2022-02-28 - Story Time

It has been cold outside. What with it being winter and all. But this late afternoon there are some who find solace among the many shelves of the local library. Some come to use the computers or rent videos. A few come here to volunteer. But today Kailey is one of those here for storytime. Snuggly tucked into her sling is Morganna, sucking on one of those veggie and fruit pouches. Her eyes are transfixed on the person reading, "How Do Dinosaurs Go To the Doctor". Kailey isn't really listening. Instead her head is bopping to the music playing in her ears via her iPods.

How do dinosaurs go to the doctor? It's honestly not a question that Ravn Abildgaard has been awake at night worrying about; of all the bizarre things he has seen in this town dinosaurs are on the list, but it wasn't usually them who needed a doctor after the encounter. Hell, he's seen Finch walk hers. Her literal dinosaur which looks like a Utah fossil decided to get back up, grow skin, and just -- stomp casual.

The library, however, is a common haunt for the folklorist. The world is full of academic journals and he does not subscribe to most of them -- but the library does. And in the basement there is a quiet corner full of information not quite made available to the public (of which he is a member), and sometimes, just sometimes, he manages to sneak access to bits and pieces of Gray Harbor history that is not quite out there for everyone to see.

He's thumbing through a copy of National Geographic for a bit of light reading today, though. It was a long night and while seeing and talking to ghosts is not something quite that unusual to Ravn, it always does leave him a bit drained. He sends a thought to Cynthia of the ill gotten cookies and to the poor suckers who are going to find a ghost girl making faces at them when they come to empty their lobster traps, and he watches the kids listening to story time. Kids, alive or dead, are a pretty alien territory to the Dane who has neither children of his own nor siblings.

It's been hours since Ava has been outside, having come in since the library opened, grabbed the books she wanted and then tucked herself into a research room. She's been hiding in there and barely come up for air ever since then. A quiet yawn is covered by her hand as she emerges from rows of books and makes her way towards the front desk with a piece of paper with horrible writing sprawled over it. That's doctor's handwriting right there. It's just as bad as they say. "Can you please tell me where I can find these articles?" she whispers with a smile.

Ravn is spotted, Ava lifting a hand to give a little wave. She glances past him towards the kids, listening to the story. "We'd need one hell of a step ladder, I'll tell you that much," she murmurs quietly. Though not so loud the kids could hear her.

"How does a dinosaur get well soon?" Today's volunteer is someone getting credit while studying early childhood development. She has the barest shimmer of a Glimmer and she keeps looking at Kailey and slowing her reading. It doesn't help that today her Glimmer is vibrantly purple swirling aura around her, to those able to see such things. Though she is mostly oblivious and into her music. When she spots Ravn she waves at him, but that she doesn't move from her spot.

"Do they whimper and whine between each Achoo?" Sally, we'll call our reader Sally, says with a smile for the gathered toddlers and young children. The weird thing is that as soon as she says the last word there is a very loud sneeze that comes from one of the closed study rooms and seems to reverberate a moment around the library area.

Ravn quirks an eyebrow at at that, and his lip curls into a small, amused smile. There are people who keep their heads down and warn others to not use this strange gift, to not draw attention, to act for all intents and purposes normal. And there are people who own it and live it, to whom all of this is normal.

He has yet to decide which group he belongs to. He does not feel normal. And yet, the last year and a half, nothing in his life has been normal.

He leans over and murmurs back to Ava, "Maybe it's a small dinosaur." Kailey gets a gloved-hand wave back and Ravn adds to the doctor, "That's Kailey Holt. You can probably tell that she's one of the more gifted people in town."

It is normal. Well, to Ava, anyway. But still, that's a lot of power not to at least be shielding a little bit. Ava's expression seems impressed rather than judgmental, however. "I'd love an introduction when story time is over," she tells Ravn with a head bob towards Kailey. "Stronger than me. I don't see that often. Also, her hair is gorgeous, so I need to know where she gets it done." It's a very important question, clearly.

The small dinosaur comment gets a smirk. "Perhaps." She reaches to take the paper from the librarian as she returns with the list Ava requested. "Thanks."

Sally glances over at the study room and then returns to her reading. "Do they drop dirty tissues all over the floor?" One of the kids pipes in with a, "Ewww no!" And a couple others giggle. The door to the study room opens and beyond it is simply dark. The lights off and only vague shapes.

