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Jessie had a list of books to pull from the shelves for various orders. Everything from history to horticulture to cooking and astronomy. Other then reading the new books, ordering the new books, and shelving the new books... new books... Jessie liked nothing so much as gathering books for others, well maybe talking about new books. She was still on a bit of a high from the publication release of two new books from series she had been fangirling on since the beginning.

She was humming the Harry Potter theme song as she made her way back into the fiction area. Her next selections were a cute series that Disney loosely based their princess and the frog movie off of. This time the list requested the whole 'wide awake princess' series, one of the more cuter retellings of classic fairtales as far as Jessie was concerned. Sadly the next one wasn't coming out till the end of the month but the book was already ordered so until then the nice young lady who asked for the first three can read right on through and if she was lucky the new one would be in before she was finished with the third one. Or if she was like Jessie and enjoyed the series so much she would have read it several times by the time the fourth book came out on the 31st.

Jessie was in her own little world, spinning her stories out in her head. She even did a happy little spin in the open space that was the heart of the fiction area. Only when she came to a stop did she notice that she wasn't alone at all. "Hello" Her greeting was chipper and anyone who didn't know Jessie would wonder just how much sugar she had had that day... everyone else would wonder which book did she just get in the mail. "Did you find everything ok?" She couldn't see the figure's face but anyone interested in books was OK in Jessie's... well book.

It took her a moment to actually place the person, really it was the name. Few people actually called her 'Miss Jessie'. "Mercy!" Her smile got brighter and she took a few steps forward. "How have you been? I haven't seen you around lately." Then again Jessie hadn't been around lately herself. It was hard to balance her powered life with her civilian life. Add in all her worries and things slipped through the cracks. She found that she spent more time dealing with the paperwork and the backside of the store rather then the front which left her more time to patrol and visit Lily. There were just not enough hours in the day and being an adult sucked.

"Come. Come." She gestured further into the store, completely forgetting about the books in her arms. They could have tea in the small break room... or water since Jessie wasn't sure if there was anything else to drink. She smiled and added "You can bring the book too." She hadn't quite caught the title but it was nice to know that a young book lover was still interested in the books she had.

Jessie led the way back to the little break room, leaving her stack of books on the counter she started to dig through the limited space looking for any snacks or drinks. She popped out of a lower cabinet briefly to look at Mercy. "Yes I can imagine it can be a harrowing adventure. But remember what Mark Twain says 'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.'". She smiled and stuck her head back in the cabinet.

She came back out with a crow of triumph and a stack of paper plates in her hands. She stared down at them with a pleased look on her face before telling her young friend, "I knew these were in here somewhere but I just couldn't find them. I think the house elves are having a grand old time moving things on me." She laughed lightly before place in the plates back into the cabinet once more, likely to be forgotten until the next time she dug into it. "Now I'm fairly sure there is atleast water around here somewhere. If not I fear it means I need check upstairs which likely won't be any better." She had been eating out mostly lately, that and she still sucked at cooking, and Jessie knew her pantry in her apartment was pretty bare as well.

"Anyway I can continue looking in a little bit" she sat back on her heals and regarded the young woman. "So other than 'growing up', which I personally think is more mental than physical," sadly the 26 year old had run into enough people who believed she was a bit immature for her age due to her actions occasionally, Jessie has learned to just be herself. "What's been going on with you? Read any good books lately? What are you looking into today?"

Jessie smiled at the giggle that Mercy let loose. She didn't pick up the apparent internal turmoil of her young friend but it was still always good to make people laugh. "Divergent hum?" She studied what she could make out of the book in the young girls hands and tried to remember if she had read it or not. "That's the book that was made into a movie right? The YA dystopian book?" She made a face as she remembered that it was one of the books on her list to read that she just hadn't gotten too. "You will have to tell me if you like it. I don't think I've read it yet."

She sat down at the little table and smiled. "You know the saying, 'don't judge a book on it's cover.' I also believe that it holds true with others reviews on books. After all if we always believe what everyone else said then..." She had to think a moment because the only thing she could think of was her mother badgering her about a husband and kid. Not something she really wanted to share. " why we never would have gotten to the moon!" She started to bounce in her seat as her mind started to list all the other books she could suggest. "And if you like that you could pick up Hunger Games, Maze Runner, 100, The Selection.... There are a surprising amount of dystopian novels out there and of course you can easily fall into the post apocalyptic genre. What about the books that deal with alternate past history or science fiction." She jumped up in excitement as she remembered a seers that was just up Mercy's alley. "The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Myers. It's around four books now and it's set far in the future. With cyborgs and robots and spaceships. The best part is each book is a twist on a classic fairy tale and yet it all works together like the first one is Cinderella, then Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow... That one isn't out just yet but she did release a short story dealing with the evil queen." She shrugged and added, "it's not really dystopian but it is still a fantastic series."

Jessie actually had to mentally pause. Unfortunately she wasn't sure if they had every book in stock since it was possible that they had been sold since the last time they had gotten in a shipment. "We should have Kiera Cass' The Selection series and The Lunar Chronicles since the most recent books were released recently. The Hunger Games trilogy might be missing one or two of the books, The Hundred series might have to be ordered," Jessie's brow furrowed as she mentally dug through her inventory, annoyed that she couldn't remember if they actually had all the books in stock. "Maze Runner is also a toss up, since that movie came out it's possible our stock is sold out." She looked over and shrugged sheepishly, "we shall just have to go through a hunt of the shelves. Any books we can't find shall be ordered."

Completely missing the discomfort of her companion Jessie walked over to the open door leading back to the store. "Actually if you wouldn't mind helping we can do a quick inventory while looking for those series. Sadly I've been a bit busy myself and can't truly tell you if we have it." It really bothered her that she couldn't mentally categorize her inventory, regardless of the actual size of her whole store. It was one of the few markers that showed her day life was being eclipsed by her night activities. Her hours were cut farther back and the time she did spend dealing with the store was on paperwork. It was a sobering thought that like Mercy, she too was growing up… not something Jessie particularly wanted to do if it meant being taken away from her books. Shaking off her momentary doldrums Jessie turned toward Mercy and with a mischievous smile beckoned mysteriously. “‘There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island.’ So what say you and me dig up some treasure?”
((Quote from Walt Disney))

Jessie snickered and nodded. Following Mercy's actions she saluted back and nodded. "A bucket will sorely be needed. Come," she turned and oozed around the corner. Her head popped back over the door jam and she whispered, "follow quietly and cautiously. Our adventure begins now." Her smile was wide and mischievous as both made their way into the shop. It was always best to make a chore into a game and with Mercy at her side it would be quite a game.

-FIN-