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 Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:15 pm
Aludra firmly believed that the television was not a suitable babysitter, especially not for his own children.
Books, however, were a different matter.
Aludra glanced between the ad that he clutched between his fingers and the sign on the shop above him. He was cautious to the point of paranoia about going into places that he'd never been into, and it was no wonder after what happened to him only a few weeks before. He had every right to be nervous about going into small, dark places after such things had happened to him in a similarly small and dark place. His little brunette princess was asleep as usual, but Aludra had enjoyed quite a few cups of coffee earlier in the day to keep himself out of her spell (as well as away from sleep, which he was avoiding because of the nightmares).
Finally, after standing in front of the magical book store for about a half an hour, he dared enter the place, trembling slightly from both anxiety and a caffeine high. The place was quiet and well-lit, without the light being overwhelming. There were books everywhere, but the building seemed to be empty, and he wasn't going to let himself get cornered anywhere. Standing practically with his back against the door, he called out into the half-lit building, "He... hello?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:49 pm
Jadyn looked over at the entrance, spotting the father-daughter pair at the doorway - though they seemed like a rather young pair... ah, not like it was any of her business. She nodded politely at her guests, and blinked at the familiar sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
"J-mama, I'm going to go out for a little whi -- oh, customers! Hello!" Phoebe said, waving to the people just inside the door. "Is there anything I can help you with? You need to be careful in here; you can get lost easily!" she said, her tail wrapping around her legs as she looked at the guests, before smiling at the little girl the older spawn was accompanying. "Hello there!"
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Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:41 am
Aludra gently pet his daughter's back as he let his tri-coloured eyes travel around the store, taking in its strange qualities. When he finally noticed the woman, he jumped slightly, face turning a faint red at his severe reaction. His tail flicked gently and he gave a soft smile toward the woman, approaching her slowly. He opened his mouth to ask a question of her, but was interrupted. As the humility child that he was, his mouth closed almost immediately afterward, eyes flicking toward the bouncy pink girl who was speaking, patiently waiting for her to speak.
When he was addressed, Aludra was surprised to say the least. His eyes widened slightly and he gave the small girl a gentle smile, waving just a bit when she did. He chuckled nervously at the idea of being able to get lost in the bookstore easily, and he took a deep breath.
"A-actually, a bit of h-help wo-would be n-nice," Aludra replied simply with a small smile toward the preteen. When she smiled at the girl, he chuckled and readjusted her on his shoulder. She made a soft sound in her throat, but didn't wake, small hands holding tighter on his shirt. "S-sorry if she's be-be-being a bit rude," he joked with a slightly wider smile. "S-she's a sl-sleepy li-ittle th-thing. A-actually, I'm h-h-here be-because I r-read an adv-v-vertisem-ment about se-self r-reading children's b-books... d-do you r-really have s-such a th-thing?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:30 pm
Phoebe smiled at the nervous man and nodded at the sleepy little girl he carried. "Oh, it's okay mister," she said, her tail winding around her legs. "I have a little sister and a little brother - let her sleep!" The pride spawn looked around, and pointed out a bespectacled toddler in the corner, seated in a reading chair with an enormous book in her lap. "That's my sister Belle, she's even better at finding things than me!" There was a soft 'poof' sound and a white-haired toddler with fuzzy legs appeared out of nowhere, landing right at Aludra's feet.
Phoebe giggled and grabbed the little boy, scooping him up into her arms and nose-kissing him. "And this is Kupo, my brother! And yep, J-Mama makes books that read themselves. You just have to pick out the book you want, and she'll enchant it for you... but there are two kinds - the kind the read in the character's voices and a kind that read in your voice. Which one did you want?" Her visible pink eye took on a more serious look as the preteen settled into a more business-like mode of conduct.... since hr J-Mama was too busy to make contact with the outside world.
Lazy J-Mama.
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:36 pm
Aludra chuckled softly at the kindness of the pink little girl. He pet his daughter's hair softly as she shifted once again, getting a bit restless in her sleep. That happened at times; the poor girl got so wrapped up in her own spell that she stayed asleep even when she would rather not. He smiled at the little toddler in the corner, bowing his head to her politely even if she wasn't paying any attention to him. What an interesting coincidence; it seemed that she had a similar fairytale reference to his own daughter, didn't she?
The sudden appearance of the toddler, however, negatively effected the already jumpy teenager. Shrieking in a way that sounded more feminine than should have been able to come from a boy who looked like him, he tumbled backward, impulses making him hold tightly to his little girl for fear of hurting her. Of course, all the movement and noise did wake her up, and the small girl began to weep in the pitiful and endearing way that she had when Aludra had tried as hard as he could to reject the idea of parenting the poor girl. He couldn't have said no after that, no matter how much he wanted to stay a child himself.
Trembling and looking even more uncomfortable than he already did, he stood slowly and smiled weakly at the girl. "It's n-nice to m-m-meet the b-both of y-you..." he murmured softly, politely bowing his head to the girl. At the explanation of the books, however, he smiled slowly. Those both sounded interesting, despite his own expected self-loathing, and he knew that it would be comforting to her when he had to work, as he knew was going to likely happen sooner or later... "Both se-seem like go-good ideas... I don't s-s-suppose I c-could get so-some of b-both?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:32 pm
Phoebe winced and turned Kupo to face her, shaking a finger in his face as she sternly told him, "No, Kupo! We don't scare customers!" she said, offering an apologetic smile to the older spawn and his sleepy daughter.
