The Library, Wednesday

[talentforlying]

John had gone home long enough to get a good three hours of sleep in, shower, and then gotten back up and come into work.

Real coffee was out, you could ask for tea if you wanted it, and the librarian was in-and-out of Special Collections, bringing out the oldest books and scrolls he could find.

Good luck, Fandom. You were going to need it.

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Mod Your Library

[talentforlying]

For your regular browsing.

Research -- Morning

[talentforlying]

There was coffee and donuts for the early birds, and stacks-upon-stacks of the oldest magical reference materials John could find.

Have fun, kids.

Re: Research -- Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

After shattering her mirror, Kathy had gone to bed and slept for almost twelve hours, gotten up to eat anything she could find in several common rooms, and then gone back to sleep for another four.

She still felt awful. Not even her first shower in days could fix that. She still looked awful, too. Too thin, too tired, too much time crying. But she had to do something other than sit in her room and brood over how she'd ruined everything. So she'd made her way into the library, found a nice out-of-the-way nook, and curled up with a stack of books. She wasn't sure she'd find anything useful in a bunch of old Korean books of myths and legends, but at least she could make sure no one else wasted their time worrying about what secrets the books held.

Re: Research -- Morning

[wildandbrave]

"Can I get you something?" Cosette asked quietly, approaching but not getting too near in case Kathy wanted her space. Yes, she'd noticed that Kathy was in bad shape, but wasn't going to point that out; she just hated seeing people in that kind of state and wanted to do something to help. "Coffee, or a cup of water, a pastry perhaps?"

Re: Research -- Morning

[suitably_heroic]

Atton wasn't here to do research this time, either, but he was popping his head in to see if anything new had been discovered since the last time he'd done so.

Also: "So there's a whole bunch of people outside Needful Things who have lost their minds, in case you people didn't know."

Re: Research -- Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy poked her head around the shelves. "Umm, that's because Mr. Gaunt called us for help," she said quietly, not meeting Mr. Rand's eyes.

Re: Research -- Morning

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"Was Joker there?" Eleanor asked, eyes wide, before realizing that Atton may not have the least idea who Joker was. "Sorry. I mean. Were they okay?"

If they were just standing around, that was maybe not so awful.

Besides, it was entirely possible that Joker wasn't one of these people. Maybe he was just completely fine, and the necklace was a coincidence.

Re: Research -- Morning

[gavegoodface]

Avoiding Barry's coffee after his caf had run out had had predicable results and now Face was slumped over the open book he'd been reading last night, sound asleep.

At least he wasn't drooling on it.

Re: Research -- Morning

[notacokeperson.livejournal.com]

Karina stopped by the library before heading into town mostly because she wanted to see if anything new had been figured out since the broadcast.

She looked grumpy, but that was mostly Sparkle's fault. Karina wasn't meant to be a caretaker and she hated worrying over him. Ugh.

Re: Research -- Morning

[suitably_heroic]

Hey, now there were two things she and Atton had in common.

Atton lifted his chin at her in greeting. He'd been just on his way out. "What's up?"

Re: Research -- Morning

[wildandbrave]

Cosette was around again, whenever she wasn't in class -- still not researching herself, but there to provide moral support and help keep things organized.

It gave her something to do, and kept her from fretting over her fellow students quite as much.

Re: Research -- Morning

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor was downing the coffee like it might run out if she didn't drink it quickly enough, and wishing she could smoke in here. Stimulants were stimulants.

She tackled some of the more medical-looking books, hoping she'd have a chance at deciphering the jargon.

Re: Research -- Morning

[nuclear_snide]

Bob wasn't a kid, but he was having fun!

Well, he was researching and trying to find out anything useful, but meanwhile he was really enjoying the chance to check out some of the more esoteric materials here. They were really something!

Re: Research -- Morning

[gavegoodface]

After being woken by one of the etiquette books flinging itself at his head, Face had gotten stuck into a number of the older books. It was slow going, given half were written in regional dialect and the others were handwritten (just because he's gotten used to translating English characters that were printed and distinct didn't mean cursive didn't make him want to pull his hair out), but he was pretty sure he was onto something. Creepy, store, evil shopkeeper, cursed items, concerned spouse smashing item...

...oh, sithspit. He stood up to project his voice better.

