Library (12/14/05)

[janet_fraiser]

After Classics--and a quick trip to visit Daniel--Janet opened up the library, dropped her backpack in a corner, and started finding excuses not to work.

Comments

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"I am," Angel confirmed. "Couldn't be better. Not even the math final could get me down. That's got to be thanks to you."

He leaned forward on the desk, smiling right at Janet. "Clearly I owe you something for that."

[janet_fraiser]

"Math's a tricky subject," said Janet. "And believe it or not, numbers frighten a lot of people."

She grinned. "I think I mentioned coffee last night. I was up fairly late thanks to the adventures of Bitterwoman. I really need to pick those up on DVD."

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"Coffee?" Angel pretended to think about it. "I could do coffee. Do you want me to sneak some in here or do you want to get some with me later tonight?"

[janet_fraiser]

Janet snickered. "What makes you think we sneak the coffee in?" She held up a travel mug. "The library assistants tend to blithely ignore that rule about no food and drink in the library. So possibly you should buy me a mocha later."

He couldn't possibly be asking her out. For one thing, she had a boyfriend and a girlfriend, and wasn't that confusing, and for another, didn't he have to be celibate due to that cleverly-worded euphemism in his curse?

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"I could be tempted to buy you a mocha later," Angel said. "I could even be tempted to buy you dinner. I'm prepared to go to great lengths to thank the woman who saved me from the horrors of mathematics."

[prof-methos.livejournal.com]

Methos enters and makes a face at Angel. "Can we use our 'inside voices'? Or possibly our 'not bellowing a battle-cry at the top of our lungs' voices?"

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

Angel made an elaborate, yet sincere, face of apology. "Sorry! Um, Sorry!"

[janet_fraiser]

"I keep telling everyone that math isn't all that horrible. No one believes me except Sam, who's possibly the only student in school geekier than I am." Janet laughed and shook her head. "No need for dinner. Just knock on my door later tonight and you can buy me that mocha."

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"I will absolutely do that," Angel said. "I'm looking forward to it. We could go somewhere. Maybe watch those DVDs."

[janet_fraiser]

"Oh, good," said Janet. "It'll be fun. I'm free any time after the library closes. But I don't think I'll be picking up the DVDs for a bit yet. It's cheaper to order them online."

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

Angel winked at her. "Or maybe somebody nice could buy them for you as a gift."

[janet_fraiser]

"I hadn't been hinting," said Janet. "Ususally if I want something, I'll tell somebody."

She was going to ignore that wink. She was very, very good at ignoring those kinds of signals. She'd practiced it often enough back in Colorado. Denial. Denial was a very good place to be.

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

Angel's smile grew more intimate. "And what do you want, Janet?"

[janet_fraiser]

Janet's eyes widened. "Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men?" she suggested quickly. And not in panicked way at all. Really. "Don't you think that would be nice?"

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"True," Angel agreed. "Though a fur coat's probably more accessible."

[janet_fraiser]

Janet choked on the coffee she'd been sipping on. "High school and fur don't mix?" she tried. She grabbed some books and came around to the front of the desk. She could go shelve books. "Maybe just a card? A book? I like books. I have a lot of books. Biology's a nice subject. Chemistry?"

If she sent out enough geek vibes, he'd calm down, right? Something had to work here, and being oblivious was apparently not enough.

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"Chemistry sounds fascinating," Angel said. "I feel like I don't spend enough time thinking about that subject."

[janet_fraiser]

"Oh?" asked Janet. "I think there's a class on it. That they're offering again. Next term?" She started talking a mile a minute. Why had she come out from behind the Collections Desk again? "Chemistry's fascinating. There are all kinds of new discoveries. For example, did you know that they're studying the uses that pheromones--"

Janet stopped, blushed, and took a step to the side. Unfortunately, she caught her foot on a hole in the carpeting and dropped all her books. Crap.

"Like perfume." She bent down to pick up the stack of books. "Or, um--" She blushed again, and tried not to think about some of the more speculative scientific papers she'd read on the subject.

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

Angel bent down to help her pick up the dropped books. "I get that. You know vampires have a better sense of smell than humans do. The right perfume, the right mood... it gets to us." He handed a book over to her. "In a good way."

[janet_fraiser]

Janet took the book Angel handed over and froze. "Idon'twearperfume," she said. "Um. I have allergies. To pollen. And artificial scents. And just about everything, actually."

She gulped. "Oh. Really?"

She'd tried obliviousness. She'd tried denial. She'd even tried playing the geek card. Oh, God. Sometimes it was hell being small, mostly innocent-looking, and cute.

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"Really," Angel smiled. "But that's okay. Natural's nice too."

[janet_fraiser]

Janet's jaw dropped, and then she recovered. Mostly. "Um." She shut her mouth, then opened it again to say something else. "You do realize I have a boyfriend, right?"

She really, really hated using that one, even if it wasn't a lie. Especially given the fact that she was dating a teacher.

[notstakedyet.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" Angel blinked in confusion. "Weren't we talking about books?"

[janet_fraiser]

Janet rolled her eyes, grabbed the rest of her books, and stalked off in a quick wrap-up that she forgot to post last night, muttering something about hating the entire y-chromosome dependent half of the human species right now.