Despite long ago deciding that the library held nothing that would him come to understand his surroundings nor escaping them, Vergil still felt at home in the library and has stayed. Not many people ever came out here, if any, so it was the perfect place to be alone. He even found the time to read a couple classics in his downtime. Speaking of classics, he should probably check on that Heather girl and see if she enjoyed Alighieri.
It was at that moment, reclined in one of the chairs and reading, that the doors to the library opened. Vergil's attention was immediately drawn to it. He said nothing though, and just observed. Whoever it was that came in certainly wasn't menacing and not worth much of his attention.
"Wow," Xander breathed, as the huge interior of the library came into view. He'd spent so much time in the school library that he'd come to think of all libraries as being the same as that one - barely two stories, room for fifteen or twenty people to sit, and always smelling vaguely of tater tots.
This place... this place was no school library. "Hey, anybody here?" he called, hesitant to leave the doorway. There was so much room in here, and what better place for a vampire or zombie to hide than in the stacks? "Anybody not a zombie?"
"Yes," Vergil answered, his voice carrying from the reception desk tucked away in a corner. The reply was dry and uncaring, and he wouldn't have said anything at all if he didn't think whoever had entered would freak out and try to harm him should they discover him at a later time. With the undead shambling about, and things making others jumpy in the fog, it was unwise to be in the same environment with another person and not announce oneself.
"Whoa!" Xander jumped at the voice, falling back a pace or two into the doorway proper. Geez, give a guy a little warning first!
"Hey, I didn't see you there. On account of the hiding." Ducking his head in apology, Xander laughed off the lingering surprise and with a nervous laugh, and strode over to the desk, raising one hand in greeting as though Virgil were an old friend.
The place had a smell, Xander noticed, and he tried not to let his reaction show. It was like old wet towels, something damp and gross. Hadn't Cora said that the place had flooded? Man, this town had worse luck than Sunnydale did! "I'm Xander. Are you the library guy?"
If Vergil noticed Xander reacted to the damp smell of the library, he didn't voice an opinion. He knew the building still had a mildew smell to it, even after some of the people around town, including himself, had done all they could to save the place after the flood. When weather permitted, he usually left the doors open to try and air out of the place, but with the things in the fog lately, he didn't want to risk anything wandering in and messing up the books.
At any rate, Vergil ignored the greeting and raised one brow at the term, library guy. "I believe the term is librarian. I suppose I am, as I do live here."
A little cold, a little terse, but that was okay. Cold and terse Xander could deal with. "Live here? Wow!" he exclaimed, shaking his head in amazement. "I know some people really like books, but that's really taking it the extra step, you know?"
Wait. That could be considered offensive, couldn't it? And he was here to ask for help, too. Making fun of the guy's living arrangements wasn't exactly the ideal way to convince him to go digging through the papers piles. "Not that there's anything wrong with living here! I'm sure it's very... educational. And quiet! Calm and quiet."
If he had moved here for the peace and quiet, the environment was certainly not shaping up to be that right now. Vergil supposed this man wasn't offensive by nature, like other people he knew, but he was still quite loud and...animated. "Let us keep it that way," Vergil replied, and snapped his book shut.
He stood, finally, and came out from behind the desk. It was time to help this person find what he was looking and get him the hell out. "As I have lived in this place for more than a month, I believe that if you are looking for anything, I will definitely find it."
"Great!" Direct to the point. Oh-kay, that was just great! To business! Xander pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of the bag hanging at his side and read down a checklist, scrawled there in horrible teenage-boy handwriting.
"In that case, I'm going to need some town record-type things. The archive of the major town paper, preferably in a searchable format, birth and death statistics for the past... let's call it hundred years, and any information you have on the dishwashing undead." It was a hell of a list. Willow would be so proud. "And do you have any comics?"
What? It was important to take breaks during work!
Comics? Asking for those things was akin to asking for skin magazines; as far as he knew they weren't here. Vergil made a face at the mention of those things, but quickly reverted back to his same uncaring glare. "We do not have comics. If we did, I assume they were ruined by the flooding. The other things, though, we maybe be able to find." The stranger must have been extremely new to the town. It only took Vergil a week to go through everything. Of course, he found nothing relevant to the situation at hand. He doubt that had improved since the flooding.
He led Xander to the farthest end of the library, where the reference materials were. "I am unsure if you will find anything of interest," he began. "I have combed through the material here and found nothing pertaining to where the previous population has gone or why we are here."
Cautiously, Xander leaned over and poked the sodden mess on one shelf. Man, when Cora had said there'd been a flood, he'd assumed water in the streets. But for it to have trashed this much of the library? It was a wonder the town was still standing at all!
"Crap." Not that he'd been looking forward to spending the next eight hours digging through old town records, but without this information he was right back to square one, Square of Nothing. "Is it all this bad?"
((ooc: I checked with the mods here about what info they would find... which sounds like a big "not much". :D ))
It was at that moment, reclined in one of the chairs and reading, that the doors to the library opened. Vergil's attention was immediately drawn to it. He said nothing though, and just observed. Whoever it was that came in certainly wasn't menacing and not worth much of his attention.
Reply
This place... this place was no school library. "Hey, anybody here?" he called, hesitant to leave the doorway. There was so much room in here, and what better place for a vampire or zombie to hide than in the stacks? "Anybody not a zombie?"
Reply
"What do you want?"
Reply
"Hey, I didn't see you there. On account of the hiding." Ducking his head in apology, Xander laughed off the lingering surprise and with a nervous laugh, and strode over to the desk, raising one hand in greeting as though Virgil were an old friend.
The place had a smell, Xander noticed, and he tried not to let his reaction show. It was like old wet towels, something damp and gross. Hadn't Cora said that the place had flooded? Man, this town had worse luck than Sunnydale did! "I'm Xander. Are you the library guy?"
Reply
At any rate, Vergil ignored the greeting and raised one brow at the term, library guy. "I believe the term is librarian. I suppose I am, as I do live here."
Reply
Wait. That could be considered offensive, couldn't it? And he was here to ask for help, too. Making fun of the guy's living arrangements wasn't exactly the ideal way to convince him to go digging through the papers piles. "Not that there's anything wrong with living here! I'm sure it's very... educational. And quiet! Calm and quiet."
Reply
He stood, finally, and came out from behind the desk. It was time to help this person find what he was looking and get him the hell out. "As I have lived in this place for more than a month, I believe that if you are looking for anything, I will definitely find it."
Reply
"In that case, I'm going to need some town record-type things. The archive of the major town paper, preferably in a searchable format, birth and death statistics for the past... let's call it hundred years, and any information you have on the dishwashing undead." It was a hell of a list. Willow would be so proud. "And do you have any comics?"
What? It was important to take breaks during work!
Reply
He led Xander to the farthest end of the library, where the reference materials were. "I am unsure if you will find anything of interest," he began. "I have combed through the material here and found nothing pertaining to where the previous population has gone or why we are here."
Reply
"Crap." Not that he'd been looking forward to spending the next eight hours digging through old town records, but without this information he was right back to square one, Square of Nothing. "Is it all this bad?"
((ooc: I checked with the mods here about what info they would find... which sounds like a big "not much". :D ))
Reply
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