"Do they fling all their medicines out of the door?" Sally reads onwards. To those near the study rooms the sudden projectile of a small white pill bottle may seem surprising. It sails from the now-open door of the study room to very light bap Ava in the back. Then falls to the floor with a clattering of contained pills. "Do they flip off his covers with tooth and with tail? Do they dump out his juice and get sick in a pail?" There are sound effects coming from the study room now. It is making some of the younger children giggle, while the toddlers and mothers look confused or worried.

"Does a dinosaur WAIL?" Sally asks only for her emphasis on that one word to be drowned out by the loud roar of something from the study room with huge lungs. It sounds like something between a donkey and a lion, but what emerges from the room is neither. The wailing roar continues as a six and a half foot bipedal dinosaur rushes from the study room. It is vibrant and childish yellow along his belly with green across the back and covered from the crest atop it's head to the tip of its take with red stripes.

Chaos thusly ensues.

Ravn blinks slowly. Once, twice.

This town, man.

Then he tries to focus. It could just be some librarian in a costume, up for making reading a little more exciting for the little ones. It could be -- a not very great costume to be honest, he's no expert in the field but dinosaurs aren't supposed to look like a donkey and a lion matched on Tinder and then never spoke of the embarrassment again. And the kind of librarian who can be talked into putting on a silly costume tends to be some young woman with a high-pitched voice -- not someone or something who stands taller than Ravn does, and can bellow a hell of a lot louder, too.

It's probably not a librarian in a costume.

He murmurs, "Does it trip over its own feet and FAIL?" because maybe, just for once, the rules are easily spotted and this whatever-it-is plays fair. Then he dives to yank the nearest toddler out of the creature's way before the audience finds out whether little Lucy is squishy or not.

That pill bottle whacks her in the back, causing Ava to glance back and then down. She spots the bottle, then glances up towards the study room. Her eyes start to drift towards the crowd, studying the people who are listening as she tries to pinpoint who this might be coming from. And then? Then there's a dinosaur.

"What was that about it being one of the small ones?" It's bright and colorful, and everything seems to be following the words in the book. "Get the kids safe, I'll be right back!"

Darting into the study room that has all of her things in it, Ava grabs her work bag and frantically starts to pull stuff out of it. Coat, on. Stethoscope? Around her neck. Her first aid kit, in hand. She scurries back out of the door in an animated run, moving as quick as she can, trying not to fall. It's going to take her a minute, but the dinosaur was there to a see a doctor, right? So maybe a doctor can distract it. "Hey. You're going the wrong way!" she calls out to the roaring beast from the doors of her study room. She can't make it back over towards where the others are just yet.

Ava is adapting remarkable well to the situation. Kailey looks up as the dinosaur flails out of the study room, wailing in that odd half-bray half-roar thing. It only increases when it falls flat on it's yellow snout. The ground shudders as a ton of dinosaur falls as well. "Oh shit!" Is Kailey's addition to the chaos as she scatters behind a shelf, after grabbing a five year old too surprised to move. Of course the only real damage, so far, are the bookshelves near the study rooms. Hip high shelves filled with magazines falls over, scattering all manner of zine across the floor.

Sally has screamed and run without grabbing a kid. Probably a reflex she will work on in the future. But for now she is hiding behind a shelf along with most of the mothers who were in attendance, clutching children who didn't understand. Why are they so scared of the dinosaur from the book? For indeed this dinosaur looks like a realized version of what is in the book on the floor. It having fallen open on the last uttered phrase before Sally booked it.

"Keep rhyming, Ravn!" Kailey shouts at her friend as the dinosaur continues to flail on the ground. Ruining magazines and knocking into a more sturdily affixed shelf, books fall to the ground in a thunderous clatter. The dinosaur has rolled onto it's side and is gripping one knee as it continues to wail unhappily.

Ravn resists the urge to yell something about not a bloody lit major here -- but it's really not the time to have this conversation. Rhyme? No pressure. Fuck. The only thing that goes through his mind promptly is There once was a lady from Niger, she smiled as she rode on a tiger, and no, we do not want a tiger in here, eating its rider.

Little Lucy gets shoved at the nearest woman present, whether it's the right mother or not. Ravn is not a children person. He has no idea what to do with children beyond find some woman to shove them at. He sucks in his breath. Here goes nothing. "It lay on its face, thinking whatta place!"

Buy time, man. Hope someone else does this better.

