destinystrings | [OPEN] Booked

Who: Nicholas Reeve, OPEN
Where: Virgo District
Summary: A trilogy of the scariest stories ever, eh? Hmmm.
Warnings: Paper cuts.
The complications from last month, as well as a busy work flow of his own, had sidelined him from this, but he's finally gotten the chance to get out and look for that book Caroline asked for. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little intrigued himself, though; a book full of scary stories? How scary could they be? More importantly, how will anybody know exactly what he's looking for? It's not like scary story anthologies are exactly unusual.

Well, to mainstream bookstores, anyway.

It occurs to Nick that his best option, however, are less the shiny, happy stores, or even the relatively well-to-do independent stores. No, he needs to find the out of the way, the mysterious, the ones you have expect are going to disappear once you leave and turn around. She wants scary stories that badly, these guys would probably be the best options.

Although if they refer him to the Necronomicom, he'll probably just hit the big book stores instead. Not worth it, man.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Stories.

Generally, if there's one thing Sam could note about himself that he knew would never change, it's the fact that he doesn't care. About anyone, anything, just...he doesn't care at all.

But for some odd reason, he finds himself being drawn back to stories, mostly ones of the fantasy genre. He knows it's because he used to read those type of stories to his little sister to help her go to sleep. She never grew tired of them, and why he should he? Even after all that happened to him, he finds that being with a good book of fairytales is the closest thing he'll find to remembering what it was like before.

So, he's hanging out in one of the more obscure bookstores, glad for the peace and quiet, when he sees Nick come in. He shrinks against the bookstore he's standing in front of in an attempt to not be noticed, silently watching the man with an unreadable expression.

Who knows, maybe the guy knew a book he hadn't heard of yet. It would be in his best interest to eavesdrop.

Nick's on a bit of a mission, so for now Sam's hide attempt is successful. He walks up to the counter. "Excuse me, I'm looking for, uh, a book of scary stories. Supposed to be extremely scary. To be honest, I don't have a lot of guidelines beyond that..." Geez. It really feels like he's asking for a "red book" or something here.

Scary stories?

He definitely knows some. Stories of ghosts and ghouls already swirl up in his mind...including his own.

Oh, his was definitely a story not to be told for the faint of heart.

But he steps out of his hiding place, intrigued. Nick might hear the very soft and timid voice of Sam behind him, sounding ever so curious:

"Why are you looking for them?"

He jumps a bit. Holy shit, he had NOT seen that guy there. "Huh? Uh, request I got, actually. A little out of my usual job description, but I aim to please." For one thing, he doesn't usually get stuff for the living. "Why, do you know a good example? It's supposed to be part of a trilogy."

"Ah! I-I'm sorry!"

Sam jumps back a bit too, eyes widening in surprise as he holds his hands up, as if totally expecting Nick to explode or be set on fire or something. When that doesn't happen, he lowers them, listening to what Nick has to say.

"Request...? Oh, right! From Caroline, right?" He got a quest like that, except with candy. Why did she even need all that stuff, anyways? Talk about laziness, making other people get stuff for her (though maybe she couldn't leave the Velvet Room at all, Sam thought, he had never seen her outside of it).

At the question, he reaches up and strokes his chin. Helping other people wasn't exactly something he did. But for appearances sake, he had to appear helpful, someone benign...plus, it would be interesting to check up later as to what Nick got in exchange for his request.

"Trilogy...ah! I-I think I know of one. It was way too scary to read to my sister, if I remember..." He nods, as if agreeing with himself. "No, I think I know what you're referring to. Don't know if they have it here, though..."

"Yeah, that's right." Guy seems a little jumpy himself. He must be pretty unused to social interactions. One of those sorts of bookworms, maybe? "Well, I'm not against helping out someone who needs it. I kind of get the feeling she's not terribly familiar with the outside world -- if she can even leave the Velvet Room, so she probably just wants to see some artifacts. I suppose I can get that sentiment if you can't go to a place everybody else can."

"Oh?" He looks interested. "Can you remember the title at all? That'd probably help out a lot." Okay, kind of a weird encounter, but he's not about to complain.

"Hmmm...perhaps! I mean, I guess I would want to know about the outside world, if I was forever stuck in that place. I wonder what made her choose a life there instead of out here..." He falls silent, though he still seems to be musing about it internally, judging by his thoughtful look.

And at the next question, he furrows his eyebrows, wracking his memory. "I think...something about the dark. Scary Stories in the Dark? No..." He got it, it was right there, c'mon, think. "Ah! Ah, it was Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! They had three books in that series, if I remember correctly."

He shrugs. "We're assuming she's human in a way we know of. Either way, I'm sure she has her reasons, and she must find reward in it in some way."

"Huh, you think so? I was expecting something a bit more... eldritch, I guess." He snorts. "Guess I WAY overshot. I'll ask about it."

He goes to the clerk. They have, it seems, the middle book in the series, but not either of the other ones. He thanks him anyway, then turns back to Sam. "Well, I don't know if it's exactly what she's looking for, but it's worth a shot, thanks. I'm Nick, by the way. Nicholas Reeve. You?" He extends a hand to shake.

"Maybe...but still, she is rather odd, isn't she?"

At that second statement though, Sam pauses, staring at Nick levelly with an unreadable expression, before just giving a shrug. "Oh, eldritch? Never read any of those kinds of books...there was one guy who wrote most of the stuff in that genre, right?"

He watches as Nick goes to the counter. Eldritch, huh? A coincidental remark, it was sure, but still, Sam would need to watch how he acted around the guy. When Nick comes back, he just gives him his best try at a smile.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Sam. A pleasure, Nick."

He shakes Nick's hand, but Sam's handshake is not at all...well, nice. His handshake is limp, but it's also clammy and cold, as if he's had it dangle in a bucket of cold water for a few seconds.

You're not exactly Sir Normal of Boringsville yourself, man, Nick thinks to himself somewhat unceremoniously, but he keeps the thought to himself. "Eh. I'm not about to complain. Gives me something to do anyway."

He nods. "Quite a few. It seems like one of the main authors is a guy named Lovecraft. Thankfully, in a good number of worlds, he's strictly fictional." Although, he adds to himself, not nearly enough of them.

When he comes back, and shakes his hand, he has to use his best diplomatic willpower not to recoil a bit. Good lord, what a horrible handshake. Geez. "I appreciate the help. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime?" he asks.

"Yeah, same here," Sam pipes up, scratching the back of his neck. "I'd rather do stuff for her than go out and fight monsters, you know?"

And oh, Lovecraft. He had read a few books before...well, the incident, but now he finds little interest in them. Maybe it's just the lack of interest or the want to not read about more of him from the more inhuman side of himself, but he hasn't touched Lovecraft in quite a while. But he pretends to look confused, narrowing his eyebrows as he frowns. "Thankfully? What, is he a bad guy, or what?"

It's the best handshake he can give, honestly. He gives him a nod. "Oh, sure! Um, yeah, that...that would be nice, Nick."

"I hear you. Not really designed for fighting anyway."

He coughs a bit. "Well, aside from being a bit of a xenophobic jerk, no. He wrote about a lot of Very Bad Things though." He's known a few people from worlds where Lovecraft's work WASN'T fictional, and they were always a little... on edge.

He nods. "Great. Nice working with you."

[OPEN] Booked

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