Gemini Bookstore

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Problem solved, but I really hope it's not going to take six hours to find it," Jason said, softly teasing. He had overheard what she said over the phone, so he was pretty sure he could find it if she couldn't.

[Elizabeth ♛Smart Girls Love Trashy Books♛ , Modess of Pinkness]

"It shouldn't even take six minutes," Eloise said confidently, putting her phone away and taking her book bag from Edward.

"Well lead the way," Edward ruffled her hair.

"We should turn into bats! We'll get there so much faster,~" Ravenna suggested excitedly.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Yeah, um...I still can't do that," Jason said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. He had an army of bats, but he couldn't be one himself.

[Elizabeth ♛Smart Girls Love Trashy Books♛ , Modess of Pinkness]

"Yeah Mom, that's not very fair to Jason. Let's just find the cabin normally," She walked out of the store.

"One of these days the four of us should just go out flying together like we did when you and Maxine were children. It was so much fun!~ I miss it," Ravenna pouted.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Jason followed Lime out, feeling even more awkward because of his inability to be a bat.

--End--

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

________________________________________

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Tahlia unlocked the door and flipped the OPEN sign in the window to the on position. After turning on all of the lights- all the way to the back of the store, she went to the mystery section and picked out a book she hadn't read before. She'd had her eye on this one for awhile. No one ever came in this close to opening. It was just before lunch time, so everyone would be getting food or enjoying their break in the park. Content to be alone for a bit, she plopped down into her reading chair. The fabric was red velvet, thinned with use. The matching ottoman also had evident signs of ware but things like that made her happy. There wasn't any point in having something if you weren't going to use it.
The pages of her book felt good under her fingers. The hum of the lights kept her company as she curled up and began to read.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

*

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

The bell on the door jingled melodically as River and her brother Bolt entered.
River's mouth fell open. "Whoa."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"A lot of books, isn't it," Bolt said. He'd been in before, but since reading wasn't really his thing, he wasn't so awed by it all.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"It didn't look this big from the outside. I mean," she took a deep breath as she looked up at the staircase. "There's a second floor!"

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Magic," he told her. "Kind of like how our dorms work. It's really cool."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"That makes sense," River said, looking around. "Do you have any munny?"

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"We use credits around here now," Bolt said. "Most places around here will still take munny, but credits are preferred. But yeah, I've got some."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"What are credits?" River said, confused. "They don't have those back home."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

*

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"They're these things," Bolt said, pulling a few out of his pocket. They were small rectangles with the values etched into them. "Easier to carry then a little bag of munny, if you ask me."

(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"That's why they have cards," River said, "But whatever. Those are cool looking. Are they real gold?"

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"I don't know. I'm not going to bite into it," Bolt said. "Anyway, where do you want to start looking?"

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

She hadn't thought about that. "I don't know," she said, looking at the section plaques hanging above rows of books. "Can we go upstairs?"

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Sure we can," he said with a small shrug. "Lets go check it out. After you." He gestured her forward, wondering if there was anything in this place that would really interest him.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

River hurried up the stairs.
Down stairs, in the back, Tahlia continued to read, though she had heard the bell signaling that someone had entered.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt followed his sister up, wondering what could be upstairs.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

She looked around at more rows of books. Instead of going by section, she decided she would just walk through and find something based on the title and cover. River picked up a few books and read what they were about before putting them back where she found them.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt followed her around with his hands in his pockets. At least River seemed to be enjoying herself, even if he wasn't too interested in his surroundings.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Have you been here before?" River asked him, reading the inside cover of a book about dragons.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Yeah, once. With one of Blaze and my friends. I haven't seen her in a long while now though," Bolt said with a shrug.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

River raised her eyebrows at that. "What's her name?" she asked.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Her name is Momo," Bolt answered. "I think she was Tess's roommate, but I'm not positive."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Tess... an old girlfriend?" River asked, not sure whether he had said something about her before or not.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt made a face. "Yeah, but not for long. It was before I decided that I didn't just want what Blaze wanted."

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Blaze liked her too, then," River said.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Yeah, but that was before he met Caramel," Bolt said.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Obviously," River said. "I don't see him going for more than one girl, you know." She closed the book and put it back. Her eyes glanced over at Bolt before she moved on and picked up another book.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Agreed, he's not the type," Bolt said, nodding. "Is there anything else typically in bookstores besides...books?"

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"We're putting in a Media Section," Tahlia said from the stairs. "Then we'll have movies, audio-books, and ebooks."
River looked back at the woman, noticing that she was a werewolf, though it didn't bother her at all.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

*

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Oh, cool, thanks," Bolt said, a bit startled. He hadn't realized that there had been someone else around listening to them.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"I'm the owner," Tahlia said casually walking over to them. "I overheard you as I was coming to see if you needed anything."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"Ah. I guess I wasn't really listening to see if anyone else was here," Bolt said.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

River shook her head at him. "You should pay attention," she teased. She hadn't noticed Tahlia either so...

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt gave a small laugh. "Yeah I guess so," he said. But really he didn't feel the need. Any real trouble that had come to pass around here had been pretty obvious, not hiding around a corner.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"Do you need anything?" Tahlia asked again, a smile at her lips.
River smiled over at her. "I'm looking for something cool."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

"That's really specific," Bolt said, shaking his head. "You like mysteries and stuff, right?"

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"I want something in this section," she said, pointing to the Nonfiction plaque above them.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt shrugged. He wasn't sure what she wanted, so it was best left to the other lady. Now the question was what to do with himself while he waited.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

Tahlia thought for a moment. She took a deep breath to gather information before nodding. "I might have something," she said, gesturing for River to follow. River stayed close to her, wondering what it could be.

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt still followed, knowing he wasn't allowed to leave River alone, plus he was kind of wondering what they would find.

[Haaley, ᙏoᑯ oƒ ᙏᥲ⳽tᥱɾɩᥒɠ ᙃᥙᥒɠᥱoᥒ⳽]

"How much do you know about nocturnal animals?" Tahlia asked as she walked.
"That depends," River said. "One time I was attacked by an owl."

[☣ EMᕈRESS SERΔ ☣, Supreme Mod of Overcomplicated Projects]

Bolt winced. "Yeah, that wasn't a good day," he mumbled. That owl had come out of nowhere practically!