Una has apparently picked the perfect moment to step through the front doors of the library, with a ridiculously long emerald green scarf and matching hat atop her dark grey wool coat. It's unlikely anyone will notice, given... there are other things to focus on, unsurprisingly, but comedy all the same: the moment when her expression turns from idle thoughtfulness into... into...

"Holy fuck."

Surprise or no surprise, the door is not a good place to stand when there are potentially incoming (outgoing?) terrified people, and Una has the presence of mind to step out of the way (but not, apparently, the smarts to nope right out and leave).

Okay, doctor bit didn't work. It was worth a shot. It's a fake dinosaur, but Ava still flinches when it cries out in pain. Poor dear. She hurries over towards the area, giving Ravn a look half concern, half support. "You're doing good. Keep it up." He gets a weak thumbs up from her as she skirts around the dinosaur. Her attention shifts away from the colorful creature as she glances over towards the scattered children. Now it's her turn to flare up. Where her aura was hidden before, it flares to life in a brilliant wash of green energy. Druidic, almost.

She scans the kids, brows furrowing as she gets nowhere until her eyes finally stop. "Well that's not terribly surprising," she murmurs as she looks at the little girl in Kailey's arms. She tries to make eye contact with Kailey directly and then gestures with her head towards her daughter. Then the dinosaur. Then back.

Sorry Una. Life is no longer peaceful for you, dear. Moving plants and colorful dinosaurs are your life now.

Kailey is staring at the dinosaur in surprise as she crouches behind a shelf. Of course most of the rest of the library is making quickly for the exits, emergency and normal. The dinosaur continues to cry and Morganna's lower lip is sticking out by this time. She looks up and back at her mother and points at the dinosaur. "Owwie!" She tells her mother who blinks and shakes her head. Looking down at her daughter and then at the unfamiliar woman waving.

Unfamiliar woman dressed in doctor's coat. The recognition seems to stir the dinosaur who wails loudly once more, but this time the word, "OWWIE!" Is seemingly echoed.

"OH SHIT!" Kailey's eyes go wide as she realizes something. She looks from Ava to Morganna to dinosaur. "Morganna, honey, you gotta let it go. The dinosaur is just fine..." And she is quickly going for the book, rather than anything else. She snatches it up, a few pages past, and begins to read, "Do they push back each drink? Spit their pills in the sink? Is that what you think?" Hastily she scrabbles to turn the page and instead rips it.

When she does the Dinosaur screams as a 'tear' appears in his shoulder. The poor thing whimpers as it's beady eyes lock on Ava, it's three fingered hand reaching out in a very human gesture towards her. Towards the Doctor.

Think fast, think fast, think fast. Think faster. Nothing like social anxiety threatening to lock you up in a dead-eyed stare like a cow at an on-coming train, is there?

Or terrible rhyming.

"Lucky the doctor has the MANDATE, to give the dinosaur a BANDAID," Ravn tries, with an expression that says something along the lines of just shoot me now, and this is why I never show up for karaoke night. He also tries to grab a hold of Mrs Fennigan who is holding a heavy copy of Grimm's Collected Fairytales and advancing one step at a time like Karen out of Hell, intending to bash some dino skull. "Maaaybe we don't want to do that," he murmurs and -- doesn't touch her.

Una moves against the crowd, managing not to trip over any small children who run without looking. This is, indeed, in her life now-- well, so be it.

Getting closer, it's easier to pick out the key players in this little drama if not the full nuance of what's going on. Ravn's terribad rhyme might, were there not a tearing, screaming dinosaur, draw a smile; now, there's not so much as a twitch of a smile.

On the other hand, voice relatively even, she offers up: "The doctor thought it best, that our dino friend take a rest, uh... he didn't cause a flap, he just curled up and took a nap!"

Ava watches Kailey for a moment until she sees it click. Once Kailey is looking down to Morganna to sort it out, her attention moves back to the dinosaur. Just in time to see that look that it gives her. "Oh!" she moans in sympathy as she hurries over towards it. Illusion or not, look at how sad it's eyes are, how can she not help it.

Bandaid. That she has. The first aid kit is set down and popped open so that she can pull one of the big ones out, peeling it open to set it over the cut that opened on the dino's shoulder. Once it's in place, she reaches out to sooth across it's head in gentle pats. "Laying on the floor was not in vain, because he no longer felt any pain," she assures softly with a calming smile." That, plus Uma's napping rhyme should at least keep him out until they can calm things down for a little bit.

