Day Danui (daywind) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-07-05 22:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-07 |
June 7: Books for the Day!
Who: Day and Dorian
Where: Nevermore
When: Late afternoon
Even after a hot shower, dry clothes, and an attempt at reading and watching a movie, while trying to ignore the fact that Hayden and Chris were holed up in Christian's room, Day still didn't want to hold still. The continuing storm had something to do with it; so did Hayden and Chris. Since going out and soaking himself again was out of the question-- he didn't want to catch a cold, or after all-- he decided on the next best option: going shopping.
And when Day went shopping, it was either for clothes, which sounded dull today, or books, which sounded much more interesting today. Besides, he'd just met a new air elemental. He definitely needed a new book, in case he needed to share. So he snuck out past his brother's room, skipped downstairs, and made a mad dash for his car, to drive over to Nevermore. There was, after all, no better supernatural bookstore. Dorian actually liked swapping ideas with him, or at least pretended to. He parked as close as he could to the shop, and made another mad dash inside.
With the rain continuing to pour down, Dorian was finding the afternoon slow. Even with the full moon that evening, customers were less frequent and he was beginning to grow bored. Restless. The shop closed earlier on Sunday and he was practically watching the clock, hoping for someone to come along and speed it up for him. His mind jumped ahead to his evening plans and he hoped Jules wouldn't bring someone along to make him uncomfortable. He loved hanging out with Aiden and Jules, but he really wasn't into being set up.
The bell on the door rang as Day dashed inside and Dorian looked up with a smile. The kid was a year older than his brother and one of the most frequent customers he had. If nothing else, his visit meant the time would pass faster, and perhaps lend to some interesting conversation. "Afternoon, Day," Dorian said. "What can I do for you?"
"Oh, I don't know yet!" Day said cheerfully, patting his hair back into place and shooting Dorian a grin. "Get in anything particularly interesting that doesn't cost three hundred dollars?" That got Dorian a hopeful, almost puppy-dog-ish look-- totally teasing, of course. Three hundred dollars, sadly, was beyond what he usually spent on books-- unless it was extremely pertinent, anyway. And as he had nothing in mind yet, except maybe a duplicate elementals book for that Chris fellow in case they ran into each other again, "pertinent" was unlikely.
"Um, we got a new book on vampires that looks pretty interesting," Dorian said. "I've thumbed through it and it seems legit, but I could give you a better review after reading it. And I believe we've got new stock on water elementals, which seems fitting, given this weather. Those would both be way below three hundred," he grinned. The three hundred dollar books weren't for sale, at least not normally, and were kept upstairs. They tended to be rare editions that couldn't be easily replaced. Customers were welcome to look through them, but they didn't leave the store. "Any of that interest you?"
"Hmmm. Both, actually." Between Nastasiya, Lacy, and Christian, they could both be useful. Day wandered over to the counter. "Are they shelved where expected?" He could find them himself, or Dorian could point them out, either way! At least if Dorian pointed them out they could discuss the merits of water elementals and air elementals hanging out together in a storm. Which he would so be doing with his brother, if Hayden-the-fire-elemental wasn't there.
"Where expected," Dorian said, but headed around the counter anyways. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, what with the store empty besides the two of them. "The vampire one seems to focus on social structure between some of the public families. I know there's only a few that have made themselves known, so I'd like to see how they differ. The book on water elementals is something new, since it focuses just on water itself, rather than all four. It just came in this morning."
"And I have the opportunity to buy them from you before you've even read them?" Day asked, heading to the elementals shelf, first. It was closer. Half of his incredulity was feigned. Half of it wasn't. If it were him, he'd never let a book like that out of his sight until he'd read it cover to cover. "I don't know if I can be that cruel." Yes, he could, but he liked Dorian. So he might have to come back tomorrow or Tuesday or something.
"I've got multiple copies of these," Dorian said with a little smirk. "You buying them up isn't gonna stop me from reading them. Things'll calm down a little after the full moon and I'll breeze through them." It was true. As soon as the traffic in the store slowed a little, Dorian would spend his free time reading each new book in the store. He was a fast reader and the topic interested him, so it barely took any time at all.
"Oh, well, you didn't say you had multiple copies," Day said, making a face at him, and stopped at the elementals section. "I won't feel bad about being greedy, then. Which one-- this?" It was the only title he didn't at least vaguely recognize, about Water Elementals, and there were indeed multiple copies on the shelf. He pulled it out with interest.
"Now that supernaturals are a little more public, publishers are more willing to pick up books based on them. They print more copies, even if the major bookstores aren't yet ready to carry them. That makes them available for places like Nevermore," Dorian said. It was definitely a good thing for him, though he knew that eventually there'd be a special section for such books in the major chains. It would just take a little bit of time. "That's the water elemental one, yeah."
