fandomhigh | Library, Thursday

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Library, Thursday

The last thing Evan had really been expected upon coming into the library were the puddles on the floor from yesterday's spontaneous bursts of water.

... Okay, no, that was a lie. Puddles on the floor weren't all that weird, not after going to his last school. The last thing Evan had expected was to come in to find the books, all dressed up in plastic waterproof sleeves and yellow galoshes, actually splashing around in them.

"How are you even wearing boots? None of you have feet!"

It was going to be a mystery for the ages.

[Open!]

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"A deinonychus," Gert replied. "Kind of like a velociraptor. But from the future and genetically-engineered by a bunch of people who are dead now. It doesn't exactly make taking care of her the easiest thing in the world."

She shrugged, glancing toward the shelves Evan had indicated. "I'm Gert, by the way."

"I'm Evan," came his reply, as he thoughtfully pulled himself to his feet and nodded for her to follow him toward the stacks. "And... I've never met a deinonychus," yet, "but if it really is a cold, maybe changing her diet up some will help?"

It seemed like a fair assumption, anyhow.

"I wonder if looking up stuff about bird and reptile veterinary science will help at all. Birds are kind of like living remnants of dinosaurs, after all."

"Her diet is pretty much 'large animals in the preserve,'" Gert clarified, "and her being a carnivore and all, the other option doesn't sound that pleasant."

The other option, of course, being people.

"Ornithology might help," she mused. "Where's that section?"

"Actually really close to the stuff about dinosaurs," Evan offered, leading the way down the aisle with all of the biology books in it. "There'll probably be stuff about... I don't know... calcium intake and all of that. I'm not sure if your dinosaur will be big on crunching on seashells the same way a pet parrot might, but it could help."

Evan had never had a pet parrot. But his family had kept a lot of chickens. Did that count?

"I didn't think of that," Gert admitted, looking mildly impressed. "That might actually work. Especially if I cover the seashells in bits of burger or something. Thanks."

Ever consider a career in veterinary...ness, Evan?

Evan's veterinary prowess truly knew no bounds.

"Anytime," he replied, smiling a little. "You could probably also... I don't know, actually call up a zoo veterinarian, or one of those people that owns exotic reptile shows, and see what they suggest for sick alligators and stuff like that? Crocodilians are practically prehistoric in their own right. Right?"

A beat.

"And... checking out what sort of climate your dinosaur would have been used to might help, too. I mean, it is January out there, and if she's hunting outside, it might be the cold that's bringing her down."

... Evan read a lot of books.

"It probably is," Gert conceded. "Wherever she's from originally, she's spent a long time in LA. Not so much with the January over there, climate-wise." She had to scowl at that, a little. The weather in LA had been one of the only things about the city that she'd liked. "I don't want to be one of those pet owners who dresses her animal up in sweaters, though. Old Lace has her pride."

Heh. Pride.

"Well, is she warm or cold-blooded?" That would kind of change whether or not the sweaters actually did her any good in the first place, after all. "I wouldn't put a dog in one of those sweaters, either, but you don't exactly let chihuahuas run around in the snow when it's as cold as it is here, you know? If she's used to more tropical climates, this is probably kind of extreme for her..."

Evan didn't want to presume he knew how to take better care of Gert's dinosaur than she did, but it seemed like something kind of important to take into consideration, all the same.

"...You know, I really haven't done enough research to know," Gert admitted in response to that rather thorough chunk of information. "In my defense, from when I first got her up until I came here, I haven't had any internet access, let alone an accessible library."

Living in a cave was a fair excuse for not knowing the ins and outs of dinosaur biology, right?

"How many books can I take out at a time?"

Living in a cave was totally a valid excuse.

"I'll tell you what," Evan offered, stopping down the biology aisle and looking thoughtfully at the titles, "take as many as you need, for your dino friend's sake, and I'll put you through the system until it maxes out."

He offered a little smile.

"And if you do have more than your limit, we can put the rest on mine. For the sake of a dinosaur emergency, I really don't mind."

"I wouldn't say emergency--" It was just some sniffling, after all-- "But cool. Thanks."

With that, Gert crouched down to look at some of the spines of the books. Conveniently enough, the very first one she set her eyes on looked like a winner. Its cover read Raptor & You: Tending to Your Dino.

"Hey," she said, holding it up for Evan to see. "Check it out."

Evan blinked as he leaned forward to take a look at the book.

"... You know, this library is pretty awesome."

Just saying. Really. He loved this place.

Gert smiled at that, just a little. "I guess this school has at least one thing going for it," she decided, standing up. "Looks like I'm good with just the one book."

"It looks like," Evan agreed, smiling as he glanced at the shelves. It figured, he supposed, that their school library would have something like that. Gert's dino wasn't even the first one on the island, anyhow. "If you need anything else... just let me know? You're new here this semester, right?"

"Yep," Gert confirmed. "Got the big sibling spiel, but I guess it couldn't hurt to have a veterinary expert on call too." That was a joke, for the record. "Where're you from?"

"Kansas, originally," Evan replied with a little shrug. "Nothing quite as exciting as LA, obviously. I grew up on a farm, though, so I know a thing or two about... sick animal troubleshooting, I guess."

If you ever needed someone to help you deliver a baby cow, Gert, Evan was your kid.

"I went to school in New York state for a few months right before coming here, too. That was okay."

"I've never thought of Kansas as a place people actually live," Gert remarked. "New York must've been pretty trippy after the whole idyllic farm thing."

"It was a bit to get used to, yeah. I kind of stuck out a bit, as the new kid."

For, you know, new kid reasons that had nothing with how he looked pretty much exactly like the self-proclaimed God of Mutants would look like if he was a gawky fifteen year-old kid.

"Here has actually been better, mostly."

"Here there's fewer judgmental cape types running around bossing people around than in New York, I bet," Gert offered. "...If not by much."

This was a particularly salient issue in her mind lately.

"Not much," Evan agreed, with a tiny smile. "I think I recognize about half the teachers as heroes from back home. It wasn't really the heroes back in New York that were giving me trouble, though."

Kids could be cruel when they wanted to be.

"The students here are much nicer, too."

"You mean it's not all an act that's going to transform into some kind of dramatic hazing later on?" Gert asked.

...Gert had a few issues.

"Not that I've noticed, anyhow," Evan offered. "My first roommate here did a lot of staring at me, and I met a girl last week who kind of freaked out when I..."

He tapered off, and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Some people handle different things... better than others. But for the most part, everyone's been pretty great."

Gert was dubious, if somewhat intrigued, but she still repeated, "Great."

Maybe eventually she could be convinced that this place wasn't the worst place in the world, but... not quite yet. And probably from someone who wasn't as much of an optimist.

"So how long've you been here?"

"Since the summertime. Things got... a little bit hectic at my last school, so my uncle said I could come here until they calmed down again. And since that hasn't happened yet..."

~~Entirely because the mun hasn't had time to coordinate a proper plot, yet...~~

"Well, I like it here, so I'm happy to stay."

"Your last school that was full of bullies," she filled in. "And in New York. Yeah, I can see how this would be an improvement."

Library, Thursday

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