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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.]

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[Movement out of the corner of her eye, you say? Why, Mal is moving just on the corner of her vision, leaning against a shelf and grinning. Smugly. So smugly. This smugness is incredibly intense.]

What's that you're reading?

[She knows, of course. Otherwise she wouldn't have bothered to say anything. But it's a little bit extremely hilarious. She wants to see if Cassandra is likely to blush.]

[The answer to that is fairly easily if one knows the right buttons to push. But as it is right now, Cassandra is too busy jumping out of her skin when Mal addresses her. She very nearly loses the book she's reading out of her hands, grappling with it for a moment in the air before she can get a firm grip on it again.]

[She then seems to have the brief realization that she's holding onto it and gives into the very strong impulse to get it as far away from her as possible by quite literally tossing it aside.]

Nothing.

[She's frowning, but very pointedly not looking at neither Mal nor the book she's thrown, resting her hands on her knees.]

[If Mal had the traditional human heart, it would have softened at Cassandra's obvious gesture of embarrassment. As it is, her heart is cold and icy and still, and she just laughs, a bright and brittle noise in the stillness of the library.]

[Trotting over to the book, she picks it up and holds it upside down by the spine, crooking her neck to read the cover.]

"Titillating Tales of the Tawdry: A Compendium of Our Most Cunning Stories".

[She raises one perfect eyebrow.]

Are they very cunning? [Linguistically?]

[Cassandra lurches forward a brief moment as Mal laughs. The tension in her would certainly be enough to launch herself at him and beat him within an inch of his life if she had her way. It's not until she picks the book up that she's immediately on her feet and lunging forward to try and snatch the book away.]

Give me that!

[Of the two people currently standing in the aisle, one of them is currently suffering from a very hot face and unable to really make eye contact at the precise moment with eyes more fixed on the floor. Cassandra would deny that it's her, but she would be lying. Terribly at that.]

[Oh gods. It's so cute. She's so flustered. Mal can't help but laugh again, holding the book up away from Cassandra and flipping through the pages as she backs away a few steps.]

"Eleanor clutched her handkerchief to her heaving bosom, looking up into Callum's deep blue eyes as the wind tossed her hair around her face. 'We shouldn't be doing this,' she whispered, though she couldn't look away.

"'We shouldn't,' Callum told her, 'but we are,' and with that, swept her up into a deep, passionate kiss." --You're reading this voluntarily?

[Even as Mal takes a few steps away and starts reading from it, Cassandra doesn't stop trying to take it back. If anything, it just makes the attempts all the more desperate. But the most she can seem to grapple onto is a shoulder and then an arm. An arm that is more resistant to Cassandra's pulling than she expected. Naturally, this surprise is not welcomed. Maker's breath, she is about two seconds from hitting him, but...]

[But it's very clear she's not getting anywhere with this. And the last thing she needs to do is draw any more attention to this than what's already been done. So Cassandra relents with a growl as she folds her arms.]

I hardly see how it's any business of yours what I read.

Well, it wouldn't be my business if you weren't doing it in public.

[But Cassandra is, and so it is. And also it would be Mal's business anyway. Everything is Mal's business. True fact.]

[She flips through a few more pages and comes to an astonishingly juicy passage. This one she reads in silence, until she comes to the end of the chapter, at which point she closes the book with a thump and mockingly wide eyes.]

Oh, my.

[Cassandra's grip visibly tightens on her own bicep, stifling yet another urge to lunge at Mal and grab the book.]

Are. You. Finished.

[It's a question still, but her tone is so sharp that the squiggly part of the question mark has very clearly been excised from the transcription of this exchange. A moment of silence is not necessary.]

[Her grin comes out again. She can't help it. She's charmed. If you're going to read trashy romance novels, why not own it? Why be embarrassed by it? She absolutely can't imagine.]

[As it is, she's helpless: she hands the book back to Cassandra with a little bow, holding off on the torment for at least three whole seconds before:]

Do they have a large tawdry romance section here? Are you going to check it all out?

[Cassandra takes the book back and holds it close to herself. There's no fear that Mal will try to take it back, but she'd rather not give any sort of temptation. And she feels like she needs something to hold onto. Even if it's the most damning piece of evidence with regards to the secret she'd rather Mal not know; at least it is in her hands instead of his.]

