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Library, Thursday 7/31

The library was not a mess this week, there were no stray feathers, and even the gremlins seemed calm.

Actually, the gremlins were just asleep as Belle discovered when she did a walkthrough of the stacks. Some had borrowed the blankets that were theoretically for Gray.

Today would be a quiet day, she decided. Shelving could wait. She would just sit and read and hope no gremlins were disturbed by anyone else.

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Just talk quietly, please. The gremlins are tired!

Eleanor had been blowing through her poetry and apothecary books this summer, and Luma was absolutely terrible about returning all the novels she'd been borrowing from the library. Also, she had a tendency to treat them poorly, wearing out their spines, leaving them splayed open face-down, marking pages with dog-ears and occasionally throwing them around when the plot twists or unexpected events upset her, so Eleanor thought it was best to get them back as soon as possible, before too much damage could be done. So it was a pretty big stack in her arms when she came in, setting them on the desk with a sigh and a weary, apologetic smile.

"Hi, Belle. Are you bored, by any chance?"

"I could use a distraction," Belle said with a smile. "That's rather a lot of books, Eleanor."

"Most of them are Luma's," Eleanor explained, trying her best to hold back her sigh, "and she's had a lot of them pretty much since May. Or even April. She's terrible about remembering to return them...or...actually, I'm not even sure she understands that you're supposed to bring them back."

Belle glanced over at the door to Constantine's office. "I don't think the librarian takes much notice of due dates," she confessed. "They're back now, at least!"

That was what was important, right? And surely this library could repossess books if it needed to.

"At least they're back," Eleanor agreed, though there was a nervous edge to her voice over concerns if that would be the sentiment once they saw the condition of some of them. But she had to remind herself that that was on Luma, not her.

"How have you been, though? It feels like it's been such a quiet summer..."

Or maybe Eleanor was just missing more, with Luma taking up so much of her time now.

Belle was not going to hunt anyone down over book conditions. There was a librarian for that. Also Luma was a little scary and she did have a sense of self-preservation. Why, she hadn't thrown herself into danger in ages.

"It has been quiet."

Suspiciously quiet. Eerily quiet.

"I've been well. Reading a lot." Disappearing randomly.

"And you? Are you enjoying your workshops?"

Edited 2025-08-01 00:10 (UTC)

"I am," Eleanor said, with a soft smile. "Hard not to enjoy the Beach and trips to National Parks, and my First Aid class is helpful, especially since I'm pretty sure I might need it for my hand with all the notes I'm taking. How about you? What did you end up with?"

"Destiny and Free Will," Belle said. "And Drama, and Markets of the Worlds. It's an...interesting assortment of workshops."

That she totally went to every week. Obviously.

"First Aid seems very useful! And the beach sounds lovely. I ought to spend more time there."

Maybe there should be another beach party. Or not a party but a beach gathering. A cookout? Definitely not a barbecue because Arden would disown everyone involved.

There was a slim chance that someone could at least do it right, though!

"I can't get enough of the beach, honestly," said Eleanor, with a wistful smile that suggested that it might now be her next stop as soon as she left the library, "and I feel like I'm practically in that Markets of the Worlds class myself, Luma always has so much to say about it."

Especially when they went somewhere off planet with all sorts of aliens that helped her feel less...out of place, which Eleanor was really grateful for.

There might be someone on the island who could manage it, this is true.

"Maybe I ought to swim tomorrow," Belle said. "Or at least lie on the beach for a while."

"And the Markets class is like a little adventure every week. Seeing somewhere totally different! I'm glad your sister enjoys it as well."

"Before coming here," Eleanor told Belle, "she's barely been anywhere except the woods around our house. I think it overwhelms her more than she lets on, but I don't think anyone can blame her for that. She does like it here, though. I...think she's mostly happy with it..."

And of course Eleanor felt like if she wasn't, then that was mostly on Eleanor for not doing a better job of making sure she was, even if Eleanor also felt like sometimes it was impossible to make Luma happy.

"Has there been anywhere that's been your favorite so far?"

"She hasn't seemed unhappy when I've seen her," Belle offered. "Though of course you know her well and I don't."

"I quite liked the markets from 2 weeks ago, with the farmers. It felt familiar and not all at once. The idea of an entirely new planet is still thrilling to me."

Eleanor opened her mouth, looking like she was going to dispute something Belle had said, but then closed it again, apparently having thought better of it. It didn't really seem productive, in the end, to point out that they didn't actually know each other very long at all, especially if that just went into their turbulent history and...Belle didn't need to deal with all that, really.

"I think I kind of like it mostly here on Earth, myself," she admitted a little sheepishly. For her, it was almost thr opposite of Luma: she felt different enough here without amping it up in other places, even if other places might have more people like her.

(Her other encounters with people like her was enough to make anyone stay clear).

"But I love hearing about some of the things Kamala's done out there. I think I might like the stories more than the actual adventures..."

Too much opportunity for things to go terribly.

Belle would have listened politely at the very least but her lack of siblings would have meant her experience with such things was very limited.

"For me, this world is still sometimes quite new," Belle pointed out. "We don't have so many things at home that we have here. But stories are wonderful, aren't they? I could get lost in those. I do get lost in those."

Again, do it quietly!

He might also be napping. Who can say?

idk. this post brought to you by sleepiness.

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Library, Thursday 7/31

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