That had, in fact, been exactly what she had meant to imply. She even had a little joke ready. She would say something about, is that not how you remember it--see a joke, about how I thought you forgot who I was? And then I gave you my book out of the kindness of my heart. And it would be funny.
That had been the plan, anyway. When he looked at her like that, all such plans flew out the window. Irredeemably stupid. What was she thinking? She couldn't tell jokes. Last time she'd tried, it had wound up sounding like she was insulting him. Deflated and embarrassed, she stared away, down towards the ground, ears flattening against her head under the hat she was now super-extra glad she was wearing and sincerely regretted calling more attention to.
When he looked at her like that, it had her questioning all her shitty life choices leading up to this moment again. She didn't even have the excuse of ignorance this time. She'd come in knowing full well what lived here. That it had gone as well as it had was a small miracle, stars aligning despite her social ineptitude. Why did she always push it? Keeping her mouth shut under the barrage of disdain and mockery had worked last time. Maybe if she preempted keeping her goddamn mouth shut, she could avoid the worst of it this time, and not wind up on her ass, covered in books, having to consider begging him to fuck her up the ass.
She mumbled something that may have been an apology and may have been a recipe for brioche, for all it was clearly audible, and followed him down the stairs.
Six books. Six children's books, and then she'd be out, with a little prize for the library and not much in the way of scars to show for it. All she had to do was pretend she wasn't a socially inept moron for like, ten more goddamn minutes. Could she at least manage that?
No, as it turned out, no she couldn't, because she wound up taking way more than ten minutes. She was still hyper self-conscious of his eyes on her, which made her movements stiff and unnatural--that's how it felt to her, anyway. But she couldn't help it. Choosing just six was a difficulty, and she was selecting from one shelf. There was so much else! So many books she couldn't afford; not that she knew the price tag, she just knew the seller.
But they were so pretty.
And they had such interesting titles.
And they were so old.
He had the sort of books on display most other places would probably keep behind glass out of their sheer age alone. And why not? Who would fucking steal them? It probably wasn't even that he didn't know what they were worth; there was just so many of them, and he very clearly had his own ideas of what things were worth. Her lust for THE ART OF COOKERY MADE PLAIN AND EASY. Which Far Exceeds any Thing of the Kind yet Published was stronger than any lust she could have had for his very nice leather gloves, no matter what her subconscious had to say on the matter. It just looked so interesting.
She stuck, sourly, to children's books. She grabbed the Hobbit that she'd wanted, and then took her time. These were for the library, after all. There was a collection of short stories from the 1930s that was, essentially, exactly what she'd described, and a book called The Pink Fairy Book that was very pretty in faded pink and gold foil and could definitely benefit from her restoration program. Also, its publishing date was 1897. She'd already paid. He'd just said six books. Of course she was going to make them six of the rarest, most expensive ones there. She could buy cheap books with, you know, actual money.
Not that she'd be back.
Not even for that. Ooh. Okay, maybe for that. No, no, she couldn't blow her money on this sort of thing, she had at least two more years of school left and was working an unpaid internship. It's not like she could get a night job.
Finally, at great length, she managed to get six books and no more, holding them with the careful, practiced hands of someone used to holding very old, very fragile things. She brought them to his desk and laid them out, gently, so that he could make notes of the titles and mark their sale in whatever old-immortal-who-does-not-have-a-computer-or-even-a-register way he had.
"I'm lucky you take payment in inexplicable thought exercises," she said, apparently having already forgotten how she's just sworn to herself not to try to make jokes or even talk, at all, whatsoever. Why call attention to the fact she'd grabbed six very old, probably very valuable books, specifically because she'd paid first? Only stupid people would do that. She was stupid. Ugh. "I'd never be able to afford to shop here otherwise," she continued, like an idiot, who wouldn't shut up, just shut up god. It's not like she could actually be funny on command. It was probably coming off bitchy, because everything did.
That had been the plan, anyway. When he looked at her like that, all such plans flew out the window. Irredeemably stupid. What was she thinking? She couldn't tell jokes. Last time she'd tried, it had wound up sounding like she was insulting him. Deflated and embarrassed, she stared away, down towards the ground, ears flattening against her head under the hat she was now super-extra glad she was wearing and sincerely regretted calling more attention to.
