OTA - debut

[treasuredtales]

The board meeting had had a few hiccups, and in the end, Belinda had resorted to magic to see things settled to her liking. The two newest members seemed to have believed Belinda being board chair and majority shareholder meant nothing when she was also young (apparently), black, and female. True, she generally let the business-minded handle the business aspects of the company, but delegating responsibilities was the mark of a good leader. Padding the bottom line at the expense of the creators who were the soul and source of the products Loreworks traded in might work in the short-term, but it was bad business over time, and Belinda had had to be rather insistent on that subject.

After the meeting, Belinda felt she’d earned a bit of a treat, so she stopped in at one of her favorite bookshops. In a manner of speaking. She wasn’t sure she could pick one favorite bookshop, when there were reasons to love them all. So much, she decided to make a day of it, going from one shop to another: from the large Waterstone’s and Foyles to Shapero’s rare books, shops specializing in signed first editions, and those with shelves and shelves of yellowing paperbacks, new books and old books, and everything in between.

Belinda sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by small piles of books she'd pulled from the shelves, her choices following an impulse that would probably seem random to anyone watching. Children's books, weighty literary fiction, sci-fi and fantasy both, mysteries and romance, and more - if it was a kind of fiction, it was probably represented in her selections. She paid no mind to how she was blocking half the aisle, although someone coming near was enough to get her to glance up from the book she was flipping through.

Comments

[whispersoflove]

"Is this the way people shop for books, now?" Anael asked, amused, as she looked up at him as he negotiated his way past the piles of book without stepping on any of them. He wasn't sure what she was, but while she very clearly wasn't human, he didn't mind one bit.

[treasuredtales]

Belinda didn't notice as she gripped the book in her hand more tightly as she watched the guy step around her books. She smiled, though, and shrugged. "I don't know about most people, but they all caught my eye."

[whispersoflove]

"Eclectic choices," Anael stated, his warm tone making it clear that eclectic was a good thing, in his book. He stepped off to the nearest shelves, but turned back to the woman after only a few seconds had passed. "All right, no, I've got to ask," he admitted, his smile more because of his curiosity than anything else as he stepped closer and crouched across from her, on the other side of a few piles. "How do you plan on taking them all home?"

[treasuredtales]

Surveying the piles of books as though she hadn't considered that - and she hadn't, because she rarely did - Belinda waved a hand vaguely. "Oh, I'm sure I'll manage. But what about you? You haven't found any good books yet?"

[whispersoflove]

"I haven't found the one I was going to read today," Anael answered, an important distinction. "I'm in the mood for something uplifting. Any recommendations?"

[treasuredtales]

There were so many options, it could be hard making a recommendation, especially for a stranger. "Uplifting," she repeated, thinking. "That can mean different things to different people. I tell you what." Belinda held up a finger, asking him to wait, and then drew the attention of one of the shop clerks.

"Could you total these up for me?" she requested as she stood. She took a credit card out of her purse and handed it over without a thought. They knew her here and were used to her buying habits. "I'll pick them up when I'm ready to leave."

As the clerk busied himself with her books, Belinda left him to his work and turned her attention back to the book talk. "If you'd like, you could tell me a bit about yourself over a cup in the café, and I'll come up with all kinds of recommendations."

[whispersoflove]

Anael stood as she did, showing no sign of discomfort at having remained crouched. He waited patiently, with unconcealed amusement, until she turned back to him. "That sounds like a fair offer," he agreed with a smile that reached his eyes, and offered her his arm, on a whim. He was in a particularly good mood today, and it made him even more liable than usual to offer touch.

[treasuredtales]

His smile was warm and infectious, and Belinda returned it as she took his arm so they might go to the café in the center of the shop. "I do try to be. Fair, that is."

[whispersoflove]

"It is a good thing to be," Anael confirmed, eyes warm. "I'm Anael," he added, giving her the name he preferred rather than the one that passed the most. She was magical, whatever she was; there was no reason to hide himself.

[treasuredtales]

"There's an Anael in the Book of Tobit. Tobit calls him brother." Religious stories were still stories, and also helped Belinda understand the humans who believed in them. "And Anael called Haniel, the joy of god, an archangel in Jewish lore."

Her interest in him and his name made Belinda forget for a moment it was good manners to offer her name in return. "Sorry. I didn't say. I'm Belinda."

[whispersoflove]

"Belinda," he smiled at her, all the more amused for having been cited. "It's lovely to meet you."

