fandomhigh | The Library, Wednesday

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The Library, Wednesday

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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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."

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.

"Yeah, I was given that impression, somewhere in the middle of all the ranting about how much of a terrible person I am and how much of a saint he is," Atton muttered.

He rubbed the back of his head. "But hey, you made it back here instead of lurking out there trying to beat my skull in. Congratulations."

Yeah, somehow Kathy didn't feel like congratulations were really in order, thanks. She just nodded, intending to retreat back to her corner with her books when she had another idea.

"Umm, who's out there?" she asked. "Maybe if we get a list going of people who we know are under his thrall we can...I don't know. Keep track?" She tucked a luck of hair behind her ear, nervous. "What he's doing makes us sick. If someone who was fighting stops showing up, it might mean that they're really in trouble."

"It's a lot foggy out there, so it's not the easiest to tell," Atton said. He was mulling it over, though. "I tangled with this woman... I think she's a teacher? Heart... something."

Edited 2015-03-25 07:23 (UTC)

"Professor Heartilly?" Kathy asked. "Dark hair? Young, pretty, may or may not have had big, white wings?"

Atton nodded. "Yeah, that one," he said, "She was real insistent on the whole 'protect mr. Gaunt' thing. Otherwise, I saw a couple of students who aren't in my class, one of the Devil's Nest bartenders, and that crazy lady with the weird teeth who keeps propositioning everyone." Beat. "But I'm not sure if she's involved or just being, you know, her."

He shrugged lightly. "Other than that, the only one I know about for sure is Sparkle," he said, "But we're keeping tabs on him."

Edited 2015-03-25 07:33 (UTC)

Navaan was hurt, Atton. The crazy lady with weird teeth? The least you could have gone with was 'the crazy lady with nice tits.' Honestly now.

"Sparkle?!" Kathy said, shocked. "Oh...I-I guess I should have known..."

Really, she should have. But she'd been clinging to the belief that she'd been helping him help a friend, when in reality, she'd been helping him steal for Mr. Gaunt.

"I'm glad someone's got their eye on him. Thanks for telling me."

He was talking to a student! He wasn't going to comment on anybody's tits!

"He's locked in his room, last time I checked," Atton added. ... With a nice pizza smear all over his window. Cough. "Shouldn't be too hard to get to him once we figure out how to do to him... whatever you did to you, I guess."

"A friend pretty much made me realize how terrible I was being," Kathy said, drooping slightly. "And after she left, I shattered the mirror that I'd bought from Mr. Gaunt."

'Bought' with stolen objects.

"It wasn't easy. Even realizing some of what it was making me--what I was choosing to do because of if, I still didn't want to break it. And after I did, I felt even worse. I'm pretty sure this is what mono feels like, if mono was combined with a hangover and both were on steroids."

Atton pulled a face. "Pretty sure Karina's already shaken Sparkle repeatedly. Maybe even stirred," he muttered.

He rubbed his forehead. "Sounds like we've got some leads here, though," he said. "Maybe there's a viable strategy in there somewhere, I don't know. I'm heading out to check on the shop again. I'll be back later to check in, see if there's anything else you guys have figured out."

If they needed a military charge planned, or an elaborate break-in, or a con, he'd be happy to help. Hitting the books, not so much his forté.

"And I've got a list to draw up and more books to read," Kathy agreed with a little nod. "Good luck, sir."

"Good luck to you, too," Atton said, rolling his shoulders. The electromesh armor was incredibly useful, but it did start to wear on you after a while. "And hey, good job, even if you do feel like poodoo right now."

Positive reinforcement. Teaching!

"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.

Joker'd been in one of Atton's classes, so he did in fact know the guy. Which was fantastic, because the kid had seemed a little fragile, physically, and now he was slightly worried.

Well, okay. He'd already been worried, and this was a tiny extra scoop of it.

"Haven't seen him, but that's not saying much," Atton said, sounding vaguely apologetic. "It's foggy as hell out there. The people I did see seemed okay... ish? Sleep deprived and crazy, but not bleeding or anything."

Admittedly, he might have a slightly twisted notion of what the word 'okay-ish' meant.

"Okay," Eleanor said, nodding quickly. "So they aren't ... hurting themselves, just standing there."

She offered her own apologetic smile. "I don't even know if he's part of what's going on," she explained. "I might be overreacting."

Atton shrugged a little. "In a situation like this, I'm not sure there's such a thing as overreacting unless you're setting yourself on fire and running down the streets, screaming about the end of days," he said.

... Yes, thanks for that, Atton.

"What was he like, last time you saw him?"

"We fought," she said, softly, wrapping her arms around herself. "He's been getting new treatments that are helping with his legs, and we were both so happy about it, and -- and then he started taking everything I said wrong, and we had this ugly argument. I'm not sure if we broke up."

It was entirely possible that Joker was a different person with functional bones, or that the treatments were making him paranoid, as a side effect.

Well... that didn't quite line up with what Atton had been dealing with - second-hand, mostly - where Sparkle was concerned. On the other hand, that Heartilly woman had been pretty combative.

But that was a fairly tenuous link, so he shrugged. "It could be," he said. "I mean, from what I hear, what's going on here is making people act out of character, usually after getting something new? Unless this treatment is real, in which case, eh, teenager, hormones."

Very helpful, Rand.

Eleanor nodded. "That's why I'm not sure," she said. "Joker isn't the sort -- he's usually far more easy-going, so even if we fight, it's not like him to just, not even answer the phone. But the treatment, I mean, it could be a side-effect, making him jittery. Once this is all settled, I'll ... see what he's like."

Atton shrugged vaguely, again. "A friend of mine got stuck in this," he said, "That started with not answering his phone, too."

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