What would you recommend? [Bedivere]

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Being the bookworm she was, Della was almost not surprised that it was getting to the point where she desperately needed some new material. The problem? She really couldn't decide on any of the books that she hadn't already read to death at the library. She supposed she could've headed to the local bookstore, seeing as they would probably have some new titles, but she was on a budget, and she really wanted to avoid that whenever possible. She was certain that there was something that would pop out at her if she looked hard enough through the shelves that she knew like the back of her own hand by now.

That was probably part of the problem, really. She wondered if anyone else ever had this kind of problem. What was even crazier was the fact that she did, in fact, have the kind of time to read when you thought about it. I mean, she had a wedding to help unsabotage (she had yet to decide of she was going to slaughter Humperdinck over it or not...it was really tempting), lots of reading to do in her regular classes as it was, that annoying redhead in her Cooking class to cope with, Hermes to just barely put up with, Alyss to help train for when it was really time to return to Wonderland...then there was Panic of course...

You know, when you thought of it like that, it was a wonder she had time to even reread her old favorites, but that wasn't even what she wanted. She wanted to be surprised...was that the problem? Had she stopped being surprised by much of anything that happened at this school ever since her birthday brought on the biggest surprise of all? If that's what it was...

Thankfully, those semi depressing thoughts were about to be interrupted.

[bedivere]

Bedivere simply adored the library, there was an absolute wealth of information here and he was devouring it by the second - and not just the books relevent to the course he was teaching, oh no. There was plenty of good literature that he went through, of course there was, but the reason he was so well known as a teacher fond of tangents was because he spent a large amount of his time reading books from, well, anywhere else in the library, very often at random.

He'd just taken back his latest armload of books and had his customary pleasant chat with the librarian, and now he was ready to find something new and interesting. Striking out in a random direction, he headed amongst the books. The first thing he stumbled across, however, was not literature at all, but a student.

"Ah, Miss Miller!" He greeted jovially "How are you today?"

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Della had actually heard someone coming, which was actually pretty unusual. Usually when she was thinking about the multitude of things that she had to deal with, she was kind of lost to the world until someone made a real effort to grab her attention. She could only assume that it had been so quiet at the library today that it took minimal effort this time. Besides, it didn't take long for her to recognize the voice, and she had to at least send her teacher a smile. As for as professors at this school went, she rather liked Bedivere, and it wasn't just because he was teaching English, obviously one of her favorite subjects. It probably helped that he was, you know, sane in comparison to most of the teachers she had in her career as a student of this madhouse.

"Oh, hello Professor," she greeted. As for something as simple as how are you, Della never knew how to answer that, at least not without telling a little white lie. She somehow doubted that he would want to hear about her own issues, not when there were probably students here who had it far worse (and she truly felt immense empathy for those, by the way). Besides, just because he was one of the few sane ones didn't mean she had quite made a confidante out of him. Della was, after all, hardly the sort of person that trusted people too easily, except in special cases (Merlin and Westley came to mind).

"I suppose I can't complain myself...and I see you've got quite a selection," she remarked, letting out the slightest laugh as she motioned towards all the books he had on hand. She knew there was a reason she liked the man.

[bedivere]

"Jolly good." Bedivere beamed, and he was actually glad she'd chosen the little-white-lie route. It wasn't that he didn't want to be a helping hand and a listening ear to his students, it's just that he wasn't very good at it, and he would at least like to have a little warning if that sort of situation was going to arise.
Having a student unload all their troubles in response to a casual, polite greeting would have been just a little bit too much for him to handle.

"I do indeed!" He agreed cheerfully "Always glad to have something new to read, some new information to learn, new theories to consider! And what are you here for? Literature or fact? Enjoyment or education? Or both, indeed!"

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Now see, while Della wasn't exactly a fan of perkiness, she did admire enthusiasm in certain circumstances. The fact that her professor was so excited about books just made her smile. Actually, he was so exuberant that it was making her feel a little better about all the clutter of issues that she was dealing with at the present time. Damn the fact she couldn't thank him for that without explaining why he needed to be thanked, and probably adding a little black raincloud over his head. She was probably better off just appreciating the fact that he had just opened the door for her at least asking for help with the book issue, at the very least.

"Both would certainly be ideal, I agree," she agreed, a pensive expression on her face at the moment. "I've been in a bit of a reading rut myself, and that should just not be allowed...I definitely need something new...I'm not all that picky really, maybe that's part of my problem." She let out a self deprecating laugh, then glanced back over at him. "Don't suppose you'd got any recommendations, sir?"

[bedivere]

"Well..." Bedivere mused thoughtfully "If one is not particularly fussy, and I am not either, I find it can be quite mysterious and exciting to simply pick at random. Of course, it does mean that one can sometimes end up with something rather sub-par, but occasionally one does find little gems that one would never have found otherwise."

He certainly did have recommendations, but his problem was that he had far too many - while he had said to Della that sometimes he found things that were sub-par, it was actually rare that he thought that of, well, anything, he usually always found the merit in something.

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Picking at random, huh? It was funny, but the first thought in Della's head was how fortunate Bedivere was that she wasn't a control freak in the slightest. That sort of suggestion probably would have sent her into a panic attack (...ha, bad joke, brain) if she was. Sure, she took precautions, tried to keep track of everything that could happen so she could be prepared, but honestly, control freaks didn't survive schools like Tintagel, did they?

