what_wings_dare | 🅧 Please explain to me the scientific nature of 'the whammy'

"It's really nice," she says, feeling inexplicably shy and oddly something close to proud-- which makes very little sense since she's barely less of a stranger here than he is.

"Craiger doesn't have a lot going on. If you go to the library you'll have seen all of it."

He doesn't have to worry about leftover fries, really.

"Maybe I should go," he says, running a hand through his shaggy hair. This could probably start to take the shape of something more than mere talk, if he had any mind for it. Right now, he's genuinely intrigued by the promise of the library - even if he suspects that it might only be impressive to someone living in Craiger. "Want to come with? If you think your sister won't miss you."

Oh, she should definitely say no to that. She has the excuse of chewing a frankly unflattering mouthful of fries to think about it. But she takes a little longer, chewing her lip in thought.

"There's a phone on the corner," she says. "I could call my mother and let her know."

Or pretend to. She's committed to the fiction of Melisa coming to get her, after all.

"Sure." He smiles, despite the fact that it's one more day without Samantha and he's gotten no closer to finding her. It's a broad, easy grin that lights up his whole face at the prospect. "I'm guessing it's close enough to walk."

This town feels like it's about three feet square. Fox doesn't mind it, exactly - it's not like Chilmark was a raging metropolis - but he's not sure he could be happy if he spent every day here. Maybe if he were old.

The fact that he seems pleased at the prospect settles her nerves. She likes to be appreciated, okay. It's not personal. (Not much. Give it a couple of decades.) And it's an excuse to go to the library. Win-win. The cute boy is completely incidental and unimportant. God, she hopes no one sees them. She hopes everyone sees them. She doesn't know everyone enough to know what to hope.

(She really, really hopes Ahab doesn't see them.)

"There isn't really anywhere to park, anyway. You'll see."

But, prudently, she helps herself to another handful of fries (or two) first.

This far from school, home, and his parents, Fox has given absolutely no thought to what any of this might look like from the outside. He's entirely focused on the moment, and especially on the fact that it's soothing some of the guilt that always wakes up when he thinks of his sister. The library might hold more information that could help him, after all. Somehow, some way, it might be useful despite its small-towniness.

He gets up, fishing a couple bucks out of his pocket and dropping them next to the empty fry basket. "Lead the way."

It's a little odd being the authority on Craiger. But they've got a mission and even now, Dana Scully has a deeply developed work ethic. She finishes up her tea, dabs her mouth with her napkin, and they head out.

She does insist on stopping by the payphone, palming a coin (thanks to her uncle's sleight-of-hand lessons) and doing a credible job of pretending to talk to her mom. Maybe he can tell-- she's not sure-- but it's the principle of the thing. She wanted him to think people were waiting for her, and she doesn't want him to think she's the kind of girl who just runs off on plans.

The walk is long, but it's pleasant enough; the grounds are visible before the building itself, and it looks more like... well, like a mansion, than anything.

"Told you it was huge," she says with a grin.

He assumes it's the real deal, in part because he's trying not to listen. (And if that means walking the edge of the curb like it's a balance beam, arms out, so be it. It keeps his focus on his feet and away from whatever it is she's telling her mother.) On the way over, they're both pretty quiet. Fox is taking in the scenery, trying to decide if he likes Craiger better the second time around; Dana's thinking whatever thoughts she's thinking, and she's not overly quick to share.

The jury's still out on whether Craiger's improved when there's no deadline, but its library is bigger than he expects. A huge lawn, a huge building - he's impressed despite a year of living in a real city.

"It's a house." Obviously, but there's admiration in that. A mansion stuffed full of books. "Do they ever do stuff out on the grounds?"

"I don't really know. I mean, they'd have to sometimes, right?"

What a waste, if they don't. She hasn't been here long enough to see anything of note, though.

"Someone willed it to the town, to become the library, I think. Obviously you can't take anything back with you but at least maybe we can get some ideas?"

She heads for the doors like she belongs there, because, well, she's a nerd. The librarian returns her nod pleasantly. Probably no one is going to tell her parents she's out with strange boys. Probably.