She sits back on her heels, still petting the dinosaur's face as she watches mother and daughter.

Kailey looks over at the others as everyone keeps chiming in. Morganna watching and listening with rapt fascination. Her green eyes flicking from person to person as they rhyme. Until they fall upon the dinosaur. It whimpers as Ava comes close and its eyes squeeze shut for a second or five. Long enough for Ava to get the bandaid in place. Then one eyes then the other peeks open. They peer at the shoulder that was torn and now tended.

A smile, that is as creepy as it is sweet, crawls across the dinosaur's face. At least it seems to be a leaf eater. The bright yellow dinosaur yawns suddenly and it's eyes flutter closed. It curls up on the ground in it's nest of a mess. Within a few seconds it is snoring lightly and begins to fade from view. But the mess does not. Nor the puke and tissue it left behind in the study room. Such is the way of veil things when they are drawn across like this.

"Sooooo...uh....sorry about that," Kailey says as relative quiet, but for the clamor of the folks who ran outside, descends. Looking down at Morganna she frowns faintly and those sensitive to such things can see the flicker of mental thoughts flow between mother and daughter. Just like the dinosaur her daughter's eyes flutter and then her head falls back into the sling as she, too, falls asleep.

Ravn heaves an audible sigh of relief. "The big dino went for a snooze, and Ravn found a bottle of booze."

A man can try. Alas, there is no whiskey bottle on the shelf next to the other copies of National Geographic. But there is Mrs Fennigan, lowering her heavy book, and glaring. That thing better consider itself lucky -- little Lucy's mother was quite ready to come at it, claws, nails, and early industrial German folklore.

He looks around. "Any bets? Gas explosion? Earthquake? The Gazette is going to go with hooligans raiding the public library with a bad prank is my guess."

Might as well smile and crack awful jokes. And hope that there is not a bigger dinosaur out there, that this was not just the beginning. Maybe he should look for that rhyming thesaurus just in case.

Now, in the wake of everything, as quiet descends, it's almost inevitable: Una begins to laugh.

"'Librarians terrify kids with live action storytime fun gone wrong, investigation launched--" She breaks off. "I hope not. Unfair to blame librarians; they do good work."

"Seriously, though: what the hell happened just here?" Una glances around, dark-eyed gaze falling from one person to the next as she tucks her hands into the safe confines of her pockets. "Or maybe I don't want to know. What a mess."

Ava smiles down to the dinosaur as he relaxes, looking relieved as he also vanishes. A breath blows out past her lips. "Well, I get to say that I've pet a dinosaur now, so I can check that off of my to-do list. But I'm sure that they'll come up with something. Some kind of large, wild dog got into the library and had to be contained. These things have a way of covering themselves up.

Kailey's apology just gets a laugh from Ava as she rests her hands on her legs, Una's own laughter not helping her contain the peels of giggles from the unloading of stress now that everything is over. "Oh man. My parents were so lucky that that wasn't the power I had growing up. I would have been a terror! Thankfully, you at least are stronger than she is, so you'll be able to handle it!" Glancing back to Una she grins. "It was a toddler with a very active imagination and quite a bit of power for her age."

Laughter is infectious and Kailey looks back up and finds herself smiling. A brief and soft chuckle coming from her as she runs her hands through the thick black curls, pressing a kiss to the sleeping toddlers head. "I wasn't even paying attention. She's been doing this a lot lately and I'm usually able to dissuade or distract her. I guess no more zoning out for mommy," And she laughs again, approaching Ava through the mess. She holds out a hand and says, "Kailey. And this is Morganna. She's stronger than some people in town already who are grown up. I have to be very careful with who babysits now."

Mrs Fennigan puts down her book and eventually, departs with her kid. Ravn breathes a sigh of relief as he watches the woman's eyes glaze over in that familiar, fascinating and somewhat eerie way of someone who just saw the unbelievable -- and who will be remembering something far more believable. Maybe it was a dog that got loose in here. Maybe it was a prank that went a little too far. Whatever it was, it will prompt nothing more than an angry post on local social media, or a letter to the Gazette, about how this is really not acceptable, a library needs to be a safe space for children.

Mrs Fennigan obviously is not in the know about the books in the basement.

