The Bookbelt, Sunday

[cypher_can_fly]

"All right. Selling books, how hard can it be?"

... Owen had. No idea. How to do this job. But he was sure he was going to work it out.

"Right," he concluded, staring up at the building, "I suppose it helps if I know how to get in, first..."

It was Sunday, and the Bookbelt was... open? Sort of?

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[bookbeltof_love]

Nina, Nina, Nina... it was wrong to laugh at a situation you'd caused by not giving him a key, it really was, but there she was laughing gaily anyway.

"Good morniiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she said happily, wandering up to Owen. "I come bearing food, drinks, and also a way to get into the building!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nina offered him the take-out cups from the Perk so she could free her hands.

[cypher_can_fly]

"What a surprise!" Owen sounded only a touch like he'd just been caught looking like an idiot as he stretched out his arms in visible greeting. "I... was looking for one of those!"

[bookbeltof_love]

"My bad, my bad," Nina said, figuring that owning that was probably the best thing. "Like, you're my first employee ever, so I didn't think about it!!!! Forgive me???????"

[cypher_can_fly]

Owen's expression pulled into something of a disapproving pout. An... increasingly extreme... disapproving pout.

And then it vanished.

"Aw," he said, "Like I could stay mad at that face. Besides, who else could teach me how to sell books?"

[bookbeltof_love]

And she was actually relieved when that pout disappeared. Nina was feeling a little over-sensitive these days!

"I mean, like, I guess Rufus could come do it, but then you'd have to contact him and then he'd be, like, annoyed, and really I'm way, way cuter anyway, so... you lucked in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Nina fished the keys out of her pockets and got the door open.

"Come on in," she said cheerfully.

[cypher_can_fly]

Aw, Nina. Owen was Owen, and far too much of a people pleaser to show any genuine upset if he'd had it. (If he had been genuinely upset, which he wouldn't be over something like this, she would've been able to tell by the drunken, teary, apologetic-about-being-drunken-and-teary letters she was sure to get well after this happened.)

"I think I will," he said, flashing her a grin, and then he walked in through the door. "Hello, bookshop!"

[bookbeltof_love]

The bookshop remained quiet as Nina flicked on the lights, revealing the shop proper. By the windows was a seating area, with comfy chairs and coffee tables, meant for lounging at. The counter stretched opposite of that, and the aisles of books upon books looked much, much longer than they should have, according to the size of the building.

"Oh, good," she said, relieved. "It's behaving itself today--some days it might, like, actually answer you back!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And those were always weird days at the shop.

[cypher_can_fly]

And here Owen was, just admiring how comfortable that seating area looked, when she went and said that. "The bookshop might... answer back?" he said slowly. "What, like a 'hello and good morning, how are you this morning'?"

[bookbeltof_love]

She laughed as she set her bag of baked goods on the counter--feeding a boy like Owen, who already had proved he liked food, had made sense to her.

"It's never actually wished me a good morning, exactly," she admitted, making a bit of a face at that. "But, like, some days it'll rearrange itself, or all of the books will be murder mysteries, or empty when you open them. The dust bunnies are sometimes playful too; they sleep under the shelves in the back, so when you're sweeping, like, please don't sweep them up. This is, you know, their home too??????????????????????"

That was probably not going to help his confusion, no.

[cypher_can_fly]

"The dust bunnies are alive," Owen said, processing. "Okay..."

Just give him a moment.

"Anything I need to know about those fancy seats? And do I smell food?"

[bookbeltof_love]

"There are baked goods for your eating," Nina said, smiling. "And, like, nothing special about the fancy seats except that they're for customers unless, like, it's a slow day--most days are fairly slow, though--so if you're not busy, feel free to use them!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[cypher_can_fly]

"That is all I was wondering about about that, thank you," Owen said, bringing his hands together. "Any other troubles? Grabbit infestations? The proper song to sing to the proper book?"

He hoped she'd been kidding about that.

[bookbeltof_love]

She hadn't been but, well, maybe it was best for him to realize that on his own...

"No, I don't think so," she said meditatively. "Though I wouldn't call any of the above troubles, like, so much as that's just what happens here???????? The books here are a bit tamer than the ones up at the library too..."

[cypher_can_fly]

"So you're saying unruly books is just a fact of life on this island?" Owen said, stretching out a thoughtful hand, as if to say: let me get this straight.

[bookbeltof_love]

"Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

That... that really was the case, so, yeah.

"And, like, it's different from home, and like, totally frustrating when you're trying to research something, but mostly it's just kind of funny???????????????"

[cypher_can_fly]

"So laugh it off, don't run screaming," Owen said, miming putting a mark on something. "Check. I think I can pull that off."

[bookbeltof_love]

"Yeah, like, I think you've got that covered," she said, smiling. "Just from what I've seen so far!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[cypher_can_fly]

Owen beamed back at her.

"So... how did you wind up managing a book shop, anyway? Because--" He whistled. "Flying high early, there."

[bookbeltof_love]

"What????? Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nina managed to look both embarrassed and pleased at that. "Like, Rufus, the guy who owns the place, kind of mutually got on each other's nerves and, like, since I wanted a job anyway and I practically grew up in a library, the book store made the most sense, and because it would annoy him, I got myself hired here??????????? And then he, like, wandered off but I'm in charge and it… really doesn't make sense?????????????????? But that's how, I suppose????????????"

[cypher_can_fly]

"I mean, you took responsibility," Owen said optimistically, gesturing at her. "And showed some initiative, those are important work qualities, right? So it makes complete sense!"

[bookbeltof_love]

"I think that's, like, why he doesn't actually try to get rid of me," Nina mused, hoisting herself up on the counter to sit there, primly. "I mean, we annoy each other lots and lots but it's, like, a personality clash???????? He's one of those 'my gosh, the world is just so dull, I will look consumptive and tragic and apathetic' guys??????????????? He works hard but, like, you're not supposed to ever notice that about him?????????? And then there's me, who… well… I'm not very good at apathetic?????????"

Like, ever?

If she was, there was probably something terribly wrong.

[cypher_can_fly]

"Sounds like a rotten way to live, if you ask me," Owen said, pulling an exaggerated face. "So much moping, so little basking in adulation for all your hard work..."