"Maybe." Even if they can't, they'll get to see the place, and right now, that feels like a win to him.

It's cool inside after walking in the summer sun, and it's a little dim. The right kind of atmosphere for a repository of knowledge, he figures, and Dana's right that it's one hell of a repository. It's beautiful inside, full of finely wrought architecture and furniture that looks like something a rich grandmother would own. And bookshelves, of course. Tons of bookshelves.

"Which room has the occult?" he asks in a cheerful undertone, bending down a little so she'll catch the sound. "The darker and more arcane, the better."

A town with a library like this can't be all bad, right?

"Spooky," she says with a grin she can't suppress. This is serious business and it shouldn't feel like fun, but she can't help herself. "I've never gone looking-- I think religion is downstairs?"

Maybe it can be a little unserious right now. It's not currently directly about Samantha; right now, it can be about the fact that they're exploring a library he's never seen, with a girl who's as enthusiastic about the idea as he. Once he actually gets somewhere, then it'll get serious again.

Walking over in the summer sun helped lighten his mood, and Dana's smile doesn't hurt.

"Religion?" He snorts, mildly derisive. "Do psychic powers count as a religion?"

"I think for some people," she answers, eyebrow raised. "But I guess I don't know. We could ask someone, or look at the card catalog."

Though she got him talking easily enough, she isn't sure he wants to risk anyone else asking him why he's so interested in remote viewing. Whether or not it's a real thing.

Asking someone? Absolutely not. That way lies embarrassment and a quick dismissal. The card catalogue seems similarly dangerous - if there's nothing here, there'll be no more reason to hang around. Maybe she'll walk back to Beyond Beyond with him, but that'll be the end of it.

(If there is something here, the card catalogue will ensure they find it quickly, of course. But his instinct is still to let things stretch out a little more if he can.)

"Let's browse," he says, and starts walking towards the stairs. "We can test your 'religion' theory."

"I don't know if I'd call it a theory." More just a vague guess. But that's-- fine. She's not in a hurry, and having faked a call home, she doesn't even really have to pretend to be in a hurry. It's kind of fun to have a goal in mind, and company-- particularly company she isn't related to. In Craiger, it's a novelty.

"But I think it's the--"

She's interrupted by someone further down the hallway. A male voice, calling out--

"Dana?"

Oh, shit.

"Friend of yours?" he asks, and on his defense, he can't recognize the trademark red hair as a dead giveaway. His face has a similar shape, maybe, but not so similar that he notices it.

Maybe he should guess based on the look on his face, surprise going to confusion going to something like pique. But he doesn't, just gives an awkward wave - what a dork, Fox - and waiting for an explanation.

All she can manage is a wide-eyed glance his way before trying to fix a neutral this-is-not-a-big-deal smile on her face as she turns to her brother. It seems to her like it should be obvious-- the Scullys tend to stick out like a sore thumb-- but she's not going to waste time explaining.

"Hi, Bill," she says brightly, like it's not a big deal because she's working very hard to project that nothing interesting is happening. Bill, unfortunately, does not keep going about his business-- he stalks down the hall to where they stand, looking back and forth between the two of them, his gaze landing on Fox.

It's his best Ahab impression, which is not really all that good, but it gets the disapproval across.

"Who is this?"

"This is Fox," says Fox, who's getting the sense that he's in the doghouse. For what, is the question - and the answer appears to be "showing up at the library with a girl he just met." Bill looks like he's around Fox's age, and he's one of the few people who's taller than him. He's stockier, too, strong-looking and undeniably pissed and...oh. He's either her brother or her ex, and right now, his money's on brother.

Which means he's going to have to smooth things over fast if he doesn't want to get decked. It's a pity he can't get his voice to go along with it - there's a note of irony in there that's unlikely to win hearts and minds right now. "We're looking for the religious books. Want to join us?"

"Religious books," Bill says, in a tone that manages not to be a question but still demands an answer. Dana, to her credit, does not wince and also does not kick Fox in the shins.

