|
|
|
|
|
|
|
knife effect Vice Captain
|
 Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:00 pm
BOOKS AND PURCHASEfeaturing | Horatio Rington (13 years) & Leland
location | Hooters, Booters, and Cooters Bookstore (Liverpool) Horatio Rington adjusted his reading glasses over the bridge of his nose. The Liverpool bookstore was no different than the London one, unhelpful, unclean, and unpopular. The shelves were layered with dust from ages ago (perhaps) and there was little sign of any purchase at all, the store's owner was absent from the front. Horatio wondered before stepping in if the shop itself was still operational, but he expected it to be relative to the one in his hometown--empty, but altogether welcome. A paradox, but it somehow managed to find a way to work. He looked at the scribbles on his palm, and his eyes traveled back to the joint's jammed shelves.
Rodric's Book of Demons and Runes.
Demonology: a Field Guide.
The two books were the only titles he was missing on the subject, and he squinted to see if their names reappeared on the rows of books before him. He did hope they did, it would be most beneficial to him. He knew that his growth spurt was useful to him, for it'd been easier for him to reach the shelves.
He wondered absentmindedly if he was the only customer in the establishment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:07 pm
DOLLS Leland closed a red book, frowning at the rather vagueness of the content in the book. Thebles and the Tenacious Tenant. He had spent the last hour reading the book, but none of the questions posed in the book were ever actually answered! He hated books like these, books that acted as though they were open-ended when, in reality, they were simply indecisive. He quickly took out his pen and started to scribble inside, ink smudging as he thought up the words to execute the perfect ending. Yes! This one would end in tragedy, as it should have instead of a sudden cut off by the narrator. He hated the narrator, constantly cutting out otherwise relevant details to the story.
DOLLS "...And I lay there, bleeding as he wiped the bloody dagger with his kerchief, looking regretful of his actions..."
DOLLS Leland continued to quietly whisper his narrative as he wrote it down, only capping a few moments later. With a smug face, he slid the book back into the bookshelf and moved onto the next book, Rodric's Book of Demons and Runes. He couldn't remember why it was that he grabbed the book (most likely because it was in the fiction section), but he wasn't all that interested in what this Rodric man had to offer. Standing up with his other books under his arm, he walked over to one of the bookshelves and peered up at its tall height. Where did this book go again?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Punani chans Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
knife effect Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:17 pm
A small shuffling sound alerted Horatio that he wasn't the only person present in the establishment. Peeking over his current shelf, he saw that there was indeed another person in there--a scarved boy younger than himself. He looked very boyish, younger than he looked maybe. Ten? Twelve? Eight? Perhaps this boy was a local? Someone who was more familiar with the store than himself? It didn't really matter, Horatio just didn't want to scout the shelves himself. Perhaps the boy wasn't even a customer; the child of the boostore's owner maybe? Coughing lightly, he made his way to the boy. In the winter air, he could see the fog from his mouth vaporize before him, and he noticed how cold he was. Suddenly, he envied the boy's scarf, and disgust boiled in him.
Annalise and Rupert never bought him a scarf.
Vests. Pins. Pins. Pins. Pins. Vests. The fashions of an investigator weren't practical.
Nevermind them. They were long dead--it was best he focused at the task at hand.
"Excuse me, have you seen any of these titles?" Horatio questioned. He opened his hand for reference before speaking: "Rodric's Book of Demons and Runes--and--Demonology: a Field Guide."
He half hoped the boy wasn't mute. Half, because it would be rather embarrassing if the boy knew where they were and he did not--the other--because it would be helpful to him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 6:09 pm
DOLLS "Excuse me, have you seen any of these titles? Rodric's Book of Demons and Runes--and--Demonology: a Field Guide."
DOLLS Leland glanced at the top book at the speaker, a boy who could have been two years his senior. He didn't look to be a regular of this store, perhaps someone who was from out of town or someone who was not much of a reader. Still, Leland had a book that he needed and he wasn't one with an interest in demons. He much preferred ghosts and the living dead himself (which explained Thebles and the Tenacious Tennant).
