WHO: Henry Mills and Moira Panning (Cosima) WHEN: Earlier today! WHERE: the library WHAT: Henry gets the book about the Podkru WARNINGS: None.
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When Henry wasn’t being talked into doing random things with his friends he could usually be found in one of two places: his mom’s office doing homework or at the library. There wasn’t any homework to do that day and Henry didn’t feel like hearing the random happenings of the town or whatever his mother was doing about the few troubles that Storybrooke had, so he’d opted for the library. It might not have been the most entertaining place in town, but it was one that had always been a kind of comfort for him.
There was nothing like getting lost in a good book, even if some of them seemed kind of wrong to him. Especially the fairy tales. Though he could never figure out what about them didn’t ring right to him.
Today he’d decided on plopping himself down with a set of various scifi books in one of the corners Belle had designated as a reading nook. He figured he could thumb through a few of them and figure out which of them really caught his attention. Hopefully he’d find something worth reading this time. Lately none of the new books he tried had kept his interest for long.
It took about five minutes for him to learn that none of the ones he’d selected were going to cut it either. With a sigh he placed them all back on the shelving cart and started looking again, still hopeful. He spotted Moira and quickly turned his attention to her. She was far more interesting than any of the books had been so far.
“Are you looking for books for your students, Professor Panning?” He was pretty sure that was her last name.
Moira spent a lot of time in museums, laboratories, and yes, libraries was just a way of life for the dreadlocked, cat-eyed biology professor at Storybrooke Community College. It seemed strange when she'd applied for the post in a town as small as Storybrooke, but hey. She went where the wind took her, and Storybrooke seemed the kind of whimsical place you ended up for a while.
She'd never planned on sticking around past a few years. Maybe a few semesters if she wasn't feeling the town, but it was oddly picturesque in the way you only read about in, well, storybooks. If Moira had been a writer, she might have started with the clock tower perpetually stuck at 8:15. Then headed on over to Granny's where the usual cast of characters hung out. She'd have to make a few adjustments here and there to get some sort of plot going that wasn't just small town drama, and therein was the trouble. Moira just wasn't creative enough.
Moira knew Henry Mills. Everyone did in a small town like this, especially since his mother was the mayor. She wore some really spectacular pantsuits that Moira would never be caught dead in, but they suited Regina Mills. Might have been more than a little hot.
Smiling, she walked around to his shelf so she could keep her voice low. Belle didn't like her normal tone. In her arms, she held a large tome that was about twice as wide as it was tall and richly leather-bound. "Nope, all here for me. What about you? Trying to find something for a book report or do you just like to read?"
He shrugged, the movement almost rehearsed, but he’d been asked a version of that question more times than he’d like to admit. Too many kids didn’t love to read, which was a travesty in his opinion. He knew Belle probably felt the same, even if her staff’s numerous reminders to use ‘inside voices’ was most likely one reason the other kids tended not to come into the library on their own. “I just love to read. Usually fantasy books.”
Because sometimes he wanted to escape the picturesque scenery that was his hometown. Even if he did love it to pieces. It was where he grew up, all of his milestones besides his birth having taken place somewhere inside the town. “But I dabble in pretty much everything. You never know when a book about science will be just as interesting as a book about goblins. And the goblin books usually have science in them anyway to explain the goblins.”
Henry peered closely at the book she was holding. He couldn’t help but wonder where she had gotten one that looked like that. He’d seen some of the older copies of Shakespeare on the shelves and maybe one day he’d read those, but none of them were as big as the book Moira was holding. “What did you find though?”
She glanced down at the book. Moira couldn't explain it, but old things — or at least things that looked old — always kind of called to her. It stood out on the shelf a few weeks ago, and now she was just deciding if she wanted to keep it for another two weeks or return it. She didn't want to let it go.
"I'm not really sure. It's sort of a book of fairytales, but not like any I've heard of." Moira tilted the book face forward so he could get a look at the title. Once Upon a Time in fancy gold lettering. "I read some of it when I could, but to be honest, I was out mingling on spring break instead of reading."
An odd sensation flickered through Henry, something he’d only ever felt once before when his mother had let him know that he’d been adopted. It was a bit like deja vu, but stronger than he’d ever felt it before as he took in the gold lettering. He’d read those words more times than he’d like to admit, but they hadn’t ever jumped out at him like they were now. Maybe it was simply the lettering and leather mingling together that gave the book an extra oomph.
He didn’t think that was it though. They were familiar, like his mother’s hugs, like chatting with Mary Margaret at Granny’s, and yet not quite right either — which was also how his mom’s hugs and chatting with some people felt as well. “Are you going to check it out again?” He was itching to get his hands on it, hopeful that she would be ready to give it up.
Until now, she'd been thinking about seriously checking it out again, but now… something was urging her to give the book to him. Henry seemed interested enough, and it wasn't like she couldn't check it out after he was done. She had a lot to do anyway, and none of it revolved around fairytales that weren't anything like fairytales.
Besides, having her nose in a book was not going to get her anywhere with Tal, that really cute — honestly, Moira wasn't sure what she did. Tinkered around with electronics. Made things. It was just mysterious and quirky enough for Moira, to be honest.
"Nah, I think I'm going to turn it in and pick up a book on decomposition." One eyebrow shot up. "You want it?"
“Yes! I definitely want it!” He didn’t even bother to hide his enthusiasm. This wasn’t like at school where he’d get looked at weird by other kids for being excited about reading. The adults around town might look at him oddly for other reasons, but Henry figured Moira was new enough that she might not have heard all the gossip about everyone just yet. Or maybe she was cool enough that she didn’t bother to pay attention to what the busy bodies of Storybrooke liked to say.
