fandomtownies | Aziraphale's Rare Books

Aziraphale's Rare Books

It's a bit later in the morning than usual that Kiki comes to open the shop - she'd had some errands to run - but the "open" sign is indeed dangling in the window.

There's tea, hot chocolate, biscuits and scones, a cheerful fire in the fireplace, and Jiji is curled up somewhere in the shop - probably on a bookshelf or working on his "I'm a pillow" camouflage. There is also a brand new dish of butterscotches on the counter near the cash register.

Mr. Aziraphale is no where to be found.

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If you dare.

Comfy, cozy, and free food. What more could you want?

Harry comes in, looking rather hesistant. "Kiki?" He asks when he doesn't see her immediately.

Kiki, in between the stacks and shelves, jumps a mile - she hadn't even heard anyone come in! - and drops the book she's holding, which lands on the floor with a loud "WHUMP!"

"Oh....crud" she whispers, and that definitely applies to more than just dropping the book.

Harry moves to where he heard a book being dropped. "Kiki? Are you there? It's me, Harry!"

"Um, yes! I'm - I'm here," she calls, stooping to pick up the book. She looks up at him as he comes around the edge of the shelves, and stands up slowly, biting her bottom lip a little. "Um, hey," she offers as a greeting.

"Hey" Harry replies, biting his lip too. "I just came in because...i've been away for quite a while. Without telling you. And, i wanted to apologize for that. So. Sorry, Kiki. For eh, leaving you here without letting you know. Eh..." Harry stutters a bit, finding this harder then he had expected.

"Yeah," Kiki says quietly, not sure what to say or what to feel. "Yeah - it's um...okay. I... I'd thought you'd left school. I just figured you hadn't had a chance to say good-bye."

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask where he had gone, what he had done, why he had gone, what had happened... but...she had no right to ask him. If he hadn't told her he was going, and didn't tell her when he got back, then he hadn't wanted her to know. And she? She hadn't even been faithful to him whil he'd been away, she realizes with a sudden rush of guilt.

Turning towards the stacks so Harry can't see it written across her face, Kiki brusquely shoves the book onto the shelf with a sharp movement, annoyed with herself and with him. So she had kissed someone else. Big deal. Was she supposed to have waited for him or something, when he hadn't even told her if she'd ever see him again?

"It's okay," she repeats. "These things happen."

"Oh, oh i'm so glad you understand!" Harry beams. "I left in quite a hurry, hadn't had the chance to say goodbye. Aww, i knew you'd understand. You're cool, Kiki". Being a teenage boy, he isn't very good with picking up hints unless they're right in his face, or understanding anything other then what is said literally.

"Ehhh...right," Kiki answers, resting her hand on the bookshelf. When she glances over at Harry, her eyes don't meet his face, but look at some undefined point over his left shoulder.

"I...have a Christmas present for you," she offers. "I think it's still here."

"Ah excellent" Harry beams some more. "I got a belated present for you, too! I managed to buy it just before i had to leave. You're not mad at me then, for leaving you?" He suddenly looks somewhat worried at the fact that Kiki doesn't seem as happy as him.

"Mad?" Kiki repeats. "Oh, no, I'm just...confused. And... well, okay, maybe a little."

Kiki pulls out two wrapped packages that look suspiciously like books and holds them out to him.

"And...I..." Kiki's courage fails her, and she falls silent.

Harry takes the packages, but doesn't open them yet. "I understand you are mad, and confused. I should've let you know. I will let you know next time i leave Fandom." He looks at her, with a friendly expression on his face, seeing if there's more she wants to say to him, or maybe even yell at him.

((Harry-kissing-people-for-comfort-plan is currently pending :D))

"Yeah..." Kiki says hesitantly. She knows that she should tell Harry about John - but... tell him what? She doesn't even know herself if she's dating John; one kiss - a kiss that Crowley even had a role in causing - does not a relationship make. Why are boys so frustrating and... STUPID? Kiki thinks. And why did I ever think that having one of 'em would be an enjoyable thing?

"But... Harry," she asks slowly, "when you left... did you think you would come back? Did you expect to? And... what did you expect me to do while you were gone? I didn't know what you wanted of me." Her voice is quiet, raspy around the edges with emotion, and she bites the insides of her cheeks to try to keep the tears out of her eyes.

[Hee, I was going to have her spill her news in this comment, but prospect of even more OMGANGST? Woot! Wheee, emo!]

