InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "it's over 9000!!"

Maison Roberts (big_l_librarian) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2011-03-11 18:28:00

Entry tags:

maison roberts, phoebe

Who: Maison and Phoebe (and probable cameo by Quorra)
Where: Flyleaf Books - London
When: Friday evening
Warnings: Probably not

Maison had emerged from what he called the clinic, which was the book repair room in the back, shortly before five, since he knew they'd be having a customer. He knew Quorra was around because he could hear her humming to herself as she shelved books. It made him smile, really, that she liked them as much as she did, though he worried about her sometimes, since it seemed that she had a lot of book-learning, but not a lot of practical knowledge.

He checked himself over to make sure he didn't have thread in his hair or glue spots on anything that wouldn't wash before he took up residence behind the register, keeping an eye on the door.

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quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 03:49 am UTC (link)

The Titanide realized far too quickly after their talk that she hadn't got the man's name.

So here she came, a pad of paper and a pen in her purse along with various other things in her medium-size tote. She was wearing something like she'd said before, a cowl-necked and long-sleeved gray shirt, a pair of tight skinny jeans, and red heels that were very tall and impossible not to notice.

She opened the door and slid her large, polarized sunglasses up into her blonde bangs before looking around and smiling at the man she recognized behind the counter. "Bonjour, good sir! It's so nice to finally see you," she said jovially as she crossed and held out her hand, knowing where she was and how things worked here, though with a bit of a leaning forward before recalling that particular bit. "This place looks lovely already."

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big_l_librarian
2011-03-12 04:01 am UTC (link)

He couldn't help but smile in return as he accepted the handshake, his own hands were warmer than a regular human's, but that kind of thing came part and parcel with being a fire sprite, "Thanks, had some good help getting it together last weekend. Most of the fixtures were already in place, just had to move them around to do some painting. I' Maison, by the way, think I forgot to mention it earlier." His voice was surprisingly deep, considering that he was average height and weight.

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quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 04:08 am UTC (link)

The depth of his voice didn't surprise her in the least. After all, Zeus' voice contained much thunder and worrisome bouts of thunder in it at times, but he was by no means a giant. "Oh, heck with it," she said after the handshake and leaned up, giving him two audible kisses on each cheek. "When in Rome, they say, do as the Romans do, but some habits are quite hard to break!"

She pulled her glasses off her head after pulling a case out of her tote, putting them where they properly went and dropping the case back in. "A pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Maison. I go by Phoebe. Care to show me around?" she ended with a lilt, waving a hand lazily to gesture to the rest of the shop, and especially to wherever the cafe was.

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big_l_librarian
2011-03-12 04:12 am UTC (link)

There was a warm rumble of a laugh at the cheek-kissing, stepping out from around the counter, "Of course I don't mind, where would you like to start? Mysteries? Histories? Craft books? Cafe?" He actually liked playing tour guide, it was one of the things he missed about working at the Library, he didn't get to give anyone tours any more, "I could show you the clinic too, if you want, but if you've seen one book repair room, you've seen them all."

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quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 04:16 am UTC (link)

Her laugh was the opposite of his, quite high yet without being annoying, full of girlishness and all that the female voice could contain of being feminine. There was another lilt to it, and she moved her bag up on her shoulder, letting her free hand grab the strap. "Well, you seem to be quite familiar with tours, so as you please! And I've never seen a book repair room, actually!"

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	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 04:31 am UTC (link)
	"Well then we'd better start there." He said, offering her an arm, "I mean, bookstores are all about the same when you get right down to it, if you've been in one used bookstore you can pretty much navigate any other, they're all of a kind." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 04:37 am UTC (link)

"I'm afraid there aren't as many as I'd like in Paris, that I've found in my many years there, and there's none with a cafe, as far as I know." She leaned in a little, "They've all turned into computer cafes, you know? Ah, what has the modern world done to us?"

She took his arm immediately, hooking them at the elbows and resting her manicured fingers gently over his knuckles. He seemed quite pleasant, and she could pick up an aura of kindness around him as well. Being a former goddess of prophecy, it was rather hard to be wrong about such things.

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big_l_librarian
2011-03-12 04:47 am UTC (link)

He was definitely warmer than most people, both in temperature and temperament, just the way he'd always been, really, "We've got wi-fi in the cafe, and that carries over into the shop, but there's not a lot of cross-pollination, really, people come to the shop to read, well, and to buy books, of course."

He led her easily through the stacks and to the workshop at the far end, it had been an office space before, but he'd converted it into the book repair and binding workspace, "So, this is what a book repair shop looks like."

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quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 04:51 am UTC (link)

"Fascinating," she said immediately, putting a white nail to her bottom lip and tapping it as she looked it over. Withdrawing her arm briefly, she moved to look at the various equipment and the books in their also various states of repair and poor shape. "It seems like it would require quite some study to do. I was never good with fixing books or spotting originals—art was always my thing."

She walked forward and gave him her again, a pleased smile crossing her face, which wasn't as far down from him as it would have been were she to be wearing flats.

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big_l_librarian
2011-03-12 04:55 am UTC (link)

"It's something I trained for." He said with a nod, "And I'm still not that great at spotting originals versus reprints, not unless it's really obvious. I can spot a re-bind or a re-cover though, that's easy, well, for someone who does it, anyway."

Aside from the small stack of books he had yet to repair on their shelf, there was a shelf of ones that he'd already repaired, all tagged and waiting for their owners to come pick them up, there was also a lone grimoire in a glass case in the corner.

