bridgescribble | Take a look, it's in a book

The Magic Library

Haunted: There are ghosts in the stacks, and they are definitely disturbing the other patrons.
Way into this book: No, literally--you are now in this book. Maybe it's the Great American Novel or maybe it's a suspense thriller. Whatever the plot, the only way out is to see it to the end.
The characters are so real...! and in front of you, demanding your attention. That could be the other person in the thread! Or it could be frickin' Sauron.
Dynamic Dewey Decimal: The shelves in here are curiously mobile. Whether you see it happening or not, it's soon obvious that the place has become a maze--and you're in the middle.
Forbidden section: Every good magical library has one. Eldritch runes, lurking curses, a necromancer who's been waiting for someone to read him back to life--it's all in here, waiting to be uncovered.
Magic for Dummies: Ever wanted to learn magic? Great! There's a bunch of easy how-to books right here! They're a little light on safety precautions, though....
Sir you need a library card for that: You work here and you're trying to deal with an unruly patron... and the library is still magic. This is the most harrowing prompt on the list.
Magic library? Really? Somehow, you are having a completely normal-ass time in here. That's remarkable in of itself.
Wildcard!

[People showing up who are odd in some way probably isn't anything unusual. The guy walking through the stacks with a confused look on his face right now isn't breathing or blinking. So what? What really matters is that he's lost and needs help.

Right?]

The thing with the Branch being open 24/7 was that sometimes the local transients came in to wash up or sleep it off at all hours, and generally it wasn't a problem. Sometimes they were human, sometimes they weren't, and as far as he was concerned it all came out about the same anyway, and he wasn't going to judge, he'd been there before he'd gotten the job, but that was neither here nor there.

Regardless, he caught the look of confusion before the lack of breathing, in fact he probably wouldn't notice that for a while yet, instead he just gave a short little wave from the information desk, "Hiya. You, uh, need help finding something? Looking for somebody?" If he was, well that might be a different kind of problem as at least two of the staff and a handful of the regulars had had issues with stalkers in the past.

"Information. I'm...trying to find out about undead things that aren't vampires." Angel's voice is a muffle rumble like thunder, and he walks with a little bit of a hangdog posture, like he's already bracing to be kicked out or yelled at. "Most normal libraries, they just laugh at you, if you ask for shit like that."

"Mm-hmm, or direct you to a woefully tiny folklore section, I'm familiar." He smiled easily then, "Lucky for you we aren't a normal library." He nodded once, swinging his seat around to prepare to enter the search parameters "So, are you looking for immortal and undying? Or back from the dead like a zombie or a lich? Or back from the dead like a ghost or a poltergeist?"

There would be other specifications upcoming, but narrowing things down from the top always helped.

"Closest to a zombie or a lich, I think. More intelligent than a zombie, but also not the mind that was there when the fucker was alive. Definitely corporeal, though."

He gives the universal wibbly-handed gesture of 'I'm approximating, it's all kinda complicated'.

His brow furrowed, already tapping away a few key bullet points, "So more like some kind of corporeal possession? Hm."

A little shake of his head followed, "Next question, is this happening to you or someone you know? Or is it just theoretical for informational and historical research purposes?" He lifted a hand, something like an apology, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but it will help narrow things down."

[ooc: Sorry about the delay, it's been a busy few days up to and including getting a tooth yanked out of my head (on purpose! It was scheduled, not just random traumatic accident)]

[ooc: seriously no problem. I’ve been slow myself while sick and catching up from being sick.]

“Corporeal possession. Yeah. That sounds about right.” Angel huffs a heavy sigh, which looks pretty funny on someone who isn’t breathing. Silent, too.

“And. Yeah, it’s me. I’m…yeah. Trying to figure my shit out.”

To his credit, there was no outward reaction aside from another nod and a quick glance at the young man before returning his gaze to the screen in front of him, "Good to know, next question, is it in regards to a current or ongoing situation, or looking for insight into something that happened previously, and again, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's just to narrow down where we start looking."

If he hadn't caught on yet that this was definitely not the normal kind of library, a question like that would probably tip the balance.

[ooc: okay I'm going to stop apologizing and just say life is coming at me hard and sudden, and I'm snatching time to write where I can, I 100% understand if it's too slow and you need to drop.]

"I mean. It's...yeah, ongoing, I guess is what you'd call it."

He realizes at this point that he's going to be unfolding everything for the Librarian, at some point, but he's still nervy about laying all the cards on the table. It's not something that's easy to talk about.

Maison just nodded once, inputting that data point before letting the computer do its thing, snagging a card off of a pile to write down the titles, authors, and shelf codes, "Okay, these are all in the same section, upstairs, and that's an area that you'll need a staff member with you."

A flash of a smile, "Safety precaution, and lucky for you, I'm available, let me get the sign up." This was, apparently just a 'back soon' sign that he set up on the edge of the counter as he unfolded from his seat, nodding towards the elevators, "Let's go."

“For the safety of the books or the patrons?” Look, it feels like a fair question, given the vibes here. He follows regardless of the answer, hands in the pockets of his well-worn jeans.

"Oh six of one, half dozen of the other." He replied, giving a little shrug, waving Angel through once the doors opened, thumbing the button once they were inside.

The upstairs portion of the library, at least the section they stepped out in, was much the same as the downstairs, well lit, rows of study desks separated from each other with honeycomb style partitions down the central section and shelves all labeled and numbered.

It wasn't the Dewey system, but it was something similar, given as how Maison seemed to know exactly where he was going, trailing his fingers along the edge of the shelf once they were in the right section, pulling down three books to hand them over, "The first two have secondhand accounts, people close to people who were believed possessed, the third is, uh, more technical? Definitely more of the nuts and bolts and how it might happen. You can sit wherever you like, I'll be here if you've got questions."

Take a look, it's in a book

Playing by ear, roll with me?

Sure!

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