Pansy Tipton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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finchwoodacademy2019-05-13 04:51 pm
tippedin) wrote in finchwoodacademy2019-05-13 04:51 pm
Entry tags:
backdated book heist
Who: Squad 9
When: Saturday Afternoon
Where: Haling Cove Library
What: Looking for Shadow World clues, eating crunchy snacks (as planned here)
Warnings: A disregard for library rules
The return trip to the library has thus far been fruitless, and Pansy finds herself wondering, for not the first time this afternoon, if it was a waste of time to come back here. She walks slowly down an aisle of the reference section, fingers dragging along the spines of books, her eyes rapidly taking in the names. She stops and pulls down a volume about the weather in the area. Have there been other warm spells in winter? Other times the Shadow World’s environment crept into their own? Pansy’s already half-hearted perusal of the book is interrupted by a voice. “Fifteen minutes,” the fastidious librarian announces from her desk a few aisles away. “Fifteen minutes until the library is closing.” Pansy shuts her book and re-shelves it a little more forcefully than is required. This is a bust.
Down the aisle, Monet only barely reacts to the announcement. Pansy, however, gets her full attention.
"There's no need to be loud about it," she whispers, eyes snapping up from the oversized book in her arms. There's a note of disappointment in her voice, however, that signals equal frustration. She closes the tome of census records, unsure why she ever picked it up, and slides it carefully -- irritably -- back into place with other local history materials. The reference collection is inundated with them in such a way that she cannot believe they won't find anything useful. Even if the shelves are limited. Even if they've run out of time.
Monet crosses her arms primly, stepping in to murmur at Pansy in a low voice. "There simply has to be something here. Look -- let's go through the whole shelf." She reaches out, fingers catching on a thin, dusty old thing that turns out to be a (also useless) business directory. "Pull things out and see if a cover strikes you. We'll..." She pauses as if to calculate. "Go from there."
If all else fails, she thinks, she'll try to hold up the librarian. Surely if she starts the correct conversation, closing might be delayed a minute or two.
While Pansy and Monet are actually searching, Tate has, not unexpectedly, become distracted by a book about native species. It's ancient looking and clearly not going to be of use to them, but that doesn't mean that it's any less interesting. With a baby carrot sticking out of his mouth, it takes Tate a few moments to process that Monet is talking. He completely missed the librarian's announcement.
"What's happening? Did you find something?"
Slowly, he starts to put the book he was reading away. Maybe he should help out properly.
“No, nothing yet,” Pansy whispers her reply, doing a small double-take at the sight of the baby carrot. Where did that come from? He and Henry really are discrete snackers. The thought triggers a small, silent laugh. And it’s the little boost of levity she needs to refocus for these last few minutes before the library closes.
Pansy makes eye contact with Monet and gives a small nod; she’ll do her plan. She begins pulling out books, looking at covers, and seeing if anything strikes her. For the most part, they are as she’d expect: a title in a boring font and nothing of note. One after another, they get reshelved, nothing standing out. Until--
“Huh.” The cover of the book in her hands has what appears to be a single singe mark. She runs her thumb over the burn, the texture confirming her suspicion. “Have you seen this one?”
Research has never been Henry's strong suit and his restlessness has been obvious and ongoing for most of the day. It's clear that he's trying, but as soon as the others start talking, his gaze abandons the page of the local history book he's been skimming and he looks hopefully between them until they clarify that nothing has actually changed. He lets out a sigh before looking at Tate and opening his mouth and pointing to himself. Hook him up with a baby carrot, dude!
He abandons this distraction at Pansy's question, though, and turns to look at the book. He sees the strange singe mark on the cover and tilts his head. The librarians have been on them about taking care of these books, so what happened to that one? "Uuuh. Nope. I don’t think so?"
Monet, who had been distracted by a drift of indexes off to one corner, is re-summoned by this discovery. She eases closer again, reaching out to gingerly touch the singe-mark for herself. Odd. Surely she'd surveyed the section well enough earlier to notice something like this.
It's in this very moment that the sound of the librarian's footsteps and hushed chatting with other patrons cuts through the stacks. She's making the rounds, and it feels important that she not get a look at all four of them in this particular section together.
