Library, Monday

[intotheout]

Tip was on a bit of a history kick today at the library, thanks to a book her mother had sent her full of historical fiction about American teenage girls -- most of them girls of color. She'd stayed up much too late the night before to finish it -- the second to last story was about the Black Panther movement, and it wasn't like she was going to just put it down almost finished after that one, even if it was two AM.

So it was a slightly groggy Tip at the circulation desk today, sipping from a very large Perk to-go cup and reading about the golden age of piracy, the Yukon gold rush, and the 1968 democratic convention. Fandom's library had some fascinating first-hand accounts of all three -- including at least one of someone who was involved in all three.

Time travelling immortals took all the mystery out of historical research.

[open!]

Comments

[in_sidon_we_trust]

The note on the door for Mythology class had said to go read his favorite mythology book, but Sidon, unfortunately, had no books. They weren't exactly a popular item in a water-based society, after all! But, being a good student, he didn't want to just blow the instructions off, so here he was, in the library, where he knew many wonderful things might await him.

It was also lovely to see a familiar face to help him.

"Salutations, Tip!" he greeted her in a voice that was very distinctly not library classified. "How are you on this marvelous day?"

[intotheout]

Tip would honestly be surprised to learn that Sidon had a library-classified voice. "Hey Sidon," she greeted with a small, tired smile. "I'm good. What's up?"

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"I have come in search of a book on mythology!" Sidon announced, though his head tilted a little at her smile. "Are you alright? You look as though you might be a little tired, if you don't mind me observing so."

[intotheout]

"I'm fine," Tip said, waving his concern off with another little smile. "Stayed up too late reading. Again. We can totally do mythology books, though. Any particular tradition?"

Tip was in the mythology class, too, but clearly wasn't as gung-ho about doing the assigned reading, today.

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Clearly, she'd been doing more than enough if it was interrupting her sleep patterns!

Sidon smiled. "I was thinking perhaps you could help me find something on the Irish people," he said. "It seemed appropriate, what with the past holiday. I am particularly curious about a thing called a leprechaun. Paris was telling me about it when I found her surrounded by the leprechaun's cereal in the common room the other day, and it's gotten me most curious."

[intotheout]

Ah, but it wasn't the assigned reading. That made all the difference.

Tip had to suppress a smirk at that. "Paris eats lucky charms, huh?" How gauche. "I bet we have loads on leprechauns. Possibly even a live one living somewhere in the back of the stacks." Probably not, but in Fandom, you literally never knew. "Let's go take a look."

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"Well," Sidon felt it important to clarify the point, "she wasn't eating them so much as that she was merely buried in them...but how incredible would it be if there were actually one here for us to meet after all! That would be even more enlightening than a book, I'm sure. Have you ever had the chance to meet a leprechaun before, Tip?"

[intotheout]

"Nope," Tip said. "And judging by Fandom's reputation, it'd be, like, somehow totally terrifying if we did. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow would end up being code for some kind of cannibalism or something."

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"Pot of gold?" Sidon asked. "Rainbow? Cannibalism? Oh," he danced a little, hopping on the balls of his feet with excitement, "how thrilling!"

[intotheout]

"Um," said Tip, backing away just a little to make sure she didn't end up accidentally under those very large feet. "The last one's not really part of the legends, I don't think. But yeah, they're supposed to be hoarding gold at the end of a rainbow, and if you catch them, you can make them give it to you. Or something."

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"What an interesting idea!" Sidon remarked. "As small hatchlings, we'd sometimes play at catching rainbows back home. Rather easy to do on sunny days with all the splendid, cascading waterfalls at nearly every turn, but to find someone to give you gold at the end of it after the sport of catching them! Marvelous! I swear, I shall never cease to be fascinating by the lore of this world. Although...now that I think of it, I do believe I've heard a Hylian tell a tale of a mysterious creature that roams the forests of Hyrule that might bestow treasure upon whoever might apprehend it, but I doubt it would be gold. Gold does not have the value back home as it seems to possess here."

[intotheout]

"Around here it just about makes people go insane," Tip said, thinking of her reading about the Yukon gold rush. "How did you catch rainbows? They're just light."

[in_sidon_we_trust]

"We never actually caught them," Sidon admitted with a faint, wistful smile. "We would just play at it; it was make-believe. Although my sister had me convinced for the longest time that she could actually do it. Come to find out later, when I was a bit older and wiser, that she would find opals in the water or among the rocks of the mountain and hold them just right that they looked like rainbows in her hand!" He couldn't help laugh at the fond, bittersweet recollection. "She was so clever, always having the time to play and delight her little brother despite everything weighing on her small shoulders..."

[intotheout]

"Siblings are really like that, huh?" Tip asked, a little wistfully. "I mean, I've read about stuff like than in books, but half of what goes into books is a total lie, so."