"So we may have a problem." Beat. "More of of one than we already did."

Re: Research -- Morning

[likethegun]

"Oh good, that's exactly what I was hoping to hear," Sam said dryly, setting his book down to focus. "What'd you find?"

Re: Research -- Morning

[spin_kick_snap]

After her talk with Atton, Kathy sat down to make a list of people that he had mentioned.

LIST OF THE AFFECTED
Sparkle
Professor Heartilly
Bartender at Devil's Nest (Name?)
Crazy lady with weird teeth (Name? Unsure if she's affected or just crazy)

Underneath the list, she wrote, Please add & correct information as you get it!

[Posted with dauntless_four's permission!]

Re: Research -- Morning

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

Four looked up from the list he'd been making. "Did you get that from the radio too?" he asked.

He gestured to the iPod he was listening to. "With a roommate as a radio guy, figured it was a pretty good place to start..."

Research -- Afternoon

[talentforlying]

Yes, he'd ordered pizza. Yes, he'd brought it into the library. It had meat and veggies and shit, yeah? BUT SO HELP YOU IF JOHN CAUGHT YOU EATING AND TURNING THE PAGES OF IRREPLACEABLE MAGICAL TOMES AT THE SAME TIME.

You'll fucking summon something by accident. Wipe your fingers on your trousers, first.

Re: Research -- Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

PIZZA.

Kathy felt like she shouldn't be all that hungry. Didn't heartbreak usually come with a loss of appetite? But her body apparently had enough of a hunger strike over the past week and the mere scent of pizza had Kathy braving the more populated parts of the library to grab a plate.

Taking the equivalent of half a pizza back to her chair, Kathy settled back into her chair and picked her book back up.

Ugh. Why did it take so long for everyone to switch from hanja to Hangul? For once, Kathy was grateful for her parents' insistence that she and Sarah go to a Korean-style hagwon after their American schools let out. Without it, she wouldn't have been able to plow through this book of...Cautionary Tales for Children.

Right.

...and though I was not allowed into the store, I snuck away from my mother one day, for I heard the stranger's shop was filled with wonders that took away the breath--and the mind. Even to this day as I write this, the treasure I saw haunt my dreams and call to me...

Kathy's pizza fell back on her plate, unheeded. Whatever. She could eat later. Right now, she was scooping the book into her arms and rushing out to where more people were gathered. "Excuse me?" she said. "I think I found something. I think Mr. Gaunt's collecting souls."

Re: Research -- Afternoon

[suitably_heroic]

Atton didn't hit the library again until late into the afternoon. Instead of poking someone for information, though, he found a spot on the floor just out of everyone's way and sat down. Took off the top part of his armor - it was just a chest piece and there was a long-sleeved shirt underneath, hold your horses - and shut his eyes.

A five-minute healing trance wasn't exactly sleep, but it was close enough, right? Right.

Re: Research -- Afternoon

[bitten_notshy]

Jack didn't get to the library until after he'd gotten Emma her smoothie and soup, and managed to get her to drink almost half the smoothie before she begged off.

It was not an encouraging day. He found some books on mystic medicine and started reading through them, hoping to spot something -- anything -- that would be at least a little useful.

"Do we think everyone sick is cursed?" he wondered. "I don't think Emma went to the shop, or she hasn't mentioned it if she did."

Re: Research -- Afternoon

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Finally, all the slogging through paid off.

"Guys?" Eleanor said. "This book is talking about poison. Psychic poison. It's ... it seems to feed on your emotional state, in some weird feedback loop?"

She looked at the text again. "It's saying it kind of destroys your mood, and then uses your destroyed mood to get stronger. And then, 'subjects had a greatly increased recovery time when their emotional state was improved,'" she quoted. "So we ... need to cheer people up?"

She shook her head quickly. "I mean, obviously, we need to get the items away from them, and heal them, but -- that's somehow part of this, too?"

The Librarian's Office

[talentforlying]

Where he's occasionally napping. Coughing badly, and reaching for fragments of sleep. Setting the hat on fire was a kick to his poor system.

OOC

[talentforlying]

Up early for ALL THE TIME ZONES!

Re: OOC

[spin_kick_snap]

Permission for Kathy to tape up a list of 'these people are definitely in Gaunt's thrall' somewhere?