fandomtownies | Book Haven, Saturday

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Book Haven, Saturday

Book Haven bustled with activity, for the first time in… well, Rosalind was not quite sure how long, but long enough that she was glad she'd hired people to come in and clean rather than do it herself.

Besides, Rosalind had inventory to do, to see what she had to work with currently and what needed to be ordered soonest, and also to just get acquainted with everything in her shop.

That thought had her reaching for her PHS to try calling home once more, which got her nothing but Portalocity's tinned message about it being out of reach—again. Ugh.

When she wasn't doing inventory, Rosalind was inspecting the till to make sure it was fine (it was), triple-checking the window seats and side table, which were there for those who wanted to spend some time reading inside the shop, for gremlins or any other Fandom creepy crawlies that might hide near furniture, and now and then trying to decide what sort of furniture she needed for the apartment above the shop.

The shop was most definitely open and there was a sign outside that said:

Now hiring! Apply inside!

All in all, it was a busy day, but Rosalind thrived on being busy, was good at it, and it (mostly) kept her from thinking about all the things she didn't want to think about, so Rosalind figured the day was turning out rather decently, which was rather high praise from her.

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If you'd rather not talk to the woman in the suit.

Who will even put down her work to talk to you!

Jono really wasn't interested in a job, and he had plenty of books he hadn't read yet, but that wasn't going to stop him from swinging by here all the same.

"Nice place you've got for yourself," he mused, stepping through the door and looking around. "But I think you're really lacking in books about..."

Hm. Books about... anything. Pick a subject, Jonothon.

"... Fire safety."

It was topical, ish! Not that he expected she'd know who he was right off the bat.

Rosalind gave the stranger a look. Big. Blue.

... He looked kinda like the kid she'd hired.

"Fire safety," she echoed dryly. "How many books on that do you think the island needs?"

"You clearly don't know much about this island," Jono replied, sniffing as he put his nose up into the air. "With the way things go awry around here, it's a wonder all your books aren't about fire safety. I've seen everything burn around here from pieces of the beach to students."

... Technically true!

"And yet the island has an extremely low mortality rate," Rosalind said, deliberately ignoring the jibe about what she knew about the island. "I think everyone will cope if I only have a few books on fire safety."

"Suit yourself." Though Jono was giving a sad shake of his head and clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I don't suppose you have many books about escaping from locked cells, then? I can think of more than a few occasions where that would've come in useful."

Rosalind strongly suspected he was trying to make a fool of her.

"Aisle three," she said coolly. "Help yourself."

Aisle three had the self-help books. Who knew, he might find something there.

Jono glanced down aisle three, gave a knowing little smile that bordered on something wry, and nodded.

"I've changed that much, you really don't know who I am, do you?"

Because she was most certainly Rosalind.

"I know your a terrible customer," Rosalind said, because he was and clearly she was supposed to know him.

She gave him a searching glance.

"Other than appearing similar to a student I spoke with yesterday, I do not recognize you."

Another person might apologize for that. Rosalind didn't.

"Evan and I are... distantly related. I suppose that would throw you off some, luv," Jonothon sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets. "You're looking too hard, Sunshine. You're not going to figure it out by looking at my face."

She wouldn't be used to seeing this much of it, anyhow.

Rosalind frowned at him. The nicknames were familiar but... the appearance was entirely off.

Though she supposed, as it fell into place, of course he'd be a pain.

(Even though it was a reversal, from school, when he'd handled the books and she'd called him names...)

"Fire safety?" she asked, one eyebrow shooting up. "That was the best you could do, Jono?"

"Wasn't enough to tip you off," Jono pointed out, smiling faintly as she figured it out. "And it was the first thing that came to mind, really."

Really.

"I figured you would've thought me mad if I'd come in here all, 'It's been a while, luv, it's me, Jono. Good to see you.' All things considered, I mean."

What with being twice his own size. And blue. With a face.

"So instead you decide to irritate me first?" she asked, actually amused. "Next time, just introduce yourself."

Honestly, Jono.

"Figured I'd leave no room for doubt," Jono replied, smirking. "Worked, didn't it?"

Well. It had!

"... It is good to see you again, though."

Alive and all.

"There are worse things that could happen," she said, since she... didn't really know what to say to that. "Have you been here all this time?"

"Not all of it, no," Jono replied, shaking his head. "Spent... more time than I would've in my own world. Came back here when that was no longer really an option."

There was a long story in there that he wasn't volunteering right away.

"Been back and teaching for a couple of years, now. What brings you back?"

"I woke up here," she said, leaving out pretty much everything. "Portalocity informs me that my home world is unreachable at the moment."

Otherwise she'd have left, again, already.

The 'waking up' part insinuated that there was at least some sort of loss of consciousness involved. And, knowing what Jono knew about Fandom and Rosalind's job, he could venture an educated guess that it was probably not great, whatever it was.

"Bloody hell... I'm sorry to hear that," he offered, because it was about the best that he could do. "No estimation as to how long?"

Rosalind just gave him a look.

"Would I really buy a store if I were to be gone in a week?"

"Hell if I know," Jono replied with a shrug. "Could be putting a few months into it, raising the property value, selling it off again..."

It seemed like a reasonable thing to do, at least to Jonothon.

"Something to do while waiting for portal service to be restored."

Rosalind sighed.

"I haven't decided," she admitted. "They had no estimation for how long my Gaia would remain unreachable." Vexation colored her voice. "I cannot even get a call through."

"Bloody hell," he sighed, frowning a little at the thought. "And no word from Portalocity as to why?"

That had to be frustrating.

He had no idea.

"Nothing." They probably wanted her to stop calling already. "I'm... coping."

With a bookstore!

"With a bookstore," Jono noted, bemused. "I suppose I'm not one to talk. I run a theatre."

Coping mechanisms around here were not exactly everybody's usual coping mechanisms, no.

"Somehow, that does not surprise me," she said, glancing at him. "Do you take the to the stage yourself?"

"I have once or twice," Jono replied, "though I'm more inclined to sit back and direct, these days. My voice doesn't carry like it used to. Er. A few months back."

Not, you know, back when he was on fire.

It was strange that he wasn't.

"Why did it change?"

That was more diplomatic than asking why he wasn't on fire any longer. Rosalind didn't think that was a conversation they'd have for awhile, if ever.

Especially since it would open her up to personal questions and she didn't want to try and explain what was going on back home.

Really, this question wasn't much better.

"Chemical warfare is a cruel mistress," he replied, giving his shoulder a shrug. "Got a lungful of something unpleasant in Karla's world. Put my days of leading an army to a swift end, unfortunately."

So, yeah, he'd been busy since she left.

So she was learning.

"And no one here can heal it?"

The island had been lousy with healers of all sorts when she'd last been here.

"Kaeleer's Healers gave it a go, as did Raven. And I've even downed a potion since getting back. One of my students has access to them. It's improved, but it doesn't ever seem to go away."

Witchblood, apparently, was more a matter of 'coping with' than 'healing from.'

"One of your students has access to potions?"

Of course that was going to get her attention while she mulled over the rest.

"She does," Jonothon agreed. "So did Squall and Rinoa when they were students here, though. I don't think any of them were from the same world as you. Just... one of the similar ones."

That probably made a lot of difference.

It's really weird to open a shop for the first time in forever. o.o

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Book Haven, Saturday

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OOC