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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:12 pm
Nothing. Diddly squat. Zip. Every store Kitty went to, she just couldn't find what she was looking for. It felt as if all this walking around town out in the open had been a waste of time. Honestly, risking sunburns on her milky white skin without results was a real let down. Carrying her lacy parasol above her head and dressed head to toe in full Lolita style, she should be the picture perfect image of a lady. However, her pace was slowing and her posture slouched in defeat.
"I could have played games. Could have had snacks.. Watched that new anime..." As another hour ticked by without luck, she began to wonder if she ought to head home.
And then a light in the tunnel. One last book store she had not checked yet. Near the college campus of which she never frequented, it stood. Normally she had no business here, being a high schooler herself.
With one last shred of hope, Kitty straightened her posture and marched inside.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:45 pm
Bibliophile was on a corner, an older building that had been originally a large home and later had been turned into a storefront and apartment. It was the kind of bookstore where drinks and food weren't allowed past the front sitting area and it maintained a very comfortable quiet. No store music or web cafe or coffee bar of chatter. There was a front sitting area, wifi, and bookshelves. No frills, no fuss, but with much more reliable customer service. Algie didn't need to work as often with more employees but he liked the quiet on the lazier afternoons where he could read or write with minimal interruption and the usual crowd of students or young professionals stealing his wifi or hitting the book swap. He was behind the counter, leaning on his palm while perched on a stool and was scribbling into his notebook- no writing today- he had spaced out thinking about all that had happened and was scribbling. When the door opened the author looked up and was certainly surprised to find himself greeted by lace and frills and what he was fairly sure was a parasol. She was frankly, very thoroughly pulling it off and the older man was impressed. He was a drastic contrast, greying and in tweed and looking every bit the stereotype of the british professor that he was. "Can I help you miss?" He straightened with a polite smile and to his right a rather large white kitten draped across the counter slivered it's blue eyes to look at the visitor.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:55 pm
Kitty smirked haughtily, drinking in the greeting with a puffed chest. She closed the parasol and held it to her side. "Yes, you can." She answered, walking straight to the counter. She tried not to notice the attractive feline draped on the counter. She had business to attend to, and had to dutifully resist cooing over the cute widdle kitty-cat. "I am looking for an issue from a magazine I enjoy. It only had five issues released in English, but I don't mind if it's in the original Japanese. In fact I'd like to collect those as well. It's the Gothic and Lolita Bible magazine. Do you have any?" Yes. This girl had waltzed into a college book store looking for alternative fashion magazines.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:31 pm
"Well it doesn't ring a bell-" Algie got off of his stool and stood, but he wasn't exactly known for his memory so he figured they could go have a look. The cat was given a brush of the hand that had her closing her eyes again, "-let's have a look though." Algie motioned to the other wall and a ways back there were magazine racks, "I'm not sure we get many japanese magazines outside of special orders though I may be able to get them for you.." The racks were varied, with a few foreign language and a large glamour section because of the swell of interest in fashion lately, but it didn't look like what she was looking for was there. Algie stepped back, leaving the young lady to browse while he turned to straighten up a bunch of junk someone had left oa thing table beside the racks. He muttered something about a bloody mess.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:55 pm
Kitty followed, eyeing the racks up and down. Well, if she didn't find her magazine, she could at least walk away with something fashion related. However, her tastes were of a more frilly and refined sort. Very niche. "Special order will be fine, if need be." She mused, thumbing through the issues. "Though I do hate to be kept waiting." Just like stalking her packages in transit whenever she made a purchase online. The woes of a basement dweller Fashionista. "It's a bit messy in here. Have you no sense of order?" She accused with a sneer in his direction.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 8:18 pm
The moments of 'isn't she precious' slipped away quickly as the young girl spoke to him. Looking like a princess was one thing, but the dismissive arrogance as if he really were one- He reminded himself that she was a customer."Excuse me?" Algie's head rose when she criticized the store's organization, pressing a curled fist against the pile of refuse on the side table, only to feel something firm and literary under his fist. He didn't look down at it yet, not with the gape of disbelief he was sporting.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 8:44 pm
"What? Was I not clear?" She asked with a raised brow. "This is a professional establishment, right? I'd expect this sort of disorganization from someone's unkempt living room, not a Book Store." She huffed, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Do you not take care to keep your place tidy for your customers? It doesn't seem busy, so you must have had a spare moment to deal with this mess, right?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:59 pm
