Title: Old Songs and Tales: Bookworm (2/6)
Series: Much that once was, is lost
Timeline: After Akallabeth, so somewhere in early season 2 of BtVS.
Summary: Xander finds some literature that is more to his taste.
Xander entered the school library only to be encountered by silence. Not that this was unusual for a library, but you could usually count on finding at least Giles puttering around with his nose in a book. Well, Xander did find him with his nose in a book this time, but Giles was usually aware enough to greet him. And, he glanced towards Willow who was engrossed behind her computer, Willow always noticed when someone walked in.
As if feeling his glance, Willow looked up from her work and gave him a small, cheerful wave, coupled with that quirky grin of hers. He smiled back and gestured at Giles questioningly. Giles seemed to be completely oblivious to their interaction, pausing every now and then in his writing. Willow just gave a helpless shrug and a fond smile, soon clattering away on her keyboard again. Xander grinned and decided on a little payback for all of the times Giles had sneaked up on him unawares.
He was just about to launch his attack, when one of the open books on the table caught his attention. It was written in an unusual flowing handwriting. He was no expert when it came to such things, but Xander assumed it was a song of some sort with the way it was formatted. Oh, maybe it was one of those epic thingies we learned about in that class I slept through, he thought. If so it's bound to be as boring as all of Giles' books. Still, strangely drawn to it, he picked it up to take a closer look. The pages crackled slightly under his hands.
The handwriting was like nothing Xander had ever seen and the words the letters formed looked strange, as if they should have meant something else. Something was nagging at him about this book, but he was quickly too caught up in reading it to bother fleshing the thought out.
And, contrary to his earlier thoughts, he soon found out that the book was fascinating. Although a little difficult to read because of the archaic language and his unfamiliarity with verse, it held him fast with its descriptions of a world that made his Dungeons and Dragons games look pathetic. If any other of Giles' books are as half as interesting, I've been missing out on a few things, he thought.
He sat down in a chair across from Giles, immersed in the book and the vivid pictures it painted for him. The story also tickled him, it had the feeling of a half remembered bedtime story, more remembered for the feelings it brought out than any actual memories of the plot. It was a decidedly strange, but not really uncomfortable feeling.
He turned the page, broken out of his musings by Giles' alarmed voice.
"Huh?" was all he could bring himself to say, his mind still immersed with pictures of creatures of fathomless evil, a great hunt and a shining jewel.
Fin