fandomtownies | Book Haven, Wednesday, 9/16

Dante... wasn't much of a reader. But he'd grudgingly decided to go for a wander around the island, just to make sure he knew where all the important fast food joints were.

Which this wasn't. He was just poking his head in - literally - to make sure. "Yep," he said, "Books. Got it."

Then he looked up and saw Alana. "...Okay, books, and you." It was a faintly, if not overtly, appreciative kind of 'you'.

"Books and me," Alana said, reciprocating that none-too-subtle appreciative glance. (Look, it had been almost three entire weeks; a girl couldn't be expected to mourn forever.) "And I'm gonna guess you aren't my new boss, either."

"Do I look like somebody in charge of anything?" The answer was no. Definitely no. Though that wasn't keeping Dante from pushing the door open, since she was talking to him and everything. "First day?"

"Nah," Alana said, in bemused response to both questions. "I've been here close to two years. But radio said somebody new bought the store so I'm keeping an eye out. Trying to look busy. You know."

Edited 2015-09-16 20:11 (UTC)

"You're doing a good job," Dante said, stepping inside. "Really nailing the 'hot librarian' look."

Well, she looked hot in a bookshop. That was kind of the same thing.

"Skinny jeans and a tank top say librarian to you?" Alana asked, stepping out from behind the counter. "Not the look I was going for, but I'll take the compliment."

"Didn't know you needed more than books and good looks for it," Dante said idly. He turned to look at one of the displays. "And you've got a lot of books."

"Goes with working in a bookstore," Alana said dryly, taking a few more slow steps toward Dante. And if there was a certain sway in her steps, well, that was entirely for his benefit. "Are you looking for anything specific, or are you just looking?"

Dante shrugged one shoulder idly. "Poking around town," he said, "Got turned around near Mooby's."

Hey, swaying. That was appreciated, girl whose name he still didn't know.

"New kid," he added, as an explanation. "Which I take it you're not."

"I am not," Alana confirmed. "I got here, God, two years ago, so I'm pretty much an expert on all kinds of weird by now. But I still get turned around down there sometimes. For a small island, it's weird how easy it is to get lost." She waved a little. "I'm Alana, anyhow. Hi."

"Dante," he said. "Hey."

He nodded towards the general outside, smirking only a little bit. "You willing to talk a poor lost boy through the main tourist attractions?" Beat. "Or just the food."

"If you don't count the bar that doesn't card, the food pretty much is the tourist attraction," Alana deadpanned. "But there's a lot of it. How do you feel about sushi?"

Dante tilted his head. "It's a little fishy," he said. Because of course he did. "I've been sticking to the pizza since I got here." Well, there had been the Chinese, but that was all Ezra. "...Though hey, what's this about a bar that doesn't card?"

Why had no one told him this before? That was some serious negligence.

"You didn't hear about it? Okay, your big sibling fell down on the job," Alana told him. "Usually that's the second sentence. 'Hi, things are crazy here, but they don't care if we drink.'"

She rolled her eyes slightly, smiling. "Anyhow, it's called Caritas. Not the best bar ever, and the band's the literal undead, but you could do a lot worse. Also, that was a terrible sushi pun."

Just in case he hadn't noticed that.

Dante'd totally noticed that, was aware of it, had enjoyed it, and felt she should be happy he hadn't gone with the clam-themed pun. There were some puns you didn't make at hot people you'd just met.

It was a short list, but it was a list.

He grinned at the pun bit because of all of the above. "I think my big sib was happy to be rid of me," he said. (Because Dante had been kind of a jackass.) "But I've been making up for lost time talking to some of the finer locals. You wanna show me around there some night?"

Since he clearly couldn't be expected to find a bar all by himself. ... and wait, had she said undead?

"Which sib did you get?" Alana asked, out of sheer nosiness. (She also wondered if whoever had ditched Dante had eyes, because -- well.) "And yeah, I can do that. I'm free all weekend."

"Eh, he's not important," Dante said, giving a casual little wave to illustrate that. "Great. We'll get some drinks on Saturday, have some fun." The only reason he didn't throw in a wink (though the inclination to do just that was evident in his expression) was because of the unsettled matter of, well. "Though, actual undead? Like that weird shit that went down here last week?"

