fandomtownies | The Bookbelt

Nina burst through the doors of the bookstore precisely fifteen minutes before she was due to open. Like, sure, she was the owner-on-island and if she was late (perish the thought) no one but her would care (she'd care a lot though) and everything but it was the principal of the matter. If she didn't hold herself up to high standards then how could she ever expect to meet anyone else's?

Because she'd been in earlier in the week to clean, Nina didn't have to do much else but sweep the store with a glance, turn on the lights, get a glass of water for herself, and then she could get down to business. It was fun to set out the new books they'd gotten in, Nina making mental notes for a few that she wanted to read herself, and it was also fun to put in a new order for things.

As the day wore on, though, all of that was accomplished and she was alternating between working on her scripts for Sir Foomy, pouring over what her class had suggested on Monday, and, most interestingly, working on posters for her book club.

Since she wasn't busy enough and all but, like, it was criminal how the island didn't have one already…

The Bookbelt is Open!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Duke had a small rug tucked under his arm, along with his meditation bowl and a little pillar candle. He looked around the shop as he came in.

"Nice little place you got here. I don't think I even realized it was here before."

Nina grinned a little as she looked up from her very sparkly poster.

"Duke!!!!!!!!!!! Then, like, welcome to The Bookbelt!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was a nice shop, one that looked deceptively small until you were in the stacks and realizing that there was nearly no end to all of the books. A lovely seating area meant for people to read in was by the window and Nina had shifted furniture enough that she thought they'd be able to meditate there without problems.

"This place yours?" Duke asked, grinning back. "Whatcha working on there?"

Nina laughed, rolling her eyes expressively.

"Technically, I co-own it," she said, "but, like, Rufus is busy plotting to overthrow his dad or something??????? I don't really pay attention????????"

She did but, like, that wasn't the point.

"And I'm making posters for the book club I'm going to be starting!!!!!!!"

“A book club! Aren’t those an excuse for middle class ladies to get together and gossip over wine?”

"Wow, rude," she said, amused and flicking glitter his way. "Getting together to gossip over wine is a time honoured tradition that's not just limited to middle class ladies!!!!!!!!!!!"

Duke laughed, trying—and failing—to dodge the glitter. “Okay, okay, fair. So when’s this book club going to happen? Since it’s for working class gentlemen too?”

"It is absolutely also for working class gentlemen," she said, nodding. "And, like, that's still up in the air because I'm wondering if I should just set a date or hold a first session to let people decide??????????"

Nina shrugged a little. She was going to toss a coin on this.

"I'd, like, prefer Tuesdays???????? In the late afternoon/early evening so people can still do their thing at night, you know???????"

Duke nodded. "Tuesday afternoons work for me. So you'll have at least one member in attendance."

"Then I'll be seeing you next Tuesday," she said happily, beaming. "I plan on putting up the posters tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! We'll be meeting here because, like, it seems silly to own a bookshop and then hold a meeting in, like, the library, you know??????????"

“Absolutely,” Duke said. “Plus, maybe your members will buy your books while they’re here!”

He held up his bag with his supplies. “In the meantime, where do you want to set up?”

Nina hesitated.

"I was thinking, like, over by the reading area????????"

Duke saluted. “Lead the way, your highness.”

She laughed and came around the corner, trying to get some of the glitter off of her.

It wasn't really working and Nina didn't try that hard. She lived in a state of near constant glitter anyway.

"It's just over here," she said, stepping around one of the aisles, to where the shop opened up, though the curtains were a deep, dreamy blue instead and there were violet pansies in vases upon the tables.

"Sometimes I wind up reading here even when the shop isn't open," she admitted, which explained the obnoxiously pink blanket over the back of one chair.

Duke let out a low whistle. “I can see why. It’s got a real old world charm to it.”

"It reminds me of where I grew up," Nina said, smiling. There were a lot of things that she looked back on with complicated feelings about but all the days spent in the library wasn't one of those things.

She'd always felt safe and happy in a library.

"Yeah?" Duke smiled. "I spent a bit of time in libraries myself as a kid. It was one of the few places I knew I could hang out when it got cold and not get told off for not having any money."

"That's one of the reasons libraries are so important--they're refuges for people, you know????? I was allowed to read anything I wanted in the library so long as I was quiet," Nina admitted, gently shifting a table slightly so they'd have room. "And, because I lived at the Academy year-long, I had my own key, so I could enter even when we weren't in session......"

"That sounds fantastic," Duke said. "When I was a kid I'd've probably never left."

He pulled his rug out of his bag and spread out in the newly opened space.

"Sometimes the quiet got to me," Nina said simply. She was a social person.

"And I didn't want to be forgotten......

"Is there anything I should do here???????"

Duke nodded to one end of the rug as he set the pillar candle on a nearby table and lit it. "Sit and try to relax," he instructed. "You want a comfortable position you can sit still in for at least several minutes at a time. "

Please, Duke.

Nina was sixteen.

She could sit in any position for at least a few minutes.

"You got it," she said, toeing off her her work flats, leaving them to the side, and then folding herself down neatly, primly, and properly into the Japanese seiza.

She didn't know it was the Japanese seiza. It was just how they sat in her world.

Duke blinked at that. Right, youth. "Good!"

He set the bowl down in the center of the rug, then sat down lotus style on the other side.

"Meditation is all about self-reflection and awareness. You want to connect with your own body and breath, letting your mind be as empty as this bowl is."

The Bookbelt | Thursday

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina

Re: Talk to Nina