DOLLS "Rodric's Book of Demons and Runes," he read aloud as he handed the tome over to him, "why do you have such an interest in them? Aren't they against the church?" He was hoping that the older would be willing to divulge information on his interests. It was rare that people struck up conversations with Leland.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Punani chans Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
knife effect Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 7:26 pm
Horatio grinned slightly at the convenience of it all.
He gingerly took the book from the boy's hands, his fingers absently flipping its contents. It was aged, no doubt, for the yellowing at the edges were visible. The text itself was of dwarfish size, though he expected this. It was, after all, a compendium of a sort--and he wondered why the boy had it in his possession in the first place. Little boys should harvest picture books and poetry, not the paranormal.
The boy seemed to share his question mutually.
"Well, simply put..." Horatio started... People will disbelieve you if you tell the honest truth."My father was killed by one because I discovered one. Of course, the identity of said demon is a haze to me; hence the researching."
He tapped the book with two fingers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 11:33 pm
DOLLS Leland watched the tall boy leaf through the book, seeming to dive right in, if only to flip around. It was strange. Usually once Leland found his book of choice he would sit down and start reading, that was what he did with Thebles after all. What was in the book that he desired? It made him regret giving the book away (though it was never really his in the first place) if only for curiosity's sake. He was a child of erudition who basked in curiosity, something that hasn't changed over time. He wanted to know, not just for conversation, but also to satisfy his own desires.
DOLLS "Killed by a demon?" repeated Leland, his voice flat.
DOLLS Truthfully, he had thought of such things as myth, legends told to small children in order to scare them into behaving. Nothing he read indicated them as concrete truth (aside from "paranormal accounts" which he wrote off as not having proof). He wasn't sure whether or not to write the boy's excuse off as true or false either.
DOLLSSo he chose to inquire more.
DOLLS "Do you really think these books will give you what you're looking for?" he asked, more curious than doubtful, "these are classified in the fiction section."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Punani chans Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
knife effect Vice Captain
|
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:04 pm
The younger boy's question did have a certain amount of gravity within them. Though his appearances seemed to hint otherwise, Horatio's seventh sense whispered that there was more to this boy than his mien; the tilt of his chin in his inquiry; his speech weighted for precision. It was something that ordinary boys didn't carry with them, at least not the ones Horatio knew. The boy seemed to have activated the detective's constant vigilance for Horatio was speaking more crisply than he started--building his front row of pawns to protect his king. He licked his lips, wondering exactly how to answer the boy to avoid stirring too much curiosity or suggestion. He knew how to handle his own problems, and he'd rather others refrain from introducing solutions to him.
"That is certainly a theory," Horatio answered, his voice lofty, not too steady--he wanted to come off as nonchalant. The HMSS had spies in various locations of England; a simple slip of the tongue could corner the Rington boy into a checkmate. He pored over the boy's face before dipping in his next answer: "I have many more, but I plan to cover the grounds of this one first. It's a logical way to play..."
Play what...?
"...play the game of decisions. Then again, I'll need the right amount of books to research before I can find what I'm looking for,...as for the classfied fiction section...sometimes the boundaries need to be tread." he added with a curt nod. As if he wasn't convincing enough, he quickly quipped, "E-especially because he was my father."
His voice diminished.
"My mother's dead--my father too. It's not fair to be unable to understand how it all came about, you know." this part, was aboveboard to the utmost degree. "It's just not fair."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 11:59 pm
DOLLS Leland stayed silent as he waited for the boy's answer, his single eye still making contact with the both of the taller lad's. He had created a short pause between them, one that neither took in stride. He was still curious...prodding the possible holes in the older boy's story. The tighter his tale was, the more he could learn--he liked learning--and the more the boy told him, the more Leland thirsted for knowledge. The other boy's voice was elevated, aloof even as he explained his reasoning behind his choice of reading.
