Aereopagitica, Tuesday, 13 June

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Finally having recovered from the Book Fair, Giles opened up Aerepagitica. Time to tackle shelving that box of new stock.

Comments

Morning...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

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Re: Morning...

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River came wandering into the shop, smiled at Giles, and walked over to the shelves. She started browsing for something similar to the book she had found last week, having tried the symbols she liked in that book. They worked well combined with the fish. She finally found 'Sigils of Power', and giggles a little at the magic mumbo jumbo. The symbols, however, were beautiful.

Putting the book on the counter, River asked: "How much is this one?"

Re: Morning...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles's eyes went wide when he saw the title.

"I'm terribly sorry." He picked up the book and examined it closely. "I-I'm not sure how this got on the regular shelves, but it's not for sale."

A regular runic dictionary would have been one thing. But sigils? Symbols that had the capability to call power just by existing? Giles shuddered when he considered what could have happened if the wrong person had gotten a hold of this book.

Re: Morning...

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River looked up at him with a surprised look. "Why?" she asked. Then, sensing his thoughts she added: "You believe in magic?"

Re: Morning...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles rolled his eyes. One of those.

"Yes. Rather the way you believe in air."

Re: Morning...

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

He had seemed sensible up to this point. "But the book I bought last week was similar to this one," River tried to explain. "And I don't care about the magic, I just want symbols to paint."

Re: Morning...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

"The book you... You bought a book on kittens last week."

He walked over to the art section and found several books on symbols and symbology. Giles piled them on the counter so that the girl could sort through them and find what she liked.

He turned, a little abruptly. "What is your name, by the way?"

Re: Morning...

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

"River Tam. And you're Giles." She looked at the books on the counter. "The kitten book only had kittens on the cover. The book had symbols inside. Like that one." She pointed at the one she had found on sigils.

Re: Morning...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Aaand there go the books all over the counter.

Which was a good thing, because if the counter hadn't been covered by books, Giles's forehead would have been meeting it. Repeatedly.

It's only the oldest trick in the book, binding an innocuous cover to a dangerous or powerful book.

"River, this is very important. Has anything happened...to your paintings or near your paintings that you can't explain?"

Re: Morning...

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River frowned. "There are a lot of things happening here that I can't explain," she said. "The other day people kept talking about strange things, and there was a kitten invasion. And jello rain." She thought for a moment. "My paintings stay the same though. I've added little yellow fish to most of them, not the one I did for Buffy though, but that one was really nice and in pink."

She looked at Giles. "Don't worry, it is an old trick, but you had other things on you mind." It upset River to see him worried.

Re: Morning...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I remember binding a book on summoning a Kazrach demon into an old Tacitus cover..."

Giles stopped short.

He hadn't said that out loud.

He hadn't told River his name, either.

Giles took of his glasses and leaned across the counter, contriving to look as harmless as possible.

"River, are you reading my mind?"

Lunchtime...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

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Afternoon

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

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Early evening...

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

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Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

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Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

Natalie entered the bookstore, her eyes scanning over the stacks and shelves. She wasn't sure quite where to start. Was there an occult section? Or, given LaCroix's age, maybe she should start with history? Mythology? A book on daily life in Pompeii? she wondered. No, she was going to have to stick to vampires for now. Research on LaCroix himself would have to come later.

She glanced at her watch and frowned. She was due to the clinic any time now. Maybe she should have put this off until Thursday. Then again, at least she'd have something to read if her shift was slow.

Adjusting the strap of her laptop case on her shoulder, she charged in toward the stacks. She was just going to have to make this a quick stop.

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles quickly searched his brain for the woman's name. Luckily, he found it.

"Ah, yes, Dr. Lambert. How may I help you?"

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

Natalie stood quickly, almost hitting her head on a shelf. She winced self-consciously. "Ah, Mister Giles," she said with a bit of a laugh. "You caught me off guard."

Shaking off her initial surprise, she turned her attention to his question. What should she tell him? She certainly couldn't spill her entire life story -- or at least the past ten years of it. On the other hand, this man did own the bookstore; he would know better than most whether or not he stocked the information she needed. And so she grabbed for the first excuse she could find.

"I, ah, had a patient a few weeks ago -- a vampire. I actually wanted to see what else I could find out about them. Abilities, powers, how they transmit that from one generation to the next," Nat answered. "I'd like to be a little better prepared the next time one stumbles into the clinic."