"Awesome. I might have to come in here more often." Day flipped through the book, picking up a word or phrase here and there. "Maybe it will bring prices down, too, since more people are publishing them." After all, supernatural books were hard to find, which made buying them trickier for people without Day's virtually unlimited allowance to depend on.
"It's all supply and demand," Dorian said. "The more books on the market, the lower the prices will be. The rare finds will still stay expensive, but that's how it's always been. My guess is that people will start writing on what's really out there, rather than just what they think might be there. We've had a lot of that in the past-- people trying to figure out vampires for themselves. These days, vampires can write their own books and not have people think they're crazy when they say it's all true." The only problem would be what people wanted to be public knowledge and what they wanted kept a secret.
"I could write a book someday," Day chuckled. "About being an air elemental. So could you, if you wanted to. And people would buy it because it'd be true about the supernatural, even if it's nothing groundbreaking. --I'm definitely getting this," he added, flipping the book shut. "Aaaaand I met a new air elemental today, so... I'll be needing this." He pulled out a copy of something he already had, a fairly expensive but also fairly complete introduction to the four elements. "For him."
"You could," Dorian nodded. "Your book would be a lot more interesting than mine, which would basically be saying I can move stuff with my mind. There's a lot more to an air elemental than a telekinetic psychic." It was true, at least in terms of the variety of stuff each of them could do. Dorian could help other people like him, but he'd rather do that in person. "Great," Dorian smiled, heading back to the counter. "I think it's interesting how people are more willing to open up to others now that they know they're not alone. Long term, it means people like elementals will likely come into their abilities at a younger age. Learn anything new lately?"
"Actually, he didn't even know, poor guy," Day explained, settling both books into the crook of his arm and wandering over to the vampire section. He had a lot of questions there.... "Lucia and I ran into him out in the rain earlier, and he just thought he liked weather, or something. So he definitely needs a book...." He stopped at the vampire shelf and sighed, frowning. This wasn't a section he'd really paid much attention to until now. "As for new stuff, I met two vampires. So I definitely need to learn." And he'd learned that at least one of them could read his weaknesses like a book. Or something.
"And you're sure he was an air elemental?" Dorian asked. He figured Day would have an easier time figuring it out than Dorian would. Air elementals were the hardest for him to identify if they had little experience working with their element. Fire was the easiest, seeing as how they couldn't burn. "Well, there's a good book on just general vampire information-- that one, with the red and white cover. Unfortunately, there's a lot of different kinds of vampires out there, and they're not really up to sharing their differences. But if you're just starting out on them, that book does a decent job of laying them out." Dorian paused. "Where'd you meet the vampires?"
Day was pretty dang sure they'd found a fellow Air, but if he was wrong and the fellow was water, well, the book had information on all three. He pulled the vampire book with interest and flipped through it. "One is a friend of mine who got turned and disappeared a few years ago... she came back. The other one I met in the park, if you can believe it." He shot Dorian a slightly smug smile. "Nastasiya Yushchenko, the actress." Because who wouldn't be smug about having a famous actress vampire know you? Even if said famous actress vampire knew his darkest secrets. If she did.
Dorian thought of how that would be, to be turned and have to disappear, only to have the Light of May occur and be able to return. Family members that thought you were dead, finding you were alive again. Or not-quite-dead. Would they be thrilled to see you or would that make it worse? Day was still referring to the first vampire as a friend, so perhaps it wasn't all that bad. "I'd heard she was in town, but I guess I don't think of her as taking a stroll through the park," Dorian chuckled. "Is she as hot in person as she is on film?"
"She's very beautiful, yes," Day said with a smile. Though he wasn't really going to touch "hot". He still wasn't sure what he felt about that. "I didn't expect her to be there, either. The first time I met her? I didn't even recognize her. How sad is that?"
"I think it's probably pretty normal. Your brain doesn't even go there cause it seems so improbable. Makes sense, but did you say the first time?" Dorian asked. "Have you seen her since?" He couldn't say why he was so curious, except that it was a vampire. He knew how dangerous they were... and so he was intrigued.
"Oh." Day chuckled, satisfied with his findings and heading back in the direction of the counter so Dorian could ring him up. "I ran into her again, yeah. Yesterday. In a parking lot when I was waiting for a party, and she was touching up her makeup. It was--" Not exactly unexpected, since Tilly had told him they'd meet again, but... hmm. "--interesting," he finally decided. Since it had been. And a little disconcerting, worrisome, and still somehow bolstering for the ego.
