fandomhigh | Library, Wednesday

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Library, Wednesday

Peridot had a library job! Her excitement by this was pretty clear as she made her way in for her first shift today, made her way over to the returns desk, and...

...

Okay, the excitement faded fairly quickly as she looked up, and up, and up at the pile of books that needed to be checked back in and re-shelved, situated precariously overhead. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Or, at the very least, a poofing. She couldn't afford a poofing on her first day!

It would be at least an hour before she realized that step ladders were a thing. Bear with her.

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Eventually someone should tell Peridot that the fiction hadn't actually happened.

"Have you read any poetry yet? I might be able to recommend a few books. Or a novel, perhaps?"

Lucille had really good taste, Peridot.

Edited 2016-12-15 13:39 (UTC)

"Poetry is like... singing without the music, right? We learned a little bit about it in Mr. Peanutbutter's... class?"

She wasn't sure it counted as a class, honestly.

"I didn't know it came in books."

"It usually comes in books," Lucille replied, pleased to get the opportunity to explain poetry. "You can read it quietly to yourself or aloud to a friend."

Peridot tilted her head, considering this.

"I've never read aloud to a friend," she noted. "Is it more educational that way?"

Educational?

"It is more... something that brings you closer to your friend, if you share the same taste in poetry." Lucille thought of Cassandra.

"I suppose it might be the same with your beloved, or even more so." Obviously Lucille didn't think of Cassandra here, and Thomas didn't care much for poetry.

"Beloved," Peridot echoed, frowning a little. "That's a very... very human concept. Gems don't really have 'beloveds.' Or, we don't tend to. It isn't impossible, just... improbably."

It seemed to mostly be something the Crystal Gems did. Homeworld, less so.

Perhaps that might have been too complicated. "But you do have friends, don't you?" Lucille asked. "You could try to read to your friends. Or ask them to read to you."

Peridot pursed her lips for a moment in thought.

"Can you show me?"

"Of course." Lucille was pleased that her explanation had made Peridot curious. "We need to find somewhere to sit."

Then she disappeared among the shelves, finding the one for poetry. By now she knew its location well and she quickly returned with a few books. "Do you want me to start reading?"

That implied that she expected Peridot to read too.

Peridot actually caught that implication and she nodded eagerly. She wanted to read, she just wasn't sure if there was a right way to do it or not. So... a demonstration was in order. She'd happily let Lucille show her how it was done, and then she could try for herself.

Maybe it would be a way to finally start to relate with these humans she was surrounded by.

"Ohh, yes, yes! You can read, and then I'll do it too, and you can tell me if I'm doing it right!"

She really didn't want to mess this up.

Lucille was actually a little surprised at Peridot's enthusiasm, but she was of course happy to encourage her. It was understandable that she might not want to read first, so Lucille flipped through the pages of one of the books, looking for the poem she had in mind.

"This is an American poet I didn't know about until I came here," she said. "Her name is Emily Dickinson.

It was not Death, for I stood up,
And all the Dead, lie down —
It was not Night, for all the Bells
Put out their Tongues, for Noon.

It was not Frost, for on my Flesh
I felt Siroccos — crawl —
Nor Fire — for just my Marble feet
Could keep a Chancel, cool —

And yet, it tasted, like them all,
The Figures I have seen
Set orderly, for Burial,
Reminded me, of mine —"

Lucille offered Peridot the book, smiling encouragingly. "Now you can read the second half of the poem."

Peridot took the book, stared thoughtfully at the page and took a few seconds to find the place where Lucille's reading had left off. If she was suddenly feeling a little nervous, she did her best to swallow it down, though she didn't want to mess this up.

Even if she wasn't completely certain what the poem was saying.

As if my life were shaven,
And fitted to a frame,
And could not breathe without a key,
And ’twas like Midnight, some -

When everything that ticked - has stopped -
And space stares - all around -
Or Grisly frosts - first Autumn morns,
Repeal the Beating Ground -

But most, like Chaos - Stopless - cool -
Without a Chance, or spar -
Or even a Report of Land -
To justify - Despair.

She was quiet for a few seconds when she was finished reading, squinting a little. She was missing a lot of context, perhaps, as a member of a deathless inorganic race not from this planet, but she thought she could see what it was getting at. Maybe.

She glanced up at Lucille.

"The despair at the end. The rest of the poem was describing that?"

Lucille gave a small nod. "There are many reasons to despair, and poetry is well suited to express intense feelings." she said, deciding not to go into further analysis quite yet.

Peridot looked down at the book again, even more thoughtfully this time.

"Any intense feelings?"

"Any intense feelings." Lucille confirmed. At least all those she could think of now.

"So it is just like singing," Peridot said, wearing a triumphant little smile of understanding. "I can do that."

... Maybe not well, but she could.

"Well, it is similar," Lucille admitted. "But obviously there is no music and the words are more important."

She ordered Peridot one of the books. "Perhaps you would like to find a poem yourself."

"Perhaps..." Peridot reached tentatively for the offered book, opened it, and started flipping through the pages. "Perhaps I would."

She paused on one, squinted at it, and then sighed.

"I don't know what a lot of these are meant to mean," she admitted. "There are words I'm unfamiliar with. Like," she pointed at the poem she was opened to. "What's a leopard? Or a centaur?"

"You need to take more time when you read a poem to grasp its full meaning," Lucille explained, happy to share her knowledge here. "Perhaps it would be useful for you to use a dictionary for words you don't understand. A leopard is an animal, like a large cat, a fierce predator. A centaur is a creature from mythology, half man, half horse."

"And a horse is?"

Peridot understood cats! There were enough around the island that she'd at least
seen one or two. But horses... not so much.

"Or should I find a dictionary?"

After a brief pause, Lucille said: "That might be best. But perhaps you can find something of importance in the poem without knowing the specific species?"

Peridot gave a thoughtful frown, then looked again at the poem before ~~because my last link did something weird~~, reading it aloud.

When have I last looked on
The round green eyes and the long wavering bodies
Of the dark leopards of the moon?
All the wild witches, those most noble ladies,
For all their broom-sticks and their tears,
Their angry tears, are gone.
The holy centaurs of the hills are banished;
I have nothing but the harsh sun;
Heroic mother moon has vanished,
And now that I have come to fifty years
I must endure the timid sun.

She frowned at the book, then looked back up at Lucille.

"I think... I think it seems to me like he's lost something he thought was beautiful, and doesn't see any point in looking at what's left." She furrowed her brow slightly. "Or maybe he's just not a morning person."

"You see! It can make sense to you anyway," Lucille said, and added encouragingly: "I think you have a natural talent for understanding poetry."

Considering how Peridot didn't always understand very basic human things, Lucille was quite impressed.

It was strange how Gems seemed to have a sort of... sense for song. Or maybe Peridot could actually kind of relate to this one. Either way, she was smiling and preening a little, encouraged by the praise.

"I might have to start taking all of my lessons about humanity in poetry form," she decided. "Maybe I'll pick up on more."

"Oh, I think that is a very good idea," Lucille said approvingly, quite pleased that this was going so well. "I will show you the poetry section and then you can find your own favorites."

"Yessss." Peridot did a little jog in place, clearly excited at the prospect. "All of Earth's knowledge will be at my disposal!"

Peridot, you worked in a library with connections to the far reaches of the multiverse. It more or less already was.

Lucille smiled. "I will leave you to explore for yourself, after checking out some books."

This had gone better than she had expected.

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Library, Wednesday

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