(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

[deshabille]

[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?

[openhands]

[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.

[deshabille]

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.

[openhands]

[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.]