Picking up books (Beauty. backdated to pre fight club)
Baba had told him to come to this book store and pick up a book for her. But that's not the only thing she'd said. She'd told him that the girl who ran the store was named Beauty. Eric was well aware of the Beauty and the Beast tale. He'd had no doubt that Baba's interest in this girl was because of that. She also told him to taste Beauty if he could. Baba wanted to know if Beauty tasted the same as she did. If she had the same kick. Eric thought that they were both aware that there was no way Beauty would be on par with Baba Yaga, not really. But he understood what she wanted.
Beauty was a story the way Baba was a story.
Just a little past dark, Eric found the store that Baba had pointed him to. It didn't make itself hard to locate, which was nice. He might have been irritated if he'd had to work for this endeavor. After all, it wasn't really anything more than an errand. He was not an errand boy. Somehow, though, he'd found himself agreeing. Maybe some curiosity about this Beauty had snuck in. Wormed it's path through his brain to the point that he'd been unable to resist. Or maybe it was just because it was Baba asking. Either way, the ease of finding the place worked in the favor of both women.
He walked through the front door and a bell rang. He'd been expecting that for some reason. And there was a smile on his face. Something that wouldn't have happened if he'd had to work for this. The place definitely smelled like books. But not the way that most book stores did. It smelled of old books. Powerful books. Books that had been around for ages. Their pages slightly yellowed and carrying the scents of their previous owners. He liked this smell.