Who: Fin and Nick When: Monday, Oct 23, early afternoon Where: Books and Beer Status: Complete
Nick had personally had a fabulous weekend, but then it was Monday again. He didn’t really keep to a traditional work schedule, but he always gave himself more leeway to relax on the weekends. Spending time with Mads had been beyond good, and he’d made sure to let her know with some texting through the rest of the weekend. At least until later in the day Sunday, when she’d given him the short, sad news that a little girl was missing, and Mads would be busy for the next few days. Considering that Danny Valiant had apparently also recently disappeared, that made Nick wonder if they were connected somehow.
He’d gotten up early that morning and had breakfast, then headed out to do some more exploring in town. The weather was still good, and he wanted to take advantage of it. After having lunch at Moxie’s -- again; he would really have to start watching his diet again, living here -- Nick decided to check out the bookstore a few people had mentioned to him. Books and Beer. He wondered if they had anything written specific to the area. Sometimes local bookstores were a treasure trove of information. Nick walked his way there, his messenger bag settled across his shoulder and chest, and pushed in through the door. Even if there wasn’t anything good to buy there in book-form, he wouldn’t mind having a beer.
Weekends? What were weekends? Fin rarely got a day off, the last time he had a Saturday off was when he was stuck in the hospital and he wasn't really counting that as any kind of ‘break’. It turned out to be a busier than usual evening with the festival crowds and thankfully everyone was pretty well behaved. Sunday's news of the youngest member of the Lucas clan stirred sadness in him, first Danny and now little Amelia. As much as he wanted to wallow in self pity and the fact he missed Dan more than he let on, he went to work and did his job like an adult.
Monday morning he joined in one of the search parties and spent until lunch time looking through the woods, no muttering and throwing up his hands this time, he had no emotional connection and found it easier than he had when Danny vanished. After a quick shower and change of clothes he went into Books and Beer, filling in Nat on the lack of results from the search before she left. With another few boxes of books priced, Fin began to walk around the store putting them in their rightful places an armful at a time, he had finished one lot and was going for another when the door chimed to let him know the arrival of a customer. Looking over at the man he offered a smile as he got another pile of books, he hadn't seen him before but there was an air of familiarity to him. “If you need any help, let me know.”
Nick immediately loved the smell of the place. He was obviously partial to bookstores to start with -- he’d spent a lot of time in them, either doing research or doing signings or just endlessly browsing -- but this one had a nice different edge to it. Mixing books and adult beverages was pretty genius. He spotted the guy with his arms full of books before he spoke, and Nick smiled back. Mads had told him that her friend Fin ran this place, and this guy looked like a Fin. “Actually I was wondering,” he started off as he walked closer to the man. Nick glanced down at the titles in his arms curiously. “Do you have a section that’s just about the local area?” Even if the books weren’t in genres helpful to him, you never knew where you would find clues.
Fin was proud of his store, sure his grandparents had put in all the hard yards years ago, but despite what people might think it took quite a bit of work to keep any business running and Books and Beer was no exception, trying to keep a mixture of books and beverages to please everyone without getting too crowded wasn't as easy as it looked. “Yeah, we've got a local section. It includes books about the area as well as those by local authors in other genres, follow me.” With the books still in his arms, he walked the man to the shelves that housed the local section. “Not everything is covered by the books in stock, there's not really a market for small, privately printed books about a particular family or event. But if you hear of a title I can try to get it in… providing you're staying in town for awhile, suppliers are known to take their sweet time.”
Pleased and a tiny bit surprised -- Nick had a rough idea of how financially taxing it could be to run a bookstore, and really niche titles didn’t move very fast -- Nick followed the guy through the stacks. He almost offered to help carry some of the load in his arms, but he figured probably-Fin had a handle on it. Nick scanned over the titles on the shelves that Fin pointed out to him. Nothing familiar, but he did spot a few that looked vaguely promising. “Hey thanks man,” he said, giving the guy a warm smile. “I don’t have anything specific in mind yet, but if I find one I can’t live without, I’ll holler.” Nick studied his face for a heartbeat, then asked, “Are you Fin, by any chance?”
Having local books and authors in the store was one of the things that set Books and Beer apart from the big chain stores that only seemed to stock bestsellers, classics and the like. Fin was also an old hand at carrying piles of books -- sometimes he'd joke and call it his ‘upper body workout’ --- especially when having to carry at least a dozen hardbacks at once. “No problems.” He returned the smile, strangers knowing his name was a regular occurrence, it seemed that people would say things like ‘Go see Fin at the bookstore’ and it didn't bother him in the slightest. “I am indeed. Fin Haynes, owner and proprietor of Books and Beer.” Fin answered, moving the books from his right arm to his left in case the man wanted to shake his hand.