When he looked at her like that, it had her questioning all her shitty life choices leading up to this moment again. She didn't even have the excuse of ignorance this time. She'd come in knowing full well what lived here. That it had gone as well as it had was a small miracle, stars aligning despite her social ineptitude. Why did she always push it? Keeping her mouth shut under the barrage of disdain and mockery had worked last time. Maybe if she preempted keeping her goddamn mouth shut, she could avoid the worst of it this time, and not wind up on her ass, covered in books, having to consider begging him to fuck her up the ass.
She mumbled something that may have been an apology and may have been a recipe for brioche, for all it was clearly audible, and followed him down the stairs.
Six books. Six children's books, and then she'd be out, with a little prize for the library and not much in the way of scars to show for it. All she had to do was pretend she wasn't a socially inept moron for like, ten more goddamn minutes. Could she at least manage that?
No, as it turned out, no she couldn't, because she wound up taking way more than ten minutes. She was still hyper self-conscious of his eyes on her, which made her movements stiff and unnatural--that's how it felt to her, anyway. But she couldn't help it. Choosing just six was a difficulty, and she was selecting from one shelf. There was so much else! So many books she couldn't afford; not that she knew the price tag, she just knew the seller.
But they were so pretty.
And they had such interesting titles.
And they were so old.
He had the sort of books on display most other places would probably keep behind glass out of their sheer age alone. And why not? Who would fucking steal them? It probably wasn't even that he didn't know what they were worth; there was just so many of them, and he very clearly had his own ideas of what things were worth. Her lust for THE ART OF COOKERY MADE PLAIN AND EASY. Which Far Exceeds any Thing of the Kind yet Published was stronger than any lust she could have had for his very nice leather gloves, no matter what her subconscious had to say on the matter. It just looked so interesting.
She stuck, sourly, to children's books. She grabbed the Hobbit that she'd wanted, and then took her time. These were for the library, after all. There was a collection of short stories from the 1930s that was, essentially, exactly what she'd described, and a book called The Pink Fairy Book that was very pretty in faded pink and gold foil and could definitely benefit from her restoration program. Also, its publishing date was 1897. She'd already paid. He'd just said six books. Of course she was going to make them six of the rarest, most expensive ones there. She could buy cheap books with, you know, actual money.
Not that she'd be back.
Not even for that. Ooh. Okay, maybe for that. No, no, she couldn't blow her money on this sort of thing, she had at least two more years of school left and was working an unpaid internship. It's not like she could get a night job.
Finally, at great length, she managed to get six books and no more, holding them with the careful, practiced hands of someone used to holding very old, very fragile things. She brought them to his desk and laid them out, gently, so that he could make notes of the titles and mark their sale in whatever old-immortal-who-does-not-have-a-computer-or-even-a-register way he had.
"I'm lucky you take payment in inexplicable thought exercises," she said, apparently having already forgotten how she's just sworn to herself not to try to make jokes or even talk, at all, whatsoever. Why call attention to the fact she'd grabbed six very old, probably very valuable books, specifically because she'd paid first? Only stupid people would do that. She was stupid. Ugh. "I'd never be able to afford to shop here otherwise," she continued, like an idiot, who wouldn't shut up, just shut up god. It's not like she could actually be funny on command. It was probably coming off bitchy, because everything did.
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Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-24-2017, 10:33 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-25-2017, 09:40 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-25-2017, 10:58 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-25-2017, 12:50 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-25-2017, 01:03 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-25-2017, 02:15 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-25-2017, 02:29 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-25-2017, 11:20 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-25-2017, 11:37 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 01:31 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 01:41 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 02:16 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 02:23 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 02:48 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 02:56 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 04:18 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 04:26 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 07:13 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 07:24 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-27-2017, 12:24 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-27-2017, 12:42 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-27-2017, 12:58 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-27-2017, 01:09 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-27-2017, 05:03 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-27-2017, 05:14 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-27-2017, 07:44 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-27-2017, 08:23 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-28-2017, 10:59 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-28-2017, 11:25 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-01-2017, 05:15 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-01-2017, 05:24 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-02-2017, 06:29 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-02-2017, 07:49 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-05-2017, 05:02 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-05-2017, 10:31 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-05-2017, 01:58 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-05-2017, 02:21 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-05-2017, 03:09 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-05-2017, 03:20 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-05-2017, 10:15 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-05-2017, 10:46 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-06-2017, 03:33 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-06-2017, 04:12 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-06-2017, 05:28 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-06-2017, 11:20 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-07-2017, 03:30 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-07-2017, 09:25 AM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-07-2017, 06:22 PM
RE: Warm Reunions [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-07-2017, 06:34 PM