[Action] 1st Transmission

[bot_builder]

[Jack hears the announcement, and, having nothing else to do yet, checks out the party.

After briefly popping his head through the doorway though, he quickly realizes that this is not someplace he wants to be. It's far too much like one of his parents' parties. Everyone dressed up, annoyingly small snacks, and worst of all: dancing. Ballroom-type dancing.

He shudders and slips away.

After poking about aimlessly for quite awhile, he finally finds a room that looks to be worth investigating.]

Let's see... This is... Hm. That's an awful lot of books.  Wonder why...

[He puzzles over this for several minutes before facepalming.] Ugh, it's a school! Of course there's a library. Uh, I knew that. [He glances around nervously, but doesn't see anyone. Obviously the stupidity doesn't count then!]

[Mystery solved, he's about to continue onwards before pulling up short as he realizes something: books are occasionally useful.]

[He's just going to be sitting cross-legged in the library, surrounded by slowly growing piles of political and cultural studies books.]

Comments

[rewritethis]

[Yeah, books sure are useful... when they contain any damn thing someone might actually want to read. When the only reference to a gate (not even an upper-case one!) you can find is some junk filed under Engineering, eh, not so much. Ed's had to lower his standards so much that the pile of "top" contenders trailing behind him through the library aisles contains a history book, and that's only because it mentions the word "alchemy" at all, for god's sake.

Of course, when Ed's pile happens to collide with someone else's, there's only one possible course of action. And that's not "put everything back neatly where you found it and continue looking elsewhere", if you were wondering.]

Hey. Mind moving your books?

[bot_builder]

[Jack glances over at Ed briefly, before returning to his book on that "Sorceress War" thing.]

Sure do.

[rewritethis]

Well, you don't look like you're going anywhere much, but I need to get to that shelf over there. With these books.

[bot_builder]

[He doesn't look up this time, just shakes his head. With a voice full of understanding:] Tragic.

[rewritethis]

Huh. Someone really woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

[...says Ed, without a scrap of self-awareness.

Well, if you want something done, do it yourself. Without waiting for another cheap shot, he crouches down and starts shifting the offending books (which is to say, not his) by hand. He would just step over them, but books are worth more to him than some grumpy stranger in a library. And the guy was sarcastic. It vaguely reminds Ed of a different guy he'd like to punch in the face.]

[bot_builder]

[Jack doesn't really mind the books being moved--he was done with those anyway. It's just there was no way he was going to do this stranger any favors for no reason.

He watches Ed shifting books for awhile, before asking:] Wouldn't it be easier to go down another aisle, and come up this one from the other end?

[rewritethis]

[That is an entirely salient point and Jack is temporarily Ed's least favourite person.] What, and drag all of these books down there too? What if I dropped them?

[timetours]

[What do you find in libraries?

Librarians! Doctor Librarians, to be exact. Ten can't help but wonder just why he's here in this quiet hour, when everyone else is at a party. So, here he is!]

'ello!

[bot_builder]

[Jack jumps with a terrified squeak, knocking over one of his piles.]

What?! Who--I wasn't doing anything!

[timetours]

I never said you were, and, well... I'm just the librarian. You sort of find them in libraries, librarians.

[bot_builder]

Oh. [He takes a few seconds to recollect himself, then settles back into his book-nest, looking annoyed.]

Then what are you doing, popping up out of nowhere and scaring people? I thought librarians were supposed to be quiet!

[timetours]

It'd be a funny world if all librarians were the same. Quiet, in the corner, gracing the library with the occasional "SHH"... I happen to think librarians should be more sociable.

[bot_builder]

[He glances up at the Doctor, bemused.]

You're weird.

[distantbird]

[Who is this, and why is he building a fort out of books? He's making a mess, and Raven nearly just tripped on her way to the craft shelves.]

Put the books back when you finish.

[bot_builder]

[He glances up at her warily.]

And you are...?

[distantbird]

Raven.

Put the books back when you finish.

[bot_builder]

I meant what is your capacity here. Are you a librarian, or a busybody?

[distantbird]

A cadet who nearly just tripped.

[bot_builder]

Then kindly keep your thoughts to yourself. What I do or don't do is none of your business.

[No, he doesn't stop to consider whether Raven outranks him or not.]

Obviously not in superhero uniform, for the record.

[crockshot]

[Why she's in the library is anyone's guess really. It's not a place she visits often, which might be a surprise considering how decent her marks are.]t the mini-fort of books with an unreadable look on her face. Was this guy for real?]

It's not that hard to put them back when you're done reading them.

[Ugh, guys are so lazy. Seriously what is with this?]

:D

[bot_builder]

[Jack doesn't look up, but he does frown.] Not done reading them, hel-lo.

Re: :D

[crockshot]

Then finish one before you start reading another. It's not a hard concept.

This is a library not your personal pig pen you know.

[bot_builder]

Um, they refer to each other constantly? [Ok, the real reason is he doesn't have the patience to finish reading one before he gets the urge to research some other aspect.]

Haven't you ever studied anything? It's not a neat process, y'know. [He shoots Artemis an annoyed glance.]

[crockshot]

That's no excuse to let them pile up like this.

[She continues to frown.]

Yes and I do so neatly. If you're too inept to manage that much, maybe you have no business studying in the library.

[Oh yeah, they're going to be best friends.]

[bot_builder]

It's not an excuse. It's a reason. A very sensible one.

And if you're too OCD about "neatness" to keep your thoughts to yourself, maybe you have no business being outside your room.