Monet raises her eyebrows at Pansy. "Flip through it. Quickly."
Pansy does as Monet says, leafing through the pages. While she doesn’t stop to examine any one page too closely, the gist of the book is clear. It’s full of detailed information, schematics, and histories of Haling Cove.
The echoing of the librarian’s footsteps sound like the ticking of a large clock, ominously and methodically counting down the time they have left. The book feels important. Not only does it have information about key town landmarks -- city hall, the town square, the lighthouse -- but the burn mark on the cover is reminiscent of the burned message they found in the Shadow World. As above, so below.
“Should we...” Pansy lowers her voice even more than it already is and turns her head towards Monet, “steal it?” She’s not sure Henry or Tate can hear her, and she’s not sure they’d approve if they could, so she adds: “Borrow it. You know, return it later once we’ve had time to properly check it out.”
Monet is leaning in, smiling expectantly at what she can see of the pages as they turn. Something. Possibly. Lucky timing. She nods at the question without thinking much of it, eyes flitting toward Pansy's bag for a silent answer.
Sometimes less than agreeable things have to happen in order to achieve progress. But if they return the book, balance will be restored, and the potential stakes negate disparity until then. Besides: how often is this section looked over, anyway? It could be that no one will even notice it's gone. No fuss at all.
"I'll ​go ask a question or two so she doesn't see you leave," Monet whispers, stepping away toward the end of the aisle. "Try to go around the sensor tower at the door. If it goes off, just keep walking."
It's not as if the librarian will run after them and insist on rooting through their things, after all. … Probably.
Though Henry has turned away, Tate's curious enough about this book that he doesn't register this and thoughtlessly tosses a baby carrot at his squadmate without making sure he's actually still ready for it. It simply hits the side of Henry's head. He crunches down on the one in his own mouth to bite back a little laugh. Whoops.
There's no time for that now, though - Monet steps away, and he curiously looks between the two girls before almost idly making sure that his body is blocking Pansy from where the librarian is likely to round the stacks. He hadn't entirely caught their conversation, but he can read the body language of someone about to do something they're not supposed to.
Henry may not be aware enough to dodge a baby carrot to the face (thanks for trying, Tate) but he does have a good ear and he manages to catch enough of Pansy and Monet's conversation that he knows what's about to go down. A book heist. He gapes for a moment and tenses, not knowing what his role in this is supposed to be. He glances from Pansy who has the book to Monet who's walking away to Tate who is...leaning? He doesn't get it.
Not knowing what else to do, he gets up and hurries after Monet.
It’s been just seconds since Pansy spoke and already everyone is in motion. She stands still a moment longer, brimming with pride. Who would have thought that a well-executed misdemeanor would make her think: look how far we’ve come. She slips her backpack off her shoulder, unzips the the largest pocket, and making sure she’s perfectly aligned with Tate’s visual shield, drops the book inside. Moments later it’s slung back over her shoulder and she strides towards Tate. She nods her head to the side and motions with her hand -- non-verbal cues they’ve used in training and Exploration to say let’s go.
She peeks around the stacks and spots Monet and Henry approaching the librarian. She’ll wait until they engage her before she makes her exit. There’s something undeniably fun about all of this. She turns back to Tate and makes another non-verbal signal, this one new. Two fingers above her head like rabbit ears, then pointing at her mouth, then two silent bites. She... wants a carrot.
Tate loves a little bit of misbehaving and intrigue now and again, so watching Pansy slip this book that is probably important somehow into her bag has him grinning. Look at them go, stealing things and eating in a no eating zone. True rebels.
His leader's non-verbal communication is effective in getting Tate to move, and her second set of motions makes him laugh a little as he quickly understands. Producing another carrot, he tosses it towards her mouth. She can try to catch it or, you know, behave like a normal person and catch it.
Sorry, Tate. Pansy snatches the baby carrot out of the air with her hand “like a normal person.” She glances back, and seeing Monet and Henry in animated conversation with the librarian, Pansy tightens the straps of her backpack and makes for the door. She skirts the sensors and spins back around toward the rest of the squad. Carrot stuck into the corner of her mouth like a victory cigar, she smiles and flashes them a thumbs up.
