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

Comments

[wiz_kid_redfive]

[from here]

No matter how far from home you were, no matter even if the world you were in was run by the Lone Power or one of Its nasty little lackeys, a bookstore was always a bookstore. Dairine was relieved to find that this one was no different.

She began to browse the shelves after a happy little wave and smile at the shopkeepers. If she was lucky, a manual would reach out and grab her. However, she was damn sure that wouldn't be the case. Wizardly implements weren't exactly common here. Either way, the presence of all these books was comforting.

And was that Renamon over there?

[NPC please?]

[damned_town]

Having one of the patients literally waving a quick hello when she walked in was more or less begging for the older shopkeep to abandon her post at the counter and go chat. Even though that meant that no one would be holding the fort, it didn't really matter since none of these customers could actually buy anything.

"Hey, little missy! How're you doing?" the older woman asked, sending her a bright smile.

[wiz_kid_redfive]

It was weird to talk to someone who wasn't a patient. Did the shopkeeper know about the secrets of the nearby Institute? Dairine was willing to bet she didn't. Not everyone here was secretly evil, right?

Still, human contact was human contact, and maybe she could have a normal conversation for the first time in...more than a week, actually. "I'm fine, thanks, how are you?" she said, genuinely caught off-guard by the shopkeeper's friendliness. It was ridiculous that she'd had to become so wary of others; a wizard was a friend of life, not afraid of it. And someone who ran a bookstore couldn't be too evil, or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

[damned_town]

When the girl responded saying that she was fine, the woman found it hard to believe, but she imagined it was just out of politeness. If this girl, young as she was, had been committed to that Landel's place because her head wasn't on straight, the shopkeep doubted that she could really be anything approaching fine.

Then again, it wasn't like she was some sort of psychiatrist that could help out in any way, so maybe it was better to keep the conversation light. The woman smiled when the question was returned. "Well, I'm doin' just fine! It's a tad early to be up on a weekend, but having so many people in here certainly helps to wake a person up."

[per_ardua]

[[From here.]]

Romance, fantasy, mystery, fiction... non-fiction! Raine stopped eagerly, taking down the first one that caught her eye. Sadly, the books looked too big to try smuggling out any... her blouse was loose and flowing enough to possibly allow something smaller, but not a hardcover book.

She read the inside front cover, then scanned the shelves again. This just might make the trip worthwhile.

[Waiting for Shana!]

[hamenleai]

[ Coming from here.]

Shana slipped into the bookstore, relived to be out of the chilly fall air. There were others here, though not many she recognized, she noted as she slipped into one of the aisles. There were books everywhere, however, and Shana broke into a bright grin at the sight of them. Maybe she'd find something of use here after all!

Spotting a familiar figure not that far away, Shana hesitated, then moved in Raine's direction. "Hello," she greeted quietly, glancing over the other girl's shoulder at the books she'd found.

"Find anything interesting?"

[per_ardua]

Raine looked over, too absorbed in her research to recognize the voice until she saw her. "Hello." She smiled slightly; so Shana liked to read, too? It wasn't likely Valyn had sent the girl in to get her (Raine surmised that anyone who wanted to track her down today might not have much trouble).

"Technically, yes, but as for what I was hoping to find--nothing. I'm looking for chemistry, architecture, something useful, and while everything here is fascinating... it's not what I was looking for."

Not that the expected revelation had changed her plans much. The bookstore was not her idea of organized, which was even more reason to cheerfully spend all day in here--who knew what she'd find?

[hamenleai]

"It doesn't really look like it's in any semblance of organization, either," Shana noted, wrinkling her nose to hold back a sneeze at the dust. "And I suppose there just happens to be a lack of history or anything about the place up on the hill as well, isn't there?"

She'd noted the lack of history books from the times she'd perused the library in the institute. What kind of place didn't have books that recorded the history of a race or species? If a people could write, that was usually the first things they started writing down.

[jurisfictional]

[from here]

Thursday held the door open for Harry before she entered, relaxing noticeably among the shelves crammed high with books.

"Looking for anything in particular?" she asked as she stepped further into the shop. She had a pretty good idea what he was looking for, to be honest, but it never hurt to make sure.

[high_prosecutor]

[from here]

"..."

There was no organization, aside from a few signs. How were you supposed to find anything?

As quickly as he'd entered, Edgeworth left, shaking his head. There was clearly no accounting for taste or organization.

[and back out to here]

[justice_to_a_t]

[In from here, waiting for Crane.]

Last Mikami knew, it had been the end of January, and although for some reason it seemed earlier in the year here, he would have still much preferred to be wearing something much warmer- if anything, definitely his favored black coat. It was a little warmer inside the bookstore, but once inside he soon moved further on, ignoring the various people already crowded in in favor of looking at the books themselves. There was a whole lot of fiction, it seemed, and although Mikami wasn't one to keep up on the latest works, he couldn't help but notice there wasn't really any titles he recognized.

It took at least fifteen minutes before he realized there didn't seem to be anything from certain types of nonfiction- not only descriptive and picture history books alike, but older biographies and similar were notably missing as well. So he settled for staring and frowning at some of the religious section, caught up in thought.

[scaredy_crow]

[From up here]

That had been a rather interesting exchange, to say the least. Crane hadn't expected to run into such a pleasant other patient; in fact, he had initially been intending on just asking the man if he knew his way around and then leaving him to his own devices had he been as clueless as Crane was. However, he was just as happy with the way things had turned out, and it had definitely improved his mood from the way it had been upon waking up.

After giving Doctor Moreau one last look, he re-shelved it and took another glance at the shelves. In following the shelves, though, he found himself looking over at another man who seemed rather upset at the lack of non-fiction. He was staring at...religion? Funny. It could have just been him, but the other man didn't seem the religious type. It could have also been the shirt and cut-off shorts, and Crane was just as aware that the man probably had about as much say in regards to his clothing as he'd had about his own

[justice_to_a_t]

Mikami was broken from his thoughts by the appearance of a tall, thin man dressed loosely in black. He didn't think he had much to say at the moment, but in the interest of being polite he simply spoke his mind

[scaredy_crow]

Crane looked over to at the selections, trying to ignore the look that the other man was giving his clothes. He'd done the same thing after all. But the man had a point. There was no history, not even for the religion. Almost like they couldn't decide what to feed the patients, so instead they decided to just remove any references to history.

Crane could have sworn that someone had mentioned that the Institute was in New Jersey, but there was no way to tell when. Even if the nurses were straightforward when asked, it would be difficult, given lack of history, to tell whether it was accurate information.

"Jonathan Crane," he replied, giving Mikami a nod. "And you're right. It's almost like they don't want us to know any truth about this place."