DOLLS Play a game? Leland still wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but if he needed more material, this store would not be the ideal place for it. The bookstore was rather lacking in reading material. He considered it small in comparison to some of the others in Liverpool. Of course, this was the only store with such an eclectic collection. Second hand tales, novels dug up from the attic...they were all willing to be purchased or exchanged here. It was no surprise that the book on demons and runes would be here as well.
DOLLS The boy's voice started to diminish as he spoke of his dead parents, becoming solemnly quiet. It seemed to strike a note with Leland who only nodded in understanding. He didn't have a father (as far as he knew) and he couldn't bear to imagine losing Scarlet.
DOLLS "I don't think you'll find anymore of those books here..." Leland started, "but you could come to my house! My mum's library has tons of old books."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Punani chans Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
knife effect Vice Captain
|
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:13 pm
Horatio's lips trembled at the boy's answer; he didn't know whether it was more appropriate for him to frown or smile. He'd never been invited to another person's house before--especially someone of his age. His social skills were acquired through observing characters from literature, but repeating his lessons were difficult in the execution. He wasn't articulate enough to express his feelings in speech, but frankly, he wasn't sure as of what exactly he wanted to say... For once in three months, Horatio felt imbecilic: clutching a book--thoughts of purchasing it and its cost replaced by the question of how to reply to the smaller boy. Horatio now considered the theory that his reply was becoming troublesome because the boy's execution seemed so natural on the contrary. Though he didn't want to admit it--it was probably also due to the fact that the detective boy never had a "friend" to begin with; no "real" ones, at least.
"I-I 'spose--" Horatio stammered, he'd never been invited to anyone's house before...except of course, to examine dead bodies. "O-of course only if your Mum and Dad don't mind my company--I promise to be very quiet, they won't even know I'm there..."
But Horatio, that implies that you are furtive and impolite.
"I'll give them my salutations before, though," Horatio quickly quipped. He fought to make eye contact, and the book in his hand suddenly seemed to increase in weight. Horatio disliked how his embarrassment was visible (inconspicuously so?); His ears burned, and the idea of shrinking to the size of a mouse and scurrying into a mouse-hole in the shop pleased him very much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:43 pm
DOLLS Leland put down the rest of his books (sans one which he already paid for) and nodded. Why was the other boy's speech suddenly so shaky? Had he been offended? It wasn't Leland's intention to impose upon him, but it was only polite seeing as his mother's library was much more vast in this regard.
DOLLS I don't have a da, Leland thought before replying out loud, "I don't think my mum would mind company. She's usually busy with her work"
DOLLS This was, for the most part, true. Scarlet was still working on Virgo so it was rare that she came out unless it was to read to (or with) Leland. The problem was whether or not she would be around for company. She had a soft spot for children, but they never came over (mostly because Leland didn't make friends with any of them).
DOLLS "Ah, that's right. I should give you my address." Leland suddenly remembered what he was missing and ripped out a page from his book (it was just the introduction so he didn't really care) and scrawled his address in messy writing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Punani chans Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
knife effect Vice Captain
|
Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:00 pm
The boy's messy hieroglyphs began to form alphabetic characters when Horatio tilted it downwards. He noticed that the location was not far from his home, and he could arrive there quickest by coach. He pocketed the slip of paper, smiling oddly at the boy (how does one smile at a potential friend?) before thinking up what he would say next.
He finally settled on: "Thank you kindly, I'll be sure to spare her any unnecessary troubles upon my visit."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:01 pm
DOLLS Leland nodded at the boy's smile as he started to head for the door. "I look forward to your visit," he said, exiting with the jingle of the shop's hanging bell. He thought it a good day, having made a new friend as well as buying a new book, even if a page was ripped out. In his mind he looked forward to the visit of the boy, being able to answer the door and say "Hi..."...what was his name? It seemed that throughout their short conversation, neither of them introduced themselves and instead concentrated only on scant, unimportant details. All the more reason for him to visit Leland affirmed finally.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Punani chans Vice Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
