so good night unto you all - LIBRARY RETURN

[libraryassistants]

Who: The Editors, one and all
What: The fight is over, the pieces remain... and the Editors head back 'home'
When: Dawn of the Final Day Sunrise after the attack
Where: Leaving Montica, back to the Library
Content warnings: Please make sure to put CW in headers!

By the time morning comes around again, the fires are beginning to die down, thanks to the many efforts of the citizenry to keep them under control. The rebel vampires too have been largely dealt with. These two seemingly insurmountable obstacles were only possible thanks to a combination of factors: the Umbra not being as blind to their human servants as their opposition would have thought, defectors from the Orlocks who were able to counter-act some of their magic, the following Amalia gathered and deployed from Laurelthirst, some suspicious (though welcome) help from suspiciously new arrivals, and of course, House Guildulf throwing their own into the fray to ally with the vampires for this confrontation.

A unity the likes of which Montica has never truly seen.

As the sun rises, there are few left who are able to fight at all; the rebels are beaten, and even the forces built up by both the vampires and werewolves are exhausted or diminished, leaving no one able to take advantage. Citizens of both sides flee indoors, and the remaining rebels are forced to vanish into the woods once more, weakened and unable to strike again any time soon. But there are still repairs to be done, physically and otherwise. Will this unity last beyond tonight? Will young love and youthful hope prevail? Those are the questions that settle over a weary Montica, as light pours into the city once more.

And then, the world begins to fade, static taking over the senses, as the Editors return to the Library.

Welcome back, Editors

It looks much the same as they left it, though the makings of a masquerade are no longer arranged as finely, a few scorch marks here and there, and for some reason there’s some amazing optical illusions on the floor panelling that makes them look like actual manhole covers. Alas, no sewers lay beneath. It may still take Actors a bit of time to shake off the old-new memories, and for some reason the fluorescent lighting seems harsher on the skin than it has any right too. Good thing that the stacks cast long shadows.

The customary tea cart is set up in the Lobby again, and it seems some improvements have been made. The coffee still isn’t strong, but’s far more drinkable than it has been, and there’s an added decaf option now! The tea has still been overstepped, and the stale cookies have been replaced by scones that are hard as rocks, but clearly someone’s getting the message that there are improvements needed. Clearly the tea cart was the place to start.

If someone for some reason doesn’t want stale scones, there’s also a child sized food truck in the lobby, with a sign out front boasting a variety of tamales, including: black beans and cheese, birria, chicken, fire scorpion, man suffering to death via battle wound, and beef. Upon approach, what look like fuzzy puppets pop up to… take your order? They don’t say much, or rather, they make a single noise over and over that seems to be them communicating, but the tamales are good. Just… don’t try to look in the truck. They’ll screech, vanish, and then no tamales for you.

Meanwhile, the bulletin board has a cheerful sign decorated with colorful blocks, declaring: “Join us in the Children’s Area for Lego Club!” Upon locating the room in question, Editors will discover boxes among boxes of legos of various shapes and sizes. There are some ‘how to’ guides for various builds (including a ‘research space ship’ and a ‘vampire’s castle’), but also plenty of encouragement for people to make their own creations! Unlike normal creations, these will actually stick around for a while after they’re finished, and there’s a nice little table where people can display and share what they’ve made.

The Assistants, it seems, are nowhere to be seen: the ‘back in 5’ sign is still in place at the help desk. Still, even without their ‘helpful’ guidance, some facets of the Library may come more easily to some in the aftermath of Montica’s troubles.

[Due to the resolution of the Story, any skills tagged Archivist in the skill tree cost one less skill point (minimum of 1) until the next Story. This can stack with a normal Archivist bonus!]

Comments

[defyingreality]

The spiky bit of paper smacks X in the face, spends a couple seconds rolling off of him to fall down into the folds of his suit. It takes a few more seconds for him to react.

"Ouch."

And there was another moment or three before he actually blinks, and then moves, swiping up the bit of paper and starts to play with it, colors and shapes rolling over it until he tosses it back at Wreck - this time looking more like a paint splattered pigeon. With four legs.

"My day job is an data analyst. Numbers are easy."

[awreck]

Oh. Wreck's eyebrows raise in faint disbelief when he realizes his wad of paper actually hit X. He figured X would just duck with supernatural speed, or hit it back at him. Not... let it hit him directly in the face.

Wreck catches the paper when X returns it to him, staring down at it and coming to the incorrect conclusion that it's a dog with a bobbed tail.

"I didn't think you of all people would be bothered by any of this. Not that I don't think you're as human as the rest of us, but..."

Wreck looks from the colorful paper to X and, deciding he should be at least a little mature, he comes over and sits a few feet away from him with his back to the wall.

"...Are you bothered? Or are you just bored?"

[defyingreality]

Trying to drag his mind back, trying to remind himself that he does actually have a physical form is something he doesn't really tell people. It's like his real identity or his job and the hundred and one different things that makes up his inner reality. But the Library wasn't home and he wasn't going to ignore that others might need to know.