Nick had been willing to skip the handshake, but since Nick was shuffling around for it, he shook the guy’s right hand with a grin. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m Nick Cooke. I’ve, ah ... made friends with Madison Pierce, she told me I should come check out your shop. Nice place you’ve got here.” He wasn’t sure if Fin would recognize his name, but Nick was fine if he didn’t. Not everybody was into his very-niche genre, after all. Mads had called this guy her best friend, and that piqued Nick’s interest a bit more than whether he had another fan in town or not. He was also curious to see if he caught any other kind of recognition, if Mads had talked about him to her bestie yet.
“Is that Cook with an ‘e’?” Fin asked after shaking Nick’s hand. “Thought you looked a bit familiar, loved your book on the Jersey Devil. Think there might still be a title or two of yours hiding around here somewhere.” He wasn’t going to ask what brought the author to Point Pleasant, it could be a number of things. As for Madison, they had talked earlier in the day while on one of the searches for Amelia Lucas and his best friend had mentioned that she was spending time with a guy called Nick and Fin didn’t press matters further, he had promised her that he wouldn’t go all ‘hurt her and I’ll hurt you’ on him and he intended to keep that promise. “Mads has a habit of sending the bookish ones my way. Just not usually an actual author… and the local guy trying to sell his self published novel doesn’t count.” He smiled. “I try my best to keep something for all interests, be it books or beverages. I’ll leave you to browse, I better put these out before my arms fall off. Shout if you need something.”
“Yup, that’s me. Hey, thank you,” Nick said with sincerity. “That was a fun one.” He always appreciated it when someone could name one of his specific works to him, it proved they were actually reading. He had to wonder a bit how many ‘bookish ones’ Mads had been through, but it didn’t really matter. Nick’s list of people he’d dated was too long for him to even remember, he wasn’t going to begrudge Mads her love life or whatever. “But yeah, go on and do what you need to do, man,” he added, waving a hand at Fin. “I will, thanks.” He turned to the titles in the local section, giving them a more thorough look and hoping to find something that might be useful to him. He didn’t give much of a fuck about nature trails or guides to duck hunting or whatever, but the historical and folklore books could always contain clues.
Folklore and legends were a passion of Fin's, his college degree was testament to that but the interest had continued long afterwards and he discovered he wasn't the only one in town who enjoyed reading about the weird and wonderful. “Might have to bring in my personal copies and get you to sign them. If you don't mind.” He didn't want to intrude if Nick was in Point Pleasant for a break, but then again who really came to this town for R & R? By ‘bookish ones’ Fin didn't mean people Mads had dated, but people in general, her love life was her own business and if they actually talked about it they usually left out names or personal details except Mads had shared those tidbits of information anyway. Putting the armful of books into their right places and did the same for the last pile, stacking them by genre or area within the store was much easier than having them all in a jumble and doing miles of walking while putting them out. With the job complete, Fin walked back to the bar and took a long drink from his water bottle, Nick would be able to see him if the author needed something.
Nick gave a little laugh before Fin walked off. “I never mind,” he assured him. It was nice to know he had some personal copies too, hearing that was always nice. He took a little time to browse the shelves, crouching down to snag a couple of titles from the bottom to flip through them. It was good to see that a couple of local people had paved the way for him, and Nick picked out three books to buy that might prove helpful. Interesting, at least. He wandered through the shop a bit more, scanning shelves with mild interest before he headed back up front to where Fin was behind the bar. Nick gave the guy a smile. “Got some books, guess that means I’m ready for a beer,” he said amiably. “You got a favorite?” Little places like this had a lot of local craft brews, in his experience, and Nick was always up for trying something new.
The idea of getting some books signed pleased Fin, especially by an author who wrote about what most people would call ‘fiction’. He had cleaned the bar off from where he had used the end to rest the and was putting some glasses away when Nick came up to him with a few books in hand, at least there was something that interested the author. “I don't drink anymore but… this is a nice one, brewery is one town over and run by a lovely older couple, not just some hipsters getting into the microbrewery craze.” Fin said as he got a bottle out of the drink's fridge and placed it on a coaster in front of Nick. “There's also wines and ciders if they're more your thing.”
Nick slid into one of the chairs in front of the bar, settling in and ducking under the strap of his bag so he could set it aside. “I really only drink wine with food or if there’s nothing else, this works great,” he said as he picked up the bottle. Nick gave it a sniff before he took a sip to get the taste of it. He hummed and nodded. “That’s good.” After a longer drink, he eyed Fin curiously. “So how did a guy who doesn’t drink get inspired to open up an alcoholic bookstore?” He realized that Fin had said he didn’t drink anymore, but it was just a prompt to learn the history of the place.
The beer used to be one of Fin’s favorites, he’d always have a few bottles at home as well as an extra box or two out the back, but that was ‘before’ (the term he liked to use in reference to the whole attempted suicide thing) and honestly he didn’t miss alcohol as much as he thought he would. “Well, I wasn’t the one who started it so I can’t take the credit, that’d be my grandparents. They came up with the idea of adding a small bar to the bookstore, where customers could enjoy a drink or two while they browsed or sat down and read. I just took over the store when they retired a few years ago and try to keep to their original vision.” Although he had added a few things as times progressed -- liked adding local craft beers, wines and ciders as well as adding more seating for people to just sit and relax. Fin was going to ask what brought an author of the supernatural to a small place like Point Pleasant but he already knew the answer to that, there was plenty in the area that might interest Mr Cooke. “Found anything in our little corner of the world worthy of a novel yet?”
