[Open] A Library is Not a Luxury

[tearmeanewone]

Who: Elizabeth DeWitt, Ginko, Solas, Leonard Snart, and Library Fans Shipwide
When: After the Emirimess
Where: The Library
What: Elizabeth welcomes her new assistants! Also library mingling, petting Robbie and Rosie, go wild guys.
Warnings: SEVERE LEVELS OF LITERATURE

((What it says on the tin-- it's an open library post! :D If you actually want Elizabeth somewhere, let me know, otherwise party-style it up~))

Comments

THE FIRST STAFF MEETING [Closed to Elizabeth, Ginko, Solas, and Snart]

[tearmeanewone]

[This couldn't have come at a better time. The collection is getting larger, there are more people on the Moira, it's harder for Elizabeth to keep up and still manage to eat three meals a day. When she hears she can expect not just one assistant, but three, she's very excited.]

[After sending the three of them a message to meet at the library in the morning, she waits for them to arrive. She even brought coffee and tea! And, of course, overall she's far too enthused to be meeting the new additions to what's essentially become her home.]

[a_shadow]

[ Tex comes to the library the day after the refugees came on board. Many of them are young, and easily bored, and they ought to have something to do in the time while they're in transport. And as a certified teacher on board and someone with a soft spot for children, Tex can't help but come here and grab a few selections for them to enjoy.

She approaches Elizabeth at the desk. ]

Where's the kids' section?

[notyetsore]

[Ginko still isn't quite familiar with the layout of the ship, so it takes him some effort to find the library. Before too long, though, a small, white-haired boy of about twelve walks into the library, looking around like he's still half-worried he's in the wrong place.]

Uh... hi. I was told I'm supposed to be a library assistant?

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth is already thrilled to see someone new coming into the library, but once he identifies himself she looks even more excited. The first one has arrived!]

Yes! Yes, come in! [She gestures to one of the four comfy chairs she's dragged into the center of the main room, and moving to walk with him over to the little gathering spot she's created.] I'm Elizabeth, I've been the only librarian here for a few months, I'm so glad to finally be working with someone.

[tearmeanewone]

Ah, this way-- [Elizabeth comes out from behind her desk and walks over towards one of the lower shelves in the main room.]

We don't have too much, unfortunately, but we have a few things... [She crouches down to pull them off the shelf and offer them to the other.]

[a_shadow]

[ She inspects them as they're handed to her. ]

I don't suppose I expected to see anything familiar. Seems like a few of these are good for a range of ages though.

[armoured]

[Al has been wandering for part of each day since he got here, just trying to orient himself and figure out where everything is. He's seen a lot of interesting things already, but this takes the cake.

IT'S A LIBRARY! This is seriously like a theme park for an Elric, and he lights up with genuine enthusiasm when he sees all the books. Massive metal feet make a clattering racket as he jogs inside and starts taking down books at random.

He is soon sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by piles of books laid out in a circle around him. It's not neat, there are discarded books literally everywhere, and he may have made piles which are easy to trip over.

SORRY ABOUT THAT.]

[tearmeanewone]

A range? [Elizabeth tilts her head.] Are you planning something that requires a variety of things?

[notyetsore]

[He looks a little startled at how excited she is, but follows without protest or pause to the chairs.]

My name is Ginko... I just got here. [He frowns a bit - that was kind of obvious already, wasn't it.] I, uh... I hope I can do a good job.

[Is that what he's supposed to say here??]

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth looks up from her shelving, frowning slightly when she hears what sounds like a suit of armor racing through her stacks.]

[...nah, that couldn't be it. It's...]

[...alright she can't think of anything it could possibly be, so she wanders over to investigate. Sure enough, there's a suit of armor sitting in the middle of a stack of books, and Elizabeth nearly jumps when she comes upon the sight.]

[tearmeanewone]

Nice to meet you Ginko. [She smiles encouragingly and sits down herself.]

I'm sure you'll do fine-- and if you have any questions after I go through the basics, you can always ask. Do you want some uh... [She bites her lip. She hadn't thought that one of her assistants would be too young for coffee.] Tea?

[a_shadow]

There are some children with the refugees. I'm just trying to help keep them entertained until we drop them off. Might as well see if they can learn something while we're at it.

[notyetsore]

[He nods, a little hesitantly. Just ask. Right. Better to get it out of the way now than have to bring it up when she might be busy or something, anyway.]

Um... yeah, sure. Thanks.

[tearmeanewone]

Great! [Elizabeth pulls over the kettle and hits the switch.] It's electric-- I'm still getting used to this, but it's incredibly handy. Did you have these where you're from?

[tearmeanewone]

Oh-- that's a great idea! I might have some things for more advanced readers over here...

[Elizabeth stands up and heads to another shelf.] I don't think I've seen you in here before. Is this your first time in the library?

[armoured]

[He was engrossed in a textbook about biochemistry, but there's also a copy of Rapunzel at his feet, as well as Flamel's Codex. He only looks up when he sees the shadow fall over the page.]

Hi!

[He lifts on hand in a wave. His voice is quiet, as befits a library, but it's also bursting with enthusiasm.]

Am I in your way, did you want one of these? I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself, there are so many here that I've never seen before.

[a_shadow]

[ She follows Elizabeth as she heads to the other shelf. ]

I've never been here before. I was on the ship once before but the library wasn't here then.

[tearmeanewone]

You were? [Elizabeth frowns and turns around to give the woman another look. She might have seen her, maybe, but... the first week she'd been there was such a blur.]

And you remember being here before? What happened when you went back?

[tearmeanewone]

[...that's a young man's voice coming out of that adult-sized suit of armor.]

[...this is arguably stranger than a dragon, but the enthusiasm is going a long way to snapping her out of her stunned state.]

Oh, no, please-- [Elizabeth smiles and crouches down next to him.] --take as much time as you need. Were you looking for anything else or... did you manage to find just about everything? [She says with a laugh, indicating the piles.]

[a_shadow]

[ Tex shakes her head subtly. ]

It was just...back to my old life. Like I'd never even been here. I didn't remember it until I was in the Ingress for the second time.

[tearmeanewone]

[Well that's... horrifying. Elizabeth balks for a moment, unable to formulate anything to say while her brain races at the thought of going back to her 'old life'. No, she doesn't want that.]

Uh... [Elizabeth blinks and tries, very hard to resettle herself and reorganize her thoughts.] ...I'm... sorry you're here again, then. But in the meantime-- yes, let's find something for the children...

[armoured]

I guess I did take down a lot, huh?

[He can't help but laugh along with her, though a little more sheepishly.]

I'm not looking for anything in particular, I just wanted to see what there was. I've been in so many libraries where I'm from, but I never imagined I'd be in a place like this, so-- I guess I went a little bit crazy.

[a_shadow]

If I wasn't here I'd be dead.

[ It's blunt but it's true. ]

I kind of wonder if the first time they thought I was about to die too.

[ She reaches for the books once they're offered and flips the top one open to glance through. ]

[tearmeanewone]

That makes two of us... [She mutters.] I wonder if there's anything in particular they might like... I don't know much about the planet they're settling on, maybe if I knew that I could find something that might help ease them in.

[tearmeanewone]

I know-- I don't think one immediately considers that there might be a library on a space ship, but I'm glad it exists. If anything, it can be a familiar kind of place for some people.

[She picks up the copy of Rapunzel and smiles.] This came in about two weeks ago from the Ingress. I think you're the first person to pull it off the shelf.