[ Huh. Interesting. Ben hadn't found Poison to be quiet in particular; she'd actually been startlingly easy to talk to, which isn't usually Ben's experience with people. But the fact that Peter describes her that way is note-worthy. Different scenarios, different company - they draw out different facets of people. Ben knows that. He wonders how Peter would describe him, in a few sentences to a stranger. ]

Definitely cool.

[ Once they're exploring the bookshelves, Ben flashes a grin to Peter, glad he isn't the only one excited by this. He reaches out and tugs gently at the spine of a hardcover book, careful not to jostle too much as he works it free. There's an awful lot of dust, that he doesn't brush off as he lets the book fall open into his hands. Ben flips back and forth through the pages,, looking and listening for signs of the glue disintegrating, but the book is still sound.

He's half-distracted examining the volume when he answers Peter: ]

Man, that's probably why they're in such good condition, you know. The room was blocked off. Sealed. No light, no big fluctuations in humidity or temperature, no people to pick them up and mangle them.

[ He slides the book back into place on the shelf and picks another at random, looking it over with the same amount of care and attention. In another life, in a different kind of world, maybe this could have been something Ben did for a living. Looked after old books like this. He thinks he would have been happy, in a life like that. ]

See any you recognize?