voidtreckernet | [He's a rambly one, I'm so sorry. Merciful TL;DR at the end]

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[He's a rambly one, I'm so sorry. Merciful TL;DR at the end]

[ When the feed turns on, Aziraphale is sitting at one of the sleep cabins, giving the ICP an uncertain look for a couple of seconds, before he clearly realizes that he, indeed, has turned it on correctly. (Never mind that he has definitely done this before and has had it explained to him even more times.)

He then sits very neatly, spectacles resting over his nose, and smiles very politely.]

Hello. For those that may not known me, I am the- [Slight stumble, but he carries on.] I am Aziraphale, your fellow passenger for the last few months or so.

I'm speaking to you today to present a proposal to anyone who might be so inclined as to help with a little project.

You see, some of you may have remembered when the train lacked any kind of proper space dedicated to literature and the printed word. Indeed, the moment the library car was introduced, it was a rather grand upgrade on what little space we had available before, and I'm sure many of you, like myself, were excited to see just what we would get our hands on.

Well, much to my disappointment - and yours, I'm sure - the space was quite devoid of anywhere near the appropriate number and variety of books it deserved. While the lower floor doe carry certain types of reading material, the upper floor, while rather well prepared, sits rather empty so far.

So, that being said - after some discussion with other fellow passengers, I propose that we take matters into our own hands.

Besides the opportunity to donate your own books you may have purchased yourself - which I certainly understand is quite the sacrifice to make and it is more than understandable that you would hesitate in doing so -, I have prepared some materials for those that may want to contribute their own writings to fill those depressingly empty shelves.

Whether you'd like to give your own account of your own personal experiences, or your own worlds, cultures, perhaps simply tales you're privy to - or even your own retelling of your own folk lore-, everyone is encouraged to pick up a pen and put their own voice to paper.

If you'd rather contribute something else, I would suggest perhaps poetry, or fiction of your own making.

You may find notebooks and writing material on the first floor of the library car, in the far left corner table.

Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day.

[ A pristine smile, and off goes the feed.]

--

[ TL;DR: Aziraphale was very annoyed that the Nice part of the library appeared on the train empty. To fix that, he's piled notebooks and pens on one of the tables up there and encourages people to write things to add to the sad empty shelves.

EDIT: Regardless of whether your character interacts with Aziraphale or anyone else about this, you CAN donate stuff to the train library, which is neat!]

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That sounds fun! I haven't spent much time in the library yet, but I like stories.

[A moment of thought.]

Ah, but I don't think I'm very good at writing. I like drawing better.

Casper looks overjoyed.

Yes! I mean I can help... I know a ton of mythology from all over, I can tell stories from other worlds I've visited...

[ There's nothing too surprising about the message itself. Alice already kind of heard him talk about it before, even though it wasn't with as much detail. And while she isn't too sure if she has anything at all to contribute herself, she feels at least a decent enough amount of fondness for Aziraphale to pipe up. ]

Getting many bites already for your library project?

[Crowley is surprised to hear Aziraphale’s voice coming through the train from the greenhouse car. He stops what he's doing, gawking for a long moment as Aziraphale rambles endlessly, then smiles fondly, pressing the proper buttons to reply.]

Look at you, getting comfortable with modern technology.

[ Aziraphale clearly preens over the compliment, as he should, as he finally tamed the fine art of basic video all.]

Indeed. I do find it to be a much better way to get a message to as many as passengers as possible. Perhaps even better than a simple phone call.

Ah, well, there's no harm in trying something new. And drawing is a form of art, dear boy.

Why, they've held rather close to each other through history.

[ Aziraphale perks up, clearly enthused.]

Jolly good!

If you would like to contribute, I have prepared a working space in the library for anyone to use.

I guess it is. But I don't think my drawings are good enough to count as art, really.

Maybe I can try and draw some of what happened in my world!

I'll get to work on it. I'm always interested in books... especially ones with stories most people don't know about. Old myths and occult stuff...

[Wait, that sounds...]

B - but I don't summon things. I tried once, it didn't end up the best, and I've got better powers to use now, so don't worry.

Ah, Alice. [ The angel greets her with what should by noe be a familiarly warm smile.]

Not too many yet, I'm afraid. But I'm sure that, in time, that will certainly change.

Well, I'm sure it will. Some people here are annoyingly chatty. It's just a matter of getting them to come your way.

[ She may try to gently nudge along some people if she sees the opportunity to do so.. Look, she doesn't want Aziraphale to ever feel bad if not enough people would reply, so she doesn't mind secretly trying to nudge things along if she can. ]

I mean, if I actually liked writing, I'd contribute. But it seems like an awful lot of work to me.