[treasuredtales]

"I always like meeting new people. They have so many interesting stories." And something about Anael suggested his would be very interesting, although Belinda couldn't put her finger on why.

"What would you like to drink?" she asked, as they approached the café counter. Buying someone a drink was fair recompense for a story, in Belinda's opinion.

[whispersoflove]

"It ought to be my treat, if you're going to help me find my next read," Anael offered with a smile, pulling a couple of notes out of his pocket. He always had enough money on him for what he wanted, without ever really having to think about it, the same sort of way he never really thought about clothes.

[treasuredtales]

"How could I argue with that?" If he wanted to treat them, Belinda saw no reason to press. "Thank you, Anael. I'll have whatever you're having. I'm not picky."

[whispersoflove]

"And you like to live dangerously," Anael completed as they moved up the queue. "I could like something truly horrible." He looked over at the café menu, written on a blackboard by the side of a counter, and quickly admitted defeat with a laugh. "All right, I can't think of anything horrible."

[treasuredtales]

"Or I come here often enough to have some idea of the choices available," Belinda offered as an alternative. "Besides, you don't seem the type to choose something horrible just to make a point."

[whispersoflove]

"I wouldn't," Anael assured her. It hadn't been what he was saying at all, but he let it go as their turn came up; it hardly mattered. He ordered two moccachinos, in the mood for something sweet.

[treasuredtales]

Belinda hadn't thought that was what he'd meant; she'd only followed the options to their logical, if unlikely, extreme. She nodded, mostly to herself, at his order, and as they stepped aside to wait for their drinks, she watched him. "Uplifting books and a sweet tooth. See? I'm learning more about you already."

[whispersoflove]

"And what does it tell you about me?" Anael asked curiously.

[harrowgate]

Felix wanted to be rather annoyed with the obstruction to his progress through the shelves. He quite liked being annoyed, especially at other people, especially in public, especially in a place like this where knowledge and stories and metaphor were better appreciated.

Only he couldn't be as annoyed as he wanted, because the individual surrounded by this worshipful congregation of tales was worrying at his magic in a way Felix did not understand. He had circled once or twice, attempting to work out what that was, and coming up with only more questions every time. At last, he gave in, and let himself be drawn down the aisle. "Gracious, leave a few copies for the rest of us?" Felix suggested at a properly low volume.

[treasuredtales]

To Belinda's mind, she'd shown a great deal of restraint in her selections. But she had to, when it came to bookshops, when she wanted to take everything home with her. She clutched to her breast the book in her hands as she looked up at the oh so colorful man.

"I've left plenty," she said, scanning the shelves to either side - a hungry look in her eyes as she spied another title she needed to add to her stacks. But it was the only copy on the shelf, and most of the time she did try, as one way of maintaining that restraint, to limit herself to ones where the shop had multiple copies. So for the moment, she stayed as she was, and left the book on the shelf.

[harrowgate]

He should have let himself sound more playful, Felix mused, as she seemed to have taken him too seriously. He was too curious and had too many questions about this strange shape of magic that seemed far too large for the space occupied by a single woman. "Ah, so you have," Felix answered more lightly, as though only just noticing the other books on the shelves. "I almost didn't notice. Can I assist you with your purchase? A basket, perhaps? Or a cargo ship?"

This time, he let a tiny smile play on the corners of his lips.

[treasuredtales]

"Ooooh, a cargo ship might work." Imagining a cargo ship full of books all for her made Belinda all warm inside, and not the way her fire did. "Might."

The man had the smell of magic on him, and then Belinda noticed his hands. Cabal. This was either going to be another act of the morning's tiresomeness or a good deal of fun. "But you're hardly one of the clerks, to offer your assistance. I wouldn't want to put you to any bother."

[harrowgate]

Felix couldn't miss the way she reacted. What sort of magically-imbued being would have the avarice for books that came naturally to wizards, yet not be a wizard? It would be much too rude to ask -- and manners were of paramount importance to a great many magical individuals.

That meant he really couldn't tell her to just get out of the way.

"We could just levitate them to the counter," he suggested, with the dry kind of finality that indicated he didn't want to beat around the bush about who-are-you, what-are-you.

[treasuredtales]

"Not everyone is so obvious as to wear their nature on their hands for all to see," Belinda answered, although she was amused at the thought of levitating all her books over to the counter.

