Tea+books=♥

[1artificialgirl]

Characters: Vanilla (1artificialgirl) and Justice (extantlaw)
Date/Time: October 20th around lunch time
Location: Bookstore
Rating: PG
Summary: Justice drops by the bookstore for some books and tea.

Comments

[extantlaw]

The bookstore itself seemed dim after the brightness and warmth of the street, despite the squares of light cast on the floor through the two front windows. he stepped inside, looking around with interest at the shelves lining the walls and the sofa and chairs arranged around a table in the centre.

It was smaller than he expected, but the neatness of it prevented it from feeling cramped. There seemed to be no book out of place, and the shelves were neatly arranged and free of dust. Despite that, the warm scent of green tea mingled with the smell of ink and paper infused the room with a homeliness that made it welcoming.

He returned the smile, a more relaxed nod this time and he ran his hand through his hair as he looked around.

"Not terribly tiring, but it is rather slow going. There are a lot of files to be organised - far more than I would have expected."

And a slight shadow crossed his face at that, at the realisation he had faced that morning as he picked up some files with the names struck out and at the answer to his question that Gungnir had provided, matter of fact and without any elaboration. Sometimes people just disappeared.

"Do you manage this place alone?"

Not that he doubted it - something in him was quite sure that even if Vanilla appeared to be little more than a child, she could run the store perfectly on her own.

[1artificialgirl]

The store was in fact, just how Vanilla liked it, clean and yet it still held a sort of warmth. Vanilla noted that it looked like Justice was beginning to relax a bit. The girl caught that slight shadow and it made her slightly tense. Had something happened just now? She was unsure but decided to keep further questions to herself... For now.

"I have some employees. They are a nice and calm group of individuals." She nodded and smiled slightly again, some pride was there. Vanilla was in fact proud of the shop and how wonderful her employees were to work with. The customers seemed satisfied as well.

[extantlaw]

"Nice and calm?"

There was a note of surprised humour at her choice of words, and he took a few steps further inside until he was standing next to the bookshelves on the left hand side of the room.

"They also seem to be extraordinarily neat."

It was almost an unconscious action to run his fingertips lightly over the spines of the books and to bow his head slightly to skim the titles.

Artaud, Beckett, Chekhov, Ibsen, Moliere, Pinter, Shakespeare...

And his hand hesitated there for a moment.

Truth would like it here.

It was a passing thought, and it had almost melted away before he caught it back again, a frown as he tried to recall what possible reason he had to think that - why it would even occur to him to connect the two things. But there was nothing save for that void that he was becoming accustomed to sensing whenever he attempted to stare too hard into his past. A void that tempted and repulsed, fascinated and terrified him at the same time; the stench of the elevator, of lavender and peppermint, warm coffee and the deep perfume of roses.

His fingers strayed, then, past Stoppard and Williams, his mind not registering the names at all until he turned away and back towards Vanilla, his face schooled back into a smile when he did, hand falling back to his side almost carelessly. His gaze swept the room before it settled back onto her, those strange pink eyes watching him seriously.

"I can see that you devote a lot of time to keeping the store well-ordered. I hope that your customers appreciate all the hard work."

[1artificialgirl]

"Loud and energetic people would be quite odd to have in a bookstore... I would think." Vanilla frowned slightly. "Besides, I don't want to have to baby sit my workers." That was the truth after all. If her workers always caused commotions she would have a lot of reprimanding to do. The set of workers she had now, they were quite pleasant to be around. "Yes, I appreciate that they keep it so clean."

The girl fell silent her gaze dropping to Justice's hand for a moment. It ran along the books and she smiled slightly. Artaud, Beckett, Chekhov, Ibsen, Moliere, Pinter, and Shakesphere. Without even reading the titles she knew what they were. Her memory never failed her. It was like a big story book because she could remember things so clearly. It was like a movie.

Her gaze had fallen to the lower shelf of books. Vanilla stood erect, almost comparable to a soldier. It was muscle memory for her to do so... If only she could remember why. There were so many empty spaces and so little memories gained. I don't think I am a demon. The voice said I was. I do not hunt them though. I am not a killer... At least not now. With these thoughts her features had become slightly more grim. She frowned slightly as well, trying to piece together what was lost.

Once she felt Justice's eyes on her she pulled herself away from the thoughts. She didn't smile back but her features returned back to their neutral state. "I hope they do as well." Vanilla nodded and then her eyes wandered over to the coffee table, where the teapot and other fixings were set. "We should drink it...Before it gets cold."