"I'm so sorry about that; would you like to take a seat and jsut tell me what books you want? That way I can go get them for you and you can sit with your little sleepyhead." Phoebe's tail curled about her feet as her long ears twitched. What had that poor spawn so afraid, anyway?
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:00 pm
A nervous smile crept across Aludra's olive-skinned face and he shook his head gently. A scale-patterned hand rubbed his young daughter's back, trying to lull her into calmness once more as he tried to cheer his smile up slightly for the nervous-yet-helpful young woman in front of him. "N-n-no need t-to sc-cold him. H-he didn't i-i-intend on su-uch a str-strong reaction, I'm s-sure," Aludra spoke softly to the girl, a bit guilty that his own, active reaction had resulted in the scolding of an innocent and likely oblivious young child.
The spawn's own long, patchwork tail wrapped around his legs at the ankles, loose enough to allow walking without the long appendage dragging across the floor. An undamaged anklewing fluttered idly in the stagnant air and he feigned a smile at the offering.
"Th-that would b-be much appre-app-preciated; thank you ve-very much, Miss," he replied politely, taking the nearest seat that appeared comfortable, or at least seemed to have a relaxing quality about it. Taking the young Demetre from his shoulder, he rocked her gently, humming rather than singing for his humility-based fear of displeasing the people around him with his singing. "Tho-ough for speci-specific books in m-mind, I-I am uns-sure... sh-she seems to mo-mo-most enjoy th-the books a-about dr-dragons a-and kni-ights and pr-pr-princesses... b-but unless I-I'm wr-wr-wrong, sh-she se-eems to pre-efer th-that the happy e-ending g-g-go to th-the dragon. I've st-stopped reading m-many of her b-b-books all the way- the way th-through because sh-she gets s-s-so ups-set when th-the dragon is sl-lain..."
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 5:18 pm
Phoebe smiled at the older spawn and nodded a little, setting Kupo on the floor with an affectionate pat to the head - brushing against his pom-pom and making him squeal as she did so. "Just take your time and relax here; it's completely safe, J-Mama wouldn't let anything get in here that would hurt someone," the pink-haired spawn said, wishing she could do something to make the poor frightened customer feel better - he was just so scared, it made her sad!
"Happy ending for the dragon? Okay, I think I can manage that," she said, smiling again before skip-twirling away through the shelves, disappearing from sight almost at once. It was a few minutes later before she reappeared, her arms full of picture books. "Here, why don't you look through these and see if you like any of them? I can go find more for you if you need me to!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:02 pm
"Th-thank you," Aludra murmured softly, eyes on the ground and the faintest of smiles on his face. He nodded in understanding as the girl left. Quietly, not believing the woman behind the desk would mind much, he began to sing to the girl. Despite his awkward, pubescent voice, his ability to sing was surprising. His voice was soft, a bit gravelly, but held a tune very well, with a talent that must have been passed onto him from somewhere in his genetics. It was certainly not the first thing that one would expect ( unless they actually believed his rockstar wardrobe at first glance ).
The young man seemed rather surprised when the little librarian returned, but didn't quite panic this time. Instead, he gingerly took the rather large stack of books from her, using his tail to help balance them. "Th-th-thank you v-very much. I-if you w-wouldn't mind, a few ch-chapter books of a si- a s-similar n-nature would b-be nice as w-w-well," he said quietly, glancing over the books and their different titles. "O-otherw-wise, this m-m-may take m-me a while. Y-you're welcome t-t-to do... wh-whatever it w-w-was th-that I inter-inter-rupted you fr-from..."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:18 pm
Phoebe nodded and whirled away again. Her figure could occasionally be glimpsed darting through random places among the shelves, seemingly teleporting all over the place. She wasn't, though; it was just the physics-defying nature of the bookshop at work. After another few minutes, she returned again and offered a few more books to the nervous teen and the little one.
"If there anything else that I can do for you? Just let me know! Oh, if you want something to drink or anything I can go upstairs and get it; as long as you don't spill J-Mama won't mind!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:48 am
Aludra did a pretty good job of not noticing the strange shenanigans at work within the book shop, tri-coloured eyes flicking quickly across the pages of the books he had already been given, steadily stacking them in a pile that he was going to purchase and a pile that he was not going to purchase. For the most part, the girl seemed to have done a good job of picking books that the little sleeping belle would like, as the pile that he would be leaving had only three titles in it.
By the time the girl once again came past them, Demetre was fussing quietly once again, wriggling in her little bundle. Chuckling softly, the awkward single father gave the girl a sincere and thankful smile. "A-actually, if th-th-there were any ch-chance you could g-g-get me a s-sippy c-c-cup of j-juice, th-that would be extr-remely helpf-ful," the young man replied, thanking the girl once again as he tried to calm his young daughter.
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