"Zombies?" Alana said, making a face to show that she knew how crazy that sounded. "So ... technically yes, I guess. But they don't really bite people. They mostly drool a lot and try to sell CDs. But if you can put up with that in the background, Saturday sounds great."

"As long as they're not planning to attack anyone or turn into fucking demons or something, I've got no problem," Dante said.

Though he suspected they would. Just kind of the way his life rolled.

"Never happened that I heard of," Alana promised. "If it does, you can blame me forever."

Her life didn't tend to roll that way yet, but give her a couple years.

"Besides," she added, looking him over again, "you look like you could take care of yourself if that happened."

"I could," Dante agreed, smirking. "But it'd harsh on a good time, right? Zombie gore's not a good look on anyone."

"Tends to kind of ruin my hair," Alana agreed, patting it protectively. "Probably not what we want to do the first time we hang out."

"I'm thinking shots, instead," Dante said, sticking out his index finger horizontally and gesturing with it. "Lots of 'em. We'll go from there. No gore."

"Sounds like a perfect night," Alana said, grinning at him. "Especially the no-gore clause."

"This place have any shots with weird names, by the way?" Dante wondered. "Because that's even more important than the no gore clause."

"I think so," Alana shrugged. "I'm more a beer girl. Sometimes whisky and soda if I want to get crazy. But the shots list looks pretty long, so it has to have a couple things on it sober people would be too embarrassed to order."

"Won't hold the beer thing against you," Dante promised, smirking. He tilted his head, looking Very Thoughtful. "You look like someone who'd mesh well with a Hot Bitch."

The temperature cooled just a fraction there as Alana folded her arms. She knew it was just the name of a shot, but it still wasn't exactly funny.

"What's in that one?"

"Vodka, gin, whiskey, and tabasco sauce to cover the taste," Dante said lightly. He shrugged. "Welcome to the wonderful world of shot names," he said, "Last year they cut out the music right as I was yelling about getting some Dirty Buttholes."

Not that he sounded like he'd been especially bothered.

Alana's sternness melted away as she giggled. "Oh no!" she said. "I don't think I even want to know what's in that one. Just knowing somebody called a shot that and you ordered it is enough."

Dante grinned. "Not as bad as it sounds," he said, "But I was pretty drunk, so what the hell do I know?"

"You know enough to order a dirty butthole?" Alana suggested. "See, I never get that type of drunk. I'm more the tell my friends I love them and make out with somebody random type of drunk."

"Life's short," Dante said. "Be sad if I died without having any fun, right?"

Which was a vastly more depressing statement when you knew the context, but he wasn't in the habit of sharing that with hot people he was hoping to sleep with.

"Though making out's pretty high up on my personal list, too."

"Right there with you on having fun," Alana agreed. The statement had some particular weight for her, too, what with the ongoing war at home, but she wasn't any more inclined to bring the conversation down this fast than Dante was. "And hey, if you like drinking and random hook-ups, it's definitely going to be a good night out."

She had a brief thought about Johnny, wondering if she was somehow obligated to mention she was just out of something, and decided she really wasn't. Yet.

Dante had no fucking clue how long he might still be alive, let alone on the island; his main interest laid in finding a few hot people who'd be interested in getting drunk and hooking up, possibly regularly.

The ex-boyfriend thing would've made no difference whatsoever.

"Fantastic," he said, grinning. "It's always nice meeting someone who shares your hobbies." He took a glance towards the display again. "Almost makes me wonder if I'm missing out on book stuff."

Not really.

"It is, but I like the book stuff," Alana said, laughing but sincere. "Seriously, spend too much time with me and I'll start shoving J. Oswald Heist books at you. Or Vonnegut."

Vonnegut had been her favorite earth writer sine Evan made the recommendation years before.

"Who's Vonnegut?" Dante asked. He was having a brief moment of actual interest, here.

The name meant nothing to him. Nor did the other one, really.

This? This was Alana in her happy space. Her eyes went bright and wide, and she paced back to the fiction shelves where Vonnegut's work would be found.

"He's the best Earth writer I know," she burbled. "His books are sci fi, sort of, but really they're about how shit sucks sometimes but we're all in this together so we might as well be nice. It's a good message, you know?"

Okay, on the one hand, that reaction was kind of cute.

On the other, the rest of it was bullshit.

Still, Dante trundled after her. "Hey, at least he tried."

Book Haven, Wednesday, 9/16

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