Library (12/15/05)

[janet_fraiser]

Janet opens up the library after the omg, posted late, noes! Criminal Justice final. She flips on the lights, goes behind the Collections Desk, and starts silently cursing the stupid little gray aliens that sent her back to high school, finals, the whole concept of papers and the grading system in place in the United States today.

She scrawls out a sign on a piece of paper and posts it on the door:

PLEASE TURN IN YOUR OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS
BEFORE THE END OF THE TERM

(OR WE'LL SEND ZERO AFTER YOU
WITH HER MALLET)

Comments

[chasingangela]

"Geology," Angela says. "She's better at the science thing than I am, so she was a good partner."

She looks at the ongoing argument. "Leery is a good word for it, yeah. He's not scary, exactly, but ..." her voice trails off.

[janet_fraiser]

"I might have to take that next semester," said Janet. "Biology's old hat for me, and I'm not all that interested in Physics. On the other hand, I'm definitely going on into Classics II if I can fit it into my schedule, and there's the library, Advanced Criminal Justice, and one of Dr. Pierson's history courses. So I don't think I could fit it in."

"But you get the feeling he could be if he wanted to?" asked Janet. "I do."

[chasingangela]

"I'm not sure what I'm taking next semester," Angela says. "I mean, I'm keeping journalism, and I like the way Dr. Grissom teaches so I'll try to get something with him. Other than those two, I guess I'll just see what looks interesting and fits around the library."

She nods at Jante's question about Belthazor. "That's it. He gives me the feeling that if he wanted to, he could do -- really bad things," she says. "But Marty used to be the same way, you know? He's just cooled it since he got here. Where Belthazor-" Angela's voice falters "hasn't. I know he spooked Ms. Maclay pretty good a couple weeks back, and I don't think he laid a finger on her."

She notices sparks coming from behing the demon's back. "Look. Fire."

[janet_fraiser]

"The library hours are pretty flexible," said Janet. "This semester, at least. Who knows what the new librarian will be like?"

"That's right, Marty used to be a hitman." Her eyes widened. "We met his old assistant. In Chicago. I heard you were sick, so I didn't invite you. I didn't figure you'd want to trudge around in the biting cold and heavy winds when weren't feeling good. His old assistant has some nice, embarrassing stories about him. Ask him about the dog."

"What'd he do to Professor Maclay?" asked Janet. "Fire is bad. It burns. I'll be right back."

[chasingangela]

"Yeah, I want to meet Marcella. Maybe we'll get to Chicago over break," Angela says. "But I'm over everyone going there without me this weekend. I just slept the whole time, so I wouldn't have had fun anyhow."

She watches the (exceedingly polite) confrontation between Janet and Belthazor. "It looked like that went well," she says, when Janet returns. "And I, like, really don't know the whole story with him and Ms. Maclay. She and Shane haven't been around much outside class, so I haven't gotten to talk to them much." She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear, frowning. "Actually, I don't think I've seen Shane in more than two weeks. Have you?"

[janet_fraiser]

"Parts of it were fun, but it was a little intense," says Janet. Also there was that time on Saturday where she'd nearly gotten kidnapped, but she wasn't going to be bringing that up. "And it was cold."

"I think it did," says Janet. "Who knows the whole story? Angel?" She shakes her head. "Who's Shane? I don't think I know her."

[chasingangela]

"I'm not sure anyone but Belthazor and Ms. Maclay knows exactly what happened," Angela says, then shrugs it off. "And Shane -- Shane McCutcheon? -- she's Ms. Maclay's girlfriend. Tallish, dark hair, pretty? She used to work at Deb's. You never ran into her?"

[janet_fraiser]

Janet shook her head. "If I ever did, I don't think she said one word to me. Seriously, we never talked IC. Weird, huh? Wasn't she involved in that curse thing? And she's vanished now? I'm using a player's leaving the game to further my other character's revenge plot. You mind?" Janet gave Angela a concerned look. "You're not going anywhere alone at night, are you? Or alone off school grounds?"

[chasingangela]

A look of concern bordering on horror slowly spreads across Angela's face, and she pulls her sweater more tightly around herself. "God, I hadn't even thought of that. Shane -- she isn't a student, and I haven't been in town much except for Caritas. I thought she just, you know, wasn't around much, or took off, or something."

She rubs her forehead in concentration. "You should ask Geoff Chaucer or Ms. Cregg. She was tight with both of them -- they might know what happened even if you can't find Ms. Maclay."

"And I try not to be alone at night. The town's too creepy even without Angelus, you know?"