2019-06-26 - Suggested Reading

It's mid-afternoon on a hot and rainy Wednesday, which means that there are a couple of people here and there making their way through the shop, either intentionally, or just to get in out of the rain and heat to where the air is cool and dry for the good of the books and all. There's a young brunette woman behind the counter, one of the many Weber cousins, ringing up the purchases of those who make them.

Upstairs, in the loft, Elias finishes stocking a few books and then wanders over to the railing to lean against it and just watch the shoppers moving around below, like little mice in a maze of shelving. He's got on a pair of black jeans and those black boots that lace up almost to his knees, and a dark red shirt left open over a black t-shirt beneath.

Tyler steps into the bookstore, pausing once he's across the threshold to look around. There's a slight discomfort to his glancing around, like he's never been in a book store before and he has no idea what to do once inside. He runs his hand through his hair, straightens up, and the just walks over to the first bookshelves he sees. He picks up a book, looking at it, and then puts it back down again. Hard to say if he even actually read the cover.

Elias notices Tyler because of the little jingly bell that makes a noise every time someone opens the door. He tilts his head a little to the side, and for a moment he just observes the man as he goes up to the shelf and pulls a book off of it and then puts it back. He comes down the steps and makes his way over, finding a place to lean nearby and asks, "Looking for anything in particular?"

Tyler is a little startled by Elias' question. "Huh? Oh! Um..." He clears his throat, shoving his hands deep into his jean pockets. "No no. I mean... Not really, no. You. Kind of? Heh..." He looks back at the book he had just returned the shelf. 'Things Your Mother Never Told You: A Woman's Guide to Sexuality' by Kim Eckert. "Books."

"Well, you've found me, stealthily hiding in plain sight, in the shop, where I work," Elias says with an amused grin and then nods toward the bookshelves. "And I see you've found the books, too. Two for two. Not a bad record so far." He glances at the title of the book and says, "Though I'm guessing that a woman's guide to sexuality is probably not your genre.."

"That was not..." Tyler smiles, and he rolls his eyes, "No. No it's not." He looks around the store a bit, "This is all yours, then, right? Show me." He looks at Elias, still grinning.

"I know," Elias says, pulling away from where he was leaning, knowing full well that it was just whatever he picked off the shelf, and that he hadn't even looked at what it was. "Yep, for the time being. She's all mine, for better or for worse." He wanders among the shelves a bit, turning around to walk backward so he can look at Tyler, "Down here is pretty much what you'd expect..self-help books, foreign language section, travel, how-to stuff, fiction of all stripes from westerns and sci fi to romance and historical fiction.. maps, coloring books.." He gestures a little as he walks, somehow seeming to avoid crashing into anyone even though he's walking backward.

Tyler is a bit amused by the backward-walking tour guide. "Only for the time being? Are you selling the place?" He looks at the different sections as they are pointed out to him. "How much of this stuff have you read? I mean, if I owned a restaurant, I would taste all the food before I sold it..."

"Well, it's a family place, so it's kind of in the whole inheritance thing, that you pass it on to another family member when you're done running it, and so on and so forth," Elias says. "I wouldn't sell it out of the family. And not for a long time. If I die though, it goes back to the family trust for someone else to run." He says it kind of casually, and then grins, looking around the shop, "I've read a lot, but I mean, there's a lot of books in here, so clearly not everything."

Tyler looks around at all of the books. "Family inheritance," he repeats, with just a hint of something like wonder in his tone. "Is there- So, no offense, I mean this honestly, but, with Amazon..." He shrugs, looking at Elias, "How do you even stay in business? I don't read, so I never thought much about it, but how can you compete with that?"

"Some people still like to come in and actually pick up a book and flip through a few pages before buying it. Some folks just like supporting local business. The rest are just enchanted by witchery to be repeat customers," Elias says with a little grin. "Not going to lie, the place doesn't make a large profit. It's something the family keeps going out of love, not really a source of big income." He tilts his head then and asks, "Why don't you read? Just never found anything that interested you?"

