OPEN | you hear the minutes kick and play

[halfwinchester]

Who: Adam Milligan (halfwinchester) and anyone!
Where: Library. (Or anywhere, if you'd like to set a thread somewhere else.)
When: All of August, excluding events or player plots. Any day of the week.
Rating: PG for now!
Summary: Adam's still studying up on the family business when he has the time. You might run into him and learn for yourself just how loud mastiffs can snore when they're snoozing.
The Story:



<sub>[If you're looking for Adam and he's not frequenting Jo's training room, the clinic, or his apartment, he has two other possible haunts. Walking his mastiff outdoors around the mansion is one. Cooper the dog? Big fan of rolling in grass. And fertilizing the grass. Hopefully not at the same time.

The other possibility is the library, a place that's become something of a second home since Adam's taken an interest in buffing up his supernatural education. If it's free (and provided the library doesn't see fit to redecorate on him), he takes a table out of the way of the general hustle and bustle, always with a notebook on hand to take down information. Over the last month or so, coming to the library is part of his routine, something he does at least a few times a week, sometimes to even eat lunch while he reads.

Cooper is no stranger to the place, either. You might just see a mastiff's hindquarters poking out from beneath the table if you happen to pass them by as Adam's faithful companion takes an afternoon nap. Dogs can take an interest in the library, too.

In the neighborhood? Maybe you want to drop by for a little monster-themed study group.]



(OOC: Consider this a catch-call for any "downtime" Adam has in and around Wonderland events this month. If you'd like to run into him by using this prompt or starting a new one, this log is open for business!)</sub>

Comments

Aug 6th

[humanities_strongest]

[Levi was busy in the library doing some research on charting, surveying, and map making. This shit was more complicated than he thought. At least the quiet atmosphere helped him concentrate.

Or at least it was quiet until someone started snoring.]

What the fuck?

[Are you serious? Who the hell is sleeping?

He ignores it for a moment...but just a moment. After it continues on he slams his book shut and goes in search of whomever is making that awful sound. It doesn't take him long to follow the noise (and the smell) to the source of the furry menace. He stares for a moment and realizes that he can't blame the dog, but he can blame his dumbass owner.]

Oi. Why the hell did you bring a dog in here?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Adam's project has more to do with supernatural theology than cartography. He's perusing a book in Latin when Levi comes along, engaged by the only thing he can understand which are the pictures, with his chin in his hand like the background noise doesn't bother him.

It doesn't, actually. He's gotten so used to the dog in the months he's had him, the puppy snoozes are just an aspect of his day.

And, well, if he can't concentrate, there's always resorting to the iPod in his backpack...

At Levi's presence, his eyes flick from the page toward the source of the interruption to his studying; he lifts his head from his hand to take a closer look at the short guy with the bowl-cut who sounds about ready to jump down his throat about it.]</sub>

Why not. _{[Adam fails to be moved. It's a dog, not a mariachi band.]} There's no rule that says you can't.

Sorry this took so long!

[humanities_strongest]

It's a library.

[Now, he hasn't heard of service animals-- but even if he did this dog does not look like one nor he is performing anything right now.]

There shouldn't need to be a sign.

As you can see, I'm slower than slow, so no worries. V___V

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[So what if it's a library? Real world rules apply to the real world, not to some fantasy land where libraries move around at will and dogs come out of magic closets.

Adam doesn't blink.]</sub>

It's Wonderland. _{[And for that matter...]} It's not like he's rabid, he's just a dog.

_{[If you've got a problem, call Animal Control.]}

[no_eels]

[The library isn't a high draw for Toothless, but it does have quite a collection of scents. Both from the books within, and the people who frequent it. Today, though, the draw is the sound of a slumbering canine. Toothless had quite liked the little ones who had infested the place, before. Most of them seem to be gone, now, but the Nightfury catches a canine scent and decides to investigate.

All he sees is Cooper's rump, at first, and Toothless glances up to find Adam reading. Adam's is a familiar scent, and he rumbles a quiet greeting. Hello, viking.]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[A dragon sneaking around the stacks is hard to miss. Adam thinks a few swings of that tail or flaring those massive wings might bring some shelves crashing down, but despite how strange it still is to see any old fantasy creature paying the library a visit, it's good to see Toothless around again.

Adam straightens up from his book to look into a pair of catlike eyes.]</sub>

Hey, buddy, visiting the library?

