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[sharktrash]

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[sharktrash]

[ Squalo is going to give him A Look, because how the fuck could books possibly help with his utter disaster of a situation? He'll probably reconsider a little later, though, because even questionable erotica was loads better than being bored for another minute. ]

Sure. If your charges got a tendency to die, you don't get hired much.

[cahooted]

[Because they're books, Squalo. Because they're books.

Flynn frowns, thinking that response over.]

Alright, that makes sense. But how do you guys do that, do you have like a tally list or something?

[Look, it's a little hard to wrap his head around it.] Wouldn't all the bodyguards whose charges never died share first place?

[sharktrash]

[ But books suck. Well, most of them. ]

[ Squalo's own frown is deepening, because why the fuck is he stuck explaining something he's not even really a part of in the first place? ]

The fuck are you talking about? It's not a competition. More like -- a background check. [ maybe that would be a more familiar concept. ] Folks with higher success rate get more job offers, and better money. 'Nd those who repeatedly fail get a new fucking job.

[cahooted]

[You shut your mouth.]

... That's actually a pretty good thing for the clients to have, I suppose.

[I mean. If you're hiring someone to protect your life and all.]

Right. Well... maybe some people here need protecting? You could offer your services I guess.

[sharktrash]

[ you can't make him ]

Mm. Not much use for that here.

[ He could, technically, but money means nothing here, it's too damn easy to die to things that another person can't protect against, and Squalo's damn picky with whom he swears his life to. He's pretty content to have himself as his first and foremost priority, thanks. ]

It'll suck if my last client dies while I'm stuck here, yeah? [ not really, but he imagines he would feel this way if he actually was protecting someone. ] Don't think insurance covers interdimensional kidnappings.

[cahooted]

I can definitely see how that might be a problem. [A beat.] For all parties involved.

Then again, interdimensional kidnappings are a pretty good excuse.

[sharktrash]

[ You'd think it would suck the most for the person who actually dies, but of course Squalo deems their problem trivial when compared to his. ]

I don't like excuses.

[ Whether they're good or not doesn't really matter. He's not sure it's going to matter to the Varia, either. ]

[ So. ]

I've told you quite a bit about myself. [ And at least his place of origin was not a lie. ] Your turn.

[cahooted]

Sounds fair. [It's a reasonable request; especially since Squalo is probably stuck with the same confusing mix of feeling like they know each other while knowing nothing about each other at all.]

I'm from New York City, USA. Live and work there, when I'm not traveling for my job. I'm a Librarian, New York Public Metropolitan.

If that means anything to you.

[It's a fairly well-known library but Flynn really doesn't expect them to be even remotely from the same world or timeline with all the sword murdering going around.

Then again, Squalo has seen 300, so who knows.]

[sharktrash]

[ He really is. It's a little like having a vague memory of being arrested last night but you're still too drunk to figure out how you got to a yacht instead. ]

Sure. I've been there. Well, the city, not the library.

[ Squalo'sworld is largely the same as the regular twenty-first century Earth, except with large mafia alliances factually holding more power (and probably money) than governments. Then again, who's to say it's not the same everywhere? It's not exactly public knowledge. ]

[ Oh, and there's energy magic. In addition to the fact that Squalo's apparently so good he can go with a sword against semi-automatic submachine guns. ]

I didn't realize librarians travel that much.

[cahooted]

You have? [Okay, re-evaluating that bit.] I thought you were some kind of Italian ninja samurai from the past. What year are you from?

[It's funny how it's always the traveling bit that seems to give him away. Flynn wonders if he might want to stop mentioning that.]

We have conferences. And I work for a special collection, sometimes I have to go and pick up new additions, cooperate with other libraries...

[sharktrash]

Italy never had samurai. Or ninja. [ If he looks a bit offended, it's because he's had his ass handed by a tiny Japanese teenager who was pretty much a samurai in the modern sense. He's got nothing against the warrior caste itself. ] It was [ some year between 2006 and 2012, when satellite phones already existed, since that's when the manga ran ] when I left.

[ ...he'll definitely want to stop mentioning that. ]

A special collection of... books?

[cahooted]

Yes, I know that but perhaps in some other world it– [Flynn's voice trails off in surprise when they're roughly from the same time. That's just weird.

Then again, he is an Excalibur-wielding collector of magical artifacts in the early 2ks so maybe not that weird after all.]

Yes. Very special books. Unique, one of a kind. [He'll skip the artifacts for now.]

[sharktrash]

[ Nothing is really weird once you've seen enough shit. Squalo wouldn't mind finding other worlds, though. He did always fancy being a gladiator, not that it probably would have changed much. ]

Like, handwritten by monks and stuff?

[ he is having a hard time comprehending "special" and "books" in a single sentence ]

[cahooted]

[... Sure, let's go with that.]

Sort of. Like, first edition to ever come into existence special. Thought to be lost to the ages kind of special.

[sharktrash]

...never got the deal with "first edition". Does it matter if the cover's different if the contents are the same?

[ yes good let's talk about jocks and books rather than feelings ]

[cahooted]

[Are you sure, Squalo, because you're entering territory he is very passionate about.]

Does it-- of course it matters! Editions, especially in early times, always bring the risk of massive creative freedom in terms of editing, censoring or abridging. History is never neutral.

[sharktrash]

[ ...he might have a few regrets. ]

Winners write history, right?

[cahooted]

Exactly. [Flynn smiles.]

Which is why original copies can be groundbreaking and highly contested material. Books have been considered dangerous or forbidden throughout the centuries.

[sharktrash]

I guess.

[ He vaguely knows about it, but he's not particularly invested, and it's probably audible. ]

You've got a favorite forbidden book?

[ Because that should be interesting. What dark secrets could a travelling librarian possibly hide? ]

[cahooted]

A favorite? [He puffs his cheeks, thinking.]

If we're talking favorites, that would be Shakespeare's King Lear. It was banned from stage for a long time because the madness in the story rang too close to the insanity of King George III.

... But you were probably thinking more dark and twisted, weren't you?

[sharktrash]

No, why would I think that?

[ there is nothing dark and twisted about protecting another human which is totally what he does!! ]

Can't deny I thought you'd come up with saucier banned content than politics, though.

[cahooted]

I don't know, just a hunch.

[He has a lot of fake memories to go with that hunch okay.]

Saucier? What, you mean like... [Indistinct hand gesture, don't make him say it.]

[sharktrash]

[ gdi fake memories, ruining his perfectly good lie. ]

Y'know, something interesting. Unusual. Fucked up, if you'd like. Something that makes you go "did someone really write this?"

[cahooted]

... Well, there's this 14th century witchcraft book that has some... explicit ritual descriptions. It's a little hard to imagine someone sat down and wrote it with a straight face.

Or stomach.

[sharktrash]

Any highlights?

[ He sounds like he thinks it's light reading. ]