[extantlaw]

"That's a very good point."

He caught the frown as his eyes returned to her face, just for a moment - the seriousness deepening in her expression. His gaze flicked back to the books to try and discern what she was looking at but there was nothing save for a few empty spaces on a lower shelf. He raised an eyebrow in response, when he looked back at her, but the moment had passed, and he didn't comment on it.

Instead he smiled again, another appreciative glance around at the room before he followed her look to the table. And there was a mock bow in acknowledgement, although the smile remained.

"Yes, we should. I apologise for my lack of manners, but books are too tempting a distraction."

[1artificialgirl]

Vanilla smiled fully this time, it was warm and happy. "Yes, they are." She sat down on the two seat sofa and relaxed slightly. It was soft and felt good to rest on. "I hope you like green tea." She gestured for him to set his cup up first. She believed that it was the polite thing to do.

[extantlaw]

It was only a few steps to the low table and he took a seat in one of the chairs, settling back for a moment and stretching out cramped muscles. He had felt the tension building all morning as he pored over the files, losing himself in the work in an attempt to put aside the concerns about Truth. But the comfort of the bookstore and the scent of the tea relaxed him, although the worry still remained.

"If I were to be honest, I would have to admit that I do not remember if I like it or not. I did not recall for sure that I liked tea at all until Gungnir proved that to be the case.

However, it smells excellent."

He leaned forward after a moment to pour himself a cup of the hot, steaming liquid before gesturing to Vanilla's cup with the pot, his eyebrow raised in question.

[1artificialgirl]

Vanilla noted that he looked tired, like he hadn't been sleeping very much. The girl was a bit concerned and wondered if it had to do with Truth's disappearance. She felt that words wouldn't help much but it still would be nice to give him reassurance.

She quietly held her hand out to take the pot. For a moment she was quite thoughtful, trying to find the correct words. Even when Vanilla found what should be comforting she was still unsure. Even so, it was worth a shot. "Even if it may be worrisome... I'm sure Truth is okay." Vanilla gazed at him. Her words were firm although quiet and her eyes were filled with fire and determination. "I promise that we will find him." Vanilla refused to break this promise.

[extantlaw]

He let her take the handle, taking care to make sure she did not burn her hand on the pot, or that the tea did not drip onto her fingers. Then he picked up his own cup, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs as he watched her talk, her stern gaze and the firmness of her voice brooking no argument.

It was strange how she reminded him of something, of someone - perhaps more than one, it was hard to say. He knew somewhere at the back of his mind that her eyes were completely alien to him; that the powers or skills he had no doubt she possessed, like most of the others here, would be entirely unfamiliar. But still, there was something about her quiet assurance as she poured the tea, and that constrast with the troubled expression he had glimpsed earlier... someone, something. He wondered, suddenly, if Truth would know, just as Vanilla mentioned his name.

"Thank you." he responded finally, after a few more seconds of observing her in silence. "Scales and Hybrid are also searching - unfortunately, I feel next to useless when faced with the impossibilities of this place. It seems it is not designed for those of us who are nothing more than we appear to be."

And he nodded, a tired but genuine smile in response to the determination that shone in her eyes at the last.

"I believe that you will - if he is anywhere to be found. I am... very grateful, since he and I are little more than strangers to you."

[1artificialgirl]

As Vanilla took the pot she nodded in thanks. She brought the pot over to her cup and tilted it forward, allowing the steaming liquid to fill it to the very brim. The girl set the pot down on the coffee table, looking thoughtful again. "You are welcome." People were never just what they appeared to be. At least, that is what Vanilla believed.

"I don't believe that you are nothing more than what you appear to be..." Vanilla frowned slightly. "Even when one appears to be something there will always be hidden things that make them another thing. At least, that is my opinion." She then smiled slightly.

"All I really want to do is protect people. Helping you find someone that you care about... Well, I think that is a good thing too." That was one thing Vanilla knew in her heart. She wanted to protect without losing herself in greed, hate, or anger. If she kept that in her heart at all times, Vanilla knew that she would be okay.

[extantlaw]

The tea was grassy, slightly sweet, and he sipped it appreciatively, wondering again if tea was something he has always had a taste for or whether it was something he had never tried before he arrived here. It irritated him that he did not know, that he might never know - that he did not even something as simple as his name or his age or where he lived before.