Good job, team.
When: Saturday Afternoon
Where: Haling Cove Library
What: Looking for Shadow World clues, eating crunchy snacks (as planned here)
Warnings: A disregard for library rules
The return trip to the library has thus far been fruitless, and Pansy finds herself wondering, for not the first time this afternoon, if it was a waste of time to come back here. She walks slowly down an aisle of the reference section, fingers dragging along the spines of books, her eyes rapidly taking in the names. She stops and pulls down a volume about the weather in the area. Have there been other warm spells in winter? Other times the Shadow World’s environment crept into their own? Pansy’s already half-hearted perusal of the book is interrupted by a voice. “Fifteen minutes,” the fastidious librarian announces from her desk a few aisles away. “Fifteen minutes until the library is closing.” Pansy shuts her book and re-shelves it a little more forcefully than is required. This is a bust.
Down the aisle, Monet only barely reacts to the announcement. Pansy, however, gets her full attention.
"There's no need to be loud about it," she whispers, eyes snapping up from the oversized book in her arms. There's a note of disappointment in her voice, however, that signals equal frustration. She closes the tome of census records, unsure why she ever picked it up, and slides it carefully -- irritably -- back into place with other local history materials. The reference collection is inundated with them in such a way that she cannot believe they won't find anything useful. Even if the shelves are limited. Even if they've run out of time.
Monet crosses her arms primly, stepping in to murmur at Pansy in a low voice. "There simply has to be something here. Look -- let's go through the whole shelf." She reaches out, fingers catching on a thin, dusty old thing that turns out to be a (also useless) business directory. "Pull things out and see if a cover strikes you. We'll..." She pauses as if to calculate. "Go from there."
If all else fails, she thinks, she'll try to hold up the librarian. Surely if she starts the correct conversation, closing might be delayed a minute or two.
While Pansy and Monet are actually searching, Tate has, not unexpectedly, become distracted by a book about native species. It's ancient looking and clearly not going to be of use to them, but that doesn't mean that it's any less interesting. With a baby carrot sticking out of his mouth, it takes Tate a few moments to process that Monet is talking. He completely missed the librarian's announcement.
"What's happening? Did you find something?"
Slowly, he starts to put the book he was reading away. Maybe he should help out properly.
“No, nothing yet,” Pansy whispers her reply, doing a small double-take at the sight of the baby carrot. Where did that come from? He and Henry really are discrete snackers. The thought triggers a small, silent laugh. And it’s the little boost of levity she needs to refocus for these last few minutes before the library closes.
Pansy makes eye contact with Monet and gives a small nod; she’ll do her plan. She begins pulling out books, looking at covers, and seeing if anything strikes her. For the most part, they are as she’d expect: a title in a boring font and nothing of note. One after another, they get reshelved, nothing standing out. Until--
“Huh.” The cover of the book in her hands has what appears to be a single singe mark. She runs her thumb over the burn, the texture confirming her suspicion. “Have you seen this one?”
Research has never been Henry's strong suit and his restlessness has been obvious and ongoing for most of the day. It's clear that he's trying, but as soon as the others start talking, his gaze abandons the page of the local history book he's been skimming and he looks hopefully between them until they clarify that nothing has actually changed. He lets out a sigh before looking at Tate and opening his mouth and pointing to himself. Hook him up with a baby carrot, dude!
He abandons this distraction at Pansy's question, though, and turns to look at the book. He sees the strange singe mark on the cover and tilts his head. The librarians have been on them about taking care of these books, so what happened to that one? "Uuuh. Nope. I don’t think so?"
Monet, who had been distracted by a drift of indexes off to one corner, is re-summoned by this discovery. She eases closer again, reaching out to gingerly touch the singe-mark for herself. Odd. Surely she'd surveyed the section well enough earlier to notice something like this.
It's in this very moment that the sound of the librarian's footsteps and hushed chatting with other patrons cuts through the stacks. She's making the rounds, and it feels important that she not get a look at all four of them in this particular section together.
Monet raises her eyebrows at Pansy. "Flip through it. Quickly."