Ravn walks over to look down at Morganna -- and then he too starts to laugh because the laughter is really quite infectuous in that manner of relief and breathing out. "That kid," he observes, "is going to make school teachers wish they'd just signed on for active duty in the Middle East instead."

Una, too, crosses towards the now-clustering group of shiny people, now beginning to unwind her lengthy scarf as the chill of outdoors is banished by the relative warmth of indoors. "God," she agrees. "If she's that strong already..." The glance she aims at the toddler in Kailey's sling doesn't indicate any particular wariness; if anything, she seems downright impressed. "It hadn't occurred to me, particularly, what it must be like for small children. Or their parents."

"Well, for us, it's like any other muscle, I guess. And she's at that age where she's learning to flex it. Seeing how much she can get away with." Ava grins at the sleeping Morganna with a small smile. "She's adorable by the way." Taking Kailey's hand, she gives it a squeeze and a shake. "Ava, it's a pleasure. Next time I'm at the hospital, I can check with Pediatrics and see if there's any mommy and me groups for folks with powerful kids? There has to be a couple, at least, I imagine."

She nods to Una. "It's a lot for kids, sometimes. I was six. But it was healing for me that came first, thankfully. For some it's the fire. That's the scary one."

She glances back to her study room for a second. "I'm going to go gather my things. I'll be back in a few moments."

Kailey continues to idly play with Morganna's curls. To be fair they are soft and silky as Aidan's, so no wonder. "Nice to meet you. And thanks, I think she's pretty stinking adorbs myself," She says with a proud grin.

Eyes turn to Una and Kailey nods a bit. "As far back as I can remember I have been able to do things. My mom taught me and I'm trying to teach Morganna like my mom did. But my memory is fuzzy. I don't recall giving my mom a hard time, but we rarely remember being the problem," She says. There is a whistfulness to her face as she recalls her parent. THen she snaps back and looks at Ava with mild surprise. "You think so? I'd love that. If there is such a thing."

Ravn almost gets shoved playfully, but Kailey stops with her hand a few inches for his shoulder. The hand drops and she sticks her tongue out at him. "Well maybe I'll homeschool and bribe you into teaching her literature," She threatens her friend with a playful smirk. "But you all are right. Thankfully she is a happy kid so far."

"I ran some numbers a while back, at the community centre," Ravn murmurs in response to Una's comment. "Turns out we have an abnormally high rate of various disorders in children -- is anyone even surprised? ADHD, schizotypal disorder, various other attempts to diagnose and explain away the fact that a lot of kids around here see things. I remember Clayton telling me once about how his toys came alive and tried to eat him. It's no bloody wonder kids grow up not quite fitting into the accepted norms of what constitutes sanity here. Of course I have to take that view, I have half a dozen of those diagnoses myself -- and for the same reasons."

He pauses and grins at Kailey's gesture. "It wouldn't be a bad idea -- if there aren't any such groups, we should try to get one going at the centre. I'm sure there is no such group officially -- that'd leave a paper trail and the Veil does hate those. But unofficially? There has to be parents who know their kid is seeing things. Maybe they are too, maybe they think their kid is strange or has some kind of Sight like old folks back in the Old Country."

"I-- no, that doesn't surprise me," Una concludes after a moment's consideration, likely in response to Ravn's numbers, though it could easily encompass most of what's been said. Her gaze tracks after Ava for a moment, then returns to the other two (three, if one counts the toddler, and how can we ignore her?!).

"Hard enough when the parents do know what's going on, but there's inevitably the ones where the parents don't, and... I wish there were a way to keep an eye out for them." Her frown, now, is a thoughtful one.

Kailey nods her head in interest and eagerness. "A word of mouth is going to be the best way to do it. So Ava really is a doctor?" She glances after the woman and back. "That is cool. Now I know who to ask for next time I get my ass kicked by a wave with a bad attitude." The young mother smirks and gives those curls one more kiss. "Okay...we should probably head out...I am sure someone call-" But she stops speaking as she hears the sirens in the distance. "I don't want to have to deal with questioning today," And she begins to head quickly for the exit. "I'll catch you cats later!"

"And so it falls to us." Ravn can't help laugh, again. "Tell you what, Una -- grab Ava and head over for the coffee shop and I'll join you there after giving a statement. You know how this goes -- the police just wants to be told everything is fine, and the reporter is going to turn you into a sobbing mother of three, held at gun point in the stacks. Bail while you can."