"I've certainly survived sub-par literature before." Actually, she and her father both did. It was sort of their thing, to read everything that had some sort of widespread cultural impact, whether it killed brain cells or not...but no, she was going to do whatever she could to forget that she and her dad wasted more than a second on that rubbish, wouldn't she?

"So I'll give that a shot," and she resisted the urge to say, And I won't even blame you for it if it is sub-par. She liked her professor well enough, of course, but she wasn't sure how he'd handle her sarcasm yet, although the comment seemed to find its way to her lips in the form of a smirk anyway. Curse the fact that her face was so damn expressive, it was going to make Halloween even more difficult than she already thought it could be (oh, little did she know).

So the girl closed her eyes and let her hands go over the books that were in front of her, and in spite of the fact that it all seemed like such a small choice, she felt excited, almost like a rush, at the prospect of not knowing what exactly she'd choose. It was enough that she smiled...then she stopped. She wasn't sure why, but she had a pretty good feeling that this was something she should pick, and she pulled it off the shelf. It was a little small, but Della had nothing against YA, which she was pretty sure it was. So she opened her eyes, and what should the title read but Impossible. She had to laugh.

"I have no idea what this is about yet, but it seems that the book knows a bit too much," she muttered. After all, wasn't that what most people would say if she would dare try to explain her adventures at Tintagel? She opened up the book to read the flaps, just to get a general idea of what it was about.

[bedivere]

Bedivere smiled encouragingly, glad to foster that spirit of adventurousness - even if it was in something so minor as a choice in literature. He was the kind of teacher who thought a healthy, questioning mind was a good thing - even if it encouraged students to question even the things that he taught them, in fact he welcomed it. As long as the questions were sensible, of course.
Still, just because he liked people to question what they were taught (it was better to believe in something because it was what one truly believed, rather than to believe it because one was told to) didn't mean he didn't like it when his students took his advice.

He wasn't sure what she meant by the book knowing a bit too much, but he was pleased that it made her laugh.
"You see?" He beamed "Something you may never have picked up in different circumstances now has you intrigued, such is the wonder of the written word and a little spontaneity."

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Della wasn't the least bit surprised at how happy her teacher seemed to be by not only the fact that she took her advice, but that it seemed to produce good results. Wasn't that what every teacher wanted...well, what every sane, wouldn't try to slice you up or behead you teacher wanted? Della was suddenly remembering just how glad she was that it seemed the professors of the Redd variety were a much rarer breed around here as of late. The most trouble she had professor wise was being hit on by Hermes. Seriously though, she was sincerely glad that there was room for a professor like Bedivere around here.

"Very true, I really have to thank you," she agreed with a smile before she flipped the book over. It was hardcover, so chances were the plot summary would be in the book flaps, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look. There was, in fact, some writing:

'From the sting of my curse she can never be free
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Unless she unravels my riddlings three
She will be a true love of mine.'

Another amused smile crossed her face. "Oh, 'Scarborough Fair'," she noted. "I admire the author's tastes."

Then she opened the book to find the actual plot summary, one that certainly held her interest as she read on. It was all about a fight to remain sane, even though everything around you was trying to take your sanity away...please, how could she not relate to it. The truth was, however, was that Della didn't realize that she had far more of a reason to relate to Lucy's problem than she could possibly know...but that wasn't important at the present time.

Then she glanced back up at her professor and smiled. "This'll do nicely...really, thanks for your help."

[bedivere]

"I do love these little gems we discover as we go through our lives, some days they just make it really quite worth it, wouldn't you say?" He was supremely glad she seemed to have found something she was quite pleased with, helping students was something he'd found incredibly rewarding since becoming a teacher here. He was a knight first and foremost, of course he was, but teaching seemed to suit his temperement extremely well.

"You're most welcome, I hope you find it enjoyable." He replied with a cheerful smile "Now I shan't keep you any longer, I'm sure you have more interesting things to be doing than talking to a teacher" he chuckled.

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Seriously, was it possible for someone to not smile around this professor? Della would be the first to being suspicious of anyone who might be too perky, but there was something so genuine and lively about Bedivere that it just spread to other people, even Della herself. Besides, he was right about finding little gems...and of course, her writer/genre savvy brain couldn't help but think that his statement was the sort of thing that could apply to her life in general. That scholarship she had received and all of the people she had met since coming here, seemingly by accident...those were kind of gems that gave her life meaning. Even if this school drove her bonkers half the time, she was pretty sure she wouldn't have traded this part of her life for anything.

"They do, don't they?" she responded, wondering where this pensiveness was really coming from. Then again, she hadn't had as much time to spend at the library lately. That could have been why; books tended to make her pensive. That was the whole point, was it not?

"I hope so too. Anyway, you're not really keeping me from much, I assure you." Just because she enjoyed her rare quiet moment didn't mean she was going to tell him to buzz off. It was kind of refreshing to be in the company of one of the few sane teachers at this school.

[bedivere]

"Other than your new book, of course," Bedivere pointed out with a chuckle, although he took her words as confirmation that he wasn't overstaying his welcome, and fully intended to continue the conversation.

"How are your studies going?" he asked politely, the first conversational starter he could think of when it came to a student. Bedivere was the kind of teacher who wanted to make sure his students were doing well in all their classes, not just his, he believed a full education was important. Perhaps it was because teaching was still relatively new to him, he hadn't trained to favour one subject over another.