“If we bring it to Belle she’ll check it in for you and out for me like right away.” He scrunched his nose. “And then I can help you find a book on decomposition if you want.”
It was equal parts didn't know and didn't bother. She liked the gossip as much as the next person, but she was also the type of person who would go straight to the source. Moira did not have problems bluntly asking questions. It had probably earned a reputation of rudewanted to have one, to maybe write them someday, but the current details of his life really weren’t all that interesting. At least not in his opinion. The only thing he did have was that he knew he was adopted, but even that wasn’t that big of a story. Lots of kids were adopted. “And my mom isn’t that scary.” Okay, that was a bit of a lie. Regina Mills could be terrifying when she wanted to be and Henry was well aware of that. But he felt lately like she wasn’t being anywhere near as frightening as some people made her out to be.
He shifted the book in his arms, wondering exactly how many stories were told inside of it. Would it be the usual fairytales retold in different ways? Would they be darker like the Grimm ones or full of happy endings like the Disney ones?
"Come on. You're mom's a little scary. It's the pantsuits. Never met a person who didn't have a scary side who wore pantsuits." In fact, not too many people in San Francisco wore them at all. At least not until they got to work, and the ones who wore them walking to work? Well, Cosima had always admired how they could walk up the side of Leavenworth at almost a 90 degree angle in heels. Impressive, but Cosima had no desire to do so. Ever.
She shuffled a few steps in the direction of Belle's station, walking slow enough that she could keep talking if he chose to tell her anything of interest. "You know, I was adopted too. Think that might be why me and those two sisters in town look alike." She cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "You believe in fate or things being meant to be?"
His face scrunched in a mixture of confusion and disbelief when she started talking about pantsuits. Grownups were weird. He didn’t really get at all how the type of clothes his mom wore could make her seem scary. If anyone was scary because of the clothes they were it had to be the nuns. There was just something fishy about that group of ladies and no one would be able to convince Henry otherwise.
Henry perked up at the adoption part though, squinting for a moment as he realized exactly who Moira did resemble. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before. “I think I believe in it. Sometimes at least. I’m not sure if everything that happens is meant to be, but there are probably some things that are. Kind of like how in comic books the same people usually end up together in like all the alternate universes. Or their origin stories are practically always the same. But with little differences.” Sometimes there were bigger differences but he could have sworn the parts that mattered usually stayed the same.
“Why?” He asked as they got in the small line that had formed. People didn’t tend to bring up questions about fate without a reason.
Moira shrugged. "It just seemed weird to me that of all the places I end up, it's here with two women who look exactly like me. It's not like this is New York City with 7 million people. This is Storybrooke with like a population of a thousand. That's not to say that genetics couldn't work that way. They say everyone's got about seven doppelgangers in the world at any given time, but — I don't know, kiddo. Seems a little weird that I found two in a small town."
“It could be a giant conspiracy. Or it's just a really big coincidence.” Either of those options would have worked. “But I think I like the idea that you were totally just destined to meet them at some point. So that’s why you ended up here.” It sounded a lot nicer than conspiracies or simple coincidences. “Now I’m wondering what all of my doppelgangers are getting up to now.” Did they stay with their birth parents or were they given up for adoption too?
"I bet your doppelgangers are just as smart as you are. Just as curious too," Moira answered as she dropped her comically large bag on the counter. She had a couple other books to drop off for Belle before she grabbed a few more on her way out. "Bet one's a reporter, and one's a scientist. Another's going to be a writer who researches the hell out of everything he can before writing so he'll know a lot of useless but really awesome facts."
Out came two more books, which she opened to the front of the book where the card would be returned. She propped her elbow on the desk. "What do you think?"
Henry leaned against the desk, trying to mimic her stance. “I think that I like the way you think.” He could definitely get behind having any of those careers. Personally he wanted to be the one that grew up to be a writer because then he could have all of the different careers rolled into one if he wrote about them. “Thanks for letting me have the book. I’ll let you know when I finish it if you want to try reading it again.”
"You know what I think might be better?" Moira thought it might actually help Henry. He seemed to be fairly introverted from time to time, thinking a lot. She was like that once, and it really helped to have someone he could talk to. "Maybe we can have hot chocolate or whatever at Granny's and you can tell me about the stories. Be the storyteller. I think it'd be fun. What do you think?"
“Yeah? I think that’d be pretty cool to do.” It would give him a chance to try out his own storytelling ability, even if he was just retelling what he’d read. But there seemed to be a lot of books that were retellings of previous stories. All authors had to start somewhere right. Plus there was no way he could turn down Granny’s hot chocolate. “She does make some of the best hot chocolate in town! I’ll read it twice to make sure I get all the details right for you.”
"I'm counting on it," she chuckled.
Which, of course, was when Belle made her way over to check in the books. Her smile was one of the things Moira loved about this town, and it was a real shame she was linked to Gold. She seemed much too good for him, but she knew that what the heart wanted didn't always make sense to everyone else. Moira smiled in return and explained the situation with the fairytale book. She couldn't help but feel like this was the beginning of a new friendship with Henry Mills.
Henry grinned as Belle turned her attention to him, doling out the appropriate responses as she chitchatted to him while carefully giving roundabout answers for any questions regarding Neal. He knew Belle was just trying to look out for his friend but the friendship code meant no snitching was allowed. He clutched the book as tightly as he could once it was checked out to him before turning to look back at Moira.
“Thanks again. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for our hot chocolate outing.” He nodded at both of women before hurrying out of the library. He had a new book to read and he couldn’t wait to see what adventures it held inside.