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There were three people standing outside of Thoth's Library. Night had just fallen, and they stood listlessly, hands in their pockets or wrapped around steaming cups of coffee. "Greg said this is when he usually shows up," one man said, scratching the stubble on his chin. Another man appeared to be talking to his cup when he answered, "Yeah, and Greg also told us he'd be back soon with the stuff to make the signs, and that was twenty minutes ago." The first man shrugged and looked up at the storefront. "What if he's in there already? What if he like...sleeps there during the day?"
The third man, this one younger and having the most resemblance to Greg Russell, rolled his eyes. "It's open twenty-four hours, Bill."
It was Avery's night off, but he had wanted to pick up a book he left at the shop the previous night. When he approached the store, he paused in his tracks and took note of the little group. The vampire sidled up to them casually. "Is there a sale going on or something?"
"Nah, we're gonna protest one of the employees." The tall man, Bill, lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "We're pretty sure he's a vampire."
Avery raised his eyebrows, looking surprised. "No way. Really?" He shook his head slowly. Tsk tsk. "What's the world coming to, I tell you."
He was going to have to put the truck in the shop again. It was making a fairly alarming noise as he located a parking spot and eased the vehicle into it, as if the muffler was about to drop off right there in the street. He wondered if there was a noise ordinance on this street. Probably so, since it was in the business district. Thankfully there were no blue-and-white cars that signalled the presence of Chicago's finest, which meant he at least wouldn't get a ticket for leaving what would look like an abandoned vehicle here.
The shocks creaked as Bastian eased his weight out from behind the wheel, and the Ford raised up a couple of inches as if in gratitude. The door clunked shut behind him, and he crossed the street to get to the storefront McDonald's for his junk food fix. The coffee drinkers on the sidewalk watched him go by, their expressions suspicious, and when the Cajun returned with a bag and a large cup of coffee one of them broke away from the little knot of men and approached him.
( Idle Hands, Idle Minds )
A little lightbulb went off in his head. "There's a book about omens, as a matter of fact. I think it just came in like two days ago, and maybe you'd be interested?" He approached the 'new arrivals' display and picked up the book in question. "28 dollars, and with my 30% discount that would be...$8.40 off. A little less than twenty dollars, for you."
Bastian looked at the front cover of the book, accepted the object. He'd gained a respect for books once he'd taken some college courses courtesy of the GI Bill, and he tugged out his wallet to fish out a ten and two fives. "I appreciate it, Avery," he said in thanks, tucking his purchase under his arm. "I should prob'ly be getting on home. Got to work early tomorrow."
He put his empty coffee cup into the trash can, eyed the younger man. "An' watch yourself leavin'. Hate to see you bein' part of de news."
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contemplative