Need to know more (OTA, gentle nudge to library staff)

[oldknowledge]

Christopher has been around the village a couple of times now and though he saw and sensed curious and fascinating things (and beings he doesn't yet fully comprehend), he's no closer to figuring out how to return to where and when he needs to be

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[scythe_matters]

Buffy normally didn't spend a lot of time in the library. It just wasn't the same without a Giles and she was so not research girl. But she did like her light summer reading out by the pool or the beach, which was why she was skimming the titles of books.

She turned the corner of an aisle and saw a man looking at books. He had a look of Giles and what that meant was research mode rather than fun reading mode.

"Hi." She said quietly with a smile. "You kind of look like you're looking for something."

She might not work in the library or spend a lot of time there now, but she had back in the day and libraries were libraries.

[oldknowledge]

Christopher turns to look at her and get a first impression and offers her a friendly smile. "Something is indeed a good description of what I am looking for," he replies equally quietly. He won't know what it is he seeks until he sees it, really.

"Do you work here?" He can sense a strong power in her that seems unusual for a librarian.

[scythe_matters]

"No, sorry. I just spend a lot of time in libraries, researching." Technically, everyone else was researching but she did help - sometimes. "I know where each area is."

Mostly because she'd been bored and/or volunteered to get the books rather than read them.

[oldknowledge]

He considers that information. "Maybe you can point me towards the geography area then?" Which seems like a good place to start if you want to learn about a place. "Or wherever else I might learn a little about Haurvatat."

[scythe_matters]

"Ah you're new." Buffy nodded, "yep, I can show you the books about this place." She was very familiar with those. "It's a couple aisles over. There's also a newspaper office in town if you want to look through the archives there."

[oldknowledge]

Is it that obvious that he's new? Probably, yes. Whether what he's interested in will be in a newspaper, he's not certain. Books are where he sees his chance.

"Thank you, that'd be good. And I'll keep the newspaper archive in mind, too." He tilts his head a little as he speaks. "You've been here for a while then?" She might be an interesting source herself, he considers.

[scythe_matters]

"You could say that." Buffy continued to grin. "That's how I knew you were new. First arrivals always want to learn about the village and I've been here about six years."

She should feel bad about putting her Slayer life on hold but she didn't. Especially since you went back the same time and even if you didn't there were hundreds of Slayers out there now.

[oldknowledge]

"That is a while indeed." Six years. It's all relative, of course. What's six years when you're immortal?

"Do many people stay that long?"

[scythe_matters]

"Not really. Some people have been here longer, but most people come and go a lot quicker than that." She shot him a grin. "I'm a slow learner." Buffy actually didn't believe in the lesson theory but it was good for teasing jokes.

[oldknowledge]

A learner? "Do you attend the local college?" Which is rather amazing, that there are schools and a college here.

Obviously he doesn't know what to make of the learning reference.

[scythe_matters]

Buffy's eyes widened slightly at that. "Oh man you haven't heard the welcome speech. Well not an official one or anything but ... the going theory of how you leave the village is that you're supposed to learn a life lesson. Only the trick is no one knows what the lesson is and it's supposed to be specific to each person."

[oldknowledge]

"No, that bit of information was not part of the 'welcome speech' I got."

Which was more of a q&a session anyway in which he might not have known the right questions to ask. Bit this life lesson business is not really helpful, how is he supposed to find out about that in books? Also, it doesn't solve the time-problem, he needs to stop the demon before it kills Leah! He needs to get back so he can protect her.

"What else is known about getting back? Maybe there's more I haven't been told."

[scythe_matters]

"Hmm, well the highlights are you can't leave, learning a lesson, no communications outside of the village and if you try to leave you'll be bounced back or find yourself where you started. Also there's a time thing." Buffy cocked her head looking at him, "did they cover any of that?"

She didn't want to repeat what he already knew.

[oldknowledge]

"Most of it." The time thing has caught his interest, though.

"What's the time thing? I learned the time here is not the same as where I came from." He's found out about the actual local date with the help of a newspaper by now after having been given only a vague estimate upon arrival.

[scythe_matters]

"Okay, time does the wonky here or maybe out there. I'm not really sure which place it is but time stops when we left. It's like someone put our lives on a big ol' pause button and when we get out of here it's the exact time when you left." Buffy made a face because she had no idea how that worked but she offered up the explanation.

"I know some people that have been gone and then come back which also makes me think the lesson thing is wrong. But anyway, they said time did stop out there and they went back to right when they left."

It just was weird to think that if someone came in pregnant, they had the baby here and then went back pregnant again. Because how could you explain not being pregnant anymore when you left that way?

"Which would totally suck if you were still in school and you graduated here but had to go back and complete your senior year again."

OR WORSE YOU HAD TO CELEBRATE YOUR 30th AGAIN. Of course it meant that she'd be younger again when she left which was bonus.

[oldknowledge]

"That's one problem less, then." No need to figure out time-travel just now. Maybe later, it is a fascinating subject.

"And this life lesson learning is but a rumour and there might be another way out." Which fits better with his idea of having been brought here by one or several demons. Teaching him a life lesson would be an odd thing to do for a demon, unless it was a very shrewd lesson.