You know what? You're right. This train absolutely needs my autobiography.

Needs a snappy title though.

"The Life and Times Of Hyperion's Greatest CEO."

Nah... that's too long. [He thinks again for a minute]

"Handsome Jack's Handsome Past."

...Damn I'm off my game. Hold on. Ah- I got it!

"You Don't Know Jack." Yeah. Perfect. I'm such a rockstar.

We could have been facetiming for the last decade, you know.

Haven't we?

On a cellphone, angel. It's different.

Ah. Well, I don't think either of the telephones at the shop are quite equipped for such a thing.

No shit.

Don't be crass, Crowley, we're in public.

[ Though he doesn't seem that bothered, as he even reaches for a little notebook off screen. An idea seems to form as he idly flips through his notes. ]

Say.

[ There's a tone. There's definitely a tone. Not the annoyed or stop it, you tone, but the I'm about to ask for a favor without actually asking for it and we're just going to pretend I said pretty please tone. ]

I was wondering if, perhaps, you'd be interested in help with this small project.

[Crowley knows that tone. He's weak to it. All it needs is a flash of an angel’s puppy dog eyes and he knows he won't be able to say no, and yet the whine that sneaks out of his mouth says that he absolutely wants to.]

Nghhh... how exactly??

[ Aziraphale would never know what you're talking about. He's merely making a proposal. He's more than free to say no. ]

Perhaps you could help me encourage others to make their own contributions. Spread the word around.

Maybe...you'd like to make your own?

[ Not the worst thing he could ask, really. ]

[A sigh.]

Angel, you know I don't read books.

[And then a roll of his eyes. Ughhhhh. FINE.]

I'll ask around.

Well, I never said anything about reading.

[ One more good old college try. He's very curious about what Crowley could put into words. He knows the demon can be far more eloquent than he tends to show. ]

Though if we put our points together, we could perhaps find some proper books to add to the collection.

I think our story is best kept to our own memories, don't you?

[Wow, he's actually disappointed to say that... because he doesn't want to disappoint Aziraphale. Fuck.]

Yes, yes, you can have my points. Save some for a bottle of liquor or something, though, yeah?

Well...I suppose you're right.

[ He didn't mean that whole saga specifically, although he's not opposed to sharing it - edited, of course, as some things are best left private, whether for personal safety or by just how sensitive they are - but he'll concede. On this, anyway. ]

Though there are other things worth putting down on paper. Thoughts. Musings. Fiction, even.

[ Maybe he wants to dig in that mind of his a bit. Poke around. With permission, of course. ]

And yes, of course. Maybe some single malt. And some proper wine. It really doesn't taste the same when you miracle it out of the ether.

Well, annoyingly chatty or not, everyone's story has a place. Perhaps they would work out some of that energy by putting it all to paper.

[ Wouldn't exactly be Shakespeare or Plato, he doesn't think, but it would be something, and published journals and letters are not unheard of. ]

And, well, how would you feel about dictating, then?

[Crowley will just... ignore the piss out of that first part.]

It doesn't. We deserve the real thing, don't you think?

I'd say we're rather overdue.

[ There's been enough to drink, but he misses his own collection.

There's a curious look to him for a moment.]

Do you think it'll come from Earth? There's always some chance things arrive not quite...correct.

Does it matter? As long as it's good.

Well, sure. If it is good.

Quite frankly, if it's not somehow poisoned, I suppose it's always better than nothing.

.. dictacting? [ She repeats the word with a hint of surprise in her tone, as if Alice hadn't even thought of it herself.

Though as she starts thinking about it a moment later, she sounds very much apprehensive. ]

I.. don't know. It feels slightly embarrassing. [ It feels kind of annoying to admit that. It feels a little too vulnerable. But she's trying to be honest here. ] I don't even have a story that interesting to tell.

Oh, but that is subjective, my dear boy. What is art but what you make of it?

If you are willing to share whatever you can make, I'm sure there will be someone who will see it.

[ Aziraphale watches the whole mini brainstorming session with a clueless look but a polite smile all the same. The whole point is to bring in interested parties, after all. ]

Oh, yes, it does sound quite-- snappy, as you said.

Would you like to share your own stories then?

"I guess I can do that! I can draw some of the adventures we had back home!"

Yup. Soon as I find a secretary to take my dictation, we're golden.

Maybe, I can ask Entrapta to... [He looks up as if just realizing something.]

Hey. You look like a super nerd. Yeah... You wanna be my lovely assistant?