It's not exactly a secret that the girls hang out at Beyond Beyond. The yoga classes are completely sensible, after all. But it's enough to chafe at traditional Scully superstition, and Bill probably objects more than the rest of them, since he thinks as the eldest he ought to be in charge.

"I'm helping Fox with a research project-- he's from out of town visiting relatives and he doesn't know his way around our library."

He shrugs - poor, poor pitiful me - and gives Bill a smile that's only going to get him into hotter water. There's no saving him, though; none of this seems like a big deal to him, and he's utterly incapable of pretending it is. It's a free country, after all, and Dana can go wherever she wants with whoever she wants. If her probably-brother doesn't like it, he can tell the nearest hole in the ground.

"It's actually my first time here," he says brightly. His gaze shifts Dana's way, over and down, and he says a little quieter, "So who is he, Dana? Your brother?"

Bill can still hear. Of course Bill can still hear. Fox just can't bring himself to care.

Indeed, Bill can hear, and he does not like your tone, Fox. Maybe it's the way he says Dana. Maybe it's the simple fact that a boy who Bill hasn't vetted is saying her name at all.

"This is my brother Bill," she introduces unnecessarily, but in a friendly tone, like being aggressively normal can fix this.

What it gets her is Bill's heavy gaze focused on her.

"Does Mom know where you are?"

She finally starts to look annoyed.

"I'm at the library, Bill," she snaps back. "Not some-- some dive bar or something."

"Nice to meet you, too," he mutters. It's easy to figure things out from here: What are your intentions with my little sister? And they're entirely honorable - frankly, he doubts he's smooth enough to parlay sad conversations into heavy petting - but try telling Big Brother here that.

(Would he be like this, if Samantha were home? Unequivocally yes, but that's because any stranger talking to his sister after half a decade missing would raise alarm bells. If she'd never disappeared, Fox would like to believe he'd be normal. Normal-ish. At least willing to hear a guy out, probably.)

"I thought we'd hit the dive bar after we researched the devil and listened to Led Zeppelin," he adds dryly. If they're under this much suspicion just for being seen together, he's not going to waste his time trying to get on Bill's good side. It doesn't sound like he has one. (Maybe that's true of all Bills.) "I hear if you play "Stairway to Heaven" backwards, they praise Satan."

Really she has nothing more racy than psychic phenomena on her mind. He's cute, sure, and there's a part of her that finds the sad story endearing. But they're on a mission, here. And it's not like she expects anyone to be looking at her that way-- Bill's concern, she figures, is entirely misplaced-- and thus doubly overstepping.

"You think you're funny?" Bill is saying, and she slides in between the two of them-- not that she's tall enough to block their line of sight. She shoots a withering you're not helping glare over her shoulder.

"He's joking." She doesn't add the obviously but the tone says it. "We're just looking at books, c'mon."

In the distance the librarian is stirring; Craiger is a sleepy little town more often than not, and the opportunity for a good shushing seems nigh.

"Hilarious," Fox shoots back, just before Dana gives him that shut up, stop it kind of look. It's reasonably convincing, if only because failing to listen will mean the end of the search. He might as well walk right over to the librarian on duty and ask for help.

So he crosses his arms and waits, awkward and a little sullen, while a girl a foot shorter than him tries to make peace. His gaze doesn't move from Bill's stupid, angry face.

Honestly, what are boys even good for?

When it comes down to it, though, she thinks-- probably-- she can get away with this. Bill is trying to throw his weight around, but when it comes down to it he doesn't have any actual authority to punish her, and she hasn't done anything to punish. Maybe, barely, vaguely at odds with the spirit of the law, but certainly nowhere near violating the letter.

"We're just looking at books," she repeats, standing her ground. "Are you really going to tattle on me, Bill?"

It infuriates him. But also, he doesn't have a good response. Bill's jaw work and he glances back and forth between the two of them like he's looking for something cutting to respond with.

[ n a m e ; ]	Dana Katherine Scully
[ c a n o n ; ]	The X-Files
[ g a m e ; ]	spicy times in noctiumrp

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