xp_logs | Topaz and Tabitha || Monday Afternoon (Reply)

Topaz goes to return some books and ends up going on a field trip with Tabitha. So basically it's a normal day in the library.

Topaz stood outside the library for a long moment, staring at the doors. She had to go in. She'd read every book in her room. And she had three books that she'd taken out back in May that she really needed to return.

You're bein' ridiculous, she told herself firmly as she pushed the doors open and stepped in at last.

Tabitha shoved the hand-mirror back into her desk drawer when the library door opened, pulled her blouse back up on to her shoulder. She wasn't entirely sure how she'd been bitten last Friday night, but students certainly didn't need to see her examining the mark. She positively beamed when she saw who it was. "Topaz! Long time no see, lady. How's things?"

Topaz stopped, blinking when she saw Tabitha. "Oh. Hi Ms. Smith." She'd seen the librarian fixing her shirt, but as with so many things, she'd learned not to ask questions. "Things are brilliant. Brought back some of your books." Finally, she added mentally as she swung her bag around to dig them out. "How're you?"

Tabs patted the counter for the books. "Peachy keen. Possibly better if my friends weren't so helpful, but I'm sure you understand the feeling," she said with a grin. "Oh, I'm taking suggestions for a new order of books if you want anything in particular."

That earned Tabitha a raised eyebrow, but Topaz couldn't help but smile a bit as she set the books down. "Helpful friends. Yeah, definitely heard of that. They mean well though. Supposedly." At Tabs' question she tilted her head, thinking. "Wouldn't say no to a little more Shakespeare. Or at least newer editions, the only copy of Hamlet is fallin' apart."

Tabs wrote that down. "What have your oh-so-helpful friends been up to?" she asked curiously. Not that she'd return the favor. Nobody was every going to know about the fake penis shopping.

That was okay because Topaz really didn't want to know. "Same as usual. Draggin' me out for my daily dose of sunlight. Classes startin' seems to have killed that a bit though." A small smirk pulled at her lips at that. She wouldn't admit that a small part of her might have missed the outings to the city. No one would ever get her to say that out loud.

Tabs squinted. "Sunlight? Do we even have that this time of year?" She pursed her lips thoughtfully. It's dark when I go for my morning run, and dark when I get back. It's also dark when I get out of here. So I think this sunlight you speak of is total fiction."

Topaz's eyes slid to a nearby a window. Indeed, it was already dark. "Well I haven't seen any since September myself, so it very well might be. Experience says it'll come back eventually though." Experience being one summer in the states.

"Winter is the perfect time for Boiler Beach, I probably spend entirely too much time down there from September to April. But it's so WARM," she said with an exaggerated shiver.

"Boiler Beach?" Topaz repeated, tilting her head. "What's that?" She was imagining a sandy beach full of broken boilers. Hey, stranger things had happened.

Her grin grew positively gleeful. She looked at the clock, and the lack of any other people in the library. "We're going on a field trip."

Topaz blinked at that. "We are?" Wait, don't question it. Right. "Okay...?"

Tabitha grabbed her keys and the "closed" sign from her desk drawer and led the way. "I love Boiler Beach, it's improvement was one of Forge's many projects. Stroke of true genius in my so humble opinion." She babbled as she walked, perhaps a bit TOO excited for such a simple thing.

She just shook her head as she followed, hitching her bag up more securely over her shoulder. "Forge?" Someone who used to live there, she was guessing. "Nice name." Not that she was one to talk. "So what is it, exactly? Or are you gonna make me wait until we get there?"

"Yeah, he's a a bit of a genius, and totally modest about it." She rolled her eyes at that. "But Boiler Beach is a nice place to get away from the cold and snow for a while. It's in the basement."

"In the basement," Topaz repeated. "Name's appropriate then. Guessin' it's warm down there?" She certainly wouldn't say no to that. Winter in New York was a little ridiculous.

"Warm, sand, fake sun. Even some pretty pictures." No part of the mansion could really be called run down, or dank, but the hallway to Boiler Beach was about as close as it got. Tabitha pushed open the door to her favorite getaway. "Tada!"

Topaz was understandably curious as she peeked around Tabitha, eyes widening when she saw what was waiting in the room. "...Whoa." Even just standing in the door she could feel the warmth. It was nice.

Tabs walked in, head back and enjoying the heat and artificial sunlight. "Isn't it great?"

"What's it for?" Topaz asked as she followed Tabitha, looking around and taking everything in. "I'm assumin' someone didn't just decide to build a fake beach in the basement." Although it wouldn't really surprise her.

She kicked off her shoes and settled down to sit in the sand. "A surprising number of us have seasonal affective disorder. It seems to be rather prevalent in energy projectors. This helps. A lot."

"Oh." Topaz nodded, still looking around. "Makes sense." The beach part, anyways. She didn't know enough about energy projectors to comment on anything else. She looked down, kicking at the sand.

Tabitha cracked an eyelid, then patted the space beside her. "Pull up some sand, kid, enjoy yourself. Relax."

"Ah...okay." She kicked the sand again before settling down uncertainly, letting her bag fall off her shoulders as she curled her legs up under herself. She dug her fingers into the sand, tilting her head a bit. "S'nice down here," she said after a moment.

She nodded absently. "You can come down any time you like, you know. It's not restricted or anything." Tabs stretched out her legs and just basked. She knew she had things to do upstairs, but this was just too nice to pass up.

"Really?" That was definitely good to know. "Well I'm always lookin' for new places to hide," Topaz said dryly. And this was definitely nicer than a dusty classroom.

She half-smiled at Topaz. "Books still must be returned sand-free."

That actually got Tabitha a small laugh. "I'll shake 'em out before I bring 'em back. I'm sure no one would appreciate me bringin' sand back to the suite either."

There was a good sign. "What have you been reading lately?" Tabitha asked. "I know you wanted the replacement for Shakespeare, but have you read anything published this century?"

"This century, sure." Within the last fifty years, on the other hand, was completely debatable. "Started readin' Fitzgerald over the summer but I haven't had as much time since classes started." She drew patterns in the sand as she spoke.

Tabitha laughed out loud. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but it's the twenty-first century now. Has been for thirteen years."

"Oh yeah." She shrugged. "Then no, definitely not."

"If you're looking for a more literary feel to your reading, you might try Gregory Maguire, he's written some truly meaty novels," Tabitha suggested. "There's also Life of Pi, Blindness, and Purge. All books that might meet your need for chewy writing."

As Tabitha spoke, Topaz dug through her bag, finding her journal and pen and flipping to a clean page (towards the back; she'd really filled this thing), and scribbling down the librarian's suggestions. "I've heard Life of Pi is...interestin'."

"I haven't seen the movie, but it's a nice example of the classical man versus self scenario, encased in a man vs the environment backdrop," Tabs said. "It will probably mess with your mind. So will Blindness."

"Well I do love gettin' my head messed with," Topaz said dryly as she drew small stars next to those titles. "Thanks. Might not be bad to read somethin' recently published." She blamed Alice for that -- her mother's taste had all been older titles, it was what she read.

"My work is complete," Tabs checked her watch. She could stay down here in lieu of a lunch break. Very nice. "Now relax. Enjoy."

Topaz tapped her pen against the leather cover for a long moment before settling down just a bit more. "Alright." Relax. Enjoy. She could do that, right?