Grace Reynolds (lady_kingpin) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2013-06-02 20:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | day seventeen, grace, grace and jason, jason |
Giving Recommendations
Who: Grace and Jason
Setting: The Library, Early Evening
It had been a bit of a shock to actually learn what had happened the other night with Meg and Susanna, much less Brady and Ryan, so Grace was starting to wonder if she should befriend anyone in this place that was almost passing as an insane asylum these days. Then again, Carmel seemed alright, and Becka had just been allowed to graduate. Still, she couldn't help but be concerned with who they had let into this place. What was next? Cannibals?
Working on ways to keep herself calm, she retreated to one of the places in this place that she always enjoyed: the library. The selections were a touch slim at the moment (she supposed she should purchase some books with her earnings), she was still walking through the place, determined to find something to read.
Having finished doing his laundry, and finished up in the gym, Jason headed back to his room to shower and, after that, do a little cleaning. He figured he had a couple of reasons to keep his room fairly clean now, the main one being Reggie and how often they were staying in each other's rooms. The other was more along the lines of it simply being something to do. As he picked up, he saw the book he had borrowed from the library on the desk, next to his computer.
It had been... about a week or so ago now that he had borrowed The Three Musketeers. He had actually finished it a couple of days ago though; he should probably take it back. Grabbing the book off his desk, he made his way to the library. Idly playing with the edges of the pages as he walked, he wondered if he should check to see if they had the sequel, either of them. Well, they probably wouldn't have Twenty Years After, he had never found that one anywhere, but he sort of figured The Man in the Iron Mask was well enough known that there was a chance it would be there. And he had never actually read the rest of the trilogy, so... He certainly had the free time; it wouldn't hurt to check and see.
Once at the library, Jason went straight over to the other fiction books, scanning through them to find the author he wanted, tapping his fingers on the cover of the book he held as he searched for Dumas. Even if they didn't have the book he was looking for, he could still put this one back in the right place.
Grace hadn't really been expecting anyone to come into the library. She knew that there was some sort of poker game going on tonight, and figured most of the population of the facility would be heading over there to enjoy that. It probably was a good idea for there to be things going on and keep people from thinking too hard on the recent goings on, but she just wasn't really in the mood for poker tonight.
When she did hear someone come in, she looked up. She didn't know Jason personally, but she was at least familiar with him. "Looking for anything in particular?" she asked, feeling the need for a little bit of conversation all of a sudden.
Caught off-guard by the sudden question, Jason turned towards the only other person in the library. He had seen her when he had come in, of course, but he hadn't been expecting her to speak. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess. I'm returning this one," he said, waving the book he was holding slightly, "and I figured I'd check and see if they had The Man in the Iron Mask. Never actually read it before."
Grace hadn't been sure why she felt the need to speak all of a sudden, but now she'd kind of opened the floodgates for conversation. She knew that she should get to know more people in the facility, anyway. "Good book," she said, nodding to the one in his hand. "Never read The Man in the Iron Mask, either though. Hope it turns out good for you." She paused in thought for a second. "Actually, do you have any recommendations? I'm looking for something new to read."
Jason grinned sheepishly in response to her question. "I'm not actually much of a reader," he admitted. "Never really had the patience to just... sit down and read. Too much energy." Things were different here, and with a limited number of ways to pass the time, reading was now a much more appealing way to pass time. At least it was something. "Um... Let's see though... If you like science fiction - or if you liked the movies - you should try Jurassic Park. Michael... Crichton, I believe. Actually, all of his books are really good, from what I've heard, but I've only actually read Jurassic Park and The Lost World."
"You don't have to be a voracious reader to give a good recommendation," she told him with a smile. She could understand that some people didn't have the ability to sit still long enough to do much reading. It seemed that this place was teaching this man some patience with doing so, though. They were limited with what they could do each day. "I've read Jurassic Park, but never the sequel. I may have to pick it up then, if it's here." Their selection was somewhat limited right now, but she could always just order it. What else was she going to spend her money on?
Jason supposed that was true, although he knew that being an avid reader probably helped, if for no other reason than a simple matter of numbers. The more books you read, the more chance you could give a decent recommendation. "Well, if you enjoyed Jurassic Park, I'd definitely recommend The Lost World. The movie was good, but the book is so much better."
"I'm Jason, by the way," he offered, smiling at her.
"I'm Grace," she said, reaching out and shaking his hand. "I took my children to see both movies, plus the third one that I heard didn't have a completed script when they started shooting." It showed, in her opinion. "I'm sure the second book will be quite good. The question is...is it here, or will I have to order it?"
