Here we go again{open

To those that knew him, the fact that Joshua Dale (called "Dale" by most of the student population) was inside on a nice day such as this was not surprising. The library was his second home--any library, really. What was surprising was the fact that he was not here to study. Instead, he was trying his hand at remaining patient as he talked a transfer student through using the library catalogues on the computer. They had started halfway through the year because the scouts hadn't located them until quite late and so the jumpy freshman was rather confused by what had since become routine for her classmates. "If you want to see if the book's on the shelves, just hit this button here," he said, gesturing. "It'll tell you how many copies there are and whether or not any of them are available." The girl thanked him shyly and then nodded when he asked if she understood everything. The graduate stood and allowed her to take over at the computer, brushing off his jeans out of pure habit even though there was virtually nothing there.

Thanks to the hell that exam week was causing, the library was packed compared to its usual sparse population. He had offered to help out with some things because the poor old librarian was absolutely swamped with things to do. There was quite literally a line at her desk of anxious students looking to check out books and most of the tables were full. He wasn't doing anything too important--just shelving books and answering the occasional question to save her the trouble. She'd asked, after all. He found himself carrying a small stack of books that people had carelessly left at the computer terminals--don't these people understand the meaning of 'put it back'? He would have been a little less irate if the place was calmer. Josh had came here with the intention of studying and had just been overwhelmed. Unlike them, he hadn't done his studying last minute. But Joshua wasn't some stuffy bespectacled know-it-all. He was a bookworm of the quiet sort, lurking in unseen corners of the library to read his books and not feeling the need to answer every question in class.

As he neared one of the occupied computer terminals, he noticed a book that the previous user might have left nearby. Not wanting to be too rude in reaching over her to get it, he asked, "Excuse me, is that book yours?" The graduate was being a hell of a lot more polite than usual but that was only because he didn't want anyone to rat him out to the librarian for snarking. He was a loner, though most knew his name--with the recent war, who wouldn't? "I'm just clearing up, so if it isn't, would you mind handing it over?" If Joshua had been aware that Mikennah Smith was a Thunder elemental, well, maybe he'd be much less pleasant. They were still bitter toward most of the Fire element for bailing in the war, but Joshua? He'd downright betrayed them. Not that the feeling wasn't mutual--certainly it was. They'd tried to kill Nell. That could never be forgiven. If he'd known about her alignment he probably just would have walked right on by and pretended that the book didn't exist, retrieving it later when she left.

Unable to avoid glancing at the computer screen, his brow furrowed a little as he noticed the subject. "Not that I'm prying, but why are you writing about Athena?" Joshua of course didn't believe in mythology--it started with 'myth' for a reason--but that didn't mean it wasn't interesting. When they'd been learning about Ancient Greece in History class they'd been encouraged to also pay mind to their beliefs and how much their faith in the gods influenced their daily lifestyle. Fascinating stuff. Athena had been one of his favourites, probably because of her intelligence. He prided himself with his own. He wondered if this was a history paper or something else, but Josh decided not to ask. He was naturally curious, but prying did make him uncomfortable if he did too much of it.