child_of_lions (child_of_lions) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-04-11 05:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, myrcella baratheon, roy mustang |
Who: Roy and Myrcella
When: Early April
Where: Gray’s Books
What: Book buying
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Myrcella was humming to herself as she put some books away from the morning delivery. Tessa had gone out to speak to a new supplier so Myrcella was on her own, she was in a rather happy mood since Jeremy had moved in with her and Irisa and having her boyfriend around all the time improved her mood considerably. She went to sleep and woke up with a smile on her face, not that she wasn’t a naturally happy person anyway but Jeremy simply made it come all the more easily.
Hearing the bell chime to indicate a customer she called out, “I’ll be with you in a moment” as she piled the books she had left to shelve and came out from the stack to greet the customer.
"No hurry," Roy called back to her, surveying the bookstore thoughtfully. He was off for the day, and could take his time. Whoever-she-was sounded like she was in a good mood. He moved over to take a look at the new releases displayed in the front of the store, and decided his evaluation seemed correct when she appeared from within the stacks.
"Morning," he said cheerfully, looking up from the book he'd been paging through. "Did I manage to catch you at a busy time? Sorry about that."
“Morning. Oh please don’t worry. Actually if I’m honest I was just re-stocking the shelves because it’s been quiet so far” Myrcella told him with a smile, “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for or would you like to just browse?” She didn’t want to loiter too much if he preferred to be left alone after all.
Roy offered her a crooked smile in appreciation for her thoughtfulness — some people might prefer to be left alone, but he didn’t mind. “Nothing specific, though I like science and history. Thought I’d see if anything new looked interesting, but if you’ve got any recommendations, I’ll take them.” He hadn’t had a chance to glance through the stacks to see if they had a full non-fiction section.
He glanced down at the book in his hand. It was a new crime novel by Lee Child, the latest in a long series. “Have you read these?” he asked. “I didn’t pick them up when he started them, and I’m not sure if I can dive in now or if I should start from the first one.”
“We have a large history section and a reasonable science one too” she told him, “Have you thought about combining the science or history with fiction?” she suggested.
“I’m afraid they aren’t exactly my forte, but I find most series are best if you start from the beginning” Myrcella told him, “I’m sure I could look up some reviews that might be more helpful” she offered.
"Hm. Occasionally, though most historical fiction makes my teeth grind," Roy admitted with a lopsided smile. He was exceptionally picky about accuracy and plausibility in the fiction he read. "I do read some hard sci-fi." There was a defining line between science fiction and science fantasy. He preferred to stay firmly on the fiction side, where the rules of the universe were properly accounted for and the advancements were not handwaved with magic disguised as science.
"You're probably right." He flipped quickly through the first few pages of the book, hunting for the usual page with the list of the author's previous novels. "In that case, if you've got a copy of Killing Floor, I'll take that one, and come back for this one later."
Since Myrcella’s reading matter of choice was fairy tales she was probably the wrong person to advise on books which held accuracy or hard and fast rules. “We have a large selection of science fiction though I don’t think we’ve separated them out into sub-genres” she admitted.
Myrcella nodded, “I’m sure we do in the crime section” she said moving to head that way, allowing him to follow if he wished to, “Anything we don’t have we can order and get it in fairly quickly too” she added before locating the book and handing it to him.
"Don't worry about it," Roy reassured her. "I'm sure I'll find something if it's that well-stocked." He noted the location of the science-fiction section as they passed by on the way to the mystery racks. "That'll work." He tucked the book under his arm, and looked across the stacks at the various labels. "Anywhere else you put the new releases, besides in the front of the store?" Truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for today, but given some time to browse around, he'd likely leave with three or four books besides the one he already had, to consume in a matter of days.
“There’s a small section in each genre area” Myrcella told him, showing him the mystery sections ‘New releases’ shelf, and then indicating the others. “The ones at the front are just the ones that have been indicated to be the most popular” she explained. The doorbell chimed indicating another customer, “Oh, do you mind if I go see to that? If you need anything else just give me a shout. My name is Myrcella” she smiled her naturally sweet smile.
"Mine's Roy. And go right ahead. I'll come bother you later when I need to hand over a quarter of this week's paycheck." He flashed her a grin and waved her off, meandering away to scan nearly the whole store over the course of half an hour.
It turned out to be not quite a quarter of his paycheck, but he still approached the counter with five books by the time he was done -- the aforementioned crime novel, a book on the aftereffects of the bomb on Nagasaki, another on the invention of the hadron collider, one on the most recent developments in the US space program, and a biography of Jonas Salk.
"I'm glad to see you found a good number of books to keep you busy" Myrcella smiled as she rang them up taking the payment and bagging the books. "Thank you for shopping with us. It was really nice to meet you Roy, I'll brush up on my knowledge for next time" she added with a smile as she handed over the bag.
"The pleasure's all mine, Myrcella. Be warned, you may see a lot of me." He offered her that signature lopsided smile as he collected the bag, and waved on his way out the door. "See you soon." Where by soon, he meant probably sometime within the next couple of weeks, after he'd finished devouring what he'd just bought.
If she bothered to glance out the window after he'd gone, she'd catch him reading through the first ten or twelve pages of one of the books in his car before reluctantly putting it down to drive off.
“That would be a pleasure” she told him brightly, she liked friendly customers it made her job that much better. “Bye” she called out after him with a return wave. Watching as he sat reading in his car she chuckled to herself, oh yes she’d definitely be seeing him again.