[GP / EP] Welcome to the Madonna Inn Expanded Public Library

[st_opsummoningme]

Freedom from her bonds had given Illyana more than freedom of movement. It had returned to her the use of her magik and her ability to teleport. These abilities had, in turn, allowed her to finish making ready the library for public use. It was less about collecting books and media from around the premises (and some from Limbo, or donated collections harvested from the Otherworlds) and arranging shelving and seating, most of which had been relatively easily done. It was more a matter of laying the appropriate wards, and negotiating the finer points of the old-fashioned catalog and check-out system, which included odd donated items such as sporting equipment and electronic devices available for rental. Xavin's espresso machine counter necessitated a mini-bar refrigerator, glass-domed cake stands for assorted pastries brought in from the kitchen, and various cafe sundries.

Repurposed from what had been the 'Garden Room,' the library space with its high wooden ceilings, chandeliers, and landscape murals over busy floral carpet still looked somewhat like a touristy banquet hall, yet the area was now also highly saturated with layered magic. The hodgepodge collection of random books and so on were fiercely protected by these magics. When needed and as possible, worn volumes had been restored. The books could not be damaged nor marred from here on out, at least not by coffee spills nor page-tearing or inconsiderate attempts at margin notation. Nor would they leave the boundaries of the library area without proper dispensation, simply stopping mid-air and dropping should the attempt be made at the threshold. Ask at the Desk for Assistance With These Items, prompted the signs on several glass display cases featuring certain perhaps unsettling curiosities within - books in arcane languages, skulls from indeterminate creatures, and artifacts such as a green glowing cube suspended on a chain. At said desk, a gleaming service bell sat waiting, should the staff be needed and not clearly present.

Illyana finished affixing the large engraved plaque to the wall beside the double-doors, and then returned to attend the newly opened library with little fanfare:

Madonna Inn Expanded Public Library

Established ~01.25.2018 Earthly Gregorian Calendar

Open All Hours

Volunteer Staff on Duty as Schedules Allow

Classes & Tutoring for Most Subjects Available Upon Request

Donations Encouraged

Disruptive Patrons Will Be Zealously Evicted

Comments

Re: Butters -- OTA

[st_rutsthepolka]

"I think it has something to do with how there's never enough actual seating in the stacks," Butters agreed. "So whenever you want to just hermit up in the back rows surrounded by all the books the best you can hope for is like a footstool or something. It's a problem."

Re: Butters -- OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

"That is a very rational perspective." It made perfect sense, and really, there should be more seating options, but then there'd be less room for books. "From someone who understands how to hermit. Without denying the comfort or the... romance of being surrounded by all the books."

Re: Butters -- OTA

[st_rutsthepolka]

"Right? Where the only thing you can smell are the books, and the quiet's so thick in the air you can feel it." Library quiet was always soothing. Butters loved his job, but the quiet down in the exam rooms almost demanded something to fill it; the quiet in the library stacks was like a warm quilt. He smiled. "I've spent a lot of time in the back shelves."

Re: Butters -- OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

"Me too. The castle has a wonderful library," thoughts of it bittersweet here and now, "Old and with an odd assortment of books, not terribly well-organized, but so easy to get lost in – the good way – as you explore or look for something new. After the kitchen, it was one of my favorite rooms there." One of the places Pyro knew to look for her, back when he bothered to look for her, even though he didn't like books or the library much himself.

Re: Butters -- OTA

[st_rutsthepolka]

Butters looked impressed. "You live in a castle? That's pretty cool. I have an apartment."

Re: Butters -- OTA

[st_ackeddeck]

"It's not my castle." Had she given that impression? Emma really really hoped not.

"It's also a hospital and the headquarters of Excalibur and a mutant sanctuary. Excalibur rescued me and my cousin, and she was in the hospital for weeks after, so I stayed there, and then once she was better," she shrugged. "We stayed. I'm not on the team or anything, but I'd been there almost two years?" Sometimes it seemed like a lot longer.