Jason grinned slightly when Grace told of her experiences seeing the movies with her children. "I think Jurassic Park is one of those movies that most everyone remembers seeing. Like not just, oh, I know I saw that, but they really remember. I know I was... thirteen? Maybe fourteen. At that age where I was kind of embarassed about going with my mom. But it wasn't that bad. Kind of fun, actually. And even though that movie kind of freaked her out, my mom went and saw The Lost World with me too, even though by that time I was old enough to go alone." He remembered asking her to go with him, knowing that she had been a bit nostaligic about the fact that he had been about to go off to college. It had freaked her out, just like the first had, but it had been fun.
"Who knows? Michael Crichton is a popular enough author that they might have it. It's not like it's an obscure book or anything. But then again, I'm not sure how they decided which books to give us."
Him saying that made her realize that he was fairly close in age to her oldest daughter, Helen. She had probably been about five or six, maybe older. Grace couldn't quite remember when the movie came out, her years had been so busy. "My daughter was a little young to be embarrassed about going out with me yet." None of her daughters had went through that phase that badly, though. Some might consider Grace a meddler in her daughter's affairs, but they were a close family. "Sounds like you're fairly close with your mother, actually."
She nodded, starting to search around for the book. Sure enough, she found a copy of both Jurassic Park and The Lost World. "Ah, you're right," she said, pulling the sequel out of the book shelf and showing it to him.
Jason shrugged slightly at Grace's observation, almost a little uncomfortable. He hadn't talked much about his family since he had been here, not even with Reggie, because so many people tended to have such bad experiences with family that he didn't really feel comfortable talking about his - generally - good home life. "Yeah. I was. Both of my parents, actually," he admitted after a moment. He hadn't spoken to them since his trial though. Or rather, they hadn't spoken to him, because it hadn't been a lack of trying on his part.
He grinned when Grace held up the book. "Well, at least the people in charge have some taste, right?" It also reminded him that he was supposed to be looking for a book as well. Once again, he began his search for Alexander Dumas, so he could return The Three Musketeers and see if they had The Man in the Iron Mask.
While Reggie's home life had been mostly piss poor, Grace would say that her's was excellent. Now, from an outside observation, people might not agree, but she would say that she came from a close knit family that she had still been very close to until she was brought here. Still, she caught his past presence in his statement, and figured that either his parents had passed on or weren't talking to him anymore because of whatever he did to get into jail. She simply nodded, feeling that she shouldn't press.
"At least they have some, and it survived the little incident with the fire," she remarked, holding onto the book for now. She was debating picking up the first one just as a refresher. She remembered enjoying it the first time, so why not? "Hopefully they have what you're looking for. If not, I'm sure you can put it on order."
Jason wasn't sure if he was glad Grace hadn't asked more about his parents or not. Probably glad though. Still, it did make him curious, because this was the first time he had spoken to someone here who seemed to have been on fairly good terms with their family. "What about you?" he asked. "Were you close with your children?"
He had almost forgotten about the incident with the fire. "Did they - or we, I guess - ever find who did that?" he asked, not remembering. He hadn't had much to do with it, and had only even heard of it in passing. As he was saying it, he found what he was looking for. Pulling out the copy of The Man in the Iron Mask, he put The Three Musketeers where the other book had been, figuring the two should probably stay together on the shelves. "And here we go. Two for two. I'd say we did pretty well here." Because with the selection available, the fact that they had both found what they were looking for was pretty good.
Well, Grace certainly didn't mind talking about her own children, thank you! "I'm very close with them." So close that her ex-husband claimed that she had poisoned their minds, but whatever. "I've been writing them letters in here, but I have no idea if they are getting sent out and read or not." Kind of worrisome, actually.
She had to think on that. "I'm honestly not sure," she admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. "Isn't that sad? I don't think it came up during the day I served on the jury, but there was so much going on as well." So much that had become moot once Susanna and Ryan had to be removed, and Brady had left as well, for that matter. She'd never even met Brady but realized he was gone, too. "And good! I'm sure we can put an order in for you at the store if you have anything else that you'd like to read."
Writing letters here hadn't even really occurred to Jason. He had given up about sixteen months into his sentence, but it did make him wonder how that would work, especially given the... alternative nature of this place. He shrugged slightly. "I guess you could ask the people in charge, but then again, you'd just have to take their word for it." Other than that, though, what choice was there really? Just keep writing the letters, and hope for the best, he supposed, because he doubted any sort of response would be allowed, even if the letters were being delivered. "I hope they are getting delivered though." Because he understood, even if he had given up with his own family, what it was like to be close to them, and to want that contact, so he could empathize with her.