Spying one of the actual shop employees, Belinda raised her hand and made eye contact enough to get the clerk's attention. "I'll be taking all of these today. If you wouldn't mind beginning to ring them up?" Book sellers wanted to sell books, and Belinda was well known at the store for her shopping sprees, so she likely didn't need even the tiny push of magic embued in her words to get him to agree. But the wizard might appreciate it.

[harrowgate]

Felix rather wanted to object to her first statement, but stopped himself at the presence of the annemer bookseller who approached. He managed to bite back any sharp retorts until she had finished, pretending to glance over a nearby shelf, but the little glimmer of magic drew him back again.

He lifted his chin, eyes faintly narrowed. She wore no tattoos and he knew she wasn't a wizard, let alone a Cabaline, but that pulse of magic accomplished something, and Felix had the uncanny feeling that she'd just used magic on another person. Such a thing was anathema to any Cabaline wizard, categorized as gross heresy among them, and it sat distinctly uncomfortably in Felix's heart.

"You're not a wizard," he said quietly, once the employee was out of earshot.

[treasuredtales]

One eyebrow rose over an inscrutable Look. "No." Belinda would have thought that much was obvious to a wizard, although perhaps it was better he didn't seem to know precisely what she was. Wizards could be both predictable and unpredictable in the worst ways some times. "I am not."

[harrowgate]

"And that is why you got away with doing what you just did," Felix observed, his tone carefully mild and reserving any judgement. She wasn't a wizard, but she had magic, and she didn't mind using it in front of others. It probably wasn't a good idea to piss her off, but Felix was excellently practiced at doing just that.

"Among my sort, people get burned for that."

[yves]

Yves, on the other hand, was seeking only one book- An empty one at that. Yves went through journals the way some people went through socks, and having filled the last one was currently buying another thick, leather bound tome to fill. This one dark brown.

"Light reading?" he asked, taking a step closer, and looming without really meaning to- Or, perhaps without consciously meaning to.

[treasuredtales]

"Yes." If he was looming, Belinda didn't notice. She was a dragon, far greater than any man. No, not man, she realized as she caught his scent. And her nose itched, needing to sneeze. So probably fae, then.

"Yours looks pretty light as well," she said, eyeing the journal in his hand. "At least so far." New journals had no stories so were of no interest to her, but a person buying one was a person with stories to be written, a potential she enjoyed encouraging.

[yves]

"Give it time, the ink will give it weight as the pages are filled," Yves shrugged, noting the way her nose twitched and the fact that their was something in the air around her.

Magic, something like heat... Hmm.

[treasuredtales]

"That is its purpose," Belinda agreed. "Will you be filling the pages yourself, or is it to be a gift? For a friend perhaps."

[yves]

"It's for my research, actually," Yves replied. "I need a place to document my observations. ...You, on the other hand. Is this research or recreation?"

[treasuredtales]

Belinda did not think of books, or stories in general, in either of those ways, and a single blink filled the space of her processing the question. "Neither. Or both, I suppose. Depending on your definitions."

She tilted her head to one side. "Observations on what?"

[yves]

"Experiments, mostly," Yves replied, crouching to examine one of her many stacks. The fae was all narrow limbs and odd angles, but he moved with the grace of a dancer, carrying that air about him that all fae did, no matter how human they appeared.

[akatawitch]

Sunny had quite the opposite problem, which was limiting herself to one or two titles at best. Usually she limited herself to books she'd already read and wanted her own copy of, but when she got to browsing, her control always wavered.

When she saw the lady blocking the aisle her first instinct to be annoyed lost to her mouth deciding for her that the most intelligent thing she could say was, "Uh."

[treasuredtales]

Belinda had looked up when the girl came close, and the protective way she held onto the book was instinctual. The girl smelt of magic, which could explain her reaction as well, although what it meant, Belinda wasn't entirely sure.

"Yes?"

[akatawitch]

Sunny loved books herself and could make quite the circle of knowledge when she was in the midst of studying or writing a paper, but never in the middle of a bookstore. That of course was not the only interesting thing about this woman. Which caught her off guard enough that she just followed up with a stupid question. "D'you mean to buy all of those?"

[treasuredtales]

"Yes." As interesting as mortals could be, especially those with magic, sometimes they asked the most obvious questions, in Belinda's experience. Unless... "Did you think I meant to steal them?"

[akatawitch]

"No," Sunny answered. "Only it'd take me a year to read all that. And that's if I didn't get distracted by anything new."