xp_logs | Nathan and Angelo, Monday night

Nathan comes upon Angelo researching for a paper in the library and gives him some advice.

There was an Angelo, Nathan noted cheerfully as he came through the door of the library, and the Angelo was frowning rather forbiddingly at the library catalogue. Glowering was bad. Glowering implied 'bad mood', and bad moods were to be avoided if at all possible. Nathan looked around for Shan, not seeing her, and headed over to see for himself what the problem was.

"Is it talking back to you?" he asked Angelo with a wide grin.

Angelo glanced up at him and waved, before looking back at the catalogue. "Not yet. Just won't give me what I'm tryin' to find."

Nathan looked over Angelo's shoulder at the screen and made a thoughtful noise. "Looking for stuff for your essay for my class, I see... you'd decided to do the Mongols or something, hadn't you?"

Angelo nodded. "'s right. An' I think someone else must've gone for that too, or somethin', 'cause the books just aren't here."

"Typical. The Mongols are exciting, after all," Nathan said with a grin. His telekinesis flickered over the keyboard, entering another title. "Ah-hah," he said with relish as it came up, showing that it was still in the library. "Shan had been looking into getting this one for me - I guess she must have found it. 'Mongols, Huns and Vikings: nomads at war'. You were most interested in the military side of things, right? This is precisely the sort of book you need."

Angelo nodded again, grabbing his pencil and noting down the book's location. "Thanks! So that's one..."

"Start with that one," Nathan said briskly. "I picked it because it's a good reference work, which means a big bibliography. You can get some more references from it. If it's stuff that's here but isn't in, ask Shan - I'm sure she can ask whoever's got a given book out to please be nice and share." Nathan grinned. "And if it's stuff we don't have, let me know. I was thinking of organizing an outing to a better library in the city, since so many of you in that class need more than what we have here."

Angelo grinned back, leaning back in his chair. "That'll do me for now, then. An' a trip to a bigger library could be good - just not Illyana's kind of trip", he finished mischievously.

Nathan rolled his eyes, but didn't stop smiling. "She'll probably write me a brilliant paper, just to rub my nose in the fact that her little cat burglary stunt had solid academic benefits," he said cheerfully. "Ah, well."

"I don't think Illyana'd be happy with anythin' less than a brilliant paper even if she wasn't researchin' in Moscow", Angelo answered lightly.

"You're probably right." Nathan gave him a thoughful look. "You going to let me take a look at your rough draft?"

Angelo grinned. "If that doesn't count as cheatin', sure I will."

"Hey, I made the offer to everyone, and I meant it. Writing a proper history or political science paper - " And most of the papers the kids were going to produce in this class were one or the other. " - is something you have to learn to do. You don't start off able to do it."

Angelo nodded. "Good point. I will do, then, when it's done."

"Good," Nathan said with a grin. "I'm looking forward to seeing it." He gestured at the computer screen. "Like I said, start with that one, see what else is here."

Angelo grinned, standing up and picking up the paper with the details on it. "Guess I should go find it now then, before somebody else does."

"First rule of successful research," Nathan said with a laugh, sitting down in the chair as Angelo vacated it. "Be the one to grab the damned book first."