Book Bonding

[oranje_windmill]

Who: Willem and Toris
When: Friday Afternoon, March 11
Where:
What: Without Sindre around to watch Merlin with, Willem goes out bike riding to pass the time.

Comments

[toris_tori]

Work had quickly turned into something a safe-zone these days. A place where Feliks wasn't there to yell at him, complain, or make a general nuisance of himself. A place where he could work on forgetting Kim for the time being (aside from when he had to organize the Romance section). And a place where Raivis wouldn't show up because they were quickly getting into the habit of not seeing each other, at all. The work itself was boring and monotonous (organizing, dusting, ordering) and all together boring, but these days it almost felt as if it was the only thing keeping him sane.

Pulling a book of the shelf that looked a little worse for wear, he took out a nearby notebook and wrote down the name and the author to look at later before placing back inside it's place, knowing he didn't have time to do everything at once.

Engrossed in this mind numbing and somehow soothing task, Toris barely acknowledged the door of the shop opening, and gave a glance to the customer who came him, giving him his 'employee' smile before turning back to the task at hand. Customers who came in usually only talked to an worker if they wanted help, and should the taller man want it, he'd be right here.

[oranje_windmill]

He nodded at what appeared to be the only person working, and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he began to look around. He ambled through the stacks, pausing every so often to pull something off the shelves and flip through it. Nothing caught his fancy, however, so he put each back on the shelf and continued on. Eventually he found himself in the kids section. He was about to skip it, move onto the shelves beyond it, when suddenly a familiar white rabbit caught his eye from the lower shelves. With a soft sound of surprise, he bent down for a closer look.

It is indeed the Nijntje series he remembered from his childhood, although they are titled with the name Miffy as he has seen done in other places outside the Netherlands. Smiling softly, he pulls one from the shelves and begins to flip through it.

[toris_tori]

After he was done with the cataloging of sorts, Toris put his notebook back into its' place for the time being and then stretched a bit to work out the soreness in his limbs before looking around and realizing with a start that he didn't know where the customer had run off to. He was suppose to at least keep semi-eye on them, just to make sure no books went away 'unexpectedly'. Letting out a sigh he wandered the shelves for a moment, straightening things here and there, before finding the customer, engrossed in a book with a...cute animal on the front?

Toris blinked a couple times, both surprised and intrigued for the other man didn't look like the type to be looking at a book like that. He watched for a few moments, waiting to see if the taller man would notice him, but he didn't.

Clearing his throat he asked in a mild tone, "Can I help you?"

[oranje_windmill]

Willem jumped at the voice behind him, spinning around to see the salesman from before standing there regarding him curiously. He suddenly remembered where he was, and realized what a picture he must make. A grown man crouched down on the floor in the middle of a book store, reading a book clearly meant for a child. He felt his ears heat up, hunched his shoulders just a bit in embarrassment.

"I used to see these all over back home," he tells the other man. "But I've never seen them since I got here to the US."

Realizing his explanation still didn't explain the part about being a grown man who was so engrossed in reading them, he added, "I used to read them to my sisters a lot when we were kids, and it's so odd to see them printed in English."

[toris_tori]

Taking in the other's reaction (with a small jump of his own when the other spun around on him faster than he expected), Toris debated on turning around back to the front desk and leaving the other to...whatever he was doing since he'd done something to cause the man discomfort. But when he started talking, Toris found himself listening instead, sensing a little more behind the slightly intimidating front that Toris first saw.

"That sounds...nice." He commented quietly with his lips twitching into a small smile as the story made him think of a similar situation he'd done with Raivis (having to translate the Lithuanian into Latvian for his smaller cousin), his mind instantly flinched away from that train of thought and his smile dropped before coming back, though with less traceable 'joy' found.

"Is this the one you'd like to buy then?"

[oranje_windmill]

Willem shook his head, a bit embarrassed at the display of sentiment, and placed the book back on the shelf.

"Maybe some other time," he told the other man, standing back up. "Although I am hoping to find something new to read. Any suggestions?"

