'm just glad it's out in the open now." Parker grimaces. "Can't say I'm grieving, I didn't know her, but it seems half the people I know are effected by this, so it's very.... weird."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam nodded, leaning on the counter. "I know. I knew her a little bit, but having spent the afternoon putting the Danger Room Shop together isn't enough to...well, you get it."

She took another bite of apple, chewing thoughtfully. "I'm sorry that you know people who are directly affected by this, though. That's rough. You handling it okay?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker makes a face. "Mostly. It's bringing up old nightmares, but that's all. I just hate having to be 'supportive.' I not cut out for it. I keep wanting to tell people it'll be okay, which is utterly ridiculous."

[janet_fraiser]

"Oh, good," says Janet, unaccountably pleased. She's actually grown fond of the Library. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen him again I think he vanished in The Great Journal Deletion Of Parents Weekend. Maybe Special Collections turned him into a newt and he never got better?"

Janet snickered. "Jack is slowly getting better. Sam and I keep checking up on him. So does Charlie, but we don't tell him we know that." She frowned. "I'm reading his sorry ass the riot act when he gets out."

[prof-methos.livejournal.com]

"So we chalk up one missing person as having wandered into Special Collections and never wandered out again? Yes, yes he did."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much." Parker doesn't look too disturbed. "Maybe it turned him into a happy newt? Or sent him to Narnia?" She stops spinning, looking caught by the idea. "I would *love* that."

[janet_fraiser]

"What era?" asked Janet. "Anything but book seven. Good, but depressing right up until the end."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"The Reign of the Four Siblings, I think. A couple years after the White Queen bites it." Parker leans back, looking at the ceiling as she spins. "A second Golden Age, yadda. I'd love to sail to Cair Paravel. What gets me?" She straightens up. "With this place, it's not impossible."

[prof-methos.livejournal.com]

"Gracious, Parker. I don't think I've ever seen you this... perky. I may have to go away for another week if it puts you in this good of a mood."

[janet_fraiser]

"Perky, huh?" asked Janet. "You know, I think the hockey team was looking for a cheerleader." She looked over at Parker. "Wanna volunteer?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"I'm fighting the encroaching cloud of emo that's in the offing." Parker grinned evilly. "Hey, if you want to leave us in charge, we're good with that. We'd miss your shiny face and other parts though."

[janet_fraiser]

"I think so," said Janet. "It was his own fault for going in without a library card, though. Oops. Sucks to be him, then."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"For being an idiot and getting pneumonia, or aiming for my shoes? Jerk." Parker twirls again, then hops off the spinning stool to pick up some books and begin organizing them. "But hey, I get new shoes out of it. Possibly more than one pair. I can't believe his 'dad' hasn't caught on about that credit card yet."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Be glad he didn't aim higher, Parker. Besides, I think he was really trying to get the floor. Poor guy."

Sam grinned at Parker, amazed she wasn't dizzy from the spinning, "Oh, he knows. Jack just caught pneumonia and his Uncle forgot to ask for it back."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Wow, that was convenient. Remind me to have an ulcer attack the next time I'm about to get busted." Parker smirked. "And maybe he was trying to hit the floor, but I swear I saw House giving him a thumb's up for getting me. Don't *tell* me he didn't get a red lollipop out of that."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"See? It's all about prior planning."

Sam took another bite, then threw the apple core towards a garbage can. Sighing when she missed, she walked over to pick it up and throw it out properly. "He got two, actually. But it's not like he asked for them. He and Doctor House just seem to get along disturbingly well."

[janet_fraiser]

Janet choked. She was not claiming that General Not-A-Clone was her uncle. No way.

"Pneumonia," she said, when she recovered. "Given that he wouldn't have been there to puke on your shoes if he'd just stayed in bed when he first started feeling sick. And I think Uncle George is still sticking around until he can swipe the credit card back for--" Janet cleared her throat and mentally cursed Parker. "Uncle Jonathan."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Ah," Parker said meditatively, putting a few poetry books in a stack to take back to the shelves. Curse Mitchell and his obsessions, anyway. "Nice of your Uncle George, then. Good to know."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"Oh, don't even get me started," Sam said, tapping her fingers on the counter in front of her. "I need to save all the good aggravation for when Jack's up and around again. The dummy."

[janet_fraiser]

"I plan on making him suffer. The moron," said Janet. "So there's no way I'd let you get any of that pent-up frustration out."

She pulled a box of chocolate out of her bag and held it out to Sam. "Truffle?"