Pansy does as Monet says, leafing through the pages. While she doesn’t stop to examine any one page too closely, the gist of the book is clear. It’s full of detailed information, schematics, and histories of Haling Cove.
The echoing of the librarian’s footsteps sound like the ticking of a large clock, ominously and methodically counting down the time they have left. The book feels important. Not only does it have information about key town landmarks -- city hall, the town square, the lighthouse -- but the burn mark on the cover is reminiscent of the burned message they found in the Shadow World. As above, so below.
“Should we...” Pansy lowers her voice even more than it already is and turns her head towards Monet, “steal it?” She’s not sure Henry or Tate can hear her, and she’s not sure they’d approve if they could, so she adds: “Borrow it. You know, return it later once we’ve had time to properly check it out.”
Monet is leaning in, smiling expectantly at what she can see of the pages as they turn. Something. Possibly. Lucky timing. She nods at the question without thinking much of it, eyes flitting toward Pansy's bag for a silent answer.
Sometimes less than agreeable things have to happen in order to achieve progress. But if they return the book, balance will be restored, and the potential stakes negate disparity until then. Besides: how often is this section looked over, anyway? It could be that no one will even notice it's gone. No fuss at all.
"I'll ​go ask a question or two so she doesn't see you leave," Monet whispers, stepping away toward the end of the aisle. "Try to go around the sensor tower at the door. If it goes off, just keep walking."
It's not as if the librarian will run after them and insist on rooting through their things, after all. … Probably.
Though Henry has turned away, Tate's curious enough about this book that he doesn't register this and thoughtlessly tosses a baby carrot at his squadmate without making sure he's actually still ready for it. It simply hits the side of Henry's head. He crunches down on the one in his own mouth to bite back a little laugh. Whoops.
There's no time for that now, though - Monet steps away, and he curiously looks between the two girls before almost idly making sure that his body is blocking Pansy from where the librarian is likely to round the stacks. He hadn't entirely caught their conversation, but he can read the body language of someone about to do something they're not supposed to.
Henry may not be aware enough to dodge a baby carrot to the face (thanks for trying, Tate) but he does have a good ear and he manages to catch enough of Pansy and Monet's conversation that he knows what's about to go down. A book heist. He gapes for a moment and tenses, not knowing what his role in this is supposed to be. He glances from Pansy who has the book to Monet who's walking away to Tate who is...leaning? He doesn't get it.
Not knowing what else to do, he gets up and hurries after Monet.
It’s been just seconds since Pansy spoke and already everyone is in motion. She stands still a moment longer, brimming with pride. Who would have thought that a well-executed misdemeanor would make her think: look how far we’ve come. She slips her backpack off her shoulder, unzips the the largest pocket, and making sure she’s perfectly aligned with Tate’s visual shield, drops the book inside. Moments later it’s slung back over her shoulder and she strides towards Tate. She nods her head to the side and motions with her hand -- non-verbal cues they’ve used in training and Exploration to say let’s go.
She peeks around the stacks and spots Monet and Henry approaching the librarian. She’ll wait until they engage her before she makes her exit. There’s something undeniably fun about all of this. She turns back to Tate and makes another non-verbal signal, this one new. Two fingers above her head like rabbit ears, then pointing at her mouth, then two silent bites. She... wants a carrot.
Tate loves a little bit of misbehaving and intrigue now and again, so watching Pansy slip this book that is probably important somehow into her bag has him grinning. Look at them go, stealing things and eating in a no eating zone. True rebels.
His leader's non-verbal communication is effective in getting Tate to move, and her second set of motions makes him laugh a little as he quickly understands. Producing another carrot, he tosses it towards her mouth. She can try to catch it or, you know, behave like a normal person and catch it.
Sorry, Tate. Pansy snatches the baby carrot out of the air with her hand “like a normal person.” She glances back, and seeing Monet and Henry in animated conversation with the librarian, Pansy tightens the straps of her backpack and makes for the door. She skirts the sensors and spins back around toward the rest of the squad. Carrot stuck into the corner of her mouth like a victory cigar, she smiles and flashes them a thumbs up.
Good job, team.