He was sort of glad to hear that he wasn't the only one who wasn't sure whether or not that particular incident had been resolved. Sadly, given more recent events, that fire was of less concern that other things that had happened here. And he might have been a little distracted by other things - namely Reggie - and hadn't paid as much attention to some of the other things as he should have. "Well, unfortunatly, I'm pretty sure that by now, unless someone comes forward and admits to it, we're never going to know who did it." In some ways, he felt bad for Jae, because her job was difficult in the best of circumstances, but here... She just didn't have much to work with, unfortunately. Nodding at Grace's offer, he said, "Thanks. I might take you up on that. After I finish this, and if I ever figure out what I want to read next." Because honestly, he didn't have a clue. Maybe he'd ask her for some recommendations.
Writing letters was basically what kept Grace feeling a little more sane about this place. "That's true. At best, I can take their word on it. I can't really investigate otherwise." She sighed. "Still, it helps to at least be writing to them, getting my thoughts down and sending them out." It made her feel a lot better in that she was at least trying to get into contact with them. She'd hate it if her letters were being shelved or thrown away, but she supposed she wouldn't know until she graduated, would she?
The fire was of less concern than some other things, but Grace was still concerned as to when the library would be replenished, or even IF it would be, considering someone had went on a bit of a book burning spree. Idiot. "We're probably not, sadly," she agreed with a bit of a frown. She managed to brighten up when he said that he'd take her up on the idea of requesting books. "It might be the best way to get books right now. Besides, not much else to spend our credits on." Might as well get some enjoyment out of them.
"And if they say no, chances are, they aren't lying about that, so then at least you'd know," Jason pointed out. "You could keep writing them, but maybe save them, and mail them - or hand them over personally - when you get out of here." Maybe her children would like that, getting the letters even after the fact, and knowing that their mother had been thinking about them. At least they wouldn't be disappearing, because who knew what was happening to the letters if they weren't being mailed.
Jason smiled slightly when Grace brightened up when he agreed to get a book or two later. "I might have to ask you for a recommendation or two," he warned her. "Just as a heads up." He hadn't been enough of a reader to really know of any decent books to try after this, so he could probably use her help on that subject. Although he did make a note of the fact that she worked at the little store. He might not have much that he was interested in spending his credits on right now, but that could always change, especially with Reggie in the picture.
"I've made copies of every letter that I've written, so, if none of them went out, I can always give them to my daughter when I do get released from this place." Something that Grace was highly looking forward to. God only knew what was being done with her letters, but at least she had the forethought to make copies of them. If nothing else, it would be a nice gift to give Helen when she saw her again.
"Something I certainly wouldn't mind helping you out with," she remarked with a smile. Considering what he was reading now, she was sure that she could come up with a few things for him to read that he might enjoy.
"Well, now we know who plans ahead here." Really, Jason was impressed with Grace's foresight. He wouldn't have thought ahead enough to be doing that all along. There was, of course, a very high likelihood that the people in charge weren't going to want them getting back in touch with the people from before they went to prison; after all, they had said something about about a new identity when they graduated. Then again, like most things, Jason supposed that wouldn't stop anyone who was really determined, and for some reason, he imagined that Grace would not let something like that stop her from seeing her kids again.
Jason grinned at that. "Thanks. I'd say you've got your work cut out for you though." Although he had only just met her, he was inclined to think that Grace was up to it though. She seemed to know her books, and seemed to have good tastes. Not to mention, she didn't seem the type to give up easily, so he was pretty sure that, given a chance, she'd find something he would like.
Grace chuckled. "Sort of my thing," she admitted to him. If you were going to run a drug empire, you had to think at least three steps ahead of everyone else. Her downfall had been that she had gotten angry and then cocky...and had used a middleman who apparently couldn't be trusted. If she ever went into the same sort of 'business' again, she'd have to remedy that. And oh no, nothing of any sort was going to stop her from seeing her children, new identity be damned.
"I think I'll be able to handle myself alright," she said to him. She certainly wasn't the type to give up easy, and she thought of herself as a good people reader. She could figure out just what sort of books would catch Jason's attention and hold it long enough to be finished.
Jason was much more of the type of person who just went with things, so that sort of planning ahead wasn't his default setting. He could do it, it just wasn't something he worried about too much, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate that trait in other people. Glancing down at his watch, he was slightly surprised when he noticed the time. "Anyway, thanks again for the offer. I'm going to head out, but I'll probably come by the store whenever I finish this book and see if you've got any recommendations." Jason smiled at her, tapping the book he held against his thigh as he spoke. He still hadn't quite finished up cleaning his room, and he hadn't actually expected to get distracted on his way to return his book. Although, he couldn't say he regretted it. Grace was interesting, and the promise of a book recommendation for after he finished this one was something he was actually looking forward to. If nothing else, it should be interesting to see what she came up with.