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quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 05:02 am UTC (link)

"That's always a good ability to have," she informed him, leaning a little towards him. He could definitely feel her hips moving next to own in a very feminine and subtle gesture. She was very well aware of how warm he actually was, but she had yet to reveal her godhood to him, so it may come up in time, or it may not. She wasn't one to press most issues.

Out of the room, with the grimoire well-noted and stuck in her mind, she looked around. "Ooh, do you have mythology books? I'm always very interested in what the new translations about the gods from ancient times are life!"

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	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 05:18 am UTC (link)
	"Sure do." He said, "It's where we keep the King James too." Because sometimes he liked being a snarky bastard about things. "It's upstairs, c'mon." He tromped up the stairs, most of the fantasy novels were up there as well, along with a reading nook that currently held Quorra, brow furrowed as she leafed through a hefty trade paperback novel. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 05:22 am UTC (link)

"Coming!" she replied with a titter, moving up the stairs with him as quick as he so pleased, not at all bothered by her heels. Why, she'd broken them in, and she'd worn them since their induction into the world of clothing, why should she not be able to properly function in them? She wasn't a normal woman after all, by any means!

"Oh, these are fabulous," she said when she came across the section, bending down to look at it from the bottom up. "Ooh, Hamilton! Campbell! All the modern greats, right here!" A pause. "A translation of Odysseus' tales I haven't read before. Excellent!"

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	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 05:33 am UTC (link)
	Maison couldn't help but smile at that, leaning against the shelf, arms folded, "Glad we had something for you. And the selection changes from time to time, most of the stock is used, so we take donations, do trade-ins and that kind of thing, all the new books are labeled 'new' though, so there shouldn't be any confusion." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 05:36 am UTC (link)

"I brought a little something for you, actually, something I wrote up last night."

She retrieved the journal, marked halfway with a sticky tab. "You see, I'm a very ancient soul. One of the original gods, I'm a Titanide. It is odd to say so so much now, but here? Things are very different. Up to that tab, you'll find songs to the gods offered with sacrifices that I've never seen published anywhere. No credit is necessary, but if you'd like to make, say, pamphlets of them or what have you, you're more than free to do so. I doubt news radio will come knocking and banging, as this place is so small at the moment. As for proper publication, no, that wouldn't be the way to go at all."

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big_l_librarian
2011-03-12 05:47 am UTC (link)

His brows both arched as he looked them over, leafing through carefully, "This is... actually really neat. It'll go well with the educational pamphlets on the sordid and bloody history of the printing press."

Where many stores had a rack of tourist-attraction pamphlets and maps, Flyleaf had information on book and bookstore history, as well as library information and other book resources.

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quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 05:52 am UTC (link)

Which Phoebe would find much more interesting than most everything else in the store!

She stood up with two new translations of The Odyssey she hadn't hadn't found already, or had the opportunity to do so before now. She hiked her bag and put them under that arm, securing them in place. "You're free to use them as you please. If you'd like, I could try to put them to music, though I'm not the best singer in the world." Which was a lie. After all, how could her grandson be the god of music if it hadn't run in the family somewhere? "And perhaps you or Quorra could sing them, I'm not sure about either of your singing voices, of course."

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	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 05:57 am UTC (link)
	"I sing a little." He said, which was true, mostly these days he just sang for Brendann and their cat, "Mostly I play bass." He shrugged, "But I might try setting them to music, got a group project going on to set Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' to music. It's proving to be interesting." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 06:03 am UTC (link)

"I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't willing to help you with the tunes, as I know them so well," she said with a grin, tapping one of her temples. "I may be archaic, but the prayers and sacrifices of the people are all still quite well-remembered up here."

She turned and looked at the next section. "Now how about that cafe? I've got quite enough to make due with my notes for today, or I could write out more, if you'd like."

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	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 06:13 am UTC (link)
	Another smile, leading her back downstairs and to the other half of the building, a modest cafe with some oversized gears hung here and there on the walls, looking more arty than industrial, "Coffee? Tea? See what I've got under the counter?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 07:06 pm UTC (link)

"Ooh, what've you got under that counter there?" she inquired playfully, leaning on the edge of it and sneaking a peek quickly before tilting her head back up and clasping her hands to interlace her fingers. A tongue came out to lick the corner of her lips briefly, and then it was gone.

"Nice place," she said after a moment, having given it a once over. "Very quaint, I do very much like it."

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	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 07:25 pm UTC (link)
	He grinned as he stooped to rummage around on the shelf under the counter, "Looks like I've got a good Port, a couple bags of coffee beans, and ..." Here he cracked up, shaking his head, "And one of Torii's friends." he pulled the little pluffy out from under the counter, setting it on top, "She leaves these things everywhere." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	quetehagamujer 2011-03-12 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh my word!" she exclaimed at the appearance of the nostalgic yellow puff with the big eyes, remembering having some on her desk when they first came out. "I forgot all about these things! How are you, Monsieur?" she asked it, leaning down to pet him properly and wiggle what parts would still wiggle. "A good Port sounds lovely, Maison, thank you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	big_l_librarian 2011-03-12 08:11 pm UTC (link)
	"Hope you're alright with drinking it out of a coffee cup." He said, pulling one down from the shelf, "Don't have any stemware, I'm afraid. Those guys are kind of Torii's calling card, for a while she could bind things at the molecular level and she was permanently sticking them everywhere." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

quetehagamujer
2011-03-12 08:14 pm UTC (link)

"In-cred-ih-bull," Phoebe replied, flicking his little eyes and antennae and watching them roll and flick out before coming back. "I was never much one for science, it's been quite some time since I read up on anything new..."

She mused a bit, resting her head on her hands as she got down to eye-level with the old-timey beast, seemingly staring him down. "And coffee cups are quite wonderful, I don't mind in the least."