He listened to Vanilla quietly, considering her words and pushing away the ghosts of his nightmare that drifted around the edges of his consciousness constantly. Irrationally, he wondered if there were people here who could read his mind, even without the thought bubbles, and it made him suddenly uncomfortable, the smile somewhat perfunctory.

"Is that an opinion that you have come to while here, I wonder. Or one you held before? And does it apply to a place as well as to people?"

[1artificialgirl]

Vanilla took a sip of tea as well. She then brought the cup down, close to her lap. Those were questions that she had asked herself so many times. The answers were only partially there, in the fragments she had gained, and there was something there in her heart too. The rush she had felt to get everything back had dulled. It was the hurt of not knowing that haunted her. The girl's gaze dropped to the tea, the thoughtful look still there.

"I remember... I had said this in the memory I have gained..." Her voice was quiet but still steady and unwavering. The girl could admit these things in such a calm manner, she even wondered herself if it was normal. In the back of her mind she knew it wasn't. "She was created artificially… Just like me and now she has no place to go." Her expression was rather neutral now. "I know in my past I wanted to protect as well but there was also a time that was different."

Vanilla gazed at Justice now. She still did not waver. "There was a time when I was a killer too. The voice had said that I was the demon and that demons hunted humans. I suppose that there was a time when I was merely a weapon and nothing more." There was the slightest amount of sadness in her voice and she frowned. "For some time now I have questioned what came first, the demon, or the one who wanted to protect, and most of all why. Of course, I can't change what I have done." She blinked in surprise; this was the most that she had talked in a long time.

[extantlaw]

He noticed her face set into that expression that he recognised, somehow, as a reciting of facts. Nothing more, nothing less. But he did not speculate on it, his attention caught wholly by her words.

A demon, a weapon. A killer. It resonated with him, and the void in his mind loomed again, his hand shaking slightly as he brought the cup to his lips. It was a curious sensation - as if she were reciting to him a story that he already knew the ending to, even though he was quite sure that he was entirely human, and nothing more. It was a few moments before he looked up from the cup and found his voice.

"But you can make amends for it. Or at least try."

And it was as if he was talking to himself, a sudden firmness of tone that he wondered at, and would wonder at later. He knew it was the truth, that it was just - but as with so many other things here, he simply did not understand why.

A few moments awkward silence as his brain replayed the rest of her words, fixing on the parts he couldn't follow, and he looked up at her with a frown.

"She?"

There was more he could have asked, but he had no intention of interrogating her. He was a guest, and she was barely a teenager, human or not, stranded in this dammed place with no memories, just like him.

[1artificialgirl]

Vanilla had noticed the slight shake of his hand. She worried that she had said too much. Soon, she was assured by his words that she hadn't. The girl took another sip of tea. "Yes, I suppose I can..." Her voice trailed off for a moment. "It will never be enough though."

She knew that whoever she had killed, she would never be able to bring them back. Some of them probably had children and a wife. Of course, she couldn't dwell on that. "I do want my powers and myself to do good things though. I do not want to fall back into being ignorant of the things I have now." The things she really didn't deserve but had anyways.

"She was a dinosaur. A woman named Madam Fresea had funded the recreation of a dinosaur. So, in a way she was just like me I suppose." She took another sip of tea.

[extantlaw]

"It will never be enough."

Something nagged at him - voices - if not angry then certainly heated. His own, and someone else's... Truth? But they had never had that conversation - at least, not here. He frowned a little at the effort to remember, the feeling like having a word at the tip of your tongue that you can't quite bring to mind.

He regarded Vanilla gravely, and when he answered, it was as if he was answering himself.

"Then you should never give up trying."

And then he tilted his head in surprise at the last.

"A dinosaur?"

There was the slightest twitch of his eyebrow at that, the peculiarities of this place beginning to almost sound normal.

"And that was the memory you regained?"

[1artificialgirl]

"I never will." She smiled slightly; it was a bit sad but a smile none the less. "You speak as if you've gone through that yourself." That was one thing Vanilla planned on, never giving up. The girl may not be able to see into the future. Although she knew that she would always stand by the rules she lived by and the promises that she made.

"Yes, it was." Vanilla then blinked in surprise, suddenly coming upon a realization. "It's been almost six months since I arrived here... Time does fly I suppose."