Oh, hum. Well. If you'd rather dictate, I wouldn't mind giving you a hand, for a time.

[ He's just gonna gloss over the nerd comment. He's here to help those who might need to ease themselves into writing - the more that's added to the shelves, the better. ]

Wonderful.

[ The angel smiles wide and happy to see people interested in this little project. Of course he'd prefer a specific style of book, but any interest is worth cultivating. ]

Perhaps I should stock up on the right materials for that kind of work.

There are some art supplies in the dining car. I know there are crayons and paper there, because I used them to make the flag. And Guilmon's sign.

[Takato liked drawing pictures of his friends, and Guilmon liked having something on their room's nameplate to show that he was there too. ]

[ Aziraphale doesn't sound bothered at all. Doesn't even look like he ever even considered the idea of flinching. ]

I'm not quite sure how effective that would be here. In fact I'm not sure there's any links to the other side of the veil- any veil, here.

[ He would know. He got discorporated for about three days recently. Well- from his own body, anyway. He found someone else. ]

But I'm not quite sure there's many books on the matter here at all.

It's fine, I don't mind. ... It's probably better that way. I don't know how something like that would interact with the void, and I'm not really sure that we should try to find out.

[ Aziraphale, apparently, has quite the way of letting people feel safe, when he wants to. Probably something to do with his angelic nature. Ironically, however, he's struggled with being vulnerable himself.

But that's not the current topic at hand. ]

Oh, everyone has a story, dear Alice. Whether we find our own interesting or not, it doesn't mean no one else will.

[ As much as he has a fervor for any kind of literature and the major part of his investment in his project is so that he has reading material to keep himself entertained, he still seems thoroughly earnest in his encouragement. ]

I don't mean to push, of course. But if you ever feel compelled to, you know where to go.

[ Crayons. Huh. Aziraphale is learning by the minute that maybe the majority of the writings and art might not be to his taste. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't find the joy in people taking time to make something. And what the boy is suggesting sounds quite charming.]

Best to add that to the stockpile, then. Just in case.

Perhaps it's best to err on the safe side, yes.

But, if you would like to write about your own experiences, well- there's space for that.

Yes, I.. I'm sure I'll keep that in mind.

[ She will know where to go. At least that's been firmly established in her mind now, even though Alice still can't help but feel a little awkward about the idea of actually letting him write down her story. ]

Though I don't think I will take you up on it soon. Nothing against you, it's.. more about me. [ And her awkwardness with it all. ]

Of course, of course.

[ For what it matters, he doesn't sound disappointed or like he's holding any kind of judgement. Not everyone's comfortable putting word to paper, whether that might be fiction or their innermost thoughts. Both often connected, and the latter one requiring a certain kind of boldness that isn't always accessible to everyone at any time. He has no way of knowing if doing such a thing would benefit her or not, but her hesitation is entirely obvious. As much as he may be curious, and craving something new to read, he would never demand so at the cost of someone else's comfort. ]

Don't you mind, dear Alice. There's nothing to be lost if you don't feel comfortable doing it. But if you ever feel an inkling to do so, even if you keep it all to yourself, I would encourage you to give it a try.

[ What is it about Aziraphale. Usually Alice would chalk this sort of stuff up to the fact that he's an angel, but apparently angels aren't exactly all sunshine and rainbows where he comes from - or not the happy kind, anyway. So this weird infinite gentleness and patience he seems to show her all the time must come from somewhere specifically within him, instead.

It leaves her quiet for a moment. How does anyone even reply to that? She only knows how to deal with people being rude. ]

Thank you for.. being so considerate.

[ She sounds so awkward. Is that what she's supposed to say? Is she conveying her gratitude for his kindness well enough? ]

[ Perhaps there is someone she could ask. Someone who isn't him, so they have enough distance to observe the situation from a different point of view, but close enough to be well aware of the angel's nature. Someone who's witnessed not just his kindness, but more facets of his personality than anyone else ever had the change, or the want, to know.

His smile brightens.]

Oh, of course.

[ He pauses for a moment, then takes one of his notebooks from somewhere away from camera.]

And if you find anyone else who might enjoy this sort of activity, do send them my way.

I'll remember.

[ Alice nods. Usually she'd just end the feed there, but she feels the need to try and be at least a little bit more polite than that with him. ]

.. see you again some other time.

[ And with that, she does end the broadcast. ]

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[He's a rambly one, I'm so sorry. Merciful TL;DR at the end]

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coulda sworn I hit my action tag shortcut, oh well

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weeps. she's so good

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she's doing her best for her celestial parents ok!!

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