3. Volunteer Your Time
There is always a way to intersect your unique skills and interests with the unique needs of our clan! From helping organize events and talking to new turns to mastering the arcane arts and researching ancient relics, there is always something exciting to be done! See your clan leader about opportunities in your clan and neighboring ones.
The pamphlets were going to be the death of him.
There was no way to organize them. There were more than he’d thought, and some of them unfolded a dozen times and had pop-ups and foldouts. A few had notes on Post-its, or scribbles in the margins. Some seemed to be directed toward very specific situations that Brennan couldn’t imagine happening twice. Worse, the majority of them looked to have been reproduced on the world’s shittiest copying machine, shadowy and difficult to read. It was an academic’s nightmare, on par with the loss of the Library of Alexandria.
Brennan didn’t know where to start with a system. There was no rhyme or reason to the titles, so alphabetical was out. One little brochure spanned a variety of subject matter, so dividing by topic wasn’t viable. They all referenced one another without any page numbers or table of contentsand— Heneeded to start over.
First he had to interpret the hieroglyphs that were his “orientation” folder.
It was late at night, late enough that the library and the two terrible food joints were the only places open. Naturally, he was at the library.
It was nearly empty, and blessedly quiet. He’d glanced around, halfexpecting to see Cole talking down a depressed freshman around every corner, but couldn’t spot him. Then he’d found the most isolated corner of the stacks he could hide in, sat down on the floor, spread out the maze of booklets, and started reading.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when a voice pulled him out of his headspace.
“‘So You Want to Date a Human’?”
Brennan got whiplash from jerking toward the voice so quickly. Cole was leaning against a cart of books, reading a stray pamphlet with delight. He continued, “‘A Vampire’s Guide to Interspecies Relationships and Sex—’”
Brennan shot up from the ground to snatch the pamphlet from Cole’s hands. He nearly took them both out in the effort, but caught himself just in time, pressing the pamphlet protectively to his chest.
“Please don’t touch things,” Brennan said, “I have a delicate system here and…”
He trailed off as he belatedly processed that he was too far into Cole’s space. He could feel his warmth, hear his pulse. Pink crept into Cole’s cheeks and washed over his freckles. The line of his jaw was frankly unfair. Brennan’s brain turned to static.
Brennan stepped back, static bursting into silence and replaced with one thought.He’s cute.
“Mydeepestapologies,” Cole said, and was he playing up his accent or was it just coming through thicker than normal? “You’re clearly running a well-oiled machine; I wouldn’t want to get in the way.”
The tornado of pamphlets and zines and printouts stared them down.
Brennan cracked.
“If I stare at these pamphlets any longer I’m gonna start imagining them talking to me.”
Cole’s lips quirked in the beginning of a laugh. “It just so happens I was thinking the same thing about the books I’m supposed to be shelving.”
“Sounds like we both need a break,” Brennan said. “Or mental help.”
“Both,” Cole agreed, then gestured at Brennan’s spread of information. “Like, where do we evenbeginto unpack this?”
“The vampire meeting was interesting.”
“Clearly.”
“Now I’m trying to organize their ungodly collection of 2000s Microsoft WordArt pamphlets into something resembling an index.”
“Naturally.”
“That’s basically where I’m at.” He paused. “What’s your damage?”
Cole laughed. Brennan didnotmelt at the sound. “I have to shelve the rest of these before I can leave.”
“Right,” said Brennan.
“And I don’t want to.”