<sub>[He isn't the only one who's alerted to Toothless' presence. Underneath the table, the mastiff awakens with a nasally wuff. It's his first dragon, and he doesn't seem to know what to make of the big, black shape behind him. He moves suddenly, pulling a U-turn so that he can face Toothless head-on.

Belatedly, Adam thinks dragon vs. dog could end horribly.]</sub>

... You don't eat dog, do you?

[no_eels]

[Toothless is quick to shake his head. Fish is what he prefers, as well as some viking foods. Canines, normally, look on the bony side, although some dragons wouldn't hesitate if they weren't trained to ignore them or co-exist. This one is... particularly large, but still, the Nightfury is uninterested in getting a meal out of him.

He's far more interested in heading off any violence before it gets started. The Nightfury trills, high, in the back of his throat, ears perked forward.]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Adam looks under the table at Cooper. He's more concerned about the dog's reaction than Toothless', honestly. It's anyone's guess how an animal might act when encountering another animal three times its size. Even he'd been intimidated by Toothless when they'd first met, and he couldn't smell whatever dragons must smell like. Predators? Threats? Thankfully, like with most things he's not sure about, Cooper just watches, lying absolutely still with aside from his twitching nose.

Thank god Wonderland had given him an easygoing dog, because he sure as hell hadn't taught Cooper to stay calm under pressure. If anything, the dog's better at that than he is. He gives the mastiff a rub along his head and back.]</sub>

Hey, look, someone who can beat you at tug-of-war. And he doesn't think you're tasty-looking. It's your new best friend.

<sub>[Cooper grunt back with a wauwauwaugh on the low, walrus-like end of the scale, drags himself forward a little, stops to grunt in confusion again, then drags himself partway out from beneath the table to investigate the newcomer.

Rising from his chair, Adam comes around to show Toothless the dog tag hanging off the dog's collar with Cooper's name and his room number on it.]</sub>

This is Cooper. See, Hiccup has you, and I have this guy.

_{[And maybe it's because his dragon trainer is hanging around that Toothless is back and out and about more, but Adam's kind of glad he is.]}

[lightgunhustler]

[They see each other plenty during training sessions, but Jo has made it a habit to regularly check in on Adam -- as far as she knows, nobody else is doing it, but over time, a part of her has begun to feel personally responsible for Adam. He's family, after all, whether he likes it or not, though she's pretty sure he's come to accept it coming from her.

Other people with actual blood relation, not so much, but that was a different and very complicated story.

She smiles when she pokes her head into the library and spots him there, seeing Cooper behind gracelessly sticking out from beneath the table. Brown bag in hand, she heads over and helps herself to a seat opposite Adam, setting it down in front of him.]

Hungry, Poindexter?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[When the world's fallen out from under him, it's really no surprise that "family" as he'd once understood it is a thing of the past, as are the softer edges he'd had before the ghouls entered the picture. Maybe if he was still that soft kid, if he cried for his mom in public, if he was sad first and angry second, if he was easier to handle when he was upset, maybe if he was any of those things people would be more sympathetic and flock around him.

But he's not.

Maybe if he let his half-brothers get away with what they'd done, they'd be around more than once a year like John, but he won't.

His soul damage isn't very pretty, and neither is how it manifests in his attitude toward some things, but Adam can at least say he never purposely invites anyone to feel sorry for him or pamper him like Little Orphan Annie. Jo's one of those people who've been so tenacious in the face of all the unlikable parts of his trauma that in the end it's next to impossible not to cherish her. She doesn't have to make room for him because he's not her secret sibling, but she does, and he kind of loves her for that.

If there's someone more glad to see Jo than Adam, though, it's Cooper. The smell of food could snap him out of a coma, and right away a furry someone puts his head on the table to join the books and Adam's elbows.]</sub>

Not you.

_{[He smiles at Jo, but pushes Cooper's face away.]}

How'd you know? On break from bar duty?

[lightgunhustler]

Taking a breather, and I had a hunch. Big sister intuition.

[She grins, folding her arms and leaning forward against the table, though not before reaching down to scruff Cooper behind the ears. Considering her past hellhound trauma, she's surprised that she's still able to enjoy dogs as much as she does, but both Cooper and Jormy have a bad habit of being so damn likable that even if she had developed a phobia, they would have likely snuggled and slobbered their way out of it.]

Don't worry, buddy, I brought something for you, too. Where one of you goes, the other follows.

[That part is directed to Cooper, and she reaches into her pocket to pull out a bit of rawhide and offer it to him. It would be rude to feed Adam and leave Cooper out in the cold, after all.

She turns her attention back to Adam himself, resting her chin in her hand.]

