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The Bibliophile in other ashdown wasn't very far from it's real world counterpart. The old house it houses may have been a bit dilapidated and the apartment on top seemed to have gained a chunk of missing roof since he'd moved out, but the layout remained and even the furniture remained rather static.

When he'd found himself in the otherplace on a walk home he gravitated to the store. He could use the time to practice magic possibly, or simply explore, before he more actively tried to get himself back.

The professor decided to check the basement of the shop, which in the real world was nicely waterproofed and finished and held stock and supplies that didn't fit upstairs. He only assumed that here it would be something quite different, and possibly housed things he dare not deal with - but it was his shop dammit so he had to check it out.

Alg pulled open the rickety knob to the door and dust came down from the frame as pulled it open. A handkerchief was produced and held in front of his nose before he sneezed. The light switch was hit- a pause- and it flickered dimply below. Alg gauged the stairs before he took them slowly down.

"s**t-" Alg hit the switch off as soon as he heard the noise. While the possibility of an animal in the basement was a reality, he hadn't actually expected one to become so immediately apparent.

But now the light was off and there had been shadows.

"Fall down the bloody stairs-" He was muttering to himself and taking a note from Heliodora's teachings he held up a finger and feeling very stupid for it, murmured, "Lumos."

A much dimmer orb of light appeared at his finger tip, all he could really muster at the moment.

Slowly he came further down the stairs.

Algie should have jolted in surprise at the creepy shine of eyes but between the cats and his spouse, he'd apparently gotten used to it. Of course now he knew whatever was down here, with skittering paws, was talking.

"I- ah," Alg's hand went behind his back, the light dulling further but still letting him see. Soon his eyes would adjust and he could dim it further or snuff it, "I'm afraid I don't know what a dark light is."

Caution was paramount but Alg didn't want to start something with a creature he hadn't even seen yet. "I'm sorry if it bothered you."

His eyes dragged over the mess of books and boxes, "Were you looking for something in particular?"

The light at the end of Alg's finger, like a flickering bulb, stuttered once and disappeared as the dark light filled the room. He blinked through it a moment, an odd adjustment, but noted how the room changed. He wasn't sure how to do it but the visualization helped.

Alg blinked again at the wispy creature on the book, arms instinctive reaching. Not for the thing, but for the tome, "You're- you're going to break the spine like that..."

Alg made an 'ah' noise, "The book's spine."

So this was Gloom. Kally had mentioned it but she apparently wasn't overly magical, nor did she believe the town was anything more than a bit weird. Was she supremely naive? Had she met this thing in other ashdown and just failed to mention it... or had it passed over?

When Gloom bounced the book did and Alg hissed a moment through his lips until the creature was pawing at it.

"I think it's alright.." Alg moved now to take the book, close it properly, and smooth his finger along the spine. "See there's a crease now," the fibers of the cover had certainly bent, "but I don't think it broke."

Alg diligently gathered up a few of the scattered books, as well as the overturned box, and stacked and packed them neatly inside. "You want to learn? Can you read?"

"Magic box?" Alg adjusted his glasses, trying to get a better look at the creature. He couldn't quite tell what it was in the dark light besides that it clearly could talk and evidently change size.

"Reading. Looking at the pages, recognizing the symbols, and understanding.." There were much more complicated explanations but that was a simple enough one. "We learn the alphabet first and letters make sounds so when you group them together they are words. Books just put those words on paper."

Alg smoothed his hand over one of the covers, plain and dusky grey, as he flipped it open nothing much happened and the words looked garbled to him. It was an otherbook clearly, "But not all of these books I can read. They are different here than back in - what do you call it?" What did a creature of the otherworld call theirs?

"A computer? A TV?" He watched Gloom in the darkness until it was gone again, this time unsurprisingly ending up on his shoulders like Violetta liked to lay (she preferred being lifted instead of jumping though). "I've got those."

He glanced at the fluffy tail, turning his face a bit to glance at Gloom and reaching into his jacket for his own notebook. Alg flipped it open, "In the ah- free place. I write books. And I own this bookshop."

His fingers dragged along a line of his own scribble and tapped, "See? Nothing more magical than imagination and a knack for it. Some people... prefer magic boxes."

The cable box? Or maybe video games... Algie knew Gloom could cross over if Kally had met him. The creature had likely witnessed people glued to their technology.

"I could," Alg mused lightly, "Teaching is my job. It's how I make a living." He didn't exactly teach reading but he was technically a teacher of the English language in some capacity.

"I get paid to teach." Did a shadow creature have the concept of a job?