Tyler nods, "Enchanted by witchery." Offering a wide, boyish smile, he laughs a bit, "Is that why I came here? I'm enchanted?" They walk a bit further, and then he taps a shelf with his finger as they pass. "My parents were um... Well, they weren't good people. I wasn't allowed to do anything but homework, really, so for a long time it just wasn't allowed. After that, I started surfing, spending time outdoors... Books just never were part of the equation, really.

Elias laughs a little bit and pauses by one of the shelves. Books of photography, mostly, the sort one might have on their coffee table, and books on photography mostly. He raises a brow and asks, "Do you feel enchanted?" He nods a bit though when Tyler mentions his parents and says, "Nothing wrong with spending time outside, and surfing. I wouldn't know the first thing about surfing, but I do like hiking and spending time out wandering the woods."

Tyler responds to the question of enchantment, "If you were doing it properly, I doubt I'd feel it, Merlin." He smirks, "I love hiking. I confess, I don't hike as much as I'd like. It's kind of boring by yourself." He glances around once more. "Tell me, then. What's your favorite book?"

"Yeah well I never claimed to be any /good/ at witchcraft, now did I?" Elias says with an arched brow and an amused grin. "So I suppose you're not enchanted at all, and you just ended up here all on your own, which, to be fair, I think I like better." He shrugs his shoulders a bit and says, "I grew up in a house that was always full of people. I like hiking by myself, though it's nice with company, too." Though when Tyler asks what his favorite book is, Elias is on the move once more, slipping through the shelves toward the back where he finds the book and plucks it, handing it over. "Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti" is the name of the book, with a steampunk-styled cover featuring a mechanical pair of wings.

Tyler takes the book into his hands, slowly turning it over, examining it, as he talks. "My house was always full, too. Strangers, usually. But they didn't talk to me much, so, I like having people around. My- I was told I should consider having a roommate, but I think I'd drive one up the walls." He flips the pages quickly, "No pictures," he mumbles with a little amusement, before looking at Elias. "I'll take it."

Elias watches Tyler as he turns the book over in his hands. It's not a very thick book, but there are definitely no pictures inside. "Your?" Elias asks, curiously, noting that false-start there. Then he shrugs his shoulders and says, "You could always try it out and see how it goes -- do some sort of a trial run thing. I wouldn't know how that works. I've lived in the family house my whole life, sharing with my siblings and cousins and stuff for as long as I can remember." He looks a little surprised when Tyler says he'll take the book. "You don't have to, really."

Tyler just glosses past the question. "Big family, huh?" He nods, "I'm an only child." Looking at the book once more, he shrugs, and smiles back at Elias. "I want to. Just because I don't read, doesn't mean I can't." He taps the book into the palm of his hand, offering another moment of that smile to the other young man before he simply turns and begins walking back toward the front counter.

Elias notes the glossing, but doesn't press further, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "Yeah, big family," he says, watching Tyler as he turns around and wanders off. For a moment, he just stands there, arms folded, watching, and then he smiles, shaking his head, and makes his way back toward the stairs that lead back up to the loft. The girl at the counter smiles as Tyler approaches and asks cheerfully if he found everything he was looking for.

Tyler spends a few minutes paying for his book. It's cash. Once the book is bagged and paid for, he takes the ink pen from the counter and jots something down on the back of his receipt. Before he leaves, he wanders back toward Elias, folding the receipt several times until it's a little square. "Here," he says, holding the paper toward the other fella.

Elias pauses on the steps when Tyler comes back over, only standing on the first one, and leans against the railing. When the folded receipt is offered out to him, he reaches out and takes it with a curious look. "What's this?" he asks, and begins to unfold it to look at whatever it is that is written inside.

Tyler smirks, noting with a casual confidence, "My number. You forgot to ask for it. I'll let you know how the book is." He smiles all the way then, proud and playful, and he marches off, leaving Elias to the unfolding. He folded it up severn or eight times, so it takes a few moments to get it opened up. Drawn on the receipt is a goofy smiley face and the phone number: 9 1 1.

"Did I?" Elias asks, both brows going up, that smile hovering around his lips. He doesn't unfold it all the way just yet. "I expect you to actually read it and do just that." He watches Tyler's retreating back as the man heads out the door, and then finishes opening the receipt. When he sees the smiley face and the digits, he laughs to himself as he stands there leaning against the railing. "Very cute."