What's got you holed up in here, huh?

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Big sister intuition, huh? Adam tilts his head at the pointed choice of words. If only. Maybe things would have gone differently if he'd actually had an older sibling who'd had room in her life for a stranger, instead of the people he has a blood connection with, who have a "no vacancy" sign attached to them.

For that matter, so does Adam. He doesn't want the blood he's got any more than they want him.

Other people, though... other people who aren't family in the bitter way Adam's come to see it as... there might be room for them. The more Jo chips away at what Hell's done to him, the more of a spot she has for herself.

He's just thankful Sam and Dean haven't rubbed off on her yet.]</sub>

Well, thanks for thinking about my stomach.

<sub>[She really does know the way to his heart--both of theirs, actually. Too well.

Cooper leans over to mouth the bag until the rawhide appears and sends him on the path to doggy Heaven. It's a good thing Adam picked a table out of the way, because Cooper's frantic tail-wagging could knock over everything not nailed down. He nudges Jo's. Someone certainly thinks she's an excellent big sis.]</sub>

Extra credit research? _{[Adam peeks inside the bag she'd brought.]} With everything, I just thought... I should keep picking up things where I can.

_{[He avoids mentioning Lucifer, but the archangel is one of many reasons why his interest in the supernatural has been renewed lately. Most of the books he reads these days have to do with the occult in some shape or form.]}

[shadowtravel]

[ following the whole angel thing, Nico's been all too keen on learning more about the concept of them outside of whatever lore his own world had to offer, especially given the conversation he'd had with Adam a few weeks ago.

mostly it's a good distraction, rifling through stacks of books that are offered in languages he actually understands. between everything that happened with Percy and Wonderland's apparent sense of humor in making the son of a death god into an angel, Nico finds it almost relieving to spend his time being at least slightly productive.

what he doesn't expect is to see Adam when he rounds a corner, two books under his arm that he's decided to use as a starter. Nico's never been very good at this part, but- ]

Um- Hey. Adam, right? From the bonfire.

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[To more than one person in the mansion, the end to the angels and demons event comes as a relief. For Adam, it means it's finally safe to emerge from hiding; he can leave his room and not worry every person he meets might spring some Heaven and Hell crap on him. But gone or not, the event had stirred up a maelstrom of bad memories.

He's uneasy in its wake, and finds himself leaving Cooper at home where he knows the dog should be safe. Cooper's just an animal, innocent and unconditionally affectionate. Something simple. Something breakable. He thinks about blood, about intestines strung from chains and glassy, staring eyes, and it bothers him to picture it in relation to the comfortable little home he's made for himself and the pet he has waiting for him. It's just... hard, being in his head. Everything crumbles into nightmares and blurry memories for a while after the event, though it might be hard for people to tell the difference when he usually looks a bit haggard.

The subject matter of his books doesn't exactly help when he's looking up monsters from occult bestiaries he's never heard of, but it's better than what'll happen if he starts daydreaming.

Somehow his thought always come back to the monsters that are walking around this very mansion. And speaking off--

Surprised by the voice, he lifts his eyes to find Nico hovering nearby again. Nico, the demi-god. The kid who's a part of some Greek-style afterlife. Adam doesn't jump to help Nico make their meeting less socially awkward; he stares with his lips parted slightly in the way he's accustomed to when he's thinking about what to say to fill the silence.

Things are different this time. There's no, pleasant, dreamy lull dulling the edges of his defenses. Nico isn't just a person on a beach, he's... what he is. Not entirely human, not a friendly guarantee. Now that the glow from that night is wearing off, Adam can't help but assign the boy a big, fat question mark in his mind.]</sub>

Yeah, that's right.

<sub>[His answer is delayed. It seems almost strange now to remember how easy it'd been to just be that night. In a way, he's lying--he's not the same Adam as before, he's a little bit more reserved again.

It's not quite thanks to fear of the quiet, unnatural space the dark-haired boy seems to occupy, though. Nico has to do with death, but Adam's definition of it has changed over the centuries--death is fire and violence, a bright, brutal pain all to do with angels. His time in the Cage hadn't exactly been an end to life, but a never-ending desire for his soul to finally snuff itself out, for the torture to stop. Standing there, Nico seems like a step on the road to the death he just hasn't reached yet. A full stop. Death, just... death.]</sub>

You're... Nico. I remember. Even if it's a little fuzzy.