"When my ability first woke up, it felt like I was both dissolving into space and the world's biggest drum stick was using my skull as cymbals. Sometimes I can ignore the faint feeling that everything is just -" he waved his hand and the nearest blanket turns into something like slime before snapping back "- not real enough, but the Library switches too fast. It gives me such a headache."

Bored? He glances at Wreck and then chuckles, rubbing a hand over his face and pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. "I want to be bored. I like being bored."

[awreck]

Wreck scribbles absently in his notebook, more of a sketch than the words he meant to write. Although his face is looking down at the notebook, he does cast his gaze toward the blanket when X warps it.

"You like being bored," echoes Wreck dully. "Well. I can't say I blame you. Things are a lot easier when you're bored, even if it makes things drag on."

With some effort, he manages to avoid sighing.

"...So, how are you holding up after everything?" Because it looks like not well.

[defyingreality]

"Well, even heroing can be boring," he said with a sigh and slouched against the wall. Taking out a coin, he started rolling it between his fingers, the steady rhythm soothing in a way.

"I spent a lot of time drunk," he replied after a moment, flipping the coin up, and catching it on his other hand, letting it dance anew through his fingers. "It was easier; the headache and the words were part of the whole drunk thing. I think I did turn a piece of the forest into a candy land though. I hope the spiders enjoy it.

"You?"

[awreck]

"I wouldn't know anything about that," he says with a hollow laugh. Sure, he's technically a 'hero' in the broadest sense of the word, but they both know he doesn't do proper hero work.

"Wow. Who'd have thought it was actually possible to drink away your problems?" He watches X toy with the coin. It's better than listening to X rattle of numbers, he supposes.

"Me? I can't say I hate this place. It's better than the alternative, after all." An alternative the Story didn't let him think about for quite some time. Which was nice, but it left him with a set of different problems.

"I'm glad my nose isn't as sensitive as it was as a werewolf or whatever. I'm glad to be out of there. I get to be myself again...."

[defyingreality]

"I suppose you wouldn't, though I bet it got boring to wait for when you can make another appearance."

All those staged fights, how much thought was placed in them to prop up Nice and have Wreck play punching bag? All that time and effort with long waits while they pushed Nice over and over again. X let the coin drop into the palm of his hand and closed his hand. After a moment of flickering energy he opened his hand and the coin was a tarot card - The Hanged Man. Another flicker and it became one of those insanely popular embossed trading cards.

"I'm a light weight; drinking just makes me really sick," he added as the card flickered back into a coin. "Are you going to keep the werewolf stuff?"

[awreck]

Whatever Wreck had been doodling ends up ruined by X's initial comment as he drags the pencil across the page so firmly that the lead tears through the page. There's a hardness in his eyes, not necessarily born from anger, but rather annoyance at how true the comment really was. Toward the end, he'd spent so much time in his apartment just waiting around.

He watches X transform the coin into a tarot card, and then again into something else. A trading card? He'd be impressed if he didn't already know that X could basically do anything except for lose.

"I'll bear that in mind." He tears out the page he ruined and crumples it up, setting it aside before he presses his pencil against the notebook again. "I hope not. I was way hairier than what's acceptable for me, and I could smell everything. I'm perfectly fine being a normal human being. And besides, all that would mean is..."

He trails off, sighing. Instead of finishing, he only adds, "I'm not keeping them, and the Library better not force me to because I'm not interested."

[defyingreality]

What a waste of the potential that was Wreck. His ability? His timing? Wasted. Even if they wanted to sideline Nice because of Smile, they really should have thought things through better. X clicked his tongue, tired of the coin and instead started to shape the nearest blanket - overly fluffy, thin, twisted, rainbows, flowers.

"I think we have some choices of what to accept and what not to," he said, the blanket turning into laced ropes, then back to a blanket. "What would it mean?"

[awreck]

"Tch. You're nosy, aren't you? I didn't think you'd be such a gossip." Although he wonders if maybe it shouldn't be surprising.

To be honest, he feels like X already figured it out and is just being nice by asking. So, in spite of himself, he answers him.

"It means I was a werewolf in that Story. Nice was a vampire. You can put two and two together." He pauses for a moment as his pencil sketches the iconic design on the back of Nice's cape. Well, it's iconic to him, anyway. "Speaking of, can you do me a favor and not bring up the Story to Nice? I don't think he's... very happy with what he experienced. So I'd appreciate it if you just didn't mention it."

[defyingreality]

"You'd be surprise just how much gossip I get in FOMO. I think there's at least four of my fans there gushing about what they think I can do."

He had a feeling, and of course Wreck fills him in on the details. As he talks, X picks up the crumbled paper and starts to shape it into various forms, treating it like it was water more than anything else.

"If he talks about it, it would be under his own power. I don't have any reason to force the issue."

[awreck]

Only four, huh? Wreck doubts it's so few. He honestly wonders if regular citizens who dislike X even exist. Doesn't seem like it with how big the crowds are whenever X makes a rare public appearance.

"...Thanks." His tone is a bit softer, tinted with genuine appreciation. "So. What's your verdict on the Library? You already know why I prefer it here, but I wonder if you feel the same."