"In fact, i thought i would be gone only for one or two days really. And, well, what i expected you to do? Eh, I don't know?" He still has Kiki's packages in his hands, and now puts them down and takes a smaller packet out of his book bag. "I've been carrying this around ever since i came back to Fandom" he says, and smiles. "It's your christmas present"

((I thought so. But more angst is better angst :D ))

Kiki feels even worse; she's not sure it's possible to feel any more miserable. He'd been carrying it around since he got back? She's touched... but then why didn't he come find me and give it to me sooner?!

"Thank you," she murmurs, her voice catching in her throat. She puts on a brave smile. "Thank you so much. I - um, oh dear," she trails off as she finds herself starting to lose her battle with her tears.

Harry is in doubt for a moment, then tears a bit of tape of his present. "Oh Kiki, don't cry. It isn't that big a deal, right? Come on, let's unwrap our presents together?" He smiles, asking himself whether he should hug her, or try to get her to focus on something else.

Kiki blinks hard, trying to reset herself without actually having to wipe at her eyes - the ultimate admission of crying.

"Sorry," she said huskily, then coughed, clearing her throat and trying to throw off her misery. "Right. Presents. More Christmas!"

She's not able to hide a sniffle, however, and she furtively brushes at her face as if to push back her hair rather than dry her eyes.

Harry feels rather unconfortable, so he pats her on her head bit. "More christmas, indeed" He says, and smiles. Then he starts unwrapping his present.

((Eep, i'm off! Finish this one tomorrow?))

There are, indeed, two books, one of them, the book on jaguars that he had pointed out that day so many weeks ago in the shop, and the other a history of the Florentine Crepes and Venetian Blinders Quidditch team rivalry (occasionally war), which has been going on for 432 years straight and doesn't show a bit of a sign of slowing down anytime soon. It looks really very exciting.

"I thought you'd really like those," she smiles as she starts to open her own gift.

[Sure! Emokiss? Angst? Bring it!]

Harry smiles. "Waw, these are really amazing. Thanks Kiki!"

When Kiki has opened her present she'll find a pair of gloves, in a shade of red that perfectly matches her bow, with an anti-slip material on the inside which makes them perfectly for broom flying when it's cold or raining. There's a little cutesy card too, with a quite standard 'from Harry, for Kiki' thing, but it's cute nonetheless.

Kiki smiles, very pleased with her gift, which of course doesn't make her feel any better. "Thank you, Harry," she says sincerely. She tries to think of something more to say.

"They're great," she finishes lamely.

"Im glad you like them" Harry says, and smiles. He wonders whether he should hug Kiki, but he's not sure so he just moves somewhat in her direction and hopes he will know what to do when he's closer to her.

After a moment of silence in which Kiki is fighting an inner battle, Kiki opens her mouth.

"I-" Her courage fails her again, and she just says, "do, I really do."

Harry smiles. Then he decides to be brave and hugs her, quickly. "I gotta go, Kiki. Classes. It was good seeing you again."

"Right, yeah - WAIT!" She calls after him.

"Please, Harry? I...have a confession to make," she says miserably. "I - oh, you're probably going to be really mad - but you were gone, and I didn't know where you were - and you went away without a word - and I didn't know if you'd ever be back. I'm really sorry - I don't really know what to do; I know I need to talk to him and find out what's going on, it's all very confusing, I just need a little time - I don't know if you can, but can you forgive me?"

Kiki, in the jumbled rush of words that suddenly tumbled out of her mouth with her abrupt resolution to tell him what had happened, doesn't even realize that she hasn't actually told him what happened.

Harry, who is a bit slow on the uptake today, only says "eh?", not at all understanding what Kiki is trying to say.

Kiki breaks off, and sighs. "That didn't come out at all right."

She forces herself to slow down. "Harry...when you were away, I went to the New Year's Eve Ball with John. Connor," she adds his last name as an afterthought. "And um...He kissed me. I kissed him. Something. We kissed each other. At midnight."

"Eh" Harry says, once again. He looks like he is thinking. "Okay. Right. Gotta go". He dashes out of the shop, clutching his presents and his book bags, leaving Kiki all alone.

((Awww, this is so sad :S Harry will take some time to work out what he is feeling, ~~projecting these feelings on his enemy~~ and find a way to handle this. As said, we will OMGangst about this for weeks :D))

Kiki stands clutching the gloves and staring after him for a few moments, the silence filling the empty shop after the door had shut behind him.

Dropping all pretence and giving up her battle, Kiki goes into the lounge, throws herself face down on the couch, and bursts into tears.

[*sniff* This IS so sad! But Whee, omgangst! I'm now pronouncing that as one word, you know: "oh-muh-gangst." *headdesks*]

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Aziraphale's Rare Books

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