Nick nodded as he nursed the beer, glancing around the place again and looking mildly impressed. It was a nice little setup, and he hoped that Fin did a good enough business to keep it afloat. Times were tough on small businesses, especially in tiny towns like this one ... but people did love their alcohol. He gave the man a little smile at the question and chuckled. “Oh, I’ve found quite a bit, actually,” Nick told him. If Fin and his family had lived there a long time, he surely knew what kind of place it was. Maybe not -- the human capacity for denial was incredible -- but Nick was willing to bet otherwise. “There might be two or three books here, we’ll see. I’m enjoying digging around, that’s for sure.” He’d had other reasons for coming to Point Pleasant, but the writer in him really did want to mine a couple of books out of the place.
People did love their alcohol, as well as their books. Fin knew this business would never make him a millionaire but it was providing enough to pay the bills and he was in the process of buying a cottage, be it one that needed quite a bit of TLC. “Well there's a lot of fodder - centuries’ old religious fanatics putting people to death, unknown creatures in the woods, creepy statues in the cemetery, spirits in the ocean and the odd lycan.” He didn't mention the high number of disappearances, that still was a bit too close to home for him. As Fin was talking another customer - a regular - came into the store. “If you'll excuse me for a minute.” He said to Nick with a smile as he walked out from behind the bar to serve the customer.
There was more to life than making a bunch of money. Though that was fairly high up on Nick’s list of priorities. He could see himself doing this someday, maybe. Retiring to open up a little bookstore somewhere cozy and strange. But who knew what course his life would take. It had already had a few unexpected turns. He nodded mildly through the litany of weirdness that Fin rattled off -- he’d heard about all of those. None of it surprised him. He’d all but confirmed for himself that this town had a werewolf problem. The full moon would be interesting. “No problem,” he said as Fin moved away, lifting his beer for another swallow and pulling one of the books closer to him to browse through. By the time Fin returned, the beer was finished and Nick was pulling out his wallet. “So I hope you don’t mind me coming back to hang around every so often,” he said, giving the other man a smile.
Fin had no idea what he'd do if or when he retired, he'd probably be working at the store til he died, and that didn't actually sound like that bad an idea, he didn't know anything other than the store (save the three years of college.) Growing up in the town nothing really surprised Fin anymore, especially since discovering his own supernatural entity who seemed to enjoy the odd bit of mischief, he knew that there was one less werewolf in town now that Darren had moved back south, he should really send a text to see how he was doing. It didn't take Fin too long to sort the customer out and send her on her way with her regular magazines and romance novels - older ladies really did love their Mills and Boon and at least he'd never go broke as long as he kept a good stock of those. “Don't mind in the least, though if you want one of the armchairs you better get in early. I know some of my regulars would almost fight you for one. “ Fin grinned, there were only a few of the vintage leather armchairs in the store and it was always ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Nick gave a good-natured laugh. “Duly noted,” he told Fin, grinning back. He definitely wouldn’t be fighting any old ladies for a seat, he was fine with the floor when there was nothing else, but it was a good tip. Nick was usually up early anyway. He nudged the books in Fin’s direction. “So how much do I owe ya?” He would definitely be back, this seemed like a good resource run by a nice guy. Supporting small local business was always a good thing to do. Plus, he’d promised some autographs anyway. And if Fin and Mads were as close as she’d made it sound, getting in good with The Bestie was in his best interests.
It wasn't the little old ladies that Nick would have to fight for a chair but the older gents, though thankfully there were usually just one or two who visited almost daily and Fin knew their routine and where they'd more than likely sit. Looking at the books and the price stickers Fin mentally added them together and a bit for the beer before saying the total, Nick didn't need to know the beer was practically on the house. “I usually work the afternoon and evening shift but either of my two employees are just as helpful, at least when it comes to books.” He was sure that Mads had told, or would tell Nick what kind of things Fin studied at college, even if she was a big skeptic about it all. “Nice to have met you in person, Nick.”
He settled up with cash, including a bit extra as a tip. Nick wasn’t positive on the etiquette for tipping in this kind of place, but he did it anyway. It wasn’t like he was short on cash, and Fin had been helpful and nice to chat with for a bit. This was going to be a pleasant place to spend some time, he had a feeling. Maybe he would even bring his laptop in and get some writing done once he was at that stage. Nick tucked his purchases into his bag and stood up to sling it over his shoulder. “Likewise, Fin,” he said. “I’ll see you ‘round, I’m sure.” If not in the shop, definitely because they had Mads in common now. Nick was looking forward to seeing how all of that played out. He tipped the other man a little salute before he turned to head for the door.