"In a park and in a parking lot," Dorian said thoughtfully. "I obviously need to get out more." And not just to bars with Aiden and Jules. Apparently he could meet girls by just wandering around town, vampire or not. Maybe he even wanted to meet a vampire. "Interesting how?" Dorian asked as he started to ring up the books.
Well, he couldn't very well tell the truth, now, could he? Not all of it, anyway. "She likes my glasses," Day scoffed. Dorian was one of the few people he actually wore them for, mostly because in here he was allowed to be a little geeky. "And she heard me singing. Dorian, I cannot sing, not to save my life." He chuckled, setting the books on the counter. "It was dreadfully embarrassing."
"And yet you got to chat up a gorgeous female vampire and walked away unscathed," Dorian chuckled. "Or, at least, I'm assuming you did. And it's kinda cool that she liked your glasses. It's not something I'd attribute to a vampire, you know? If it makes you feel any better, singing's not my forte either. I try not to do it unless the radio drowns me out." Even then, he preferred to be completely alone, just in case.
"I actually let her bite me the first time," Day admitted, leaning on the counter next to the books. "It was sunny, after all, and she looked terribly tired. I don't believe I'll be doing that again, but I'm glad I had the experience."
"Seriously?" Dorian said, eyes widening and immediately interested. He couldn't help it. Vampires were still such a curiosity to him, one of the few supernatural beings he could never learn enough about. They were all different, each and every one, or so it seemed. "Did it hurt? I've heard it depends on the vampire." And if she was out in the day time, she must've been drinking fae blood. Wasn't that it?
"It hurt, yeah. She said my blood would even help more, since I told her I was fae. Well--" Day grinned. "She caught me playing with glamours, anyway, so she probably could've guessed. Apparently fae-blood is good against sunlight. I didn't know that." He didn't know a lot about vampires. Day eyed Dorian speculatively, trying not to look hopeful. "How much do you know? Like... about powers and the like."
"Fae blood is how she'd be out in the sunlight in the first place," Dorian said, placing the books in a bag as the price rang up on the register. "I know what I'd call vampire basics, the things that apply to all vampires. And I know a bit about blood types. Unfortunately, vampire lines can have different powers and most lines aren't willing to put theirs out there." It made sense, even if it made it difficult for people like him. They were protecting themselves and their secrets.
"There's different types?" Day looked a bit discouraged by that. "How do you tell what kind they are? Do they-- like-- look different?" He pulled out his credit card without a second thought, hardly looking at the total price, and offered it to Dorian. He'd spent more than this here, before, and on less books, too.
"As far as I know, you can't tell what they are by looking at them," Dorian answered as he scanned Day's card. "I don't really know the best way to describe it, since I don't know why they're all different, but I think of it a bit like a family. A sire's abilities get passed down to the vampire they create and so on. An example would be that some can turn into bats while others can't. It's not random, but that one family has that ability while another might not." He handed Day back his card, as well as the receipt for him to sign, putting the other copy in the bag with the books. "Does that make any sense?"
Day put the card away first, then bent to sign the slip. "So if you only know a little bit about a vampire, you probably couldn't guess what... family she was from. Are there a lot of families?" He offered receipt and pen back. The more families, the harder it would be to pinpoint just which one Lacy and Nastasiya belonged to.
Dorian thought about that as he put the signed slip back in the register. "I think it depends on what you know and how public the family might be," he said. "There could be ten; there could be a hundred. No one really knows. A vampire always knows it's own family, though. Or it should. There's usually some kind of a head, or a group of elders. It would be really unusual for a vampire not to know anything about it's line."
"Huh." Day made a face. "I wonder if I'll have to ask...." Because he really did want to know if Nastasiya really had been listening inside his head for his... weaknesses. And how much she might actually know. Only then could he know where and how he stood with her. "I wonder if Nastasiya's family is one of the public ones."
"That's the hard part," Dorian said. "You could ask, and they could tell you the name of their line, but it'll take a lot more work if it's not publicly known. Not impossible, though," he grinned. That was the kind of thing Dorian enjoyed, trying to put together clues to figure out the characteristics of each family. At least he was in the right business to enjoy such a thing.
Day sighed. "And I don't even have her number to call." He took the bag of books off the counter. "Well, it looks like I have my work cut out for me." Given he knew next to nothing about vampires. It was time to get learning. Flashing Dorian a bright smile despite the "work" ahead of him, he finished, "Thanks for the help, Dorian. And the new books, of course."
"If you need any help, you know I'm here," Dorian reminded him. He had the feeling that Day wanted to keep this to himself though. Maybe some other time. He knew Day would be back. "Have a good day. Thanks for coming in."