Day 35: The Bookworm

[miracle_grow]

[ Coming from here.]

Claire stepped into the bookstore, relieved to be out of the chilly autumn air. Her sweater was warm, but the weather outside was still cool, and she guessed it had to be very late autumn, at the very least. Where were they? And when

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[miracle_grow]

"She's back home still?" Claire asked, casting him a sympathetic glance as she shifted sideways into one of the aisles. "I know how that is. My mom and younger brother are back there, too. Lyle's a bit of a pain, but I still worry about him."

[miracle_grow]

"I'm sorry," Claire apologized, seeing his hands ball into fists. He really was worried about here. "I'm not sure if that's better or worse. She's not here, but you're not with her, either."

She moved deeper into the aisle, sliding her fingers carefully along the bindings of the shelved books, glancing idly at the titles. Some were ones she'd had to read for English Lit, but a lot she'd never heard of before. "Pretty close, yeah," she answered, flashing him a small smile. "We've been through a lot, I guess you could say." Which made her wonder again about what had happened to her dad and where he'd been last night? Was he alright?

[simpleastherain]

[from here. Waiting for some pervy ninjas and a fox.]

Orihime sighed when she reached the bookstore. Good, she'd gone the right way. She wanted to go inside and browse the isles again but she didn't want to make it any more difficult than necessary for Renamon to find her.

She moved a little to the side of the door and leaned against the wall, her hands buried in the font pocket of her hoodie. The skirt was a little short for this weather though. Orihime hunched hunched her shoulders a little and waited.

[toadally4boobs]

[from here.]

However, when Jiraiya arrived at the bookstore, all thoughts about searching through its aisles were forgotten. There, in front of him, stood a shining example of feminine perfection. She looked a bit chilly, and seemed to be waiting for someone....

Well, that was no good! She would get bored without having someone to talk to while she waited for her companion to arrive. Fate had forced his hand--he had no choice except to keep this beautiful woman company. Besides, it was important to meet new people, being new himself, right?

"It's cold outside today, isn't it?" Jiraiya spoke up, leaning against the wall a couple feet away and smiling nicely down at Orihime. "Why are you waiting out here in this chilly air?"

[Sorry it took so long! Had a busy school day!]

[simpleastherain]

[No worries!]

Orihime started when the man spoke. She'd been dreaming about warm avocado sundaes and not really paying attention to anything around her. Left, right - "Oh! It's just a grandpa." She murmured quietly. He had kind of a young face but his hair was completely white. He looked strong for a grandpa too. Oh, well. It didn't matter. He seemed nice enough and she was glad for the company.

"I'm waiting for a friend." She told him, smiling back. "It's a little bit cold, yes, but it's sort of nice to be outside. Does the weather bother you? You can have this if you want it." She slipped one of her hands free of the pocket tugged at the front of the over-sized sweatshirt. She'd be a bit colder but she didn't mind. You were supposed to think of old people first!

[toadally4boobs]

Luckily for Jiraiya, he didn't overhear her murmur about his age. Or, unluckily, perhaps, because it meant he didn't know he was already out of the running. She was a pretty thing, and he estimated that she had to be in her early twenties, with that sort of cleavage. Even though she sounded younger than he expected....

"Ah, no, no, I'm all right!" Jiraiya laughed, holding up his hands. "I'm not cold, and I'd just ruin it with my large arms!" He dropped his hands, smiling at her. "I was going to offer you my coat if you were cold, actually." The older generation should take care of the younger, after all!

"My name's Jiraiya," he offered with a broad grin. "And if you tell me what your friend looks like, I can look for her over the crowd." Well, he hoped it was another girl she was waiting for, anyways. Two for the price of one!

[his_singer]

[ from here. ]

Finally, the bookstore. Sighing in relief when she realized she had gone the right way, Bella peered around at all the overly stuffed books with a slight awe.

… She might as well look for a few of her favourites. If they had Wuthering Heights … well, she knew how she would spend her time waiting for Edward. Careful to not bump into any of the other patients (she recognized one, she thought. But maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her.) Bella carefully began to look through the books to try and find something good.

[damned_town]

Seeing how the visitors from Landel's had been so well-behaved last time, the girl who worked at the bookstore was much more willing to approach them now. She had even gotten someone to do some work for her a week ago, and she couldn't help but wonder if she would get that lucky now.

Besides, there was no harm in making them feel welcome and seeing that they were taken care of. The young girl watched as they all filed in, and while some of them seemed to be doing just fine on their own, she couldn't help but frown when she saw one patient who was all alone.

Moving away from the counter, she approached the patient, making sure to be careful so that she didn't accidentally sneak up on the girl. "Hey there! Everything going okay?"

[his_singer]

Blinking at the sound of being approached, Bella turned and looked at the girl who had appeared, and she gave her a soft smile. “Oh, uh, hi. I’m okay, thanks. Just looking through all these books …”

… If the people of the town were the same as the doctors and nurses in Landel’s, then it wouldn’t hurt her to be polite and nice. Maybe they could be different and help her with things.

