Book Haven, Wednesday, 12/03

[not_a_moonie]

Alana found herself staying at the shop a little late. She wished she could say it was because she was working on some awesome project, but the truth was she'd gotten distracted reading a terrible sci-fi romance and then had to scramble to catch up with all the stuff she was supposed to do to start with.

But. Now the shop was tidy, the register was squared away, and Alana just had one late-arriving special order to track down before she could go home.

[OOC: Open but Tate's thread is first!]

Comments

[filthy-world.livejournal.com]

Just like he hadn't known how he got to the convention, Tate didn't know why he was still hanging around.

He wasn't complaining, though. He'd spent the day exploring town,hanging out in the pizza shop,and eavesdropping on conversations to see whether high school kids were still as dumb as ever. (They were -- or so he was determined to believe.)

On impulse, he stopped by the tiny, neat bookshop and smiled at the employee. "Hey, are you guys still open?"

[not_a_moonie]

"For about three more minutes we are," Alana said, barely glancing away from the shelf of Space Battles novels. The special order was one of the near-identical volumes. "So, y'know ... browse fast."

[filthy-world.livejournal.com]

"That's not exactly service with a smile," Tate joked, circling closer to her.

He thought she was beautiful. All wariness and smooth skin and dark clothes and -- those wings didn't look like a costume.

He thumbed through a Vonnegut paperback, but kept his eyes trained on her.

[not_a_moonie]

"You want service with a smile,don't show up at closing time," Alana informed the blond kid, with a squinty glance. "Hey, are you at school? I don't recognize you."

[filthy-world.livejournal.com]

"You mean, the high school?" Tate was surprised by the question for a moment. "Nah,I left that bullshit behind a long time ago. It just rots brains, y'know? Produces good little conformist sheep."

He felt a flame of hunger as he spoke. It wasn't just lust: He felt like he could have her body in a way that went deeper than sex ever could.

[not_a_moonie]

"You could have stopped at no," Alana informed him, but a smile licked at the corners of her mouth. He was cute. A little weird, but cute.

[filthy-world.livejournal.com]

"See, but then you wouldn't have the benefit of my wisdom," Tate teased. He could see he was getting to her. "But if you're big on manners --"

He held out his hand. He didn't know how to do the thing he was thinking of, exactly; he wasn't sure he even could. But it felt like he needed to try.

"Hi, I'm Tate. Nice to meet you."

[not_a_moonie]

Alana looked suspicious -- as she would about anybody who came into her store late and lectured her about high school -- but, hey. Manners were good.

"I'm Alana," she said, and reached for his hand. "Nice to meet you, too."

[filthy-world.livejournal.com]

That was all the contact it took. Tate willed himself into her body, leaving his undead form behind like so many ashes. She fought -- she fought hard and horrified -- but try as she might, she couldn't keep him out entirely.

[not_a_moonie]

And then the struggle ended for the moment, Alana fuming under a thick mental layer of Tate.

"Wow," he said, looking down at the hands.(his hands) and opening and closing the fingers (his fingers). He'd forgotten what if felt like, to feel your heart beating. To need to bring air in and out of your lungs. Being a girl was a little weird,sure, but being a ghost was weirder.

He laughed, long and slow, and headed for the shop door.

He was going to get into all kinds of trouble.