The Ink Spot, Friday, May 2, 2025

[fears_no_one]

There was a small table outside of the shop covered in pastel books with various sketches of sunsets, beaches, and umbrellas.

Flint was done with beach reads.

TAKE THESE AND PAY ME read the sign under them in ornate, old-fashioned handwriting.

Flint was inside watching the table carefully, so don't even think about taking one and not paying him.

The Ink Spot was open and taking a cautious step towards actual commerce. Good job, Flint.

Comments

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana was wandering past the bookshop and, of course, had to stop and rifle through the various books on offer. Her eyebrow arched as she read the first few backs. These sure were...books.

[fears_no_one]

Flint gave her a wave from the window.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana looked up and gave him a smile, eyebrows still raised. She held up one of the books. "I'm to pay you for removing this for you?" she asked, with a slight laugh.

[fears_no_one]

"It's worth a try," Flint said with a grin. "I've heard this is how shopkeeping works."

[deathsmajesty]

"This is a step in the right direction, darling, as you've seemed to grasp that you do need to let some of your stock go, but we do have to have a talk about quality."

[fears_no_one]

"I read them all," Flint said. "Cannot recommend one of them."

[deathsmajesty]

"And yet I'm to take some off your hands?"

She would. Liliana enjoyed herself a trashy, smutty read, regardless of weather and location.

[fears_no_one]

"Perhaps you will love them," Flint said. "Or need kindling."

[deathsmajesty]

"There's not a single lowered bodice or heaving bosom in the lot," she complained. "More pastels than should be allowed in one place, though." She picked one up and flipped it over. "This heartfelt, laugh-out-loud novel - glad they told me what I will be feeling - stars the Jacobson siblings, Laura, Sophie and Noah, who pitch in for a Powerball ticket — and win. Having grown up with two penny-pincher parents, the trio set their sights on shiny new things—leaving out their fourth sibling, Matthew, who declined on the Powerball ticket. As the family drifts apart, they realize they’ll never feel truly rich until everyone is back together."

She wrinkled her nose. "What rot. Darling, if you don't know how to feel truly rich with money, you're definitely doing something wrong."

Definitely the wrong genre of trashy.

[fears_no_one]

"That's been my experience," Flint agreed with a smirk.

[deathsmajesty]

"Some people," Liliana sighed, setting that book down and picking up another that seemed to be about female friendships and empowerment and blah blah blah. "Where are all the trashy books about fucking?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

[fears_no_one]

"Oh, those are still inside," Flint said. "They were in a different box." He held the door open for her. "If you'd like to peruse them?"

[deathsmajesty]

"Oh yes, darling, that would be lovely," she said, sweeping inside. "If I'm going to read something brain-rotting and frivolous while lounging on a beach in Argentina, it had better still be entertaining." She quirked a smile up at him. "Assuming I can convince the proprietor to sell, mind."

[fears_no_one]

"I've heard he's terribly unreasonable, but exceptions might be made," Flint said. "Let's see what you discover and if I don't love it, we may come to an accord."

[deathsmajesty]

"I do believe I have just the thing to entice you," she said. She leaned in close to whisper, "I'm willing to trade."

[fears_no_one]

Flint laughed. "I am enraptured," he said. "Come in."