Turning back to the girl, Bella put on a smile and slowly began to unwrap her scarf from around her neck. “By the way, you wouldn’t happen to have Wuthering Heights, would you? It’s a favourite of mine.”

[damned_town]

"Oh, Wuthering Heights, huh? I remember reading that." It was funny to see that she had something in common with a girl who was supposed to be crazy, even though said girl seemed perfectly fine right now. Then again, there were certain things that were universal - it was hard to go through a high school career without reading certain books.

"Kinda dark, isn't it? Though I guess it was okay," she muttered, half to the patient and half to herself as she started making her way down the aisle of books, scanning them with eyes that had sorted through the volumes time and time again.

"Here we go," she announced, kneeling down to grab for a book on the bottom shelf. She stood up with Wuthering Heights and offered it to the patient with a smile.

[vladville]

[from here]

It wasn't very organized, was it? Vlad stood just clear of the doorway to give Crane room to step inside, glancing around. There was a homey feel, doubtlessly meant to give the visitor the impression that this store was not disorganized so much as built up over the years of ownership. Perhaps it was, depending on how long this experiment had been going on. He doubted it, though. Faking age wasn't exactly difficult.

"A bit dusty," was his first comment, glancing around as though not sure he was ready to touch anything. It did have a labeled non-fiction section. Vlad had to wonder what qualified as non-fiction in this town.

[scaredy_crow]

"You weren't rude at all, sir," Crane replied just as politely as he followed his companion into the bookstore. "You were unaware, and I took no offense to warrant correcting it when we introduced ourselves. Mr. Crane suits me just as well here." Dark humor, indeed, and far more than Vlad knew. It seemed to follow him alongside its dear friend irony. Then again, he doubted many other men could say they were incarcerated in their own former workplace

[vladville]

"Well, nonetheless, I meant no offense. Higher learning requires high effort, it should be acknowledged." After all, he'd probably have been Dr. Masters himself if his university career hadn't been abruptly cut short by that idiot. But he'd done well enough for himself anyway... and Plasmius was a better title than doctor, it was a title that belonged to him alone.

He raised an eyebrow at the suggestion that dust was good. In his opinion, dust meant unmoved, which could imply the knowledge was old enough that others hadn't touched upon it, but here he was willing to guess that it meant the books were simply not bothered with because the townspeople (assuming they had any existence at all without patients around to entertain) didn't read much or the bookshop owners didn't clean often... or the people who made this illusion wanted them to think that. Well, perhaps Crane would be right, and there would be a hidden treasure somewhere. "I'm certainly in favor of learning, at the very least." He poked lightly over one of the rows of

[scaredy_crow]

Crane simply gave the comment about his title an acknowledging nod. He was really rather happy that the other man was willing to go so far to call him by the correct title, but he didn't wish to continue arguing over something that in this place was trivial. They were both at least aware of what the other did.

He continued to browse the shelves and frowned at the lack of non-fiction. "It seems as though they're all on the same subject." Crane had no desire to read up on the occult, so he moved on to the fiction section. They may not have had much in the way of non-fiction, but it seemed as though the other was quite the opposite. It couldn't hurt to find a book to read, in order to keep his nurse happy when he chose not to attend the activities.

There was something interesting lying around, at least. The Island of Doctor Moreau. About playing god, if he remembered correctly, among several other things. Crane smirked slightly as he pulled the book off the shelf and gave it a look over. If he were able to manage to take it with him,

[rope_victim]

[From here]

Miku wheeled Sousuke up to The Bookworm with a look of triumph. Only to have her minor victory shot down three seconds later when the narrow bookstore aisles didn't appear wide enough to let Sousuke through. "...This is not what I expected." She looked down at the top of Sousuke's head and inwardly sighed. "Do you still want to go in?" she asked and rested her hands on his shoulders.

[uruz_vii]

Sousuke looked inside and then down at the chair. It wouldn't fit, no doubt. He placed his hands on the armrests and pushed himself up. He winced, feeling pain shoot up his back and torso, but fortunately he could hide it. Miku was facing his back, after all.

He turned a little and smiled lightly. "I can stand for a few minutes. But it would help if you could support me."

[rope_victim]

Miku nodded, pushed the wheelchair to side of bookstore and settled under Sousuke's arm. This was a little harder, but she tried hard to be the best little crutch she could be. Maybe if they were lucky, the two of them would be able to slip into the narrow, haphazardly stacked aisles.

"What are you looking for, Sousuke?" she wondered as they stepped inside the warm shop. Miku felt her cheeks tingle as the warmth started to seep back into them.

[uruz_vii]

"Landscapes," Sousuke stated, moving with surprising grace into the store. "Something with landscapes in it. A photography book. And possibly a classical fiction novel. The library is adequate, but I would rather have something in my possession."

It would also be an excellent place to hide things.