fandomtownies | Book Haven; Saturday [ 10-2 ]

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Book Haven; Saturday [ 10-2 ]

Alphonse came and opened the store, feeling much better than he did the day before. Crazy spar match on Thursday made for lots of ow afterwards when you let yourself slip out of practice every so often. He still didn't feel like moving much at the moment, so he set up everything as needed and took the usual spot behind the counter.

[ ooc: so it is 7 am, I think I should go to bed. will pick up pings (if any) when I wake up. whenever that will be. ]

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Naminé opened the door with a smile and waved to the boy behind the counter. "Alphonse," she said. "Have you had a nice week?"

Alphonse looked up when he heard his name being called. "Hi, Naminé!" he greeted her back brightly. "My week went all right. How about yours?"

"My week was delightful, thank you." Naminé beamed. "I've learned some rather interesting things about this school, and perhaps myself, if that doesn't sound too strange. And the book you gave me was rather wonderful."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Alphonse replied. "Oh, no, it doesn't," he assured her; it couldn't strike him as strange, as there were years of things he was involved in that he couldn't remember. "You'll probably never stop finding out all sorts of things at this place."

"I've no doubt. This island seems to have no shortage of either heroes or mysteries. Or kindnesses, I suppose." She laughed. "I would apologize for intruding on your time again, but this time I can claim a more proper business association, as I have money and wish to find a few more books. I've been hired at the café."

"You're not intruding at all!" Alphonse reminded her. "Don't feel like you are, I'd be more than happy to help you out if you need it."

"If you say I'm not intruding, then I shall take you at your word. Which means you have no recourse if I'm being rude." Her eyes danced a little. "So have you read any good science texts, since last weekend?"

Alphonse laughed. "You're not being rude, either. Besides, it's my job to assist a customer." He had flipped his book shut sometime during the conversation and set it aside as to not be rude himself, and Alphonse eyed it now; it was a book he grabbed from his alcove, which meant of course it as going to be that subject. "Here and there, and just before you came in, actually."

Naminé laughed. "I can browse the shelves on my own quite easily if you wish to return to it. Intriguing, then? What's the topic?"

"If that's what you'd rather do, I'll let you do that," Alphonse said, beginning to tap his fingers with a hand on the cover of the book. "Ah, it's alchemy," he answered, sounding as if this have been highly predictable. "Most of the books I own are about it... I like to read them in my spare time."

"I don't believe I'm familiar with alchemy." She smiled. "And I didn't mean that I wouldn't like for you to come along, simply that I know how it is when one is in the middle of something so arresting. I shall leave you to it, then."

Alphonse almost replied with usual 'It's a science' response when someone told him that, but realized that would have been an obvious one. "Not many other are, around here," he answered with instead. "It's something I practice."

"Oh, I see." She nodded. "Do you mean transmutation? I'll presume you're not trying to turn lead to gold."

Alphonse nodded. "No, I'm not. That's illegal where I'm from, anyway. There's a lot more to it than that."

"I would imagine." Naminé shrugged. "My apologies if the question was offensive. I know nothing of the field. Is transmutation possible, then, or is the discussion merely exploring theoreticals?"

"No, not at all," Alphonse assured, shaking his head. "I get that question a lot, and I'm sure that law doesn't exist in many places anyway." He briefly eyed the book on the counter, grinning slightly. "It's possible-- in my world, at least, but I haven't had any problems using it here."

"I suppose I should add that to the things I'm learning here," she said with a light smile. "So you're a practitioner. Self-taught, through these texts, or have you a mentor? Or is it perhaps on the class list during semesters? I would imagine the rest of school year is more academically inclined than summer, considering the workshop subjects."

"We started to read some books out of my father's study when we were little," Alphonse explained. "But we later got a teacher to help us learn more. I've never met anyone else around Fandom who uses alchemy who isn't from my world, so there really isn't much I've been able to find beyond the books I have."

"I'm sorry that your searches have turned up empty." She considered for a moment. "Does alchemy only cover physical objects? Not perhaps thoughts, feelings, memories? The heart or spirit, or its echo?"