Algie's jaw visibly tightened but he reminded himself that she was a customer, and a shitty teenager, and he was a teacher... he could deal with this. "I'm sorry we don't meet your standards." His fist uncurled and the flattened realizing there had been a thick book underneath it. "I'm sure Barnes and Noble will have the proper supply chains to acquire your particular needs if our store can't take care of you." He glanced down under the refuse at whatever publication had been hidden underneath. Algie smirked and picked up what looked very obviously like a pristine English copy of Gothic and Lolita Bible. His newfound powers worked in mysterious ways. The book was held out of the girl's reach and after he flipped through it he tucked it tightly beneath his arm and took a step back. "I'm sure someone around here has something. Perhaps the comic book store?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:18 pm
Kitty stared and waited for him to quit prattling. Honestly, was he going to find her the magazine or not? She was fairly sure he was trying to politely undermine her needs in that way adults always did. Such disrespect. All she'd done was comment that a little tidying up was in dire need. Adults were so touchy when faced with criticism from a minor. He found to book wordlessly, and of course she held out her hand to receive it. Her lip curled as he flipped through her book. And she all out scoffed when he held it under his arm and refused her business. " Pardon me?" She said, sounding as if she needed a deep breath. Never mind there was a comic store she'd neglected to check out, but this rudeness needed to be addressed and nipped in the bud! "I can't help but feel you're purposely being rude to me. You're obviously holding the book I need in your hands, yet you turn me away to a store filled with sweaty boys whining about inconsistencies in story canon?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:40 pm
"This?" The shop owner blinked innocently, "Certainly this had to have been left by someone by accident with all their refuse.. I know this isn't from our stock." It was from the cosmos.His hand settled protectively over the magazine and he smiled with consistent pleasantness, "It'll have to go into the lost and found." Yes. Maybe he was enjoying this again.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:17 pm
Kitty huffed. If he was being sincere, that meant taking the magazine would be some form of stealing. However, she really didn't like his attitude. "How disappointing. I had such high hopes for this quaint little nook." She shook her head, tossing an errant lock of hair over her shoulder. "But if all you carry is the usual bore of literature, than I suppose this hole in the wall is not different from any run of the mill book shop." She lifted her chin and straightened her back, "No magazine? No business. For Pete's sake, theres not even an tea being served. Is bare bones your idea of a book shop? Or is this just your own dull and personal home library you happened to leave open to the public? How very stale. Using the piddly change you earn here to fund your failing novel? Or is that too cliche?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 10:01 pm
"Yes I'm positively destitute. My novels were recently adapted into a BBC miniseries." He sighed a bit dramatically and moved towards the front of the store, magazine coming with him. "Starring Idris Elba." Back to the counter and the magazine was laid out, the cat given a pet, and Algie setting himself back on the stool. Behind him gleamed fully signed sets of supernatural mystery novels, The Red Herring Mysteries, all by Algernon Mixlin, not that Kitty would know that was the man in front of her. "And I happen to make a good, proper cup of tea." He looked like he was planning on reading the Lolita book instead of hiding it away, "For friends."bittiface he probably shouldnt be trying to one up a teenager but...
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2016 1:49 am
Was he joking? If this jerk was indeed successful, then Kitty was going to run out of relevant ammo. She followed him to the counter, if ony because she was that much closer to the exit. "You, sir, are a total jack-a**." Kitty scoffed, her arms arms her sides. She clutched her parasol tightly in her fist as she resisted losing her temper entirely. "If having amazing tea comes with the price of your friendship, I'd rather go a lifetime without."
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:28 am
One of the Red Herring paperbacks was on display at the end of the counter and so he wordlessly turned it over to show the black and white author photo in the corner. The same man, down to the tweed jacket, peered at her through his glasses from the back cover. "I am also not just an employee but the owner of this shop. Jack-a** or not." He smiled politely again, "And I believe it is my right to refuse any business I want." The magazine was flipped open and he spread his hand out over the pages to obscure anything she possibly might want to see (also getting his grubby hands all over it). "Also there's a very good tea shop around the corner." His voice was painfully helpful, "The owner is a very nice woman so please be polite."
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2016 4:13 pm
She knew it. Knew it all along. The outside world beyond her bedroom was a cruel place. A place that made stuck up jerks like him famous authors. She gasped as he got his grubby finger prints all over the perfect magazine, blocking it's images from view. "I don't care about the tea!" She huffed again, slamming her foot down. "In fact, I don't believe that magazine is worth all this trouble, after all." Yes, it was high time she left. Kitty stomped to the doorway, her little heart pounding in anger. "This has been a humiliating and horrid experience. I shan't be back! Ever!" As if that was a threat. She opened the door and opened her parasol just outside it. "Good day to you, sir."
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