(no subject)

[ladiesss]

Who: Krista & YOU
Broadcast: Video!
Action: For all library visitors!
When: NOW?

[the fleet's resident, soft-spoken teen goth shows up on screen... backed by several bookcases filled with books! and maybe a couch back there. she waves, awkwardly.]

Uh, hey guys. Good news, the Bishop's library actually made it through the whole space-fight thing pretty well. The electronic tracking system is still down, but that's why people invented pencils and stuff.

[she gives the camera a funny look.] --No, actually, I'm pretty sure it's... the other way around. ... So nevermind.

[she holds up a very... charred-looking book. it had a red cover, once.]

The bad news is that "The Romantic History of the Galactiplastic Sector 9" totally bit it. So, uh. If there was a waiting list, we're gonna have to put this one on hold for a while. Alternatively, if anyone would like to play a little funeral tune, now's the time.

[she just. drops it flat on the floor. it's dead to her.]

So, um, for everyone who doesn't know... Me and a bunch of other people around here have been putting together a little library in the spare room on the Bishop... The ship's still kind of a mess from the fight, but anyone's welcome to come in and read or check out books, or whatever. We take donations and basically whatever stuff people bring us.

And we've got beanbags. And little lights that go "wowowo..." [accompanied with a little finger-wiggle and a totally straight face.] So if you're into that. This might be your jam.

---

[alternatively, if anyone comes to visit the library--it's a personnel room that's been outfitted with lots of bookcases, a couch, a table covered in archival materials, and several beanbags that you can drag around and sit in...

the collection is still small, but there's a little something for everybody! fiction, nonfiction, history, magic, charts, maps, comic books, whatever. Krista's around, probably putting books back on a shelf.]

Comments

[ladiesss]

Okay, okay, okay. Calm down, skippy.

[yeah she's just gonna cut him off before this gets worse.]

Go ahead and bring them over. We'll take a look at them.

action?? why not

[noctiphile]

Excellent! The bishop, correct? I'll be over soon.

[AND THERE HE IS eventually. Poking his head into the library carrying an impressive stack of books pinned between his arms and chin. They threaten to fall as he shuffles in and he nearly spills the books onto the table. But! He doesn't! They're all in one, jumbled stack of uneven spines.]

There we are aaaand—[He plucks a book from the top. It's, to be frank, gorgeous. Embossed and engraved and covered in leaf. He hands it to her with a smile.]—here you are! The Moonmaker's Manifesto. One of the rarest books of Abeo. Or was it Adsum? Hm. I suppose it's not important. What's matters is it's a donation, from me to you. Well, from me and another. Do you know of Tek?

hell yeah hell yeah

[ladiesss]

[ha ha well this is a little much all at once. she was barely at the "figure out who this guy is" stage before there are suddenly books threatening to topple over! but before she can even open her mouth or move forward to attempt helping, they're on the table and he's talking at her and now there is a book in her hand and wow it's gorgeous and wait why did he--]

I-- [she's looking up at him, eyes a little wide. looking vaguely bewildered.] Yes?

[noctiphile]

He helped me take it. Told me of you, as well. [His babbling slows and finally he actually seems kind of composed.] You could say the gift was his idea. Probably thought you'd take good care of it.

[He tucks one hand behind his back and glances around.] Seeing your work here, I'd have to agree. You've an impressive collection, considering how rare books are. How are you categorizing it? [And now he's flitting away, peeking between shelves and books, searching an mumbling while he waits for an answer.]

[ladiesss]

Wait, wait, wait. [she... is following him, because she can't raise her voice. she's very soft spoken, but it's not because she's shy.] Tek helped you steal a book... For me.

[noctiphile]

Well, [he straightens. Frowns. Studies her quickly.] I think it was more for fun, to be honest.

[ladiesss]

[...she puts her hand on her hip.]

Tek convinced you to steal a book for fun.

[noctiphile]

[He pauses, glances back, eyes flicking to the hand on her hip. Was someone in trouble?]

Of course. Why else would one steal? [A beat.] Well, aside from wanting.

[ladiesss]

Oh my god. [she just holds up this gorgeously bound thing, frowning.] You can't just-- You can't just steal something! What is wrong with you?

[noctiphile]

[He pauses. Turns halfway and looks her up and down.] I can, actually. Steal something. The book is proof as is—[he points to the rest of his books]—all that. And, I'll have you know—[He takes a step forward now, hands folded behind his back.]—that before it was justly liberated that beautiful book was sitting behind a dusty glass case, untouched. Probably for, oh, I don't know—a couple years, at least. Now, am I a thief, or am I a savior?

That's a rhetorical question, I'm the latter.

[ladiesss]

Uh.

[she has something to say to that--but she stops halfway through a sassy "the" and bites her lower lip. she's got the unimpressed look that only a teenage girl can manage.]

Well, I can see why Tek likes you.

[noctiphile]

[he seems equally unimpressed, holding his hand out.]

If you're so against its procurement, I'll take the book back. Perhaps you can tell Tek why you rejected it. I'm sure he'll be... sympathetic.

[ladiesss]

Oh, please.

[sassiness rising. she pulls the book back in towards herself.]

I'm not the one who's gonna get in trouble if this gets found. Besides, Tek likes me.