[shadowtravel]

[ being around Adam now, where his powers no longer feel muted or dulled, he can sense it. all of it. the deaths that Adam had suffered through, the sheer amounts of pain and suffering his soul has seen. it makes his chest ache in a way that only good souls can. good ones who have been through the most horrible of things that no person should have to.

it takes him a moment to catch up with the fact that Adam had spoken in return, too intently focused on the way his death sense takes up so much of his attention. his arms tighten around the books he's holding, the silence stretching as he feels through what exactly has happened to Adam.

only once he realizes that he's not said anything, does he shake himself out of it. ]

Mm, it is for me too. I don't think most of us remember everything; at least not in detail.

[ he does, however, remember how Adam had spoken about his feelings around death, how he had questions about souls in the world he and Clarisse came from. it isn't surprising, now that Nico has a sense of why Adam would even want to ask.

Nico had never really considered what life after death would be like in other worlds, even upon arriving in Wonderland. he knew in this place it wasn't permanent, that it felt- off, but he'd never really thought about other places outside of here and home. but the more he's able to sense about Adam, the more he realizes that things are capable of being so vastly different, even in something so certain as death.

(which, in itself, is not certain at all.) ]

The event didn't have a poor sense of humor with you, did it?

august 18.

[braiding]

[ contrary to what adam may think, finnick is a beach bum only ninety-percent of the time. he'd taken to the shore more than he'd done the libraries or even the small shops in district 4, it always being a family destination. it's where he'd learned to swim and fish, to sail a boat as far as his father felt comfortable sailing — all before the games, of course, when his own dad, so conscious of sea boundaries that no other knew, had wanted to pack the entire family into the small fishing boat and sail to an island that was bound to be on the outskirts of panem. ]

[ the library is like an old lover, one he rarely visits, but one he could remember fondly if he were to ever truly linger in one for more than a second. it's difficult to do so when he has very limited time to waste, it always occupied by the sand and annie. he had passed wonderland's a few times, peering in, but never quite crossing the threshold to pull a book from a shelf and take to the ocean to read. he'd always asked his closet for them, preferring the worn pages and the spine littered with a sand. it's always annie's favourite books he asks for, hoping to submerge himself in the worlds she used to disappear into, until he had pulled her back into reality. ]

[ he's plucked alice's adventures in wonderland from the shelf, interested in reading what it is this world is apparently based on, when he spots a big butt he recognises. he wants to escape to the beach, a familiar destination in an unfamiliar world, but the beach is as lonely as a room in the capitol is. spying his own friend — cooper — has him pausing, not wishing to merely smile and walk on by with the thin book in his grip. and it's the ass he spies at the table, with a book and notepad in front of him. he thinks to bend down and give cooper a scratch, but the dog appears too peaceful to disturb. instead, finnick opts to disturb his owner. ] Remember to move. It'll get rid of the dust you're bound to collect.

[ out of all the places finnick's bumped into adam, the library fits him best. ]

august 18th!

[oikodomae]

[ the library has also become annabeth's second home of sorts. though, technically, it should be her third home, considering how she technically has two bedrooms. but the library has become one of those every day, or at least every other day sort of trips - whether she's there for a couple of hours or just to pick up a book. she's started becoming all too familiar with the organization, when is the quietest time to show up, when is best to pick up and drop off books. it's not that she doesn't want to interact with people, but her life is loud enough that sometimes all she needs is quiet. some time to read.

today is one of those days, a simple walk through the library to grab a couple of books to take back to her room with her, that ends almost disastrously when she just about trips over the back end of a large dog. a large dog that is then awoken from his nap and curious as to who stepped on him, coming out from under the table to investigate.

she doesn't even notice the owner until she's kneeling down to pet him, scratching behind his ears easily enough. ]

Oh, so-

[ oh. ]

[halfwinchester]

Okay?

<sub>[Adam doesn't think anything of someone passing his table by until they nearly derail themselves on the library floor's new speed bump. He extends his arm across the table in case he needs to help catch the girl while Cooper makes a pathetic-sounding grunt beneath him.

Since the dog's not going to do it, it comes down to him to apologize, but then she turns her head at just the right angle and he realizes he recognizes her even before she looks him in the face.

He knows her from the network. And, he supposes, she knows him. The demi-god Annabeth, right? He pulls his arm back. Adam remembers her angrily announcing Clarisse's death, and her name being passed around by the others. It's more than just meeting someone who knows his doppelganger, though; only this morning he'd seen Percy's video all but outing himself as someone fooling around with a member of his own family. Adam's not an expert on the Greek gods' family tree, but no matter who her parents are, there's a good chance they're related if she's one of them.

