(Sink or Swim) Homework

[Star]

Jul 2014

From Nous to Star

Jul 2014

(Sink or Swim) Too Close

Sep 2014

(Sink or Swim) Too far

Dec 2014

(Sink or Swim) Scrambled Eggs and Hash

Jan 2015

(Sink or Swim) Homework

What was the deal with books?

Lately, it was books. Here a book, there a book, everywhere a book book. Books are pretty cool. True story. But it was still strange. He was an Illusionist, Jim, not a Librarian.

Omar's book dredged up memories. Made things real. The things you forget, the things you ignore, filing away to Deal With Later. Being 'Okay' with something isn't dealing with it. Everyone is a library. Every experience, a book in that library. Pop Quiz: What's the biggest section in the library?

The book was in the backpack, and the backpack was shouldered, because the book was kind of heavy. Not heavy as in full of deep things, but heavy as in, wow, that's awkward to stand around holding. Like a bag of dog food. A real bag, not a lunch sack.

Hands collapsed the deck he was working, and he rapped the spine of it against Zoey's door.

Because Top Secret Guardian, yo.

[Zodiac]

She had days off, right?

Wrong. Even when she wasn't working, she was working. It was just how she worked.

"Come in!" was the response that came to the knocking even as Zodiac worked in the less methodical, adult way that she normally did. Papers were spread out across a rug on her floor, where the older woman lay on her stomach in a well-worn pair of jean overalls and a simple black long-sleeved shirt, jotting notes down into a book as she sifted through a variety of different images of new pieces to the SMCC's collection. Backlog. Woohoo.

Eventually she'd have to make her way to her I'm-A-Herald office space, which would require a change of clothes and taking her hair out of the messy bun - really, the look almost made her look younger, if it weren't for how clearly dated the overalls were - and deal with being miss-professional. But right now, she was at home. Comfort was more important than presentability at home.

[Star]

"Hey I got some Guardian homework!"

The shout was probably a millibel under the volume of a jet engine. He was not a yell-er, but he yelled that. Better Safe Than Sorry. Disappearing into Zoey's room? Yeah. Make the Reason Why Super Clear, yo. Because.

Mostly because if not for We, he'd still hit that like a tree on Endor.

And you never know who's Scrying.

"Dude, overalls?" Well. At least they weren't yoga pants.

"Uh, anyway, you got a sec? Nous said I should talk to about this book thing."

[Zodiac]

If she were the type, Zodiac would have allowed herself a facepalm at Star's less-than-subtle announcement. That didn't stop her, however, from pushing herself into a seated position and raising an eyebrow at him. "... very subtle," she finally sighed at him, looking mildly amused. "Come on in, I always have time for books. Especially if Nous is sending you my way..." Or would make time. She was enjoying being busy...

"And hey, these overalls are special," she added with a small smile, seeming a bit on the casual and relaxed side by her mood, as well. She gestured lightly to a pair of patches sewn onto the front of the overalls, which were visible now that she wasn't laying on her stomach. A teddy bear graced one, holding a little red balloon with a heart-shape on it, and the other patch boasted a kitten surrounded by daisies. She hated daisies, truth be told, but hey... it wasn't really about what was on the patches, so much as who put the patches there.

[Star]

"Subtle... Subtleness? Subtle-ty? Whatever. So overrated."

Nobody needs scrambled eggs for brains, yo. It wasn't like it was some Top Sekrit that they were Guardians, right? An eyebrow raised at the bear and kitten. No, he wasn't staring at her chest. That was Falstaff's gig. It was just... odd. Like, sudden urge to take a picture odd. Then whenever Zoey went Full Metal... Zoey... whip it out. The picture.

"It's cool. I get it. I mean, I have some t-shirts that I like. But, I dunno, probably not as much as you like those. Mostly they're just souvenirs. Concerts? But one of them reminds me of the best roll I ever had." The backpack slid off of a shoulder as the words burbled.

See this? Omar's Tome of Mysteries.

"But, uh, anyway. Some banger," Shhhhh, Omar. It's okay. Nobody's forgotten your name. "He had it. I saw some sigils, but I didn't recognize them."

A slight shrug was admission enough that he wasn't an Atlantean-o-logist.

[Zodiac]

Her fingers wiggled as she raised her hands for the book. "Ohhhh, sigils?" She patted the floor with a wide smile before returning her hands to a raised position with which to accept the book from him, clearly excited by the notion. "Let's see what we can sort out with it, hm? You up for some studying?"

Papers went away, though a notepad remained out for her to work with. This was her thing, after all, and before she set about weaving magic into her pattern to augment her to her full potential, she was going to take a look at it through mundane means. Well, as mundane as her sight ever got with the weavings of her attainment holding to her.

[Jhet]

The book, that was owned by the man formerly known as Omar, is old. A few hundred years at least. It's about the size of one of those coffee table books that's filled with pictures of interesting places in high gloss finish. There aren't pictures in this book. There are diagrams and plenty of words talking about those diagrams.

The text inside is a mix of a few different languages, and some study will be required to sift through it all.

Make a Wits+Academics to figure out what they are and to start the research.

[Star]

Well. He hadn't seen her that excited about anything since telling each other lies in a park.

It's probably the most awkward act of sitting possible. Legs fold and bend at awkward angles as the frame is lowered, they splay out ridiculously. Sitting on floors? Not a fan. Sitting cross legged? Even less of a fan. No clue why. Like a person crossing their arms the wrong way, it was a position that had never felt comfortable or natural.

And it was apparent.

"I was, like, hoping I could do your laundry for a week if you'd do my studying? Wash your car?"

Hey, they were buddies. They could be honest with one another. Right? Nobody needed to know. He handed the book over. Still, he looked. Why not?

  1 Success at Wits + Academics

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-02-01 18:48:12		Star rolls 4 to Wits + Academics (10 Again)		1, 5, 6, 9		1 success

[Zodiac]

She couldn't help but laugh a little at his state, leaving her to smile and shake her head. "Grab a cushion or something..." she paused, "actually, if you look in the back of the room I have a beanbag chair somewhere in that pile that you can use, if you'd rather," she added, though she looked comfortable herself. Flexibility, right?

Leaning over the book and looking even more pleased, she studied the diagrams intently. There were plenty of books out there that had subtly contained information about a variety of things - hidden things. And old books? Man did she love old books. She was, however, a bit too preoccupied doing that to take the time to answer his question - though there was a part of her that found it amusing just how very domestic Star was. She supposed that made him a perfect fit for Avis.

  2 sux

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-02-03 13:51:54		Zodiac rolls 4 to Wits+Academics (10 Again)		9, 10, 6, 2, 1		2 successes

[Jhet]

It turns out that even with languages being used interchangeably, it's not that difficult to pick out which ones are which. There's a rare smattering of English, but mostly it's Greek, Latin, Czech, and Italian. There are also a few hieroglyphs, but they could easily be Sumerian or Egyptian, not that it really probably matters.

What really does probably matter are the atlantean runes that start showing up about halfway into the book. They're surrounded with what looks to be Greek and Czech words. The runes are recognizable to the pair as different practices within the Time and Death arcana.