"Well, it's okay," Alphonse said. "It would be kind of neat if someone did teach it, though." He paused, thinking about her last questions before answering; it would have been an easy one to answer, but then there were the memories and spirit part that had him thinking about it more. "I guess you could say most books only cover the physical objects aspect," he began slowly. "The others, not so much, and it's... complicated, how they get affected."

"I imagine it would be," she said softly. "It's not so easy to measure and define, and not so safe to try. You couldn't be sure how to restore what you'd broken."

"Yeah," Alphonse agreed. She would have no idea how well he knew that. "Luckily, no one tries to figure out those sort of things. Most people probably don't even know those can get affected, thankfully. I stick with the physical aspects of it all."

Naminé nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. "It's probably for the best, that no one try. The risks alone."

"If someone knew about ... similar things. How to change memories, or at least in some circumstances. Would that information be useful? To understanding alchemy."

For him, he thought; he'd lost some memories because of it, but he had no idea if he could get them back the same way. Alphonse didn't want to say that though, as it would sound entirely too selfish among other things. "It's equations and understanding properties-- atomically, chemically, all the such, knowing how arrays work, and numbers; all scientific stuff. Understanding and knowing how to use it wouldn't involve changing memories."

Of course, then he had to wonder why she asked that...

Naminé smiled faintly, if a little sadly. "I meant the other way, just wondering if ... someone knowing things like that might help someone else put together puzzle pieces in other places. I suppose it wasn't a very clear question, nor an intelligent one." She shook her head. "I'm rambling on again. I promise you, I don't normally talk so much."

Alphonse looked up at her for a moment as his mind went on. Would it? Yes, it would have, definitely-- but it was just for him and he wasn't going to burden anyone else with trying to figure out those puzzle pieces because of himself.

"Ah," Alphonse said instead, giving her a more cheery smile. "It wasn't a bad question; unusual, though, no one ever asks me those kind. It doesn't bother me, really."

Naminé smiled again. "I'm sorry. This is a science to you; bits of stray trivialities probably aren't interesting. What row was that book in, last time?"

He normally did take a more logical approach to situations, but he didn't find her questions uninteresting. If anything, they got him thinking, a lot.

That was for another time though.

"Oh, over there in ~~a random handwavey direction~~," Alphonse replied, then added with a chuckle, "And I made sure that language book was in the right spot, now."

"Thank you," she said, with a quick bow of her head, and she disappeared into the shelves for a few minutes.

Alphonse nodded in return, opting to wait for her at the counter.

When she walked off, Alphonse sat for a moment, his eyes idly drifting down back to the book. Naminé sure did ask some thought provoking questions; normally people inquired about the very basic things and nothing more. It was likely because most of the time they either weren't interested in science or they didn't get how it worked-- or maybe that applied to her as well, and... well, he didn't know. Alphonse did want to ask her why she brought up memories in specific, but this was only his second time talking to her, so if it was a personal thing, he didn't want to be rude and ask about it.

Or he could be over thinking it all. He let out a breath, deciding to busy himself with tidying things close by while waiting.

She returned a minute or two later, holding another book by the same author, flushing slightly. "My apologies if my remarks were ... out of line, earlier. And I meant to bring along that book in case you wished to borrow it, and I'm afraid I forgot entirely." She handed him the book and then retrieved a few dollars from her pocket.

Alphonse told her the ~~handwavey~~ amount of the book before looking at her with raised eyebrows. "It wasn't!" he hastily assured her. "Nothing wrong with those questions. No harm done." He shook his head. "Oh, that's no problem. I'm sure I'll be able to find my own copy, so you won't have to worry about remembering."

Naminé smiled, relieved. "I thank you. I was hoping not to give offense. Merely curious. And I did have every intention of bringing it, so I apologize again." She handed him ~~handwavey~~ with one last nod of the head. "I hope your text is helpful. And you ... find what you're looking for."

She wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, either, but she turned to go all the same.

Alphonse nodded before she turned, then watched her go. He was silent, even if he should have at least said a goodbye, yet he found himself unsure how to respond.

That was interesting-- he'd never had a conversation like that before. Alphonse wondered if he had made his thoughts during the conversation obvious somehow, and that's why Naminé brought up the topic she did.

Despite feeling sore, Alphonse got up and decided to tidy up around the store.

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Book Haven; Saturday [ 10-2 ]

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