Super awkward.

No good words come to mind, other than "not human" and "incest."]</sub>

Different guy. Different religious background.

_{[Hopefully that curbs the obvious question before she spends much time thinking about it.]}

[oikodomae]

[ sorry, adam. did you say something? cause annabeth's having war flashbacks and it's probably fairly obvious by her facial expression that she's expecting something to happen right about now.

and when it doesn't, she sort of deflates, and when you finally speak, she relaxes even more.

percy did warn her that there was someone here who looked exactly like luke. she just didn't even think about it until now. ]

Sorry. [ she actually feels incredibly awkward right now. ] You uh- [ okay annabeth, just look down to the dog. actually, kneeling down to pet the dog is an even better idea. ] Guess you met Percy already?

august 20, breaking the chain! dealwithit.jpg

[resent]

The outdoors weren't going to give her any answers to the angels and demons thing.

After the event — and her fortunately missing out on sprouting a forked tail or having a halo bloom over her crown — Cora wanted to take to the inside of the mansion, disliking how Wonderland had thrown her out of her furred skin twice in a row. First, it'd been the high school event, and then her being dulled down to a mundane human while others were turned into religious mythical beings, rather than being left alone in peace. Her trying to find her own way of ridding herself of her pent up frustration had lead to even more — everyone was going on about this school, joining this class and learning this subject, when Cora wanted to push herself far away from ever being close to that alternate universe event where a Cora Hale existed with a family that wasn't broken or burned. It seemed to continue to follow her, pinned to her heels like a shadow.

Stealing a bland looking book on religion, she had all intentions of returning to her room and trying to read the very first sentence with Boudica pressing her snout into the crook of her arm. While Cora wanted to stay indoors, her wolf wanted to go on an adventure — and possibly play a game of spooking rabbits. But she'd have to wait, for Cora had caught a familiar scent.

She wasn't avoiding Adam as much as she wanted to give him space. He'd liked the girl she had been, carefree, still slightly sharp around the edges, but someone who had been happier and whole. And Cora had liked being that girl, not for his sake, but for her own — she could recall memories that didn't exist in her own universe, of Mom and Laura, and Derek, who had been younger. It was a hard pill to swallow that that reality would always remain a dream, never quite as tangible as it had been for those three days.

She didn't doubt it wasn't any different for Adam, either.

He was a mirror image of what her own life was, except with more doom and gloom, and betrayals happening in clumps, rather than littered along the floor like her own. It was difficult to deal with someone who understood it, even if he didn't know the specifics as to why she was so quick to say get over it.

She wanted to walk by and ignore him sitting at the table, but something prompted her to stop. Hugging the book to her chest, she frowned. Cora nodded her head toward the book open in front of him. "I didn't think they had a class for medical students." But it seemed as though they had a class for everything, from demons (if she remembered her text conversation with the man who seemed to be the principal of Wonderland's school) to self-defense. Why not something for those who were bound for college and a life that had purpose?

have a dealwithmylateness.jpg right back at you...

[halfwinchester]

His sense of smell being half as sensitive as Cora's, Adam didn't know his ex-girlfriend was in the area until he sensed someone hanging around the table. Was it fair to call her that? Technically, they had dated, in a weird, alternate universe kind of way. It had happened, but it hadn't happened.

It didn't count as a real relationship, so Adam didn't mind joking about it in the privacy of his own head. Compared to having brothers who weren't really brothers, it was relatively easier to stomach.

Sometimes, anyway.

Having someone know things they shouldn't know about you could get strange, something Adam was reminded of when he looked up from his book, lifting his chin off of his fist, to find Cora standing there. His greeting was quickly forgotten as he processed what she'd said. Medical student? How would she know...?

Right. She knew things about him now. Bringing up medical studies wasn't just a lucky guess.

He looked back down at his book, which was about documented cases of spirit haunting, nothing to do with his old life and everything to do with his new one. Hitting the books at the school library like the average student was a thing of the past, and the memories were regret-tinged, bittersweet things. "Wouldn't know. I'm not a medical student."

That was one thing Cora couldn't have gleaned from their fake memories.

"How are you?"

ugh, no. i refuse to dealwiththis.jpg

[resent]

Even though she still didn't quite know Adam from … Adam, she thought she was getting a good feel for him — albeit, slowly and incredibly painfully. Until the alternate universe memories had slammed themselves against what she already did know from this Adam — the one who didn't smile or ask girls to the dance or was even remotely in the vicinity of being a normal and mundane human being — but she still didn't know him. It was almost like her situation with Derek. She knew him from memories that she had kept safe over the years, but it was difficult trying to reconcile the Derek of now with the Derek of then. It was difficult to put the two Adams she had memories of together, too.

