APRIL CATCH-ALL; Mostly the view is beautiful

[burger_king]

WHO: Jughead Jones and YOU
WHERE: Mostly Maurtia Falls, but also other places
WHEN: Throughout April
WHAT: A lot of stuff, mostly mundane!
WARNINGS: Riverdale nonsense, teens being teens. See individual threads for individual warnings.

Prompts under the cut, hit me up at reveillez if you want me to write up a starter


01 - So in this room separated from the world

[ Annabeth hooking him up with a job at the library probably ranks as the third best thing to happen since he arrived. It's quiet, solitary work and between the shelving and cataloguing he has more time to work on his own projects than he knows what to do with. So what if he has to answer a question every now and then, or dig out some forgotten text book from storage if it means spending hours browsing the psychology section, digging out every book he can find on serial killers and then taking ample notes during whatever downtime he finds himself with. Research for a fun project, sure, but also a way to dull down the homesickness a touch — this is basically what he did back in Riverdale, only he didn't get a paycheck for it.

He can be found among the shelves, or at the check-out desk, engrossed in something gross. ]

02 - I'd sell you my own values for the sake of others

[ The last couple of years, Jughead probably spent more time in Pop's Chocklit Shoppe than anywhere else and although that particular diner is out of reach, everything else stays the same. He'll settle in at a booth after work with a cup of never-cooling coffee and his laptop, typing away until well into the night. This is when he does his best work, when everyone else has gone home to their normal lives with their normal problems. Maybe he doesn't have a school paper to write for or the half-written novel on Jason Blossom's murder, but there are other things. Other novels. Other stories. ]

03 - So hold this glass cos' it keeps cutting me

[ Some things never change but one thing has absolutely changed in the past couple of months - he never had powers back home. Practicing at the Meadows was a good idea in theory but an awkward plan in practice and so he's resorted to mostly empty parking lots around Maurtia Falls. He'll set out whenever he's got some spare time, lining up water bottles and taking notes on how many he can keep a certain color for how long, if he can switch it up, where his limits lie. Eventually he should move on to something bigger, perhaps, but for now bottles are fine. It's not like this power is good for much, anyway. Not saving the world any day soon.

Curious onlookers are welcome to join him or just ask what the heck he's up to out here on his own. ]

Comments

o1!

[khajidont]

[ Jaime happens to be in the same section of the library as Jughead, but not out of personal interest in the same vein as him - it just so happens that you have to do a lot of bumming around in the Psychology section of any library when you're a Psychology Major. They both wind up with their hand on the spine of a book simultaneously (it's a thick, dry looking text, about ten years worth of specific selections from a Psychology academic journal compiled into one tidy package) and, as he usually does, Jaime retracts his hand first, looking a little surprised that there's even any competition for this title. ]

Oh, sorry. [ He gestures towards the book. ] It's all yours. I got plenty.

[ It's true - he's cradling a perilous stack of books in the crook of his right arm. ]

[burger_king]

[ It took him about half a day's work to realise that working at a library means having way too much time on your hands, which means that after about a week you start digging into the weirder, tougher books on the shelves. It was more out of curiosity that he reached for it - the subject is way outside of his area of interest - and so he pulls away as soon as he notices that someone else wants it. ]

No no, it's fine. You take it - I work here, I can get it whenever. [ Speaking of... ] Do you want to borrow a cart or something?

[khajidont]

Oh - no, that's okay, I'll just... here. [ Jaime sets the pile of books down on the nearest table, cringing a little as a couple topple off with a sound that's absolutely louder than it ought to be in a library - but whatever, it's cool, everyone else can deal with a little excess noise for a second. ] I'll just be putting three-quarters of these back by the time I leave anyway.

[ He pauses then, recognizing that this guy works here, offers him a crooked, sheepish smile. ] I'll put 'em back where I found them, promise.

[ Gotta be kind to your local library staff! ]

[burger_king]

[ Jughead flinches a little at the sound, but since he's not actually a librarian he's not going to bother with the shushing. He's not properly trained. Yep, that's it. ]

Hey, I'm not going to stop you from making my job easier. [ More time to bum around and do research for his side gig. ] I'm Jughead. Let me know if you want help finding anything, I know these shelves pretty well by now.

[khajidont]

Yeah? I didn't think this part of the library got a whole lot of traffic, [ Jaime says, straightening out his pile of books for no apparent reason. He's going to be leafing through them all eventually anyway, but they may as well be tidy. ]

You interested in this stuff? [ Then belatedly, as though just hearing his introduction for the first time, Jaime sticks his hand out to shake Jughead's. ] Oh - and I'm Jaime. Nice to meet you.

[burger_king]

[ He accepts that handshake, firm and brief. ] You too.

And I guess you could say it's adjacent to the stuff I'm interested in - I'm a true crime fan. [ With way too much time on his hands. ]

[khajidont]

Boy, then you must love living here.

[ Crime! Crime all the time! The likelihood of accidentally rooming with a serial killer has gone up to an astronomical degree, on account of imPorts being absolutely nuts! ] Joking. Mostly. Gotta be honest, it's never been my bag.

[ He begins to sort his books, putting them in three, tidy piles. ] What got you into it?

[burger_king]

[ Weirdly enough, he doesn't really notice there being more crime than back home. Then again, if you live in a town as small as Riverdale and still manage to experience the suicide of the patriarch of the founding family, who also turned out to be a kingpin, and the torture and murder of his son, and a serial killer, and gang wars in the span of six months, very little will rattle you. Maurtia Falls feels like home with more take out options. ]

Honestly? I don't really know. [ He shrugs. ] It's exciting, there's mystery, it's real... that part is probably the biggest draw.