[She sighs as he continues with the questions. She can see there's going to be no end to his mocking.]

I doubt I will have that much time to read.

Really? Not a good multitasker, are you?

[This asked as she inspects her nails, no longer meeting Cassandra's eyes, in order to give her a bit of a break. Eventually she's got to stop blushing, right? Mal is pretty sure you can't blush forever.]

I should think, with all the time and space we've got out here, reading would be a priority, if you're into that kind of thing. Unless you're concerned about ratings?

[You just watch her blush forever, okay!!]

[No, actually, that's not a thing that will happen. Mal is no longer directly teasing her about the book and she can go back to being irritated at his cavalier attitude and smug disposition. Gradually, at any rate. Deeper shades of red fading back into faint pink.]

I could care less about "ratings." I would think an engineer, or at the very least a corporal, would have taken notice at the state of this fleet and the cause of its disrepair.

This fleet was fortunate to not experience casualties this time, but I will not leave it to chance that it remains that way. You're a fool if you believe that an unknown enemy will not return or that they will not strike harder the next time that they do.

There are far more important things that all of us should be doing in the coming days and weeks than reading books.

[Slowly her smirk changes. Doesn't disappear, of course, because a smirk is the default expression for Mal. But it changes, her eyes narrowing, her lips going thinner. She does, of course, recognize the damage to the fleet. But she still considers this a temporary stopover. She believes that her sergeant will find a way home.]

[Maybe she shouldn't be so certain. But she believes in her people. Not that she's about to tell Cassandra that.]

So it's not a matter of being a bad multitasker. You just can't sit still, can you.

[There's something vaguely approving in her voice, now.]

I cannot predict how long I will be here, but how ever long that is, I will serve to the best of my abilities. It would be irresponsible otherwise.

[Duty has been something part of Cassandra's life longer than it has not at this point. She believes in doing the right thing. And that so happens to be helping those who cannot necessarily help themselves. Would that she could, Cassandra would have all those who are not built for the battlefield to be moved away from the frontline to the Marsiva where they would be be safer while those that can take command of these smaller ships.]

[But that is not within her power, so she will do what she can and help in other ways.]

[She's is watchful towards Mal now, however, gauging his reaction. She can tolerate being mocked for her choice in literature, but something like this is too important and would very easily make or break his character in her eyes.]

[Truthfully, Mal hadn't thought of it that way until now. She really hasn't been taking this place seriously. It's been a grand adventure, really, the way she just showed up with knowledge she could never have comprehended until now, the way Polly showed up with her; like destiny.]

[She doesn't really believe in destiny. But for a few days, she could pretend as though she did. Now, with the way Cassandra is speaking, with the way she's looking at her, Mal feels a bit foolish, as though she's missed something huge right in front of her. There are people here in danger, just as there are at home.]

[She isn't, yet, as dedicated to the cause of the fleet as she is to the cause of home. But she can see Cassandra's point, all the same, and straightens up a bit as a result.]

You make a good point. I've been focusing on getting home. There are . . . people who need me there. But in the meantime . . .

[She shrugs.]

Well, why not follow your shining example and keep busy?

[Cassandra rolls her eyes at Mal's answer, but it's not as harsh and critical as before. She won't give him her direct approval, not after his attempt to embarrass her as much as humanly possible, but this is still fairly close to it. Perhaps there's hope for Mal after all and he might eventually turn out to be somewhat respectable in the end.]

That is the first sensible thing I have heard you say since we met, but I won't be impressed until I see you follow through.

I wouldn't expect you to be.

[There's a measure of respect in her voice, even if it's not a heavy measure. She has no desire to suck up, but once she's taken a measure of someone and decided they're worth paying attention to, she doesn't tend to let up paying attention to them. Frankly, she hopes that Cassandra's ready for it.]

Like I said before. You will be.

[There's probably no way Cassandra could possibly be ready for it, lbr.]

I suppose stranger things have happened, [she says as she returns to her spot on the floor.]

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read it in george takei's voice

it makes an already perfect tag better. how this?

magic

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