Not to mention that it would help my own research, she thought.

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles's brow furrowed.

"I thought Angel had left town. Is there another vampire student?"

PleasenotSpikepleasenotSpikepleasenotSpikepleasenotSpikepleasenotSpikepleasenotSpikepleasenotSpike... Giles removed his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, cleaned his glasses and replaced them.

"If you're treating vampires, one thing you ought to keep handy is an emergency kit of wooden stakes and holy water or the holy symbol of your choice. If you ever work the day shift, something heavy to break a window and let in daylight is helpful." Giles trained a stern look on the pretty young woman before him.

"Not all vampires are like Angel. Many will attack you as soon as look at you. Especially if they're wounded."

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

Don't I know it! Nat thought very briefly of her first meeting with Nick -- how he'd literally climbed out of a body bag and raided the closest specimen fridge for a donated sample. And his behavior had been out of the norm; she knew any other vampire might have made her a snack.

"Yes, I understand Angel was considered unique," she replied cautiously. "And no, there's not another vampire student that I know of. I only know that the town seems to collect the strange and unusual. If another case comes up, I'd really like to understand the condition a little more. It's a little more involved than simply being" -- she shrugged -- "well, dead."

She chose not to address the "vampire emergency kit." Someone might, after all, try to use it on her.

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles smiled. The doctor seemed to have a good head on her shoulders.

"Well, then. The Prerequisite Watcher Lecture out of the way, let me show you what I have." Giles lead the way over to two cases full of vampire legend, lore, and, to be honest, extermination tactics.

Feeling somewhat self-conscious as he actually looked at the sheer volume, he muttered, "I realize there's quite a bit. Some habits die hard."

Composing himself, he added, "Additionally, vampires have been a--" career? personal nightmare? pain in the ass? "--an especial interest of mine. I don't have anything I can sell, but if you need specialized information, I can obtain it for you."

No need to mention that obtaining it requires running upstairs to my flat for my notes and journals.

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

Natalie tried not to show her surprise at the large number of vampire-related volumes filling the shelves. Did the Enforcers know about this? She had to wonder. Surely they didn't, otherwise Mr. Giles wouldn't be alive to tell the tale.

She cleared her throat even as she scanned the spines of the books, seeing if there were any that seemed to catch her eye.

"I treated one or two in my previous job," Nat said, somewhat distracted. She hazarded a glance at Giles. "I was a coroner, so I guess it was somewhat fitting."

Furrowing her brow, she reached out and carefully pulled a leather-bound volume off the shelf entitled, Vampiric Bloodlines. It seemed somewhat thin to be comprehensive, so she flipped through it.

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles looked--and was--impressed.

"Most coroners who run across vampires don't live to tell the tale. How did you survive?"

Giles noticed her interest in the book on bloodlines.

"Yes. It's a pity it's so thin, but we really only have information on a handful of bloodlines."

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[drlambert.livejournal.com]

"It was...a trade of sorts," Natalie said slowly. Telling the truth was the best option here, right? Or maybe telling part of the truth?

"I treated them when necessary, helped to cover incidents that might expose them; they dealt with any problem children internally, and let me live."

She pursed her lips, glancing at the Roman entries. LaCroix wasn't listed as either "Lucien" or "Lucius." She also didn't see Divia noted, either. You didn't really expect it to be that easy, did you?

"Has there been a lot of medical research into the field?"

Re: Later evening... (New extended hours!)

[rup-giles.livejournal.com]

Giles sensed she wasn't telling him quite everything.

"'Problem children?' Interesting. In my experience, even ensoulled vampires can be problems. And most groups of vampires aren't cohesive enough to self-police. Their idea of discipline is staking each other over a kill." Organized vampires? Giles shuddered. That couldn't be good. The last organized group of vampires Giles had encountered was the Order of Aurelius. Their return--or the advent of a group like them--didn't bear thinking about. He shuddered again.

"No," Giles removed his glasses to look at the woman a little more closely. Was she a vampiric hanger on? One of those addicted to the euphoria and rush of being fed on? "There's been no medical research because there's no way to perform an autopsy on a pile of dust, and that's the only safe way for a human to get close to a vampire."

He tilted his head.

"And, for the most part, vampires self-heal. They never seek outside medical help. Magical, yes; medical, no.

"Dr. Lambert, is there something you're not telling me?"