Book Haven, Wednesday, 01/07

[not_a_moonie]

It was a cold, windy day outside -- the perfect day to curl up inside a big sweater and sip at hot cocoa while you paged through a romance novel.

So that was exactly what Alana was doing at work today. Sometimes life really was that simple.

[OOC: Open shop, open post!]

Comments

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Books books books books!

Hanna hadn't found the library yet, but this, this was... how much money did she have, again?

She started wandering around in a daze, completely forgetting the books Amy had mentioned earlier in the day.

[not_a_moonie]

"Hey," Alana said, glancing up over the cover of her novel. "Anything I can help with?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Oh! Hello." Hanna thought maybe she could be forgiven for getting distracted. "I... Amy mentioned Dusk? And Barry Plodder? And are there any books about ...being an adult?"

[not_a_moonie]

"Barry Plodder books are in the R section with fiction," Alana said, gesturing in the right direction. "Friends don't let friends read Dusk books, sorry. And do you mean" -- she waggled her eyebrows -- "adult, adult? Or what?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"R section-- why not?" she asked about the Dusk books, curious. "And... " Hanna hesitated. "I meant about being an adult. Growing into one. Is there another--" Waggle eyebrows, "kind?"

[not_a_moonie]

"Because the writing is terrible and the dude's a creepy stalker," Alana volunteered. "I mean, if you have to give them a try anyhow they're with the M's. But almost anything else in fiction would be a better choice."

She brushed a hand over her hair. "And, um, yeah,there's another kind, but if you're looking for books on puberty you're too young to know about it." Never mind that the girl looked about her own age. "What you want is in health. Want me to show you?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Yes, please." Hanna looked a little chagrined, but hopeful. "I'm sixteen," she offered, unsure if this would help or not. "I know the words from the encyclopedia. But I don't think it was comprehensive."

Her fingers trailed over the books as they walked by them, and she picked out one that said, meta for Smilla's Sense of Snow.

[not_a_moonie]

"I haven't read that one," Alana offered, watching the book Hanna had selected. "You have to tell me if it's good."

She fidgeted absently for a moment before righting herself and going for the health section and selecting a thick paperback almost as big as an encyclopedia volume. "Okay, wild guess here, but maybe this is what you want?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, that was a little close to the bone, with Hanna just having heard she had compromised DNA. On the other, it looked very useful. "Yes. I think that is what I want," she admitted. "Have you read that one?" She put the Snow book down, and paged through a few sections. "'We are often far less familiar with the appearance and function of our sexual and reproductive organs than we are with other parts of our bodies.'"

Well, that was on-target.

[not_a_moonie]

A strange expression crossed Alana's face. It wasn't that she disagreed with what the girl had said, she just rarely heard people say it so ... forthrightly.

"I guess that's true," she said in the end. "There was a great sex ed class last semester but it wasn't offered this time around."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna was pretty accepting, and up-front went with it. It went with not having enough cultural exposure to have a sense of shame most of the time.

"This is recommending I obtain a mirror to look at those parts." Hanna was frowning now, and making a mental note to buy one of those. "Thank you for recommending this... Do you have any other suggestions?"

[not_a_moonie]

"Get a hand mirror," Alana suggested quickly. "They don't want you to, like, balance on the bathroom sink."

She scratched at the tip of a wing. "Or did you mean book suggestions?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"I meant books, but thank you." Hanna was a bit amused by that, then distracted by the wings. Ooooo!

"Are you a faerie?"

[not_a_moonie]

"I wish," Alana said sheepishly, folding the wings back more firmly against her shirt. "Plain old every day alien. And no, I can't fly worth crap."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Alien." That was new too! "I have read about faerie, but not aliens... are there books about your people?" Asking when she could just do research was counter-intuitive. She bit her lip. "Do you want to fly?"

[not_a_moonie]

"Never did until I came here," Alana said distantly. "And -- not exactly? But I order novels from home whenever I can. They sort of give you the idea, even if they aren't all science-y."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

That seemed-- sad. To be almost able to fly had to hurt more than never being able to... "I think I would like to read one of those as well," Hanna said, looking hopeful. That would bring her up to three, and she hadn't even found that first Barry Plodder book yet.

[not_a_moonie]

"Okay, fantastic," Alana smiled, and went back to the H's in fiction to find the J. Oswald Heist section. "So this is my favorite author. This one's more romantic, this is more of a thriller, this is ... long, mostly. With a little bit of everything in it. But they're all good."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," Hanna said, nearly breathless with delight. She should be thinking of her budget, but oh, books! Books books books! "Thank you so much." She hugged all the books to her at once.

Another one in the Self-Help section they were near caught her eye: A Grief Observed (http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/894384-a-grief-observed). She started to reach for it, and almost dropped the other books, then picked it out anyway.

[not_a_moonie]

Alana beamed. "No problem, but you have to tell me what you think of them after you read them," she said. "I need people to talk to about them."

She eyed Hanna's next selection thoughtfully. "I've heard that can be helpful," she offered, in a cautious tone. "If, y'know. You lost somebody."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna nodded, rubbing one finger over the cover. She could deny it, find the book elsewhere, but.... "Yes. This one. I don't know what to feel."

[not_a_moonie]

"Oh," Alana said, heart clenching at the obvious grief on Hanna's face. She wondered if she'd stepped out of line by commenting. "I ... can't really tell you that? But maybe the book would help. At least a little."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

She hadn't, because Hanna was nodding hesitantly, if not smiling. Too many feelings, and too many new experiences in too short a time: she had to start somewhere. "I would appreciate it. And all your help."

[not_a_moonie]

"Hey, anytime," Alana said sincerely. "My name's Alana and I'm here every Wednesday. Come in and I'll hook you up."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"I'm Hanna." Hanna felt a little embarrassed that it took so long to state her name, but still. This had been a very productive visit. "And I believe I shall do that."