[toris_tori]

"It depends." Toris answered, glad to this stranger for the distraction from his last train of thought, able to focus his mind elsewhere and leave that problem behind for now. "What exactly are you looking for? We have newer selections at the front and more of our used sections are located in the back." He gestured in the each direction as he pointed it out.

"I suppose you could just wander, no time limit on that after all" Toris added with a small smile and tilt to his head, teasing subtly. Finding the other reading a small children's book made him much less intimidating than he would be otherwise in Toris' eyes. In a good way though.

[oranje_windmill]

"I'm....." he started, and then stopped uncertain. He looked around at the books as if they could give him an answer. When they weren't very forthcoming he turned back to the shopkeeper.

"I think I'm just looking for something different. I'm not sure what that might be."

Realizing he was being vague again, he added "I do like books with humor, and ones that make you think. Just nothing with romance in it, please."

No, he wasn't in mood for anything romantic at the moment.

[toris_tori]

Catching the part about the 'no romance' bit but chose not to comment because, well, he didn't know the man very well to begin with (actually he didn't even know his name) so it wasn't his place to question.

He gave a small nod, forming a mental image of where they had to go before saying in his best employee voice, "Alright then, there might be something for you back here." He lead the was a little deeper into the bookstore (hoping the bells in front would be loud enough to allow him to know when another customer might come).

Finally finding the area he was looking for he swept one arm to show the isle. "This should be about what you're looking for." He told the customer.

[oranje_windmill]

"Thank you," he told the man, nodding.

He perused the books for a moment or so until a familiar title caught his eye. Reaching out, he pulled a book entitled The Discovery of Heaven off the shelf.

The book was a favorite of his mothers, and she had a copy back home that he had read once. He turned the pages, his lips quirking up. Like the Nijntje books earlier, knowing the book was distributed outside of his homeland and seeing the print in another language was an odd feeling.

[toris_tori]

Seeing the customer find something that seemed to keep him well occupied Toris turned to a nearby shelf to give him some space and began arranging books that were put back in the wrong order (really people, it wasn't that difficult).

After a small moment of silence he turned back, "So is this what you would like then?"

[oranje_windmill]

Willem looked up from the book to look the other man in the face.

"I think I will get this one."

Not for himself, though. His mother will appreciate having the book in English and comparing it to her Dutch copy. Although that doesn't solve the problem of finding something new for himself.

"Although I'm also looking for something different then I normally read. Do you have any suggestions?"

Maybe what he needs is someone to suggest something entirely different to get him going.

[toris_tori]

Thinking about it for second, Toris' eyes wandered over the bookshelves and happened to come across a title he'd read some time ago and had liked but had forgotten about for the time being. It hadn't been his usually choices for a book, but he'd been curious and had seen it suggested online at one point. So wandering over to it he picked it off the shelf to bring it over.

"Well, this might be a bit of a shot in the dark, but this is a pretty good one." He held it out and the simple but affective cover was shown with the words 'World War Z' showing. It had actually been what started his recent binge in this type of genre. The movies as well...but god forbid if Feliks ever found out.

[oranje_windmill]

Willem took the novel from the shopkeeper's hands, examining the cover. The title said something about a world war, so he asked if it was a historical novel as he turned it over to read the back.

The first thing he read was "An Oral History of the Zombie War", and realized that no, it probably wasn't historical. But he was intrigued all the same.

[toris_tori]

Seeing the look and interpreting it as a 'what kind of books does this guy even read' look, Toris quickly backtracked, distancing himself from the book, though he'd read it...and actually quite enjoyed it for that matter. "Ah, it's not everyone's style, but I heard it was a good one."

He rubbed the back of his head with one hand he stepped away for a moment and let the customer glance over the book himself and pulled out a few more titles.

[oranje_windmill]

Willem looked up from where he had been engrossed in reading the back of the book.

"Actually, it sounds quite interesting," he assured the other man. He turned the book over to look at the front again, before opening the book to scan the first few pages.

"So it's written like a history book covering a time when a zombie outbreak occurred?" he asked as he did so.