# [closed post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan has devised another activity to occupy her days. By the calendar's reckoning, the start of spring is roughly a week away. Between her and Tress, they've got the outline of a plan for the next Dark, and Susan is happy to rely on people who've got greater interest in and skill for growing things insofar as agriculture goes. But the growing season here shall be longer than usual, and Susan should like to have some idea about what that might mean for the ecosystem,

This is her flimsy excuse to pardon the latest stack of books she's currently carrying out of the library. There is a marginal off-chance that preparatory reading on soil biota could, potentially, be useful. Perhaps she might even talk someone else into reading on the subject as well, so that they might discuss it.

Comments

[futaille]

"With luck, that would be undertaken on a volunteer basis."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Hmmmmm."

[futaille]

"Of course, now I wonder if the mansion could simply produce blood if it was beneficial. Gruesome but interesting."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Perhaps if Dracula arrived."

[futaille]

Observe the honest curiosity of someone who died years before Bram Stoker was even born. "Dracula?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"A book," says Susan, immediately heading to the appropriate shelves. "You simply must read it."

[futaille]

He trails behind, intrigued. "That good?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, it's lovely. You've heard of vampires, yes?"

[futaille]

"A bit, yes. Interesting tales, certainly."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Dracula is a vampire story."

[futaille]

"Ah! I see why it would be relevant to the topic, in that case."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Here," she says, pulling it off the shelf and handing it to him. "Do let me know your thoughts."

[futaille]

He takes it. "I will. I'm amassing quite the reading list."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh?"

[futaille]

"The two you've given me, of course. I've also picked up Notre-Dame de Paris to read, and a few other books that caught my eye on top of that."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Then it's good we've got such abundant free time here. Dracula is a fast read."

[futaille]

"The abundant free time is certainly a draw. I'll be happy to use some of it on this."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"What sort of books do you typically like?"

[futaille]

"I'm fond of the classics, of course. Aside from that, just whatever sparks my interest at the time. I like to know a little about a lot."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Such as?"

[futaille]

"Napoleon's entry into Russia was portended by a great comet, and was such a horrific failure that he clearly should have waited for a different portent."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I meant, what sort of things have sparked your interest recently?"

[futaille]

He shrugs. "Heraldry, for one."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Heraldry!"

[futaille]

"And the colors thereof."