But for a girl who believed she knew it all, it's the question he asked that threw her off balance. No one ever really bothered to ask that anymore — the kids from Beacon Hills still continue to ask her, but they always predicted her rolling her eyes and snapping, exasperatedly, I'm fine. But Adam didn't quite know that Cora, perhaps believing her to be like the girl he had liked a little too much in a universe that didn't exist for either of them — moms alive, for one. She thought to say it now, but those walls of hers that erected themselves as quickly at the question didn't begin building themselves around her.

Instead, she just took a moment to respond. "Good, I guess," she shrugged. She thought to wield it back toward him, but she already figured she knew the answer. I'm fine, when he's not. Cora's eyes moved toward his book, eyebrow cocking, "Think you put Cooper to sleep with whatever it is you're reading." She didn't look down toward the dog, tapping into those sharp senses of hers to hear his large companion merely lie listless beneath the table.

[samlicker81]

[ becky's heard about the library from a few people, but she hasn't actually bothered to find it until today. too busy writing fanfiction in her own room and generally being a hermit will do that to you. most of the time she doesn't really see the point in leaving her room — she doesn't even need to leave to get food, because the magic closet will provide her with anything.

but, then there's the part where the mansion doesn't have internet access, so when she needs to look up something like the psychology of serial killers or ancient torture methods, she's kind of out of luck. except then she remembers there's a huge library and books have always been her best friend. well, until the internet came along. but now it's time to rekindle her friendship with research using actual books instead of just typing in keywords to google search.

once she's gathered a few choice reading materials about serial killers in the 1930s, she figures, hey, while she's here... she might as well look for the supernatural books. they're supposed to be here, right? she knows people have read them (or parts of them, whatever) who never had access to them back home, so...

sure enough, there's a whole row of them. every single book, only slightly less worn than her own personal copies. she picks out some of her (more lighthearted) favorites: hell house, croatoan, tall tales, bad day at black rock... she's got a nice stack of mostly worn paperbacks, most of which are blocking her view. she tries her hardest to look around them to see where she's going, but that still doesn't help her avoid stepping on cooper's tail. the dog startles and she does too; the books in her arms topple to the floor. ]

Sorry! Sorry... [ she looks over at cooper apologetically as she scrambles to pick up her books, then realizes who it is she's run into, looking, well... a little sheepish. he's supposed to be in the books, right? awkward... ] Oh. Um, hello again. [ these books are definitely not what you think they are... except, yes, yes they are. ]

[halfwinchester]

<sub>[Cooper and Becky do a good job of spooking Adam, too, who pushes his chair back just in time for Cooper to belly-crawl under the table completely and Becky to drop what she's carrying.

He's lucky he'd seen her coming, or his nerves would be shot.]</sub>

He'll live. _{[Because it's Cooper who's the most put out here, not him.]} You good?

<sub>[When he's the one picking through a stack of books about real life monsters, Adam doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to criticizing other people's reading choices. Except when it comes to Becky.

He knows she's read those books, she's admitted as much, and when he sees the paperbacks scattered around with their stupid cover art, he has to wonder if those are them. Life wouldn't be that cruel, would it...?

Who's he kidding.

Adam lifts his gaze from them and settles it on the other books. He bends to pick two up for her; from the titles, the rest of her reading material is just as morbid. Lovely.]</sub>

[samlicker81]

[ becky tries for a smile and nods, though her expression mostly reads embarrassed. really, the only person who would've been worse to run into with a pile of supernatural books would be sam. or, dean, too. if only she knew adam were technically a winchester, this would make this whole situation eight times worse. ]

I've lived this long, right? [ her laugh is forced, nervous, and she really hopes adam isn't paying too much attention to the book titles. ] I'll be fine. [ she has most of the books in a stack again when he holds out two of them and she reaches for them from where she kneels on the floor. ] Um. Thanks...

[ she's not really sure how she's going to transport all of them back to her room without another avalanche, but she can figure that out later. she glances at the book adam had picked up, croatoan, and attempts to give him a reassuring grin. ] Don't worry, you're not in that one. Or, um, any of these. I don't actually ever remember reading about you. [ that's reassuring right??? ] You must be in the internet-exclusive titles that, um, I haven't actually read! Since ... they're published in my future. By me, actually.